Bad Environmental Portraits

With the background here, we can kind of see what the photographer is trying to portray (although her being in a church is kind of confusing...), but the lighting is just very dark and dull. It doesn't make the subject appealing whatsoever.

I understand what the photographer wants to show, and it's kind of quirky and an interesting concept... but the alignment is all crooked, the lighting is dull, and the whole picture is just really awkward.

For this more commercial approach, what I really don't like is the halo-like light in the background. It seems like it's not white balanced at all, and I'd want to see a shot that is cleaner than this for something commercial. (It also doesn't look like she's in an office, rather it looks like a poorly lit basement.)

Yes, we get that she's looking at a computer screen, but we have no idea of the sense of location, and the subject's face is just awkward, and distorted.

The lighting could be better in this picture, and I'd prefer it if the subject wasn't smiling...It's also the photographer's job to make the subject look attractive (or interesting)...and she doesn't...

Yes, we know she's doing yoga, and we could deduce that she's a yoga teacher. The lighting though isn't that great, and the whole pose is just weird and awkward, as well as her face expression.

This has potential, but the post-production just ruined everything...

I have no idea what's going on here, and what kind of story they photographer is trying to tell us. And this picture doesn't make the subject look attractive at all, even though that's the main purpose...

This has potential, but the lighting is dull, and the composition isn't the greatest either. Maybe if there was more interaction between the subject and photographer...

I have no idea what is going on here, and what the "environment" even is. Maybe it's about our 'green' environment? If we would know more about the context the picture could be a lot better, because this person actually did a decent job with lighting.

Photos found on Flickr, by searching "Environmental Portraits".

I know that these pictures are quite terrible, and I could've chosen pictures that are more subjective and better than these, while still not being great, but I decided to take these ones, as they're from people on Flickr, who are experimenting with environmental portraits. Some of them have the right idea going on, but these pictures really underline that when you have poor lighting, uninteresting compositions, and awkward poses, that the environmental portraits could go horribly wrong, even though, some may have thought they were "thinking outside the box". We have to be careful not to make these same mistakes...

Good Environmental Portraits

Araminta de Clermont 

Cédric Gerbehaye

Jake Verzosa

Jodi Bieber

Larry Louie

Larry Louie

Mariano Vivanco

Nicola Lo Calzo

Nicola Lo Calzo

Paul D'Amato

Stephen Dupont

Overall, I like how these photographers include quite a bit of background, as it helps the viewer to understand the subject in great detail. The background also adds to the narrative qualities of the images, helping the viewer imagine the subject's story, life or situation. Most of these photographers also chose more of a documentary approach to environmental portraits, rather than a commercial approach, which I personally prefer, as I get the feeling that it's a slice of life and more realistic.

pictures found from: http://500photographers.blogspot.com/

Louise Dahl-Wolfe Emulation

Here are some pictures of my attempted emulation of Dahl-Wolfe:

based on this image:

based on this image:

 

based on this image:

For this shoot, I tried to focus on being outdoors, as that was one of Dahl-Wolfe's main ideas, and I tried to emulate the lines in her composition; while trying to stray from the fashion side of her pictures a little bit. Preferably I would've had more models, but I wanted to show this model in different locations, all outdoors, to sort of portray different sides of her....

Workshop Edits

Original Image

And here are some edits:

Black and White; with a bit of a gaussian blur, except for the eyes, to make them stand out.

I wanted to make the image a soft black and white, to give it a bit of an older feel. I also used the Gaussian Blur Filter, to blur the background and her face a bit, except for the eyes, as I think here eyes are already standing out in the image and I wanted to strengthen that aspect. (It gives it a bit of a faux-tilt-shift feel...)

A contrasty black and White image, with some gaussian blur.

I pretty much did the same thing as above, but wanted to experiment with making it a bit more contrasty, with an Adjustment layer, to make the model stand out from the background more, and give richer blacks and whiter whites. I also kept her eyes sharp again, as well as a part of her lips, still experimenting with this faux-tilt-shift feel.

A bit of Sepia tonal range, and some gaussian monochromatic noise.

I first started off with making the image a Black and White with an adjustment layer, and then adding a tint of a pale brown/orange/yellow tone to give the look of older paper/sepia effect. I then proceeded to use the Noise Filter, and used monochromatic gaussian noise. And then I changed the Layer from "Normal" to "Soft Light", as was shown in class, to integrate the noise within the image, instead of having it lay on top.

A washed out version

On this edit, I just experimented with the Vibrance and Saturation Adjustment Layer, to give it more of a vintage-y look. The model blends in with the background more thna on some other edits, but I think that her striking gaze makes up for that, and she still feels separated.

Assignment 2 - Research

Louise Dahl-Wolfe was mainly a staff fashion photographer, shooting for Harper's Bazaar. Her pictures were featured on the covers, others were published in colour, but mainly her pictures were in black and white. She was well known and celebrated in the 30s through the 50s, for her use of natural lighting and shooting on location in fashion photography, being one of the first to do so, and influencing later photographers. She also photographed many celebrities of her time, preferring portraiture to fashion photography.
I really enjoy that she uses natural lighting and uses the environment to portray her subjects, instead of just using a plain seamless. The natural lighting makes her lighting soft and not contrasty, which gives the images an overall nice tonal range. She also put her models in relatable and realistic situations, but still keeping with the nice formal qualities, such as the striking poses, which create interesting lines throughout the frame as often seen seen in fashion photography.
I want to try and emulate her lighting and the formal qualities she shows in her models, as well as the placement of the models in the frame. She often places her models in the center or off-center, which could result in boring images, but the poses create movement throughout the frame. (It could be argued that this is not necessarily portraiture, because the models are unnamed and not really that important, but I think with the environment and making use of realistic situations, could really portray someone.)

Dior Ballgown, 1950, NY

Japanese Bath, 1954, NY

Mary Sykes in Puerto Rico, 1938.

Jean Patchett in Grenada, 1953.

California Desert, 1948