Revisit one of the exercises on daylight, artificial light or studio light from Part Four (4.2, 4.3 or 4.4) and prepare it for formal assignment submission:
• Create a set of between six and ten finished images. For the images to work naturally as a series there should be a linking theme, for instance a subject, or a particular period of time.
• Include annotated contact sheets of all of the photographs that you’ve shot for the exercise (see notes on the contact sheet in Part Three).
• Assignment notes are an important part of every assignment. Begin your notes with an introduction outlining why you selected this particular exercise for the assignment, followed by a description of your ‘process’ (the series of steps you took to make the photographs). Reference at least one of the photographers mentioned in Part Four in your assignment notes, showing how their approach to light might link in to your own work. Conclude your notes with a personal reflection on how you’ve developed the exercise in order to meet the descriptors of the Creativity criteria. Write 500–1,000 words.
Include a link (or scanned pages) to Exercise 4.5 in your learning log for your tutor’s comments.
Initial Ideas and thoughts.
For assignment four I had a choice of one of the exercises from part four, these exercises were all to do with light, daylight, artificial light and studio light. I decided that I would choose exercise 4.4 Studio light.
I selected this exercise as I wanted to push the boundaries of my photography further. I thought about what I wanted to achieve. Bill Brandt (1904- 83) created a series of images he called “Nudes”. I was particularly influenced in my choice of assignment by this series. He photographed various body parts and facial features, sometimes in an abstract way that you had to look again to realise what the image was. Some of his images were shot in high key, for others he used natural light and sunlight. This is where my idea originated, I decided that I too would capture body parts or facial features, I used a macro lens so that I could get close to my subject. I devised a list of all the features and body parts that I could photograph.
Demonstration of technical and visual skills. Demonstration of creativity.
My model came over and I began shooting the images, I didn’t have any studio lighting so I had to improvise, I had a torch which I shone from various angles, and there was natural light coming in through the windows. I took numerous images.
Getting extremely close to your subject was interesting, being in a one to one scenario you have to engage with your subject whilst shooting the images, I found this a very enjoyable experience.
Initial images.
Afterwards I studied my images, and although I was quite pleased with the outcome I felt there was something amiss, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I showed them to a friend to get an opinion, the first thing he said to me was “there were no backgrounds”. I looked again at Bill Brandt’s Nude series of images, they all had beautiful backgrounds, he was right I needed to rethink this assignment.
So it was back to the drawing board. I pondered weather to begin the assignment again from scratch, but I liked some of the images that I already had. I deliberated over them, how could I possibly still use them? I kept thinking about backgrounds, suddenly I came up with an idea, I wasn’t sure if it would work but decided to experiment. I picked out a few images that I liked and printed them. I wanted to capture a background that would somehow have an association with each image, a background that would provoke contemplation. I decided to add my own thoughts for each image below.
All the images were taken with a Canon EOS 5D mark IV full frame camera set to manual, with a 24-70mm lens and a macro lens.
Final images.
Image 1 For this image the model is looking up through the leaves, trying to see the light, but the weeping willow is keeping her in the darkness.
Image 2 The face with a shallow depth of field but with the hands in focus, when I look at this image on top of the pebbles, it makes me wonder where could it be, is she is praying or searching for someone or something that’s missing in her life.
Image 3 The twigs with the leaves intertwined behind them, and the fingers through the tousled hair, made me contemplate about how we all muddle through our tangled lives.
Image 4 The image of the eye is slightly out of focus, I wanted to capture a very subtle blur, the adage “not being able to see the wood for the trees”, came to mind, and just how short sighted we can be.
Image 5 Here the association with the nose is an obvious one, the glorious aroma of fresh growing lavender, reminding us of times gone by and that we are still alive.
Image 6 This was a tricky one! What could I associate with an ear other than sound? Then I spotted the corn field, ears of corn with wild poppies dotted around, the poppies being the symbol of peace which we all hope for.
Image 7 The innocence of a first kiss, a first love, the romanticism, the rose is a symbol of all of these things, and the colour of the rose just happened to compliment the colour of the lips perfectly.
Image 8 The feet in the long wild grass, this made me think of how our leisure time and free time are precious, that we should spend these times with our loved ones whenever we get the opportunity.
Image 9 The cool waters of the river always invites us to dip our toes in, and how can we resist, as we paddle through all our troubles are momentarily gone.
On reflection.
The initial ideas I had totally altered as I worked through this assignment, it made me realise that you should always expect the unexpected in Photography and keep a very open mind.
What I have learnt.
Light makes such a vast difference to images, depending on what you are trying to capture, experimenting with photography adds different dimensions to your images, there is so much more to see when you look that can enhance your images. Having a good rapport with your subject makes Photography enjoyable.
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