Portait Assignment

You will shoot portraits during the same time frame as the studio lighting assignment. You can have Thurs/Fri and Tues/Wed to work on these assignments during class. One day you will shoot at school using the lights and the other day you will shoot off-campus. You can, and probably should, take pictures on the weekend as well.

1. Find two interesting human subjects. The people you choose should WANT to be in the picture and they should be willing to cooperate.
2. Talk to your subject. Use colors or lighting to create a concept for your portrait. Costumes or uniforms work great. Imaginary ideas are OK. Choose an interesting setting based on your concept.
3. Change angles between shots. Shoot at least 24 pictures of each subject.
4. Use props if they will help the audience learn something about the subject.
5. Vary the lighting. Use filters, flashlights, lamps, or multiple lights to enhance your picture. Use the different lighting techniques that you will read about in class (see above).
6. Encourage different emotional looks. Pretend you are Austin Powers taking pictures. Tell your subject they are "groovy".
7. Having your subjects "pose" in action is just fine.
8. Most importantly for this assignment don't forget your compostion rules. Use framing, leading lines, rule of thirds, color contrast etc. to enhance your photo. Fill the frame.

Portrait Hints

More Hints

Even more hints












Here is a list of the different types of portraits photos you will turn in:

• A Vignette Photo
• A Grayscale Method Photo
• A One Item Kept in Color Photo
• A selective Focus Photo
• A minimally adjusted photo
• One WHACKY anything goes portrait (change the colors, use the liquefy tool, and make this as unique and interesting as you can)

Finally, you will turn in your best picture as well.