Project 9 - Fine Art and Commercial Portraits

Fine Art Photos

Fine Art 1 - This is one of my fine art portraits that I took of my friend, Sydney. In this photo, I turned off all of the lights in the room, so that the firelight would radiate from the back of the image. The natural light from the windows illuminated by model, while casting an interesting blue hue over the whole image. This hue contrasted with the reds and yellows from the fire, making the image more dynamic. 

Fine Art 2 - This is an image I took of my friend, Emily. For this image, I placed my model in front of a black, velvet sheet that was pinned on the wall. I then turned off all of the lights in the room, only allowing a small amount of natural light through the window. Afterward, I placed a desk lamp behind my model's body. By placing the light behind my model, it illuminated the image from the back, creating an almost halo effect around her head. I enjoyed this photo because it brought out many of the beautiful features of my model.

Fine Art 3 - This is another photo I took of my friend, Emily. In this image, I placed her in front of a black, velvet sheet that was pinned on the wall. I turned off all of the lights in the room and only allowed a bit of natural light through the window. However in this image, instead of placing the light behind her, I placed it on one side so that only half of her face would be illuminated. This created many interesting shadows, that brought out her bone structure. To edit this photo, I then changed it to black and white and increased some of the contrast to further enhance her bone structure. 

 Commercial Portraits

Commercial Portrait Magazine Cover - This is a photo I took of my friends, Emily and Sara. The setting for this image was Sara's room, which I found to be a perfect backdrop for a Seventeen Magazine type shoot. To shoot this image, I had very bright light and used my flash to bring out the vibrant colors of the image. In Photoshop, I later enhanced the colors and made the text of the same color scheme. This gave the image a very cohesive and bubbly feel. 

Project 9 - Fine Art and Commercial Portraits - Contact Sheet

In my first fine art shoot, I photographed my friend, Sydney. For these photos, I like the darker lighting, because it brings out the natural light of the fireplace. It gives the photo a very sophisticated feel. Later on, I am hoping to edit these photos to potentially make the fire light radiate from the center of the picture. My second shoot was my commercial portrait shoot. Here, I photographed my friends, Emily and Sara. In this shoot, I was attempting to recreate a kind of Seventeen Magazine Shoot. In these photos, I liked the bright colors and the backdrop of the shoot. While shooting, I tried to keep the lighting very bright and have very clear and sharp images. For my last fine art shoot, I mostly shot my friend, Emily. In this shoot, I used a desk lamp to illuminate different parts of my model and to create shadows. The two photos I am mostly interested in editing are the two with more edits. In these photos, I like the dramatic shadows and different lighting. By changing them to black and white, they brought out the shadows more and gave the photo a more cohesive feel.

Project 9 - Commercial and Fine Art Portraits by Other Photographers

Fine Art Portraits

Fine Art Photography encompases many different aspects in the photo. In the shooting process, the photo is set up in a way with thoughtful lighting and composition. While editing, the photographer makes strategic enhancements in order to fit the mood of the photo. Overall, this type of photo has a more creative and abstract feeling.

Photo by Kyle Thompson

 I found the composition and lighting of this photo very intriguing. I thought it was very interesting how the photographer created the contrast in shapes with the circular background, and the more angular body pose. I also liked how the lighting is coming from the end of the tunnel, creating a leading lines effect, along with a shadowy foreground. I thought it was very effective how the photo follows one color scheme: a brownish-grey hue. This gives the photo a very eerie and dark feel, which is complementary to the composition of the photo.

Photo by Olivia Bolles

I enjoyed the mood and composition of this photo. I like the way that Bolles created a very aetherial feeling by combining the photo of the girl and the flowers and plants. The lighting of the photo is very bright, bringing out the pale colors in the photo. I enjoyed how she combined multiple photos, and thought that the ones she chose had a very cohesive feel. The way she edited these photos was very effective, because the subject of each photo fit very well with the next.

Commercial Portraits

Commercial Portraits focus on a more cohesive feeling. Every aspect of the photo is strategic in order to portray a particular feeling or product. In this type of photography, editing techniques are used to enhance the photo and make it more appealing to the viewer.

Cover by Andrew Eccles

 I thought the approach to this photo was very creative. I enjoy how Eccles combined the image of the skater and the mountain to make this a very surreal photo. It spoke to the setting of the olympics, as well as highlighted the beauty of the sport of figure skating. I also enjoyed the way he enhanced the colors, and made the skater appear very warm. The pose of the skater is also very effective, because she looks very happy and proud, a feeling that is associated with the Olympics.

Cover by Unknown Artist 

I found this cover to be very effective through the editing done by the photographer. I liked the way he enhanced the bright color of her eyes by using more neutral tones throughout the photo. I also think that it is very effective the way he made the writing the same color as her eyes. I also found the placement of the writing on the cover very effective. Most of the writing frames her face to be the focus of the image, but the writing does not take away from the rest of the photo.