Assignment preparation

"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, 

and not quite enough time." 

-Leonard Bernstein-

The above quote might not have been made by a photographer, but I think it's apt for my situation. Now I'm not suggesting I'm going to do great things, but my tendency to procrastinate means I'm an expert at the second part, and with a lot of help from Marie, I hope to sort out the first part.

Supplies

Confucius once wrote: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Well in my case it was actually a three hour round trip to Ikea. I appreciate that's not quite as poetic, but I'm not a philosopher, so how about cutting me a little slack?

Having chatted to Marie, I've decided to keep my pictures as simple as possible to start. If after taking a couple of test shots I decide something else is needed, then I should still have enough time to make some changes. With that in mind I set off in search of some plain material to use as backdrops. As I said before, I'm not actually sure how big a piece of material I'll need for the various shots, so I thought I'd err on the side of caution and get 3m of each colour: red, blue, orange, yellow and purple. The only problem I might have, is that the widest material available was only 140cm (sorry about all the metric, but that's the way they sold it), whilst that's fine for some of the close-up shots, it might be a bit short for any full length ones. Actually that's not true, there's another problem...my stupidity! I was feeling quite smug about starting to get on top of things. That was until yesterday, when a group of us went in to the studio. I discovered quite a few of the backdrop colours I was after are already in there, not only that, but they're actually closer to the shades I originally wanted than the cloth I spent a fortune on. I know I should have checked first, but I'm obviously not that intelligent. Damn it!

As well as the material I also bought some props for the various pictures. A 271/2" x 391/4" picture frame (which I hope will be used to create an illusion of the subject coming to life.) Again I think I might have made a mistake, this time bought something that's too big, but we'll see. A smaller 81/4" x 113/4" frame for set dressing. A vase similar to the one in a Steichen picture (I'm hoping to surreptitiously stick it in a photo as a reference to his work.) I know this doesn't sound like a lot, but as I say I'm starting off with the bare minimum.

That's a bit more information for you. As I'm working in the studio I won't be using my own equipment, so can't yet tell you about any of that (other than I'll be using a Canon 5D camera.) I keep meaning to make a note of the lens and size of the CF card, but always forget. When I do I'll edit this post.

When I get a chance I'll take some photos of the material and props. That should make this post a little less boring.

Research: Lara Jade

I first became aware of Lara Jade's photographs in 2007. I read an article about a court case she was involved in (and has since won.) An adult entertainment distribution company (that's probably the safest name to use), had used a self portrait she'd taken as a DVD cover without her permission. And quite rightly she was trying to get some compensation. An unfortunate event, but the upside is that it drew the world's attention to just how good a photographer she is. Despite only being 21, she has already amassed an amazing portfolio and is quickly becoming recognised as a brilliant fashion photographer.

Self portrait: Cut Off Lips3 © Lara Jade, October 16 2006

Specialising in portraiture. Lara Jade's photo's are mostly high concept fashion shoots. She is always very involved in the whole process, and is often personally responsible for the styling and hair dressing. Although many of the shoots are commissioned by magazines, or fashion manufacturers, She also undertakes a lot of personal projects. These are frequently merely an attempt to improve her skills, or to release the ideas she has bubbling in her head, but in my opinion are usually the most spectacular (as you'll see).

Fantasy Series

Although Jade has created a whole load of different photographic series: phobias, crime scenes (morbid, but beautiful), bird cage. The standout images for me, are her creative/fantasy series. I'll admit though this might be because I'm a self confessed fantasy buff (My book collection is currently spread over several rooms!) A personal project she shot in may 2008. I think they best represent  her style and approach to photography. The series consists of 23 photographs and I've selected a couple of my favourites to illustrate what she can do.

© Lara Jade, May 21 2008

This is by far my favourite of all the pictures. Called yellow brick road, it's obviously inspired by the wizard of Oz, but with an opulent and ethereal beauty that typifies Jade's work. As far as the composition is concerned, there are a number of things I like. The yellow brick road itself naturally leads the eye towards the model (Danielle, not Dorothy), and she in turn leads the eye towards the emerald city at the centre of the picture. I also think the fact the model has been captured moving and that the hedges loom in at the sides (creating an almost claustrophobic atmosphere), all helps to add a real sense of urgency. I get the feeling she desperately wants to get to the city. Lara has said she has no problem using photoshop to enhance her images, which is evident in this picture. Blatantly the castle has been added in post processing, but I think there are other elements of the picture that have also been changed. Looking at it, I'd say the square hedge is a manipulation, but the other trees were actually at the location. To give the picture a grungy look, the general tone has been adjusted, the edges of the picture have been darkened and a dirty texture overlayed.

