The first part of this assignment involved intentionally
under or over exposing shots in order to create effect. As I have spent a lot
of this summer photographing people, I decided to concentrate in this area.
I have used three different over exposed shots and for
similar reasons; I find that over exposing brings an air of innocence, quite an
ethereal quality as well as evening the skin and enhancing the eyes. I first
discovered this while studying strength of colour, taking several shots of my
daughter at varying exposures. As the colours became more washed out, I found
the image took on a totally different quality. Still focussing on people, I have also under exposed three
images, although my reasons for these vary slightly.
My first pair of shots are of a two month old baby, my first
photo-shoot of anyone quite so young so it was quite a learning curve.
Considering the innocent appearance brought on by over exposure, I felt that
this was an obvious starting point. As babies have much more basic expressions
than adults, I felt that the added focus to the eyes would create a more
powerful image.
The second image was under exposed as I felt it worked well
with the baby’s sleepy appearance. The dim lighting softly draws attention to
the baby’s face and shoulder, creating a calming image.
My next pair of images are taken at a wedding during the
summer and both show the bride and groom kissing. I feel that for such intimate
moments, under or over exposure can both work well. Under exposure in the first
image moves the main attention to the lighting, chiefly down the back of the
bridal gown. This enables the image to show the romantic nature of the moment, yet
the silhouetted kiss prevents their privacy from being invaded.
The second of this pair shows a close up of a kiss, which at
a normal exposure may have looked intrusive and unromantic. This over exposure
brings a more angelic nature to the shot, while at the same time evening the
skin and making the couple appear younger.
My last
two shots were taken on holiday and my reasons for these techniques vary from
those above. The close up of my daughter was taken whilst reading in the
caravan next to the window. My main reason for over exposing this shot was to
blast out any detail seen through the window and to create a clean white
backdrop, however I do like added attention this treatment draws to the eyes.
The final image shows my daughter again, riding a bike which
powered the lights on a sign. Under exposure was necessary in this image to
darken the background and highlight the lights against the white letters.
I seem to have hit common themes with these images; my main
use of over exposure is to add innocence and enhance eyes, whereas I mainly use
under exposure to enhance qualities of light. As I move through this unit, I
suspect I will find many more uses for these techniques.
