Lesson video

Hello.

My name is Ms. Nicholson.

I'm so glad that you've joined me today for your art and design lesson all about portraits.

In this lesson, we're going to be learning how to take and edit a profile portrait.

I'm so excited to learn with you today.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, we're going to take and edit a profile portrait photograph.

Let's take a look at some of our key words.

Key words.

Repeat after me.

Subject.

Photographer.

Framing.

Lighting.

Great job.

Let's find out what some of these key words mean.

Subject.

Subject is the main thing or person you see in the artwork.

The subject in this example is a person.

Photographer.

A photographer is someone who takes pictures with a camera.

They capture moments, people, places and things in photographs.

Framing.

Framing is what you decide to include in a photograph.

You can see here some framing fingers, which you can use to move in and out to decide what is in your photograph.

Lighting.

Lighting is how bright or dark a photograph is as a result of the light.

You can see in this image there is lots of light coming in from the window.

Well, now that we've learned what our key words mean, it's time to move on.

This lesson has three cycles.

In the first part of the lesson, we're going to find out what is portrait photography.

In the second part of the lesson, we're going to move on to taking our own photograph, and in the final part of the lesson, we're going to be editing a photograph.

I hope you are ready for a great lesson.

Let's get started.

What is portrait photography? In art, the subject is the main thing or person that the artwork is about.

It's what the artist or photographer wants to share with others.

In this photograph, the photographer has chosen a person as their subject.

A portrait photograph is a picture taken with a camera or a device that is usually focused on a person's face.

People often take portraits to remember someone or to capture how they looked at a certain time.

People take portrait photographs for many different reasons.

They may want to capture memories.

Portraits help people remember special moments like birthdays, graduations, or weddings.

They may wish to express their identity to show a person's personality, a person's emotion or their unique style.

They may also want to tell stories with their portrait photographs.

A portrait can reveal something about a person's life, culture, or even their background too.

They can also be used for art and being creative.

Portraits can be a form of artistic expression using lighting, poses, and different backgrounds to create a mood and meaning.

Portraits help us connect with people, emotions, and stories through images.

They are special because they show each person's unique face and also personality.

A photographer may give the subject directions as to how they should pose.

Just like when you have your school photograph taken.

The photographer might say, "Turn your head to the side and smile." And as you can see here, John has turned his head to the side and is smiling, ready to have his school photograph taken.

Now it's time to check for your understanding.

A portrait photograph is a picture taken with a or device.

Is it A, camera; B, pencil; or C, paintbrush? Pause the video here.

Have a try and return once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's find out the answer.

It was A, camera.

A portrait photograph is a picture taken with a camera or device.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Framing in photography is when you decide what to include in a photograph.

Let's take a look at these two images.

Image one, image two.

What is the difference between these photograph frames? Take a close look.

You may wish to pause the video here while you have a think.

What did you think? Well, Jun said, "The second photograph frame is much closer than the first.

You can't see the person anymore." And Jun's right.

The first photograph is not as close as the second photograph, and this means the frame is much closer.

Photographers use framing to make the picture more interesting and to guide the viewer's eyes to the most important part of the photo.

Framing draws attention to the main subjects.

It makes the pictures look less flat and more three-dimensional.

Sometimes people use windows and doors or trees to act as the frame to make the photos look more unique.

Framing can tell a story and can make the photo feel special.

Like looking through a secret window, framing is like putting a picture inside a picture to make it stand out.

Now it's time to check for your understanding.

Framing in photography is.

Is it A, choosing what to include in a photograph? Is it B, the main thing the photograph is about? Or is it C, a picture taken with a camera or device? Have a think.

Pause the video and return once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's take a look at the answer.

The answer was A, choosing what to include in a photograph.

Now let's put the sentence together.

Framing in photography is choosing what to include in a photograph.

Great job.

Let's move on.

Now it's time for an "I do, you do." Using my framing fingers, I tried framing a photograph of my partner.

Here you can see an example of what framing fingers look like.

Can you make framing fingers? Now it's your turn.

Experiment with moving closer and further away to view more or less of the subject.

The subject is your partner.

Give this a go and rejoin when you're done.

Have fun using your framing fingers.

How did you get on? Did you move closer and further away using your framing fingers? Great job.

Now it's time for task A.

With a partner, practise taking a portrait photograph with a device or camera.

You are going to choose two different emotions and direct your partner on how to pose to show these emotions.

You may direct your partner to look happy or sad, or angry, or confused, or excited.

Remember to hold your device or camera portrait and not landscape.

You can see an example here of the correct way to hold your camera or to hold your device.

Pause the video here, go and have a go and return once you're done.

I'm excited to see your portrait photographs.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Did you have lots of fun taking your portrait photograph? Did you choose two different emotions and direct your partner? Great job.

