Portrait practice: a person that I know vs a stranger

For this exercise we have been asked to produce two portraits: a person that we know and a stranger. The approach with these two different subjects is very different, when you are portraying someone familiar you have much less pressure, you don't worry about the time since you can take as long as you need until you get the shot. Furthermore, you can deliberately experiment and for this reason I decided that this exercise was a great opportunity to play with new equipment and techniques.

As I have explained in one of my previous posts, I have tried to use colour gels and this is my final selection for the assignment:

For the stranger's portrait I have chosen a series of picture that I took in Birmingham of a man in an open market.

Here the contact sheet:

My final selection:

I am satisfied with both the shots, however, I believe the strongest one is the street portrait.

I like to experiment in the studio, but I feel much more confident when I am in my "natural environment", even if shooting at strangers.

in fact, for me, it is much easier to take pictures of someone I don't know. I am more concentrated about the moment, since i don't know my subject, I tent to focus much more about small details and their body language since I do not have any other information. Instead, taking pictures of familiar people means that I know their background and consequently I observe them less carefully and I pay less attention to small details that can make the difference in my shot.