Makylie Killian models Celtic-style ceramic earrings and an amethyst necklace.

This semester I branched out from my photojournalism-centric photo classes and took a commercial photography course focusing on fashion and portraiture. The course covered methods of photographing subjects in a manner that focuses more on featuring products than necessarily the person pictured. Having experience taking primarily portraits, the course challenged my typical approach to portraiture. Though there's much more experience to be had in commercial photography, I feel as if I have gained a lot of ground and made myself a competent fashion and portraiture photographer.

The course was split into a portraiture half and a fashion half. The portraiture portion featured assignments focusing on representation (skateboard images below), typical formal portraits, on-location shoots (alpaca images below), in addition to natural light portraits, as well as other assignments. The fashion portion tasked me in photographing accessories (image above), texture (sweater at sunset image below), motion (biking image), beauty (orange background image), two or more models, as well as other fashion-based shoots. Fashion was especially difficult for me. I tend to focus on the face (as is typical in a portrait situation), and making the product in the image the highest priority took some adjustments in my shooting. 

A technique universal to all disciplines of photography this course taught me was lighting techniques. Being a class that allowed me to pose all my subjects, presenting each subject in a specialized lighting style was important in creating more successful fashion and portraiture images. I finally invested in two studio flashes in addition to my Nikon strobe and experimenting with the three lights throughout this course taught me a lot about how to effectively light an image. 

Another change of pace for me from my photojournalism background was retouching and extensive toning. In photojournalism, retouching is a major no-no. It includes adding and removing features from a photograph (usually used to smooth skin, remove blemishes, or remove distracting elements in a picture). This was my first experience in retouching a few pictures and exposed me to another set of skills that allow a photographer to "wear a different hat", so to speak, and work in something other than documentary photography. It felt wrong to retouch some of the images below, but each field has its own set of rules to abide by. As long as you play by the rules of the discipline you're working in and are honest in your actions, images can be processed in drastically different ways. 

At the end of this post (beginning with the image of the witch) is a portrait series I did of partygoers during the annual Halloween block party held along Court Street in Athens, Ohio. I did a similar series last year, but expanded upon it this year. I used a background (generously borrowed for the shoot from my commercial photography professor Gary Kirksey), as well as a three-light setup. I changed the lighting for each image depending on the subject, but kept the background the same and lighting ratios similar to create a more cohesive series from last year. 

Colin Richards stands for a portrait with his Fickle-brand skateboard at the Athens Skatepark in Athens, Ohio. A freshman at Ohio University, Richards explained that the skatepark in the city was certainly a factor in coming to college in Athens.

Colin Richards showcases his yellow-striped tube socks, Vans skateboarding shoes, and Fickle-brand skateboard.

Darin Simokov models a sweater with stitched designs at The Ridges in Athens, Ohio.

Jalen Carter poses for a formal portrait.

Marilyn Wentworth feeds the female alpacas at her alpaca farm located just outside of Athens, Ohio. Wentworth has raised an award-winning herd of Suri Alpacas at Phoenix Hill Farm, and she sells products created from their fleece to help fund the farm.

Marilyn Wentworth cleans a sore on one of her female alpacas with water.

Conor Emser models his bicycling apparel while riding his Giant-brand bike.

Makylie Killian models with minimal make-up for a beauty-inspired image.

Adrian Hemm, left, and Daret Spradley model long-sleeved waffle-patterned shirts in Athens, Ohio.

Connie Wolf, dressed as a witch, poses for a portrait during the annual block party along Court Street in Athens, Ohio.

Chris Wolf, owner of the Smiling Skull Saloon and husband of Connie (above), poses for a portrait, "dressed as himself".

Makylie Killian poses in her witch-inspired costume.

A partygoer poses dressed as Mr. Rogers with a puppet in the spirit of the television show, "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood."

Cullen Quigley poses for a portrait dressed as an Eggo waffle.

An Ohio University alumnus poses for a portrait in his store-bought costume.

A partygoer poses for a portrait while dressed as Bob Ross.

Josef Otmar stands in a mock-Napoleon pose while dressed as a garden gnome.

Josef Otmar shows off his toy sunglasses with his gnome costume.

Mariah Roj, dressed as Mary Poppins, spins her dress while posing for a portrait.