4th Shoot - Work Record

Preparation

In order to prepare for this shoot, I first of all had to make sure that there was a day that I could visit the zoo, in order to get the close-up shots of the animals.  I had to make sure that I went on a day where the weather was good and not raining, otherwise the animals may not have been out.  I also had to make sure that I had my camera prepared, with no images on the memory card and charged to full battery.  I also made sure that I had a good enough lens, in order to take the shots.  I am going to use my telephoto lens as it will allow me to get close to the animals, still being able to focus with the macros feature that it has.

What I Hope To Achieve

For this shoot I am hoping that I am going to be able to get some good close-ups of all the animals.  I am mainly going to focus on the eyes of the animals because I think that they are the most interesting areas.  They are also a good way to show extreme close-ups.  Despite this, I am still going to focus on getting some close-up images of some of the animals entire faces, to add to the variety.  In order to do this shoot, I looked at some photographers that specialise in animal photography.  In particular I looked at the work of Brad Wilson (http://bradwilson.com/), as he has a specific portfolio named 'Affinity', that focuses on taking close-up images of animals.  I mainly used his work as inspiration for my own shoot, however I couldn't get close to his shots as he took his in some form of studio set up rather than at a public zoo.  Here are some examples of his work that I looked at in preparation:

When looking at this image in particular, I love the way that you can see the grooves in the elephants skin. This was one of the aspects of Brad Wilson's photography that I wanted to try and replicate, getting the texture of the skin rather than just a simple close-up photograph.  I am going to try and get something similar to this in regards to the texture of the elephant.






I really liked this photograph, simply because it is close-up and you can see the detail in the monkey's face and also I like the way that the photo has lit up.  I also think the fact that the monkey is not looking into the camera is highly effective as it is somewhat caught off guard.

What I Actually Achieved

When it came to actually shooting, the weather turned out to be really nice, which created an ideal background for the images, lighting the subjects in a really nice way.  The sun created very natural lighting that looked really effective.  I am really happy with the majority of the photographs that I managed to get.  Some of the images were really blurred, simply because the lighting went off balance and meant that the exposure and aperture settings were not correct for the type of lighting that was being used.  Even so, the majority of the pictures that I got, were well lit and I think that they were edited to a high standard.  These were two of my favourite images from the photo shoot. 

 I managed to get a really interesting extreme close-up of a lions eye.  I captured the image right as he opened his eye, creating this sort of effect that he is looking up at the camera.  I lowered the saturation of the entire image, keeping the eye the same colour as I thought that the blue looked particular inviting when looking at the photograph.  I liked how close I actually managed to get to the subject for this image.




This was another image that I thought turned out really well.  The camel was sunbathing with the sun coming in from the right side of the image.  I thought it added a really nice effect, in the process managing to create an entire white background that looked like it was more professional and more thought out.  It was luck that this happened whilst I was taking this image.



What I Plan To Do Next

I am going to create many more edits from the photos I have got and create some interesting technique images to add to my portfolio for this project.  For my next shoot as a whole, I am going to take photos of nature.  This could be flowers, trees, leaves, animals etc.  I am going to look at texture and pattern in particular for this shoot.

4th Shoot - Edits

4th Shoot - Contact Sheets

3rd Shoot - Work Record

Preparation

For this shoot I had to make sure that there was space in the studio, in order to have a black background to take photos of shells.  I have to also make sure that the lights were set up appropriately to create the right amount of shadow for the image that I wanted to get.  I also had to make sure that the camera was positioned on the tripod appropriately to get the angle that I wanted for each of the shots.  I also made sure that I had a good variety of objects to work with so that all of the photos wouldn't be the same.

What I Hope To Achieve

I hope to get a good variety of images from the shells that I am going to be using.  I am going to look at a lot of different angles and lighting options when it comes to actually taking photos of the shells.  I want to take some from straight on top of them and some from a side angle to get them from a different perspective, which I think is important in photography.  I also want to make sure that I get a good variety of lighting options so that there are differences when it comes to shadows, which I think will also had another dimension to my photographs. Here are some examples of what I hope to achieve.

I like this image because it very basic, clearly showing the detail on the shell.  The lighting has been positioned directly above the shell so that there is no shadow created, which is another aspect that I am going to try to see what it looks like with the shells that I have.  The angle, positioned directly above the shell also gives us a good idea of what the shell actually looks like, which may not have been portrayed from a side angle.

