Evaluation of Mini Projects

From the exploration of these mini projects I have learnt a considerable amount of technical techniques and methods, especially within the studio environment, a dramatic development as at the beginning of the semester it was not an area I was familiar within or confident but now feel I can not only use it but produce results that are of a high standard. This development technically will be of substantial use to my practice as I look at portraiture and still life specifically, perhaps within a commercial context. Of course as well I have become more astute within my observational skills as I can reflect and analyse the effect lighting has upon both the subject matter and also the impact also on the viewer. Of the mini projects I feel that I most enjoyed and got the most out of the Studio Lighting and Product Still Life projects and to a slightly lessened extent the Pub Interiors project as I feel I put a lot more into these projects and became engrossed within them which I feel has been reflected within the development and final outcomes of these projects. But on the other side of that I feel that because of the intense interest within these projects the HDR project was not as developed and suffered because I became disinterested with it as the interest within the other projects intensified. I feel that this was slightly inevitable situation as taking 4 projects on at the same time it was always likely that one project wouldn't be quite as developed, strong or interesting as the others. I think if I were to have had the choice again I would have picked a more contextual or self promotional project which would have been used as a supplement and complimented the other projects well and meant that full attention and interest would have been maintained across all of the projects. Below are the images from the mini projects which I felt were my strongest and most effective for the respective mini projects.

Final 'Studio Lighting' Shoot

Lighting set up gone through in workshop applied

Contact of selected unedited shots from the shoot

I am very pleased with the final outcomes of this shoot as I implemented the background lighting set up I wanted and used the blackboards to get the soft cheekbone definition that I wanted. I feel that the use of the lighting techniques has resulted in the ideas of beauty and representation of beauty of women and their supposed place as objects of desire and appreciation, works of art, has effectively been communicated. The coloured background images show the soft definition of the jawline and cheekbones which highlights the same ideas I explored within my visual research. I was planning to have had another studio lighting portrait shoot but unfortunately the model wasn't available in the time I had allocated in which to do this, however, I feel that even without that other shoot my photographic practice has developed significantly over the course of this project and the resulting final outcomes from this shoot and the last shoot show progression and my noting and application of techniques and ideas from my visual and contextual research. 

Final 'Still Life' Product Photography Shoot

 

I am extremely happy with this final shoot for my 'Still Life' Product project as the back lighting which has created the bright colours are vibrant and evoke the correct positive reactions from the viewer. The glowing displaced from within the bottles makes them desirable and most importantly upon showing people my work I have gotten reactions from all saying how it makes them want to have a drink, thus I have fulfilled the principal aim of commercial product photography in selling the product and making viewers want to drink the subject matter. 

Final 'Interiors' Shoot with use of 5x4" Walker Titan

5x4" Paper Negatives- During the last few weeks before the deadline for this assignment we were inducted into the 5x4" cameras and I utilised this format and applied it within the context of my interiors mini project.  I chose to do this because I felt it was a format that would go beyond the capabilities of digital slr's in capturing a sense of the place and also when shooting with this camera I spent more time engaging with what I was photographing and precisely composing the scene, frame, angle, aperture, metering, etc etc until I was completely satisfied- it requires another level of engagement with the subject matter, this works well with the ideas I drew from Paolo Roversi as I tried to give a sense of the energy and environment of the place through the use of natural and artificial lighting within the pub interiors and how this affected the scenes.
At first I had technical issues when I first got out the 5x4" as my tripod wasn't sturdy enough to take the weight of the camera and I did not have a cable release at the time and so for the Guild Pub exposure the shakiness is evident. I then got out a tripod from stores and bought a cable release and tried again the results much better as evidenced in the Adelphi and Source images. Although with the first 3 source paper negs the top of the image was blurred as I hadn't lifted and titled correctly. Of the last exposures for Adelphi and Source I felt the Source images was the most successful image due to how the scene has a high tonal range and therefore this works well at displaying the social setting of this pub interior suggesting a relationship between the recreated outdoor scene, use of the overhead lighting which creates cloud like pattern/texture on the wooden floor, from the comfort of inside- a quintessentially British Ideal, and within a pub too! Were there more time I would have liked to try out both colour and black and white 5x4" sheet film and to have re-explored the Manchester pub interiors which I had highlighted within my analysis of the shoot. 

