Shoot 5: Still life shoot
After shooting my last studio still life shoot and gaining both positive and constructive feedback, I began planning this next shoot. I researched further into Amber Morghan's work, exploring the ways she lights her images, as well as her choice of different backgrounds. I decided I would play around with pink colours, as well as the normal white backgrounds, as the green hair would sit nicely on top of the pink colour, they each compliment each other, and the pink would also make the green hair look even more beautiful as of its connotations 'pretty and pink'! It would also work colour wise because the objects I was photographing alongside the hair were pink and blue, which also compliment the green of the hair and the pink of the background. I decided to play around with the collected hair, and objects of hair construction and for this shoot decided shampoo and a hair brush as objects of hair construction.
I am very pleased with these images. They have come out exactly how I wanted them to, in terms of looks and content. The white background images were not as successful and I really believe this is to do with the fact that they don't sit in the advertising lighting style that I am going for. In terms of shooting in a corner, I still need to play around with this idea, trying to perfect my skills on doing it as it is very difficult with lots of different straight lines. I will keep doing this throughout my next studio shoots, during the term break and my ESP module, to make sure I can create them so they are both aesthetically pleasing and contextually appealing. The pink background images are my favourite from this shoot. The colours play off each other, making this big lump of green hair into an attractively pleasing object placed onto of the pink hairbrush. I also played around with shampoo bottles being in the image, however these were not so successful, they looked too block like within the frame and sat awkwardly. Whereas, when I started playing with the shampoo itself, putting it onto the collected hair, I realised that this was a better way of showing how this object constructs hair. I was lucky enough to have a blue coloured shampoo which also sat visually next to the other colours within the images, creating a colour, advertising image, trying to sell 'gross' hair, by using different colours to entice the viewer.
In terms of feedback, I was suggested to look further into Amber Morghan's lighting style, and bring the object back from the background so that there is space between it and the object. This would give the object more space to breathe within the image and wouldn't crop anything important out. To do this, I was suggested to have space between the surface and the background, a gap between them, it would also let the shadows fall onto the surface rather than the background. In terms of lighting, I also need to keep playing around and experimenting with it as it does not feel glamorous enough. I need to make sure everything is bright and that shadows are very sharp and clear, almost as if they were painted in block colours. To do this, I need to ask the photography technicians for their advice and continue experimenting in the studio after the term break to make sure I create these advertising images in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
In terms of feedback, I was suggested to look further into Amber Morghan's lighting style, and bring the object back from the background so that there is space between it and the object. This would give the object more space to breathe within the image and wouldn't crop anything important out. To do this, I was suggested to have space between the surface and the background, a gap between them, it would also let the shadows fall onto the surface rather than the background. In terms of lighting, I also need to keep playing around and experimenting with it as it does not feel glamorous enough. I need to make sure everything is bright and that shadows are very sharp and clear, almost as if they were painted in block colours. To do this, I need to ask the photography technicians for their advice and continue experimenting in the studio after the term break to make sure I create these advertising images in an aesthetically pleasing manner.