Shoot 3 - Studio Form - Work Diary

This shoot went pretty well considering the fact that when I started it I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do for it, in the end I just experimented with the lighting to show the form of my models face.  The fact that I only used one model of this shoot probably isn't particularly good as it does not provide much variety in the shoot.  I think these two photos are the best from this shoot although I did also decide to do a multiple imagery piece from nine of the photos I took.

 I like this photo as even though I am using a black background which matches the outfit of my classmate there is still a visible distinction although this is more obvious on the lighted side.

There are a fair few ways in which I could progress in this particular area as I am not just limited to the form of faces or even that of people at all, as I could look at the form of various object that I find.  To progress I think I will gain a more general feel for 'creative use of light' and try doing some light writing/drawing.

Shoot 3 - Studio Form - Straight Images

Shoot 2 - Shadows - Work Diary

For this shoot I was looking at shadows, I found it pretty easy to find and take photos of interesting shadows although there was a little bit of a problem with the weather as the sun kept being hidden by clouds.  I also had a tendency to not put much thought into the background and so a lot of them had other unwanted shadows round the edges of the photographs or really bad background that were not very appealing, another tendency I had was to take photos of both the shadow and thing casting it which is not necessarily bad but shadows can also be photographed by themselves.

This photo is one of the ones I took showing both the shadow and the object that is making it, the shadow has an interesting shape to it and has a high contrast with the lit areas around it.

I think this photo looks really interesting as the shadows are disembodied there is nothing visible that is casting them and looks almost like it could be something coming out of/under the ground rather then an actual shadow from something.

To progress I might look more at taking photos of disembodied shadows or try to create interesting things/shapes out of the shadows with the objects visible within the frame like below, although for my next shoot I will look at form probably in the studio.

Shoot 2 - Shadows - Straight Images

Inspiration for shadows

Shoot 1 - Initial Response shoot - Work Diary

For this I went out and shot some photos based on my initial response to my chosen topic 'creative use of light'.  My initial thought after looking on the internet for some inspiration was to use an alternative light source in this case candles.  This didn't quite work that well as it was too light to properly see the flame although I still got a few good photographs.

I think this photo is pretty good as you can see the candle in the foreground which is a source of light although the it is not lighting the surrounding area and the texture of the wall is visible.  The wall stretching out into the background shows depth and the background has a very soft focus to it.

This second photo features just a singular light but with quite dramatic fade from the light creating strong shadows around the edge of the photo, the texture of the ceiling tiles and wall is visible which also shows a contrast between the two.

For progression I would look at more alternative light sources maybe try using glow stick, lighters or more candles in a dark room possibly using them as light for portraits or to do some light graffiti.  An alternative I could look at is using light for texture photographs experimenting with both natural, the sun, and artificial, studio, light sources or look at the shadows made by objects and try to arrange them so that they make particular shapes.

Shoot 1 - Initial response shoot - Straight Images

Inspiration for Creative use of light

Definition

Dictionary definition of light;
1) The natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible
2) An expression in someones eyes indicating a particular emotion or mood.

Describing words:
Bright, dark, dim, natural, artificial, white, spectrum

This photo is quite interesting as the way in which they have implemented the light drawing makes it look like the person is firing the light from their hands.

This photo is interesting as it uses the shadow from the ring rather than the ring itself to create the focus of the image.

I like this photo as it uses alternative lighting than standard which gives an emphasise to her face and shoulder while hiding the rest of her head and shoulders in shadow.

I like this photo as it uses nothing but a simple tea candle and a patterned holed pencil pot to create an interesting and intricate pattern with the light.

My Definition of light:

- The thing that makes objects and colours visible to the eye.

Discussion

I decided to do 'Creative use of Light' pretty much as soon as I saw what the five different starting points were, purely because this seemed like the broadest and the most interesting as it could be interpreted in an almost infinite amount of different ways.

After developing my mind map for creative use of light and looked into it a bit at different photographers and the different areas that I had stated in my mind map, I was interested in looking at light graffiti in more detail and trying my hand at it myself.  I found many light graffiti photographer all with their own style like Michael Bosanko who uses different coloured lights along with a slow shutter speed to construct his drawings.

I like the idea of light graffiti as it seems fairly simple to do and it is possibly to draw/create pretty much any shape or pattern and I also like the fact that the only evidence of it ever happening is the photographs that are being taken it exist only with that specific moment.  I also like the way that some photographers also colour the back and fore grounds as well as using different coloured light for the drawing itself like the photo below.

As well as light graffiti I am interested at looking at shadow, silhouettes and form which all kind of come under the same bracket as they involve similar uses of lighting just with slightly different positions  with the lights, camera and model/object in relation to each other. For silhouettes the model or object  has to be between the camera and the light where as for form the light has to be coming from one side or at least just a singular angle to properly work.  With shadows the positioning of the lights, model/object and the camera isn't really that important as if there is light as long as it is not at a too dramatic angle things will still cast shadows.  Although I don't really think I will try anything quite as complicated as some of these look her are some examples of the three (2 silhouettes, 2 shadows, 2 form)