Then, the aim is to execute a portrait exercise concentrating on the person and the facial expression.
Chloé and her mother Koidu are two friends I met a couple of years ago in the French city of Metz.
Koidu is Estonian and Chloé is half French and half Estonian.
As Koidu is a photographer, she and Chloé accepted with enthusiasm my proposition to help me for this exercise.
"What is your favourite activity Chloé?"
"What a silly question, Marco! You know I adore dancing! I have been doing classic dance since the age of 5 and I train 4 times a week every week".
She smiles at me, with her shy, but determinate approach while she explains that, besides classic dance, she also performs jazz and modern dance.
She is proud when she informs me that she even created her own choreography and she teaches dance to beginners.
"And why do you like dance?"
"Dance is beauty, art, expression. It allows me to improve myself, passing my limits, creating and expressing myself."
Chloé is a teenager, but she address herself to me with clear ideas, with the passions that only the best can have.
"... and what do you not like in dancing?"
"The physical effort, the pain in my muscles when I get punished for a mistake. It is hard, but dancing is so beautiful!"
"Let's go shooting Chloé and... merci!"
Image 1.
f 6.7, 1/180 sec, ISO 200, 18 mm
Image 2.
f 4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 200, 20 mm
In Image 1 and 2 I like a lot the contrast between the background and Chloé's light posture.
I have to admit that, as it was very difficult to decide which one of the two similar photos I wanted to post, I chose to select both.
In Image 1 I like very much the fact that Chloé's hand is cut (which probably could be considered a gross mistake in a formal portrait).
This peculiarity makes me feel as the subject is flying away, out of the frame of my photo, free like a bird.
I also like the line on the wall behind her body that is almost parallel to her body and seems to follow through her movement.
In Image 2 I appreciate Choé's smile, but I do not like her hands which are blurred.
However, this is one of the few smiles she gave me during our shooting and it looks very genuine.
Image 3.
f 8, 1/180 sec, ISO 200, 31 mm
In Image 3 I do not like very much the background.
The sky is almost burned, the trees and the houses are really not very interesting.
However, I consider the facial expression and the look as very representative of Chloé's dancing effort.
I also like her posture and I find it very typical for a classical dancer.
Image 4.
f 9.5, 1/350 sec, ISO 200, 18 mm
The hand, the eyes and the trees made me select Image 4: her dreaming expression, the arm stretched with a soft movement and the tree branches that almost embroider the sky in the background.
Image 5.
f 8, 1/180 sec, ISO 200, 21 mm
In my view, the red socks and jacket are the strong points in Image 5.
I like the visual impact of this two strong coloured details that are rather uncommon for a classical dancer.
Moreover, I appreciate the movement recalling the lines of the branches in the background.
Image 6.
f 4, 1/10 sec, ISO 200, 24 mm
I selected Image 6 for the look and the background.
A sort of dialogue between Chloé's eyes and the white, old, broken chair in the background.
I find this an interesting narrative.
What I do not like is the fact that I completely lost the reference to the activity I wanted to depict in the portrait: dancing.
Image 7.
f 6.7, 1/125 sec, ISO 200, 38 mm
Image 8.
f 5.6, 1/90 sec, ISO 200, 31 mm
Image 7 and 8 are taken during the same series of shots.
The first one is almost a cliché.
The young classical dancer under a willow tree with a thoughtful look and a very poetical touch.
I like it because, despite it is a bit sentimental, in my view it depicts very well the young Chloé and her view of life.
The second shot is by far my favourite.
I perfectly know that a portrait that does not show what is supposed to be its subject will unlikely win a prize and that, probably, it can hardly be defined as a portrait, but I strongly believe that this is the best picture I took of Chloé.
First of all, I like the perspective: top down view with very interesting lines drawn by the thin willow branches.
Then, the colours and the different degrees of green in contrast with the dark hair and the white skin.
And finally the very poetical position of the hand taking the branches and almost caressing them.
In post production I adjusted the curves in order to add contrast and drama to a photo that I consider to be very original.
I enjoyed a lot this exercise and I felt much more at ease with Chloé than with Nicola (my subject in exercise 3) despite he is a close friend.
I believe two are the main reason for that:
1. I am getting more and more confident in managing my subjects.
2. As Chloé is used to play the role of the photo subject with her mother she was an excellent model and often even suggested me interesting solutions for our photo session.
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