Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Famous Portraits



Richard Avedon’s portraits feature dead center subjects and sometimes very odd props like elephants or bugs. His photos also feature many contrasting shades that make the subjects and overall photos much stronger. I chose this photo because I really liked the strong contrast between the woman’s skin and the elephants, which made her stand out. The elephants not only made a very interesting prop, but also a great item for contrast to make a more dynamic photograph.


Arnold Newman’s photography style includes mostly black and white with many shade/color contrasts. Taken at different angles and some taken with busy backgrounds that give context and story to the photograph. I chose this photo because of it’s strong composition that uses not only the rule of thirds but also has very strong contrasts with the pale background and the richness of the red and blue of the man’s suit.


Annie Leibovitz photos use vivid and interesting colors add an almost fairytale like feeling to many of her photos. Some photos shot like candids where person is in the middle of an action. I chose this photo because I found the color scheme very interesting and I liked how they used the portrait strategy where you play with the eye contact of the subject, in this instance the subject is looking at a book instead of the camera.

Portrait Strategies

My Five Favorite Portrait Strategies:

Obscure Part of Your Subject: Frame parts of the body that you want to be focused in the picture using a piece of cloth or clothing.

Introduce a Prop: Add a prop to add a story to the photo, but don’t detract attention to the main subject.

Break the Rules of Composition: Playing around with rule of thirds by putting things at the edge of the shot or dead center can make an interesting photo.

Experiment with Lighting: Playing with light and light exposure can create different moods for the subject.

Shoot Candidly: Take photos of the person actually doing something will almost always look better than a posed shot of someone doing something.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Signs of Fall

This photograph was taken in my elementary schools garden for an in class project on the signs of fall. This photo shows the compositional strategy of background blurred, which gives the subject (the flower) all the attention. I chose this photo because I think that not only the composition is strong, but it also has very vivid and beautiful colors.

Compositional Strategies


This photograph of a sheep shows the composition strategy of rule of thirds, which features an uncentered subject to diverge the eyes from the center. I chose this subject because I was looking for an almost humorous shot, and I think I achieved this. I chose to upload this photo because I believe it shows strong compositional strategy and also is a cute and funny photo of a sheep.