What makes a good portrait?
In your next assignment, you will need to create a self-portrait. It needs to be a good-quality, clear, large photograph so, therefore, your cell-phone photos won't work. You will start with a photograph that you take with the class camera.
In class, we looked at some good (and no-so-good) examples of portraits. Remember that when trying to create a better portrait, you should be trying to express something about yourself (feeling, emotion, viewpoint) or you should be leaving the meaning up to other people's (plural meaning many people) interpretation.
Sometimes it's funny how school photos are supposed to be portraits, when they are so far from who you really are, what you stand for or what you feel. School photos are posed and are more meant to highlight your best features, but don't necessarily convey any true meaning.
When you are taking your photos for class, try to take photos that will give you the opportunity to express something in them later. Take different shots; Try different poses. You don't have to know exactly what you are doing for your photo, but this way, you will have some options.
Here are some of the better examples we looked at from class. Notice how they all express something about the subject or they leave the interpretation to the viewer:
And not-so-good-portraits