© Lara Jade, May 21 2008

The next photograph I've chosen, is a perfect example of what I want to achieve with my assignment pictures, the use of colour to define, but not dominate the image. Despite being mostly out of focus, the red foliage is what makes the picture work and combined with the strong central light source, becomes a perfect frame. The other brilliant piece of compositional technique, is the use of the foliage and introspective look on the models face, to creates a sense of almost voyeuristic intrusion, a sense that you're seeing something you shouldn't.

One of my initial ideas was to do a series of fantasy based pictures, but I eventually decided to shelve it, due to a lack of time and finances. If by some miracle  I'm allowed to continue on to level 2 (and even level 3) I would like to return to this theme. 

"I have been inspired by dreams,

nightmares, childhood memories"

-Lara Jade-

© Lara Jade, May 6 2008 

Jade has more than a thousand photographs in her Flickr albums, and though the above might be a selective quote, it would seem to fit with the majority of them. You can't help but notice how her pictures have a fairytale element, sometimes it's a strange twist on those fairy tales, but it's there nonetheless. She has an ability to view everyday objects and turn them in to surreal and dreamlike creations. 

 © Lara Jade, February 19 2008

 

Not that I'm suggesting a giant bird cage is an everyday object, but you get what I mean! I think part of this ability stems from her photographic influences. These include Tim Walker, Sølve Sundsbø, Miles Aldridge. All of these have an eccentric and individual style, often transforming the mundane in to the fantastical.

Well there you have it Lara Jade. An incredibly young, but incredibly talented photographer (don't you hate some people!) I still don't know if this is too much information, or too little (probably the latter.) I'm sure Marie will let me know!

Thanks to Lara for allowing me to use her photographs
http://www.larajade.co.uk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larajade/

Idea Development

If you've read my last post, you'll remember my promise to be a bit more consistent in my blog posting. Well, here's my second post in as many days.

Look At All The Pretty Colours

Having decided that black and white pictures with colour accents wouldn't cut the mustard, I started looking round for further inspiration. It wasn't hard to find, and it came in two forms: John Rankin Waddell, better known as Rankin, and as already stated, Edward Steichen. Both have an amazing ability to make a feature of colour. That's exactly what I want to do. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about making a colour picture, but making a picture of colour (does that make sense?) What I mean is, I want the colour to be as integral a part of the picture as the subject posing. I'm not sure if that's the right attitude to have when doing a specialist certificate in people, but there you go.

Photograph by Rankin

Take for example the picture above. Without Rankin's liberal use of pigment, it would just be a standard picture, well composed and exposed, but a standard picture none the less. It's the strong contrast between the models pale skin, and the vivid colour, that really makes the picture stand out. The effect is further heightened, by the use of a plain white background and a strong light source.

Clearly I can't go around throwing art supplies in people faces (they tend to be funny about that sort of thing), I can however, use assorted other methods to add a sense of vibrancy to my pictures.

Backgrounds

It goes without saying (but I'm going to say it anyway), that choosing the right background, is one of the most important aspects of producing a well composed photo. Although the college studio has a selection of  background boards I could use, I'm probably going to bring in my own. I've been looking around, and have found a number of different fabrics that I think would work well as backdrops. I haven't decided yet whether I'll use a single block of strong colour, or try a patterned/striped background.

Photograph By Rankin

I'm going to be producing a mixture of different  photographs: head shots, partial body shots, full body shots. That means I'm going to need a wide selection of material sizes. I think a 1x1 metre section should be fine for the head shots, but for the rest, I'm going to have to consult Marie.

As I explained with the first picture, a simple white background can also work well, but it does mean you're relying on the subject, or props, to add the impact to the photo. In order to achieve a pure white background, you have to correctly use my next subject: lighting.

Lighting

For the pictures with a pure white background, I'm going to try and create a high key effect. What's high key you ask? Good question. High key photography, involves using overly bright lights to remove the majority of the shadows from the picture, and thereby reduce the level of contrast in the image. When used with bright colours, It gives the picture a real sense of life and vibrancy.

With the coloured background pictures, I'm going to try a couple of different lighting options, then see which I prefer. I'll try a high key look with some of them, but for others I'm going to try to add a little variety. I've seen a look in a few photos which I'd like to replicate. It involves allowing the colour to gradually darken as it reaches the edge of the frame, giving the subject a sort of halo.

I'm not sure yet if I'll try to achieve this practically or not. I could probably create the look fairly easily in the studio. I'd just have to use a snoot as the light source for the background, rather than the usual softboxes. If I decide to create the look in post processing, I'll just add a vignette in photoshop. Oh well, another question for Marie.

