First Shoot – Review

For my final project, I’m creating portraiture that’s enhanced by playing with light.

What worked: there was one really cool shot of Barrington, one of Marielos, and one of Antonio. The shot of Barrington that I liked showed his head, and his torso was covered in a variety of light streaks. He has a slightly mischievous expression on his face that I felt worked in the shot.

The shot of Marielos was one of my favorites because it was the most minimal. It was more of a portrait without the light covering her up too much.

Antonio’s was cool because it was really moody. His face is strangely doubled in the image, but it went with the overall theme, and the way the light is coming off his body is really different than in the other shots.

What didn’t work: in the early shoots, we were all a little overzealous in the light painting, and got carried away. In some of them, the model is all but obscured by the light streaks. Next time, I think less is more. Also, instead of just having my model stand there, I want them to interact with the light more. Do different things with their bodies. Pretend the light is coming off their hands, or write a word or symbol with the light. For as dynamic as the images can be, I was having my models behave in a way that seemed a little static.

That being said, it seemed as though people were really having fun with this idea, and I enjoyed the collaborative aspect of it. And there’s no real way to ever know 100% how each shot is going to turn out. That’s partly why I was drawn to this project in the first place.

I also should play with the settings a bit more — there were some light leaks that got into my shots. It is unavoidable to a certain degree (multiple people shooting while I was shooting), but maybe if I shorten the exposure a bit, less light will get in.

One thought on “First Shoot – Review

  1. rmichals

    From looking at your work I think your analysis is dead on. I look forward to seeing it this week there was more interaction between the model and the light.

    You would have more freedom and easier results working in a dark room instead of the insanity of the collaborative studio that is our classroom. That said you are getting a better result technically than I thought possible given the conditions.

    Reply

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