And now for her ECU
One of the terms that’s used in the film industry and you’ll see on movie scripts is the initials ECU, and it stands for extreme close-up. When I was a director-cameraman I would often put at least one close-up of a person on film just in case the powers that be would use it…they never did.
The reason is not because it didn’t look good, there just wasn’t a lot of places for one…unless you were shooting a toothpaste commercial. That doesn’t hold water anymore when I’m shooting stills, because to me it’s a great way to really get up close and personal to their personality.
I’m not talking about filling the frame with someone’s face. I’m talking about using a wide angle lens (17-40mm) putting the subject in the center, and including a lot of the environment around them or the background behind them.
In my online classes with the BPSOP I’ll often show examples and encourage people to give it a shot. When I’m conducting one of my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I’ll create a scenario with someone local, ask one of my students to take his or her portrait, then I’ll show what a ECU looks like to them…as in the photo above taken in my Springtime in Tuscany Workshop.
Her ECU was on the Brooklyn.
Btw, when you put someone in the center and keep your camera level, you’ll avoid any weird distortion; otherwise, well you know what that looks like and it’s the primary reason my fellow photographers don’t like to do it. Again you have to keep the camera level and the subject right in the center or very close to it.
I don’t advise you making that you’re first variation as it will probably freak out the person..which is sometimes a good idea to record their reaction. I would ease your way into it after a certain amount of rapport and then maybe the last shot is one you take..after switching lens and moving n for the ECU.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime. On July 30th I begin my 29th year at the Maine Media Workshops. I’ve had the same week since the beginning. It’s the week of the Lobster Festival down the road in Rockland. It offers a completely different set of photo ops than one would expect when coming to photograph the coastline, lighthouses, and fishing villages of Maine. Come join me and spend a week completely immersed in your love for photography.
Send me a photo and question to: AskJoeB@gmail.com, and I’ll create a video critique for you.
JoeB
