Over the weekend i took my first photographs of a disabled person. I took the photographs in the home that she lives in so she would be in a familiar and relaxed environment. I began by getting her to sit in her armchair, where she felt most happy and comfortable sitting.
I started off by setting my camera to the correct setting to create depth of field. This was my first photograph i took, the person had her glasses on the begin with, however you can see that from this photograph, the flash was reflecting in her glasses and so i asked her to take them off so we wouldn't have that problem. Also the flash created shadow behind her hair and earing.
I felt that after she had taken her glasses off, the photographs improved, however there is still shadow from her earing, and looking back on these photographs now i feel that i should have taken the photographs portrait. However at the time i used landscape, so i would get more background in.
When i met up with the photographer, he suggested that i should put something in the background that is personal to the person i am photographing. I tried doing this, placing certain objects in different places, however i felt that this experiment didn't work very well, some of the objects, were looked like they were popping out from her head, and also it is not letting you focus on the person in the photograph, instead the objects in the background, which wasn't what i wanted from the photograph.
After placing things in the background, i felt that it wasn't doing the photo any good having all those things in the background because things were sticking out from her head, which is not what i wanted. Also the things in the background were not making the person centre of attention which is what i want to happen. I took some photographs of the woman sitting in her arm chair, which worked better, however i was still having problems with the shadow as you can see below, it shows the shadow of her hair and earing because the flash wqas being used on the camera. When i take my next set of photographs i will have to find a way around this problem, so the shadow won't show up.
Over all i felt that these photographs could have been improved. I will talk to my tutors about the problems that arose when taking these photographs and ask them how i can prevent the flash from creating shadow behind her, and also what i should put in the background, because i need something in the background to create depth of field. I only took shots of her face, but i wanted to take full length body shots, showing her wheelchair to show that she is disabled, which is something i plan to do next time i retake the photographs. I plan to meet up with her this week to amend the problems that arose at the weekend. We have arranged that it will be just me and her in the room next time i take photographs, because both of us were not completly focused because quite a lot of people were round her house at the time.
I think your pictures look really good. I like the way you have focused your camera so that the background is blured, it makes the face more interesting and highlights the center of the image.
ReplyDeletethankyou :) i will continue to put images on here for everyone to see and comment, good and bad criticism.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos Ashleigh you have some nice portrait shots there.
ReplyDeleteTo solve your harsh shadow problem i would suggest using a diffuser on your flash. if your using the onboard flash then turn that off and use a simple lamp with some white cloth on it so the shadows aren't so strong :) and have the light come from an angle on the face :) Or choose a place where the flash can't cast a shadow.
Good luck with your next shoot.
I really like this, perhaps you could use a tripod and no flash. The slower shutter speed will take in more detail and give a nicer effect for the creases on her face. The Portrait angle works a lot better, focuses in on the person more. :)
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