In this shoot I wanted to further explore the object that is a seasonal squash, which I previously explored in my shoot number nine. Similarly to my shoot number eight and nine I wanted to explore cave-lie structures in organic objects and create abstract environments from this- using my inspiration of Nadege Meriau. I conducted the shoot in the studio, using a reflector dish to light up the front area of the squash, a snoot in order to control the direction of light, a tripod to steady my camera, a macro camera to take the images on, the object itself in order to have something to shoot, a black backdrop to aid the low key lighting effect, a knife to cut the object open, a light meter in order to help me set my initial camera settings, and lastly a table in order to have something to place the object on. Below is a lighting diagram of how I set up the studio:
For this shoot I picked a bigger squash than I used in my previous shoot number nine, as I believed this would be easier to explore the inside of this. I cut a hole in the back of the object, and positioned the snoot here in order to add depth to the photograph. I believe this shoot didn't go as good as I expected it to due to the sheer amount of seeds, and string inside of the squash which made it increasingly difficult to cut open the squash. Furthermore, the squash used for this shoot was more flat than the previous squash used in my shoot number nine, which made it hard to create depth within the squash. My shoot number nine I believe is better than this shoot; however I do believe my straight images are a strong series from this shoot, despite not having as many straight images as my shoot number nine, I do believe I improved my lighting technique in this shoot as I moved around the lights more and explore with their angling, as we as moving the object itself more.
Best image from this shoot:
This photograph is one of my better images from this shoot, the light coming in from the hole in the back of the squash due to the snoot is substantial in this image as this alone creates the depth in this image, as it highlights the hanging fibres in the squash aiding the cave-like environment I was aiming to create. The camera settings which I used to photograph this image are as follows: ISO 200, F 8, shutter speed 1/200. I believe that I should have made the reflector dish light lower, in order to create a lower key lighting effect, as this would have made the image as a whole more effective, whilst satisfying my aim of this shoot further. The fact that the viewer feels as though they're looking through a hole into this cave is effective, as again depth is created through the blurred edges of the squash.
Worst image from this shoot:
This image is one of my least effective images from this shoot, as there's no cave-like structure created as all of the seeds are in the way. This image was taken early on in my shoot, prior to me digging out all of the seeds to create the better depth I have in some of my later images. Additionally, all of the squash is in focus due to the high aperture used to take this photograph (32), this also allows a lot of light into the lens which doesn't aid the creation of a low key lighting effect, the shutter speed of 1/200 also lets more light in than a quicker shutter speed, which again adds to the brightness of the image as a whole. If I was to reshoot this photo I would have first taken all of the seeds out of the image, and also created a lower key lighting by adapting my camera settings better, or adjusting the light which the reflector dish was on.
Progression:
For my next shoot I would like to move on from using a seasonal squash onto using a pomegranate as I believe they obtain a lot of texture and detail which I could explore through the use of macro photography. I will again shoot this in the studio, moreover I would like to use some coloured gels in my next shoot in order experiment with other techniques apart from macro photography.
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.
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