Photo 52: Within the Frame

Classic Portraiture | Headshot {Week 35}

This week we begin our month-long compositional study of classic portraiture. We begin with one of the most classic portraits of all time – the headshot. A headshot typically comprises the head to shoulder area. Making a good headshot portrait is very important and practical, as many people rely on them for business purposes, framed portraits, online profiles, and as their first visual introduction to the world. To the photographer, the portrait is a challenge and extends far beyond the technicalities as we strive to capture the personality, spirit and essence of the person. You can often see how the subject feels by looking at their eyes. As the saying goes, the eyes are the key to the soul.

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Boy and his hat

Photo 52: Within the Frame

 

Color Theory:  Photographer's Choice {Week 34}

 

For this final week of color theory exploration, I chose monochromatic.  During a recent visit to the Highline, I spotted the most adorable friends, laughing and enjoying one another's company.  I couldn't stop watching them and taking photos of their conversation - New York City kids mature well beyond their years.  

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Friendship

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Color Theory:  Achromatic Color Scheme {Week 33}

This week we continue our month-long study of color as we play with achromatic colors. By definition, achromatic means, “free from, or without color" and in photography includes imagery that has black and white tones, with various values of grey.

Below is my oldest son in a rare moment of stillness.  The perfect color scheme to complement the mood of his expression, involves various shades of achromatic grey.

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Still

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Color Theory:  Complementary Colors {Week 32}

This week we continue our month-long study of color with complimentary colors.  Complimentary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as blue-orange, violet-yellow, or red-green.  These color schemes are a great place to start with color theory, as they are easy to understand, fun to use and create pleasing compositions. They generally work well in straightforward compositions where the vivid and vibrant color combinations are the main contrast.

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Color Theory: Monochromatic | Analogous {Week 31}

Spring has finally sprung and Photo 52 is kicking off its month long study of color.  For our first week's assignment we focused on creating images with either an analogous color scheme (colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel) or a monochromatic one - varying tones of the same underlying color.  On the color wheel, analogous colors are quite harmonious - and the red-orange-yellow combination in my images below are both warm and rather pleasing to the eye. 

Our family recently dined in a restaurant bathed in the most beautiful window light - it was a photographer's dream. The folks seated to my right were captive to my lens, with the lines of the tables leading right to them.  Of course there was another subject right across the table, in a daydream, transfixed as well by the gorgeous light coming through the windows.   

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Tonality:  Split Toning {Week 30}

Split toning is a creative technique that goes back to the days of the darkroom, but In today’s world of digital photography, split toning can either by done in camera or with editing software programs such as Photoshop or Lightroom.  It involves tinting the highlights to create a color cast to the image, while the “split” part of the technique means the color cast can be isolated to highlights without affecting the mid-tones or shadows, and vice versa.  The result is a cross-processed look or a duotone effect that can give a little extra punch to a monochromatic image.

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Rock formation along Chileno Bay Beach in Los Cabos, Mexico

 

Sunrise over Pedregal, Cabos

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Tonality: Mid Key {Week 29}

This week we continue to experiment with tone and mood in our compositions.  While high key images are created with bright light tones and low key photographs rely on shadowy dark tones, mid key images are created by isolating the mid level tones.  It may be subtle and pleasing rather than dramatic and often appears better in color than a monochromatic scheme. Colors can be complimentary and yet the same key, so although in black and white everything would blend, in color it works. One of the issues to keep in mind when playing in mid key is that although consistency of tone can help your subject and their surroundings appear well-aligned, the trick is to make sure your subject doesn't get lost.

During a recent family vacation to Mexico, my son's favorite activities included combing the beach for shells and chasing after seagulls.  It was particularly overcast in the mornings, and since my son's skin tone nearly matches the surrounding rocks and sand, I was able to get a couple of interesting mid key beach shots. 

