At first, when I read the details for this assignment, I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed. How to capture “honesty”, “integrity”....”manhood”? But when I actually went out to photograph it, I found that although there were some challenges to work through, it actually was a lot easier than I anticipated! 

The fog ended up working in my favor with the color scheme of blues and grays! However, the model’s clothes are obviously the thing that makes the biggest difference there, so a sunny day would have worked just as well. This just goes to show that this assignment could literally be photographed in any kind of weather! 🙂 

It’s pretty simple to pose a guy to look nice and manly. Keeping hands in pockets or fists firm is a good thing to keep in mind. Striding along purposefully, standing straight & tall or propping one foot up are simple poses for him to do as well.

The setting helps. Even if you don’t have a mountain with an overlook that you can hike to, finding a spot with rugged ground is a good place to start.

Once the photos were taken, the next thing was to narrow them down!

I did my initial sort (star rated at 3), but had to cull even more from there. I selected similar photos and viewed them all together and then just observed nuanced differences and what made one rise above the others.

In this case, the composition of the photos was pretty similar. I cropped the bottom two photos a little more than the top two, but other than that, the main difference is how much foreground is included. Ok, good to know.

Now what about the pose? When I took the pictures with his feet spread apart, I initially thought I didn’t like them as much. It felt like there was too much separation. But now looking at the photos side by side I actually liked them more than the ones where he’s stepping forward with one foot. I think his pose looks more settled and sturdy in the lower two.

Then there’s the direction he’s looking. I like the ones where he’s looking off to his left for two reasons. First of all, there’s more of a distinct profile. Secondly, his line of sight brings the viewer’s eye back through the picture, to the bushes on the left, then comes back around to him and back in a circle.

So, for all those reasons, the ONE photo I’m going to choose as my favorite of those four is the one from the bottom right. 

I’ll knock all the others down to 2 star and move on to my next set of similar photos.

That was my thought process, at least!

Now this next set of photos is one that I’m actually still trying to decide on, so if you have an opinion, please drop it below! 

These two photos are extremely similar, with his pose being the differing factor.

Normally, I’d say (like I did with the last set) that his line of sight coming into the photo (so, Option #2) is better because it keeps the viewer’s eye in the photo. However there’s something about Option #1 that’s got my attention. 

Maybe it’s because it connects his gaze with the view which can’t really be seen, but is definitely there. Maybe it’s because there’s enough elements further to his right to still keep the viewer’s eye from traveling straight out the photo.

I think that there’s a bit more interest with his gaze going off to the right, whereas Option #2 seems almost…too settled?

I’m leaning towards Option #1 being my favorite of that set.

I’m not going to bring you through my entire decision making process for each set of photos I took. We don’t need to be here for 2 hours. 🙂 

Suffice it to say that I used the same types of observations on composition, pose, lighting and sometimes, just the overall sense that I had when looking at a photo.

If I was to do it again, I wouldn’t take as many pictures all in the same spot, at the edge of the overlook. I’d take some more with him walking on the rocks leading up to that area. 

But, there’s always more ideas for improvement, right?!

After I switched to the 70-200mm lens, I felt like I fell more into “my style”. But looking at the pictures afterwards, I’m seeing that the ones taken with the 24-105mm include more compositional interest. So I’m glad I went wide-angle first.

Here are some of the photos I got after the lens switch, though.

This is kinda a cool place, isn’t it? I’ll have to add it to the Scouting Guide, in case any of you are ever in the area and want to explore around there!

I think it’s worth mentioning, you could also take this assignment in an entirely different direction, focusing on the mentoring aspect, like these photos from my portfolio:

Now It’s Your Turn

Regardless of the direction you choose to take the assignment, I’m looking forward to seeing the ideas you come up with as you go out and photograph Inspiring Manhood!

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