Shoots

Test Shoots

Film:

This was the first test shoot I have done for this project, I am quite happy with how the shots came out. However, I do feel I used the wrong models because I will be shooting people with quite harsh features it would have been a good idea to use people more fitting this profile. Nonetheless, I am pleased with how they have turned out as it has given me a clear idea of the level of detail I can achieve with medium format film.  

Digital:

This shoot is my second test shoot I have done for this project and, personally, I prefer it to my film shoot. The reason for this being, I was able to enhance the detail of the subjects and gain the effects I hoped to. The main aspect of shooting on digital that I preferred was the ability to alter the images to my specification and allowing me to add that extra fine art touch that I want my images to include. 

New Idea Shoots

Outsider Stage

Shoot No. 1

This was my first shoot for this stage. I was hoping to create one image that was made up of many. For instance, by shooting many images of the same composition, yet getting the model to move into different locations I will be able to overlay each image and erase away the bits I do not need. This will in-turn allow me to have many people in one shot even though I only used one model. In doing this I intended to create a feeling of being outcast from the rest by having one person in a black morph suit and the rest in a white. I chose to shoot this in a field as I wanted it to have connotations that symbolise the saying, "the black sheep of the family". I used my standard 18-105mm lens for this with no filters, a tripod and a cable release to reduce camera shake. 

I am not overly happy with how this shoot came out in the end as during the shoot I encountered some issues with my camera and I was not able to select the correct preferences that I wanted to use. This resulted in me only being able to shoot on 'Auto'. When I came to edit these images there was a severe lack of detail as well. All in all I am not pleased with this shoot and intend to reshoot it. I am going to try and get hold of one of the local famers to get permission to do a shoot in one of their fields with a black sheep in it. 

Shoot No. 2

This was the second shoot I did for this stage and personally I feel it is a large improvement. Nevertheless, I am still not entirely happy with it. For instance, the field in which the sheep were was on a slant and it was quite difficult to get a decent composition without the sheep looking too distant. Not to mention trying to get the sheep to stay in the positions I wanted them with the black sheep to one side, away from the rest.

How I went about acquiring this location to shoot these sheep was by getting in touch with one of my work colleagues who owns a farm. Luckily she only had one sheep out of the countless amounts she has on her farm. Like my last shoot I predominantly shot on my standard 18-105mm lens, however, I did try a couple shots with the 50mm prime lens to see the difference in detail between each shot. After looking through the images and editing some of them I found that with the fixed focal length the difference in detail is noticeable. It also allows for a greater ease of editing because the amount of noise created from HDR and boosting the clarity is severely reduced. With this in mind I intend to book out the 20mm lens for my next shoots so that I can still have the reasonably wide focal length and improve the detail. 

Overall, I am relatively pleased with how this shoot turned out. However, I do not believe that the quality of the images are worthy to put forward to the summer. I also feel that they do not convey the emotions clear enough. 

Shoot No. 3

This is the third and final shoot I did for this stage. This shoot was a lot easier and I had a lot more time to think and plan how I wanted to do this and what day I wanted to shoot it on. A few weeks prior to this shoot the farmer that I had got in contact with let me know that the sheep had been moved to bigger flatter field. Upon hearing this information I went to inspect the field and then proceeded to plan which day I wanted to shoot on. I planned to shooting it on a sunny day with a few clouds in the sky so in Photoshop I can create a very dramatic sky through some clever dodging and burning. 

Unlike the other shoot I had fully planned this one out and had an idea of the types of shots I wanted to create. What I intended to do was get my friend (the farmer) to feed the sheep in certain areas of the field while keeping the black sheep behind. Then for each place she fed them I would take a picture. Finally, I took an image of the black sheep on its own in the middle of the frame. In doing this I plan on merging all these images together so that I have three groups of white sheep with the black sheep alone in between all these groups.

After the first two shoots I done I came to the conclusion that using a 20mm fixed lens would be preferable to the shoot I wanted to undergo. So the only equipment I used was a tripod and a 20mm fixed lens to get the most detail out of each shot.

Overall, I am rather happy with how this shoot went and I feel the final image will look quite effective. However, I still feel there is more room for improvement. For instance, if I had the chance to reshoot it I would got my friend to feed the sheep in a load more places so that when they were combined it would make a circle around the black sheep.  

Acceptance/Led Astray Stage

Wistmans Wood

This was my first and only shoot for this stage. The reason for this being after the countless shoots I did for the first stage I realised that I need to meticulously plan each of my shoots if I was to get them all done in time for the final deadline. I chose Wistman's woods for this shoot as I believed it was the perfect setting for what I wanted to capture, the ethereal and surreal vibe of this ancient forest was extremely fitting for my images.

