Studio Photography - Me, myself and my camera....

I have thoroughly enjoyed the City & Guilds Level 2 16 week course.  I thought at the start of the course what I wanted to get out of it and having already done a NCFE Level 1 which was a year course and quite in depth in to photography I wanted to learn/experience something I haven't tried yet....  Ultimately I chose Studio Photography.

Being in the studio was a totally different environment for me and learning about the lights, the props, working with models, using my camera skills on another level was a great experience for me.

From thoroughly researching each theme Portrait and Product by sourcing different photographers on the web, in books/magazines, on youtube and experiencing my first exhibition.  I ensured I had done detailed planning before entering the studio as my tutor says.... It's all about preparation, preparation, preparation.  Along with my research I had already had an idea in my head about the materials and props I was going to use along with the equipment being used i.e tripod, lights etc.  I have had the chance to go through each picture in my final selection to explain why I chose and the details outlining the frames by labeling with f stop, shutter speed and ISO.  Also what I like about each shot whether it being composition or technical wording or if I like the hat/scarf etc....

I think I enjoyed my time in the studio so much is because I love fashion.  Both of my themes are structured around fashion and are consistent throughout from research to my final images.  It was also good to experience the different health and safety issues that crop up in a studio environment.....  I have done a lot of location photography which is very different to studio health and safety as when your on location many things can crop up from natural considerations (weather, light/dark/rain/snow, people plus many different unexpected things that can come in to it) However in the studio, once you have acclimatized your self to your surroundings, lights, props, models, wires, cameras, bags, lens.... Its easier to control....

I have tried to use all of the various techniques I learnt in my NCFE Level 1, from using different depths of field, rule of thirds, using long exposure, varying my aperture to create different exposure for each of the images. 

I would also like to thank Steve for being a fab tutor and putting up with my strops when things weren't going my way - But I feel like after a lot of hard work I have got to the end with success.... I really hope that all of the above shows in my final images and look forward to adapting my skills even further.....

Presenting My Photo Images....

After my time in the studio I have used the blogger to present my final 22 images.  They are all of a similar size/shape and have a nice border around them and seems to be the easiest way to present my images.  They are all either been previewed on the mac and screen printed so you are able to see them all in one go and have also put them on individually so you can see them nice and clear in a row.  I have also put my pictures on a disk to be presented.  Being on a disk they could be presented on a computer or on a big projector for a group of people to see.  Being Fashion images, I would feel they would be suited to many different kinds of presentation such as.....

Media

For my theme I would think the images would fit to be presented in a fashion magazine like below.....



Magazines such as Vogue, Elle or marketing material for designer's to show their work....  That is obviously my target audience ladies and men who like the fashion industry and would be interested in seeing fashion products whether they be clothes or accessories or make up these would all be presented in different kinds of magazines.

Or on a fashion website for a designer or magazine.....

Youtube.....

This is a Louis Vuitton photoshoot with all different kinds of fashion products - I found this on YouTube and is another way to present fashion/images. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/louisvuitton?blend=2&ob=4#p/u/0/Z33hPiF0Ux8

Techniques

If a designer were to present these images in a meeting they could be presented in a portfolio book or mount card where you would decide how to place your images.... I.E 1 picture per mount or 3 and whether placed landscape/portrait. Images look nice in a portfolio book, however this is a little 'old fashioned' these days and most of the time are presented on the web or in a blog such as I have done for my themes.

Mounting.....

I have found this youtube video on how to mount pictures which is quite simple and effective.  From cutting, paste and placing your pictures is quite insightful for any beginner.....  If I were to present my images by mounting, I would probably do them A3 size and use black mount as I feel this would be more effective for the type of Fashion Shots I have done.

Photobook.....

If I could afford to get my pictures printed, I would probably have presented them in a professional photobook which you can get done at any professional printers such as jessops.  Pictures are printed on luxury premium thick paper and finished with a hardcover and a spine.

Presentation/slide show

Another way to present pictures could be using a slideshow method.... Microsoft do a powerpoint package where your pictures will periodically change on the screen - You could do it for a group situation like in the picture above or there are electronic photo frames which are quite nice which do the same thing but in something that could be put in your house.

Printing
You can go to any professional printing shop such as Jessops or Snappy Snaps to get pictures printed.... 
For my shots for each theme, the pictures could be printed on a canvas, photo card or calendar or put together a photo album or put them on a CD. 

