© 2013 Crystal J.

Children’s Portraiture and Photography

I just picked up the last of my photos to be developed, and was able to sit down and look at my complete body of work for the quarter.  I have to say, I was very blessed to photograph families that allowed me to capture their children at play.  I was prepared to take some completely posed pictures at the families request, but all of them were fine with my taking candid portraits and I am very satisfied with the results.

This quarter I shot with black and white film for the first time.  I instantly fell in love with the nostalgic presence of black and white film, the harsh yet creamy effect that it has on the subject being photographed and the development process.

35mm B/W Film, Experiment with Indoor Lighting

I have also taken time to explore photoshop – something that I had never allowed myself to do before.  I believed that my photos should be able to stand on their own, without digital manipulation.  This quarter I have learned that I can take high quality photos without needing editing using high quality film and good lighting – but there are times when a photo benefits from a little manipulation (WordPress isn’t allowing me to post the before/after photo due to reaching my 100MB limit.  Seems unlikely that I’ve used that much space, hmm…)

I began the quarter with anxiety and doubt in my ability to capture good photographs on the spot, in a scheduled shoot.  I have learned a great deal about taking myself seriously as an artist, being confident in scheduling times and places to shoot, and having faith that through exploring new boundaries with photography and doing my best in the moment I will capture beautiful moments.

35mm Color Film

This week I have been pondering on how to best display my photos, and inspiration is coming to me in pieces.  Today is dedicated to bringing it all together.

Thank you all for a wonderful quarter, and a wonderful program to start my life as a student at Evergreen.

 

10 Comments

  1. Rob
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 9:53 am | #

    Crystal, these look great!

    I really like the texture you’ve captured with these photos, such good moments to capture as well. You’re doing very well with film, I’m glad to see you’ve come so far. I’m excited to see your final body of work, you should also try and bring in all your prints/negatives! I’d love to see them!

    • Crystal J.
      Posted June 5, 2013 at 10:01 am | #

      Thanks, Rob. I will bring in my negatives, and I am making a scrapbook to show 4×6 versions of photos that I don’t choose to print out large for my presentation.

  2. Kate
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 10:49 am | #

    These photos are fantastic and I am glad that you realized exactly how much potential and talent you have for this. I was pleased also to see the candid photos which I agree really capture the essence of the home much more than staged photos. I can’t wait to see you full body of work and I hope that this project gave you everything you were looking for and will benefit you in your personal life as well.

  3. Grace Marie
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 1:27 pm | #

    Crystal these photos are absolutely stunning! Especially considering that is your first time with black and white film photography, they look so professional. I agree with Kate that these have such an authentic feel to them, much better than any staged photos. So excited to see all of your work!

  4. Day Moor
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 1:34 pm | #

    These are really beautiful, I can tell you really captured the souls of these kids and that is really an amazing thing to do. I definitely agree and like the black and white ones with less manipulation.

  5. Sully
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 2:25 pm | #

    The quality of you photos are amazing for 35mm, it really shows that you took your time looking for good shots. I really like how you got a perfect sense of light for your photos, it’s like a perfect temp for any photographer. Also your black/white photos are great, there’re not to dark but just the right amount to give it a old school feel.

  6. Adrienne
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 4:19 pm | #

    These are amazing photos! I love the feet on the fence one.

  7. Brooke
    Posted June 5, 2013 at 8:16 pm | #

    I really like the way these photos turned out you definitely captured how it feels to be a child very well.

  8. Posted June 10, 2014 at 3:36 am | #

    Howdy! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading
    this post reminds me of my old room mate!
    He always kept talking about this. I will forward this write-up to him.
    Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!

    • Crystal J.
      Posted June 10, 2014 at 11:04 am | #

      Thank you!

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