Cancer Portrait CC please

[eggmanmeggan]

Hi all,

My brother was recently diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma- he came over today and we decided to do a quick shoot of his hair before it all falls out. He had just taken his medication and was taking a second with out looking into the lights (it gives headaches) I think it turned out a nice portrait of him- it almost looks like he is prepping for the long battle ahead of him.

The scar is just healing up as well, he likes to say it was a bar fight- but really it was a 8 hour surgery to remove the tumor. He is quite the tough cookie.


I tried to do lighting focusing on his scar, but now I think the shadow on his face might be more distracting then I thought it would be when it was in the camera.

And ideas and thoughts are welcome. Thankyou for looking.

 

[fokker]

It's hard to tell but the photo looks pretty soft overall, and the t-shirt is quite distracting.

 

[eggmanmeggan]

Yeah, I said that as I was taking it. It was a last min idea so perhaps we will do it again with a better idea of what to do. Just thought I would capture the moment as well as I could before the hair was all gone.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

My eyes haven'r recovered to the point where I can give any useful C&C...

But I am a survivor of an Astrocytoma of the Cerebellum.. I offer my best wishes and support to your brother; and your family...

[h=3]A cancer survivor's story...[/h]

 

[kundalini]

For traditional portraiture, there are three masks to shoot. Full face (both ears, real or implied, are equal), 2/3 (both eyes are seen fully and only the near ear) and profile (exactly one half of the face). Additionally, camera position should be level with or slightly higher than the eyes.

However, you are trying to capture a uniqueness of your brother and the scar. Therefore, I think a profile shot would be the best option. I'd be careful with the contrasty overhead lighting. You are getting a pretty severe shadow from his ear. You could either feather your light more and/or use a white reflector underneath to help minimize the harsh shadow and add more detail in the shadow at and under the jawline.


White energy has been sent to your brother. Full recovery dude.

 

[Ronaldo]

I'll leave the technical points to others.

I think you've captured the emotion of the situation really well here. So from that perspective, I say well done!

And please give your brother my best.

 

[eggmanmeggan]

Thankyou guys, he is doing very well considering. He also said that he would do another shoot next weekend. So I will take your ideas and get a better portrait. Looks like next week we will be shaving his hair too so some action shots of his kids giving him a mohawk and what not. : )

 

[MWC2]

I have no CC for you, but I wanted to say I'll be thinking of your brother and his family and hoping for the best for them. <3

 

[amandalee]

I'm pretty new to photography so I don't really have any C&C but I wanted to say that cancer is a big curse in my family as well and I wanted to wish your brother the best and also your family because I know how tough this can be.