Sunday, February 1, 2009

Summer of Hope Portrait Project

Here are some of the first images from the first family I'm photographing from the Summer of Hope Project. I plan to go back again to get some better portraits so hopefully the boys will feel a little more comfortable around me. The boy next to the computer is their only biological son and he's also the youngest of the bunch. The other two individual images are of the boy they adopted from the Philippines. The photograph with all four of the boys shows the other two kids they have adopted from Russia. I photographed them all together on the couch in the living room because this is where they all spend their time together. The boys aren't allowed to have much "alone" time, so they tend to congregate in this room. Any thoughts or comments are welcome. Plus, I plan to convert these to b&w...any suggestions on the best way to do this for the best results?

4 comments:

hunter said...

i think youre headed in a good direction with this...i need to see more though...

Ian van Coller said...

Love the top portrait and somewhat liking the second image. Would like to see that background pushed back a bit either with depth of field or adding extra light to the foreground. Also needs a little bit more space in the foreground.

Bek said...

I like the first three! The second two are not as strong because of the angles, light, and expressions...overall though I am interested in the series. Can't wait to see more :)

Kelly Gorham said...

If you're planning on going black and white I would suggest lighting with more contrast. Start thinking 3:1 or 4:1 light ratios. I also think the theme suggests strength so I'd do one of two things:
-Use wide angle and really get in their face to create tension and drama or
-shoot with a longer lens, shallower focus as Ian suggested and really fill the frame with the subject.