Author: Robert Carr

 

 

Process

For my first two images I experimented a lot with the background in the photography studios. Firstly, using the red background which I actually liked when I got the lighting right, however when I looked back at the images you couldn’t really see much of the background because I was too close to the frame so I then tried positioning myself and my friend further back from the camera and turned the lighting up so you could see the background and the subject which I actually liked.

But after this I tried out the black background with two lights which became very overexposed but I felt like I preferred the black background so I decided to turn one of the lights down slightly and focused them more on the subject of the image.

For the first image the self-portrait I decided to go for a black background with high lighting, one light each side the one on the left and one on the right with the left light more intense than the right. This was to bring attention to the subject, this is so the image had a clear point of focus for the viewer. The ISO for this image is set to 400 this is to let more light into the image, I also had the shutter speed at 1/15 to let more light into the frame. However even with this I wasn’t completely happy with the lighting of the image when I reviewed it so I increased the exposure slightly in post-production to get the look I wanted to achieve.

For the second image the familiar image I decided to go for less lighting with one light on the left hand side of the subject. This is because I wanted a darker slightly sinister feel to the image, this was to bring attention to a specific to one side of the face than the other to create and arty feel. For this image I used I used camera settings ISO 200 and shutter speed 1/60, this was to create a dark feel to the unlit part of the image. However, this did affect the lighting of the subject itself which meant in post-production the exposure was increased to bring more focus to the subject without affecting the background to much.

For my third image the stranger brief I decided to do something outside of the studio mainly because you can really get a stranger to come to a photography studio, plus I wanted to show that I could do portraiture well in a more natural environment. Also this photo is lit up much more than the others, this is mainly because of the key light which in this case is the sun and not studio lighting. In this photo I used shutter speed 1/160 this is to let more of that natural light into the image without it becoming very over exposed, this was the reason I used ISO 100 to reduce over exposure. I also used aperture very effectively to increase the depth of field because in outside environment the background can be key to an image, but in the studio it can be less important. All of this meant that there was very little post production work all that was needed was a simply crop.

Research

Eric Lafforgue

For this brief my first inspiration came from this photo by photographer Eric Lafforgue. This is because I plan at least one of my portraits to look like this, this is because I think in portraiture background is key. The reason for this is that it brings the attention of the audience to the person in the photo. Especially with the use of the intense lighting on the face of the woman. Another reason why a dark background is very effective is because it avoids over exposure in the background which in this case would ruin the whole image. Also the audience tend to see the focus point on the colour that it the brightest in the image. This would mean that if Eric had used a white background the image would be less powerful because the focus would be less on the woman and more on the background because that would be more noticeable to them.

 I have a good look through Eric’s work and it very cultured just looking at his portfolio you can see he has been all over the world taking photos, countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Maldives. This means he has a variety of portraits in his portfolio such as this photo which has not been done in a studio which means the surroundings are more natural giving the image a more real feel to it. This image and many others in his portfolio show that he is a very versatile photographer, because all of his photo’s ae taken in many different countries across the globe with very different cultures and environment but yet he still manages to take exceptional photo’s consistently all over the world.

Alberto Monteraz

My other inspiration came from photographer Alberto Monteraz, he is very famous on Flickr for his portrait photography. This photo is the one that really caught my eye when looking for inspiration for this particular brief. The way he has the background out the focus so the sole focus is on the portrait but we still have some insight of what environment the woman is in, and good use of background is something I am willing to experiment with in the stranger brief, which will be shot outside the studio.

In an Interview on Flickr Alberto said that “I’ve never defined my photographic style, really, but people often say that spontaneity and sincere expression are the distinguishing features of my work in front of the camera.” This shows that hedoesn’t want to commit himself to a particular type of photography. However, I have looked through a lot of his images and you can tell that there are similar camera settings for most them. With similar ISO and possibly shutter speed, but the most notable setting is the aperture because he likes to have a very large depth of field in his images, often blurred. Showing that he uses a similar style too much and will probably need to experiment more with his photography to keep his audience engaged with his work.

