Shoot Nine - Overall Essay

Shoot Nine:

In this shoot I wanted to further explore the technique of macro photography in order to further explore my theme of nature. This shoot links to my previous shoot numbers four and eight, whereby I also explored macro photography using organic objects. All of these macro shoots (four/ five/ nine) are inspired and influenced by Nadege Meriau's work, whereby organic objects are used to create abstract environments. I used the college's macro camera and shot this shoot in the studio, as this allowed me to control the lighting which would be focused on the squash. I chose to photograph a squash as the stringy innards of this objects would add texture to my images, moreover a squash was easy to cut in to for me to then create a cave-like structure. I used a tripod, a snoot, reflector dish, a black backdrop, a camera and the squash itself to conduct my shoot; furthermore a light meter was used in order to set the camera settings on my camera. 

This shoot was heavily influenced by Nadege Meriau's photographs of a pumpkin, as she used the innards of this to her advantage, and created a new environment using just one pumpkin. 

Shoot Three- Image Bank

This photograph is interesting as it's a shaped cloud, whereas the others below are of more 'natural' looking clouds. This image appears innocent, due to the bright blues and pure whites in this photograph; the pure whites suggest purity and innocence, whereas the blue gives the image a playful aspect. This image may be edited in order to achieve the interesting shape of the elephant, this may be something I could explore in my images. The angle which this image is photographed appears to be from the sky, as it's a side on angle of the shaped elephant. 

The clouds in this image appear angry, almost as though they're 'bubbling' up with anger due to their flourishing shape. The deep blues in this image are the majority, compared to the white colours, this implies that there's more anger involved here than calmness. Again, likewise to the previous image above this image appears to have been taken adjacent to the cloud in the air, not from the ground. 

Confusion is portrayed in this photograph, as there's a mixture of greys and whites all in one. The little breaks between each of the clouds may suggest there's hope; however the vast majority of this image is the darker clouds. This photograph appears to have been shot from the ground, therefore the photographer would have been looking up at the clouds pattern, this gives us a different perspective on the clouds and creates inferences in the viewers mind that it may rain, or storm soon; this in itself implies anger and frustration as the rain could be interpreted as tears and the thundering as shouting.

This image is photographed from the ground, looking up at the sky, the use of this angle suggests the sky is dominant and reigns over us as it's above us all. The clouds are not as crisp and easy to view in comparison to others in the other photographs within this image bank, the clouds merge together, this may again suggest confusion as they're not quite sure whether they're individuals, or groups; this is symbolic of everyday life when individuals do not know their identity, or whom they are yet so they stick in a group for support. 

This photograph is very bright- the pure white colouring in this image suggests almost a child-like innocence, complying with the bright blue sky which again symbolises this, as children often learn basic colours initially (e.g. blues, whites, reds, greens) before developing and expanding this (e.g. turquoise, violet), this could also be symbolic of their emotional state as children develop more emotionally as they grow; likewise the sky will develop more throughout the course of the day. The big gap with no clouds in the top left-hand corner creates questions in the viewers head, it's obvious this occurred naturally but the question is why would the photographer intend to leave this in his frame? 

This image obtains more muted colours, like greys and clouded whites, the sun rays are seen coming across the image in a linear fashion from the left to right, the colouring and the position of the sun in this image imply that this photograph may have been shot early morning. The angle of this image suggests this was photographed from above, as the photographer is looking down on the clouds, this may suggest that the photographer wanted control over the clouds, so he went above them, almost to suppress them. The grey tones within this image shows form and tone, as this creates shadows, which again shows the viewer which direction the sun is. 

Shoot Three - Overall Essay

Shoot Three:

In this shoot I wanted to explore the pattern and movement of clouds, as clouds are a simple form of nature, and many people don't admire and appreciate their beauty and simplicity enough. 

I was inspired by Steiglitz's images of clouds in this shoot as he influenced me to look at clouds abstractly and also to edit my images into black and white, in order to create a more sinister view of the otherwise considered 'innocent' objects. 

I shot my images outside, there was not a specific locations where my images were shot, as I photographed them over several days whenever I saw an interesting cloud pattern/shape when I had my camera with me. I shot my images from below the clouds, as I obviously didn't have the resources to be high up within the clouds themselves. 

In my next shoot (shoot 4) I will be exploring organic objects, and how they can be made ambiguous and how they can be transformed into something else when shot with a macro camera, this shoot is inspired by Nadege Meriau.

Shoot Eight - Overall Essay

Shoot Eight:

This shoot was progression from my previous shoot number 4 where I explored Nadege Meriau's work in the studio, by using a macro camera to be close to the object in order to enhance the ambiguity I wanted to create. In this shoot I again used a macro camera, whilst exploring low key lighting and being 'inside' the object, not shooting from the outside like my previous shoot number 4. I also kept my images in colour for this shoot, whilst editing them in photoshop using vignettes, and the dodge/burn tool to enhance the coloured contrast within my images; I believe I progressed by keeping my images in colour as this adds to the detail of the image as a whole. 

Nadege Meriau was the inspiration for my shoot, as she creates various environments/objects using organic objects. Nadege's images are always in colour which adds to the effect of the image, by enhancing the 'hellish'/'dark' scenes that she creates. Cave-like structures are also explored by Meriau in her images through the use of depth, and shadowing, this was my main aim to explore in my shoot, using th object of a pepper. 

I photographed all of my images inside the studio using studio lights, a light meter, a snoot, a macro camera, three different coloured peppers, a box, a dark cloth, and a tripod. The snoot allowed me to direct the light in my images, and helped me create my low key lighting effect. The tripod allowed me to reduce any shake in my images, as I was extremely close in to the object, therefore any shaking would of had a huge effect on my overall image. 

For my next shoot (shoot nine) I will be photographing a seasonal squash in the studio, in order to explore macro photography further, with the influence of Nadege Meriau still prominent in my work.