Work Diary - Back Of Head Portrait (Studio Shoot)

This session was quite interesting at first but then soon got boring. We were given three backgrounds to use and we had to use each other to take good pictures. This was fun at first but after a while, it got repetitive because there wasn't much I could do with the back of someone's head. My pictures became very similar with the difference of the coloured backgrounds. I tried changing the angles of the camera and moving around a bit, I even tried using a prop but I still think it was all too similar. I was limited to the different angles in which I could position my subjects' heads at because I wasn't allowed to show their faces in my photographs so this was another challenge. I tried moving the camera up and down to see if the picture would look good if the top of my subjects' heads were showing.

However, the session was successful as this picture, among others, came out pretty good. This is because her head really stands out; her blonde hair is a huge contrast to the black background and it looks like it's glowing. The pink prop also stands out from the background, ensuring that the viewer will be concentrating on my subject rather than the background. The lighting was focused on her to achieve the effect of her blonde hair shining and glowing, it almost looks gold. I wanted to do this so that the background is barely noticeable, almost as if it's not even there, making my subject look more important and stand out incredibly well. This is why I used the pink feathered scarf, so that it takes even more attention away from the background and shows contrast with the my subject's hair, making the picture more attractive and colourful to look at.

I don't think this picture was one of my good ones because my subject's hair is the same colour as the background so you can't really see the back of his head. His jacket is also blending in with the background, preventing the viewer to see him clearly. The pink prop, unlike the picture above, did not help make my subject stand out, although it does show contrast. Perhaps, I could have used better lighting and manipulated it differently as the left side of my subject is darker than the right side, which further makes him lend into the background. I could also have used a different coloured background; maybe a white background as this would have contrasted with my subject's hair, jacket and the pink prop.

If we had the chance to repeat this session, I would use props and make sure I have more backgrounds to choose from. This will allow me to take pictures which aren't similar and I can be much more creative. I would also try and have different hairstyles so that the pictures can vary a little bit more.

I could use props in my pictures to make it more exciting.

I could also capture a picture whilst my subject is doing something, for example, tying up their hair or brushing it.