Ex 6: Best of a sequence

I enlisted the help of my friend, Fiona, for the sequence exercise, as we were spending Easter on the Isle of Harris with her and her husband. They are long standing hill walking and cycling chums, so I thought it appropriate to photograph her in an outdoor environment, firstly because I felt it would put both of us at ease and secondly because it would give a meaningful association to the resulting images.

During a costal walk to Rhenigidale Youth Hostel we stopped at some ruined sheilings for lunch. To begin the sequence I sat opposite Fiona. Sitting helped us both relax and compensated for me not using a tripod. Weather conditions were overcast and quite dull so I set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO accordingly. I kept my focal length between 40 and 70mm, a good range for a natural, flattering portrait.

Remembering my husband’s complaint that I don’t direct him enough, I chatted away to her, suggesting poses and talking about what/why I was doing. I also decided to take lots of pictures to increase my chances of capturing some pleasing shots. I expected the first few pictures of Fiona to look somewhat stilted and ‘forced’ but in fact the early shots are quite natural looking, suggesting our friendship helped us settle into the shoot quickly.

After about 10 minutes I decided to try fill-in flash, as I was concerned about the dull conditions and didn’t have a reflector. The on-camera flash had the desired effect of adding light in her eyes but was a bit too harsh for portraiture. I think a flashgun would be a sound investment.

After around 20 minutes we were both getting cold and a bit distracted, which is apparent in the later shots. On reflection, I think it really helped that Fiona is a naturally cheery person who was happy to sit for me. Her thoughts were that she found it a novel experience, which could have been quite un-nerving had she not been in a familiar environment, with a photographer who was also a good friend. It would be interesting to repeat the exercise with a stranger. Gillanders says ‘portraiture is a collaboration between photographer and sitter’ so the rapport between the two must influence the resulting images.

I took 55 images in total, about 15 were immediately deleted — eyes closed, not looking at camera, bad pose etc. I used Bridge to review and sort the rest. 18 were rejected, 10 acceptable and 11 were rated good. Of the 11, only 2 or 3 are worth considering. The interesting thing when viewing the pictures together is how even a subtle change of expression or tilt of the head can make or break the shot.

My biggest mistake was not using fill-in flash earlier, as Fiona’s eyes are too dark in otherwise 'best' shots, no 22 and 48 are good examples. My final choice is no 41. Settings: ISO 400, F10, 1/200, 70mm, built-in flash with red-eye reduction. To me this picture captures Fiona – happy outdoors, wearing her favourite red jacket and woolly hat.