Steve McCurry

My final inspiration came from Steve McCurry with his photography of the Afghan Girl. Steve said that “Most of pictures are grounded in people. I look for the unguarded moment, the essential soul peeking out experience etched on a person’s face.” You can defiantly see what he means with this image, with the way that the girl is staring into the camera with that expression you feel like you can see into her past when you look into her eyes. You can tell she is only young but years of memories can be visualised just in this one image.

You can tell that this is way Steve meant to achieve using his low aperture getting a large depth of field which is slightly out of focus. This depth of field connotes her depth life which the audience instantly thinks about subconsciously when they see this emotional image, because of this depth of field you feel like you can look into her life.

Then there is the focus point of the camera where Steve clearly meant to use the eyes as the focus point, the sharpness which we get from that glare into the camera is frightening. Also the lighting which is also focused on her face as this is the key element of the image and Steve has got it just right because if it was bright then it was of connoted a positive mood which would have ruined the image but to dark then she wouldn’t be visible enough to the audience. But in this image the lighting is just right to create the right mood.

This is another image from Steve McCurry Portrait gallery, this image is in a very similar setting to the Afghan Girl photo. Perhaps it was taken around the same time in Afghanistan. This image is not quite as powerful and as emotionally moving as the first but is still an exceptional image that any photographer would still be proud of.

 I think this photo was taken on similar camera settings to the first one. But this image seems to have had much more post-production work than the first image, this is one of the reasons I think the first one is better because it is more of a natural image. However, this post-production work does have a good effect on the image because the tinge of red connotes fear and danger. So I think he actually intending on doing this post-production work before he even took the photo. Not because the photo needed it, you can still use post-production effectively in professional photography as long as it’s to good effect and not noticeable.

Bibliography To be Completed

 

Process

Before I got my final images I experimented a lot with background firstly using a white wall in my bedroom however this did not seem to work as two of my objects were very white and the whole image seemed to be very exposed. Even changing the camera settings and less lighting the exposure would not go as low as I would like.

So I decided to use white paper as a background instead to try and create a shadow behind the object, but I realised to get a shadow I needed to shine light on the object which is already white which created high overexposure again. So I fiddled a lot with the camera settings turning the ISO down to decrease light sensitivity which I hoped would decrease the exposure which it did but not enough to the extend where I was happy.

After this I decided that a white background was not going to work for this particular brief so I bought some black card and covered my wall and desk in it and used it as a set. Which worked very well.

For this Brief I chose these objects because they were easily accessible, and have a good shape to them and have nice stand out features to them, and they are all very ordinary.

The First object the small Berlin vase I took using very high lighting upon the object. I did this because it really shows up the white and the brings attention to the detail of the painting on the object. I also increased the exposure in post-production as well to improve the lighting but this is only post production work done to this image. I used ISO 800 and a shutter speed of 1/40, this was to expose more light and let more to let more light in than would be done on normal setting or on automatic.

I would say this is a very strong photographic with very well-lit frame and very well focused. However, I would say some select areas of the image are slightly over exposed, and a bit too harsh on the eye. Overall I am very happy with this photo for this project.

The second Object is the Russian Standard Vodka bottle. For this image is used ISO at 1600 and shutter speed at 1/10, this is because I wanted to make it even more sensitive to light so you could really see the light shining through the transparent bottle. I also used very little post production for this image, with me just simply cropping the image to the right size. I placed the object in the middle of the triptych because the other two objects are fairly similar which means they look good either side of the bottle.

What I like about this photo is how the light shines through the bottle really lighting up the whole image so you can see a lot of the detail of the bottle, it somehow lights up the black on the bottle more than background so it is visible from the background. However, what I don’t like is the fact that a lot of what is in frame is black and really brings dull mood on the whole image.

