People in the Night

 

Too Dark

Too bright

Oh hey, just right!

Because I was in NYC for a college visit with my friends I obviously was going to take some people photos as well. What I didn't know is that now I can't stand taking pictures of people unless they look really good, which means I have to get everything just right. 

My friend Pedro modeled for the first while in Times Square. The area was odd for lighting because of the brightness of the signs and bill boards but at the same time it was around 2am so it was pretty dark outside-absolutely no natural light. His features don't come out very well, the lighting is about even through the whole picture and therefore his image isn't as vivid as I would have liked it to be. The brightest part of the photograph is the van with the headlights, not asthetically pleasing much at all.

By the second night, I had decided to go for use of my flash, yes the incoorporated one, thinking that I could manipulate it in some way. I don't have much experience with it yet and it showed when the lights were too harsh on Pedro and Niquo's faces in the second photo. This area was even darker than Times Square because it was on the cruise ship so we were surrounded by black water and a brighter background with the city. These lights did not come on to the boys however, because they were facing me and therefore the light was behind them. With my flash, the boy's faces were seen and they were differentiated from the background but too much so. The brightness made their images too vivid, rather more pronounced, and therefore it was not asthetically pleasing.

The third photo was taken on Columbia's campus at around 1am the same night as the cruise. I had asked my friend Jonatan to be a model so I could get the lighting just right and then took a few shots. I was actually quite surprised at how well my practice round had ended up and I think this photo was the best I took in regards to the people photos. His image is vivid yet it doesn't seem too pronounced nor does it seem to be lost in the background. The faint lighting in the backgound keeps the background dark but also accents the lighting which brightens his face.