Techniques: Location Portraiture: Work Diary Evaluation -

Location Portraiture - 

Equipment Used:
Canon EOS 450D, standard lens, tripod.

Settings:
Landscape shooting mode.

Lighting:
Projector in an unlit room.

Theory:
I interpreted the brief of location portraiture and adapted it to fit my own idea of combining 'studio' and the location. My idea was that I would project the landscapes of significant places on to a subject to show the importance and hold they have over them. It was also a study into the subconscious to understand which places held their past, present and future. Therefore, I began combining both the temporal and spatial contexts of their memory and allowed others to more deeply understand the subject.

I used five images: home, important place, travel to, aspirational and learning process as the brief which I allowed the subject to interpret as freely as they wished. I then gathered the appropriate images and projected them.

Favourite:

This photograph is my favourite of this series only marginally compared to some of the others. However, the subject is central in the photograph, the eye contact gives a sense of power to the image and the landscape image itself that I used worked more aptly with the projector screen. All of this combined to more accurately infer the idea behind the work. The lighting of this image is far superior to the bottom photograph which is another reason this image is my favourite. 

Least Favourite:

This image is my least favourite of the series as the subject is off centre, the chosen image was not detailed enough to project well onto the subject or screen and the lighting is too dark as a result. If I was to further improve this photograph with the use of Photoshop then I would increase the brightness, begin careful to avoid the over-exposure of the landscape image on the projector screen which would be more sensitive, and also adapt some smaller features using dodge and burn.

Evaluation and Development- 

I find this shoot to be successful in its creative interpretation of the brief; in addition to this the lighting set up was difficult to master when relying on secondary technology such as a projector. Moreover, the ability to expand the technique of location portraiture is so important in that it extends across multiple photographic styles including both of my focuses which are surrealism and fashion. 

I will be employing ideas of location portraiture for shooting fashion on location like in vogue photoshoots. For instance, the idea of possibly creating an Alice in Wonderland, mask based, shoot is one that I could consider leaving the studio and using the technique of location portraiture instead.