An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. The most common purpose of environmental photography is to inform and educate people about how their actions affect the environment.
Mood Board:
AboutEnvironmental Portraits:
A good environmental portrait is a photograph of a person that connects them with their natural surroundings. The photo will provide more of a story about the person than a formal portrait would. A portrait of a person in their natural environment adds depth to both them and the location.
Typology in photography:
A photographic typology is a single photograph or more commonly a body of photographic work, that shares a high level of consistency. This consistency is usually found within the subjects, environment, photographic process, and presentation or direction of the subject.
I have decided that I will capture most of my photos of teachers around the school. This is because they each have a strong profession, and have specific duties to carry out in their job, making my photos look professional.
Where am I taking the photographs?
I am going around the school, to different classrooms and environments. I will capture different environments such as the canteen, classrooms and offices.
What am I taking photographs of?
For my photoshoot, I am going to make the main focus of my images the subject in each photo. I will ensure that the viewer’s eye will focus on the subject, and then move throughout the background. In order to do this, I will need to make the subject engage with the camera so the effect of telling a story is made.
Why am I taking these photographs?
I am carrying out this photoshoot in the school because it has perfect environments that tell stories about the subjects and their professions. In each photo or environment, the viewer gets to see what the subject’s job is really like, and how passionate they are towards it. By doing this, it also allows the viewer to feel closer to the subject.
Butterfly lighting is a type of portrait lighting technique used primarily in a studio setting. Its name comes from the butterfly-shaped shadow that forms under the nose because the light comes from above the camera. You may also hear it called ‘paramount lighting’ or ‘glamour lighting’.
What is the butterfly lighting?
Description: Butterfly lighting is a portrait lighting pattern where the key light is placed above and directly centered with a subject’s face. This creates a shadow under the nose that resembles a butterfly. It’s also known as ‘Paramount lighting,’ named for classic Hollywood glamour photography.
What is the difference between paramount lighting and butterfly lighting?
Paramount lighting is when the light is placed directly in front of the subject at a slightly downward angle, creating a shadow directly beneath the subject’s nose. When the light is high enough, at times this will be called ‘butterfly lighting’ because the shadow under the nose may resemble the wings of a butterfly.
Butterfly lighting dates back to some of the earliest glamour shots. Specifically, Marlene Dietrich, a German silent film actress, who became a Hollywood star in the 1930s, was presented on film in a way that gave this look its name.Marie Magdalene “Marlene” Dietrich was a German and American actress and singer whose career spanned from the 1910s to the 1980s.
What camera is best for butterfly photography?
However, most photographers prefer a DSLR or mirrorless camera/lens combination. I have had good results with my older Canon 7D Mark II but I prefer my current Canon R5 mirrorless camera. This allows focus peaking in manual focus mode, which helps by highlighting the sharply focused edges in a conspicuous colour.
What is the best setting for butterfly photography?
To capture sharp images of fluttering or darting butterflies, a shutter speed of 1/400 and more is advisable. Beginners should better start shooting in S mode or shutter priority mode of the camera. After gathering some experience, they can shift to manual mode.
Why do photographers use butterfly lighting?
Butterfly light creates shadows under the cheeks and chin but adds lots of light to the other part of the face. This can help minimize a double chin and fills in shadows in wrinkles. It’s an easy way to give an older subject a brighter, more youthful appearance.
Marlene Dietrich
(1901-1992)
One of the most popular film and music stars of the 1930s and 1940s, Marlene Dietrich was known for her fashionable style and diverse portrayals of women. She was a firm advocate for the American war effort, contributing much of her time, energy and musical talents to aid the troops. The Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich was one of the most prominent political refugees of her generation, speaking out against Hitler and singing for the US troops in World War II. Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich was a living legend, famous for performances in movies such as “Blue Angel” and “Touch of Evil”.
Jimmy Nelson is an environmental photographer who has travelled the world photographing a variety of different personalities, from places such as Afghanistan, El Salvador and Nigeria.
This is a photo taken by Jimmy Nelson in Mongolia, displaying the Kazakh people and the beautiful environment that they inhabit.
