Straight Images - Walk Two (Back Of Head)

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.

Work Diary - Back Of Head Portrait

For this session, it was quite hard to get used to the camera and get the blurry background in our pictures but this soon became easy as the session progressed. It was fun trying to find backgrounds which would look exciting and make the pictures look exciting. I soon found that the best backgrounds were those which contrasted with the person's head as this allowed me to highlight the details's of the head even more so that it can really stand out. It was important that the the person's head was sharp so that it stands out from the blurry background and makes it clear to the viewer that the person is who they need tone focusing on. I tried achieving this in every one of my pictures.

I think this picture is successful because the background is blurry and the camera has fully focused on the back of my subject's head. This means that the viewer can focus on his head, rather than his surroundings, which is exactly what I was trying to achieve with this image. I also like the contrast between my subject and the background; contrast is shown through the bright green and yellow colours  and his dark hair and black jacket. This really makes him stand out and ensures the viewer automatically pays attention to him. I made good use of the Sun - I made sure the Sun focusing directly onto my subject so that he is highlighted in this image. 

On the other hand, I don't think this picture was successful because the background did not come out blurry. The idea seemed good at first as I thought having two heads would make the picture more exciting but unfortunately, the camera wouldn't focus on both heads at the same time. If this had work, I think it would have been an interesting picture as the orange colour in the background would have contrasted with my subjects. Also, my subjects are wearing clothing with different shades of blue so tone could have been shown; I would have made this image black and white.

If we had the chance to repeat this session, I would capture more than just the head, neck and shoulders. I think this will add more to the picture and show more of the background as well as the person. The viewer will be able to guess the person's mood by their posture or actions. I would also like to spend some time in the studio focusing on this topic - this will allow me to manipulate the scene however I like.

By capturing more than the person's head, I could illustrate their feelings or mood to the viewer.

I could also use more exciting backgrounds like this one and use the person's gestures to match the atmosphere of the background.

Image Bank - Back Of Head Portrait

Photographers sometimes photograph the back of someone's head to create a mysterious atmosphere for the viewer. In most photographs, the background is blurry and this is done deliberately to further add to the mystery of the picture. Using this technique allows the photographer to be creative and choose the best background possible in order to achieve their aims. A plain background can also be used so that the viewer will only be allowed to focus on the head of the person rather than the surroundings.

Straight Images - Back Of Head Portrait

Straight Images - Back Of Head Portrait (Studio Shoot)