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Assignment 1: Portrait Exercise: Posing a Group
Assignment Overview
Posing a group of people together for a well-lit portrait
takes practice. You are now dealing with multiple people, of varying
heights, sizes, ethnicities, and patience.
To master the skill of posing multiple people you need
practice; in this exercise you will be photographing a group of at least
3 people and posting the best image from the shoot for peer review.
Students are encouraged to view the following courses on Lynda.com prior to shooting assignment:
Assignment Description
You will be photographing 3 subjects using a 3 (or 4) - light setup in an indoor or outdoor/location setting. The choice is up to you!
If you choose to shoot on location, be sure to "think
outside the box" for how to plug in your studio lights. You may need to
find a location that has access to an electrical outlet that is on the
side of a building, work with long extension chords, or use a generator
to plug in your lights.
You will also be photographing your overall studio set up,
the lighting equipment, stands, and the background support system using
the light available.
Finally, you will create a 150-word statement describing your photographic process.
Assignment Step-by-Step Instructions
- Select your 3 new subjects and the location you will perform the shoot and take the following factors into consideration:
- Will the group be portrayed intimately or not? (Couples Portraits)
- Are these family members or colleagues at work? (Family; Executive; and Team Groups)
- How does the location build a relationship to this group of people? (Consider what you learned during Week 4's Module, "Location")
- Set up your lights.
- Students are encouraged to research a 3 or 4 light scheme options from "Strobox.com":
- http://strobox.com/
- With your DSLR camera, using a wide-angle lens, shoot an image of your entire setup using the available light in the studio; include this image in your contact sheet. hese images will be included in your contact sheet; ensure
that your image shows a clear view of where the key light (strobe w/
softbox or shoot-through umbrella) was in relation to the subject. Your image should also include your model within the shot and show where s/he was standing. Ensure that your image shows where your lights were in relation to your subject:
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- Determine your manual exposure settings with your handheld light meter.
- Determine your ISO: Given the bright nature of your 3 strobe lights, an ISO of 100 is suggested.
- Determine your Shutter Speed:
Given the fact that you're shooting with a strobe light, you want to
avoid shooting with an shutter speed faster than 1/125th of a second.
(Otherwise you'll see dark bands on the sides of your images with a
faster shutter speed.)
- Plug in your ISO and Shutter Speed information into your handheld light meter.
Then, place the meter under your subject's chin and take a reading to
determine the best aperture to shoot with. Take a photograph of your
handheld light meter in use and include this image in your contact
sheet. This image will be included in your contact sheet. Image should be similar to the shots below:
Please
note: If instructor is not able to read the information on the screen
of your handheld light meter, you will not receive points for using it.
- Be
sure to adjust your composition as you shoot this assignment: shoot
both wide and close-up shots (adjust your focal length); shoot both
horizontal and vertical images; move from side to side (change your
point of view) when you shoot different pictures.
- Consider the "Cropping Portrait Guide" noted in the Questions for the Professor section.
- Shoot at least 36 images and select the best 3 for peer review. Name them using the following naming convention:
PH222_W5_A1_lastname_firstinitial_group1.jpg
PH222_W5_A1_lastname_firstinitial_group2.jpg
PH222_W5_A1_lastname_firstinitial_group3.jpg
- Create a contact sheet and save the contact sheet as PH222_W5_A1_lastname_firstinitial_contactsheet.pdf.
- Create a written
statement of at least 150 words that describes your photographic process
including any difficulties you encountered.
- Submit the contact sheets, your studio setup, the edited images, and the written statement in a ZIP file named PH222_W5_A1_lastname_firstinitial.zip to this Discussion Area by Week 5, Day 4.
- Comment and respond on 2 of your peers' portraits and responsesby Week 5, Day 5.
Assignment 1 Grading Criteria
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Maximum Points
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Submitted an overall shot of the studio
setup and three group portraits using required equipment that used
either a 3- or 4-light set up with a minimum of 4 people in them that:
- Have correct exposure and demonstrate technical knowlege of camera and lighting control.
- Exhibit creativity with angles and composition (moving camera and subject frequently to explore the angles).
- Attention to line and other design elements.
- Followed instructions and requirements for assignment.
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20
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| Posted
a contact sheet containing a minimum of 36 photographs made with
required equipment and included a 150-word explanation about the
photographic process. |
10
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| Provided
substantive feedback to at least two of your peers. Commented on the
composition, subject, and lighting decisions in their photographs. |
10
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| Total: |
40
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For
assistance with any problems you may have when completing this
assignment—OR—to offer your assistance to classmates, please use the Problems and Solutions Discussion area located through the left side navigation link.
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Use the  Respond link to post responses and materials that pertain to this assignment. Use the Respond link beneath any existing postings to respond to them. |
NEW: GROUP VIDEO CRITIQUE:
*Video will be available when uploading and processing is complete.*
