For Visual Exercise 3, I have chosen to photograph Mark – a talented working artist and illustrator based in Edinburgh known mainly for his unique paintings of koi carp. I have known Mark for over 15 years and I immediately thought of him when I was presented with the brief for this exercise. Mark has a long history of mental health problems, something we share and have … Continue reading Visual Exercise 3 – Mark

I studied a number of websites in preparation for shooting my portraits for Visual Exercise 3. Taylor Wessing and The Portrait Salon Each year, the National Portrait Gallery in London co-ordinates the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize – http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/twppp-2016/exhibition.php . I twice visited the travelling exhibition in Edinburgh earlier this year. The Portrait Salon hosts some fantastic images that were rejected from the Taylor Wessing Prize – https://www.portraitsalon.co.uk … Continue reading Visual Exercise 3 – Portrait Research

For Visual Exercise 2, we were shown a variety of studio lighting and lenses with a view to creating our portraits. Using large LED lights in the studio, we looked at two methods of lighting for portraiture. For front lighting, two light sources were used to fully illuminate the subject so that there few shadows on the sitter’s face. We used a single LED lamp to … Continue reading Visual Exercise 3 – Lenses and Lighting

  Focal Lengths In portraiture, different focal lengths can produce vastly different results. This gif shows a comparison of different focal lengths used on the same subject: http://giphy.com/gifs/lens-focal-comparsion-l2JJu55Y2LSvkbBqo Here are some further comparisons found online: Cropped sensor cameras The effect of using a cropped sensor camera, such as my own Nikon D7200 or the Canon 50D, will produce a smaller imager. It is important to … Continue reading Visual Exercise 3 – Focal Length Research