Product Shoot 3

Aim of this Shoot

This time I wanted to concentrate on photographing ladies perfumes, which are one of the most popular products for advertising, using some of the cosmetics in the house. The inspiration for these photographs has been posers in shop windows and adverts in magazines.

Using the kitchen table, with natural light, and a white mount board for the set. This did mean folding the mount board to create a stage and a backdrop, thereby ruining the board for anything else. The things that I will do !

The Set Up

The diagram for this set up I used is shown below:

As you can see there is really very little working space available, whilst getting the lighting how I wanted it.

Below are photographs of the actual set up:

Choice of Equipment

For this shoot I chose to use my Fujifilm Finepix S7000 camera, because this has a better macro capability, especially when working in such a confined workspace. The S7000 has a built in lens which is the equivalent of a 28 – 210mm lens on a 35mm film camera, but offers both macro mode and super macro mode (the latter allowing focusing down to 25mm).

Because I was working from a fixed location, I used my older Miranda tripod, which is considerably heavier than the lighter Star 75 tripod that I took to Wales, but far more steady.

To avoid camera shake when pressing the shutter release I set the camera to a 2 second self timer, as this camera does not have a remote release capability.

Health and Safety

Working Environment

As I am working in a confined space, and it being a kitchen, it was very important to ensure that all knives and sharp objects had been put away, prior to the start of the shoot. Also, I had to make sure that the floor was dry, with no spillages which could lead to me slipping over.

Electricity

Because I was using existing light, there were no concerns over electric lighting, again the kitchen was clear and the electric appliances were unplugged and out of the way.

Cables

I made sure that there were no cables in the working environment to prevent any tripping style accidents.

Heat

As there was no flash lighting there were no concerns over the heat generated by these. The cooker had not been used for hours, so it was cold to the touch. As there was no direct sunlight there was no noticeable heat there. The water in the kettle was cold as well, although this was down the other end of the kitchen, well away from where I was working.

Chemicals

I had ensured that everything was put away, prior to the start of the shoot. The kitchen tops were clear.

Selecting the Images

Having looked at some advertisements, both in weekend newspaper magazines and in shop window promotions, I had an idea what I was looking to achieve from this photo shoot. Also, like the corkscrew climbers from the second product photo shoot, I wanted to take some of my photographs beyond their normal limits.

Both focus and exposure were very important when selecting the images, but also scope for taking the photographs further.

Below is a contact sheet of the images that were taken during this product photo shoot:

The results of the shoot

Here are some of the finished images:

Product Shoot Two

Aim of the shoot

This time I was working with Jim in the studio. Jim was also working on a product shoot, very similar principle to me, so Steve suggested that we worked together, also I might learn a few things from Jim.

I was looking at shooting some 'wine', for which I have a few ideas, the 'wine' being poured into a glass, and perhaps an empty wine glass.

The first thing to do was look at the lighting that was required. Jim had worked out what he was looking for and Steve Davies helped set up the lighting accordingly.

The Set Up

After Jim had taken some of his photographs, I had the opportunity to take some using a bottle of rose wine (well, ok, summer fruits cordial - but it looked good ! and did not mean bringing alcohol onto the college premises !).

The set up involved using the product table again and one soft box on the left, lighting from behind the product table, with barn doors to control the lighting, and a light from under the table.

Below is the lighting diagram:

The flash was triggered by a wireless trigger.

After a few test shots I got the lighting just right. The exposure was set up for the liquid, not the labels on the bottle which would have resulted in the liquid being highly over exposed:

After I was happy with the image of the bottle, for which I have one or two ideas, one based on some of Chris Collins work.

Next I wanted to try something that I saw in a magazine, Digital Photo, which looked good. For this I would need a wine glass, which I had brought from home, and two people. I discussed this idea with Steve who advised that although the lighting was different, it would be something interesting to try.

Pippa joined me, Steve and Jim in the studio to give us a hand, sorry but pun intended !

I lined up to camera, Steve advised whilst Jim poured some of the ‘wine’ into a wine glass held by Pippa:

Although the lighting was different to that used in the magazine, we were all happy with the result. One thing that was nicer about my photograph, as opposed to the photograph in the magazine was the bubbles in the wine glass as the ‘wine’ was poured.

