Portraits - Shoot 1

Last week I decided to take some photos of some people. These are a few of the pictures that I have gathered.

'Fin'

Ben Manning

2016

When taking this shot, there was a process behind it. I happened to have my camera with me when I was getting ready for a night out with my friends, Fin being one of them. When we prepare for a night out, one this that is essential is that we all play the playstation before going out. Fin was quite intoxicated at the point of this video being taken. The original photo I took of him accidentally had the in-built flash on which gave Fin a completely different look. After I took the first picture, Fin unplugged a cable from his television, which then led to a blue screen appearing which lit up half of his face in a really unique way. My only instruction to Fin was to "Make yourself look pretty" and he did the pose himself. I thought this was a really good picture purely because of the lighting; The way that Fins face is lit, I find very interesting how it is split directly down the middle of his face and also how the out of focus fairy lights down add to the aesthetic of the picture.

'Ella'

Ben Manning

2016

The story of this shot is quite different to the first picture. This was the first picture I ever took of my girlfriend. Ella lives about 2 hours away from where I live so it makes things difficult at times due to the distance. Because of this, I always make sure that I take pictures of her when she is around so I always have a good collection of memories from each time we see each other. This picture was taken at about 3am although you wouldn't instantly think that, the only reason I think that you would realise that it is late is because the curtains are pulled. The lighting I used for this shot was just a single light; I turned off the main light which would usually light my whole room up and instead, turned on the light which is above my sink. I used this light because it has a slight orange tint which projects around the whole room, giving the space a very cozy feel. I tend to use this light a lot more in the evenings because it gives off a homely feel to the room which is a similar feeling I get when Ella comes to visit. I hope this photo shows how the emotion of the photographer can be portrayed through the lighting that is used.

'Act Casual'

Ben Manning

2016

This was the first picture I took of some people I didn't know. I went on a walk in my local park because I thought the colours of the trees and the leaves were really nice to photograph. I'd spent about and hour and a half in the park and decided that I'd had enough shots and started walking home. Just as I was about the leave the park, I stumbled upon this young couple who were sat on a bench. The girl had her head rested upon the boys shoulder and the couple looked very in love. I thought this would be a wonderful picture to get to show the emotion of this couple. I went up to them and asked if they would be willing to let me take their picture. They both looked at each other and nervously laughed at the same time, they did agree although they seemed very sheepish. I told them that they looked really nice and to just forget what I was doing and go back to whatever they were doing before I arrived. What came from it next was the couple tried to recreate what they were doing but this immense awkwardness came about and the couple both had a slight smile which I think is actually quite sweet. I feel like this turned out better than what I originally wanted the picture to be.  

'Sunday Stroll'

Ben Manning

2016

This picture came from when I was on my way back from the park. I was walking behind this old man who was walking at a snails pace. One thing I did like about this man was how he was walking; He had his hands behind his back and he was whistling. This made me pause because it made me think that you hardly see people nowadays just going for a walk to enjoy the scenes around them. I didn't want to disturb this man, I just wanted to capture him as he was so that nothing looked forced like my 'Act Casual' photo. The way I captured this shot was I walked ahed of the man and turned so I was facing him, I then got my friend to pretend to pose for the camera so if the man saw what I was doing, he wouldn't mind because it looked as though it had nothing to do with him. When he was close enough, I angled the camera to the side and captured the shot. I feel as though this picture actually turned out very well. You can see how his arms are still behind his back and he is just minding his own business which I think gives the man a sense of innocence.