Stranger
The first instruction of the portraiture brief was to take a photograph of a stranger. Similarly to the work that I researched by Richard Avedon and Martyn Scott, I wanted to photograph my subject when they were in a natural state and not posed.
To take this photo I used a 18-135mm lens and created a shallow depth of field so that the focus of the photo remained on my subject. This is my favorite photo of this brief as I feel it looks the most appealing in terms of focus, depth of field and colour.
Myself
The second portrait of the brief was of myself. To do this I set my camera on to a tripod and pointed it at a large mirror, zooming in so that the mirror frame was not visible. This allowed me to see whether or not I was in the frame and in focus without the need to be behind the camera. I then instructed a friend to press the button to take the photo.
I also experimented with light for this shot, keeping the room dark and using a single light from below to emphasise the face. My original photos for this part of the brief involved me smiling and posing for the camera, however this one was taken without my knowledge as I was adjusting the light position, and I feel it worked better as a portrait as it was a candid moment, rather than a posed photo.
Familiar Person
Finally I had to take a photo of a familiar person. To fit a similar theme to my previous two photos I decided that I wanted to photograph my younger brother in a natural and genuine state. To do this I set up my camera and changed the settings to take multiple shots at once to ensure that I had a variety of photos of a single moment. I then made him laugh as soon as I pressed the button and captured a range of facial expressions, the one shown in this photo being the most representative of my brother as a familiar person.
This is my least favorite photo of the brief as I was limited with props and colour because this photo was taken in my family home on a spontaneous trip, meaning I was not prepared and the photo was relatively unplanned.