Choice of Equipment

To save time during the shoot it was decided that I should use Jim's Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR which was fitted with a 24 - 105 mm lens. This gave me the opportunity to use a more pro spec camera. This lens offered a wider aperture setting than my lenses and could isolate one item from a group by careful use of the depth of field. Although the camera uses compact flash, Jim downloaded these onto my memory stick at the college, although the CR2 (Canon RAW) files were very large, I was able to deal with them thanks to the UFRAW application.

Health and Safety

When working in a photographic studio you have to be careful of a number of things:

Environment

Fortunately, working in the college photographic studio which is kept clear of any obstructions, we had a clear and safe working environment, which is very important because, once the lights are out and we have only the modelling lights from the flash units to see by, any cables or props left lying around could cause an accident.

Electricity

Although the voltages for many lights may be lower, especially for portable lighting, you must always check that the cables are in good condition and have firm connections (to the equipment and to the mains power supply) and that nothing is overloading any sockets.

Any use of liquids, especially with some of my photographs, was controlled to prevent any liquid coming close to any electrical appliances.

Cables

The lighting is fitted to a series of tracks which are fixed to the ceiling, this reduces the number of cables that are near the ground, and any slack in the cables from these lights is taken up to prevent any tripping over accidents.

Heat

Because of the use of flash units, which generate a lot of heat, these were only handled before any photography started, using the light from the modelling light to ascertain the lighting. Also nothing inflammable was placed any where near any lighting equipment. It is important with so much lighting equipment that can be triggered wirelessly that any unused equipment is switched off, both for safety and causing unwanted lighting.

Steve, who changed any fittings, prior to the start of the shoot, was careful not to catch any lighting tubes, which are very fragile whilst changing the fittings.

Chemicals

Because we are all using digital cameras, most of the chemicals involved with photography, in particular the processing and development of the finished photographs, have been removed. I think the most dangerous fluid in the studio that day would have been the ‘wine’ which although not dangerous, would have caused some disappointment if tasted.

Selecting the images

I was very how this shoot turned out, and I think Jim was very happy with his product shoot.

This photo shoot gave me a number of images to work with, some of which I have already got ideas for their use.  The important issues when selecting images from this shoot were that these images were good exposure and accurate focusing.

The contact sheets for the images taken during this shoot are below:

 

Post Production 

With the photograph of the wine bottle, shown below, I just needed to create an adjustment layer for the label, as the exposure was set for the liquid, so that the label was clear.

I also had to clone out a small reflection of one of the studio lights.

With the pouring of the wine into a wine glass, held by Pippa, I used masking and lightened Pippa’s hand which was too dark.

One good thing was that nobody tried to sample the ‘wine’ !

Thanks again to Steve, Jim and Pippa for their help.

College Exhibition Images

These are the images that I am putting forward for the exhibition at the college:

Corkscrew Climbers

Watching

Syncro Cross

These images will be displayed at the Burton College in an exhibition, so I have had them printed via D S Colour Labs, sized to A3, because I don't have the facilities at home, and if I had I don't think I could print these cheaper.

We spent one Saturday cutting the mount boards to size, at 500mm x 400mm, and then using Pippa's mount cutter I cut the opening to suit the images. After fixing the image to the back of the mounts we attached a second mountboard to the rear of the image to provide a stronger backing.

It did look very good seeing my images printed at this size, complete with mounts, but for the course I will have to just present the images online via blogger, due to costs.

Thanks to Ruth who is adding my images to her order, I will see you with the money on Saturday.

Curse of the 13th

Well, try as I have, but I could not log into the pixel guild site, so I have uploaded the photographs, and a few more to my blog under the heading of Trips / A Calke(ing) Day Out (yes I have watched Wallis and Gromet !!).

I have also uploaded the portraits that I took on Saturday, thank you all again for sitting (and standing) for me.

Please have a look and let me know what you think, if its polite ;-))

George Hurrell

Looking through some copies of the Professional Photographer magazine I found an article on the top 100 photographers and in this list I found George Hurrell, who was famous for his portraits of the Hollywood movie stars.

George was born in 1904, in Covington (across the river from Cincinnati.  George developed an interest in painting and drawing at a young age and only got involved in photography when started learning how to use a camera so he got photograph his own paintings.

