I have done a few shoots now as part of my new idea. I have put all the final images on the same page so I can reflect of what works best. Unfortunately there is a few shoots that were not successful, but it was something I could not control. I can control the reflection to some extent by choosing a specific time of day and changing the angle I am shooting at. But what I can’t change is what is behind me and that is what makes a lot of images not good. For example in one there was nothing to make an interesting reflection and in another there is too much that it is distracting from the main subject.
From my latest shoots and feedback from a group tutorial, having the subject not look at the camera and not smiling is so much more effective than in the ones were they look happy. It fits better with the context that they look more unhappy. Other feedback from the tutorial was positive though. The obvious point they said is that I need more portraits. I do have a few more people available to do it. There was also an idea that I could go back and photograph the same person more than once. I could see how they have changed and when displayed together could show that they have been there for a long time. I thought about this idea but sadly in the last few days one of the people has had to get tested for Coronavirus, I also took photos of her dad who lives in the same house. Because of this I think it is best to stay away from that house. Unless I find more people to let me take more than one picture, I might have to rule out this idea.
As I found out in some of my visual research, other photographers have found most people to photograph through social media. The people I have photographed so far has been friends and family so I decided to post on my Facebook and Instagram. I posted this message above followed by the successful images I have taken so far. I have asked my family to share the Facebook post so it can reach more people. Hopefully I get enough response to have a lot of portraits to choose from at the end.
Lucy Davis 