Shoot 1

In reference to the work of Kaylynn Deveney, I went and shot images of my Granddad, someone who is extremely important to me and someone who I admire greatly. I wanted to try and create something that reflects the direction of my research, but also creating at the same time a really strong portrait image. 

The idea being that I wanted my subject to be in a place where I associate them, my granddad for instance is always in his chair watching the television or at the pub. (this would the first place I would want to shoot but I already know that its not possible as he goes to the same pub that I work and they didn’t give me permission to take pictures on there premises).

I think that style wise this is my favourite image from the shoot. I think I have composed the image really well, and I like the way that my granddad sits in the centre of the frame. Another quality I like about this image is the lighting. For this shot I used the natural light coming through a window he was sat next to. I think that it highlights his features in a soft way, making him look friendly and approachable, this is an extremely important quality in the images I am trying to create. 

This image makes me so happy, Matilda my niece wasn’t supposed to be in the image, but she came along and wanted to give granddad a kiss. I think that it is a unique and special moment. I like this because it wasn’t planned, but its really well focused, and composed. It took a lot of time to get this right in the darkroom as it was a really dark negative, but I’m happy with the print.   

This image is so frustrating for me, I really like it, I like how he’s looking away from the camera, talking to my mam, but the lighting is all wrong. I should have maybe used a reflector or came from a different angle but you loose all detail in his face. Instead the light from the window is highlighting the back of his head. I do however like the composition, the way that I have captured his glasses in his hand, and got him at a natural position. Also I like how I have cropped into the image slightly, cutting the chair arm off to give more focus on my granddad. 

I am going to revisit these negatives in the darkroom, I think that I have got quite a range of images that are well composed, I just need to do some prints to see if the exposure, and focus is ok too.