Portrait Project

(Note: the first two pictures constitute my official “Portrait” submission for the purpose of this project, but I’ve included several others that I like which also capture what I would consider the “spirit” of Roman’s personality.)

2018-11-26
Canon EOS Rebel T3
EF-S18-55mm
1/40
f/5.6
ISO 250
29 mm focal length
Tripod: yes

2018-11-26
Canon EOS Rebel T3
EF-S18-55mm
1/50
f/5.6
ISO 200
29 mm focal length
Tripod: yes

For my portrait project, I decided to photograph my friend Roman Jones. He and I were acquaintances during freshman year, but became much closer starting sophomore year—we were roommates on campus from August 2016 continuously until December 2017 (including over summer break). Besides completing his Biology major and working at the Billings Studio Theatre, Roman has written for the Summit student newspaper throughout his time at Rocky. Hard work, diligence, neatness, thoughtfulness, and organization characterize his approach to academics and life in general, and he became Editor-in-Chief of the Summit this year, in my opinion a well-earned culmination of his time working for the paper the last couple years. As part of his new position, he inherited the editor’s office in Tyler, which he organized and decorated nicely. For these above reasons, I really wanted to take his portrait in his office, as I was inspired by Jim Woodcock’s explanation of “environmental portraiture.” I met up with Roman on a Friday morning when we had about an hour (so we wouldn’t be rushed), and tried a couple of different angles at the beginning after setting up the tripod, but didn’t like them very much. I lowered the tripod to about waist height in the corner behind Roman’s desk, and fell in love with the angle looking slightly up at him with both past Summit issues and a Word document open on his computer in the background, and shot the rest of my pictures from this angle. After one or two rather stiff posed pictures, I realized that I needed to get some candid shots, so I clicked away constantly (to get Roman comfortable with the presence of the camera) while we chatted about class, graduation, plans for the future, politics, news, and various other things. Our conversation allowed me to get some excellent candid pictures, two of which I’ve selected because they capture two of Roman’s most endearing qualities: his appreciation for good humor, and his articulateness (which is also represented more indirectly by the computer and the newspapers on the wall). I had to experiment with different lighting (as the natural light from the window was both inadequate and coming from behind Roman), and ended up turning on the overhead light and using a reflector laid on his desk to better illuminate his face. I also adjusted the exposure and other settings in Lightroom to improve the portraits. 

Some other pictures I liked from the shoot: