For portraiture, the first portrait of myself I took in a photo studio. Using red jells on both sides almost completely sideways to create contrast based on my facial contours. The self timer setting was on 10 seconds, enough time for me to get in front of camera and maintain that pose. The shutter speed was fast so as to counter any unnecessary movement. The second portrait, the familiar face, is of my friend Matthew. For this one I decided to attempt using the environment to create an interesting background that stood out as obviously not a photo studio, but maintained a level of simplicity and regularity that kept the main focus on the subject. It is that simplicity of the surrounding that informed my decision not to blur the background as I dint feel there was enough detail in it to belittle the main subject (Matthew). The final and most challenging portrait was of a complete stranger named Aaron. A graphic design student I met on my way to the library one night. He was heading into the design building when I asked him to be involved in the project. The awkwardness of the moment accompanied by the essence of humour made for a rather strange facial expression on the balcony of the building where I had already set up some lighting.