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Tonality:  Low Key {Week 28}

While high key images are created by bright, light tones and whites, low key photographs feature the opposite.  Relying on shadows, deep blacks and dark tones, they contain very few mid-tones and whites, and as a result, are mysterious, dramatic, and even ominous in their mood.  A small light source such as a lamp, flashlight, or candle along with a dark or black background are the simplest way to create a low key effect.  You can also shoot at night with street lamps or car headlights as a main light source, making sure to keep the light off of your dark backdrop and on your subject.  The dark tones and strong shadows inevitably direct the viewer's attention to the subject, creatively and with drama.

Below is a photograph of my husband saying goodnight and goodbye to our oldest son.  Working a lot more with his new job and often times late into the evenings, my husband treasures these little moments.  The expression on my son's face, illuminated by just his little nightlight, not only adds feeling to the image but also tugs on my heartstrings.  

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Goodnight, Goodbye Daddy

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Tonality:  High Key {Week 27}

It’s a new month for photo 52: Within the Frame and we will be delving into tonality as a means to create or enhance the mood of our images.  Tonality includes the amount of contrast as well as the highlight and shadow qualities within an image that is affected primarily by the type of light available.  For this first week we will be working with high key lighting which creates images that are mostly bright, with hardly any blacks and very few mid-tones.  Originally developed for film and television, and primarily done with studio lighting, high key images have since become an artistic choice amongst photographers.  They can either be achieved indoors by using a bright backdrop or plain white wall, or outdoors on a day with flat light.   

High Key photography with its bright, white background creates images that are  upbeat, modern and distraction-free - the goal of any portrait photographer.  Tones that generally would have been mid-range become much brighter, near white tones become bright and white tones remain white.  And of course, as we mentioned already, very little darks or shadows are present.  It’s very important however, when shooting high key that you have just enough mid-tones and shadows to give the image depth, otherwise your photo is washed out and just plain overexposed.

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Conceptual Contrast:  Old vs. new, big vs. small, etc. {Week 25}

Last week, we examined contrast in its traditional sense in photography: light versus dark.  This week however, we played with the contrast of oppositional elements which can be interpreted much more broadly.  My image includes two contrasts: my husband's giant (and darker) hand next to our baby's much smaller (and lighter) one.  

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Traditional Contrast :  Light vs. Dark  {Week 24}

For the rest of March, Photo 52 is shifting its focus to contrast.  A broad definition of contrast is the juxtaposition of opposite elements, the most well-known being the degree of difference between darkness and lightness.  During a playful game of peek-a-boo with the bathroom door, I captured my older son in split contrast within a split frame composition.

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Peek - a - Boo

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Patterns and Contrast: Broken Patterns {Week 23}

Last week we sought patterns to bring a sense of rhythm and harmony to our photos.  However, patterns on their own can feel somewhat lacking.  Breaking the pattern in an unexpected way can add the tension and vitality that transforms a scene from interesting to captivating.  

My goal this week was to stumble upon a broken pattern in the environment rather than create one, so I carried my camera with me almost every day.  During a family trip to the boogie down Bronx to run some errands, I came across a broken pattern that I felt had real New York City personality.  The empty coffee cups were stuffed in the crevice of an elevated subway beam, most likely from the construction workers on site, creating a line of white lids broken up by a single black lid, as if it were entirely intentional.  The yellow is just the extra POP in a snapshot of urban life.

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Patterns & Contrast: Isolating Patterns in the Environment {Week 22}

This week Photo 52 is beginning a new month on patterns and contrast.  Our goal is to recognize patterns in our everyday surroundings and see how we can incorporate them into our imagery. For this challenge, I decided to photograph the quintessential New York City bathroom tile (I think all three of my apartments have had this same tile) - a pattern so familiar and so treasured.  It's literally a little piece of home, from a different angle.

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Camera Position : Shooting from Below {Week 21}

Pointing the camera in a direction other than head-on often yields intriguing results, simply because we typically engage with the world at eye level. Or do we? Last week we focused on a downward perspective, which as seen from many of our photographs, is a familiar angle for parents interacting with their small ones. This week, we are shooting upward - this perspective can make something (or someone) small look disproportionately big, or if pointed high enough, may capture the wonder of vast skies or tall buildings. 

