5X4 EVALUATION

Working with the 5x4 camera has certainly been the hardest part of the Portraiture brief, although I struggled at times I have thoroughly enjoyed it. When I first began shooting I found myself quite worried as we had to wait a few days to get our negs back, a few times when I had my negs returned the images did not come out, due to being exposed and under exposed. However, the more I worked with the camera the more comfortable I started to feel using it. Printing was also difficult at first as I had never experience using the colour dark room before, however once I got the hang of it and using the filters correctly it wasn't to bad.. printing 20x24 is the biggest I've ever printed and I was quite proud of myself. After printing and printing and printing, I started to get the colours neutral to how they looked in real life. Overall in this project I have developed my technical skills by using a large format camera, I also feel confident to use the camera in the future, and really enjoy printing colour.
Below is my final close-up, mid-length and full-length photographs..

This photograph was taken of my friend Steph, this is my close-up final shot. I love how her face is the main focus of the full image, with her neck and background blurred. The direct eye contact creates an intense serious mood to the viewer. I love the natural skin tones of her face and the closeness that enables the viewer to get up and close to her face.
I also intended for the background to be plain brick as I wanted to portray a subtle portrait.. This image reminds me of a album cover, I love her careless expression and the intense mood the photograph.

This is my mid-length final photograph of another one of my friends, Lauryn. I love the models expression! It really creates a warm happy mood, also contrasting with her warm red hair colour. The plain brick background enhances the subject to stand out becoming the main focus of the photograph. I wanted the composition to be central, however, some space above the models head to create a plain background around her and also to create a mid-length shot.
I also am pleased with the way her hair is slightly blurred, this creates a sense of movement to the photograph. This is probably my favourite out of the three images.

This is my final full-length photograph of my uni friend, Reece. I am very happy with the outcome of this print.. although his face is out of focus, which could be a small concern.. although I felt it takes the distraction from his face and allows the viewers to look allover in the image rather than just his face.(Like the close-up shot of Steph). I took this shot at the Gare whilst visiting with university to take photographs (Apart from the rain it was a productive day). The green background and brick floor really contrast together really well, creating a bright mood which allows the viewer to be slightly distracted from the subject himself. 

I love the central composition of the photograph and how the floor of the shot is 1/3 of the image, it really is an interesting portrait. His facial expression creates quite a serious mood, with his direct eye contact and the way he is stood.