From Youth by Michael Northrup
July 29, 2021
September 20, 2019
September 15, 2019
Replication #1: Image and Plan
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| Rineke Dijkstra from Beaches |
Technically speaking, this photograph overall is flat in terms of lighting. The sky appears to be overcast, causing extremely soft shadows and low contrast. The use of strobe separates the figure from the ground, but not so much as to look unnatural. Creating a cohesion between the two light sources (strobe/sun) will definitely be a challenge.
The second challenge will be how the subject and I relate and respond to each other. Dijkstra was photographing adolescent strangers she came across on the beach. I will be photographing my partner, so immediately there's a stronger connection than Dijkstra had. Perhaps that'll be a disadvantage, though. Dijkstra captured the awkwardness of not only being photographed while vulnerable, but the entirety of adolescence. I'm challenged with the task of not only replicating the lighting but also the shy guardedness of this particular subject.
This is my basic plan for lighting. I'll use a strobe with a shoot-through umbrella positioned camera left (to match the subject's shadows in Dijkstra's photograph). Using an umbrella will allow me to create even, flat lighting that will hopefully be complemented by the sunlight (overcast; also even and flat). Strobe location may have to be adjusted depending on the location and angle of the sun.
May 14, 2019
May 13, 2019
Project 4: Initial images (version 2)
After feeling unsatisfied with my initial idea, I attempted a different setup with a similar concept. I still wanted to create four different scenes depicting breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, but I decided to do it on a smaller scale, and with a narrower angle of view to limit the complexity of empty space. Adding the frame (held in place by the gobo) allowed me to experiment with dimensionality and new formalistic themes. The green screen was added to make removing/adding elements easier in Photoshop (chroma keying in Photoshop is not as easy as it sounds, or maybe I'm just doing it wrong). I liked the idea of having arms/hands reaching in that I experimented with prior, so I tried to incorporate in this second round of images as well. I also wanted to break the frame (break the fourth wall) so I started experimenting with tape, connecting the wooden frame to the objects with in the actual photographic frame. Close-ups were taken in case I needed to sample/clone texture from the objects later on.
Project 4: Initial images
I began in the studio by setting up a traditional still life (without 2D materials) to get a feel for the direction I wanted to go in. I knew I wanted my final art pieces to be centered around kitschy breakfast/lunch/dinner/dessert still lifes reminiscent of advertisements from the 1950s. I bought cheap faux flowers from the dollar store. Nearly all materials for this project were obtained from the dollar store, because I felt it shared similar qualities as the food and materials I'm referencing from 60 years ago (cheap, mass-produced, generic-looking). I photographed items both together and separately.
Breakfast scene; items photographed together.
Photographed together from a different vantage point. I decided against this angle/setup early on, but looking back now, it's similar to the setup I ended up using in my final images.
Waffles photographed separately. I photographed these to have on hand in case I wanted to select from the texture of the waffle, or clone the entire stack into an image.
I started experimenting with construction paper to create objects that would typically be found in the scene; i.e. butter on waffles made using yellow construction paper. I wish I had expanded more on this idea, because I think it works particularly well here. If I had more time, I likely would have planned larger and more complex items created from 2D materials.
Another example of using construction paper. I attempted to create the illusion of water in a glass. The yellow construction paper is not essential to this image, only an attempt at making it easier to select the glass and blue paper later on in Photoshop.
The aforementioned photographs were all photographed with this lighting setup. My key light was a strobe with a 40º grid, and my kicker was a strobe with an octobox. Key light was set to a higher power than the kicker. No gels.
The final image from my initial shoot in the studio. I threw on a blue gel on the key light and a purple gel on a light behind the table that was bounced off the ceiling. It created a nice nighttime atmosphere. Initially, I hoped to set up lights in four different ways to convey the time of day with the corresponding meal, i.e. bright but soft light for the breakfast scene, harsher light for the lunch scene, softer, warmer light for the dinner scene, and cool, soft, dark light for the dessert scene. Including my arm with my phone flashlight was a last minute decision that I also wish I had more time to expand on. I'd love to do a whole series of still lifes set up in this manner and incorporate arms, hands, and phones.
The last few images (depicting nighttime) were shot with this lighting setup. The same 40º grid on my key light, bounced into a v-flat to create diffused light with a greater spread and softer shadows. The kicker light was bounced off the wall and ceiling to achieve the same effect. Blue gel placed on key light, purple gel placed on kicker.
Unfortunately, these initial images and elements within these images are not overly apparent in my final images. I think I started out too complex and realized I wouldn't have enough time to execute the visualization I had in mind when starting out. Maybe I'll revisit the concept in the future.
April 30, 2019
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