Simply put, an environmental portrait is a portrait of a person or animal (or sometimes a plant or flower) that includes enough of the environment around that person or animal to provide context that helps the viewer understand more about the defining characteristics of the subject. One of the keys to a successful environmental portrait is that the portion of the scene included in the frame should be "representative" of the environment or context you want the viewer to associate with the subject. The relative importance of the subject to the environment is also important in defining an "environmental portrait." The subject should be the most prominent element in the scene, with the surrounding elements providing strong supporting context. If you are too close to your subject to include enough of the environment, then the image simply becomes a normal portrait. On the other hand, if the subject is so small in the frame that other elements become more prominent, or viewers cannot discern the defining characteristics of the subject, then the image would be better classified as something other than an environmental portrait. (Perhaps classified as a scenic image that includes people or animals, or as a documentary image.) I've included a few examples of images that I would consider successful environmental portraits. (Thank you to those of you that have previously submitted the images I've chosen as examples.)
Laid-back Froggy on a LotusPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Lotus BlossomPhotographed by Keith
DeerPhotographed by Chris Franklin
Ambulance in the Hills of NepalPhotographed by Luc Bigler
Yellowstone BuffaloPhotographed by Rick Pepin (TrvlRick)
ElgiePhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Rosa Fix and SpiritPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Please upload your images into the Environmental Portrait album in the Weekly Assignments category of the Gallery no-later-than midnight Mountain time on Sunday, 18 September 2011. I will look forward to seeing your images.
Keith
