Final Studio Assignment Final Image - Portrait shoot

Indie Gibson Solid Shape style guitar with male model

Below is my final image for my portrait portfolio. This image has had some post processing work in photoshop, the contrast and blacks have been increased and the curves adjusted until I was happy with the final result. I chose to convert the image to black and white as I felt that this lead to more contrasting shot - the head of the guitar and the models t.shirt being black anyway, I have not lost any colour detail. 

When I wrote my proposal for this shoot, it was my intention to keep the guitar the main focus of the image, despite it being a portrait shot.

f/8.0 1/160 ISO 100

Final Studio Assignment Final Image - Product Shoot 2

Indie Gibson style Solid Shape guitar 

Below is my final image for my second product portfolio piece. This image has had some work in photoshop to remove dust that was reflecting light just behind the strings around the pickups and on the pickguard. As much as I tried to remove this dust before and during the shoot and work with different lighting positions, the dust remained an issue so my best option was to remove it during the post production. The image has had the contrast increased in photoshop and the saturations increased to draw out the green of the guitar body.

f/7.1 1/160 ISO 100

My reasoning for choosing this image over the other final images I selected was because I feel that this image captures the characteristic shape of the Gibson style guitar. The shape of the body is defined by the reflections on the points of the curves and I feel that the eye is drawn to these areas first then around the other main features of the guitar which are emphasised by reflection; the tuning dials, the pickboard and to some degree the strings.

Final Studio Assignment Final Image - Product Shoot 1

Palenque Butterfly Pendant

Below is my final image for my product portfolio shoot.

This image has had some alterations in Lightroom; contrast, blacks, clarity and green saturation have all been increased to draw out the colours and add a sharpness too the image. 

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

 This was not originally the photograph I intended to use to fulfil this brief, but on further thought and analysis I decided to use this image. With regards to my original proposal it was my intention to take the description of "Palenque"(see below) and "create a contrived and visual representation of it with the item of jewellery."

http://95.131.66.165/~palenqu2/index.php/about

When I researched images of "Palenque" which the jewellery store is based on, (a Mayan city state from 7th Century Southern Mexico) images I found, (see example photograph below) were lush and vibrant greens and it is with this image that I feel that description and feel is more aptly portrayed.

http://www.aventura-mag.com/ENGLISH/Adventures/Mexico/chiapas.html

I feel my other final images which I chose this image from strayed slightly from the original concept, whilst I prefer some of the tones and contrast that are in the other images, I have created a more autumnal feel (see example below) and this wasn't what I intended in my original proposal as I have stated above.

Final Studio Assignment - Portrait Shoot

 Gibson Solid Shape Guitar with male model

Below are the final images I will choose from for my final portrait shoot. This shoot was of a Gibson Solid Shape guitar and a male model. As with the product shoot involving the gibson Solid Shape guitar, the main issue I had with this photoshoot was the reflection that the dust gave off, making it very obvious in a lot of the images, depeinding on the positioning of the setup. My solution to this was to photoshop it out as with the previous product shoot. 

f/8.0 1/160 ISO 100

f/5.0 1/160 ISO 100

f/4.8 1/160 ISO 100

Final Studio Assignment - Product Shoot 2

Indie Gibson style Solid Shape guitar

Below are the final images I have chosen for my product shoot with a Gibson Solid Shape guitar. From these images I will choose my final image. All images have had some level of editing in Photoshop. An issue I found with this shoot was that the guitar, (despite the fact that I had polished and tried to remove as much dust as possible) had an obvious amount of dust in a lot of the images. The amount of dust visible was varied with the positioning of the setup. I tried different light positions to solve this problem but still the dust remained obvious.... My solution - Photoshop it out!

f/7.1 1/160 ISO 100

f/6..3 1/160 ISO 100

f/7.1 1/160 ISO 100

f/6.3 1/160 ISO 100

Final Studio Assignment - Product Shoot 1

Palenque Butterfly Pendant

Below are the several images I have edited for this shoot that I will pick my final one image from. I have experimented with different effects to try and find an image that I feel meets my proposal. 

 All the images where shot with a sigma 50mm Macro lens (Nikon fit). I experimented with various apertures, shutter speeds and combinations of lights. All the images below where shot with small apertures and slow shutter speeds. I found this gave me a larger depth of field and I didn't get areas of the image that were out of focus. All images where shot using a tripod and a wireless remote to prevent any shake.