There are other materials you can get pictures printed on such as mugs, calendars, t shirts, bags, key rings etc etc

  It's nice to print images and have them to hand or put them in a frame or mount them but this can be quite costly but many professional printers have discounts the more you print the more discount you are able to get.

I think the overall visual impact of my images look good - I feel that my pictures would be shown on a fashion website/magazine/book or TV programme.  I like the fact all of my images are easy to see on the blog and the CD and really hope that they are pleasing to the viewers of them too......

Final 10 Edited Images - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

Editing Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

I have shown my working for my editing for 2 of my final images, I have done this by screen grabs....

For these images, I have mainly used maybe a little saturation or enhance contrast or more simply to re size to the A3 size specified.  As advised I could I did edit some picture's to a square format as I felt this looked better than an oblong....  Some of the images did require retouching and I was able to do this using the brush tool and the variations of brush's on offer....

As previously stated, I am not a whizz on Photoshop but have used the basic tools I know how to use and can manipulate an image to a certain extent.  Adapting and improving my skills in this area is definitely on my list to do!

I also took a look just out of curiosity on Youtube to see if there was any info on Photoshop and there was loads and loads of tutorials on editing, from complex to simple! I like the one below as he explains things quite simply and even though I knew some of it was informative and easy to follow....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS5uh5TCXcU

I have put the word document of my working's on to the disk with my final edited images...

Final Images Unedited- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

These are my final 10 images for my Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product Unedited.

In total - 2 for Autumn, 3 for Winter, 3 for Summer and 2 for Spring.

Again I wanted to go through my pictures before being edited to why I like them and pick them for my final portfolio.

Going from left to right, Top row first.....

Autumn 1 - This is one of my favorite product shots out of my final images.... And this was actually one of the first images I took being in the studio.  I used my leaves as a prop to make the season and used the wooden boards from out of the studio as a base.  I love the dark woody feel to the picture and have a real feel of Autumn looking at this image. 5.6 F Stop - 2 Shutter Speed -  ISO- 100

Autumn 2 - This shot is similar to picture 1, however I loved the angle on this picture and will be edited in a different way to make it look more individual.  5.6 F Stop - 2 Shutter Speed -  ISO - 100

Winter 1 - These are Christmas Party Shoes....  I was unsure how to take pictures of shoes and did find it a little difficult with the straps and was hard to get them at angle where they looked good.... But after a lot of persistence I think I manage to get a decent shot which follows with my theme.... 5.6 F Stop - 1/13 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100

Summer 1 - I did a lot of research in to how to take pictures of sunglasses and even though sunglasses go with my theme, I did use the sun umbrella in the back ground to provide a little colour.... I did take a number of shots of various glasses but this one is my favourite and am aware that it is over exposed but really do like how it looks and could be advertising the Sunglasses in any magazine. 5.0 F Stop - 1/6 Shutter Speed - ISO- 100

I loved Leo Acker's work - it was so colourful, different and young and I feel that that is the direction that I would like my work to go... So I tried to recreate Acker's picture of the sunglasses- obviously I don't have as many pairs as he does so I designed my own but with the same kind of theme and I feel with the use of light and exposure on this picture I have created something similar to what he has done....  Post photoshop I hope this will look even better.....

Summer 2 - This shot is of a pink flower ring... I did enjoy taking pictures of the jewellery and did find it the easiest out of all the product shots.  I like the depth of field in the frame and think it shows the product well.... 5.6 F Stop - 1/80 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100

Summer 3 - This is one of my favorite pictures in the product theme and used a patterned wallpaper as a base and some flowers just slightly in the background.  The beads are colorful and fit with the bright season.  I wanted to have the beads in focus and background blurred which I have achieved.... 6.3 F Stop - 1/25 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100

I did try to create this image in a similar way to one of Edward Edwards photographs above.  Edwards was one of the photographers I researched and felt I could try and imitate to a certain degree.... Obviously my jewellery is no where near in the same league as the expensive jewellery in his photograph.  However by using a patterned based and some flowers just fluttering in the back ground I feel it has given as similar feel of nature as Edwards frame.  I enjoy his photography and even though not exact, I did enjoy bearing his work in mind while in the studio.

