- More Flash Practice! -

Well...I've been practicing with the flash again this week.  This time with a ring flash, just a couple of quick shots here and there.  Hopefully I'm getting the hang of it!  Of course, these were shot in my living room! The ring flash was pretty small, it was just one I borrowed from college to give it a go.  I started with it being attatched to my lens but I didn't like it so I just switched to using it hand held.  All of these images were taken holding the flash.  I haven't used any reflectors either.  18-50mm lens.

This one is my favourite! I love the contrast of the background and him.  I also love how the light falls on his face and the shadows it makes in hhis beard, on his ear and his neck.  I think this photograph suits being landscape because of the simplicity of this profile portrait.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet...I like the composition but I think the lighting is too harsh.  I don't like how the light has caught his eye or the shadow from his nose.  I think bringing the light round closer to me would be more flattering to his features.

What's that? A colour portrait? Yes. I gave it a go.  I don't like this image though.  I like the composition, and how the light falls on his face, but I don't like that it's a candid.  I think it would be a much stronger image if he was looking into the lens. 

- Environmental Portraiture -

In the final term of my first year, I've been learning about environmental portraiture.  Again, my tutor has set me a task to push me out of my comfort zone, one of her many skills that makes her such a brilliant teacher.  Looking at my pictures, it's obvious that I have a tendency to crop my images pretty tight to the subject.  This is something I have tried to rectify recently.  Also I've been learning the art of a flash gun, something I used to see as pretty tacky.  So here they are.  The final images for this brief which has pushed me to my limits.  The great thing about being pushed are the things I learn.  Anyway, enough chit chat...

A simple portrait.  Natural light with a reflector filling in the shadows on his face.

James with his books and cameras in his grandma's old rocking chair.  Just a few things in our home that make me think of him.

Flash on a tripod.  Had a few difficulties with light being bounced around our white living room.  It was easy enough to solve by placing a black reflector(?) in line with the flash to absorb the light.  I love the simplicity of this shot, even though it isn't framed in tight.  For this brief we had to make a magazine layout.  I used this as my front cover.

This isn't really an environmental shot, but it is part of the brief.  We learnt on this project to use a flash gun, a piece of equipment I have recently made friends with!  I am in love with this image.  I was able to get it to look exactly how I wanted, despite being inexperienced with the equipment.

This image is my favourite from this project, and probably one of my favourites from all my work.  At this point me and the flash gun were getting much better acquainted.  This image helped me to see the potential in myself that others see.