The photo is taken at about sunset, and Jimmy Nelson has positioned himself facing away from the sun, which creates a shaded effect on the vast mountains in the background of the shot. He has also used a wide aperture to capture the mountains. The photo looks like it was originally under exposed, meaning the shutter speed was too fast, but this could have been done on purpose so that, when editing the photo, Jimmy Nelson could turn the exposure up. The ISO could also have been in a higher range as well to compensate for the low lighting level.
This photo also has a distinct grey colour scheme, which gives the photo both a light and a dark tone, as the foreground is more dark and the background is more light. In the foreground, there is a rocky surface below the horse, which adds to the texture of the photo, and gives context as to how difficult the terrain is to traverse. The two men behind the main man who is the focus point of the shot, give the photo a nice pattern too. Generally, the composition of the shot is very well done.
In the photo, you can see there are three men on horses, each with a bird resting on their arms. These men are Kazakhs, living in the mountains in Mongolia, a place infamous for how difficult it is to traverse. Even in this photo you can see how rough and mountainous the landscape is. Clearly, these men have travelled far up to the top of the mountain that they stand on, which gives the photo power and mystery, it is almost like a demonstration of strength. Although, this is what day to day life is like for these men, and this photo is a very good example of environmental portraiture because it is a demonstration of how different their lives are to ours.
The work that Jimmy Nelson has created would have been a very difficult task. He would’ve had to hike up the mountain with the group of men who most likely don’t speak the same language as him. It is incredulous that Jimmy Nelson had willingly put himself through such an arduous trek just to capture the day to day life of the Kazakhs. It also might have been that this photo was not an idea, but more of a photo that is in the moment, a photo that was not planned but taken on the spot as Jimmy Nelson saw it.
This is a photo of a Maasai warrior in Tanzania, a country in the south east of Africa.
Once again, Jimmy Nelson is facing away from the sun and towards the shadows of the hills, except this time it is to capture the vast emptiness of the landscape behind the warrior. It is not clear what time of day this photo was taken, presumably around sunset. The image looks a little bit under exposed, which again could have been done so that Jimmy Nelson could manipulate the photo in photoshop. Also, Jimmy Nelson uses a wide aperture so that the baron landscape behind the man could be captured. The shutter speed would have been fast so that he could capture the warrior while he is walking, which could have been why the image looks slightly underexposed. The ISO on this photo would have been regular because the frame isn’t that dark and is quite bright in colour. The photo is both warm and cold, the warmth comes from the yellow colours coming from the clouds or the desert, but the coldness comes from the dullness and lack of vibrance in the shot.
The texture of the shot is mostly sandy and rocky, which is another representation of the difficulty of traversing these landscapes that Jimmy Nelson captures. The photo is very 3 dimensional as the wide depth of field displayed the vastness of the desert in the background and how far is goes. There is a very clear line between the sky and the land, which also demonstrates how far the land goes as well.
The photo was taken in 2010, although it is generally a timeless photo as tribes like the Maasai have been around for thousands of years and continue the same traditions as they did all those years ago. Even the weapons, such as the spear that the warrior wields, and the shield as well, most likely have been around for centuries. The man is wearing very traditional Maasai clothes and are very unusual and unlike the clothes generally worn in western culture. He is also wearing what appears to be a lions mane around his head, which is a very powerful statement and could be a sign of strength among the Maasai people.
Once again, this most likely was an in the moment shot, which is emphasised by the warriors lack of gaze at the camera and that he is in motion as the photo is being taken. This perfectly encapsulates the essence of environmental photography, to portray a persons life in one shot, and having the warrior unaware of the shot gives the photo a natural feel.
Overall, Jimmy Nelson is an incredible environmental photographer who goes through thick and thin to capture the beauty of the different cultures he finds himself in and the vast landscapes that they inhabit.
For my environmental portraits, I decided to photograph;
in a field
in my kitchen
in my brothers room
in my friends room
in my nans garage
in my nans living room
in my nans kitchen
Who I am photographing
I decided to take photos of;
my friend, I decided to take photos of her in her room as that’s where she spends most of her time.
my mum, i took pictures of her in my nans kitchen making tea as that’s normal for her.
my brother, I took pictures of him playing his play station as that’s all he does, and took pictures of him making food as hes old enough to look after himself.
my nan, I took pictures of her reading as its what she loves to do most.
Oil distributer, i took pictures of him as he came to fix my nans oil.
When am I conducting the shoot.
