Environmental Portrait Assignment

Alex Hoff, 19, from Whidbey Island, Wash., dances with her flow wand on Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, outside of Buchanan Towers at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. Hoff said that she does a lot of sitting and reading for her chemistry class. “I try to do this every day for about two and a half hours,” Hoff said. “And then I go do my homework.” 

Bellingham, Wash. native, Susan Anderson, 63, works at the Whatcom Transportation Authority on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, at Bellingham Station in downtown Bellingham, Wash. “I did school transportation for over 30 years,” Anderson said. “I’ve been working here for a little over four now.”

 The next three photos are my outtakes that I had to share. The third photo is cropped differently and it was shot at a different angle than the one that I actually submitted for the assignment. The one that I submitted includes the words on the whiteboard behind the subject. I thought I should include that since it's an environmental portrait--the whiteboard adds to what the subject's office looks like.

            As I was taking my recycling out, I saw a girl outside of the building where I live dancing with a wand. At the spur of the moment, I decided to grab my camera and approach her to ask if I could take her picture. I thought it was interesting what she was doing and the place she chose to dance. I thought this would be a good opportunity for the environmental portrait assignment. I found it challenging to capture the wand. I told her to just keep dancing with her flow wand. I got several shots, but none of them stood out to me. Plus, there was only one flattering photo where she was in motion and looking at the camera, but it was blurry. So instead, I had her pose with the wand and that’s when she told me that she usually twirls it around her wrist as she’s walking to class, so I told her to hold the wand just like that. I was able to move around, testing different lighting situations and angles. My goal was to capture her, the wand, and the area she was dancing and I think I accomplished that.

            My second photograph is a WTA employee at the downtown Bellingham bus station. What was a success with this photograph was that she was at her work station, so I was able to capture her office with her radios, computer, and also her uniform. What was challenging in this situation, was that she was busy communicating with bus drivers and other employees. This made it a little difficult to ask questions and have a good conversation. But overall, I received enough information to put together a caption.

            This time around, I took what I learned from the icebreaker assignment, and I asked my subjects for their contact information after I received permission to take their photos. I also talked to them for a little bit before I held up the camera. I find that this type of work flow works well for me so I don’t get carried away with a conversation and forget to ask.

            For future assignments, I want to go out with a list of basic questions I can ask my subject just to start up conversation. I sometimes find myself not knowing what to ask, so I think preparing a list of questions will help my interviews go smoother.