I decided that another experimental shoot would be useful. Through this project I will be photographing different people in different places. Although the first shoot was successful, I need to try more in different location and lighting conditions. For this shoot my friends had met at a friends house. This was the perfect opportunity to practice a shoot without much planning.
It was night so I had to rely on ambient light that was available in the room. There was only a few wall lights so I had the subject stand quite close to them. Once I had corrected the exposure I like how the light created some dramatic shadows on her face. We tried a few different positions to see if we could create more interesting compositions.
The main thing I struggled with in this shoot was creating a narrative of who she was and what she was doing. With the last shoot, Jordan was a gamer and this is clear to represent. Whereas my model here has recently finished university and not sure where to go next with her life. I thought the best way to portray this was quite gloomy looking images, with a blank facial expression. But I do not think this is clear in these photos. I asked a few people what they thought these images showed and no one was clear on its meaning. Again this is making me question my project and how I am going to represent this awkward stage of life. In both shoots I have gotten quite close to the models face, focussing on their features and expressions, but I think I should take a step back to consider their surroundings in the frame.
These photos are successful as portraits but again show nothing about the subject so would not work in this project. I like the style of portrait though as the lighting makes it quite atmospheric. It creates some interesting shadows on her face. I will consider other ideas on how to show more of a story in each of these shoots, firstly by taking my photos from more of a distance.
Lucy Davis 