Last Monday it was my wife nephew’s 39th birthday. A happy event for our small family. My wife decided to go out and celebrate at a restaurant in Albrook Mall with Alcibidades and his kids, Titi and Abdiel. Abdiel’s godmother, Misela, joined the bandwagon.
Before driving over to Albrook, I took several pictures of our teeny-weeny itsy-bitsy family for posterity. The occasion also was ideal to get my feet wet with portraits. Taking pictures of people is one of the most complicated and complex activities for a serious photographer. There are too many variables to consider. This technique is called portraiture.
Be definition a portraiture is a visual representation of individual people, distinguished by references to the subject’s character, social position, wealth, or profession. In a nutshell, portraitures are images of people. Many portraiture photographers, intentionally alter the appearance of their subjects by embellishing or refining their images to emphasize or minimize particular qualities (physical, psychological, or social) of the subject.
I tried to use the Diamond Pose model to take my first formal portrait photographs following several suggestions I recently read in a photography book. The subjects are seated in such a way that they create the shape of a diamond with their grouped faces.
These are my experimental portrait photographs of Alcibiades (a.k.a. Maxi) and his family. Here we go.
Photograph of Alcibiades (left), my wife (center), Abdiel (right) and Karol (bottom). (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
Photograph of Alcibiades and his two children, Abdiel and Karol. Karol poses for the camera with a unique style. Nobody told her to pose like this; it was a spontaneous action. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
You cant't beat the smile of a child. Karol (girl) couldn't hide her jolliness. (Credit: Omar Upegui R.)
We couldn’t have children, so Karol and Abdiel are the pupils of our eyes. Their father is the nearest to what we can call a son. Happy Birthday Maxi! Good Day.
I like to take pictures of people too. In family reunions, I am the one with the camera moving around taking pictures. I prefer to take spontaneous shots, but feel that I need to learn some techniques to do it better.
I like these pictures of your relatives, they look relaxed, not posing for the camera.
Hello La Chiricana:
These are my first shots of portraits. It’s very difficult to take pictures of persons because they are very complex subjects. I intend to practice more in the future.
I appreciate your comments about the pictures of our relatives.
Best Regards,
Omar.-
Hi Mr. Upegui:
You can´t miss my congrats for those pictures of your lovely family. I just forwarded a message for the enjoyment of Titi and Abdiel. Thanks for the diamond hint…
Regards,
AS
Hello AS:
Thank you for your usual nice comments. I strive to be better in order to satisfy the expectations of readers like yourself.
Best Regards,
Omar.-