Studio Photography Brief

Below are my submissions for this brief, together with the lighting diagrams for each setup.

My first submission for this brief is an image taken during our glassware session using a glass mushroom. A white perspex combined surface and background was used for this. I lit the background with a continuous light source and used a flash with a soft-box attachment on a stand to light the mushroom. Because both the background and subject are well lit, it creates a nice and even brightness on the photograph. The brightness of the soft-box lights the mushroom in a way where the light travels through the glass and makes the reflections, details and colours really stand out. I really like this photograph. With all the colours and reflections, it's almost magical.

Magical Mushroom

For my second submission, I decided to go with a portrait of my fellow student George. Using just a single light source with a beauty dish attachment, this image is quite dark. George, however, is rather nicely lit up on the left side of her body, with a shadow on the right side of her body (viewer's left), because of the light coming directly from the side. Because of the beauty dish, the overall image, I feel, has a very contrasted look. This was exactly what I was going for, because it works perfectly with George's look. The clothes, jewellery and hair all work extremely well with the darker, dramatic look of the image.

George

My third submission is an image I took during our commercial photography session. It was shot using only one continuous light source. I liked the shadows that were created by the light and without thinking too much about it, took the photograph. Therefore, I didn't use a flash or any other pieces of equipment. Simply the light that was already there. Because the light comes in from behind, the background isn't lit at all and you can see the edge where the light actually comes in over the background and lights the surface of the scene. The shadow isn't too big, because the light was set at a good height for what my intention was. I think it's made for a beautiful image.

Pebble Pile

The fourth image I've decided to use is one I took during our flowers session. The image was shot using a medium format camera. The aim was to get the light come from behind and shine through the petals. I think it has worked well in this shot. The back light was set at a brighter setting than the soft-box that lit the front of the scene. You can clearly see this by looking at the top petals and edges on top of the teapot and its spout. The light there is much brighter and a lot harsher than for instance the front and bottom of the spout and the bottom part of the flower. I'm very happy with the way the lighting has worked out in this image.

Kettle Flora

This photograph taken during our glassware session is my fifth choice for this brief. The duck is positioned on a glass surface, with a soft-box lighting it from the front and a honeycomb shining through the glass at a low setting from the bottom. The soft-box has created a beautiful outline of the duck and great reflections all over, whilst the honeycomb has created unbelievable colours and details within the duck itself by shining straight through. I like this image, because it's different. It's such an unusual object.

Ultramarine Quack

Now, the two images we had to shoot outside of college. First, my portrait. This shot was taken during a studio shoot I did with model Angela Hudson at my friend's studio. For this shot I used a grey background and two flashes: one with a reflector umbrella and one with a soft-box. There were also two continuous lights lighting up the background from either side. The reason I used an umbrella and a soft-box was simply because that was all that was available in this starter studio. I wanted the lighting to be rather soft and wanted to make sure Angela was lit evenly from both sides. Overall I think that it came out as planned. The shadows are rather pleasing, such as on her collarbone and around the armpit. Pretty happy with the result, to say this was only my second time in a studio on my own.

Angela Hudson

The next and final image for this brief is my still life. I did this on my bed, using a dark sheet, a simple standing lamp and my wife's make-up box. I lit the scene at a low angle, casting a lot of shadows on everything. Because it was a normal lamp everyone has in their house, the light was rather harsh. But because I needed shadows, the harsh light actually worked in my favour. My next step was to turn it into black and white. After that, I used a mask in Photoshop to let all the individual colours come through whilst keeping the rest of the image black and white. Because of all the colours, I think it works well and it shows you can create lovely images with very little equipment.

Coloured Boxes

I think I still have a lot to learn when it comes to studio photography. However, I am definitely pleased with my images for this brief. There is plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to exactly knowing what placing a certain light where will have as an effect on my photographs, but I think that will come with experience. At the moment, it's still quite a bit of trial and error, rather than knowing for definite all the time. But that's part of the fun for me. Being able to use the lighting and other aspects of studio photography to a degree where I can produce images like those above shows me, personally, that this part of my photography knowledge has definitely improved. Sometimes I might have to take a bit more time to look over my images in detail and make sure I spot dust marks for example. But again, I feel that will improve with experience.