LOCATION PORTRAITURE

Location Portraiture 

Alec sloth

Interaction with the subjects- 

The Artist Alec Sloth's frank style of portraiture is realised through his ability to make subjects feel comfortable in front of his camera. It was quoted that Sloth 'communes with his subjects and his environment through the ritual go the photographic act'. 

Camera controls and available light.

Lighting on location can often influence the way a photograph is taken… You should now be familiar with the way a camera is operated and be looking at using your camera in Manual mode or Aperture priority.

Adjusting the aperture to obtain a shallow (narrow) depth of field is often used.  This has the following advantages 

·     Can be used to throw the background out of focus

·     Will allow you to shoot in dimmer lighting conditions as the shutter speeds at say f4.0, f 5.6, f 8 will be faster compared to shooting at f16, f22

·     If you struggle with image blur change the ISO from 200 to e.g. 400 or 800.   This will also allow you to operate at higher shutter speeds in order to freeze movement.

·     You may choose to operate the camera in manual focus mode and try to get a sharp focus by focussing on the eyes or face.

·     If you struggle with harsh shadows you may choose to use a reflector to bounce light back onto a subject… this can be quite effective however you will need to have an assistant working with you.

·     Many photographers work with a tripod on location shoot, examples include the above photographer Alex Soth, and Philip Lorca di Corcia.