Environmental Portraits????
Okay, so I think one important thing is to realize your weaknesses. One of mine is environmental portraits. So, if you don't know what that is, it's a portrait of someone in their everyday environment. Meaning, what they do everyday. It shows more about who they are and what they do than just your average picture of them.
The first full week I had at the Texarkana Gazette was while my boss was on vacation. I had no one other than my coworker to give me tips and critiques. In a way, I didn't really think it was a big deal. However, when my boss came back and critiqued my images I realized the importance of it. I'm not saying he completely hated every image I took, but instead gave me new perspectives on what I could've done in the moment or what I should've thought about when I took my photo.
One assignment I had while my boss was on vacation, was to take an environmental portrait-ish of a lady who was in the banking field. As soon as I got into her office I became very boring. I thought, okay, so I can just take a picture of her sitting at her desk and it'll be fine. So I took my picture and then left halfway through the interview so I could get to my next assignment.
The first full week I had at the Texarkana Gazette was while my boss was on vacation. I had no one other than my coworker to give me tips and critiques. In a way, I didn't really think it was a big deal. However, when my boss came back and critiqued my images I realized the importance of it. I'm not saying he completely hated every image I took, but instead gave me new perspectives on what I could've done in the moment or what I should've thought about when I took my photo.
One assignment I had while my boss was on vacation, was to take an environmental portrait-ish of a lady who was in the banking field. As soon as I got into her office I became very boring. I thought, okay, so I can just take a picture of her sitting at her desk and it'll be fine. So I took my picture and then left halfway through the interview so I could get to my next assignment.
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Millie Serrano, mother of two, was raised in Hooks, TX. and has been a mortgage originator for Wells Fargo since 2015. Serrano entered the banking career in 2005 starting as a teller, and eventually worked her way up. She also occasionally does banking seminars to combine her love of teaching with her job.
On the day my boss got back he showed me this image and was explaining to me how it's kind of boring. I knew it wasn't mindblowing but I didn't really realize how boring of a photo it was. He gave me the tip and told me to stay all the way through the interview so I could get an idea of who they are and incorporate that into their portrait.
So, today I had an opportunity to redeem myself with another environmental type ish portrait. A guy from Texarkana had started an art career and now had his art featured in a gallery downtown. I stayed the whole time from the interview and eventually came up with an idea to show him with his art instead of him just holding his art or standing right next to it. This is the finished result.
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Artist Robert "Robissic" Collins has his work being featured in the Studio 18 Gallery in downtown Texarkana. Collins now lives in the Dallas area, but grew up in Texarkana and even graduated from Arkansas High in 2000. He started drawing around the 2nd or 3rd grade, and even won awards for paintings in high school. However, he instead pushed back his art talent and went to barber school. Now with a barber shop in Dallas, he has found his passion once again and started his art career about one and a half years ago.
Now, trust me. I know this isn't a show stopping image. But- my goal was to create a less boring photo and I did achieve that. Most environmental portraits are them doing whatever they would usually be doing (for ex: a painter would be painting). However, he was from Dallas and so I couldn't just up and drive to Dallas lol. I found an interesting way to showcase him and his work without it being super boring.
I think I did redeem myself. I told my boss right before I showed him, "Now, I know this won't be mindblowing, but I'm just looking for improvement." And, in fact, he said I did improve.