Photographing Flowers

There are specific ways you could photograph flowers to give a particular effect. To make them seem alive you can photograph them from behind. They are full of moisture and thus doesn't absorb the light (light transmits very easily). 

British Flower photographer Celia Henderson uses this technique frequently (alongside other set-ups , my favourite being in her from her Fuchsia set (left)...

I assume she used the white background to make sure the main focus was on the flower and also to make sure that the light reaches the entire flower, she would have used a reflector (silver paper) to reflect light to the front or place a soft light on a very low setting in front of the flower.

We also used gel sheets placed on top of the lighting to change the colour of the background and add some tone. It was really interesting to see how some colours and compositions worked better than others. Here are some of the results...

With these I think that the orange background itself works better because it helps the flower stand out more, at the same time the pink background helps the tones of the flower so the flower in the pink background image is better!

With these two I felt that different effects can be given with the same composition and same photograph (well almost the same!) taken by the camera. They are two very different photographs-the one on the left is quite sinister whereas the other radiates hope and optimism!!!

Similarly to the last set, these just go to show that with the exact same composition and by changing something as subtle as the gel sheet colour, it can give the effect of different times of day (left=early morning, middle=midday, right=night) and thus changes the entire atmosphere of the photograph. 

Another effect I experimented with was the complete opposite; placing a soft box in front of the subject to give the impression it's dead. Some almost have sombre and dark ambience, called 'obscuro' style. An example of this is another photograph by Henderson from her Magnolia set (right)...

Here is my result for my experimentation with the obscuro effect...

I then decided to challenge myself by meeting halfway-give the effect of being alive without placing a light behind. After many failed attempts (ended up being over exposed ☹) I was able to do satisfy this to a level I was happy with...Here is lighting diagram of the lighting set-up...

I tried using a reflector just to the right of the camera (between it and the soft box) however I felt that it took away some of the shadows nearer the middle of the flower and I liked the shadow because it gave the flower some tone. Et Voilà the result of my experimenting...

I chose this arrangement because I liked the contrast between the two plants-ones very large and colourful whereas the flowers on the other are slightly more dull but because there were more it was very interesting. I place the pink flower in front because at the end I wanted it to be the main subject. 

I decided the 'alive' technique might not have worked so well with this composition because the pink plants' colours are so bright and bold that I felt that the colour would be diluted if it were too bright and alive. I decided to place them on a wooden block because I felt it added a little texture and thus some character.

I found that lighting the subject from the side and placing the flowers at a slight angle I was able to aptly light the composition without compromising the challenge I set for myself. A criticism however is the background has then become too dull so perhaps this set-up would have been better to give a white background... 

Photographing Serrano Style

Andres Serrano is an american photographers who was very prominent in the late 1980's due to some of his controversial photographs however he also has a very unique style when it comes to portraitures. The background is very...erm...'flamboyant' and he generally includes only the subjects face, shoulders and chest in the frame; also they are usually sat at a slight angle and they can be looking into the distance or looking directly at the lens. He used this technique for many of his projects however my favourite is the series 'America' to demonstrate the diversity and the multiculturalism of America. Here are a couple from the series...

          

I then decided to try this technique with my very lovely model! The softbox was placed at a 45° angle to camera from the model and a Serrano-esque background with a snoot shining on the background (to mimic the glowing effect given in Serrano's photographs). A Mamiya RZ 67 was used (with a tripod). I made a lightling diagram to go with the set up...

The soft box provided a nice even low intensity light which is what I was after and as I mentioned earlier the snoot for the glow, the rest was simply a matter of capturing a good photograph. Also, I had a lovely assistant who held a reflector in place just below of the frame to ensure there were no unflattering shadows in the neck region.

It was quite difficult at first because I was not used to the inverted image! However after I got the hang of it I was able to produce some decent photographs, this one being my favourite...

All-in-all I think this is great photograph with fits in with the Serrano style however it is slightly underexposed whereas I noticed that Serrano's portraits then to have more highlights and shadows than mine which is something I would change if I were to do it again, perhaps by using a beauty dish. Also, I realised afterwards that the blow in the background isn't as prominent due to the snoot not being bright enough which is also something I would change.

Studio Photography

Studio photography can simply be defined as photography done in a setting where the lighting is artificial and controlled (i.e. the opposite of location photography!). We investigated different styles in which studio photography is used (high key/low key, commercial, flowers etc.) and also familiarised ourselves with the different equipment.

Types of Lighting...

SNOOT... 

 

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Snoots help give small, very bright contrasting lights because the cone shape helps concentrate the light... à

This effect produces bright highlights and heavy shadows.





DEEP AND MID...




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This also produces a contrasting light however it is not as sharp as the snoot the light produced has a larger area.

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A mid is very similar to a deep fitting except the deep fitting is silver on the inside whereas the mid is matt therefore the deep reflects more giving more light. The light that the mid produces is more 'blended' i.e. there is not as definite an area as the deep fitting (decrease in intensity as you get closer to the edges)

BEAUTY DISH/SOFT LIGHT... 

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Beauty dishes (called a Soft Light in Britain) produce a large area of low intensity light. Similarly to the mid light the light blends around the edges. This very diffused light is a result of the smaller dish in the middle; the light hits it, is reflected onto the larger dish behind and again is reflected onto the subject, which is why the area is large but low in intensity.  

SOFT BOX... 

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Soft boxes produce a very large area of very low intensity light (the larger the soft box the larger the area of light...). Shadows are very week as are the highlights. They are perfect for lighting up larger subjects and give the opposite effect to the snoot (snoot=small, bright, concentrated and softbox=large, quite dull, diffused). You have to choose the pertinent size depending on your subject e.g. if you are doing a portrait of a persons face a small soft box will suffice however if you are doing a full body portrait a bigger soft box might be needed!!!