I wanted to do this shoot in the early morning because I was hoping to capture the mist that envelops valleys as the sun rises and heats the cold ground by rivers. Unfortunately, I got lost on the moors trying to find the woodland, so I missed this time in the morning. Nevertheless, I am happy with how the shoot went and I feel I chose the right place for this stage. The only two things I would change is I would have used two different people for the white morph suit so they did not look so similar. The other part I would change is how the white morph suit people are placed, I would have them forming a semi circle around the black morph suit to symbolise peer pressure.

Like my previous shoot I used a 20mm fixed focal length lens so that I could maximise detail yet not infringe on what I could fit in my frame. I also used a tripod to reduce camera shake.  

Lost Stage

For me this was the most important shoot as it was the first image I visualised and is the integral stage that sums up the depth of my mental state. The other stages depict hard emotional times, however, when I was lost from reality I was mentally distraught. I did not know who I was, where I was and what was going on around me and how my actions were effecting other people. To me this stage was almost a visual depiction of where I went in my mind throughout this entire period in my life.

I planned on doing this shoot in a public place as I wanted to capture the movement of people rushing around the person in the black morph suit. The people rushing past in a blur was to symbolise how I was not aware of my surroundings and cut off from reality. I chose to shoot this on a bank holiday (good Friday) because I knew the shopping centre would be packed and very busy. However, I did get the time of day right and the sun was pointing almost directly onto the entrace to the shopping centre. This meant that my shutter speed was increased, meaning the blur from the people walking past was  reduced. Nonetheless, in Photoshop I can experiment with different blur filters to enhance the effect. Yet again I used a 20mm fixed focal length lens, however I did switch to my standard 18-105mm lens to experiment with zooming in on the subject and taking the picture mid-zoom. I also used a couple ND filters to give me a slower shutter speed.

Anger/Paranoia Stage

This stage was relatively easy to shoot as it was studio based and only took an hour in total. All I needed to do with this shoot was set up the studio with the coil flash light equipped with a large hexagonal soft box. Once I had set this up I got the models in front of the light, firstly with the black morph suit and then with the white. I turned all the lights off in the studio including the model lamp, once I had focused the camera, then shot a 5 second exposure where there model moved slowly and I flashed continuously. This technique freezes each movement of the model creating a surreal, panicked image of movement. 

I shot three images in total to go into the one image, one of the black morph suit, one of the white morph suit and one of me in the black morph suit screaming. I did this because I wanted  to combine all three images to create a sense of mental worry, with the black symbolising the bad, with the white (the good) in the background. The screaming mask was to portray the mask I had created for myself, filled with hate, anger, deception and evil. Even though I was not an evil person I wanted people to think I was, hence the metaphorical mask. 

I am very happy with this shoot as I feel I achieved what I needed to within it. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement and if I was to shoot it again I would have combined more images with the models doing different things. For instance, instead of just moving their hands and head from side to side I would have got them to stand to the side of the frame, either side of the black morph suits head, to act as the angel and demons of ones conscience.  Because this was shot in the studio I used a 50mm prime lens to create strong detailed images and a tripod as I was shooting long exposures. 

Hidden Stage

 Nosferatu

This was my penultimate stage and I wanted to portray the feeling of hiding away from outside as I thought everything outside was out to get me and evil. My main inspiration for this shot was the old silent horror film Nosferatu. The reason for this is because it has a scene where the shadow of the monster, Nosferatu, creeps up the staircase. I loved how sinister and effective this is so I wanted to recreate it within my own work.

I chose a wardrobe for me to hide in as it is a symbol for where children hide during a game of hide and seek. Like the previous shoot this one was relatively straight forward. All I needed to do was set up a studio in my parents at night time with a BX-500 flash lighting kit, using two soft boxes to defuse the light and maximise detail. Like my other shoots I used a 20mm fixed focal length lens and a tripod, with an infrared trigger for the lighting kit.

Final Road Stage

This was my final shoot for this project and I wanted to use it as a summary of my journey as a whole and how far I have come. I chose a long winding road because it is the perfect symbol for where I have come from to now as it fits in with the saying "a long road ahead". I combined a lot of images in this of me walking all the along the road to the end where I have removed my false skin and I am looking ahead of me not behind. My intention from doing this was to depict how I have left the past behind me and I'm looking towards the future, which is out of the frame to symbolise being untold.

This shoot went really well, I chose to shoot it on the moor as you can see far into the distance and their are not so many cars compared to a more urban location. I am happy with this shoot and personally the only thing I would change is I would have wanted to find a higher angle to shoot this so the rest of the road in the distance is more prominent.