Photoshoots

Below are some of the sketches I had made to help me plan my photoshoots. Some of the ideas were never actualised, and others changed quite drastically. (I don't think my friends would have forgiven me for pouring honey over their heads, so I changed it from heads to shoes instead!)

Photoshoot - Amii

The photoshoot with Amii went quite well. She came over to my house and we set up a mini studio area, although the lighting didn't quite go to plan as one of the main lights had broken midway through. Fortunately, we were still able to get most of the photos we had planned to. For the "insomniac" picture, I had initially planned to have Amii's eye taped open, but the tape just wouldn't stick, so we used someone's hands instead. This has actually worked out better than my initial idea as the presence of another being adds a sense of helplessness to the image.

My cats were somewhat cooperative. We had hoped to go over to Amii's house afterwards to take more photos of her with her own cats, but we ran out of time and didn't get another opportunity. Thankfully, I was pleased with the images we took that day, and Amii adores my cats almost as much as I do, so the joy in those photos is authentic!

I took both digital and film photos, but due to the difficulty I have in focusing my film camera, I will be using the digital shots going forward. I love this picture of Amii above (middle) from the roll of film, but the focus is slightly too soft even in the 8x10" print, let alone if I were to print it at 16x20" as I had planned. Instead, I will use this digital image (right) which is perhaps my favourite shot of the day. It has converted well to being printed in the darkroom.

Photoshoot - Becky

My friend Becky stepped in last-minute to help with this shoot when my planned model became poorly and couldn't make it. While Becky walked around "looking for her keys", I used a pop of flash with a slow shutter speed to both freeze her and to capture her movement. We set the camera to create multiple exposures - three images in one, and these are some of the most interesting results.

When it comes to editing these images and preparing them for printing in the darkroom, I will convert them to black and white and possibly layer a couple of images together to incorporate further movement into the final image.

Photoshoot - Still Life

At home, I took three sets of still life images. The first was of the Nintendo Switch where I tried some intentional camera movement for the first time. I had a fairly long exposure time and moved the zoom in and out to create a blur. I found the best results were when I started with a flash and then quickly zoomed in, but it was very difficult to capture the actual movement instead of just the start and finish positions. The closest I got to capturing the movement was in the first image below, but the Switch was resting on a box which also blurred, taking the focus away from the intended subject. I think the best way forward would be to choose a few of the best images and overlay them in Photoshop, hopefully creating more of a gradual zoom effect to draw the audience to the middle of the photo.

It may have been messy, but I quite enjoyed taking photos of the shoes covered in honey. In the first image, you can see the little prop I made to hold up one of the shoes. My aim was to make it look as though the shoes were walking, and I'm quite happy with the result. Using cardboard for a base and backdrop wasn't ideal, but due to the potential mess on my (landlord's) carpet, it was necessary. The honey may not have been as thick as treacle, but I feel I have still captured the essence of sluggish thought processes.

Finally, I took some photos of a lightbulb. I tried both with the light on and off, and also experimented with the exposure level. I quite like the darker images as they capture more detail in the glass. Also, the darker background should create a stark contrast with the neon inks I use to colour in the cracks in the resin after melting it.

Bubbles

I had never taken photos of bubbles before. I have always found the swirling colours hypnotic, and have admired their fleeting, fragile beauty. After watching countless videos and reading a number of tutorials, I felt prepared to try photographing bubbles. It was not as easy as everyone made it look, especially when I had the help of two inquisitive young cats! That might have been partially due to the catnip bubbles...

I set up a makeshift studio in my living room with a black background covering the wall and surface, and a light box. I only had the one light box as my RGB lighting wand had just run out of battery, so it wasn't as well-lit as I wanted. After enlisting the help of my husband, we first tried blowing bubbles with the little ring included in the pack, but this was largely fruitless - it was difficult to direct the bubbles and to press the shutter at the exact time the small, sparse bubbles floated by. Then we found the bubble gun. We were able to create a more dense covering of bubbles and I was able to capture some usable images.

I found that photos of bubbles floating through the air were difficult due to low lighting. I needed a faster shutter speed, but was already pushing the ISO and aperture to their max. After a while, I found a sweet spot and got some good photos. The most effective method was to shoot lots of bubbles and create a mountain of bubbles on the stand, then to take photos of that. These bubbles were stable for a bit longer, weren't moving so the shutter speed could be slightly slower without risk of blurring, and allowed me to play with the depth of field to capture different bubbles and layered images.

Using the continuous shutter mode, I took over 1200 photos. This gave me a good range of images to choose from. I put some into Photoshop and have two favourite results - one is a set of images with minimal editing - simply adjusting the curves - which are macro photos of groups of bubbles. The other (the first image above) is a composite of several bubble images, combining some small, floating bubbles and some larger ones. I would like to incorporate them into my work somehow, under the theme of a "bubbly personality".