Portugal snaps

Here are a few photos I took during a weekend break to Alvor in Portugal. 

Portraits - Research

Rankin 

Rankin is famous for his portraits, shooting countless celebrities and in 2009 he shot 500 ordinary Brits (including my friend Jo, image below) in 20 days. I love the simplicity of his shoots, no fussy props just good old portraiture! 

Mario Testino

I like how Mario Testino (no introduction needed for this man!) has portrayed a sense of attitude in this shot by very small adjustments to the models face. Head up, eyes narrowed and lips open. In some of my shoots I will try and convey emotion like this.

PEROU

Perou is another famous fashion photographer. In the two images below I really like the use of the subject being side on and especially the shadow it creates on Daniel Craig's face. I also love the emphasis on Sienna's cheekbones, I will try and recreate this emphasis in my model (Helene) by shotting some shots side on.

Statement of Intent - Portraits

Candidate Name: Lucy Prosser
Theme: Portraits
Title: Helene

Portrait images

Intentions/purpose of the photography to be undertaken

To deliver a set of 10 natural portrait images of the chosen model Helene. I wanted to produce portrait photos that were relaxed and informal, stepping away from washed out backgrounds ala modern mass produced portrait photography.

Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from the work of others)

With a keen interest in fashion magazines and blogs, I am inspired by the endless collection of photos produced. The current trend for highstreet fashion magazines is a very natural laid back approach to images. My first idea was to shoot outside in the grass but I decided after looking at the British weather that this may not be possible!

The photo imaging equipment and medium that will be used and why & How light quality can be used to help convey the visual message
I will use a Canon EOS 450D camera along with my kit lens.

I chose to keep lighting to a minimum by shooting with two bulb lights either side and a softbox at the front to illuminate Helene. I experimented with how shots using a grid to create a more soft backlit image. 

I started my set up with two Bowens studio lights (750W) to give a simple light. I then used a softbox infront of Helene to soften the light that would fall on her to give the portraits a natural/soft finish. I experimented with the use of the grid on the Bowens light to the right hand side of Helene to give either a soft backlight or a harsher more concentrated light with the grid off.  In shooting portraits I wanted to create a good light from below Helene, this was achieved through the use of a golden reflector. 

The use of a beauty dish (seen below) helps light bounce off the dish's light surface giving an even and flattering lift to the subject. The dish also helps divert light away from the centre and helps eliminate hotspots and harsh shadows.  

Techniques that will be used and how they will help convey the visual message

All my images were taken in RAW format, meaning I was able to use Photoshop CS5 to post process certain elements of the images. Although my model Helene has a flawless complexion and great cheekbones I used various vanity techniques in Photoshop such as brightening of the eyes and removing fly away hairs against the background of the image. These techniques enabled me to present a more professional looking fashion photo for my collection. Using tools such as saturation and clarity let me bring an element of texture into the images. 

Safety considerations

I briefed Helene before the shoot to her let know it was a relaxed session and that she could take a break or sit down whenever she felt like it. I also warned her that I'd be using flash photography and asked her to cover her eyes each time I tested the flashes.

Whilst positioning the lighting equipment I made sure heavy equipment was carried by two people. All electrical equipment had been PAT tested by the College. 

Statement of Intent - Food

Candidate Name: Lucy Prosser

Title of theme: Food photography

Food images

Intentions/purpose of the photography to be undertaken:

I wanted to create a collection of images based around classic food photography. I wanted to ensure I incorporated a range of different styles into my collection from retail (yoghurt and Taboo images) to abstract (red cabbage shots) to classic food photography (peppers and strawberries)

Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from the work of others):

My inspiration to shoot food photography came from the various cooking books I own and the numerous food adverts that are shown on TV each day. I have always been interested in using photography to sell products i.e. with the help of photoshop making an image as atheistically pleasing as possible. in my research post I came across a number of different food photographers who covered the

The photo imaging equipment and media that will be used and why

Due to shooting smaller items i used a lightbox table to shoot the items on. This meant assembling the set up through using a table to place the lightbox on and then arranging the lights to the right height. The image below shows one of the set ups used for the photography, I made use of a hesian sheet to give the background a rustic textured feel which is often seen in 'Homely' food photography shoots. 

The lighting set up was predominantly around the main spot light (seen on the top right in the image) then two smaller lights were used to highlight the fruit and veg.

I used three studio lights and a lightbox to create my images. I also used white boards to bounce the light off to centre the light on the fruit/veg. This technique was used the most in the images of the yoghurt pot to ensure a nice even lighting and to stop shadows being created.

In the red cabbage images I used a macro lens. The decision to use a macro lens was so I could focus on the abstract patterns within the cabbage.

All my images were taken in RAW format, meaning I was able to use Photoshop CS5 to post process certain elements of the images. The majority of tools used in photoshop were to highlight colour and texture. This was done by increasing the clarity in images and hue and saturation. 

How light quality can be used to convey the visual message

My aim is to create a number of clean and commercial veg and fruit images.This meant a number of lights were used in the set up with one main light used on the righthand side. Backgrounds were changed to bring a different feel to the images. A black background was used in my image of the peppers as the texture of a pepper if smooth and shiny, and the hesian background was too rustic for this.  therefore on most of the images only one light was used to give depth to the objects and to cast shadows. 

Safety Procedures

As I was shooting inside the photography classroom I made sure to warn others about my shoot and made sure my class mates were aware of the wires on the grounds and that I would be using flash photography.

All equipment used had been PAT tested by the College and was safe to use. 

During photo editing I made sure I took regular breaks from the computer to mimizie risk of eye strain.