The third and final image is the vase with flowers on it. Here I went with the same theme of high lighting and a dark background to really show of the object by using ISO 800 and shutter speed of 1/40 same as the first image. I also increased exposure and contrast letting more light again and making the whites brighter and blacks darker. This is why the background looks slightly different to the ones in the other two images. I did this because I wasn’t happy with the shade of white on the vase, however I think it improves the image.

What I like about this image is the framing because the vase really fill the whole frame being the dominant in the image over the background. But I don’t like how you can see the light reflecting off the vase in the middle of the photo.

Research 

My first inspiration for my still objects brief came from this image by Magda Indigo. As you can see the whole set up is very similar to the work that I have produced. Using a very dark background and bringing intense light on to the object, to really make it the focus of the image. Also the colour of the object in question is white which means there is a high contrast in this image, which really brings the object alive.

Magda was born in Belgium, and now lives and creates her photography here in the U.K. She has done a lot of still life work over her time mostly with similar objects like flowers, plants, and fruit.

 

Here is some more similar work by Magda using a similar style to the first image which was my original inspiration, to really bring the attention of the viewer onto the very vibrant green and the smooth shape of the object.

To me these two images show a very distinct style of photography that Magda Indigo has, which is the continuous use of the black background this is used very effectively throughout most of her pieces. Furthermore, the objects that she uses to photograph are also related with a lot of flowers and fruit, showing a very natural and look.

Another inspiration I found for my work was a photographer called Bob Norris, who was trained in still life and beauty photography. Like a lot of still photographers, he started to specialise in food, this photo in particular caught my eye. I like how he has used lighting and the focus of the camera to focus on the what is on the foreground of the image. However, I would prefer all of the image to be in focus so you can really see the detail of the beautiful shape of the bottom of the egg cup. But it is still a great photograph and thought has clearly been put into the style of the photograph, which I can still take a lot f inspiration from.

 Even though Bob Norris does specialise in food it is not the only objects he photographs, for example this photo of a multi-coloured handbag. Which I think the Black background is very effective here, because it really brings the focus on the object and its colours. I prefer this image to the first one, as the bag has many different colours that are being brought to life by the incredible lighting set up. I also prefer the fact that the whole image is in focus so you can really see the detail of the bag. However, the depth of field is a bit shallow. But with the black background this is not a huge issue and a higher aperture actual helps with the focus, which is not a massive issue.

I have looked through a lot of Bob’s work and noticed that he doesn’t have a set style for his still life, granted he specialises in food. But the lighting and the background choices are not consistent like you see with a lot of other still photographers. This shows that he is willing to experiment with his photography, which is what I am planning to do with my work.

Another inspiration I found was Jenny Van Sommers who lives in and works in London, she is an advertisement photographer she now has clients in the US and France. You can see why her photography is so successful when you look at her work. This image for example the photography is so simple, but you can see from how perfect the different colours contrast with each other that a lot of time and thought process has gone into this image. She probably experimented with thousands of different colours until she chose these for her final image.

What I found interesting about this image is how the lighting is set up, because in advertisement photography the product needs to be visible and clear to the target audience. This means the use of bright colours and high lighting should catch the audiences mind this is why Jenny has done this because it will impress her client with how good the image shows of the product. Therefore, the client will come her again whenever the client needs more photography advertising doing.

Furthermore, you can see that Jenny has used a shallow depth of field in this image. I think there are two reasons why she did this, the first is so the audience don’t lose focus on the product with a massive depth of field. The second reason is that when the aperture is higher it is easier to focus the camera on the point of focus, this is so the product is clear to the audience.

Looking through her portfolio you can see that she is a photographer for the up market products. Taking photos for companies like Paco Rabanne, British Airways, and Fiat. This shows that she is having a very successful career.

Here is another simple photography by Jenny Van Sommers yet again it looks like the objects have just been placed there in a line randomly. But the colours that are on the cones would have been specially chosen by Jenny before taking the photo. Plus, the lighting would have been experimented with a lot because of the shadows that are coming of the objects, to make sure that they were pointing the same way and which way looked most pleasing to eye.

Bibliography