Classmate Portrait-Clint Alwahab

Photojournalism student Clint Alwahab, a self-described "old man", sits with his favorite pipe and a copy of the complete collection of Shakespeare's work during his classmate portrait in the studio at Lee Hills. According to his friends, he is a 60 year old man stuck in a 21 year old's body.

Two light set-up.

For my one light set-up, I set up a medium softbox at a 45 degree angle facing clint’s left side, with the intention of using the Rembrandt lighting. I shot at f/5.0 at 1/250 at ISO 100. Some of my images were quite underexposed because I moved Clint further back without compensating by moving the light or adjusting my aperture. For the first part of the shoot, I accidentally shot on tungsten, and switched to daylight for the latter portion. I am very glad that I wasn’t terribly fond of any of my first shots.

For my multiple light setup I had Clint sit in an antique chair. I used a larger softbox and placed a small light on the ground behind the chair. I used two gels, blue and green, dividing the light in half, and shot at f/11 at 1/250, ISO 100. The strobes were plugged into the A plugs and isolated. My goal was to create a definite division in the colors of the background and place Clint in the middle. Clint is colorblind, so I thought this would be a subtle way to illustrate that without resorting to props. Unfortunately the colors blended more than I estimated, so I have ended up with a bluish-greenish background instead of a blue-green. However, I am pleased with the results because I think the coloring provides for an interesting image.

My only qualm with the image I chose is that his face is slightly underexposed. I did not heed the warnings of my superiors by checking the histogram instead of just the image! Also, I did not realize that the 5D I was using had quite a bit of debris on the sensor. In my submitted image, I corrected the spots but did no further editing. If this is a problem, the rest of the images remain untouched.

An outtake.

My one light setup.

I was very close to submitting this for my final image.

Inspiring Portraits.

Here are a couple of portraits that I feel really capture the personality of the person being photographed. To be clear, these images are not mine, and I am just posting them for educational purposes.

"Matilda" by Robert Henriksson.

How will my life look like in a couple of years? Will I have a job i like? I don´t even know what I like. And that frightens me. –Matilda, 17 years from Uppsala, Sweden

What I like the most about this portrait is that it isn't glamourous. The face is shadow-free, and you can see every blemish. I know I shouldn't get all ooey-gooey about a portrait (sorry, Rita!), but just look at those eyes! This girl doesn't know where life is going, and you can see the uncertainty in her eyes (you can also see a softbox). I think it was positioned high above and to the left of the camera.

And for something a little less haunting...

June Carter and Johnny Cash, property of Annie Leibovitz (but just barely :) )

I want to say that this portrait uses natural light, but with Leibovitz, who knows? I think I see the tiniest catchlight in the upper left of Johnny's pupil. Natural light or not, I think she really captured that quiet moment Rita was talking about in class...that moment where the subject is just inside themselves (am I getting mushy again? Whoops!)

We start studio lighting soon! I think Eve, Naomi and I are going to play around in the studio a bit before we do our actual assignments. There is so much to learn so quickly!

Advanced Techniques...Round One.

My first assignment for my Advanced Techniques class was the copy test. We were to find two images, one in which the lighting created the mood and the other was to be an image with lighting that baffled us. How did they do it!? I'll find out in lab tomorrow.

Also, I am going to post these first images at a smaller size, because they are copies.

Photo by Lori Grinker from "After War". So sad....the backlighting against the green wall makes the scene so lonely.

Stump the chump: an image by Jan Grarup from "Shadowland". I feel like the woman in the photo should be engulfed in the shadows as well, but somehow she is illuminated. I think there is something I am missing.

A favorite from tungsten light exploration: Students finish their meals as the dinner ends at Rollins dining hall. Rollins will close in December for a $2.2 million renovation.

Favorite daylight exploration: Mizzou student Beth Haenni takes a break from the weekend's homework to rest under a tree at Stephen's Lake Park.