Work Diary - Back of Head Portraiture

Evaluation

Taking pictures that covered 'back of head portraiture' was really enjoyable on Monday's photography session. Using the studio allowed me to capture pictures with a vareiety of coloured backdrops. I was able to change the background to suit the hair colour of my model. Josh and George were both wearing dark clothes along with having dark hair so they looked best infront of the white and pink backdrops. Frankie was wearing a pink top so looked best infront of the white and black backdrops. It was a challenge to constantly be changing the height of the lights to match the height of the model but this is an unavoidable situation. Although I found taking pictures of the back of someone's head against different backdrops to be entertaining, I found taking the same style of pictures to be quite repetetive and I wasn't able to be very creative. I think that a fancy hair style and outfit would jazz this up.

This photograph was one of my favourites. My reasons for this are that the bright pink backdrop was a colour that allowed the subject in this picture to stand out. Josh's dark hair and jacket compliment well with the candy coloured pink as it reduces the brightness of this picture. If josh was wearing light clothes, too much would be going on in this picture. I felt that the pink backdrop was the most effective out of the three that I used: pink, white and black.

This was another one of my favourite pictures. This is the opposite to the photograph above, as Frankie has light hair with a bright top against a dark backdrop. Her top would have blended in with the pink backdrop, hence why I modelled her infront of this one. I made sure that there was no wasted space in the left side of the frame to ensure that this picture was as effective as it could be. The only thing I dislike in this picture is the black backdrop not being a block of colour. From where I have raised the level of brightness in this picture it meant that the background brightened too, creating light and dark shades in the backdrop. There is also an evident crease in the backdrop which spoils the quality of this photograph.

Progression

Altering the backdrops in the photographs on Monday's session was really enjoyable for me. I would like to experiment with a range of different colours in future for example, the blue one, the orange one etc. I feel that having a bright backdrop means that the photo will stand out no matter what the subject is. Colour always attracts the audience. If I were to make this topic escalate further I would also like to try out different hair styles on the models that I use; my favourite hairstyle is a plait running down the back of the subject. Furthermore, having several heads in a photo could be effective and this would be something that I'd attempt if I were to reshoot this topic. An example of two heads has  been demonstrated in my location progression. Something else that inspires me would be to dress the subject of the picture in a fancy head piece or scarf to give my photographs more interesting features. The pictures that inspire me have been included below.