Studio Portrait Assignment

Sarah Bell sits for her portrait in the studio of Lee Hills Hall at the University of Missouri on February 15, 2015. Bell is in her third year and balances her school work with her religious life. "It's not to bad because at the campus ministry we all work together," Bell said.

Sarah Bell sits for her portrait in the studio of Lee Hills Hall at the University of Missouri on February 15, 2015. Bell volunteered for the Missouri Photo Workshop in 2014. "I really just liked being in the environment with exceptional photojournalists," Bell said.

The studio portrait assignment was enjoyable because it got me working back in the studio after several years. And not only was it fun to work in the studio, it was great to work with another person. It was a challenge to try to figure out how to use light to replicate a personality.

With the single light setup, I wanted to draw attention to my subject’s passion for her religion. I chose to backlight the scene to create a rim light on her and a reflector in front of her to bounce light back onto her face. The lighting setup was simple and easy. The only issue with this setup was the backlight caused every dust particle to be illuminated. I don’t feel that it affects the photo negatively but it wasn’t something I was planning on. I also under exposed the image about a half-stop to really let the rim light, especially on her hair, stand out.

With the multiple light setup, I wanted to show her quirky personality traits. I used two lights on the background to wash it out. Then I used the strip soft box on the boom arm. I turned the soft box so it was horizontal and I shot directly underneath it. I feel that this was the more effective of the two lighting setups. The only issue I had was the light on the boom arm only fired every third or fourth shot. So in my outtakes there are several images that the subject is extremely underexposed.

If I had to do this assignment again I would work more on the lighting ratios, but I would still use the same lighting setups. I feel that the patterns I chose fit my subject well. The only thing that I wish I could change was the size of the background. I wanted to shoot a little more loosely but the background constraints wouldn’t allow it. Other than a few minor issues, I believe that it was a successful shoot. After completing this assignment, I am looking forward to the portrait series.