All images have had various post processing in photoshop.

f/36.0 4.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 15.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

f/36.0 10.0 ISO 100

Shutter Speed Assignment

The following series of images are a demonstration of the effects that can be produced if we reduce the shutter speed significantly. The images are of various subjects and a variety of shutter speeds were used.

f/32.0 10.0 ISO 100 
This image was shot using a wine glass and two LED lights - one blue and one white. The lights were spun inside the glass from a piece of string whilst the camera was set to a shutter speed of 10 seconds. 

f/22.0 30.0 ISO 100
This image was taken from beside one of the express ways in Runcorn, just after peak hour so there was a reasonably steady stream of traffic travelling in both directions, creating light streams from the headlights and the taillights. 

f/22.0 60.0 ISO 100

 The above image was shot with the help of a remote trigger. By placing the camera on the floor, positioning myself to the left of the lamppost which is centre right of the image then waiting 30 seconds and then quickly moving to the right side of the lamppost (trying to mirror the position on the left!), I was able to create a ghost like effect on either side of the lamppost. 


 

f/20.0 1/15 ISO 100 

 With this image of a wind turbine I wanted to create a sense of movement without the propellers being a complete blur, I therefore chose to use a shutter speed that was slow enough to capture some movement of the turbine without capturing a full rotation. 

f/22.0 1/8 ISO 100
This image was captured with a remote trigger. I positioned the camera on a tripod just far enough away that it wouldn't be caught by my swinging and when I gathered enough momentum I triggered the shutter release.


 

f/22.0 30.0 ISO 100
This image was created using a green LED light. I used a black guitar against a black background, once the shutter was tripped I quickly "painted"around the shape of the guitar.

f/16.0 30.0 ISO 100
This image of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool was taken on a fairly windy evening. The movement in the clouds has been captured by the slow shutter speed, creating a streaked effect across the sky.  


 

Depth Of Field Assignments

Assignment 1

Below is a series of images showing the results when the aperture is gradually reduced in size. The brandy bottle remains in focus throughout the sequence, but as the f stops go up (meaning the aperture becomes smaller) the background becomes more prominent. This is because the depth of field is increasing as the aperture becomes smaller. All the images in the sequence where taken with a 70-300mm lens, with a focal distance of 82mm, this helped to create a more shallow depth of field due to the narrow field of view. The shutter speed had to be increased as the aperture was made smaller to allow the image to be correctly exposed.

Assignment 2 - Foreground to Background

The following series of images demonstrate the effects of a large depth of field, with everything within the frame being in focus.This effect was achieved by using a smaller aperture and positioning the camera further away from the subject.

f/10.0 0.8 ISO 200

f/10.0 0.8 ISO 200

f/22.0 1/13 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/13 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/20 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/8 ISO 100

f/22.0 1/8 ISO 100

Assignment 3 - Foreground V's Background

The following series of images is intended to display the effects of  using a shallow depth of field to demonstrate a visual hierarchy. The images were shot using a 35mm fixed focal lens which allowed me to use a wide open aperture for all of the following images.

f/2.0 1/160 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/160 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/500 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/1250 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/1250 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/1250 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/800 ISO 100

Assignment 4 - Shallow

The next two series of images displayed are examples of selective focusing whilst using a shallow depth of field. This allowed me to isolate individual subjects whilst the remainder of the image was out of focus. To achieve this result the aperture was left wide open (a 35mm fixed focal lens gave me a more shallow depth of field because of the larger maximum aperture) and I remained approx 0.3m from the subject.

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

f/2.0 1/125 ISO 100

Further areas of research for final studio assignments

1.       Roger Hicks and Francis Schultz (2002). Still Life and Special Effects Photography. Brighton: RotoVision. p30-31.

2.       Ron Egatz. (2009). Marc Quigley, From Sanding to the Ultimate Product Photography. Available: http://blog.pocketwizard.com/?p=783. Last accessed 10th October 2011.

1.       Hilary. (2011). Photographing Jewellery and other small 3D items. Available: http://blog.folksy.com/2011/05/23/photographing-jewellery-and-other-small-3d-items#more-18757. Last accessed 10th October 2011.

2.       Francesco Zerilli. (Unknown year of publication). Jewellery Photography Best-Practice and the Importance for Jewellery Business. Available: http://jewelryphotography.com. Last accessed 10th October 2011.

Indie Guitars - Current promotional photgraphs from website

 Below are two screen shots of the Indie Guitar Company website. These images demonstrate various guitar images taken at different angles. The main trend in these photographs is for the image to focus on/around the guitar body (as opposed to the guitar neck and head) where features are more remarkable. 

I like the glossy feel of these images and the emphasis that is placed on the colour of the guitars by shooting it against a black background.

http://www.indieguitars.ca

http://www.indieguitars.ca

Research for Final Studio Assignment - Product Portfolio (2)

For the second of my product shoots it is my intention to shoot an indie guitar with Gibson solid guitar shape.  Below are some of the images I have found during my research that inspire me. 

http://blog.pocketwizard.com

http://www.rbmusicinfo.com

http://www.layoutsparks.com

http://abstract.desktopnexus.com