Evan Baines Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Thank you all for commenting.
I usually make it a policy never to disagree with any specific critiques, but I think in this case I thought it might be helpful to explain my reasoning regarding some of the issues mentioned. I take pains to say that this is not that the critiques offered are incorrect, and I appreciate gaining the perspective of everyone who offers their thoughts.. My purpose here is not to refute the critiques, which may be perfectly valid. My intent is to facilitate further discussion on the choices involved in crafting a portrait.
I actually shot some versions of the image that correspond to the critique offered and subsequently rejected them. The reason why I made the choices I did with regard to the extent of the crop and the body turn is that I felt it important to shoot slightly upward at the subject to reinforce her (slightly) in the hero/leader visual position (quite literally someone to look up to). This creates visual problems shooting a woman, as shooting upward is seldom a flattering angle for a lady, typically enlarging her body. This issue is compounded by the very "shouldery" nature of our Army jackets, which tends to make even the ladies look like linebackers. Therefore, I had to take three somewhat unorthodox steps to compensate for my decision to shoot up: shoot a longer-than-average focal length of almost 200mm, turn the subject a decent amount to narrow her in the frame, and even cropping in on the left shoulder (leaving a 4x6 crop) to narrow her visually. As noted in the original post, her head is then brought back across her body's directional turn keeping her in the more classic feminine axis: she would look more masculine if her head and body were in the same general direction.
Point being that there is very little precedent in traditional portraiture for combining femininity and strength/leadership/authority/heroism. Most of the traditional techniques force a photographer to choose, and combining aspects of each approach creates a unique set of challenges that requires some slightly unorthodox decisions. Using a looser crop and less body turn, in particular, was (in my view) incompatible with an upward camera angle.
Cheers and thanks again!
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