The Digital Portrait

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Expression of the Human Form

The Digital Portrait

What makes a successful portrait?

What can artists convey through portraiture?

Self Portraiture

Self-Portrait, Judith Leyster, 1630

Self-Portrait, Gustave Courbet, 1843

Self-portraits are representations of an artist crafted by the artist themselves- drawn, sculpted, painted, and photographed.

Self-portraits have been around since the earliest times, but became more frequent in the mid-15th century when better and cheaper mirrors became available.

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PHOTOGRAPHY:

Things to Consider what Capturing the Human Form:

• Who is your subject? What do you want to say about them?
• What's going on in the background?
• Pay attention to lighting- do you want a silhouette? side lighting? subtle lighting? What kinds of moods will different lighting create?
• Think about clothing. Clothing can make or break the mood/effect of a photo. Same goes for props.
• Do you want a candid shot or a traditional portrait? Candid shots can create emotions and stories that a traditional shot can't.
• Cater to your subjects personalities!
• Keep in mind... a portrait isn't always a face... just usually :)
• A portrait can also be a SERIES of portraits... nobody said you have to tell a story with only one shot :)

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PHOTOSHOP:

(like this one? :) There's a tutorial here if you're driven!)

Things to Consider When Processing Your Photos:

• Photos can use a touch up in photoshop 95% of the time. Even if it's just a minor lighting adjustment.
• Filters can be used to bring out elements of your portrait that help to tell the subject's story.
• We know how to select objects, put things in new layers, and fill in the color of certain areas. This technique can be used to make a poster-like effect like the last one by Shepherd Fairey above.
• You can change the backgrounds, or add in other props, but make sure they're adding to the portrait and not taking away from it...

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YOUR ASSIGNMENT: 

Create a collection of portraits, including at least 1 self portrait, using any or all of the tools we have learned about so far. This includes the tricks we learned about photography AND photoshop! (A "collection" is at least 6.... although you may choose to do more)

• At least 6 finished portraits
• at least 1 of the 6 should be a self portrait
• portraits can be abstract representations, artistic representations, traditional representations, repetitive representations... if you're not sure if something counts, just ask!
• portraits should be QUALITY photographs taken by YOU with good lighting, composition, and technology (don't use crummy cell phone cameras... some are high quality- make sure you know the difference).
• portraits should undergo some kind of photoshop process, whether it be lighting/color alterations, background changing, filter application, or intense layering.
• At least 1 portrait MUST use layering.

Due on Flashdrives at the end of class on

Monday, May 20th.

(all 6 images)

Eye Levels

Composition Trick Alert!

You can change the entire feel of a photo just by changing your point of view.
Lay on the ground to get a BELOW EYE LEVEL photo
Stand on a chair to get an ABOVE EYE LEVEL photo
Rent a helicopter (or a spaceship) and get an AERIAL photo!
Or, sometimes, standing at your regular height and getting an EYE LEVEL photo is all that's needed.

Examples below...

Aerial view of the East Coast (this is also a NIGHT photo!)

At regular eye level- who doesn't love penguins?

Below eye level. Worlds tallest and smallest dogs.

Another below eye level- this is also a WIDE ANGLE photo

This is WAY Below Eye Level- poppies

Above Eye Level- This photographer used a Fisheye lens, that's why it looks like a bubble!

Composition Trick: Depth of Field

Changing your Depth of Field can give your photo an entirely different feeling. I encourage you to play around with it on your own cameras.

Please create a blog post explaining to me what Depth of Field is in your own words, and how you might use it in your own photography. LABEL IT DEPTH OF FIELD and TRICKS

Include example images of high and low depth of fields, spend some time looking for these. It's very easy to just type "high depth of field" into google and take the first one that pops up, but I'm hoping you'll really explore the many ways in which this can be used and choose a photo that fits your own style.


Quick Refresher:
Depth of field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph.

A large depth of field means that a large area both in front and behind your main subject will appear sharp. A shallow depth of field implies that anything other than your main focus point will appear blurred. A smaller f-stop (F2) will create a shallow depth of field. A larger f-stop (F11) will create a greater depth of field