Environmental Portrait

My last environmental was at the physical therapist’s office, where I shot Dianne Wright.  She had lots of exercise gear, but including those bikes and tables would have made it look like a very small gym.  Instead I tried to show how she and her patients use their hands in exercises to counteract tendonitis, carpel tunnel syndrome, and other condition that cause pain and disability. 

That said, I was facing a situation that would display the subject with a prop that amounted to a disembodied hand and arm.  How to show that without distraction? 

Including a shirt sleeve seemed to help, and perhaps this frame would work by cropping out the patient to that point.

Including more of the arm looked like a step in the right direction (left), but she might be selling that devise.  I like Dianne’s dainty thumb and pinky.  The hand with a green weight looks like a still from “the ADAMS FAMILY” movie (right).

The arm with an orange weight looks better, and I think the raised pinky might indicate the delicate touch of an experienced PT.