Project 2 Part 1 of Critique

Image 1:

Cropping: The crop of this picture is important to the viewer and the overall feel of the picture.  I tried many different crops, and found this to be the most effective.  I like how the person appears ambiguous because you cannot see her eyes (you can see a small portion under her eyes however), yet the angle of the photo gives a glamorous effect to the picture.  I also chose to include the christmas lights in the background which adds to the glamor. 

Background elements: As discussed above, I chose to include only a small portion of the background.  I chose to include the christmas lights because I felt it gave a glamorous effect to the picture which I liked, and the background is so blurry that it is up to the viewer to decide what it really is.  The girl is the main focus though, and although there is a bit of the background still shows, I think she is highlighted because the background is dark and blurry.

Amount of subject shown in frame: I chose to only show a small portion of the person, just part of the face and part of the shoulder.  I really like how the result turned out.  I tried several different poses and different zooms, but I liked this the best because the person was ambiguous and interesting because of the lighting and the small portion of the body shown.

Aboutness/motivation/method: This picture was meant to be a glamour shot, something that would be shown in a magazine.  The lighting, contrast and cropping help to emphasize this.  This was part of my zoom series and a lamp was used with no other lighting except the back christmas lights.  

Context: This as stated above was meant to be a glamour shot.

Image 2:

Proximity to subject: For this image, I placed the hand closest to the camera, and the girl's body is furthest away.  Really, this feature is the main concept of the whole picture.  The hand is the main focus, but the girl behind the hand is what makes the hand so interesting.  I placed the camera close to the hand and stood about the subject in order to get this view.

Framing: I chose to include the subject and quite a large portion of the background and I am happy with the framing because it makes the background have certain shapes which add to keeping the focus on the hand and on the subject.  The black and white of the walls also contribute towards highlighting the hand. 

Focus: The focus of this subject is on the hand, but the subject is also somewhat in focus.  The subject is still blurry but still somewhat in focus and out of all of the pictures I took, I liked that effect most.  That way it emphasizes the hand, but it also shows the subject's position and expression which are important in the viewer's interpretation of the picture.  

Aboutness, motivation and method:  This photo was not meant to be about blood, and actually the paint was blue.  The concept was not meant to be a vulnerable position also but I like the way it turned out, and chose to adjust the colors so that they do look like dirt/blood because then the subject really does seem nervous and vulnerable.  I used a lamp to the side of her in order to create the shadows.

Context: After turning it to black and white, I like the idea that the subject is nervous and telling someone to stop, go away.  The girl has maybe even been abused.  This deals with a psychological aspect.

Image 3:

Contrast: Contrast is by far what makes this picture what it is.  I chose to add higher contrast because I really wanted half of the face to be disguised, while the other half (in particular the lips) are light and detailed.  I did not want to have the contrast too high however because then you would lose all detail in half of the face.  I especially wanted to show detail on the lips.

Lighting: The lighting of this image is also very important.  I placed the lamp to the right of the subject right next to her face in order to get such harsh lighting.  Increasing the contrast helped to darken the left side of the face, but it was mostly due to the lighting.  I love the lighting and how you can see glimmers of lighting on the brush, nose and the paintbrush.

Focus: The subject is completely in focus which is important because it is such a zoomed in area of the face.  The paintbrush has a bit of blur but if the image was at all blurry it would be distracting and look like a mistake.

Aboutness: This picture is meant to be ambiguous and show only a small portion of the face that we usually wouldn't see. 

Method: I did a few makeup shots and I chose to do this after googling some portraits and deciding to do it after.  

Context: This image deals with some sort of glamour but not in the typical way by showing only a small portion of the face. It is kind of cultural because it is very typically feminine.

Image 4:

Distracting elements: I really wanted to keep this picture very simple and have no background which is why I chose to not take the image with any background, and crop out most of the wall.   I wanted the subject to be the focus and I feel that the subject (especially her shirt) is the main focus.  

Perspective and point of view: This image was taken at eye level but I think the position of the subject is interesting because you can see her backbone which creates an interesting aspect both visually and when the interpreter thinks about it.  

Visual Design Elements:  The shapes created in this image are interesting in the shirt and the pattern of the shirt is interesting because of the holes and the way I set the contrast in order to emphasize the holes in the shirt.

Aboutness, method, and motivation: This image was meant to show a position that you would not frequently see, and I like how the subject has personality without having to show her face.  I like the idea of body language telling more about a person than facial expressions.  I used a lamp to left of the subject but kind of far away to get a more even lighting.  I tried MANY shots of the back after accidentally taking one and this ended up being my favorite.

Context: This image is more about social issues than anything else.