Professor (published)

[Spearin]

A couple of weeks ago, I had my first assignment with the University newspaper, the Sheaf. It was to photograph this professor who has organized a series of lectures for the Department of Fine Arts.

Below is the shot that was published and I cropped accordingly to what the photo editor did as well. Does anyone have any tips mainly for composition and context purposes? It was actually an assignment that I volunteered for on the spot and had no idea what I was about to be doing, who this guy was, or how he was important.

http://www.insmod.net/team/argyll/published_portrait.jpg

Also if anyone has any general portrait tips for photojournalism, they would be greatly appreciated.

[codex0]

Looks good, but I find myself wondering what the white things on the chairs are. I like your composition :).

[Spearin]

The white things on the chairs are actually white coats for graduate medical students. At the time that this shot was taken, there was a bunch of other people in the hall in preparation for the white coat ceremony taking place that night. Even though they had nothing really to do with my subject, they at least were a nice touch with the University crest on them.

[myth337]

the shot looks pretty good..
but the white coats are a bit too blown out.. and they are kind of distracting. darken them up a bit.. and it might balance the image better.

otherwise.. the questions I have would be..

"did the photo editor crop this to fit a slot?"
"how would you have cropped this photo?" (this is the one that counts.. because it is what you saw when you set up the picture.)

.. Lee