Wednesday 30 September 2009

Forces of Nature

I did I shoot with Jenni. I did all the make up and styling myself and did so with the earth and fire elements in mind.

The first set I did, was experimenting with a home-made lighting set up. Because the lighting studio workshop was cancelled and rescheduled to the end of January, I had to experiment myself.

In the images below I used two lamps in various positions, it was funny really, me directing Jenni into poses, while trying to get her to hold a lamp where I wanted, then myself holding another lamp all while trying to take a picture.

The light was low, and I am going to say this again, I NEED TO BUY A TRIPOD! Haha, but I think I managed to get some pretty nice shots without one, and considering my bodged lighting job.

I also practiced some editing on these images. I Duplicated the images into a new layer, added some gaussian blur, turned down the opacity to about 40% (the amount varies from image to image) and then flattened them. This softens the skin tones.









We then waited for the sun to start going down and walked to Hyde Park and did a shoot there with the sun low.

This time of day gave really lovely, flattering lighting.



Food - Eat Your Eyes Out

Set 1

It's been a couple of weeks but I finally completed the Food - Eat Your Eyes Out shoot!

The first set I have completed, is the Literal Louise shoot, with the eyeballs, I am really pleased with the results.

Here is the strongest image from the set, as always, click on the image to see a larger version:


I am so glad I bought the black gingham fabric, as a really do feel it makes the image. Louise really is the perfect model for this set. Her porcelain skin contrasting with her dark hair and red lips are so striking. There really is something delicious about this photograph, despite Louise 'eating her eyeballs'! I think this is helped achieved by the juiciness of her lips, and the sheen from her pearls and bow, and the wet blood running from her eye.

I've not retouched this photo in anyway, just straightened it slightly and added the copyright. Some people are born with flawless skin I suppose!

I like the images from this set in a sequence. I've never really used a sequence of images in this way before, and I feel it works pretty well for these. For the sequence I flipped the photo's over, to give them a better flow. I think if I was to display these I would print them separately; I would love to see them in some OTT gold frames!

We were debating whether or not to use the knife and fork, but there is something about the fact she has abandoned these to use her fingers, that adds to the mood of these photographs.


Set 2

I can't wait to get these images printed onto edible paper!

Even though Hannah is squinting slightly from the bright lights, I still love this image, I like the colours and the composition.


Amalgamation

I currently have a few blogs on the go, as I used them as my journals on my previous course. I will be compiling them into one personal blog on the future; bear with me!