Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Ultra Portraits

What do you get when you ask three ultra runners to pose for your homework assignment? You get, at the very least, some serious athletes who never take themselves too seriously. And that is what makes being in their presence such an honor.

I'm in a portraiture class this session. I'm learning how to illuminate the topography of a person's face, the form that makes up their body, and camera angles that give the viewer information (both consciously and subconsciously). Honestly I'm overwhelmed, stressed out, and enjoying every single morsel of information that I'm learning. My portraits have come so far, even in the last three weeks of class!

We have been studying how to make a great portrait, starting with form and topography. One person has a wide nose, another will have a thin one. Nobody's face is perfectly symmetrical. This is actually a good thing. A simple Google search for images of symmetrical faces will show you why we are more beautiful with asymmetrical faces. But it takes a trained eye, and a skilled artist to highlight the beauty of an asymmetrical person. We have been learning how to light and pose each person so their beauty shines through.

In the first week, we worked just with a person's face. We have since "zoomed out" a bit to make images of head and shoulders, 3/4 of the body, and now full body portraits. This week, I am to make portraits that are planned in their entirety. Location, wardrobe, model, poses, camera angles, lighting... it all has to come together, and it all has to make sense so the viewer can get a story before they ever read a single word.

When I got this week's assignment, I knew immediately that I needed to go on location. After chatting with a few willing models, we decided to hit up one of their more beaten paths for training days. What happens on set at a KBPP shoot? Check it out!

My models know that they need to bring some serious work ethic on set. 

There is nothing but absolute respect for each other as we work diligently toward the final product.

Posing and facial expressions are a breeze for these guys. Very little direction was necessary from me.

When they suit up to get a job done, you can absolutely bet they won't leave until it is done to standard...

...unless somebody says they want to go for a run. These fellahs are so in tune with each other that they are not only in step, but elevated during their runs.

And when the day is over, they just can't help themselves. They have to hoist each other up and celebrate.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ultra running community, any distance above a marathon (26.2 miles) is considered an ultra run. The fellah who is hoisted up just finished his first 50 mile race last weekend. These guys are undoubtedly super human. Thank you, gentlemen, for being my models!