This is an early photograph that i took during class, for an in class project. During the project we were allowed only around 15 minutes to get 5 "perfect" pictures, using the right aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc. Even though this picture doesn't have the perfect exposure, the shutter speed was effective in the crispness of the photo, and the aperture allowed everything to be in focus. I used a low enough ISO that there wasn't any noise in the photograph. When in the parlors i was able to freely choose my shutter speed and aperture because their was a lot of available light in the room. Since the harsh contrast in her face is so pronounced, there is a dark shadow on one side of her face, making it underexposed. On the other side her face is the right exposure, but her shirt is over exposed.
Although this picture has many good formal decisions besides the underexposure it also has more conceptual reasons that give it means for the underexposure. Even though i wasn't thinking of any conceptual ideas while taking the photo, after seeing it many appeared. The underexposure caused the photo to have a very strong contrast with dark and light. This can come across conceptually. The first conceptual idea that was brought to my attention was the fact that the high contrast could be seen as her being stuck in between good and evil, or even religiously God and not believing.
If i were to be asked to reshoot the photo i personally would not change anything about how i took the picture. formally and conceptually i like how the picture turned out. i think that conceptual reasons may sometimes override formal reasons for taking a picture, and this is one of those cases.
This is good, Christine. I like that you've noticed and commented on the contrast between the dark top half and the lighter bottom half of the photograph. If I were to project my own meaning onto this, I might not speak to something as weighty as "good" and "evil," but I might, instead, read an implied heaviness or pressure that weighs an otherwise seemingly unconcerned girl.
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I think that this is a great photo and I "got" the good/evil right away when I saw the photo and her comment. I believe Christine's observations on her photo are spot on. The contrast in the photo is very interesting, and I enjoy the look on her model's face. In places the photo seems to be over exposed, the model's shirt, and a bit of the chair, I feel that if they were not so exposed then more attention would be drawn to the face. But that's not an extreme factor of the photo, it does not ruin the photo. I think Christine analyzed her photo thoroughly, commenting on both the formal, and conceptual aspects of the photo, this will help her impartially view her photos in the future, which will make for well created photos to come.
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