COMD 1340 D087 Fall23

Robin Michals | COMD 1340 Photography 1

Page 3 of 13

Final Project Statement and Mood Board

For my final project, I am preferring to do my own theme. My theme will be Transit Subways Scapes.

My favorite interest for this project is rule of thirds and depth of field. Rules of thirds will look great on my subjects because it focuses on the subject while having a scenery background for the subject. Depth of field is useful towards subways and buses scapes. For example, I can shoot a subway photo in an above ground station. With the depth of field I can zoom in the train and having a focus of the train along the other subway cars following behind it.  If I would shoot an underground station with the train coming in, I will need to adjust the exposure of the camera to have a better light quality.

Sometimes, we do not appreciate public transit as much as for commuters. I think personally, I like public transit. There are some underrated beauty of the subway that commuters miss most of the time. It doesn’t matter where you are late to work or going somewhere to be. We are all riding the same subway car.

We all have almost the same story as commuters to get to our place and we have to look back at it. We are all there to have something to get to our destination alive. Trains come and go to our daily lives that we have something productive to do in our lives.

My photography shoots will be taken most of them in a above ground station because of the scenery that the trains go through. I will be going through different boroughs of NYC to look for places that have a fantastic scenery along with it.

 

Photo 1 – James Maher

Photo 2 = Emma Taggart

Photo 3 – Jeenah Moon

Photo 4 – Gary Hershorn

Photo 5 –  Osugi

Photo 6 – Chris Hondros

Subway System Photography Tour - New York Photographer Guide

Interview: Street Photography Series Captures New York Subway Life

 

An empty subway car in New York on June 30, 2022.

 

Man dies after getting dragged by New York City subway train onto tracks  and being hit by another train

M train

 

Morning Brief: Why Do U.S. Subways Still Have Drivers? | Council on Foreign  Relations

HW 9: Environmental Portraits

4 pts. Due Nov 21, 12 Noon.

Shoot a total of 30 environmental portraits of three different subjects- 10 each. 

Environmental Portrait-is a photograph of a person in their environment. It usually shows their whole body in a place that is meaningful to them.  This could be their home or workplace or neighborhood. The surroundings illuminate something about the  subject’s life.

When shooting indoors, remember keep the shutter speed faster than 1/60. Better the raise the ISO. It may be too dark. If so change the location!

When shooting outdoors, shoot in diffused light: either shade or cloudy weather.

Make sure that there is light on your subject’s face.

Environmental portrait examples: https://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2013/10/tips-pro-brian-harkin-environmental-portrait-photography

gregoryheisler.com

Select

  • Contextual
  • Dynamic

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/lens/examining-arnold-newmans-environmental-portraits.html

Lab: Week 11 – One-Light Portrait Styles

Set up:

  • The subject should be at least 4 or 5 feet in front of the backdrop to avoid casting a shadow.
  • Use 65mm focal length when you are using a camera with a cropped frame sensor, 85 mm for a full-frame sensor
  • Focus on the subject’s eyes.

The key or main light is the light that casts the shadows.

Working with just the key light:

Front view:

Photograph your subject with:

  • Rembrandt light – the light is at a 45 degree angle to the subject. Look for the key triangle -a triangle of light on the darker side of the face to position the light.

    Do not place the light too high because this will cause shadows around the subject’s eye sockets.
  • Split light – the light is at a 90 degree angle to the subject. One side of the face is dark but light does fall on the other side.
  • Front light (butterfly) – Light falls on the subject from the camera position.

     

Three-quarter view:

  • The model’s face is turned to a 45 degree angle from the camera.

Photograph your subject with:

  • broad lighting by placing the light on the side of the visible ear. There will be a broad highlight on the subject’s hair. This works for subjects wearing glasses.
  • short lighting by placing the light on the side of the invisible ear. 

Profile:

The model turns their face at a 90 degree angle to the camera. Place light like a side light. The subject faces the light BEING VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LOOK DIRECTLY INTO THE LIGHT. 

Put your 20 best photos into an album on Flickr. Make sure to represent each one of these lighting styles. Send your 2 best to the class group.

Week 11 – Portrait Lighting Styles

Review:

Portrait Poses

There are three basic positions for someone’s head and face in a portrait.

  1. Front view or face forward
  2. 3/4 view
  3. Profile

Portrait Lighting Styles

There are a 5 basic lighting styles for portrait photography. Each style is defined by how light falls on the face.

When the subject’s whole face is towards the camera, there are three basic lighting styles.

  1. Rembrandt Light – the model is face forward, main light is at 45 degrees and casts a light on the opposite side of the face to form a triangle on the cheek.

Rembrandt Lighting
Michael B. Jordan. Photographer: Peggy Sirota

2. Butterfly Light, Clamshell or beauty or glamour light-model is face forward, front light.

Tyra Banks. Photographer: Matthew Jordan Smith

3. Split Light-model is face forward, the main light is at 90 degrees to the camera and falls on one side of the face. 

Lewis Wickes Hine (U.S.A., 1874–1940), One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mfg. Co. N.C. December 1908.

When the subject is in 3/4 view, there are two basic lighting styles.

4. Broad Light-light falls on the side of the face with the visible ear. Good for controlling the reflections on glasses.

Danny Devito. Photographer: Gregory Heisler.

5. Short Light-the light falls on the side of the face with the features. (Not on the side with the visible ear.)

Aretha Franklin. Photographer: Matthew Jordan Smith

Both of these are examples of short light. Here the light is slightly behind the subject.

Chadwick Boseman. Photographer: Caitlin Cronenburg

Left: Photographer-Yousef Karsh, Winston Churchill, 1941

Right: Photographer-Nadav Kandar, Donald Trump, 2016

Yousef Karsh

https://karsh.org/overview/portraits/#thumbnails

Nadav Kandar

https://www.nadavkander.com/portraits/portraits/single

Grammies 2022

Lab

Portrait Lighting Styles

Homework Assignment

HW 9: Environmental Portraits

Final Project Statement and Mood Board

In my final project, I aim to craft a visual narrative encapsulating the nuances of a day’s life. The theme revolves around capturing the ordinary yet extraordinary moments unfolding within the confines of my residence and the diverse locales I traverse throughout the day. Through a deliberate interplay of exposure, light quality, and direction.

The subject matter is the ephemerality of daily existence – the routines, the transitions, and the subtle beauty hidden in plain sight. The canvas for my visual exploration spans the familiar spaces of my home to the dynamic environments encountered in daily travels.

I plan to shoot throughout the day, from the soft hues of dawn to the warm glow of midday, capturing the play of light as it evolves with the passage of time. This temporal exploration will infuse the narrative with a sense of rhythm, emphasizing the inherent changes in mood and atmosphere throughout the day.

Key to my storytelling will be the deliberate use of exposure to convey the varying intensities of light. Whether highlighting the gentle morning light casting long shadows or embracing the warm embrace of evening glow, exposure settings will be meticulously chosen to evoke the temporal nuances.

Light quality, another crucial element, will be harnessed to infuse scenes with visual drama. From the diffused light streaming through windows in my home to the dramatic interplay of light and shadow in external environments, each frame will be a careful orchestration of the available light.

Directional light will serve as a guiding force, shaping the viewer’s perception and emphasizing the unique character of each moment. Techniques such as playing with depth of field and selecting perspectives will contribute to the overall narrative, inviting viewers to witness the beauty inherent in the ordinary aspects of daily life.

Through this project, I wanted to show the everyday things that come up in my life.

Photography:

Paul Graham

Rebecca Lily

Read Shan Jin

Sam Johnson

Elaine Cheung

Daniel Lee Postaer

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