Reflection: One of my favorite forms of photography is portraits and this assignment ticked all the boxes, from candid to formal. I struggled with what to include. I believe these are my best/most appropriate shots.
My favorite photo is the formal/posed. I had in my mind a very Norman Rockwell/Saturday Evening Post vibe and I think it came close. There were serious challenges, however. I bought a small lighting kit. After about an hour and a half/two, when my model/friend had already left, I loaded the shots into LR and EVERY SINGLE ONE was blown out from the lights. Somehow that didn’t really register on my camera during the shoot. As a result, this photo represents the deepest LR editing I’ve done to date, from crop (I used the constrain to image tool) to very localized exposure fixes. One thing I couldn’t manage, though, is getting the reflected lightbulb out of the dryer glass. In the end, I learned a lot and feel good about the photo.
One observation about this assignment is that I edited every photo, to some degree or another because I felt the B&W balance needed it. My aesthetic is definitely to lean more towards heavy contrast. I like the extremes. With shots in color, from earlier assignments, though, I didn’t always see the need for so much LR work.
A giant takeaway is that in the portrait/formal, I think tethering to my computer would help avoid 300 blown out shots…or at the very least, taking a break and putting things into LR to see what’s what.
*I included a bonus shot of my dog…b/c she’s the best and deserves to be seen!
Formal/posed portrait – Laundry Night
JDB_Laundry Night_Nick Armstrong, NoHo, Nov 15, by Josh DuBose (1/4, f3.5 ISO 320)
Environmental portrait – Jamie @Work
JDB_Jamie (bartender)_Whole Foods, Stage 71, bar, Burbank, CA. Nov 2018, by Josh DuBose (1/30, f4.8, ISO 500)
Candid portrait – Shelley Reading
JDB_Shell Reading, Nov 8, 2018, living room, NoHo, CA. by Josh DuBose (1/6, f5.3, ISO 400)
Self-portrait – Caught Spying
JDB_Self-portrait, crank lantern, Nov 18, 2018, NoHo, CA. by Josh DuBose (1/15, f3.8, ISO 250)
BONUS POTRAIT
JDB_Abby @Rest, Nov 8, NoHo, CA., naps, by Josh DuBose (1/6, F5, ISO 200)