When working outside a studio it is also essential to consider the Health and Safety issues, legal and also ethical issues when preparing for and managing a shoot.

1.  Consideration should always be taken of all the general public that are in close proximity to the shoot.  As a photographer you will also attract bystanders.  It is essential that they do not obstruct the photographer at work and indeed that the photographer does not obstruct them.
2. Flash lights and any wiring for lights should not be allowed to trail, unmarked, along the floor.  They should all be clearly visible to the general public so they do not become trip hazards.
3. When shooting from above the subject/object care should be taken when using steps.   Correct steps should be used and not improvised using other items. They should be placed on flat ground or have extra support or be held by a photographer’s assistant.
4. Flashguns should be used with care as they are extremely strong light and can damage eyes.  The flash must be used at the correct distance from the subject.
5. All equipment should be used with care – tripods should be placed where they are visible and not as trip hazards.
6. Care should be taken to give the model adequate breaks during the shoot.
7. Photoshoots should ideally be planned to ensure that the correct items are available and everyone works efficiently.  This will also help prevent accidents as everyone will know their role.
8. Any spillages of liquid or items should be prompted cleared up to prevent trip hazards and damage to electrical equipment and cameras.
9. Electrical shocks from the lighting equipment should be reported to the responsible person.
10. Copyright rules should be considered when planning a shoot to ensure that they are not infringed.
11. At the end of the shoot all equipment should be tidied away and the area left unaffected by the shoot.

When working in a studio it is essential to consider the Health and Safety issues, legal and also ethical issues when preparing for and managing a shoot.

1.  Consideration should always be taken of all the people in the studio to ensure that they are aware of their roles in the participation of the shoot to ensure that they do not obstruct the photographer at work.
2. Wiring for lights should not be allowed to trail along the floor, ideally all lights should be hung from above. Hazard tape or duct tape should be used to secure any cables trailing along the floor.
3. Care should be taken when changing the hoods of lights as these will get very hot.  Heat resistant cloths should be used.  The correct method for changing the hoods should be demonstrated to any relevant person.
4. When shooting from above the subject/object care should be taken when using steps.   Correct steps should be used and not improvised using other items.
5. Flashguns should be used with care as they are extremely strong light and can damage eyes.  The flash must be used at the correct distance from the subject.
6. Care should be taken to give the model adequate breaks during the shoot.
7. Photoshoots should ideally be planned to ensure that the correct items are available and everyone works efficiently.  This will also help prevent accidents as everyone will know their role.
8. Any spillages of liquid or items should be prompted cleared up to prevent trip hazards and damage to electrical equipment and cameras.
9. Electrical shocks from the lighting equipment should be reported to the responsible person.
10. Copyright rules should be considered when planning a shoot to ensure that they are not infringed.
11. At the end of the shoot all equipment should be tidied away and the studio left clean and tidy

M1, M2, M3, M4

For the project to build and photograph a still life set up that would be inspired by a classical painting, I researched the history of still life paintings.

Still Life – Definition

A still life (also known by its French title, nature morte) painting is a piece that features an arrangement of inanimate objects as its subject. Usually, these items are set on a table and often include organic objects like fruit and flowers and household items like glassware and textiles.

The term “still life” is derived from the Dutch word stilleven, which gained prominence during the 16th century. While it was during this time that the still life gained recognition as a genre, its roots date back to ancient times.

History

The earliest known still life paintings were created by the Egyptians in the 15th century BC. Funerary paintings of food—including crops, fish, and meat—have been discovered in ancient burial sites. The most famous ancient Egyptian still-life was discovered in the Tomb of Menna, a site whose walls were adorned with exceptionally detailed scenes of everyday life.

Ancient Greeks and Romans also created similar images of inanimate objects, mainly as mosaics but also as frescoes.  This ‘Still Life with Glass Bowl of Fruit and Vases’ is a 1st-century wall painting from Pompeii:

During the Middle Ages, artists adapted the still life for religious purposes. In addition to incorporating symbolic arrangements into depictions of Biblical scenes, they also used them to decorate illuminated manuscripts.

Dutch Golden Age artists took this interest a step further with their vanitas paintings. Vanitas paintings are inspired by memento mori, a genre of painting whose Latin name translates to “remember that you have to die.” Like memento mori depictions, these pieces often pair cut flowers with objects like human skulls, waning candles, and overturned hourglasses to comment on the fleeting nature of life.

MODERN ART

The still life remained a popular genre and during the Post Impressionist period Vincent van Gogh  adopted flower vases as his subject.

Cézanne’s depictions of still life even pay homage to the vanitas genre by incorporating skulls.

Cubist painters such as  Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque painted everyday objects as still life:

Contemporary Art

Today, many artists put a contemporary twist on the tradition of still life by painting modern-day food and objects in a hyperrealistic , high-definition style that are akin to photography:

 

Task 1

From my research over the term of the evolution of still life paintings, and the reoccurring themes and definitions throughout the centuries of:

nature morte, funeral paintings, religious connections, moments mori, vanitas

it is clear that although still life paintings are predominately of flowers, fruit, dead animals there is an undercurrent of death, not only in the definitions of the genre but the  feeling that the painting capture inanimate/dead objects.   I wanted to adopt a different tack.  For this project I choose a subject matter that encompasses this theme of death, rather than still life and the items I choose were from my Great Uncle who was killed in WW1 in 1917.

