Portraiture is one of my favorite types of photography. You can capture so much expression and so much of a story just from someone’s facial expression. This photo is of my sister Hannah, it was taken in New York over winter. So what makes a great portrait? There are basic rules of photography, pertaining to lighting and focusing and the sort, this structure of the photo, commonly referred to as the rule of thirds, and then there is this untouchable element, the human, that is the wild card. The rules and structure are simple to follow, even for the most novice photographer, but this third element is usually where the photo either makes or breaks it. Well, this isn’t an easy question to answer. There is only so much you can do to manipulate someones expression. A good portrait must also reflect on its surroundings and the mood of the light, as well as the person’s intellectual state. I think this portrait of my sister almost captures all three aspects perfectly. Not only is she in a great spot, but the lighting is almost spot on. You can get a great sense of depth from how the lake looks like it continues on and fades into the distance. Her face is outlined by the focus of the lens and her expression says it all. Although her face is relatively small when compared with the rest of the photo, you can tell she is taking in the atmosphere and environment and enjoying her life.
This is a pretty amazing photo. I don't know much about photography, but everything seems to work pretty well in my opinion. Your sister is extremely focused in the center of the image and the background complements her expression very well. I really like how the background fades out and becomes less and less focused. This creates depth as you mentioned which makes the environment seem endless. All in all, the photo appears extremely professional.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty cool. I really like that the picture is in black and white. I don't know why, but I've always thought that it adds a little something to photos to be in black and white. The focus of the picture also draws you eye to the subject of the portrait, which is neat. The background, although it isn't the focus, is very cool as well.
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