This assignment had to be a portrait session. The aim of this exercise was to take a number of varied images in a short period of time and edit them to select one of two images. Therefore the assignment contains the following elements:
- Time-limited shoot
- On-the-spot development and improvement of composition
- A sequence of images, about 20 or more, where you are searching for an improvement in the way the subject appears (pose and facial expression)
- A separate session of picture selection, exercising creative judgement
- Processing the final image
My workflow tends to change depending on the type of shooting I am doing. I find that when I am shooting landscapes I am a lot more organised than say shooting street photography. In preparation for this assignment I considered the basic key actions for a workflow:
- Shooting
- Transferring images from memory card to hard drive
- Examination of the images in a browser
- Identification of selects, process and caption
- Save and archive all images
Furthermore I re-visited the sequence of actions to see which would be necessary for my shoot and thought about preparation, camera settings and shooting.
My workflow for this assignment is as follows:
Preparation
- Find a model and location, check weather and identify a time to shoot
- Make a short list of poses and shots I want to get
- Any special equipment required - tripod, reflectors, flash or props
- Check camera equipment. Memory card and spare, battery fully charged
- Check hard drive for space
Camera settings
- Check the standard settings, using WHIMS
H: Highlight warning turned on
I: ISO check
M: Mode check
S: Size - check image size and quality are correct
- Any special setting adjustments required?
Shooting - delete obvious rejects as I go. And zoom in to check for sharpness.
Uploading Images
Technical check delete rejects and create shortlist for possible final selects
Final selects - identify final images for processing
Processing and retouching using ACR and Photoshop
Naming and saving (back up too) files
Final output - web gallery, email or print
The shoot
I found that the more prepared I was for the shoot the quicker I was able to work and complete the assignment. Having a location in mind and the type of shots I wanted to achieve gave me the opportunity to get straight to work when my model was available.
I had about half an hour to get this shoot completed. I had the camera on the tripod, flash set up and test shots taken before my model arrived.
I took about 40 pictures in total, some which I deleted straight away due to under-exposure, blur or model having their eyes shut. I usually work deleting the obviously bad shots as I go.
I had a few possible poses in mind which I shot but I also found a couple more angles to shoot from which I had not previously thought of.
Once the shoot was over I had an idea of which were the best shots but I would of course have to see what they looked like on the PC before I could make any decisions.
When I loaded the images onto my PC I made the first technical edit. I was left with 15 images.
After further editing I whittled the 15 down to 6 - 2 of which made it to the final selects and were processed.
After this I then named and filed the images.
These are the final two images I chose from my shoot.
I found that the more prepared I was for the shoot the quicker I was able to work and complete the assignment. Having a location in mind and the type of shots I wanted to achieve gave me the opportunity to get straight to work when my model was available.
I had about half an hour to get this shoot completed. I had the camera on the tripod, flash set up and test shots taken before my model arrived.
I took about 40 pictures in total, some which I deleted straight away due to under-exposure, blur or model having their eyes shut. I usually work deleting the obviously bad shots as I go.
I had a few possible poses in mind which I shot but I also found a couple more angles to shoot from which I had not previously thought of.
Once the shoot was over I had an idea of which were the best shots but I would of course have to see what they looked like on the PC before I could make any decisions.
When I loaded the images onto my PC I made the first technical edit. I was left with 15 images.
After further editing I whittled the 15 down to 6 - 2 of which made it to the final selects and were processed.
After this I then named and filed the images.
These are the final two images I chose from my shoot.
This shot shows the model in his surroundings telling more of a story about the person. I felt it was important to capture an image not just of the subject but of the subject in his surroundings.
The subject up close.
I found the workflow I outlined for this assignment worked well and made for a smoother process from the pre-shoot to processing the images.
I feel that from now on where possible I will put more time into preparing for the shoot and be more decisive about my final selects.
Interestingly enough only the first image was one of the images I thought would make it to final selects before I had uploaded them to my PC.
I feel that from now on where possible I will put more time into preparing for the shoot and be more decisive about my final selects.
Interestingly enough only the first image was one of the images I thought would make it to final selects before I had uploaded them to my PC.
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