You may have taken a portrait photograph like this.

The photographer said, "Place your head in your hands and look down to the floor please." And that's because the photographer wanted the subject to look sad.

They chose sad as their emotion.

I wonder what emotion you chose.

Great job.

Now it's time to move on to the second part of our lesson where we're going to be taking a photograph.

Let's get started.

Taking a photograph.

A profile portrait photograph is a picture of someone taken with a camera or device from the side.

Here's an example.

You can only see half of the person's face, so you can only see one eye, the side of the nose and the mouth.

In a profile portrait photograph, a person usually is not looking at the camera but actually to the side.

This shows what people look like from a different angle and it highlights the shape of their face.

When taking a photograph, the photographer thinks about the lighting and the background to help the subject to stand out.

You can see here that the light is coming in from the window behind the little girl.

Andeep said, "I can see the light coming in from the window, which makes the subject stand out." And andeep is right.

Now it's time to check for your understanding.

How has the photographer ensured that their subject stands out in this photograph? Take a close look and think about some of the things that you've learned so far.

Pause the video and return once you've thought of your answer.

Welcome back.

Did you say something like Jun? "The photographer has framed the photograph so that the person is close up and you can't see much of the background.

The background is also clear." There are other ways that photographers make profile portraits stand out.

They use good lighting.

Taking photos in natural light near a window or outside makes the faces look bright.

Avoid shadows on the face to keep the picture looking clear.

A plain background like a wall or sky makes the person stand out too.

Don't forget to frame the face.

Keep the person's face in the centre or slightly to the side.

You can use objects like doorways and trees or hands to make creative frames around the face.

Avoid blurry photos by holding the camera steady.

Well done.

Let's move on.

We're now going to move on to task B.

Using your device, take two portrait photographs of your partner.

Ensure that the subject is in profile view, their head and shoulders are in the frame, you have good lighting, you direct them on how to pose to show their personality just like we practised earlier.

Remember to hold your device or camera portrait and not landscape because this is what makes a profile portrait.

Pause the video here.

Go and have fun taking your two portrait photographs of your partner and I look forward to seeing you when you get back.

Good luck.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Was that fun? You may have taken a photograph to look like this.

And Jun has noticed the subject is in profile view.

The head and shoulders are in the frame.

There is good lighting and the subject is slightly smiling to show their personality.

Great job.

Well done.

We're now going to move on to editing a photograph.

Take a look at these photographs.

What are the differences between these photographs? You might want to pause the video here whilst you think, take a close look.

Most devices have a feature to edit photographs once they have been taken.

Andeep said, "I can use the brightness feature to change the brightness of my photograph." Let's find out why each of the images are different.

In the first image, you can see that the photograph is quite dark.

In the second photograph, you can see that it's lighter, and in the third photograph, you can see that it's lighter again.

Sometimes photographers edit their photographs once they have been taken.

To change the brightness of an image, you can often select the adjustment tools feature.

Your device might say format options.

Here the brightness has been set to -86% and you can see that it's a lot darker than the other images.

In this image, the brightness is high at 86%.

In the final image, the brightness has been set to 50 and you can see this on the adjustment examples.

The cropping tool helps photographers focus on a specific part of their photograph.

It works like a window allowing them to choose the most interesting and important section to keep.

Sometimes after taking a photograph, photographers decide to change the frame.

To change the frame of an image, you can often select the cropping tool, and this is an example of what the cropping tool looks like.

You can move the guides to change the frame of your photograph as shown below.

Once the cropping has been done, the image appears a lot closer.

Now it's time to check for your understanding.

To change the frame of the photograph, you can use the.

A, brightness tool; B, cropping tool; or C, lighting.

Pause the video here, have a go and then come back once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's find out the correct answer.

The correct answer was B, cropping tool.

While done, if you got that correct.

Now we're going to look at task C.

You are going to edit one of the photographs you took earlier.

You are first of all going to crop the photograph using the cropping tool and after that you're going to change the brightness using the brightness tool.

Remember to find this in format options and adjustment tools.

Pause the video here.

Go and have a go at editing your photograph and then return once you're done.

Have fun.

How did you get on? You may have edited your photograph like this.

And Andeep has noticed that the photographer has increased the brightness and also cropped the photograph too.

You can see the highlights on the person's face to tell us that the brightness has been increased.

Let's recap our learning for today's lesson.

In art, the subject is the main thing or person that the artwork is about.

Today our subject was a person.

Framing in photography is when you decide what to include in your photograph and today we looked at using framing fingers to help us.

You can edit photographs once they have been taken and today we looked at editing the brightness and also we cropped our images too.

I have really enjoyed our lesson today where we have been learning how to take and edit a portrait photograph.

Remember, you can continue to practise your photography skills.

Well done.

I look forward to seeing you next time.

Bye.