Tutor feedback : Assignment One

Just received my tutor's feedback on my first assignment...pleased with her comments and mindful re suggestions on how to improve my work improvement and where I might go for ideas and inspiration. Thought it helpful to insert the images critiqued within the feedback below. My own comments are in italics.

Overall Comments

You have approached the work logically and been prepared to practice a variety of techniques in your understanding of the brief requirements.

Your standard of presentation is good and the blog is easy to navigate. Good to see your planning ideas for composing the photographs and working with a model.

Loo at artists bodies of work so you really get a feel about their message, style and approach.

You have demonstrated good technical and visual skills, your ability to work with people is obvious here and a strength.

The reflection you provided is honest and considered. Keep working on the refinement of your images, in particular the lighting and composition, as you have bought together other elements so well.

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

Exercise projects

You have recorded your explorations and have demonstrated good practice in discussing your findings and outcomes. It is good to continue this experimentation in your projects.

Your observations in the street are interesting and you have reflected on the difficulties you face with this uncontrolled environment. Some of the images have a mix of lighting, the harsh winter light can be difficult. Also take some time to consider the role and responsibility of your as the photographer. Taking images with a long lens means you can miss out on the story, but also you can often be challenged if people see you. Research the place of a model release form. I remember the use of this kind of form from my work days when we used images of members of the public for branding and promotional activities. A complex area but yes, I do need to sort out when and how to use a model release form.

The action images clearing the ice rink have a good energy and the lighting is more even so the composition works well with less light and dark distractions. The Christmas market images have some nice colours and compositions. In some of the images your concentration is entirely on the person and the composition becomes a little weaker.

Your practicing on ‘Fred’ and reflecting on your approach was an interesting exercise. It was good to consider the lighting and also the time management of the ‘real’ portrait shoot. When working with models (both ones you know and ones you don’t) it is really good practice to be confident or at least appear to be confident in how you want to work.

Assignment 1- A portrait.

The body of work presented for this is pleasing. You have made a real connection with the sitter and there are a variety of poses and lighting choices.

Image one

Image  one is serious and strong, the colours in the warmth of the bricks and the cool blue tones are pleasing. The lines of the bricks could have been further emphasized with the model placed further to one side of the image? I did briefly consider this but opted to focus on and centre model more ...with hindsight, maybe my original thought might have worked better..  This would add to the dynamic and energy of the portrait. The print for this is clean and sharp, I do like the catch light in the eye. Watch the highlights, as this area on the face has become a little blown out.

Image two

Image two This is an image that could lend itself to more space to tell the story. Your explanation about the reason why you wanted to take this image and the message is a little diluted I feel. I like the idea of the unusual surroundings and the complete focus by the model. The bright dash of colour against the almost monochromatic background works well.

Image three

Image three. The simple headshot is a pleasing capture of the model. I like the slight smile and the lighting is controlled. The print actually looks gentler than the online version so good control here. The burnt out background is a good visual canvas for this image. The smiling image is also fun and it was good to keep talking and working with your model to get the images you need.

Image four

Image four. The model is cheerful looking in this image and the idea of using the doorway to frame the image is good.You did need to better compose and frame the photograph though to make this more successful. Consider moving around some more and also moving further away to better balance the image. You have reflected on the harsh light and this is a difficulty, in the print the detail on one side of the face has been lost, keep looking for this and either fill in the shadows with some flash or reflector to maintain more control.

 

Image five

Image five. This is a very successful image, it has great impact with the dark background and bright colour. The moment looks quite spontaneous and the close up crop with the very direct gaze is very engaging. The print is bold, the red of the jacket is very saturated?

 

Image six

Image six. Well seen moment here and this time the background helps to tell the story. I would like you to further consider how this image differs from the others as it is the only one where the model does not look directly at the camera. From the point of view of the 'viewer', I wonder whether there is more of a disconnect with the personality of the subject but more of a connection to the activity going on in front of the viewer's eyes? A sense of intrigue perhaps creeps into the picture..This change of connection creates a different atmosphere. You mention wanting the background clearer but I am not sure it would add much to the narrative.

 

Image seven

Image seven. This image is quite different from the others which do appear to be more directed but it does have a energy to it and again the bright pop of colour really directs the viewer. The lighting is quite harsh and in many ways raw.

Your prints are well presented, I would like to understand more about the cropping options you presented as some of the images are square, while others are more traditional 35mm format. Looking back, I think my cropping decisions were based on what I thought would work for the composition rather than looking for a consistent image shape - this does cause problems if I want to build any kind of consistent collection of images? Should I aim for better consistency here?  I would also suggest you clean the printer heads as there are some faint lines appearing across the prints. (Use the automatic function for this). You have produced prints of a good quality and have managed a good translation from the digital to print outcome.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context

The written information is suitable and charts your shoot development and

technical decisions well. I would like to see you connect more with the

research and take some time to look at how others work and then reflect on

this compared to your own work. Agree I need to do this more...

Also consider your decision making a little more, why chose a certain format,

pose, composition and what impact could this have on the viewer?

Suggested reading/viewing

For an inspirational log book (remember this is only one approach, you need to experiment with what feels right for you)

http://www.daneldon.org

Really like the feel of Dan Eldon's website and saddened that he died so young. I've been looking at his Journals in particular and I'm very taken with the mix of media used to capture the his thinking and experiences..I'm intrigued as to how you convert a paper journal to a 'live' version on a website and whether I could make this work for me..particularly when I'm researching an assignment or want to capture the feel of 'study visit '.Certainly, I'm very conscious that the template I'm currently using for this learning blog has real limitations ( not least how I display the images etc. ) but also that I need a structure which reflects a learning process..I notice that some of my fellow students use Wordpress and this may be worth having a good look at though whether it is practical to change over at this stage?

Portrait photographers

Richard Rinaldi

Reneke Dijkstra

Bruce Gilden
www.brucegilden.com

Steve McCurry

Liz Wells (photographic theory)

Prakel, D (2007) Basics Photography: composition. Laussane: AVA Publishing.

Pointers for the next assignment

An engaged submission so please continue this approach. Keep looking at a variety of artists and their bodies of work; I have made some suggestions of useful photographers. Support your technical exploration with critical reading about portraiture and the gaze. Look at traditional art and in particular painting as this is where many of the rules of portraiture have come from. We have been shaped visually by these traditional rules.