Portraiture and Lighting

Curriculum

Week 1: Review of Lighting and Exposure Concepts

• Lecture – Overview of portraiture; Basic lighting equipment; Getting correct exposure in low–light and contrasty situations; Contrast in lighting for faces; Diagramming a lighting plot
• Demonstration – Review of fundamental lighting types
• Portrait Assignment – Portraiture with available light in a non–studio setting

Week 2: Single Light Source

• Discussion of Week 1 assignment – students will display pictures; class will hypothesize about the light sources; each photographer may choose to comment
• Lecture and Demonstration – Composition of portraits; Addressing the eyes; Shadows on the face; Angle of camera on subject; Evaluating the Subject's Face Before Shooting
• Portrait Assignment – Composing the face with a single light source

Week 3: Multiple Light Sources

• Discussion of Week 2 assignment – same format as discussion from previous week
• Lecture and Demonstration – Multiple light sources; Making a portrait textured and three dimensional; Setting up a traditional studio portrait; Departing from the traditional – creating a unique lighting scheme for each subject
• Portrait Assignment – Creating a portrait with at least three light sources

Week 4: The Subject in Context (Backgrounds and Environment)

• Discussion of Week 3 assignment – same as previous weeks
• Lecture and Demonstration – Composing with a background; Daylight portraiture; Depicting the subject's circumstances or environment; Combining artificial and natural light
• Portrait Assignment – Shooting in specific locations

Week 5: Focal Length

• Discussion of Week 4 assignment – same as previous weeks
• Lecture and Demonstration – Lens choice and focal length; Distortion for artistic effect; Personalities of different lenses; The photographer's inflection in the portrait
• Portrait Assignment – Portraiture with unconventional lenses and angles

Week 6: Multiple Subjects

• Discussion of Week 5 assignment – same as previous weeks
• Lecture and Demonstration – Lighting for multiple subjects; Inverse Square Rule as applied to portraiture; Subject interaction – using relationships as context; Larger group portraits
• Portrait Assignment – Lighting and composing for subject interaction

Week 7: Putting It All Together

• Discussion of Week 6 assignment – same as previous weeks; this week the class will also speculate on the relationship between the models
• Lecture – Capturing the subject?s persona; Literal vs. conceptual portraiture
• Discussion – Portraiture experiences (an exchange among students moderated by the instructor)
• Portrait Assignment – Instructor distributes a list of suggested self–assignments for further study of portraiture