In this shoot I wanted to further explore the use of macro photography, when capturing images of organic objects and creating my own environments within these images, using these objects similarly to Nadege Meriau. Within this shoot I wanted to again (similarly to my shoot eight) explore cave-like/ hollow structures within my photographs, I believed that by picking a seasonal squash with a spheric shape it would allow me to gouge out the innards of the fruit, and enhance the shadowing effect using a snoot which would overall create a more cave-like environment than the pepper I used in my shoot eight did. Moreover, by picking a seasonal squash which has stringy matter hanging from the roof of the object would also allow me to create a gruesome and hellish atmosphere within my images also. Below is a lighting diagram of how I set out my shoot in the studio:
The objects I used in order to conduct my shoot are as follows: a seasonal squash to shoot, a snoot to direct my light in order to achieve low key lighting, a reflector dish to project light onto the front of the object, a camera to photograph the images, a tripod to keep my camera still, a table to place the object on, a black back drop to enhance the low key lighting, a light meter to record the lighting settings I would need on my camera and lastly a knife to cut open the object itself.
I wanted a lower key lighting than I had previously used in my shoot number eight, as I believed this would aid me in creating a cave-like structure. I decided when editing my images to keep them in colour as I believe this draws attention to my images, as well as enhancing the lighting coming in from the snoot in the right-hand side of the images. I decided to cut a hole in the back right-hand side of the seasonal squash, as again I believed this would add to the aim of my image to be cave-like, by showing there is another exit/entrance to the cave deeper in this object; this is also similar to Nadege's photograph of the watermelon whereby she too has light coming into her object from various angles to add depth and detail to her photograph.
Best image from my shoot:
This photograph is my best image from this shoot as the lighting which is cast across in the background adds depth and detail to the image, the fact it adds depth also aids the idea and aim that this is an image of a cave, and not a seasonal squash. I shot this image from a low down angle, looking up at the squash, I did this to experiment with various angles within my shoot; I believe that by using this angle it adds more ambiguity to this image, making it harder for the viewer to see this squash for what it naturally is, instead they see a hollow cave structure, which creates an uneasy atmosphere due to the darkness of the image, combining with the unkept state of the cave, due to the pumpkin seeds and the hanging matter from the roof of the object. The focus of my camera was on the roof of the squash, not the seeds in the foreground due to a lower aperture of 10 that I used, whereas if my aperture was higher this would have given me a wider depth of field- I like that the camera only focuses on the innards of the squash hanging, as this adds to the uneasy atmosphere that the image conveys. My photograph was also shot on the camera settings of ISO 200, with a shutter speed of 1/125, I believe these camera settings worked well as the shutter speed allowed just the right amount of light into the image, in order to help create a low key lighting effect.
Worst image from my shoot:
This photograph is my worst of the shoot due to it being too light, this is due to my high aperture combining with a shutter speed of 1/125, this let too much light into the lens, I should have lowered my aperture in order to allow less light into the lens, consequently this would have made the image darker. Despite this, the high aperture of 32 did allow me to focus on all the detail within the image, not just one section, subsequently this allowed me to obtain a wider depth of field. The angle which this photograph is taken at is slightly predictable as it's straight on, I believe a lower or slightly twisted angle would have added to the cave-like effect of the image, as if this squash was slightly turned then more shadowing would have been created, again adding more depth.
Progression/experimentation:
For my next shoot I would like to explore a seasonal squash further, as I believe this object has more potential than what I have explored in this shoot. I will experiment with angles more and progress my use of the studio.
Studio Equipment:
Snoot- a tube object which fits over a light in order to allow the photographer to control the direction of the light more precisely.
Reflector dish- a reflective surface which fits over a studio light, and is used to project light onto the object.
Tripod- a stand which holds a camera on top, in order to keep the camera still to prevent any blur that may be caused.
No comments:
Post a Comment