Challenge 104: Black and White Portrait

This week I propose a challenge that although it may seem easy, it is not. I mean the black and white portrait. By the way, if it were easy… it wouldn’t be a challenge 😉

How does it work? (Reminder)

Every week I will propose a new challenge, it is a topic that you will have to capture in a photograph and upload it to the Facebook page of the blog, putting in the description the keyword that I will indicate for each topic. The themes will be varied, from portraits to Macro photography, through landscapes, black and white photography, or babies. The topics will be proposed on Saturdays, so that you have all the Weekend to work them. You will have one week to upload your photograph (one photo per participant), until Friday of the following week. On Friday or Saturday I will update the article with the photo that has captivated me the most and I will propose a new topic, and so on…

Weekly Challenge 104: Black and White Portrait

A portrait may seem easy. You may think you find someone who wants to pose, period. But this is not so. A good portrait should speak of the person portrayed, of his dreams, of his fears, of what is hidden behind his gaze. A true portrait does not remain on the surface of the skin, it goes one step further and transmits everything that the portrayed person feels and lives. And when it comes to black and white, it gets even more complicated, since there are no colors that help convey feelings or emotions.

It is clear that it is important to learn the photographic technique, but it is useless if you do not also learn to shoot with the heart, to see beyond what anyone can see, to show the essence of places or people. The photographer is not a mere copyist of reality, he is an artist and as such he must move. This week’s challenge is for you to train yourself in this aspect, so that you show who is behind your camera by talking about who is in front of you.

As usual, to participate in this week’s challenge upload your photo to the Facebook wall from the Photographer’s Blog: In the description of the photo please mention the keyword “Black and White Portrait Challenge” followed by a title of your choice.

Alternative Means to Participate

For those who do not be from Facebook I have enabled new social networks to participate.

• Flickr: accessing the Group Mural of the Photographer’s Blog and uploading the photo directly. Give your photo a caption and be sure to mention “Black and White Portrait Challenge” in the same.
• Twitter: uploading the photo directly to Twitter with the hashtag #BlackAndWhitePortraitChallengeBdF

Happy photography.

Update

Wonderful portraits that you have sent on this occasion. Every day you are more camera artists! Thank you for your involvement 😉

The other day, by chance, I saw the portrait sent by Carmen Portilla Crespo in the gallery. Since then I have been haunted by the “Look” of the portrayed girl. When making the selection I have seen other portraits that have amazed me, however, I cannot get this one out of my head. I look around the gallery and “Look” jumps out at me above the rest, like a white rose among a large bouquet of red roses, like a strawberry among a bunch of grapes. There is something that catches in that look and that Carmen has managed to capture. A serene look, calm while alive and penetrating, that speaks to me of a shy girl who, despite this, challenges the camera, who poses with natural elegance without actually posing, who does not like being photos but he accepts it patiently. It is also a great portrait on a technical level. It does not matter in this case that her eyes are not on the points of interest that the three-thirds rule speaks of, since they equally capture all the attention and are perfectly focused. It has done an excellent handling of the light that comes from the side, the contrast is perfect and it is an image that is not at all pasty, since it includes all the shades of the gray scale, from the lowest to the highest. Congratulations, Carmen, for this beautiful portrait!