Props

I can't really go in to too much detail about which props I'm going to use, because I'm still trying to finalise my plans.  In most of the pictures, any use of props will be minimal, but I've got one idea that calls for a number of different pieces. I'll try to explain more in a future post.

There you go. Under a thousand words.

Initial Ideas

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm fairly useless when it comes to this blog malarkey. I'm usually too busy taking photos, or coming up with convoluted schemes for taking those photos, to actually get around to posting anything. I'll try to do better in the future and be a bit more consistent.

Well I promised Marie I'd finally post my initial ideas up, so give me a few minutes of your time and I'll explain my thought process thus far.

Most of my classmates have already picked their final themes, or are at least very close. I on the other hand, have been struggling to pin down exactly what it is I want to do. I'm sure given an unrestricted budget and an endless amount of time, I could come up with a sufficiently impressive idea. Unfortunately, I have neither! 
Although these restrictions have forced me to compromise on the complexity and scope of my theme, I'll do my best to make sure they won't compromise the quality.


If an idea's worth doing, it's worth doing well

When it comes to planning, I like to be meticulous, to be sure an idea's fully formed before I release it on an unsuspecting world. That's why it's taken me so long to actually write this post. you wouldn't believe the number of drafts sitting in my blogs memory. So, where did I start? 

Marie recommended we try and add some coherency to our nascent ideas by drawing up a mind map, that seemed as good a place as any.

 I listed as many different forms of portrait photo as I could think of, then expanded on each with at least one idea. As you can see they're very basic, but I just wanted to try and get the ball rolling. After speaking with Marie again and showing her what I'd come up with, she told me to pick two of the ideas and see if I could develop them in to something that appealed to me. Of all the things I'd written, the studio and documentary ideas sparked the most interest.

Documentary Photography

I've always been a fan of documentary and street photography. Though street photography can be just as formally arranged as any studio portrait. I think a hastily snapped clandestine photo, or impromptu blink and you'll miss it shot, will often convey far more about a persons true character, than hours spent in a studio with even the most easy going participant.
The same goes for documentary photography. How many times have you seen an amazing picture, where the photographer happens to have come across a group of refugees, or a wizened old crone with a captivating gap toothed smile? That's the sort of connection I'd want to make with the person viewing the picture.

The plan would have called for multiple shoots, over several weeks. At first, I'd have tried to take as many candid photographs of the market traders as I could. I'd have tried to capture establishing shots of them in the early hours while they were setting up their stalls, and then again throughout the day whilst dealing with customers. Before finally getting them packing up. After taking these informal shots, I'd have introduced myself to them and explained what I was doing, hopefully then, they'd have allowed me to take some of the more formal documentary style shots.

Obviously for the candid shots I wouldn't have been able to take too much equipment. People might suspect something, if I started assembling a tripod next to them and taking light readings from their face.

I'd have taken my D80 camera and all three of my 4GB memory cards, I know that sounds like overkill, but something might happen to one and you never know how many photos you're going to take! I''d have fitted my 18-135mm lens, because the extra focal length would have allowed me to remain unobtrusive. 

When it came to the more formal photos, I'd have been able to pack a little more heavily. Again, I'd have taken my D80 and all three 4GB memory cards. As far as lenses go, I'd have still taken my 18-135mm, (you never know when that extra focal length will come in handy), but I think I'd have used my 50mm lens for some of the close ups. my larger lens would be able to take similar pictures, but the 50mm is designed to be as sharp as possible at the sort of focal length I'd want. plus it has a much wider aperture available, should I need it.  To help me get the sharpest pictures possible, I'd have also taken my tripod and remote shutter release. I could probably have used the self-timer function, but the subject might have been annoyed by the wait, they're there to work after all. Lastly I'd have packed my pop-up reflector. The reflective surfaces would have allowed me to add a little extra light when needed, and the black surface would have dampened any unwanted ambient light.

Although I really like this idea, there were a couple of reasons why I eventually went with the other option. Firstly, if you read many of my other posts, you'll notice a common problem...the weather! I wasn't willing to risk failing this course, because of the vagaries of the British climate. Markets are only on twice a week, and if the gods were against me I'd have been unable to get the photos required. Secondly, in order to get the morning shots, I'd have had to get in to town incredibly early. Whilst I wouldn't have had a problem with the lack of sleep, unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to fit it in to my work schedule. 

I'm aware that's an awful lot of information for an idea I've already consigned to the dustbin, but I'm not sure how detailed these things are supposed to be. Sorry!

Studio Portraits

Everyone still with me, good! I'll try to make this as brief as possible, and even include a picture or two to relieve the monotony.

