Project by: Rosina Kling (11th Grade)
Project Advisor: Susan Now
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Michele Blackwell

Description of the Project:

My goal for this project was to experiment with various lighting techniques to examine how they affect my final portrait. Before this project, I had relatively no experience with working with portrait photography so this process gave me the opportunity to learn more about lighting as well as digital portrait photography. Though I initially thought I would work with both digital and film photography, I decided that digital photography would allow me to play around with different light fixtures (such as darker settings) that I wouldn’t be able to properly capture with film.

Final Product:

Final Reflection on Learning:

The process of bringing my research of portrait photography to life was really enjoyable. I learned about how lighting affects every aspect of photography and how I can properly use lighting in my photos to convey relatively anything. I also learned a lot about how to set up certain shots with different tools that I haven’t worked with before. Working with friends and family as my subjects also taught me a lot about interacting with the subject of a photo. Overall I really enjoyed this project and I’m excited to use everything that I’ve learned.

Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):

I spent the first few weeks of my project going over lighting techniques with Susan that I wanted to use for my portraits. Susan gave me various books about how to use lighting properly in all formats of photography, not just portraits, which taught me a lot about the role lighting plays in photography. I gathered information about camera settings and lighting angles that I noted for later use in my portraits.

Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):

After I completed my research, I looked through various ways I could produce the photos I wanted in my own home. I wanted to be able to work with lighting techniques like butterfly lighting, paramount lighting, rim lighting, and natural lighting. Each of these techniques requires a different lighting set up so I had to plan each set up separately. I also did extra research on how to use light diffusers and deflectors because I wanted to incorporate them into a few of my techniques. I also worked with my mom, who studied photography herself, to figure out how to use my tripod and certain camera settings.

Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):

After I had made my plans, I began shooting. I used my family and friends as subjects of my portraits and had them sit in the corner of my living room. I chose to place them in a corner because the walls would provide extra reflection in case I wanted to incorporate that into my portraits. I played around with angels and shadows to figure out which technique I liked best. I ended up having some difficulties with side lighting because the lighting was either too harsh or it cast an awkward shadow over the subject’s face. I worked with less harsh tungsten lighting which at first I opted against because I didn’t like the color but once I decided to shoot my portraits in monochrome, I found that the tungsten lights created a rather even and moody portrait. I shot portraits four different times and the last time I decided to try and use colored LED lights rather than normal ones. This method didn’t work as well for me because I found that a lot of my photos were overexposed unless the lights were very subtle.