All lighting equipment was weighed down and placed out of walkways/ people's paths.

Research - Food Photography

Marie Louise Avery - Food Photography

www.marielouiseavery.com

I love the use of a plain white background and positioning of the fruit and veg in the above images. Marie Louise approaches the shots with simplicity letting the produce do the talking. 

Charlotte Hurst - Commercial food photography

www.charlottehurst.com

In Charlotte's commercial work we can see how she has arranged the items to come across well aesthetically. The green in the strawberries is picked up in the green web tab. In the second image Charlotte's use of a glass teapot, cup and saucer means the tea does the talking. The inclusion of a model could have taken the attention away from the product but by only including the torso this is avoided.

Jean Cazals - Food Photography

www.jeancazals.net 

I love the rustic and DIY feel to all Jean's images. The second image above has no doubt be preened to perfection but by using crumpled paper and a cheesecake that is evidently homemade it brings a lot more texture into the image. the first image above uses a palate of brown colours which brings out the earthy colours of the Pomegranate. I love how Jean's work is not overly photoshopped his approach is clean, graphic and based on natural style. Jean says that elegant styling and food presentation are the most important parts to his photography. .

Portraits

I've chosen portraits as my second theme for the studio photography course. After researching I decided I wanted to shoot some images with a fashion feel and dragged my friend Helene along to be my model for the night.

Statement of Intent - Hands

Candidate Name: Lucy Prosser

Title of theme: Hands

Intentions/purpose of the photography to be undertaken:

To produce a collection of hand portraits from one model, capturing movement and positioning of the hands during the day in various different activities (drawing, golf, driving etc). The collection should show a 'day in the life' of a hand. The choice of model was my dad due to the texture and colouring of his hand. I decided early on in research that an aged hand would produce an image which had greater depth and shadow.


Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from the work of others):

When planning my 'Hands' theme I started researching images of hands taken by photographers which can be seen in my Hands Research post. After completing my research I decided the main focus of my theme would be detail in the hand using depth of field. This would maintain the focus of the image on the hand rather than the background. I decided to use one model and to   From looking at various images I decided to focus heavily on depth of field in my images. This would allow the viewer to focus in on the hands in the images and not be distracted by the background.

Planning my shoot:

Before shooting I drew up a list of potential shots which would involve movement and different lighting. The time of day was crucial, all shots had to be done around midday to get the best use of natural light during the winter period. I gave a brief to my Dad about what was expected from him as a model and to try and due to our relationship he was able to relax and ensure the images didn't come across as posed or too staged.

Techniques that will be used and how they will help convey the visual message:

The images will be a mixture of colour with varying saturation, sepia and black & white. In my decision to concentrate on depth of field I used my 50mm lens which gave me enough depth of field than my kit lens but enough of a wide lens compared to a macro lens.

Safety Procedures

As I was shooting both indoors and outdoors in a home environment i had to be aware of any potential health hazards such as things left on the floor or sharp objects left around the house. As I was using the same model throughout my project i briefed them on what type of photos I would be taking, what I expected from them and also to let me know if they would like to take any breaks during the shoot.

Equipment

As the images were natural and quite close up I did not need to make use of a tripod and took all the images handheld. Again as I shot all the images in natural light around midday I did not need to use an additional flash equipment.

With my current lens only going to f stop 3.8 I decided it was time to buy a prime lens. This decision was made due to the fact that a macro lens would be too detailed for this project. My aim is to focus on a whole hand, rather than the details within it. Having bought a 50mm lens I did some test shots to decide the range of on the depth of field that I would intend to use for my project.

Blueberry

More reasons to shop at Morrisons...

Weekend snaps

Veggies

England's next top model

Sara giving it some attitude 

A Taboo subject

I like Gin

Presenting photo images

Presenting photo images

To present my collection of costal landscapes I have chosen to use a photobook. I looked through a few different presentation techniques such as individual printing, flickr, postcards and a scrapbook. I decided to go with a photobook as I wanted to have a permanent record of my work 

Why have you presented your work in this manner?

I decided to produce an Apple photobook due to the quality and simplicity of the book. I wanted my photos to do the talking which meant they were the focal part of the presentation .
I researched a number of different photo book providers and felt Apple was the best company to go with. Having edited all my photos on an Macbook Pro, I felt the images would be of maxiumum quality keeping to the same company to produce my photobook. Another reason I chose an Apple photobook was their key branding rule - Simplicity

Describe the process for presenting your work.
The process to make my photobook involved making the final selection of 10 images. I decided I wanted a mixture of wide angle landscapes next to standard size images. Once I chose my images I began to upload these via the online photobook software. 
I then moved on to deciding the order of the photos in the book. To give the book a uniformed feel. I evenly placed smaller images followed by double spread images. Unfortunetly some of my images were too large for the size guidelines of the booklet, however I made the decision to still include these images as I felt they still worked even at a slightly cropped size.

Describe other presentation methods considered and give a explanation for deciding against them.

I considered printing and mounting all my images but felt that as i have not mounted images this before, it may not have a had a professional finish. I decided a photobook would be a tidy and compact way of displaying all my images at one time. 

What health and safety considerations did you observe?
I decided to go with Apple to print my photobook as they are a professional company who print these books on a large scale. Due to the printing being done professionally i did not need to worry about injuries that could be occurred during the printing.
 

Dent

Studio

My first attempts at studio photography. The main aim of the session was to play about with lighting and reflectors to see how it could change an image.

Background colour changed in post production

Desaturation

Rainbow gradient

obligatory snow post

A few quick snow shots I took over the weekend when I was out and about. If I have time I might edit them tonight.