In The Studio #2

Second time round going into the studio i was a lot more organized and had the shots i wanted to take planned out. I brought along props from both home in my room and from the fashion department. The props i chose were objects that expressed myself and my fashion work. I chose a black and white colour scheme with my objects as that is the colour palette i design and create my clothes in. I wanted to have a pop of colour in my photographs so i chose a bright yellow knit jumper that i made to bring into my work.

I planned out and put my model in specific positions but took the photographs in a way that my model looks natural as if she was going about her day to day. I made her interact with the props around the room, doing basic things such as photographing clothes; things that are done when i'm at UNI working.

Again I used the large soft box to create a soft but full light around my model. I didnt want any harsh lighting i wanted a clean smooth array of light that gave off a very quiet and comfortable atmosphere.

First shoot with model

 For these shots, being my first time with my model, i wanted to do some clean portraits with a very simple idea. I used the huge soft box in the studio and synced the flash with my camera. I wanted a very soft flash that wouldn't over highlight any specific parts of my model. I put the light in from the left of the studio to create light tones on the side of the my models face. I put my model on a seat as if she was being interviewed to high light the idea the idea that she is being interviewed in the style of a personal profile. I wanted a very serene and peaceful environment so i used a white back drop with soft lighting on my models face. I took very natural shots of my model mid laugh and during conversation as i want a 'personal' mood to the photographs.
NEXT SHOOT:
Through my photographs i want them to reflect my personality and my things i enjoy doing. For example i want to show my passion for photography so i brought in a camera for my model to use. I want my photographs to be more relaxed and less posed so my next shoot i am going to bring in personal items that reflect my self and i model will be able to interact more.

In the Studio as a group

A group of us booked out the studio and played with light gels, exposure and the soft box. We set up the the huge soft box and used the flash to create exposures. This sort of 'ghost' like image where the model is captured moving around in the image is really effective as a photograph but i don't think its a technique i would follow through for my assignment.

We put a green colour gel over the soft box to see what kind of colour it would give to the image and how strong it would be. We played around with the harshness of the flash and was able to capture some  images with a strong green filter to them. We then brought in a another light source and placed a another light gel coming from the other side of the image. This created a'half half' image with two different colours in the image.

i wanted to see if we could colour the image but keep the models face a natural tone so i brought the model forward and took the soft box back a little bit so less of the flash was hitting my model. This created a colored image/background with my model with less of a coloured image. I think this effect looks a lot stronger and brings out the face from the background making the model more 'present' in the image.

Kinfolk Article sourced from Massey Library Journals

NOTES

The photographs feel quiet and peaceful through lots of negative space and soft quiet tones. No harsh colours in the magazine, more earthy tones. The layout of the magazine evokes feelings of relaxed and content. There is a lot of white space and double page spreads so it doesn't feel too complicated or busy.

The photographs are never over styled. Its supposed to be this feeling of shooting your own friends in your own home.

A large percentage of the issues photography are shot using film.

In the Studio.

I booked the studio for the first time last week and spend 2 hours in there practicing setting up the lighting, the tripod and playing with the exposure and shutter on my camera to see what happens with the light.

Lightbox

I set up a light box and white back drop to get some soft portraits which is what i want to do for my assignment. I put the light box on the left so the light was coming through onto the side of my models face. This created a shadow on the backdrop and also created a shadow on the opposite side of my models face. I wanted to create more of a even light on the face so brought the white board up to the right hand side of my model which made the right side of the face get more light. I used the flash on the  light box and set it up with my camera to get a flash when i took a photo. With the white board on the right of my model, when the flash went off it hit the board and bounced back onto the side of my models face which gave a more even light to the portrait. 

Long Exposure with Flash

I tried to experiment with long exposures and in class the other day we used the flash to capture still images that are moved during the long exposure. I set a 30 second exposure and used the soft box as the flash source. I could have set up another light source on the opposite so i had even light through the image. The first 2 images i didn't manually push the flash at a very even time so the model isn't as even opacity. As i got aware of how long the 30 seconds is i evenly pushed the flash with in the 30 seconds which gave a more even opacity of each image.

Painting with light

In class last week David did a little bit of painting with light which looked really interesting so i wanted to give it a try. I set my camera up for 20 second exposure and turned all the lights off. I used my phone torch to light up small areas of my models face. The idea worked but the  light source (the small lines around the face) were visible which isn't what i wanted. I wanted to light up the face with out the light lines around the image. I think i needed a torch so i could stand out of the image and shine it onto the face so maybe you wouldn't the light 'lines'