Self Portrait and Portraits Part One

The three portrait tips I liked the most were

• Experiment with Lighting : Another element of randomness that you can introduce to your portraits is the way that you light them. There are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to using light in portraits. Side-lighting can create mood, backlighting and silhouetting your subject to hide their features can be powerful.
• Focus on One Body Part - Get Close Up : Get a lens with a long focal length attached to your camera – or get right in close so that you can just photograph a part of your subject. Photographing a person’s hands, eyes, mouth or even just their lower body… can leave a lot to the imagination of the viewer of an image. Sometimes it’s what is left out of an image that says more than what is included.
• Settings - The Other Subject : The settings in which you make pictures of people are important because they add to the viewer's understanding of your subject. The room in which a person lives or works, their house, the city street they walk, the place in which they seek relaxation—whatever it is, the setting provides information about people and tells us something about their lives. Seek balance between subject and environment. Include enough of the setting to aid your image, but not so much that the subject is lost in it.

Environmental Portraits

 I picked this photo because the  man looks so happy to be in the cranberry field. It shows his passion for it. I liked the colors and how the red really popped out. Also the lighting creates kind of a homey mood within the photo. It's also a great example of the rule of thirds and the photo creates depth. 

I picked this photo because the man is staring out of frame and makes me wonder what he's looking at. I also like the casual say he's sitting and thinking on the boat. The background is beautiful and creates a lot of depth. He's also in the third of the frame.

Photography Self Portrait

I chose this photo because I love the vulnerability and emotion in this photo. Her pain translates through the photograph. I also like the smoke coming out of her mouth because it shows a story. 

I picked this photo because I thought it was interesting how he was holding the camera up like a gun. I thought it could symbolize that photography has taken over his life and he'd die without it, or it was a play on words with the word "shoot." I also like his emotion he has on his face.

Casual Portraits

I picked this photo because I thought it demonstrated the rule of framing very well. I also like how she's kind of like the light at the end of the tunnel. I think the way that the tunnel is dark makes the colors behind her pop more.

I picked this photo because I like how everything behind him is blurry, but he's in focus. It shows rule of thirds very well also. I like how he's in a public and realistic setting.

Portrait Assignment Plan

For my portrait assignment I plan on taking pictures of someone on my softball team. I want to take them at the softball fields. She would be wearing her uniform and would be at the pitchers mound. She would have a softball in her right hand and her glove in her left. She'd be facing the back, but her face would be tilted more to the front so the viewer can see it. She would be looking down at the softball in a casual way and she would be a little backlit. To make this photograph successful, I'd need to do it on a weekend so it wouldn't be too dark outside while we do the shoot.