Lens Based Media - Shooting With Different Lighting

The day was started by looking at how different light sources and how they are used can affect how a photo is taken. 

We started off by looking at different apertures used in the lens and if it was bright then a smaller lens aperture would be used and visa versa.

I really enjoyed this day and Othello was very engaging and helpful and we got to put to use what we were taught about what the different lights did as well as see how Othello had used them within his own photography. 

I had never used any of these camera accessories before so found it exciting. We did not get a chance to try them all out as there were too many groups but it was still a useful day. 

There were three types of lighting techniques which we were meant to try: Natural light, Flash light and Tungsten light. 

My group started off by using the flash light, we had to change the lens aperture but our first model was pale so came up quite bright when using the flash. It was a great experience as we got to see and understand that for different people of different skin tones the aperture had to be changed when using a flashlight. 

When I was photographed using the flash light I came up quite shiny because of my foundation, Othello told me how when using a camera with a flash light such as - models would normally wear double the amount of foundation and powder that way it would not be seen when using the flashlight. 

My group then went onto use natural lighting and used gold and silver sheet to help heighten peoples skins. We were told that gold made the skin look warmer whereas silver sharpened it (especially the eyes) but could also make the person look stronger. I really enjoyed using the natural light as it meant you as the photographer had to place yourself in the correct angles as well as use the gold/silver sheets in a way that would enhance the persons features. If we had more time I would have loved to have tried this outside where light would have been all around the person and done a closeup with the face and using the gold/silver sheet to heighten the features.

My group unfortunately never got a chance to use the Tungsten light which is unfortunate. But I think it would have been a great next step after trying out the natural light. 

I would have not re-done the task but would have loved the chance to try the Tungsten light to see the outcome of effects as well as try the natural lighting in a environment that had natural light coming in from all areas of the room. 

Memories within Our Environment 

We spent the second half of the day drawing an image form one of the 20 images were had taken over the weekend on the me of ‘memories within our environment’. 

I thought the best way to go about the task was to carry my camera about with my for the whole weekend and photograph anything that intrigued me or that I though represented me or my environment. 

I love street photography and loves looking at photographers such as Walker Evans, Sally Mann, Martin Parr, Eggleston etc.. so often take photographs of things rather than of people so tried to mix it up and get a complimentary number of both. 

Over that weekend I went to the ICA, its exhibition space was closed as they were putting up a new one. I ended up venturing down to the bookshop and look at photography books. Through a back door they had a room with a few photographs taken by Sebastiao Salgado. There was a mixture of works from his projects such as Genesis, Migrants, workers and more. I am a big fan of Salgado’s work and story of photography as for starters he only photographs in black and white which I adore because it is unlike what we see in our everyday life as we as humans see in colour. He also photographs the beauty of natural habitats which man-made industries have not yet got their hands on and by photographing this he is trying to show what we should aim to preserve though the world is everyday evolving. 

I chose to draw this picture or bars on a building using charcoal as I liked the perspective I had taken it on and though not much it going on within the image I still felt it was a strong image and it had captured me. We had 25 minutes to draw this on an A1 sheet. 

I chose charcoal as my medium as it represented the chromatic image I had taken.

 

We had to cut key holes which we placed over out whole image to show moods and a story line which I did not enjoy as my drawing was black and white and just used a variety of tones within a small area. I instead thought it was better if I ripped up pieces of paper and layered them on top of one another on top of my drawing.