Week 3 Blog Forum

Topic 1: Two Portrait Subjects

Mary Andrews

As a therapist, Mary helped hundreds of individuals, couples and families become better functioning people, and as a university instructor/clinical supervisor, she helped hundreds of graduate students become better functioning therapists.  Her compassionate yet no-nonsense approach works well with her mutually respectful and easy-going presence.

Now that she is retired, the best place to shoot her would be outside at her home on the Willamette River. She absolutely loves Oregon and its outdoor beauty. A good prop might be a book that she wrote with her husband, also a retired university professor. She is an avid reader, so the book would represent both her love of reading and a professional achievement. I might shoot her reading that book on her bench along the river. Or if possible, I would shoot her on that bench talking to someone she is undoubtedly comforting. She is still there for others as a safe person to talk to, and she enjoys that role even now.

I will call her to find out if she will be available next week.



Jordan Hill

As a certified diamontologist, Jordan is passionate about making engagements special for her clientele by making sure they get the perfect rings for their future fiancees. She truly enjoys selling diamonds/diamond rings to her guests and advising them on how to make the proposal special by getting the perfect stone/ring to best represent their relationship and personalities.

The best place to shoot her would be at work, sitting behind a case of engagement rings. A good prop would be chosen from the tools she uses to show or inspect diamonds. I might try to capture her in a pose showing engagement rings as if I am the person she is showing rings to and explaining the characteristics of quality diamonds. I would also try to capture her dynamic personality, positive nature and genuine excitement about her work.

I will text her to find out if she will be available next week.



Topic 2: Self-Critique

The best photo I have taken for class so far is what turned out to be a portrait of Lisa. I am still very new to shooting people, so it took a lot of frames, but I felt like on that one, I captured her with a warm, genuine smile. Plus, with a neutral background, the photo looked good as a portrait.

The worst photo I have posted so far has been the one of Tyler because it looks like he has metal antlers coming out of his head. I felt like I shot him in a good location, but I should have been shooting from a different angle, where his head would have been free from that type of distraction.

I need to improve my camera knowledge as well as composition of “human” photos. It helps to see all of your critiques of photos in class (taken by both students and professional photographers). That is a great teaching tool for me as I am a visual person, so just reading about techniques is not as effective for me.