July Theme Challenge – Environmental Portrait

For this month, July 2023, the theme challenge is “Environmental Portrait“. Carrying on from last months pet theme challenge, where we discussed how important it is to capture memories of our pets, family, and friends by thinking about creating a portrait from a more personal point of view. So this month we’ll concentrate on making “portraits” with your subject in their “environment”. The best way to start is by asking someone you know, a family member, or a friend if you can take an environmental portrait of them doing their work or about them with their hobby. Take the time to create a lasting memory for them by taking their photograph, while at the same time you’ll get to know them a bit better learning about their life and passion. There are so many possibilities, this is a great opportunity to put yourself out there to create a great portrait for someone which they hopefully will cherish for many years to come.

The basics of an environmental portrait is to capture an image of your subject in their environment doing what they enjoy. Once you have identified a subject that you think could make a great idea, present the idea to them and hopefully they will agree to let you capture their portrait, then start preparing for the shoot. Here are a few things to consider: 1) Research, learn what they do to come up with some interesting ideas. 2) Story, make it interesting, learn what they do and have the subject in their typical clothing doing something that also represents what they do. 3) Framing, once you have identified the location take a look around to see what will look good in the frame and resolve how to exclude what will not. 4) Subject, Decide on how you will use selective focus via depth of field, aperture setting, focal length, distance to subject, and subject distance to the background to help make your subject stand out. 5) Light, look at the available light to consider placement of the subject and introduce artificial light and/or introduce a scrim or reflector if necessary. 6) Relax, communicate, keep a casual discussion with your subject asking questions to show a keen interest, so you can capture the essence of the subject within their environment which will also help them feel more comfortable so you’ll get a more natural looking portrait. 7) Edit, if necessary do any post processing you feel is required to get your desired finished look finally bringing your original idea to life.

One of my photographer friends, Chris Stackhouse, agreed to have his environmental portrait taken as a prelude to being a guest on our podcast, which you can listen to on Episode #5, of the You Can Learn Photography Podcast. I decided to shoot the first image in his living room in front of some of his work using an 85mm f/1.8 lens while framing him within one of his corner displays. The light from the two large windows provided the rim light as well as enough ambient light for the photograph. The camera that he is proudly displaying is a medium format Hasselblad digital camera which he used to take many of his Grain Elevator, Landscape, and Seascape images. The second image below was taken in his studio with the same 85mm lens with two bounce flashes; one to light the subject and the other to light the background.

Another idea is to visit a local museum where they demonstrate activities such as at the Ross Farm Museum located in New Ross, Nova Scotia. This Museum is a living, working, farm depicting over 150 years of agriculture in Nova Scotia, which at various times of the year demonstrate how things were done on a farm in the early days living in Nova Scotia, Such as sheering sheep and making wool as shown in the images below. The first image showing how to sheer sheep was taken outside in harsh light, which has it’s challenges, however I moved around to find a position to best minimize the harsh shadows and have a somewhat clean background. the second image of making the wool was taken in a work shed using the natural light that was coming in from a large open door and a window, while also using a slower shutter speed to show the motion of the spinning machine.

In 2018 we went to visit Kings Landing in Prince William, New Brunswick. Kings Landing is referred to as an open-air, 300-acre, museum with many artifacts and a 19th-century village full of costumed characters, farm animals, and historic buildings to showcase the history of the people who lived along the St. John River Valley. While exploring the village we stopped by the Blacksmith shop to experience how a triangle bell is made which was typically used to call everyone home for meals.

This was a great opportunity to take some environmental portraits. One tip is to think about creating a collection of images, don’t think about taking one image, make a “series of images” that as a whole help tell a more interesting or complete story. The light in a Blacksmith Shop is quite dark, so analyze the light and observe the Blacksmith to see how his face interacts with the available light. Keep in mind that these images may require some post editing to be able to increase the brightness of the shadows because you may have to overall under expose slightly to handle the dynamic range of the light from the flame and windows. This will also require a more open aperture, a smaller f stop number, and a higher ISO, therefore pay particular attention to focusing on your subjects eye and choose a shutter speed that helps tell the story as well. Notice in the closeup image of the Blacksmith hammering the metal, the hammer is blurred a bit to show motion, which is possible by choosing a suitable shutter speed.

Learn from your mistakes while you are on location review your images quickly on the camera’s LCD, one mistake I made with this image is with the position of the Blacksmith when displaying the final bell using the light from the open door way, the light reflection is showing in his glasses and could have been minimized by having the Blacksmith turn his face a bit more toward the camera, so don’t be afraid to ask the subject to adjust his position slightly to get the best image possible.

Lastly, think about how you are going to display or present your images. One idea is to create a “Silent Essay”, which is basically putting your environmental portrait series of images, typically twelve, in a video plus adding text to help tell the specific story. Below is a project put together by my wife Darlene from her visit to the Ross Farm Museum showing how a Yellow Birch Wood Chip Hat is made. A small on camera flash pointed at a reflector to bounce the light in the same direction as the window light provided an effective off camera light which was a brighter light to allow for a faster shutter speed to help with the dark ambient environment.

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below are a few YouTube video links to give you some hints and ideas on how to photograph environmental Portraits:
■ Top Tips for Environmental Portrait Photography by Visual Education – Karl Taylor (17 min. 53 sec.)
■ 5 Tips for Environmental Portraits with Alison Wright by B&H Photo Video (4 min. 49 sec.)
■ Flash vs Ambient Light on Location: Take and Make Great Photography with Gavin Hoey by Adorama TV (12 min. 5 sec.)

If you want to share your image there is no facility to upload your image here, however just paste your social media link of your image in your comment and we’ll be able to see your image. Please note comments are moderated so it will not show up right away, however we do get a notification when any comment is posted so it won’t take long to get approved and subsequently show up. By posting your social media link of your image in your comment, it gives everyone visiting the bog a chance to not only see your image for the challenge but also the ability to look at your other work as well by visiting your social media through your link. We want sharing to be a positive experience and we hope you have fun this month with this challenge.

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.