Website: About Me Page Photography

The photograph I used for my website wasn't very professionally taken. To access my last blog post regarding the 'about me page', click here. 

After our previous lesson, I decided to retake my picture and focus on making it look very professional. 

I decided to take a look at some photographs other product designers include in their website as inspiration

The product designer I looked at was Philippe Starck. He had multiple portraits of himself on his website so I decided to select a few and comment on them. 

Philippe Starck

There are common elements in all three pictures. They are all a head ad shoulders shot. There isn't too much headroom and they are in portrait form which makes them look very professional. The background of all the images is plain so that it does not distract the viewer. I like the white background the most as it creates a really nice contrast and keeps the image very bright. In all three pictures, his facial expressions are very simple which I like as he maintains a professional environment in all of them. The good lighting further helps emphasize the details and contrast in this pictures which adds to the overall image. I really like the black and white effect used as it makes the pictures look minimalistic and very artistic.

Looking at these pictures was very beneficial as it helped me realise that the previous photo I had uploaded on my website was not professional. A few points that I have to keep in mind when taking my own pictures include:

1. Good lighting- take the pictures during daytime as artificial lighting will not help with the quality of the image

2. Film on a good camera to capture as much detail as possible.

3. Have a plain background that doesn't distract the viewer. 

4. Keep facial expressions very simple. 

5. Add a black and white filter for an artistic effect. 

Additionally, we looked at a YouTube video in class which gave me some insights and tips on how to further improve my images. 

How to take better portrait photos

1. Stepping away from the wall.

2. Portrait mode to blur the background.

3. Decreasing exposure.

4. Different angles.

I will try to apply all this information when taking and editing my images.

All the white walls I have in my apartment do not have good natural lighting. Therefore, I had to think of a way to create a white background while also having good lighting.

I used a white bed sheet I had in my apartment and taped it to one of my walls that is facing the window for maximum sunlight. I made sure to tape it and stretch it well so that no wrinkles are created that might interfere with my results. 

I wore something plain in colour in order to not making it distracting to the viewer.

After setting up my background, I placed my phone on the table opposite me to act as a tripod. I used my iPhone11 to take the pictures. I set a timer of 3seconds for each picture and also used the 'portrait' mode as the YouTube video suggested. The focal length was 3mm and ISO was 500.

Once I took a few pictures, I transferred the pictures onto my computer using an iPhone cable.

The next step was to create a contact sheet. I used BeFunky for this as I am still trying to figure out how to access photoshop. I added all the pictures into a collage and saved it.

After my contact sheet was done, it was time to choose my picture. I decided to choose the last one as it had good lighting and it looked more professional than the rest. 

I used Be Funky to edit it. There was a lot of headspace so I cropped the picture to reduce that. I decreased the brightness by -28, decreased the contrast by -5, increased my highlights by 21 and increased the shadows by 40. I tried out different combinations of the editing but this one was the best out of all of them. Lastly, I used a black and white filter and saved my image. 

I am happy with how the image came out. It has good lighting and it looks professionally taken. 

The last step was to replace my previous picture on the website with the new one. 

I clicked on the 'Change Image' to replace the old one. I then clicked on 'upload media' and 'upload from computer' and selected the desired image.

The layout was in landscape so I had to change the settings of the image and 'reset image'. The last step was to place it in the desired position and enlarge it. 

Overall, I think my layout looks more professional now as the image I used last time was unprofessional. It has better lighting and captures the details of my face better than the previous one. 

Sources:

Starck, P. (n.d.) Portraits. Available at: https://www.starck.com/portraits 

(Accessed: 20/11/2020)

Jensen, C. (2018) How to take better phone portraits. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIp55zB-Ku0&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=CodyJensen

(Accessed: 20/11/2020)