Series Strengths and Weaknesses

Tents

Strengths -

I would say the strengths of my tent image is that it looks visually how I wanted it to look with the tents replacing houses and the neighborhood being the underpass. The overall colour of the tent image is cold and the greys of the underpass emphasis the dingy conditions they live in. I think the little details and textures of the wall behind the tents give the image context of an urban setting which works well as I am addressing a topic which is happening now. Another strength is how I have correlated the colours or features of the tent image into the portraits themselves.

Weaknesses -

The low lighting of the underpass has left me with some unusually placed darker marks where the images have been merged together which if I had enough time I could have corrected in postproduction. I feel as though if I had a little team of people with me I could have used studio lighting outside to light the underpass tents to create more drama to the images however I only had myself and didn't feel as though it would have been safe to be carrying around all the equipment myself.

I'm not sure whether it is me or the camera but even at a low ISO accompanied with a slow shutter speed I am still getting a lot of grain with all of my images but more specifically this image. I think that I need to have the ISO calibration checked within my camera as I feel as though the overall quality of the image is letting me down. I shot this image at a low ISO of 200 which is why I am so confused with the grain.

I think if I had more time to shoot I would have liked to have gone out to shoot the tents again to be able to measure the distance as I was as far back a distance from the tents as I possibly could have been but obviously the different underpasses have different distances from the tents which made the overall edit difficult because of the perspectives. A tape measure could have been handy.

The floor pavement is also a weakness within the image because of the different perspectives the floor paving doesn't line up well. I think that if I had more time I could have manipulated the floor to match up better or just simply replaced the floor but this would have taken a lot of time and I wanted to have more time on my portraits instead.

First image on the left

Strengths -

One of the strengths of this image is the colours. The urban greys of the background and the blues of the subjects jackets create a cold tone to the image which create a frame for the focal point of the pinky face. Through post production the pinks of the subjects face reflect the cold conditions they were in which works well contextually.

The overall central composition of the image combined with tight cropped frame draws focus to the face which was my intention. The focal length which the image was taken at doesn't make the subjects face flat and creates a more dynamic image as a result. The position of the subject looking directly into camera works appropriately with my intentions for the image as you feel as if there are no boundaries and the viewer and the subject are looking at each other with a mutual respect with his friendly smile. Though if the image were captured a second later I feel as though I wouldn't have captured the genuine essence of the subject.

The form of the subjects jackets help to emphasis the focal point of the image as the jackets open up closer to the subjects face as if it has been unzipped to reveal the subjects face. Textures play an important part to this image as the zig-zag scarf helps break up the larger areas of flat colour and corresponds to the varied highlights and lowlights of the grey hair.

The post production edit on the image creates an eye-catching style as the subjects features are drawn out to present the idea that we are all the same, warts and all. The gradual soft blur emphasizes the sharpness of the subjects face which creates an appealing image as the viewer is guided to where I want them to look.

Weaknesses -

Lighting in the image isn't appealing as the shadow across the subjects face from their nose isn't over enough to the right to create a Rembrandt style lighting which could have worked well with his image and isn't over to the left enough to create a smaller loop lighting around the nose which would have made the subjects nose look smaller and more true to life. I could have corrected this in shoot by moving over a fraction to the left or right.

Centre image

Strengths -

Lighting is a key factor in this image as the lighting falls directly into his face which makes the image so much more dramatic as the shadows created accentuates his features. The lighting also allows us to see the tent in the background which has a nice depth of field to it as it doesn't draw focus away from the subject.

I feel as though the composition of this image compared to the other two images is dynamic that it is different but still works with the series. The subject falls nicely to the right side of the frame but not enough so that he is lost in the frame, the position which the subject is in creates a "majestic" look to the image accompanied by the depth of field brings this feeling forward even more. When I was speaking to the subject in the image he had a very strong Scottish accent and he told me how far and long he travelled and I feel as though I have captured the look that the adventurous and daring man had.

The textures in the image help to create a much more interesting frame, the fluffiness of the subjects hat is juxtaposed by the ruggedness of the subjects ginger beard, both which frame his face.

Colour plays an important role in the success of this image as the analogous colours of the background help draw focus to the subjects contrasting orange beard. The purple colours within the subjects hat and the gingerness of the beard correlate to the colours of the tent in the image below which helps create a visually strong series.


Weaknesses -

The printed version of the print brought out a lot of magenta colours in the subjects face which you cannot see with the digital version which if I had more time I would have liked to go back into the edit and take away the magenta and reprint. 

The subject in this image is looking across the frame to the left which if I had time I would have liked to have taken multiple shots with the subject in the same position just with his eyes looking the other way as I feel this would have create an even more dynamic frame. 

Furthermore, I think even though this image has a different composition to the image compared to the other two portraits in the series I don't think that the series is weakened by the image. Though I have had people suggest that all the image should have had the same composition style to it.

Right Image

Strengths -

The key aspect to this image which makes it successful is the facial expressions captured, the subjects eyes beam kindness which reflects the person that I spoke to. By having the subject looking directly into camera creates a connection between the viewer giving them an undisturbed look at the subject leaving them time to identify or not identify with the subject in the frame.

The colours in this image have cost me a lot of time with tweeking and retweeking them over and over until I was finally happy with the overall look. The white background behind the subject made it very difficult to try and get the same style of edit as the other two images in the series which after deciding against darkening the background made it easier. The overall look and colour of the image works well as the cold tones of the background and the blue strip on the subjects jacket create a cold environment similar to the other images. Also by changing the red strip on the subjects jacket to blue helps tie in the tent image and this image together by sharing a common feature. The brightness of the background and the light being on in the tent image also help create that connection with the two images. 

Weaknesses -

The focal length which this image was taken at isn't as appealing as in the left image as the subjects face looks slightly too flat in comparison. Perhaps with a slightly different focal length this maybe have made the image more successful or by taking the image from a different angle too would have personified the dimensions I wanted for the image.  

The lighting in the raw image was very dark, which after editing to the same style which the others are has brought out a lot of unwanted noise in the image which defiantly lets it the image down. I would have liked to have taken another image using the light from the sun however the subject was positioned under the underpass and I felt it to be disrespectful to ask him to get up and be my puppet so I worked with the situation that I faced. 

Series as a whole 

Strengths & Weaknesses -

I think the series as a whole works well together and after looking into the different aspects which makes a successful series of image I believe that I also have created an interesting portraits series which discusses current events and addresses them by using the medium of photography. The two images at the side help to create this feeling of a series as they share similar photographic qualities which I have tried to replicate this idea into the large tent image also as going into creating this idea of a "tent city" with my series of portraits could have felt too separate and not a part of the series. By changing something simple like the colours in the series helps to draw in the idea of it being a series and linking the images all together.