I carried out this shoot over October half term around jersey. This was best as I had lots of free time.
lighting is the meaning where the light source can be natural or artificial in relation to the position of your subject.
Why do we use studio lighting?
It allows photographers to enable a significant number of photographs and ensure complete light solidity in colour, exposure, and image quality.
What is the difference between 1-2-3 point lighting and whatdoes each technique provide / solve
If there is only one light available then this will become what is called a key light. This is the priority and the most important light in the setup because it illuminates the subject within the shot.
It’s usually the strongest light that has the most influence on the overall look of the scene. It is usually placed to one side of the camera or subject so that the side is well lit and the other side has some shadow
If there is two lights in the kit then the second light after setting up the key light will be the fill light in your set up.
This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is often used to fill the shadows created by the key light to illuminate the subject. The fill will generally be softer and less bright than the key.
The third light in the kit after setting up the key and fill will become the what is called a back light or can also be known as the rim,shoulder light, or hair.
The back light is normally placed behind the subject and lights the subject from the rear.
The back light is the light that makes the shot taken ‘pop’. it provides definition and fine highlights around the subjects outlines rather than providing direct lighting like the fill and key.
What is fill lighting?
If there is two lights present then the second light after setting up the key light will be what is called a fill light.
This is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the so called ‘key light’. The fill is usually softer and less brighter than the key.
Compare and contrast your work to your artist referenceandEvaluation and Critique
As seen from my previous blogs, the one artist that I explored was Vanessa Winship who is the artist I want to compare her work with mine and who’s work that inspired me to produce my own type of work from her work.
Her work is raw. It’s close up, showing the flaws and beauties of a being. Her concept made me inspired so I decided that I wanted to show that rawness in my pictures like she did. Some of her pictures aren’t as close up which I admired because of how she was able to capture the background whilst capturing her subject as a whole.
In colour wise, my picture imitate her’s. I edited my pictures so that they were black and white just like most of her work. I think that the fact that her work is in black and white creates this dramatic effect. However her work has tendencies of showing what the real life looks like, my work wasn’t based off that. In my work i wanted to somehow show that reflection of the past. By using a subject who is a child, i was able to reflect that child figure that people have within them without realising. Showing a child in a park really reflects how things have changed and how missing being a child who went to the park constantly with no worries in the world is very real.
Photographing a subject in a hair salon was with intention of showing an appreciation towards people who work in a salon/hairdressers. I believe that Vanessas Winship’s work shows this sense of under appreciation towards human beings and how unique every single one of them are. As someone who’s mum is a hairdresser, it’s frustrating seeing how under appreciated hairdressers are. How hard working they are and how they aren’t just hairdressers, they are friends and someone who listens to their clients. They give their all and all they get are unrealistic expectation’s. Photographing a hairdresser proudly representing her work shows how genuinely unique and hardworking hairdressers are. I wanted bring awareness to peoples work, especially hairdressers.
Furthermore, I think my work really shows the inspiration that I had from Winship’s work through the use of the subject and the environment they are surrounded by just like Vanessa did. Winship shows the environment that the subject is surrounded by but doesn’t make the environment the main sight. In all her work it is evident that she wanted the subject to be the main attraction and that’s what I did with my work. As seen in my three photos at the start of the blog, the environment surrounding the subject is evident but the main ‘deal’ is the subject. I really liked how Winship did that and I think that I will use that in future projects.
When it comes to my work in general, I think that I did good, of course it can have some improvements but overall my final outcomes were good. One success I had with my final outcomes was how evident the environment related to the subject. For an example, the first picture above where the child is on the slide, I think that it is very clear where the child is and what they are doing. I think that it perfectly represents a child. She is smiling like a child would be in a park and although it isn’t as formal as environmental pictures should be I think that the fact that she’s smiling shows how real the picture is.
Another strength I had with my final outcomes was how still the pictures were. In the three picture above, none of them have blurred parts from movement which is exactly what environmental picture should be like. They shouldn’t show any type of movement. So when it comes to cancelling any type of movement in my pictures, I think I managed to do that.
However a weakness I had within my final outcomes was how in one or two pictures, I felt like the pictures weren’t as focused as they should be. This isn’t good as it doesn’t show this sense of professionality that it should show. This could have been improved by changing the focal lens so that the picture would come out more clear or coming closer to the subject.
