This assignment certainly had close-to-endless creative possibilities. That idea was not only exciting, it was a little daunting. No less daunting was the fact that I was paired with photographer extraordinaire: Stephanie. The minute we sat down together, Steph already had her plan for how she was going to shoot me; I was nowhere near having an idea. And when we went into the studio, my ideas were still pretty slim. It was not that I hadn’t thought about the shoot (it was more the exact opposite) it was the fact that I did not know how to use light to convey who I knew as “Stephanie.”
Stephanie is an amazing person. Since knowing her last semester, I’ve been inspired a good deal. She’s explored away from her home of Seattle, Washington, playing volleyball for three different schools, working, and following her passions. She’s incredibly driven to say the least, and I admire her for finding what she wants to do with her life. Steph also gave me some of the best advice I could have ever had last semester about following my heart. Therefore, I see Steph as a very introspective and motivated person. Her tattoo of a turtle represents the Hawaiian word “Hanu” which means “direction.” This tattoo seems fitting for Stephanie’s character. She says that it reminds her that, even through all of her adventures, she’s always known where she wants to end up, always had a sense of direction.
My first picture reveals the tattoo. At the same time I think it captures some of Stephanie’s quiet satisfaction in knowing where she’s headed in life. The portrait was set up with two lights and a reflector. One spot with a blue and green gel was aimed at the grey backdrop from the back right. A large soft box was at the front, a little left of center, at shoulder height. A reflector was placed on the left to insure illumination of the tattoo. The shot was taken at f22 at 125 at ISO 200. I would have liked to see her right side in a little less shadow; a reflector or low-wattage light might have been helpful on the right. I can’t decide if I like the blue-green background. It corresponds to the color of the tattoo, gives a sense of both boldness and serenity, and is also Steph’s and mine’s favorite color. However, it seems somewhat gimmicky. Thus, I don’t know how successful the picture is. Is the blue too overwhelming?
In my second shot, I captured the other side of Steph that I’ve begun to know this semester, the goofy side. She’s an upbeat girl with giggles and smiles and some funny stories. In my second photo, I think I captured this funny side. I shot this photo at f16 at 125, ISO 200 with one light with a barn door on it. I chose the barn door, quite frankly, because I didn’t know what it’s light would look like. I think the specular light is a bit harsh for this photograph and somewhat defeats the lightheartedness of the image. I wish I had used a reflector on the left so that there was not such a difference in stops between the two sides of her face. If I were to shoot this photo again, I would do it in a more high-key environment.
Overall, I think I did an ok job on this assignment. I really felt clueless (i.e. not at all artistic) on how to set up the lights in order to portray the “essence of Stephanie.” I need to work, too, on communicating with my subject while I’m shooting. Stephanie surely helped me by opening up and displaying different emotions, but not all subjects are going to be so honest.
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