Wollaton Park Photoshoot

Here are my top 4 images from a photo shoot at Wollaton park:

For my first image my idea was to create a ghostly effect, the picture was meant to be spooky and have an eary feel to it. To create this image I set my camera to a slow shutter speed. The shutter was open for 3 seconds and the ISO was set to 100. This is the final image:

For my next image I wanted to get a landscape shot of wollaton castle itself. Once again the ISO was set to 100 but this time the shutter speed was alot quicker, it was set to 1/125. With this image I had to do some slight editing as the weather was bad so the photo was slightly darker than I would have wanted. This is the final image:

For my next image I wanted to take a picture of nature, when I saw this flower I felt it would be appropriate for me to use as in the one image it shows the contrast of the wilting and fresh, alive flower. When I took this photo my camera was set to an ISO of 400 and the shutter speed was set to 1/125. This is my final image:

For my final image I found a cobweb with the sunlight reflecting off it. The theme of this image was nature and they beauty of the sunlight reflecting off the cobweb. Out of all my images I took, this was my favourite and the image that I feel was the most successful. The ISO I used was 400 and the shutter speed was set to 1/125. Here is the image:

Still Life Photography Mood Board

Here is my mood board I created of still images. All of the images are from known still life photographers who specialise in still life photography. For my mood board I mainly went for the theme of make up and 'girly things' for my still life.

Still Life Photography

History of still life photography:

Still life photography has been popular in photography since the early 19^th century and is still just as popular today. In the 19^th century photographers adopted the use off still life off the painters of that time. The painters that photographers took the use of still life off were; Van Gough, Francisco Goya and Paul Cezanne. In the 19^th century and earlier years of photography, pictures had to be exposed for minutes rather than seconds, therefore it was difficult to get pictures of moving objects. This is why still photography became popular. In the 20^th century the use of movement was incorporated into still life photography.  Below is an example of movement in still life photography, it was called ‘stopping time’ and was one of the more popular pictures using movement in still life photography.

What is still life photography?

Still life photography is using still objects to create a photograph that tells a story. Mainly small groups of objects are used to create the picture. Compared to other types of photography,( i.e portrait, landscape) the image is more made than just taken. Still life photography gives the photographer more opportunity to be imaginative and create their own image.

The use of lighting in still life photography is particularly important, photographers need to be able to understand the sense of lighting and the impact it will make on an image, as well as how to change it to create the theme of their own image. Lighting is one of the most important aspects of still life photography so needs to be fully understood and able to be adapted to the theme of the photographs wanted.

Photographers also need to have a good sense of imagination to see props they can use and how they can adapt different objects to suit the style of picture they want. Also photographers need to understand surfaces and the image that using different surfaces creates.

Angles also need to be taken into account when still life photography is being made, different images can be made from using different angles. Using angles can also add a different theme to the photo. It can also work alongside lighting techniques to create a theme in a photo.

Famous still life photographers:

Jonathan Knowles:  Jonathan Knowles is a London based photographer specializing in graphic still life, liquid and people photography. His unique photographic style has earned him award winning, national and international advertising commissions working with agencies worldwide. In the past eight years he has consistently featured in the ‘200 Best Advertising Photographers in the World’ books. He is now also one of the top 10 all-time award winners in the Graphics Annuals, and has had images included in their last four volumes of ‘100 Best in Photography’.

Dennis Pendersen:  Dennis Pedersen; A technical pro, leading the way in Still Life and creative product photography for over 20 years. Working with a variety of regular clientele Dennis is a renowned professional within the cosmetic and beauty world; their creative needs are exceeded with his ability to produce diverse, imaginative and technically outstanding images, which have set the benchmark for quality. With the transition from the darkroom to digital, Dennis house’s his own retouching / post production studio allowing him to push the boundaries of the label ‘ Still Life ’ photographer, bringing images alive wherever it be with an explosion of water or a flare of special effects. Working from his own studios in Shoreditch, London. Dennis has developed an extensive portfolio ranging from Editorial and PR through to POS and Advertising.

Research Into Pin Hole Photography

Pinhole photography is the use of a lenless camera, a tiny hole replaces the lens in the camera. At one end of the box is a hole and at the other end there is a film or photographic paper at the other. When light passes through the hole, an image is formed in the camera. Pinhole cameras are generally used for art and science. Images from a pinhole camera are generally alot softer than pictures made with a lense. However, images made by pinhole cameras do not tolerate enlargement like images taken with a lense. Images can be produced in both black and white, and colour.

A range of photographers use or have used the pinhole method of photography, including:

Steve Irvine

Justin Quinnell

Mark Tweedie

Steve Ashton.

Up to a certain point, the smaller the hole, the sharper the image, but the dimmer the projected image. Optimally, the size of the aperture should be 1/100 or less of the distance between it and the projected image.

Because a pinhole camera requires a lengthy exposure, its shutter may be manually operated, as with a flap made of light-proof material to cover and uncover the pinhole. Typical exposures range from 5 seconds to several hours.

A common use of the pinhole camera is to capture the movement of the sun over a long period of time.

Here are some examples of pinhole photography: 

My First Weird And Wonderful Photos

For my first piece of weird and wonderful work, I had to take pictures in black and white of something I thought was weird and wonderful. For this work I had a friend come and have half her make up done in a Halloween theme for the weird criteria and natural make up on the other half of her face to create the wonderful effect. The photos were taken outside in the sun, in a garden.

Here are a few of my favourite pictures taken from the shoot: