In total, I had 3 photoshoots: First at a youth club, second by some foliage, third in the market.
Contact Sheet
Contact Sheet
In each photoshoot I tried to use a variety of angles and distances in order to get an assortment of shots that looked different from one another whilst still keeping both the model and background in the shot. I found this quite difficult, especially when the model was moving around, as the photos would end up quite blurry/out of focus even when I changed the shutter speed and f-stop. However, despite these challenges, I think I was still able to get some decent environmental portraits.
Editing My Portraits
My original photo
When editing this image I wanted to make the background stand out just as much as the foreground in order to highlight one aspect of the surrounding environment whilst still keeping everything else in focus. This led me to increasing the highlights and shadows a lot whilst keeping the exposure down in order to make sure each object in the image was in focus and distinguishable from one another. I finished off the edit by decreasing the saturation on everything except the blues which gives the viewers eye something to focus on.
My final edit
My Final Edits
This is my favourite edit as I like how the colours stand out, despite being muted, and how they create a small wonderland due to the flowers surrounding her, making her seem like she’s in her own little world.
Environmental Portraits – show and discuss – critique
Work in small groups to take still life compositions in studio – use product table and flash lighting system, copy stand with flash light, and coloured backdrops with soft box lighting (this should be done by now)
Select and edit a range of images from your still life photo-shoot in Adobe Lightroom
Look carefully at this blog post for ideas, research and theory
Create YOUR OWN blog post(s) that clearly shows your selection process and a range of final images from the objects
Final Images = 3-5 object-based images
At least one image should be black and white, and show understanding of tone and contrast
Over half term…try to photograph a range of still-life set-ups, experiment with your own lighting, own objects etc
Remember when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to 1000 pixels on the Long edge for “blog-friendly” images (JPEGS)
Refer to THIS BLOG POST… for help and guidance in the studio
For this photoshoot, we went into the studio and took pictures of different objects provided by Jersey Heritage and the school. There were three different camera stations that were set up. One was positioned at bird’s eye level, one had a plain white infinity curve and the last one had a pink and yellow background. We split up into small groups of around 3 or 4 and took turns using each set-up.
Bird’s Eye Set-Up
set-up
camera settings
It was a bit tricky using this set-up because we had never used it before and getting the objects in focus and frame was hard because we had to get on a stool and carefully try and look through the camera without touching anything.
Some of the pictures I took
Infinity Curve Set-Up
This was the easiest one to use because the lights that were there were really good and we had no difficulties with them. Most of the pictures turned out bright and clear.
Some of the pictures I took
Pink and Yellow Set-Up
This was the hardest and most annoying set-up to use because the tripod we had was wrong and we couldn’t use it properly. The lights were also quite bad which made the pictures turn out dark and there were lot of shadows that we couldn’t get rid of.
Walker Evans (1903-1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist that was best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration documenting the effects of the Great Depression. He began to photograph in the late 1920s, making snapshots during a European trip. In 1936 he travelled with the writer James Agee to illustrate an article on tenant farm families for Fortune magazine; the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men came out of this collaboration.
The ‘Beauties of the Common Tool’ collection has around 22 photographs in total and was published in July 1955 by Walker Evans. These images consist of a reamer, an awl, a bill hook, an auger, various pliers, and a couple of variations on a T-square and some wrenches. He used a nail to stabilise these tools and make them float in order to get rid of shadows and make the photographs seem cleaner.
‘Beauties of The Common Tool’ – Walker Evans, 1955
Darren Harvey-Regan
Darren Harvey-Regan is a photographer interested in the concept that photographs do not exist just to show things, but are physical things that become objects themselves. He was influenced by Walker Evans’ pictures of ordinary hand-made tools, such as a ratchet wrench and a pair of scissors. He first constructed a montage of Evans’ images to make new forms. He then sourced matching tools, cut them in half and re-joined various halves together, with the resulting physical objects being photographed to create his final work.
Harvey-Regan’s ‘The Erratics’ project focuses on abstract rocks of different shapes and sizes. For this project he spent months in his studio photographing rocks, concentrating on composition, geometry and line. I really like the way his pictures turned out because each rock is different and can tell a story. I also like how in some rocks there are straight lines and clean corners because it looks interesting and you don’t usually see anything like that in nature.
‘The Erratics’ – Darren Harvey-Regan, 2015
Comparison
Both of their works are quite similar because they both focus on taking detailed still life pictures of objects on plain white backgrounds and turning them black and white. The main difference is that Evan focused mainly on tools rather than rocks like Harvey-Regan. Harvey-Regan takes his pictures from different angles and has them placed them on a white table, he also seems to use some light source to get shadows on his rocks and accentuate the details. Evans just takes his photographs from a high angle and minimalises shadows as much as possible, he also makes his tools look like they’re floating by placing them on a nail that can’t be seen in the picture.
Bricklayer’s Pointing Trowel, by Marshaltown Trowel Co., $1.35
For this photoshoot, I used my sister who enjoys baking in the kitchen and does it in her spare time. I like these photos because they show experimentation with different angles, lighting and facial expressions.
2nd Photoshoot – 1 person outside
For this photoshoot, I used my dad who likes gardening and when he moved house has built the garden up from nothing so it is his pride and joy. I like the photos because it experiments with faceless portraits and different angles.
3rd Photoshoot – More than 1 person
For this photoshoot, my stepdad and sister are being photographed in our garage where my stepdad has all of his bikes and cars which he has an interest in and she is helping him.
Image selection on Adobe Lightroom
These are the images which I think that are my most successful from my photoshoots. On Adobe Lightroom I used Z to pick the photos which I thought were the most successful ones which are seen below.
