A portrait / still life with illustrating this phrase: “Hitting the Wall”. What does that mean to you? What context does it offer up for a view of how that image should be portrayed. I am allowing portraits AND still life to make sure that you can do this in your style. It could be funny or it could be sad or angry even… We have all used the term “Hitting the Wall” before and we all know what it means to us. Explain that to us in a photograph.
Color or BW / Wide or Tall.
Assignment Part B:
Light and shadow… use them. In the above photograph, I want a dramatic representation of a dramatic statement. I want you to USE light to help make that statement. Glows, Fill, Beat the Sun, Overexposed Areas, Shadows, Bounced, Edge Lighting, Grid Spots/Snoots, Silver reflectors, Mirrors, Storbs, Big Studio Lights, Candles… whatever you do, make sure you USE light to help sell the image. Yes the subject matters, but we are now going to add LIGHT as an element all its own."
Part A: As seems traditional for me in P52, here's a very literal interpretation of "Hitting the Wall". Now think about it for a while: how did I trigger my camera while wearing boxing gloves? I'll leave you to ponder. Suffice to say I'm glad my new camera is weather sealed.
Part B: I totally overrode the ambient in this shot. Without lights you can barely see the mortar between the bricks. I added a 30° grid to my main light and used a speedlight to add some highlights to the gloves. The main light is directly above the camera and angled slightly down to make an gradiated oval of light on the wall. The vignette is mostly natural with a tiny bit of enhancement in Lightroom. I desaturated the wall a bit and increased the clarity to make it look tougher - like it might hit back (which, according to Isaac Newton, it will).
