Studio Testing Work
Planning
When planning for this shoot, I had images in my heads that I wanted to make and so I drew them out. I also did this because it meant I had planned my time appropriately when entering the studio so that I could make as many images as possible in the small time slot available. To the left are my drawings and planning for this first studio shoot. I drew where to light each image too, after researching into still life lighting and advertising lighting, which enabled me to create quality images in the studio as this was my first time in the studio in over a year and I was unsure on what I would be able to produce.
Before doing the shoot, I also planned my props to take photos of. I visited wig shops, chemists and organised models so that I could take as many images relating to hair as possible. After looking in lots of expensive wig shops, I decided to search in fancy dress shops incase their prices would be more suitable. I found a bright red, bob style wig with a fringe and came about with the idea that I should try and get every model I photograph in the studio to wear this same wig, so I have one image of how they wear their own hair and another image of how I've made them wear their hair (with the wig on) to show how one can physically construct ones identity through the changing of how you wear your hair. I was also lucky enough to find a bald cap which does exactly the same thing, but shows how one can construct identity with the lack of hair, relating back to my one idea which is that if hair is identity, then what happens when you lose that hair? I also brought along hair I had collected over the past few months of this project so that I could take some still life, close-up and slightly abstract images of the hair all woven together, to show hair as its own subject. |
During this shoot, I took lots of different tester shots to show the different lighting styles I played around with. At first I lit just the chair to see how much would light up with each different lighting position, however it was obviously different on the human body because the models pale skin was exposed more than the dark chair. Once the model arrived, I put her on the chair, in the right position, and played around with the light coming from the side, front and back towards the camera. After testing these, I decided the right one was from the side with a slight turn to the back, so the face and hair was lit, with a reflector blocking the light from falling onto the background, so it looked as though the model was popping out of a dark background. This lighting style was also inspired by chiaroscuro and painterly light, creating an atmosphere as if this were a painting. After setting the lighting up correctly, I was ready to take all my images of my model (I wanted the same light in each photograph) and so I was able to do these quickly, making sure she was positioned in the centre and was in focus. I took photographs of how she wore her hair naturally, getting front back and side portraits, and then I gave her objects to wear which would allow her to construct her identity through her hair being the accessory, such as hats, wigs and bald caps. This was very successful, and keeping the lighting the same throughout the shoot meant that all the images worked well as a series together, with something other than the subject keeping them together. I'm very happy with these photographs and will continue shooting my next few models like this, using the red wig to construct their identity.
The photographs of the piles of hair were also very successful. They look abstract and have been light in a similar way to the portraits so that they look almost like paintings, creating a very ever-lasting effect for the images. These images were very interesting to make because people found it very odd that I was able to touch hair once its off of the head, however for me I wanted to show people that its not horrible/odd for hair to be touched once of the head, it is again just the same hair that was on your head, just no longer attached to growing roots. I am going to continue shooting and collecting hair, trying to look at lighting the images so the background is a bit darker, and the light doesn't seep onto it, lighting it up. By doing this I think I will use either an infinity cove or infinity table so that the whole background is the same colour.
Overall, I am so happy with my first studio shoot, it has been a while since being in the studio and I'm glad I gave myself a tester session to get myself back on track and understanding how things work again. The photographs were only testers but with a little bit of editing work could definitely be contenders for my final book for this project, as they have been lit correctly and look how I wanted my final images to look.
The photographs of the piles of hair were also very successful. They look abstract and have been light in a similar way to the portraits so that they look almost like paintings, creating a very ever-lasting effect for the images. These images were very interesting to make because people found it very odd that I was able to touch hair once its off of the head, however for me I wanted to show people that its not horrible/odd for hair to be touched once of the head, it is again just the same hair that was on your head, just no longer attached to growing roots. I am going to continue shooting and collecting hair, trying to look at lighting the images so the background is a bit darker, and the light doesn't seep onto it, lighting it up. By doing this I think I will use either an infinity cove or infinity table so that the whole background is the same colour.
Overall, I am so happy with my first studio shoot, it has been a while since being in the studio and I'm glad I gave myself a tester session to get myself back on track and understanding how things work again. The photographs were only testers but with a little bit of editing work could definitely be contenders for my final book for this project, as they have been lit correctly and look how I wanted my final images to look.