Studio Portraits: Whitney

This last week, I had my first experience with studio lighting. The goal was to come away with two portraits of my classmate Whitney Matewe. One of the portraits required the use of a single light while the other required the use of a multiple lights.

Whitney Matewe leans back with ease at Lee Hills Hall on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Whitney has many ambitious goals in photography. One project idea is to go back to Africa to document the lives of its people from a different perspective.

Whitney Matewe stands relaxed at Lee Hills Hall on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. After being raised around the globe in places like South Africa, Ghana and the Netherlands, Whitney has lived in the United States since she was eleven years old. Ever since moving to Columbia, Missouri for college, the new environment has a unique feel of home, "the j-school, my convergence family and my photo family, people I can go to for support and who encourage my creative expression."

As for lighting Whitney, the process was time consuming and grueling. Please forgive the poor drawings as I hope they somewhat illustrate my thinking process into this first studio assignment.

As this was my first experience in the studio lighting a subject, my approach to lighting was primarily experimental. After getting feedback from my professors and peers, I have better ideas that I can incorporate during my next shoot in the studio.

I found that the use of gels on a subject can convey different subject matter and can prove to be a little overwhelming to the viewer. What do you see first, the subject or the gel used to light her face?

In summary, I decided that in the future I might want to chill with the colors a little bit. I did enjoy using gels to help light the background, I think that provides room for creativity when the photographer has complete control of the background in the studio and it is a skill that I look to improve.

Copy Assignment

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia’s photograph of a man staring into the void of an empty restaurant in Houston, Texas.

George Hurell’s photograph of a model as she poses intently for the portrait.

For this assignment, the technique was figuring out how to take a copy photograph. By using different white balances and shutter speeds, I have copied both of the above photographs in the best light that I saw possible.

I chose the top photo because of the color pallet in the frame, the placement of the flash is very unique. The bottom photo caught my attention by the pose and the use of glamour lighting on the subject.

Both lighting techniques suggest more specific subject matter that can be interpreted by the viewer. I look to use these techniques with the proper intention in order to help further my own skills in portraiture.