Since my first still life photo shoot, I haven’t photographed single objects but instead composition of them. Which this photo shoot i was able to focus one object at the time as well as some together.

With this photo shoot, i have used 2 different set up cameras, one was on a regular tripod, and another was set up at an above angle so that the objects could be placed underneath it, this also meant the light was pointed at the objects from the side to not create shadows from the camera.

Best images from the photo shoot:

In my opinion the above images are not perfect as they still need to go through the editing process and final touches, however for the images I have for now, I would like to focus on editing these.

While taking the photographs, the pictures on the camera kept on coming out lighter then how i could see it in real life, therefore i experimented with the cameras setting and firstly changed the shutter speed of the camera which was 0.4 sec

This was how the photo firstly turned out, which was not as dark as i wanted the image.

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I have then changed the shutter speed once again, this time to 2.5 sec and the image was as light as i wanted it, however i then realised that it may look even better is there is more light as then more detail would be visible

This meant the image was brighter and the camera took a shorter amount of time to take the actual picture.

Single Objects Edits

As I established before which images i liked the most, i have then edited them in Lightroom, changing exposure, shadows, sharpens&texture etc. as well as adding filters and playing with the settings of them.

Single Objects Best Images

Once Edited I had a few Best images that I thought were interesting as of capturing a single objects beauty. This meant they were sharp, defined and balanced when it came to their tones, highlights and shadows.

Photoshop gallery:

For my first virtual gallery I used five of my images that I have used for my final prints

I dragged them onto an empty gallery image that I found on the internet and presses CTRL + T to select the image, I then adjusted it by right clicking and using ‘skew’ and ‘free transform’ to place the image on top of the empty canvas.

I repeated this process with four other image placing them over the empty canvases until the gallery was full.

I added a shadow under some of my images to make it look more realistic and as id they were actually in a gallery by using the burn tool to darken the underneath of my images.

Overall I am happy with my edit and think is it very effective with the shadows making it look more realistic. however I think my images are a bit small therefore next time I would make my images slightly larger to make the more visible and engaging.

Artsteps gallery:

I also creative a second virtual gallery on on the website www.artsteps.com.

Firstly I picked the gallery space that I wanted to used and began adding my images onto the walls with other images that contrast well together.

Overall I prefer my second gallery as it allows you to feel like you are actually in the building with your work up. I think it allows my pieces to stand out and lets the viewer focus on the detail within them.

Process and stages of the project:

• Learning the camera settings and changing the settings while taking still life images: shutter speed, aperture, depth of field.

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• Used different lighting techniques: flash lighting, continuous lighting (infinity screen).

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• Taking photos of our objects from home singly and together which we then printed off for our final outcomes

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My overall Evaluation:

Overall I think this project could of been better. This is because my I’m not as happy with my images as I could be and I don’t think they show what I’m capable of. I am happy and proud with some of my images towards the later stages of the project such as the Mary Ellen Bartley images I took. Taking images of still life and single objects was new to me and I think if I were to redo any of the shoots I would have a better understanding of how to arrange the objects to make the images more appealing and interesting. Looking at my final outcomes I am happy with how the window mount came out as I have never done something like that before.

Window mount

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Mounted photos

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Experiments

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Mary Ellen Bartley

Mary Ellen Bartley is a New York based contemporary still life photographer. Often choosing books as her subject in majority of he work, Bartley is capable of capturing varied textures and colors in her pieces.

In her latest project, a series titled 7 Things Again and Again, she chose 7 common items form within her home that she felt represented her time during quarantine. The selected items were: toilet paper, a half-full bottle of rubbing alcohol, a notebook, a mug, a ceramic bowl, a muted yellow bar of soap, and a glass cube. She would arrange said objects in different ways every day throughout the 30 days of April.

Some examples of her work:

My photo shoot

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In conclusion, i believe i have done well in this project for being new to photography, i learned how to use photoshop and light room classic to improve and edit my photos, i have enjoyed the process of taking, editing and creating photomontages. However there are still areas i need to improve on, i need to take more images so i have a wider selection to choose from when i do the final selection and to create more edits and montages to show my capability of editing images, in future projects i will apply my knowledge what i should do and learn from the mistakes i have made on this first project. I have linked all the knowledge i have been taught in the first term to create the project and i am pleased with the outcome, however i know there are areas i need to improve on but they will develop over time.

I used adobe Lightroom classic to edit my still life photos.