Experimenting with my successful final images
Single person inside editing on Lightroom –
I like the way this edit on Lightroom has turned out because it shows the model doing their hobby and focussing. The edited photo compared to the start has been edited well as the lighting, which was bright to begin with, has been controlled and the actions are clearer to see and the colours of the model and their surroundings are more defined.
Single person outside editing on Lightroom –
I like how I have edited this photo because it shows the model more clearly as the lighting has now been controlled through changing the contrast, highlights and exposure on Lightroom. The use of shadows also helps to control the brighter parts of the photo. I also like how the model is looking at the camera as it adds a personal level to the environmental photo.
More than one person editing on Lightroom –
I think that this is my most successful edit which I did on Lightroom, this is because I used the exposure and contrast to darken the photo but also controlled the colours which were brighter due to the lighting. I also like how the background is busy yet shows a personal side towards the models, who are captured tinkering with the car, as it presents their hobbies towards the audience well, showing how genuine the interest is.
Compared to Mary-Ellen Marks work
I think that you can see the influence Mary-Ellen Mark has had on my photoshoot as it shows my models captured doing something natural, which I like and wanted to include in my work and it shows to be similar to her photo where the girl looks as if she has been captured casually doing her own thing with others in the background. I think that my photo looks better in colour instead of black and white, like Marks work, because the colours stand out more and work well together, which I like.
For this photoshoot, I asked my friend if I could go to their house and take pictures of them doing everyday things. I let them do whatever they wanted to make it seem more casual and realistic. I took pictures of them in their room while they played the guitar, read a book, played games on their switch and watered their plants. I used the window as my main light source as it was still sunny outside and there were interesting shadows on the walls.
I tried using low and high angles as well as different positions because I wanted my images to look unique and different from each other. I used some close-ups to focus on what my model was doing in order to get a better understanding of who they are as a person.
Contact Sheets
<3
Editing One Image
I really like this image because it shows my model’s interest and a bit of their personality. I think the way the lighting was hitting their face and the guitar looked interesting and I wanted to make the image livelier. I started by changing the tint to give it a softer and warmer look. I then turned the highlights down and exposure up in order to make the details stand out more.
Before
After
Final Edits
I really like how this image turned out because the black and white make the details stand out more and the sun on the guitar looks interesting.
I tried getting rid of their face to make it seem like they’re anonymous and mysterious.
Outside
Photoshoot 1 + Contact Sheets
The weather was nice so I took some pictures of them on the roof listening to music, reading and then looking out of the window.
Photoshoot 2 + Contact Sheets
I went to the market and asked an old lady at the flower stand if I could take some pictures of her and her shop. She was quite busy, so I was only able to take pictures of her whilst she was working and doing her own thing. Them being unposted is a good thing because it made the pictures look more realistic. The lighting wasn’t that good in there and the camera settings were a bit tricky to figure out however I think I managed to get some shots in the end.
Editing One Picture
I decided to edit this image because I liked the way they were looking in the distance listening to music making it look mysterious. I also wanted to give it a more sombre look and that’s why I turned it black and white. I increased the texture and clarity to bring out the details and I also played around with the shadows and highlights.
Before
After
Final Edits
Turned this picture black and white because I wanted to give it an older look. i like the way they’re looking in the distance smiling.
I liked this picture a lot because it’s very saturated and lively and it looks dreamy because I turned down the clarity.
I like the way this one is framed is interesting and how they’re on the right side leaving the rest empty.
This is one of my favourites because it looks older than it actually is and I like how the woman stands out even though the environment she is in is quite busy.
I like the colours in this one and how she stands out.
this image is of the main Hamptonne building. you can see the contrast the light and the dark in this photo.this is image is of the main court yard.this is thatched roof.this is a archway leading from the orchid into the courtyard.
Here are my sets of contact sheets for my first shoot – my first sets of images at the dump, my second at the plant waste site, and my third at a local food kiosk. I used the P and X keys to select my best and worst images, and used the loupe tool to go through my images one by one – I then used the grid tool to take my contact sheets as below.
Contact sheet for dump shoot and a few kiosk pictures.
My first two sets of subjects were taken at the dump in St Helier – my first subject is a well known character, who always has his favourite hat on, with his name on. He was more than happy to be photographed and directed. My issue with my pictures of him is that the backgrounds of some of my images are overexposed – it was a very bright day. To combat this, in the future, I would try to shoot on a slightly more overcast day. However, I did the best I could to capture my subject in a way that he was not overexposed.
My second pair of subjects for this shoot, were two workers at the plant waste dump. They were slightly more shy on camera, but I did my best to photograph them how I wanted. The two gentlemen are good friends, so I wanted to photograph them together for my two or more people shoot. Furthermore, I decided to do close up shots of each subject to capture the interesting hats they both had on.
Contact sheet for Kiosk Shoot
My last set of subjects for these tow shoots were the owner and employee of the Quayside Food Kiosk: Steve and I decided to photograph these two because as a regular of the kiosk, I wanted to capture the funny working relationship between the two, as well as the lady’s kind and giggly nature. One issue I had when photographing was, because of Covid, the shop window had a screen – it created too much reflection in my images. To combat this, in future, I would photograph my subject elsewhere in the surrounding environment relating to their workplace.
Contact sheets for my last shoot – in my local shop.
For my last set of images, I shot in my local corner shop, Bay Stores. I chose this location because of the interesting items within the shop, and the representation of those employees and workers who people often forget we need in the island. Again, I had trouble with a screen in front of the till, but in future I would photograph away from the till maybe.
In this shoot, I tried to photograph those in Jersey who we often forget in the background – who the island wouldn’t be the same without.
