Ranjan, University of Virginia, 2009

Nicely done, Doug. The DOF is perfect and the lighting is good.

 

In this case, Ii think that the OOF second figure adds to the photo.

 

--Lannie

This was the first image in what became a portrait project I did in my

office at work. The poster in the background is of professional actor

Gael Bernal Garcia, which I slapped on the wall to fill the space revealed

when we lost our corporate coffee machine due to budget cuts. One

day, not quite on a whim, but nearly so, I asked Ranjan (who happened

to be hanging around) if he would like to be photographed with Gael. He

agreed, and I quickly pointed a floor lamp in his direction from his left to

mimic the lighting in the poster. Then, I angled one behind him from the

right to illuminate the poster, and to highlight the side of Ranjan's face.

The white balance was adjusted to match the bulbs, and the ISO set to

800. I asked Ranjan to replicate the expression on Gael's face and then

clicked off about 10 shots while he held the pose.

Lannie, thanks. My server ckonked out while I was posting this in the critique forum and so your post was made without the benefit of the explanation included. This portrait became the first in a series of 24. I can't post all 24, but will post those for which I receive permission from the subjects.

What is the meaning of the portrait behind? Is it there on purpose?

Pascal, yes, it does. It's hollywood actor Gael Bernal Garcia and it was a poster hanging in my office. I asked Ranjan if he would like to be photographed next to a movie star and he said sure, so I photographed him next to the poster.