Two Kinds of Portraits

I've always felt that portraits are one of the toughest assignments for a photojournalist. To be able to convey to the reader the identity and personality of the subject is always a challenge. However, I enjoy the challenge. I recently had two different portrait assignments and I approached each in a different manner.

The first image in this blog post is of Kerner Studios Model Supervisors (left to right) Mark Walas and Carol Bauman. Within a few minutes of meeting Mark and Carol I could tell they took great care and pride in their jobs building miniature models. I thought a shot of them looking over a miniature of the Walt Disney's Space Port concept model the studio built for the new Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio would show their love of their art. The model was lit up and I like how the light from it fell on both of their faces as they gaze upon the model.

The second portrait is of Dominican University Lacrosse player Tai Sing Hee. The story was a preview of the Dominican Lacrosse team's first season as a Division II program and focused on Hee, their prized recruit for the season. When I arrived on the lacrosse field for the assignment I was drawn to the goal and circle around it on the playing field. I positioned Hee in the center in a strong confident pose to show the possibilities of the player and his team for the upcoming season. Also instead of just using the available light I also threw in a little bit of flash on the right to try and lighten up Hee's face a little bit.

Both portraits present opportunities and I hope these two images work to convey what the essence of each subject and help to tell their story as well.