This image is closer than the other image that I looked at.  I would like to try and get some extreme close-ups of the shells, much like this image.  I think that this shows the detail and the pattern on the shell to a high standard.  I am going to especially experiment with the shadow part of this closeness to fully capture the detail and texture of the shells. 

What I Actually Achieved

I got some really nice and unique shots from this photoshoot and I am extremely with all of the images that I got.  I did a lot of experimentation with angles and lighting to get the best shots and to have a good variety of photos.  I looked at many different close-up types to make sure I had some showing detail, some showing texture, with some simply showing the general look of the shells.  At the end of the photoshoot I positioned a few of the shells next to each other to show the differences between them, in one picture, which was highly effective.  I put the majority of the photos that I took into black and white because I thought that it gave off a better effect and emphasised the detail in the shells a lot better.

This was one of my favourite photos from the shoot because I think that it shows the detail on the shell really well.  I changed the red and yellow features on the black and white effect so that certain aspects would be more emphasised than others, bringing out the best features of the shell.  I also like the way that there is a definitive shadow on the left side of the image, which I think is highly effective in this image. 

This was my favourite image in regards to the shadow that is prominent when looking at it.  The fact that there is a strong shadow on the left hand side with a gradient effect flowing over the top of the shell, brings the entire image together.  Again, the black and white effect that I have added to the image is really effective and makes everything stand out a lot more, such as the pattern and texture on the shell.

What I Am Going To Do Next

Next I am going to look at the idea of close-ups in animals.  I am going to take a trip to the zoo with my telephoto lens to get close-ups of the animals faces, in particular I am going to try and get close-ups of their faces and their eyes if I can.

3rd Shoot - Edits

3rd Shoot - Contact Sheets

2nd Shoot - Work Record

Preparation

For this shoot I had to make sure that I had many different aspect set up.  I had to ensure that the camera I was using had the multiple exposure feature set up, in order to actually get the multiple exposure images straight away.  I also had to make sure that the studio was set up appropriately for the photos that I would be taking in the studio.  This was a lot harder than expected.  I also had to make sure that I knew how to correctly change the exposure for the different types of lighting that I would be using.

What I Hope To Achieve

I hope that through using this multiple exposure technique and the idea of close-up, I will be able to get some unique and interesting looking images.  I'm not 100% on how I'm going to do the actual photoshoot yet, it's going to be more of an experimental shoot to understand the lighting set up and the placement of the different images, overlapping one another.

I would like to try and create an image similar to this, with the outline of the hand being the main part of the image.  I think that this type of close-up using multiple exposure is really effective and it makes the overall look of the image look a lot more intriguing and interesting.  I'm not quite sure however, I would get the lighting right in order to get a photograph like this one. 

This is another example of a close-up using multiple exposure.  The hand is obviously the main close-up aspect of the image and I think the simplicity of the background image, adds to the effect that this image gives off.  I like that the individual flowers are positioned on the fingers and how there is a twig going up the thumb.  The way that this image has been positioned is highly effective and appealing.

What I Actually Achieved

I managed to get some interesting looking shots and I experimented a little with the type of shots that I could get, however I found it quite difficult to get a good image with the right lighting.  It was hard to balance the exposure of the two different images and make them work together in an effective multiple exposure photograph.  Even so, I managed to get some good photos that I am proud of. 

This was my favourite shot that I got from this shoot.  I decided to experiment with photos, keeping the shots just in the studio.  My first attempt at creating a sort of back to back, two-head type of photo didn't work out very well because I positioned the noses too close to the centre of the images, so they overlapped too much.  I then thought I would try again, positioning the two images close to the edges of the image, which is how I got this image that has worked out extremely well. 

This was another one of my favourite shots.  It was the only multiple exposure that I got with 3 photographs in the image, than 2.  I like the way that the leaves are positioned over the eyes and also how the left eye is more vibrant than the right.  The effect that this gives off, makes the attention automatically be drawn towards the eyes. 

What I Am Going To Do Next

I am going to try and develop this shoot and get a better understanding of the lighting and exposure that I need to use.  I might also attempt to create some multiple exposure photographs on photoshop, rather than doing them straight onto the camera. For my next shoot I am going to look at some form of natural objects and capture the patterns and textures of them.