Portrait Photography Course - Neutral Portrait Series

I had my second Portrait Photography Class this Tuesday. Again it was much fun, mostly because I go home with more good baggage. It's really exciting and I experience much joy because of it.

It was time to show the results of our first shoot to the class and teacher. We are to do 4 shoots, and we're supposed to use the same model for all shoots which is quit challenging. Find a model that will fit in all the different assignments?!

This week we were to deliver our Neutral Portrait. I choose to photograph a farmer that I "picked up" from the street. I did it this way due to lack of time, but as you all know, I do love farmers and the live they have. He was great for my Neutral Portrait shoot, the 3 other's shoots I wonder about :)

Taking a neutral portrait is quite challenging as well. What is a neutral portrait anyways? The photo is not to communicate a whole lot. So I had to watch his facial expression, I needed low neutral light (no sun glare in his face) and of course the neutral background. Hard to find.

I was excited to hear my teacher say that the first shot was right on the mark, exactly what she meant for us to do. Here's my series, all SOOC:

What I learned during the shoot was who I am as a photographer. I wondered how I was to give my model directions and give him confidence. I realized I do that by knowing when to talk and when to just be quiet. I also spoke a lot about what I was doing and explaining things. This model had no clue about camera's and such so it was a good way to get him to give me his time. As I said, I lacked time to really prepare for this shoot. I walked up to his house instead of driving so I could just calm down from the crazy work schedule. I knew if I'd arrive in a rush he would notice and it would have an effect on my shoot. I tried hard to just breath and stay calm and decrease the adrenaline I had been living on for the past weeks. When you do a shoot as a matter of fact, it's doomed and I really had to watch my focus. At least I was aware of my state and thus need to keep an eye on the details. Since I needed a neutral background and it was hard to find around his house, I had to play a lot with my aperture and speed, causing the background to be neutral. It's awesome to see a shiny green door turn into a dark background by adjusting settings and no use of editing programs. So overall it was a great experience and it boosted my self esteem as a photographer.