This idea has gone through a number of different iterations, but I'll start by explaining the first idea, then explain the evolution in another post. I won't go in to as much equipment detail here, as that will also be covered in the other posts.

 One of my favourite photographers has always been Brian Duffy. I love the clean and simple approach he has to many of his portraits, it's often just the subject and a plain  background (more of this in a future research post.)

Photo Duffy © Duffy Archive

Now, even with all the best will in the world, a monochrome picture against a white/black/grey background, isn't going to get me a distinction on my certificate (I appreciate I'm being ambitious, but that's what I want.) So I reasoned that I would have to try and keep the general feel of those photos, but add a twist. That twist came in the form of accent colours.  I'm not claiming this idea is original, or in hindsight even particularly interesting, but it was all I could come up with at the time. 

Achieving this look would require the extensive use of props and the careful selection of certain items of clothing. I'd initially thought to use a single colour for the accents, thereby helping to form a single unified vision. I subsequently decided to use a selection of colours, as this would make each individual picture unique, whilst still adhering to the main theme.

Although this style is relatively easy to produce with a minimal amount of post processing in photoshop. My main concern, was that when done well, this look can be extremely effective, but when done badly it can make even the best picture look cheap and tacky. In the end, I just wasn't confident that I could guarantee a sufficient quality of images.

As you can see, this was the framework of an interesting idea, but it just wasn't enough. There's definitely one element I'll keep though. I'm firmly in favour of an all studio shoot. Mainly because, unless something has gone seriously wrong (or you're the victim of some sort of biblical reckoning), it very rarely rains indoors. It also gives me complete control over every aspect of the set-up and photos.

Phew, we made it. Well done!

I'm afraid there's much more to come, but you go get some rest for now. I'll try to keep the next post under a thousand words. No promises though.

Research: Edward Steichen

“A portrait is not made in the camera, but on either side of it.” Edward Steichen

I'd like to pretend, I have an encyclopedic knowledge of photographers, that when pressed, I could instantly rattle off a list of the most important and influential photographers of all time. Sadly, this isn't the case. I could probably bluff my way through a conversation with the casual enthusiast (dropping an Ansel Adams here, or a David Bailey there), but, if confronted by a genuine student of photography, I would probably only succeed, in embarrassing myself. So, having made this admission, I'd like, if I may, to introduce you to Mr Edward Steichen.

Edward J Steichen by Nickolas Muray

If I'm being perfectly honest (and that would appear to be the case), I've never heard of Edward Steichen...correction, I hadn't heard of Edward Steichen. That is, until about a week ago. Whilst looking at Marie's blog, I came across a link to: Steichen in Color. This is a book discussing Steichen's experiments with the different methods of creating colour photographs, in the early part of the 20^th century. Always eager to expand my knowledge, I quickly ordered a copy, and simply had to wait for it to arrive. When it did, I wasn't disappointed. My eyes have since been opened, not only to a highly accomplished photographer, but to the great contributions he made to photographic art. As a result, I've decided to change the theme of my main assignment, and include more colour, than I'd originally intended.

Frances Farmer, September 21, 1937 by Edward Steichen

I really like this portrait, the wistful look on her face and subtle catchlights in her eyes, encourage an emotional connection with the subject. You find yourself wondering what she's thinking about while she poses. I think the texture and colour of the backdrop, combined with the muted nature of her clothes, also gives the picture an interesting tonal quality. Produced as a 33.5 x 25cm colour print,  Steichen used a complicated process known as dye imbibition. I won't pretend I understand the process, but it involved the production of three negatives, each of which would then have been turned in to dye absorbing gelatine matrix (no, me either.) these matrices would then have been placed on a piece of paper, and the absorbed dyes would have been secreted on to the paper, creating a colour image.

Charlotte Spaulding Albright 1908: Autochrome By Edward Steichen

Before taking up photography, Steichen trained as a painter. When you look at his work, you can easily see how this has influenced his approach to photographs. His portraits are often highly stylised, with the models formally posed and containing traditional props, such as a bouquet of flowers. I think this traditional approach was also the result of his desire that photography be considered a proper art form. A good example of this, is his picture of Charlotte Spaulding Albright. It reminds me of Gustav Klimt's painting Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Klimt's painting was completed in 1907, only a year before Steichen's autochrome. Looking at them, they both successfully convey the regal nature of the subject, and the texture of Miss Spaulding Albright's clothes, closely echoes the complex patterns present in the picture.

Adele Bloch Bauer I, by Gustav Klimt

Although I could never hope to replicate the complex methods Steichen used. If possible, I'm going to try and include a pose, or object in some of my pictures that will act as subtle reference to his work.