This picture just fits my idea of “expressing emotions with light and shadow” in terms of light and composition. I used a concentrated light to only brighten the facial part, so that most of the area went into the dark background. The contrast creates bold shadows and it highlights cheekbones and the jawline. This strong contrast of light and dark was not simply for beauty, but to hide some details with shadows and focus on the protagonist’s face with bright parts – which just made the audience’s attention fall on the facial features that can best convey emotions. It can create a sense of drama, and shows the character’s personality traits . Because the person in the picture makes direct eye contact with audience . The original version only has the red color on the right side of the photo. To make it symmetrical, I photoshopped it to make a copy of the red color.

The light of the cloth in my photo is too casual. The light is too wide. It does not make the shape and range of the shadow, but simply illuminates the characters. I want her to have a complete shadow on the right side of her face. The red fabric texture of the left background is too prominent, which steals the visual center of character’s subject; and the scene I chose was large, but I didn’t focus the details of the character.