Winter 3 - I did struggle with the glass a little as was quite reflective and haven't taken pictures of glass before but I like the composition of this picture and feel with a little editing will make this picture come out a lot more.... I used Xmas star decorations as my prop just slightly in the background.  7.1 F Stop - 1/100 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100

Winter 2 - This is a picture of a Chanel scarf....  This picture will change dramatically after editing as I am not pleased with it how it is now but have an idea in my head how to make it look like it would be in a fashion magazine! 5.6 F Stop - 1/100 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100

Spring 1 -  I used another wallpaper pattern for my base and laid the necklace out - I love the depth of field on this as well as the main effect i.e the butterfly is in focus and the chain blurs out the further you go along... 7.1 F Stop - 1/100 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100

Spring 2 -  Again depth of field and focus I like on this shot.  I will probably edit this picture a lot different to how it is at the moment - I also like the tint of pink the back ground has which has come off the base wallpaper used and the contrast from the colour of the earrings. 8.0 F Stop - 1/100 Shutter Speed - ISO - 100 

Overall I am happy with my final images and look forward to seeing them post photoshop where I feel the pictures will come together and fit my theme quite well....  This theme was a little harder for me than portrait but feel I also I have learnt a lot more from it which is what I am here for!

Preparation and Shoot for Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product Theme

The product research helped me big time for this shoot.  I enjoyed looking for the different fashion/product photographers and taking the ideas forward for my shoot.  

As stated in my prep for the portrait shoot I did a survey for the seasons of what people associated with each season.... 

Reminder......

Winter

Christmas trees and decorations

Cold

Hat, Scarfs and gloves

Presents

Halloween

Skiing

Autumn

Wind

Leaves

Getting dark

Summer

Seaside

Shells

Sun

Sunglasses

Warmth

Spring

Flowers

Easter

Colours

So I decided to use Christmas decorations to represent the Winter party time.  Autumn I took along some leafs I gathered from my garden.  Summer I used shells, sun umbrella and the lighting in studio to represent the sun. And finally I used flowers and colours for Spring.

For the shoot  I took along my trusty fashion magazines for inspiration along with the research I had already done logged in my head!

Being in the Studio was very different taking pictures of a model to taking pictures of still life....  Having someone else there I think there was a little bit of a adrenalin rush and more pressure with the camera and to get decent shots.  I felt I had more time being in the Studio this time only having objects and myself to put me under pressure.

I used similar props to what I had used with my portrait theme as even though they are separate themes I wanted there to be a connection.

Again I used my Canon 20D camera for all of the pictures and made sure I had all of necessary props and studio time booked. All pictures were taken with a standard lens.....

With my pictures I tried to use as many different depths of field as possible and as may different angles to get different kinds of images.  I tried to use as many of the different lights and did concentrate on the spot light to create a warm softer feel in the Autumn and Winter months so used a higher F stop and shadows etc.

 For the Summer and Spring months, I want to use lots of light, so will try and use more of the studio lights and also work with my camera by using a low f stop t let lots of light in....  The ISO was kept at 100 to make the frames nice and fine and clear.

My pictures are very relevant to my theme..... Jewellery, shoes, glasses, Sunglasses are all fashion objects and would feature in any fashion magazine obviously to try and sell....

The lights were a lot easier to use this time round and new what buttons to press and which angles and where to out the lights to get which affects - this definitely came in handy for Winter and Autumn.

I took care while in the studio and made sure all health and safety procedures were met at all times and kept bags and props that were not needed out of the way.  Ensured lights were moved correctly.  Taking care when moving around the studio at all times.  I was also very careful with the cables/wires and took care when moving around to get different angles.  I also used the tripod for more of my pictures than I did with my portrait theme as wanted the pictures to be a bit more controlled.

Again I took around 20 shots for each theme and ended up with 2 or 3 for each Season making a total of 10.  I do feel the my portrait theme is the stronger of the 2 but am very happy with my final images and would believe you could see them in any fashion magazine on the shelves today!

The reason I picked my final 10 to be my final 10....

I took a lot of time deliberating over my final images for this theme and did find it harder which mean probably had more stronger images in my portrait theme.  However I am very happy with my final 10 and with the camera and lighting work done and feel the pictures chosen fit with each season and obviously my theme.  I will go through each image in depth in show of Unedited final images.

Leo Acker - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product Research

I LOVE Leo Acker's photography.  I spent ages looking through all his images and was exactly the kind of photos I wanted to compose.  Fun colourful images for many different fashion items.  I have chosen the sunglasses because I think the image is a bit wacky and different and composition is pretty brilliant!  I also liked the colourful bags and items just careful placed to make it look a pretty 'mess' so t speak......

