Location shoot

For one of our modules we were set the task of shooting dancers both in studio and on location. Beth is a gymnast and so I wanted to incorporate this into her location shot. I spent some time looking around the campus for some different areas to shoot and finally stumbled on a window ledge. I took a couple of test shots of the area and showed them to Beth.

I looked at the weather for the next few days and organised to meet with Beth for a couple of hours two days later. We took several frames and I have featured the one I have chosen below.

In post production I have added a 70's filter as I feel it gives it a little more contrast. I especially like the way that there are lots of lines in the picture which all compliment each other because the shot was taken on an angle. I also like the way the sun naturally highlights her face and skin. I have also added a vignette to darken and soften the edges to make enhance the model within the frame.

Mince pies

As mentioned in my blog earlier before Christmas we were asked to bring in a food item to shoot and as it was the festive season, I decided to take some mince pies to the studio.

I had done a little research into the type of shot that I wanted to create and sourced some red fabric for a background, some festive berries and also some fairy lights. Some of the research I have found can be seen below and has helped to inspire my final shots.

I know from previous experience that food photography is not easy as there are many elements especially when shooting food hot, which is why I decided to try and keep it relatively simple.

The setting up of the shot took a lot longer than I would have liked but I wanted to get the fabric and background to the shot to work. The main focus of the shot also proved to be quite testing as stacking mince pies is not as easy as it looks. With a little perseverance, a bit of blue tack and some jenga blocks I finally had them set up the way I wanted them to look.

I also tested using some fairy lights in the back of the shot with a dropped focus to add a little bit of warmth and sparkle to the shot, however it was hard to hide the white wires and I felt that it spoiled the image and abandoned the idea.

My final image can be seen below.

RAAAAAAAAR!!!!

A make up artist that I work with called me a couple of months ago wanting update her portfolio with some theatrical make up.

January is quite a quiet month after the rush up to Christmas in studio and so I called one of my friends to model, and we spent a couple of hours of downtime producing series of images that can be seen below.

Cosmopolitan anyone?

It is raining outside and it is lunchtime... not really keen on going outside and so I have decided to set myself a brief. A couple of days ago I was looking through a couple of food and drink magazines and realised that I have not really got and drink shots in my portfolio.

I have given myself a deadline of an hour to try and create an interesting image using props found in the photography studio and have produced the two shots seen below.

Although I like the first image because shows clean lines and is quite simplistic, I felt that as a shot it as not quite strong enough. After a rethink, i decided to drop the focus slightly to give the image a little more depth. I have also tweaked around with the colours in post production to make them appear a little stronger. Finally, I also added a little sugar to the rim of the glass so that the edges would sparkle and think that this improves the shot.

Sheffield architecture

A couple of months ago boss asked me to research several architectural photographers and he set me a mini project outside of work to capture some interesting architecture.

One weekend we had some really nice weather on the weekend an so I packed my camera and decided to go to Sheffield.

Sheffield has some great places to take pictures as the city is currently undergoing a regeneration plan and has some spectacular buildings, some of which can be seen below. Unlike most people I actually find architecture interesting especially when reflections can be formed using glass. I think that reflections help to form a picture and make it look a lot more interesting. I have finally had time to upload the card with the images and have put some on here.

One of my favourite places to go to in Sheffield is the Winter gardens. There building itself is made up of all different materials from wood to metals and plastics and therefore has great scope for interesting images. The building too has nice lines and because of its glass ceiling allows a lot of light into frames. this creates some really nice shadows on the wooden beams when the sun is out.

Gothic Fashion

The pictures below are shots that were again done in studio with some free time that I had. I wanted to have some more edgy fashion shots to add to my portfolio and used this opportunity as a good day to have a test shoot. One of the girls that I know from college kindly offered to give up some of her free time and we spent a couple of hours taking some shots.

I would have liked to have gone out on location to an old partiallly burnt down warehouse near to where I live, however the weather was particuallarly bad and so it was shot in studio instead.