Advanced Pro: Assignment #3

Here I am at Assignment #3 already. To prepare for this assignment, I took the opportunity to truly understand the goal of the assignment. After some clarification from Brooke, I understand that the purpose of the assignment is to obtain genuine emotion from my interaction with the subjects that I am photographing. To me, this is a daunting task. I am not a professional photographer and have had little experience doing so but I was up for it. I'll be the first to admit that I felt awkward and self-conscious but I felt it was important to remain true to who I was and what my natural personality is. So I "practiced" a few sessions with some friends...and of course my family.

Below are my 3 favorite images from the different sessions.

This sweet guy is 2 months old; he has a lovely disposition and a proud Mama! (I intentionally had Mama in a softer focus!) At the time, she was recounting an adorable anecdote to me.

For this photo, this young man demonstrated to me what he would do if he were a rock star. I think he is well on his way; don't you?

For this image, I decided to trial a "Beloved" invitation. To be honest, I wasn't sure how the invitation would be received. My first thought was I would capture a goofy response but I was pleasantly surprised to receive a genuine hug between the girls. Aaah, if only all days were like this! (And I am hoping this is rim light I see in their hair too!)

Question for your Brooke: Regarding the processing of this image, I left the white balance as is to capture the glow from the setting sun. But I am curious if it should be lightened? I am also wondering if the image would be more impactful if I cropped it tighter? This image has been uncropped.

Brooke, you asked about the role of the interview. For me, the informal interview both helped and hindered. When I spoke with the parents and/or the subjects, there were no strong desires of the images they wanted captured so I felt somewhat directionless. At that point, I used my posing guide as a guideline. Perhaps I was too easy going? But I like the session to evolve and when the opportunity arises to use a pose on my guide, I went for it. Is that what you do Brooke or do you direct the session more?

Some of the interactive ideas used were props. For the two special young men in the photos, I knew they were budding golfers and rock stars! Other techniques were to speak to them (and my other subjects) about topics that were important to them. Personally when I speak with others about interests close to them, I notice their eyes lighting up and changes the demeanour of their faces. For my daughters, I had them play games they loved; they are used to having their photos taken so when given the opportunity to do whatever they please, they take it!