Week ...Four?

Q - What's square, expensive and spits out 40 megabyte images? ...

A - A Hasselblad, more specifically, the ones we played with last week.
I was a little shocked to find out how simple they are, not many options, definitely not as many as our Canons or Nikons. The upside of this simplicity though is the superior quality they are renowned for around the world.

Shooting tethered also isn't as bad as I first thought, being connected to a computer and waiting for it to load the images up just seems like it takes a million years but i found it was so nice seeing your images big and as they really look rather than having to rely on the little rectangle which can so often be wrong.  

First Round of Drinks

These are the first two photos I like from the latest shoot. They're kind of the inversion of each other which I like a lot. 
I prefer the second shot as it screams NIGHTLIFE at me which is what i intended with this bottle.

Absolut Goodness - Series of Five Product Shoot.

I was standing at a bar a few weeks ago, still strapped for ideas on what to do for the product shoot and the thoughts hit me like the shot hit the back of my throat. 

Along the bar all of the alcohol bottles were lined up according to what type of drink they were. All of the gin was together, the rum, liqueurs and vodkas etc etc. 

Absolut Vodka has a beautiful advertising campaign, it's rich and full of creativity so I'd like to put my own spin on it.

Also it means I'll have to try out a lot of different flavours which makes it a win-win situation :))

http://www.free-extras.com/images/absolut_vodka-947.htm

http://www.luxuo.com/wines-spirits/absolut-masquerade.html

Mens After Shave. Yum.

So, from countless accounts from numerous women, I've come to the conclusion that the fastest way to attract a woman's attention is through her nose. If you smell good, you've got your foot in the door.
I'd like to do a scene depicting a woman hanging off a man, his back turned to the camera, taking in his super awesome aftershave. 
Here's some examples floating around right now.

The top image is more of what I'm going for but almost inverted with her towards the camera and his back turned. 

Thinking about the set, I'm going to try draping fairy lights on a black

 background to see if I can get a city light kind of effect. Unknown if I can do it but that's where I'm thinking right now. 

Here are the way in which I'll light the Subjects.

This is how I intend to light the models. I want a soft light on the girl and I want the male to be kind of in shadows. I plan on using negative space to the right side of the image.  

This is how I'd like to light the aftershave. 

Bare with me, I know they're flowers but this was as close as it was going to get. Lighting the glass will take a little bit of hit and miss as the bottle is quite a different shape/

Image from http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Jean-Paul-Gaultier/Classique-Alcohol-Free-Summer-Fragrance-2006-429.html

Done and Dusted.

                                     Self Portrait 

I like a lot of things about this image  and that surprises me. 

I only wanted one light, a large soft box, to illuminate one side of my face and plunge the other half into darkness. It has a soft feeling to it and I like the way my hair is lighted. I suppose it's not traditional, it's still a display of skill and traditional does get old. 

I really wanted to use sparkles so we tried throwing them and scattering them, but in the end it was just easier to stand on them. I still see them around the 

studio. I needed to be standing further away from the backdrop as you can see the creases and I really hate that. Overall, this shows an fraction of who I am, red coat and sparkles, and that's what I wanted, so to me this image is successful. 

"Everyone to the left"

These are my photographers. I feel that photographers are not

photographed enough so I decided to show them what they look like when giving direction. I had four lights happening for this shoot, two to light the backdrop and two to light the subjects. The shadows on their faces are only caused by their cameras and the skinny white backdrop in front of the black wall works well I feel. Also, the lack of unity in reference to their clothing has a real feel to it. I kept reading on the sheet that models should be dressed appropriately for what they're representing and all I could thinking of when i read this was the beauty students all in their white coats and black leggings. 

I have a love for this image as it's genuine. 

Frankie? Yes I agree.  

This is Ashley. She just about yells FRANKIE at me. Frankie is an "Indie" magazine all about art, culture, music, photography and craft. It's kinda awesome. The beautiful thing about Ashley is that she's not a snob, she doesn't read Vogue, she's closer to 4ft than 5 and she's a plain simple beauty that has a love for all things different. I wanted to aim for something very her,  something that could give the viewer a feel for who she is.
In retrospect, I should have had a reflector to try bounce the light on to her right shoulder and on to the right side of her face. I don't feel the shadows are a big issue as they're not dramatic, they flow with the lines of her body. 
Also I found myself questioning the tea cup in front of her face. Should I have put it there or does it detract from the image? I gave it some more though and figured that it was going along with my untraditional theme of photographs. The teacup draws the viewer into her bright eyes and on to the shine of her hair. 

Four Heads are Better than Two!

1&2) 1/30 @ f16 ISO400

So basically we struggled massively with this scene. They decided to be the "Shady Family" and a shadow followed them around like crazy. No matter where we moved them the frame created harsh shadows on their faces and bodies which was hella distracting. Trying to stop the models from moving was also amazingly difficult but it was just another learning experience. I think having them all basically on the same level as well made the shadows even worse. Lots of things to improve on for next time! 

Happy and Willing Models. Ha!

1) 1/30 @ f16
2) 1/30 @ f11
3) 1/30 @ f7.1
4) 1/30 @ f5.6


So this wasn't insanely fun and got hot under the lights but it was a good learning curve in relation to dealing with models that want to move, taking correct light readings and being CREATIVE. It was good watching Dave and Ian nut out how to kill the massive shadows while Dean and I seemed to just stand around and do as we were told. Like that was going to happen with us. But hey. Miracles do happen!