Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Project 9 - Portraits

For this project we shot fine art and commercial portraits, then edited them in Lightroom. These are my edited fine art portraits and my edited commercial portrait that I turned into a magazine cover in Photoshop.

Reflected Rays
This fine art photo is of my friend Zoë. I chose to make the image black and white because I liked the way that the light and shadows that the light produces were more pronounced without color. I had her look down when I took this photo so the light would catch on her eyelashes. The pose also gave the photo a melancholy feeling that was further emphasized by the lack of color.

Two-Faced
This fine art photo is a portrait of my friend Caroline. I edited this image with sepia tone instead of full color because it enhanced the shadows. I really liked this photo because of the way the light hit her face, and created a two tone mask. On the right side of her face, her dark circles are more evident, and the left side is brightly lit to create a cheery façade. I also liked the additional contrast of the rough concrete behind her and her dressy clothing.

Illuminated Words
This fine art portrait is of my friend Anna. I chose to shoot with her in a very relaxed setting. This gave the image a cozier feel that goes along with the emotions she is portraying as the subject. Her relaxed pose and her smile give the image a happier tone. The change from color to black and white increased the focus on the lighting of the photo which I really liked and also added to the bright, cheerful tone.

Monthly Reads
This photo is also of my friend Anna, taken in the same setting as the portrait above. I liked that she wasn't looking directly at the camera, which shows her interest in her novel. I thought it would be good to use this interest to draw in an audience to want to read as well; this is why I chose to use it as my magazine cover, and to do a reading magazine. The black and white increases the focus on her as a subject as does the placement of the sidebar words. By making the photo black and white and carrying that theme throughout the cover, I was able to use color to enhance the words on the sidebar that I would want the reader to focus on.