Pages

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Photographic Lighting: Portrait Lighting



One of my favorite sections in Photographic Lighting by Bill Hurter that I have just read is about portraits. Portraits are my favorite because they can sometimes tell a story about the person or subject the photo is being taken upon.
Portraits really focus on a person or persons face, depending on your light source. “Portrait lighting imitates natural lighting. It is a one-light look. In other words, even though numerous lights may be used, one light must dominate and establish a pattern of shadows and highlights on the face.” (Hurter 56). Which means that for a portrait photo to stand out, you need a dominate light that just focuses mainly on the subjects face.
This first photo was taken by me for our portraits assignment in photo 1. It’s a really great quality picture, but not taken professionally. It was taken on my phone. The photo was taken outside during a nice day but it was a little cold, so the lighting is alright for what the weather had given us. But her skin looks a lot paler then it actually is. The one thing I actually love about this photo is that it tells a bit of a story. Now what story is that? It depends on how you see it.
 

These next 2 photos were recently taken with my new camera, given at Christmas, a cannon rebel. Which makes it a lot more fun and interesting when it comes to taking photos. These are also portrait photos, in a different style. “Lighting is like painting: no two people do it alike. Because individual techniques can vary so widely” (Hurter 74). They are both taken out in the snow during winter break. This is my version of a portrait photo because all of the light focuses on one thing, the subjects face. But also has a bit of background in both to tell a little bit of a story.
From this chapter, Hurter has taught me that portrait photos do not have to be taken with a light source, and that it’s ok to have limited resources, and what you have to work with is what you have to deal with, but it can make a photo more interesting. Because it shows how a photo can turn out super great when your lighting can be super terrible. 
 
Hurter, Bill. The Best of Photographic Lighting: Techniques and Images for Digital Photographers. 2nd ed. Buffalo, NY: Amherst Media, 2006. Print
What type of story can you interpret from these photos?


0 comments:

Post a Comment