He later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.  In 1925, after completing his studies, George was commissioned to photograph painters and their paintings in Laguna Beach art colony.  George moved west where he was hoping to continue to study art, but he found that he was taking portraits more than he was painting pictures.

One of George’s first portrait subjects was the famous avatrix Poncho Barnes.  Through his work for her he met the silent movies star Ramon Novarro, shown below:

Ramon Novarro 1931

Ramon commissioned George for a series of portraits, which he showed off to others working at MGM.  These portraits caught the eye of the leading lady Norma Shearer who was married to MGM Production Chief Irving G Thalberg.  Norma hired George to take some ‘sizzling photographs’ of her for her bid to star as the lead role in the movie The Divorcee.  Irving was so impressed with George’s work that he hired George as head of the MGM portrait gallery in 1930.

Over the next two years George photographed every star at MGM, including Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo and Marie Dressler.  George’s portraits set a new standard for Hollywood portraits, inspiring a new name for the genre – glamour photography.

Following a disagreement with Howard Strickling, the head of publicity at MGM, George set up is own photographic studio on Sunset Boulevard, where the stars still flocked to George for their portraits.

After six years he moved to Warner Brothers where his portraits were to help building the careers of Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and James Cagney.  George later moved to Columbia where he worked with Rita Hayworth to shape her image.

After the second world war, where George shot training films and photographed generals at the Pentagon, George returned to Hollywood where he found that glamour photography was no longer in fashion.  He moved to New York where he shot advertising and fashion layouts through the 1950’s. 

After George returned to Hollywood in 1952, where he and his wife Phyllis started a television production company, George settled in Southern California 1956 where he moved back into the movie industry as a still photographer.

In 1965 his work was showcased at museums around the world.  In 1976 George, working with Whitney Stine, published the book ‘The Hurrell Style’.  Followed by other commemorative books and special edition prints of some of his newer Hollywood portraits of Sharon Stone, Brooke Shields, and John Travolta.  Among his last assignments where photographing Warren Beatty and Annette Benning for the movie Bugsy, Natalie Cole for the best selling album ‘Unforgettable’ and his last subject Jennifer Flavin for a fashion layout.

George died of caner in 1992.

Some more examples of George’s work is shown below:

Sources of information

Digital Photo Pro, Portrait Photographers, Professional Photography

 

Evaluation of Images

Having worked in Hollywood, George has styled his portrait photography to match the way the subject is portrayed in their movies, for example Humphrey Bogart (column two row three) is looking confident, reassuring and calm, just as he was portrayed in his movies.

Men are portrayed as per their most popular character, women are portrayed as glamorous, and gentle.  The subject is always the main focus of the portrait, with limited depth of field blurring out any background features, although some still retained some detail of the background.

Many of George's portraits seem to be head only or head and shoulders, with very few three quarter or full length portraits.

The lighting is often harsh and uneven, with the portrait of Humphrey Bogart as a prime example of this.  Despite the uneven lighting, the portraits do exhibit a good tonal range.

A number of the portraits do not feature the subject actually looking in the direction of the camera.

Portrait Photography

Portraits of Photographers – Part 1

For this project I wanted to capture the other photographers on the course. Unfortunately, some of the group, namely Steve B, Becky and Joe, were not in today so I will take more at a later date including a group shot of everyone.

Aim of the Shoot

My inspiration for these portraits are from some of the portraits taken by David Bailey.

Steve helped with the lighting which we decided would be similar to the type of set up that David Bailey or Irving Penn would have used:

For these portraits I used the DSLR with a 18 – 200 mm lens, as this would give me a wide range of focal lengths to play, without either standing on my subject’s toes or standing out the door. I have read that a good focal length for portraits is around the 90 mm mark. I will also be using the battery grip enables me to take the portrait orientated photographs, whilst still having access to the important controls. At first I used the camera stand, but this I found too limiting, so I chose to use the camera loose, as it should be used.

I used the infra red trigger for the flash units which gave me more portability and prevented any tripping over type accidents. The main flash was above me but there was more than enough clearance from my head.

Steve set the studio with a white background with one main light almost above me and two soft boxes to illuminate the background.

The set up is shown below:

For some of the portraits I wanted the subject to stand up, for others I wanted them to be sitting down.

