Mertens+Madelyn+Portraits

=Mertens Madelyn Portrait=

"Taraji Henson" "Cyd Charisse Dress by Macrini" "Harrison Ford"

I fell in love with two of Timothy White’s portraits. One is of Empire’s lead actress Taraji Henson and the other is an actor known for his role as Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford. One picture from Richard Avedon caught my eye quickly. It is a model walking with a very sassy attitude, modeling a Cyd Charisse dress.

Lighting: I believe Taraji’s portrait is using available light. The light used in her portrait gives her a soft look to it, which natural light is known to do in pictures. In her picture, there is no tint of yellow, which is common when using artificial light, which helped me determine which lighting type was used. It seems that she had her pictures taken in a studio that had very large windows. Also there is another shadow in the picture that I assumed was a pillar in the room’s shadow. Harrison Ford’s portrait is using both outside natural light, and artificial studio fill. In the picture, Harrison has his foot on a helicopter, but he is in the shadow of the helicopter. So a second light source, an artificial one, is needed so that Mr. Ford is not lost in the shadow. Besides Harrison, the rest of the picture is being lit up by the Sun. Richard Avedon’s picture is using bounce light. The light adds a little harsh texture, which is typical from artificial light sources. I believe Mr. Avedon used a white umbrella to help light the model since she is wearing dark clothing. Using a white umbrella helps spread the light in a wide range to make sure that the entire subject is lighted.

Compositional Techniques In Taraji’s portrait, there is leading lines, point of view and focal point. Normally in portraits, you see the whole face of the person. Yet in this picture, you only see the right side of Taraji’s face, which is an interesting point of view. The shadows from what I believe are pillars create leading lines towards Taraji. Even her own shadow helps draw eyes to the main focus (herself). With the help of the bright colored dress, Taraji is made the focal point in this portrait. The area surrounding her is a little blurred out to make Taraji pop or stand out since she is in focus. Harrison’s portrait involves the compositional techniques leading lines, fill the frame, and rule of thirds. The shadows, and the helicopter’s outline gives a sense of a direction towards Harrison, who is in the center of the shot. There is very little empty space in the portrait so Timothy White incorporated fill the frame. On Harrison’s right, there is the large helicopter, and to his left, there is light stand, while Harrison is centered between these two items. Those two objects help create the rule of thirds. In Richard Avedon’s picture, I see the compositional technique leading lines. The model’s leg and material behind her directs your eyes to the model. There is a great sense of moment that the leading lines give.

All of these portrait either give a sense of movement or emotion, which is something that I want to include in my portraits. I can express movement or emotion through body position, and facial expression. Both of these artist made works of art not snapshots. Snapshot refer to not caring about the lighting, positioning, and took the picture quickly. Works of art take time and effort.

Artist’s Website: [|__http://timothywhite.com/gallery__] [|__http://www.avedonfoundation.org/__]

Image Links: [|__http://timothywhite.com/sites/default/files/styles/gallery_1000/public/images/portfolio/037_Taraji-Henson.jpg__] [|__http://timothywhite.com/sites/default/files/styles/gallery_1000/public/images/portfolio/021_Harrison-Ford.jpg__] __ [] __