Work Diary - Back of Head Portraiture - Location

Evaluation

Taking photographs of people's heads on location was a lot more difficult than when I was in the studio. We were asked to put the camera in a setting that allowed us to blur the background of our subject. This task sadly was a lot more challenging than it seems. It took me multiple attempts at trying to correct this which meant that I ended up with a lot of pictures that all looked identical. The perks of taking pictures of the back of people's heads on location however was the variety of backgrounds that I was able to choose from. My favourite one was the brick wall, which I have presented  below as being one of my more successful pieces of photography.

Positioning Frankie to the left side of this frame was a success in my eyes. Doing this enabled me to capture the different shades and tones of colour in the brick wall. If I'd have placed her in the middle of my frame, the background wouldn't have been as effective as it would've been wasted. Her light hair bounces off of the backdrop and each strand is visible, meaning that this was an appropriate background to locate her in front of. I also succeeded at blurring the background in this picture.

This photograph of Josh however was an overall disaster. I have placed his head on the left side of the frame to, once again, show more of the background, however there isn't much to show really. The background I chose was random and ineffective as you're able to see inside the tinted glass along with seeing the reflection. This meant that the background had  jumbled up features and therefore holds no photographical purpose. Furthermore, the white beam on the glass is being overlapped by Joshes head. It interrupts with the subject, so spoils my photograph.

Progression

If I were to further the quality of my photographs, I would change the location to one that had more than just a flat background like a brick wall and glass window. I'd locate my subject in a 3D area for example a lake or the woods which would both exhale different vibes. The lake would represent peace and tranquility whilst the woods would represent spookiness and mystery. I'd also attempt to perfect the blur of my background to ensure I had a collection of decent photographs. Below I have demonstrated three examples of the kind of pictures that inspire me. I'd like to take photographs that look just as professional as the ones below. I also believe that the hairstyles and clothing contribute to the quality of a picture so if I were to reshoot this topic I'd improve all of the features that I've identified.