6 Lighting

The point of this assignment was to show how lighting can affect the mood of a photograph. I didn't really plan this photo shoot. I find that I take better and more interesting pictures if I don't plan things out. With that being said, the pose Briana is was inspired by Briana and Marisa goofing around. While Briana tried to keep the same pose it was difficult for me to shoot at the same angle. I like Briana's pose because it adds a certain sense of mystery. I feel that this pose is very delicate and shows vulnerability as well as fragility.

First photo (top left): I was using a tungsten light. I raised the light to the height of about 5 feet. The light was placed slightly behind her behind her. I'm not so sure what feeling this type of lighting gives. I would say this is my go to light set up because its simple and easy to set up.

Second photo (top middle): For this picture I believe I used two tungsten lights. I used one light to light the background and one to light her. I feel that this lighting gives a gloomier and colder mood. I also cropped this picture a bit.


Third photo (top right): This was a very simple set up. I was only using one tungsten light and I had it right in front of her... maybe a little to her right, based on the shadow created from her nose. The background was completely black, remember that my background was white. I feel this lighting is very beautiful and adds a sense of mystery and darkness.

Forth photo (bottom left): In this picture I didn't light Briana, instead I just lit the background. This is a pretty good set up if you only want the silhouette. However, I just noticed that because she was wearing a knit thing on her head it looks like she has a beard. I was using a tungsten light.

Fifth photo (bottom middle): Out of all 6 pictures I think this is one of my favorites. I was setting up the strobe and I hadn't plugged the cord into the camera yet. I noticed how soft and beautiful the light looked so I took a picture. Unfortunately, it came out green. I think that's one of things I like about it, though. But when I uploaded it to the computer the picture was completely black so I had to photoshop it. First I lightened it and then I did a bit of lighting effects just to make it look less flat. I like how this picture looks because it looks old timey, like a portrait taken a hundred years ago. I don't like that it looks so grainy and unfortunately, when I uploaded it to weebly it showed rings of light or something on the right side of the picture that weren't there when I was editing.

Sixth photo (bottom right): For this picture I was using the strobe light so it's really bright. I tried to pull it away from her so it wouldn't be so harsh but it was already as far as it could go. I feel that this set up would be more fitting if she was facing the camera and smiling, it's very bright and cheery. I like this set up because it makes her skin look so beautiful.

Pictures With Deeper Meaning

Our assignment was to take a picture of a person that has a deeper meaning than the viewer may realize. This time my model was Marisa. We talked for awhile to try to find a deeper truth about her. I felt like my first idea was pretty good but it didn't really work out as well as I had hoped. My first idea was how many people are more in love with the idea of love than the actual person they're with. My second idea came as I was shooting. Because I was using a fisheye lens baby and I noticed how blurred it made her face. So my second idea is that many people feel that they can't be themselves and have to pretend to be something they're not.

This was a very simple photo shoot. I shot inside the class room and the only lighting I had was from the fluorescent lights and whatever light came through the door. I was using a fish eye Lens Baby which created the blurred look.

Awkward Pictures: Diane Arbus

My picture of Darrian

Original Diane Arbus photo

 For my attempt at Diane Arbus' style I used Darrian as my model. I actually had to reshoot my picture because the first time I tried they didn't quite work and I didn't really like them. I took Darrian outside and sat her on a bench. I was having difficulty with the lighting though. It was a pretty cloudy day and they kept moving in front of the sun and by the time I would get the camera adjusted it would be sunny again. This one of the shots where the clouds suddenly moved out of the way of the sun.

The photo is overexposed but I feel that it works better than my other pictures. The trees in the background are out of focus, which keeps the viewer focused on Darrian. I had her make the same face as the lady in Arbus' photo. However, it doesn't seem exactly like the expression of the lady in the other photo. I feel that if Darrian had lipstick on it would exaggerate the expression a bit more. Luckily, Darrian is naturally awkward so it doesn't look staged.

I hope you liked it :)

Sally Mann's Style

 

Sally Mann

Sally Mann

The top two images are of my little sister Sara. I was attempting to duplicate Sally Mann's style. Sally Mann's models alway seem to have something that sticks out about them that makes them look kind of different and weird. One of the things that sticks out about Sara is that she has vitiligo, which has turned some of her skin, as well as her hair, white. I had her part her hair differently than she usually does so we could see it. My sister was actually being kind of difficult with me so I'm lucky I even got the shots.

I placed her against a black background and used tungsten lighting. I had her stand up and open her eyes wide. After the shoot I put the photos in photoshop and changed it to grayscale and duotone with black and a copper type color. I added a duplicate layer and did a gaussian blur and erased it where I wanted it in focus.

What I like about these two photos is that they seem to have a deeper emotional feel to it. I can't quite figure out why that is though.

I hope you enjoyed it :3 

New School Year 2011

SUMMER INTENSIVE 2011

Unfortunately I got really sick during the summer intensive so I was not able to take many pictures :(

Street Photography with Adam

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from that day. I acheived this shot by putting my camera on Adam's dashboard while he was driving and put it on a really slow shutter speed. One of my favorite things about this picture is that you can still see the buildings and they look so far away.

Thanks again Adam! :D