Guild Pub- f/5.6, 60 second exposure

Adelphi- f/5.6, 1.5 minute second exposure

Adelphi- f/5.6, 2 minute exposure

Adelphi f/8, 2.5 minute exposure

Adelphi- f/5.6, 3 minute exposure

Source- f/5.6, 60 second exposure

Source- f/5.6, 30 second exposure

Adelphi- f/8, 4 minute exposure

Adelphi- f/8, 5 minute exposure

Source- f/5.6, 60 second exposure

Source- f/5.6, 30 second exposure

Final 'HDR' Shoot

The images from my final HDR shoot were taken on top of Manchester Bus Station Car Park and Manchester's Arndale Shopping Centre Car Park. I shot at around 3/4pm on an overcast day which worked   well, giving good definition to the clouds, but also creating a good juxtaposition with the cityscape of Manchester. The HDR images are a visual documentation of Manchester from a high vantage point describing the cityscape scenes and commenting upon the busy and hectic environment, also making references to the cities industrial and somewhat gritty landscape which is intermixing with the new modern structures that are devloping within the area, this clash and the inhabitants being caught in the middle is an interesting ideaI feel they are images with depth and detail and evoke a strong sense of the place from a viewpoint many may not have experienced of Manchester.

Further 'Still Life' Visual Research

Timothy Hogan

Timothy Hogan

Marcel Christ

Marcel Christ

Marcel Christ

Marcel Christ

This visual research by Marcel Christ employs this back lighting technique which produces the glowing displacement from the bottle i've looked at previously, making them desirable items as aforementioned, but within them there is a sleak and soft dark outline around the shape of the bottle which compliments the highlighted centre of the image and accentuates it, specifically in the Morgan Spiced product commercial. Use of Blurring and light trails, captured through long exposures, makes the products appear exciting and also accentuates the highlighted central glowing displacement further so the desire and wanting for the viewer to want the products has also risen, I will experiment with similar techniques and ideas from this visual research and combine it with what I have noted from analysis of my previous shoot for my final product commercial shoot.

Musilek

Lighting set-up from Still Life and Special Effects Photography Book

The lighting set-up exampled above is the technique I will employ in order to achieve a background lighting similar to that of Musilek's through the use of a fitler gel on a soft box and a snoot fixture, being the white light, in order to spot light and highlight the drink, making it appear closer and achievable to the viewer, as well as a desirable item to the viewer. 

Studio Lighting Workshop and Research

Lighting set-up taken from Light & Shoot Fashion Photos

Lighting set-up taken from Light & Shoot Fashion Photos

Found these examples of lighting set-ups within the book Light & Shoot, Fashion Photos and felt that further to what I said in my analysis of the 3rd shoot this would be a background lighting that would work in the composition as it's almost a frame of the subject which conforms to the idea I've been trying to express of females being viewed as works of art to be admired on their aesthetic and perceived representation of beauty. One issue that arises with this lighting set up is that the background light is a stand placed behind the subject which with the uni's studios isn't feasable so I will bring this up in a workshop and see how I can get the same look within our studio 

Marciej Boryna

Pierre dal Calso

Pierre dal Calso

Seth Sabal

Seth Sabal

Marciej Boryna's is an example included within my visual research which utilises the lighting set-up in my research and also similar ideas are expressed as the subject is aware that she is exhibiting herself for her aesthetic qualities and features and is part of this process of voyeur viewers looking on her and admiring and appreciating her for these. The soft cheekbone jawline definition used for both Boryna's and dal Calso's images is a feature that is subtly hinted at which I will also try to express within my own work. The Pierre dal Calso and Seth Sabal research further shows the definition of cheekbones i've been trying to achieve, highlighting a specific feature of the subject, which to some extent I have achieved through the use of one singular soft box placed above at an angle to the subject but this is another lighting set-up I will question the technique to within the workshop with Adam Mead.  

Make-up- James Kaliardos

Make-up- James Kaliardos

As within the third shoot make-up was used to frame the eyes and as a frame within a frame I want to utilise a blending of the make up shown above by James Kaliardos as I feel it will work as a subtle frame which isn;'t the main focus of the image but adds another layer to this idea of a frame within a frame, a work of art within a work of art, which has obviously will have yet another layer dimension further added with the introduction of the background lighting 'frame'.

Workshop lighting set-up

Workshop images

Workshop images

Workshop images

The lighting set exampled and black background images were achieved through the use of using a high angled soft box with blackboards either side of the subject which produces the soft shadow and drop off and with the right model subtle cheekbone definition that I am trying to achieve for the aforementioned reasons. The red background image suggests how I can light the background in a similar manner to how my visual and lighting set-ups employ by using a snoot fixture at an angle which produces almost a halo effect in this image but if adjusted and utilised in the right way will produce the frame dimension I am trying to achieve.