After looking in to Leo's work I found out he is based in London and he specialises in still life.  he has many client including major cosmetic companies and fashion house and international publishers from all over the world.  Some of his client include, Avon, American Express, Next, Sony, Superdrug, Elle Magazine, M&S and many may more.  He claims to produce simple clear images which are bold and brings the commercial world together with his photographs. Also from his picture he looks quite young, so has achieved all of this at such a young age is brilliant!

Rick Gayle Research - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

Rick Gayle is a product, still life and people photographer.... His portfolios on his website were very interesting.  I decided to have a look on You Tube to see if they had any further info on him and found something regarding a photo shoot 'How'd they do that?' which was very informative. In the youtube film he goes in to details about one of his shoots and went through how he used the equipment that I will be using in the studio and liked the way he talked about depth of field and composition and will take these things in to consideration when taking my shots. The shot that he took is below....

Here is the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD6zQQDgFUs

Rick's clients range from TGIF Fridays, Hilton Hotels, Bank of America and many more....

Ryan Nelson Research - Spring, Summer, Autumn, WInter Product

Ryan Nelson specializes in product and fashion accessories in Phoenix, Atlanta, LA and New York.  He has clients such as H&R BLOCK, Forever Living and SURE.  Again there were lots of images I liked on his website.  The pictures of the shoes and the necklace are something that I would look to do in the studio.  The shiny platform makes the images look professional and love the depth of field and different angles....  Unfortunately there is not much information on Nelson however thought I would mention his photography as his pictures were strong product photography.

Musilek Research - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter product

Stan Musilek has a very interesting website.  His info about himself is actually quite comical and is worth a look as it tells you of how he became a professional photographer but the basic story is the he was born in Prague as a boy has a interest in photography and then gets grounded and goes on from there really.....  I have picked the frames above as I feel they are relevant to my theme.  I really like the shoes and may try to photograph shoes while I am in the studio.  I like the black and the darkness of the picture and the shadows.... I also think that both of these pictures would have been done in a studio environment....

Edward Edwards Research - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

Edward Edwards is a jewellery photographer from London.  His website is full of very expensive jewellery and watches pictures in many creative different ways....  As well as having a studio in London he shoots for international clients as well.  I was unable to find much info on the photographers background but his website is full of interesting themes.  I have selected the pictures above as he has used themes such as leaves which I would like to use in my some of my product theme for perhaps the Autumn section.  The picture of the beads with the silky white background I also really liked and thought I could perhaps try to recreate something similar when in the studio myself.

Magazine Influences -Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

These are a few shots from Fashion Magazines such as Vogue, Elle and FASHION for home.  Lots of people especially women will look to magazines for tips on accessories for their wardrobe and their homes which brings me to my 2nd theme of the seasons for products.  I like the composition for the Jewelery and these have definitely been taken in s studio environment.  However the shot of the vases could have been taken outside or the grassy background could be wallpaper or something similar.  This would be a good picture for my Spring shots.

Statement of Intent - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Product

 Spring Summer Autumn Winter Product

For my second theme I have decided to do products of fashion using the same theme of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  I decided to use the same concept of the seasons as even though they are separate themes I wanted the collection of pictures to be flowing.

I want the pictures taken to look as though they could be in any fashion magazine on the shelves these days.  I want to use different products, not necessarily just clothing or jewelery but maybe look at household items as people do follow fashion for their homes too!

I plan to use the bench for my products as I will be able to use my camera and props more effective this way.  I will also use a tripod as may use long exposure shots to make an effect for the darker seasons.  Obviously being in the studio I will look at using as many different lights to make the right effect.  Like for the Summer and Spring shot I would like to use lots of light and maybe shadows and for Autumn and Winter pictures again maybe shadows but in a darker way.

I plan to use different props in my pictures to help the shots fit in with the concept.  I want to use different depths of field and angles to get a variation of frames.  

While in the studio I will consider health and safety procedures at all times.....  Careful of wires, lights getting hot or bumping in to them, careful to use the equipment correctly as this will ensure nothing gets broken or anybody hurt.

I will look at different photographers to give me ideas and inspire me for the type of shots I am looking to do.

I am very excited about doing this theme as my photography before this generally hasn't been of objects and looking forward to a challenge.

Final 12 Edited Images - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter Portrait