Portraits - using your surroundings

[bramley]

Thought this might interest some people on here...in terms of how to use a location to your advantage for better portraits.

Here's the garden I was in on Saturday:



It may not look too inspiring at a glance, but a few things stood out to me. The white panel for a start, a bit of +ev would have that looking very studio-like. The gate caught my eye, as did the wooden bench seat that's holding the gate shut.

To my right is a ploughed field and to the left is the house; an old farmhouse that could do with a lick of paint.

So, here's what I did...

Take the bench seat into the field, no other horizon apart from the field, which I liked:



And cropped the other way:



That white piece of wood? Yup, subject crouching down in front of it, natural light, bit of +ev and some nice golden evening light. No reflectors or anything used here, just nice soft light diffused by a bit of cloud cover:



The gate. I got a few decent shots showing more of the gate itself, but in the end settled for this one as I liked the expression:



And the house, which I don't have a wide shot of, but I saw the windows and thought they would make an interesting shot:



And the door into the house, set into the white wall:



I thought this set might inspire some people to look more at what's around them and to use their surroundings when shooting. It's very easy not to see these things and simply crop to faces all the time. And it's not just what you have around you to frame the shot with, it's also about how these things prompt interaction with the subject. The gate for instance, was the perfect look-out for the little girl and it was cute how she'd opened the gate to watch the dog running round the field.

Dave

P.S. Apologies for the sensor dust, and also to anyone that's seen the same post on TP!

[K12beano]

Yup - good inspiration.

Particularly love the first one - well both B&W actually. It's the simple things that make the big difference.

[paul911]

Really like those, very inspiring.

[RichTbiscuit]

Lovely shots mate. Takes a keen eye to see great pictures in standard surroundings

[Simpo Two]

This one stands out for me - the atmosphere reminds me of (a younger) Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz on the ranch in Kansas before the storm hits.

Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 13th April 10:23

[Yellabelly]

Bramley, a superb set, well thought out and excellently composed. As you say, most of us look at the whole scene, dismiss it as uninteresting and miss these opportunities.

The gate shot and the doorway are my favourites but the windows with little missy made me smile.

YB

[bramley]

Thanks for the comments chaps.

Yellabelly - I'm sure I used to miss plenty of interesting opportunities! I'm getting better at it, and one of the joys of this photography lark is that no two people would take the same shot in the same circumstances, and indeed there is no right answer as such.

As I was PP'ing these I saw some more opportunities that I missed, such as turning the white panel on it's end and using it behind the swing.

As for little missy by the windows, that shot makes me smile everytime I see it too

[Muska]

great work Bramley, excellent creative use of surroundings.

[Dogsey]

Great post Bramley, certainly inspired me today.

Just natural light.



Pop-up flash used as fill light.



Click for full sized.