Portraiture Shots

To get the best out of my portraiture photography, I decided to go and shoot a friend's band. This was on the 29th of December when they were releasing their E.P! They were very welcoming and grateful for the pictures. Also after looking up some techniques at this website i had the confidence to shoot the band in full manual.

Therefore I took my Canon 600D to shoot with and my 4GB SDHC Memory card and two lenses. These were my 18-55mm IS Canon lens and my 70-300mm IS /Macro Tamron Lens.

I had to be aware of quite a few precautions such as slipping as it was in a pub with many drinks, tripping over wires, being pushed into the band. Also i chose not to take the tripod as there would be too many people and not much space as the camera would've been pushed over.

Therefore i ended up taking around 565 pictures within the 4 hours. These were of 2 bands - The 5 Days Of November & Dizzy Missile. Then when I had came back home, i had narrowed the lot down to 74 images. Then I had a try and edited them to give them a vintage look. But they did not suit the theme of it being a band shoot so I just kept the originals. Then I narrowed the selection to 33 images Here are a few of those images...

I edited these pictures using photoshop cs5 using a mac. Some of the techniques i used to edit these were: adjusting the curves, adjusting the vibrance, adding a fade around the close-ups, cropping and changing the saturation. But i chose not to keep them like that because I would have lost out on the band style atmosphere and colours.

This image is a good portrait i shot as it shows the musician in a glaze at the crowd and also because he is toned and exposed correctly at the scene and with the theme. 

This is also a good shot I took because The composition has the rule of thirds involved. It has the fans on the sides whilst having a viewpoint of behind the crowd.

I thought this photograph was a well structured shot too because you have the guitarist focussed and the drummer out of focus at the back but you also have a very good angle to the shot.

This was one of my favourite shots because it has the lead singer in full focus and then the composition of the two other guitarists concentrating. This again, has the rule of thirds in place.

I thought this was a very good portrait because the shot included motion and a very dramatic shot of the lead guitarist. Also the background of the scene was fussy which suited the theme.

I thought this was also a very decent shot as the drummer was in full focus where as his kit was out of focus. The back wall also added the nice touch of filling the scene.

This shot of the lead guitarist is excellent because he has full focus on his face with perfect lighting of the atmosphere and also you have the motion of his hand struming the guitar. Not to mention the composition includes the microphone.

Seeming to be a very characteristic shot, this photo shows the band culture with the highly recognised converse pumps but also you have the wires and leads of the amps wiring around his feet. 

My Statement Of Intent...

Purpose of the photography to be undertaken

The reason I am taking this level 2 photography course from City & Guilds is because I have a passion for capturing life. Also I have done the Level 1 course. I also can't help it to correct the mistakes of any amateur holiday photos as they don't create a good story as a photo taken the right way.

Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from the work of others)

I have selected nature as it is the most natural and beautiful way of showing the Earth. Especially the theme that I have chosen - Macro Life "The Hidden World". I love visiting the wildlife that man can't see without getting on his hands and knees. The most surreal looking environmental photos i think can be revealed in macro photography.

The reason I have chosen portraiture is due to the interest of capturing people's lives at their best moments. Also I can easily plan days out with my friends and photograph them whilst at the same time including my nature photography. This will be even easier as I live in Rolleston and it is partially in the countryside.

The photo imaging equipment and medium that will be used and why?

For this I will be using my Canon EOS 600D with it's 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens Kit and also my Tamron 70-300 mm lens. Memory wise i will be using an 8GB SDHC card ideal for shots and film. Also I will be accommodating a Velbon tripod too.

Techniques that will be used and how they will help convey the visual message

Some of the techniques that I will use will be "Leading Lines" that could be used on trees, "Black and White" which will give a themed look to the image, "Rule of thirds" for small insects. These techniques will be used a lot more than another as they will bring more towards conveying the visual message.

How light quality can be used to help convey the visual message
I will not be using any flash as the first shoot i will be doing will be outdoors as natural shots (natural light) and then after that i will not be using flash even though it will be indoors, the images will not come out well at the band shoot because there will be many lights flashing wen they are playing. And yet again I wont be using flash for the mountain biking shoot therefore i will need to make sure that there is optimal natural light available for each shoot.


Safety Considerations
Some conditions that will have to be taken under consideration are as such:

• Being environment aware for bumps and nudges.
• Being safe myself for any suspicious characters/actions to prevent theft.
• Being careful not to be running when in a dirt rocky zone for mountain biking otherwise I may drop my camera.
• Must strap my bag on properly incase i drop it and all of my equiptment.
• Must keep the camera away from drinks when photographing the band incase of spillage and internal corruption.