Photoshoot in the Museum Fashion Block: Preperation

                                         under exposed, too dark. speed light point to roof

                                         over exposed, flash front on

Right amount of light.Flash angled 45 degrees to the roof.

I decided to use a speed light with the light thats already in the museum to get the style of light i want. I want these photographs to be cohesive with the photographs i took in the studio and the object shoot in my room which means i want the light to be as white as possible. I played around with the speed-light pointing it towards the roof so i would get light reflection from the white roof. I also changed the amount of flash on the manual settings of the speed light to have a slightly over exposed photograph. i purposely set my camera up to slightly over expose the photograph because this is the type of light i want, which gives off a 'clean','peaceful' environment.

Location Work

After not being 100% happy with the photos i took in my work space at home i want to photograph up at the Massey Museum where i work everyday. I went up to Uni last night to look around at the lighting and where best places are for me to photograph. Things i needed to consider is the roof of the museum is very high so i will not be able to bounce any light off the roof. The lights in the museum are very white compared other areas so i went to scope out where i would best be able to find white light to keep my photographs clean and 'kinfolk' style.

I was working in the fashion building late one night in the room i always work in and the room was all white walls with white lights and the roof was not as high as the other bigger pattern making rooms. Especially the brown wood floor against the white walls will complement each other really well in the photographs. I think this location would be perfect to shoot my model.

Playing with composition in terms of Layout

I started laying out my photographs onto a 'double page spread' layout to see where my photographs would sit in relation to text and where white space would be. I have marked out areas for text and sectioned boarders to keep a simple minimalist layout.

On location: Layout of personal objects on my bedroom Floor

I decided to do some product photography as its the possessions that we have that often can teach someone about that person just by looking at there personal items. I wanted to capture in a simple and minimalist way, personal items of my own that can show people things that i love and are symbolic of myself. I set them out like a grid instead of a 'cluster of stuff' to portray that i like to have an organized 'life' as well the layout makes the items look not just like 'stuff' the composition makes it cook like a piece of artwork. 

The idea for this small series came from myself readying magazine and theres always that section of an interview with a celebrity or designer where the person interviewing will ask ' now whats inside your handbag' and its usually the items with in the hand bag that help develop the next couple of questions the interviewer will ask. The point of the excercise usually teaches 'us' the reader more about the celebrity on a personal level, whether its there favourite lip balm they carry around with them everywhere or there favourite book that lives in there handbag.

I researched on the internet looking for images from magazines that have these kind of interviews, and what i also found was a man named Jason Travis who does series of interesting people he find on the street and takes photographs of whats inside there hand bag. He composes his work with a image of the person and underneath a neat layout of all there items from there bag. 

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On Location: My Bedroom

I plan on bringing my model into my work environment at home but because it was my first time using location lighting i wanted to practice first with out a model to what kind of lighting i could create and try and get the set up right before i bring my model into it. 

These first couple of photos i took were before i set up the lighting equipment so all the light is available light from outside the window. The lighting is very warm and a soft, it gives a very 'homely' mood to the images. The light coming in from behind creates these light linings around my sewing machine and other things in my room which looks quite beautiful. 

USING LIGHTS: These second lot of photos i brought in lighting. My bedroom is quite small so i used only one light stand with a soft box. I first set the light box up so that it was front on to my desk but the light was too blown out and there was no shadow or tone to the objects on my desk. I then put the soft box over to the left of my room and pulled it back a little bit and then i stood to the right of my room. This worked a lot more successfully, as the shapes and shadows of the objects stood out more from the neutral tones of the desk and the window sill. I worked with different focusing techniques, capturing the objects in my room in full focus and then blurring the outdoors, keeping the room very enclosed and 'removed' from outside. 

What didn't work and you can see in nearly all my photographs is because i was shooting into a window you can see the reflection of the soft box. Because of this i tilted the light up to the roof so that the light would bounce off the roof directly down onto my space. I tried this but my images still managed to capture the soft box reflection. I moved up closer to my desk and focused more on the objects on my desk playing with focus and different angles. 

What i need to consider now is when i bring my model into my work space, where is she going to sit/stand, what will she be doing, whether the compositions will work capturing both my model and bedroom together. 

Planning Location Shoot

I have decided that I am going to shoot in places that are 'home' to me, places that are my day to day 'familiar'. I am going to shoot in the fashion block at Massey and at home in my bedroom as well. Both these environments have natural lighting but also allow me to set up lighting equipment to get the lighting effect that i want. I would shoot at the museum at night time to avoid students which would mean there would be the strong fluorescent lights from the roof lights which i would have to compensate with a soft box to soften and diffuse the light.

In my bedroom, the desk i work at everyday sits by a set of huge windows that let in light from the street. During the day i get full light into my bedroom onto my desk so i would play with the natural light as well as taken photos during the evening when the light isn't so harsh.

I want the photographs i take to have a personal mood to them as if shooting in there personal work space. I want my model to be surrounded by her personal times, things that are familiar to her everyday.

These are some images i sourced off pinterest of different peoples 'work spaces' that can inspire ways that i portray my own personal space.

Neil Bedford Presentation

Neil Bedford. A Fashion and Portrait Photographer.

He shoots Editorial Campaigns for GQ Style, I-D, Nike, Adidas and Paul Smith

Neil did a series called "Grace Of Grey" which was a portrait series of old woman; fashion directors, food writers, model etc. The series was to show woman who are embracing there age with energy grace and style. The photographs are clean and simple. The grey background instead of hiding the grey hair actually highlights the woman's grey hair but captures them in a way that grey looks beautiful. The way Neil has positioned