Eye contact and expression

The requirement is to set up a portrait session with the face prominent, directing the subject to look both at me and away. I gave directions for the shoot.

I used a tripod and remote control for this shoot so as to be in a better place for directing the gaze.

I have not supplied technical details on each shot - all were shot at f13 with shutter speeds ranging from 1/15 to 1/30 in natural light on a dull day; no additional props or lighting were used.

There are four full body shots, four torso shots, and eight head and shoulders shots. Having completed the exercise on pose and stance, I was interested to include a few observations of the relationship between pose/stance and expression in this exercise for the first few shots.

All shots were post processed using Camera Raw - I nearly always reduce clarity to about -30 for portraits in order to soften the skin tones - this adds to the slight blurring.

 A very relaxed pose mirrors a confident expression - subject clearly at ease with being photographed.

 

Similar pose, the expression is smiling  but the sense here is not looking at anything in particular.

Similar expression but more evidently engaged with something to the left off camera.

A very relaxed confident expression, slightly dreamy gaze.

 This works less well - an attempt to look upwards to subject's left. The audience's eye is taken to the eyes only.

A very classic expression - sort of classic portrait. Leaning forward slightly, the pose matches the expression well.

Very similar to previous.

A thoughtful expression.

A classic expression again - confident air, at ease with the circumstances.

A very attractive smile slightly marred by a slight lack of focussing.

One of the best images - catch lights caught in the eyes. Very focussed expression.

A very nice expression - thoughtful and engrossed.

And again.

The eyes are caught very well in this shot - I like the quite expressionless look.

Thoughtful and warm expression.

 

Whimsical expression, the look to the left hints at someone distracting the subject.

A very useful exercise for one who is inexperienced in portraiture. Main learning outcomes:

• You can take some very good portraits in natural light - props and lighting are not essential;
• Expressions can make or break an image - a few of the above do not work, others are fine;
• Tripod is very useful so as one can direct the shoot more easily;
• Interesting to view the relationship between pose and expression in the full body shots.