The photo, would capture his life and memory – his camera, photo, medals and poppy in memorandum in an event to create a ‘still living’ not forgotten photo.

The lighting set up had to encompass the reflection from the glazed poppy but add enough light on the ‘death penny’ which was non reflective and very dark. I created a small vignette to darken the photo to create a memorial atmosphere.

 

 

Task 2 – Portrait

On a recent visit to Amsterdam, I visited the Rijksmuseum and the Rembrandt exhibition.  Rembrandt is well known for his dark portraits, with use of shadow and light on the faces – which gave rise to the photographic term of Rembrandt lighting, where half a model’s face is in shadow and half illuminated.

This was the inspiration for my Portrait.

In 1635 Rembrandt painted this portrait of ‘Man in Oriental Clothing’.  This portrait has the classic use of Rembrandt playing with lighting.  It floods the man’s turban and the right side of his face like a powerful studio light.  The left side remains in shadow.

Paul, my classmate, kindly volunteered to be my model as he had the perfect beard.

 

This was my final choice of portrait photo:

 

 

Task 3, – Location

Final presentation photos – I created a series of 9 photos, all in black and white and added vignettes enhance the photos.  From the incredible beauty of the original sculptures to the museum pieces that they have become today.

The photos were printed in A4 gloss and, inspired by the new topographic photography of Bernd and Hilla Becher, displayed in a rectangle. I was really pleased with the results and displaying the photos in this way made them even more powerful.

 

P4, M1 M4

Using an 80mm macro lens, I attempted to recreate paintings of insects and flowers.  The painting are not my own, but the photos are and I have matched them to the paintings I recreated.  I used single shots and, to obtain more details, should perhaps have used HDR, photo stacking, multiple exposures as per Levon Bliss (who would take 5000 of one insect and stack them together into a single image), but perhaps that is an exercise to try next term.

Victorian botanists, explorers and writers – in the era before photography – would create incredibly detailed drawing to capture the specific characteristics of their subject. Something that can by done today so much quicker than photography.

When using macro photography, which requires getting mere centimetres away from a subject, care must be taken to avoid contact with the subject and also to ensure that you are still aware of your surroundings, other members of the public and the ground underfoot.

Grasshoppers in Greece

Peacock Butterflies In Devon

 

Bees In Surrey

 

 

P2, P1, P3, P4, M1, M2

We practised studio lighting set up –

Split lighting

Rembrandt

Loop with beauty dish

Loop

Photo of the week!

Studio Lighting Set Up

KEY LIGHT

The key light is the main light in your shot. Is the light against which all of the others are balanced. It’s often, but not always, the brightest light in the shot, as you want your subject to stand out. Sometimes, though, you might find that your rim or background light requires more power depending on the final look you’re after.

FILL LIGHT

The fill light is there to help give the shadows a bit of a lift and prevent them fading to pure blackness. The fill light doesn’t need to be very bright at all in order to do its job. A  much larger softbox for the fill lighting than the key light is often used.  The fill light is simply to fill in the shadows, you don’t really want it casting noticeable shadows of its own.

RIM LIGHT

A rim light adds highlights along the shadow edge of the subject. It adds shine to the hair, or creates a highlight separation to stop your subject from blending into the darker background.

BACKGROUND LIGHT

The background light is pretty much as it sounds. It’s a light that you point at the background to light it up.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

When using a studio, be aware that the lights become very hot.  Hoods should be changed over using a protective glove to avoid burns, the model should be considered to prevent them becoming too warm during the session, beware the build up of static electricity on the light.  Always use the correct bulbs and fittings as recommended by the manufacturers.

 

 

 

 

Photographing birds of prey. Studio setting – 100 iso, 100s, f5.6. Used single studio light, soft box and coloured gel side light. The birds were incredibly calm and not worried about the flash or heat from the light. Beautiful detail – can see the dust on their feathers.

P1, P2, P3, M1, D1

Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) – Cactus in a Greenhouse, Cookham Dene 1939, Oil On Canvas

Spencer painted landscapes and still life throughout his career.  His flower paintings generally showed exotic garden varieties from unexpected viewpoints.  This depiction of cactus in a green house is shown form an unexpected angle, and is intense in its observation of the plants and their haphazard arrangement on the bench.

I love the simplicity of the subject – the cactus remind me of my father and his hours spent in the greenhouse. And also the winter months when the cactus were moved into the house to protect them from the cold – usually in wooden apple trays.

Pierre Hubert Subleyras (1699-1749) – Saint Eusebius 1744 – Oil On Canvas

Richly painted with strong tonalities, this oil sketch conveys a sense of profound spirituality.  The kneeling figure would appear as a large scale altarpiece that Subleyras painted for the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Rome, depicting the crucified Christ with Mary Magdalen.

Subleyras studied the expressive potential of this half- shadowed figure in a small sketch, giving special attention to the heavy folds of drapery.  The dramatically lit altarpiece displays the same dignity and restraint.

I love the light behind the subject’s head. It has a religious tone but also appears as photographic studio lighting with a black background. At first glance it could be a photo rather than a painting.