 

 

Health and Safety

Because I am working with people who are modelling for this photo shoot I must make sure that at all times their safety is of prime concern.  Fortunately, all my subjects are photographers themselves and are aware of the safety measures in place in a photographic studio, where as many people, especially children and curious adults are prone to ‘what happens if I press this’ scenario, which having worked in the joinery trade, I am fully aware how dangerous a clicking of a simple button can be where the person pressing it knows nothing about the implications of doing so.  Also the dangers of multiple children, or over curious adults, where you cannot watch everyone all the time, although these dangers can be reduced by having an assistant present.

 

There is another option, with some people (none of those on the course) but a piece of 3 x 2 would not be permitted.

 

The usual health and safety precautions must be followed:

 

Environment

Fortunately, working in the college photographic studio which is kept clear of any obstructions, we had a clear and safe working environment, which is very important because, once the lights are out and we have only the modelling lights from the flash units to see by, any cables or props left lying around could cause an accident.

Electricity

Although the voltages for many lights may be lower, especially for portable lighting, you must always check that the cables are in good condition and have firm connections (to the equipment and to the mains power supply) and that nothing is overloading any sockets.

There were no liquids in the studio, so there was no concerns of any liquids coming close to any electrical appliances.

Cables

With more people in the studio there are always more concerns over tripping and falling accidents in the studio.  The lighting is fitted to a series of tracks which are fixed to the ceiling, this reduces the number of cables that are near the ground, and any slack in the cables from these lights is taken up to prevent any tripping over accidents.

 

Heat

Because of the use of flash units, which generate a lot of heat, these were only handled before any photography started, using the light from the modelling light to ascertain the lighting.   Also nothing inflammable was placed any where near any lighting equipment.  It is important with so much lighting equipment that can be triggered wirelessly that any unused equipment is switched off, both for safety and causing unwanted lighting.

Steve, who changed any fittings, prior to the start of the shoot, was careful not to catch any lighting tubes, which are very fragile whilst changing the fittings.

Chemicals

Because we are all using digital cameras, most of the chemicals involved with photography, in particular the processing and development of the finished photographs, have been removed.

Image Selection

From this photo shoot I took a number of images, where I tried to capture the personality behind the portrait, rather than just capture an image of the person.

Below are contact sheets of the images that I captured during the shoot:

 

Once I had looked at the different photographs I selected those that I felt captured the personality of the person, because to me this is what is important about any portrait.  Although photographs never do the person justice, I wanted to at least capture their personality.

Although Eric and Jim brought cameras, I wanted to capture them off duty, without a camera.

 

The Post Production

After I had selected the portraits I wanted to convert them to monochrome, using the Black and White filter from PhotoPlus X3, which is just like the filter demonstrated by Peter Clark from Adobe Photoshop CS4. This would create a similar finish to portraits by David Bailey.

My first subject was Ruth. Ruth was a little nervous at first, a common thing with all people, especially photographers. Ruth soon settled and we got some good portraits:

1/60th at f5.6 with 100 ISO

Next up was Eric, who is very relaxed on both sides of the camera, as you can see:

1/45th at f5.6 with 100 ISO

My next subject was Pippa:

1/45th at f5.6 with 100 ISO

In fact whilst taking portraits of Pippa I caught the dial and ended up with some high key portraits as well. I soon realised and corrected this ready for my next subject Suzy:

1/60th at f5.6 with 100 ISO

Like all the team, Suzy was a great subject and soon relaxed.

Next was Steve Davies, our tutor:

1/60th at f6.3 with 100 ISO

Steve brought with him is sense of humour, which is something that I wanted to capture about Steve.

Finally, for this session was Jim:

1/45th at f5.6 with 100 ISO

Who is forever the photographer.

The Final Images

Below are the final images that I have cropped, in a similar way to those portraits taken by David Bailey, as suggested by Steve Davies:

Ruth

 

Eric

 

In fact Steve Davies asked if the Burton College could use this photograph for promoting the exhibition.

Pippa

Suzy

With Suzy, I wanted to also capture her necklace, showing a paw print, because Suzy in very passionate about animals.

Steve Davies

Jim

I hope the team are happy with their portraits, please give me some feedback on these, as I said above, I will be taking some more portraits on 29 May 2010, when I am hoping for a group portrait.

A very big thank you to everyone who modelled for me today.

Peter