I figured that while we were in Pittsburgh visiting Grandma and Pow-Pow for the past week, there was no greater landmark to shoot from below than Heinz Field where the beloved Steelers play.  After several days of cloudy skies and MORE snow, the sun made its debut.  Swirling clouds and a vast blue sky made the perfect backdrop for the great stadium in a city filled with die-hard fans -- one of which was standing on the ground below.

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Heinz Field

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Camera Position:  Shooting from Above {Week 20}

Our journey through the concepts of perspective is drawing to a close. After weeks of considering what are perhaps less traditional concepts of perspective - wide angle and long lenses, aspect ratio - we are spending our final two weeks on physical perspective in the form of camera position. This week, we are shooting from above. From standing atop buildings to standing over children, this is a fun assignment with a lot of room to be creative as we capture what all there is to see when looking down.

When the camera angle is located above the eyeline, often times the figure or object appears vulnerable while the image itself is more dramatic.  Below is a photograph of my son during our first trip to the dentist, so I guess you could say he was a bit vulnerable that day.  Shooting from above, I captured him resting his head against my leg, looking up, as if to say, "It's going to be okay, right Mom?".

My dear friend and fellow Photo 52 member, Jessie Wixon, pointed out that it was also a excellent photo for Valentine's Day since the both his eyebrows and his hairline make a perfect heart shaped face!

Happy Valentine's Day All!

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Aspect Ratio 1:1 {Week 19}

The traditional square format is one of my favorite aspect ratios.  It is mostly used by medium format film cameras such as Hasselblads and toy cameras like the Holga and Diana.  A couple of manufacturers created square 35mm cameras with a negative size of 24mm x 24mm in the 1930's and 1940's, but the idea never caught on.  

Even though there are no square format digital cameras on the market, it has become quite a popular aspect ratio due in part to Instagram, iphoneography and the ease of post-process cropping.  Being an avid Instagrammer has really helped me in my ability to envision an image within a square when shooting with my digital camera.

Below are two of my favorites.  I think the contrast of my son's long limbs, balanced by negative space and all within the small square frame, works quite well.

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Aspect Ratio 4:3 {Week 18}

There are many facets to the art of composition including aspect ratio, which is quite simply the ration between the width and the height of an image.  With digital photography you can either set up your aspect ratio in-camera or you can crop an image to a different aspect ration in post-processing.

Most digital cameras, with a few exceptions, use one of two aspect ratios. There is the 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm digital cameras, and the 4:3 aspect ratio used by micro four-thirds and many compact cameras. The 4:3 ratio is quite popular because it is a 'shorter' rectangle, making it easier to compose photos taken in the portrait format and eliminate unwanted space around your subject. 

Below is an image taken on 34th Street in Manhattan.  With the 4:3 aspect ratio crop in post-processing, I was able to focus in more on the subjects.  Even though the shot is taken within the urban landscape of New York City and the viewer gets a glimpse of said surroundings, the 'shorter' rectangle allows it to be primarily a portrait of father and son going about their daily business. 

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Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Specialty Lenses for Creative Purposes {Week 17}

This week Photo 52 utilized various types of lenses - telephoto, fisheye, macro, lensbaby, etc. - in order to get our creative juices flowing in this dead of winter (ever heard of Polar Vortex II?).  I chose to use my lensbaby which is in short, a specialty lens designed to focus on one portion of the frame while leaving the rest blurred.  The creative effect is often quite ethereal and dream-like --- a perfect choice for capturing my 8 month-old baby playing with his blanket.  

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Babe and a blanket

Photo 52: Within the Frame

Perspective | Wide Angle Portrait  {Week 16}

This week and next Photo 52: Within the Frame will be challenging the "traditional" use of lenses - first seeking to utilize a wide angle lens in a portrait or other non-traditional use.  Choosing a wide angle lens for portraiture requires the photographer to consider the consequences - one of which is that items placed near the edge of the frame often appear larger and sometimes distorted.  However when captured with intention, this consequence can greatly add to the visual impact of an image.

Recently my son has taken to boxing with his father and the portrait below has since become one of my favorites.  The enormous size of the gloves and the distortion caused by the wide angle lens gives the image an edgy, editorial look.

BAM! POW!

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Crowned Winner