Saturday, 2 February 2013

Chapter 1 Portrait - A Taster from the book

To give everyone a taster of the book, and what to expect from it I am posting the first of the thirty chapters. Fittingly I started the book with a photo of my mum so if you like what you see then please support the book.

1) Portrait
 

Portrait photography is something I probably feel least comfortable with when it comes to taking photos, as there is an air of expectation of high quality photos if your specifically get people to pose for you. I have found that the best portrait photos I have managed to take have been when the subject is unaware of the camera, and the photograph is taken in a natural environment. 

The subject of this portrait is my mother whose fight against bowel cancer is also the inspiration for the book so it seems like a good place to start. The photo was taken in my sister's garden in Alvescot. There was no time consuming setting the scene involved or posing for the camera as mum was blissfully unaware of the picture being taken. I achieved the low angle by lying on the grass with mum sitting on a wooden bench, and although only subtle I think this angle adds to the photo. We all have numerous photos of family, but I was particularly pleased with this photo of my mother, all the more so as it was taken just a few days before she went into hospital to have major surgery to remove the cancerous tumour in her bowel. The picture therefore takes on extra significance, but also for me it is just a wonderful photo capturing a lovely happy content look in her face. As a viewer I want to know why she was looking so happy. We were at my niece's, mum's granddaughter's 6th birthday celebration and as per usual Anna was a source of amusement and entertainment no doubt contributing to the smile in no small way.

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