Re-Creating Film Stills

Diary Entry

In this project I had to re-shoot all of my images three times until they finally came out good enough to be processed and made into prints. I was having trouble with the aperture used on the camera since I wasn't letting enough light coming in which resulted into the negatives coming out really clear. On the third reshoot I was advised to used a tripod and reduced the shutter speed to a really low number so that it could let in enough light. The reason why a tripod was needed is because when you are dealing with such low shutter speed it is important that everything stays stills and this includes the camera itself and the thing or person that is posing for the photographer or else the image will come out distorted and not pretty. After I did all of this the negatives finally came out good for processing. It was so much easier to work with than the last negatives and I was able to finish two prints in one class and the third and last print on the next class. I hope that I have learned from this project because this is something that can't be happening for every project since it wastes a lot of time to work on it and end up being really late. I feel that after all of these troubles I am still improving with my compositions with photography since I do not need to always be asking for opinions when it comes to my prints, this is good in the way that I save a lot of time and I hope this improvement keeps on increasing.

Theory Notes

This is a still from the movie Citizen Kane, released in the 40's. I find both of these pictures very alike besides the fact that the one on the left is a black and white still and the one on the right is a color still. You can see they are both in the same position, looking down, using their hands and their hair pretty tied up, although the angle of the pictures is different they are consider pretty much alike. They both seem to be in stages or movie sets, the one on the right is outside a movie set and the one on the left is inside a movie set.












This still is from the movie Once upon a Time in the West, released in the 60s. I chose this specific shot becomes it looks very similar to the shot that was I was appointed to. They are both in the day light which means no artificial light is being used. It has subjects facing away from the camera and one subject facing directly to the camera. Also an interesting similarity between these to shots is that you cannot see the face of the subject that it is standing by itself. I also believe that the position of the daylight on both of these pictures is the same, notice the shadow position on the subjects made by their heads, the shadows are fading to the left.

This still is from the movie A Beautiful Mind, released in 2001. This pictures might not look very similar to each other at first but when I started looking more closely I noticed that they are very alike indeed. They are both looking at something away that it can't be seen in the picture, both men in the picture are wearing black suits, the background and color also seem to be very alike, also notice how the background on both pictures is really out of focus and the shot is concentrated on the subjects only.

Printing Compositions

Time=20seconds ; Aperture=5.6 ; No Filter

This is my attempt to imitate the composition of one of the pictures that was assigned to me. I noticed that in the movie shot the lighting is not coming from the side where the picture is being taken but from behind and front. The picture itself is very dark since the movie still was in day light and it is very hard to imitate day light in the room and equipment that were using. The reason why the model is different in the final print and the digital is because for this project I had to re-shoot three times so I couldn't have the same model all the time.

Time=3.5seconds ; Aperture=2.8 ; No Filter

This is another attempt to imitate the movie still shot that was assigned to me. Again I had to have different models because of re-shooting. For this shot I noticed in the movie still shot that the light was coming from behind the subjects at an angle and this is what I tried to imitate with the lighting equipment in this shot.


Time = 9.5seconds ; Aperture = 2.8 ; No Filter

Again different models, this is my favorite print for this project, I really liked hot it came out, it had a better composition than the other two prints. For this shot I positioned the lighting right in back of subjects where the picture is being taken from. I noticed that I had to position them like this when I looked at the still movie shot, you can notice the lighting on the subjects hair which demonstrate that the light was coming from up and behind the subjects.

Image Bank

Mirjana Vrbaski

This is very different image bank because of the fact that I actually got to meet the artist of these magnificent works of art. We got to know her opinion in photography and how she likes to work. She has a very unique style when it comes to photography, she doesn't like anything that relates too much of the present time, she prefers an image that reminds her of an event that happened way in the past. She does this by making the person look very simple, she manipulates this effect by making the person wear clothes that doesn't represent any trend, this is because she doesn't like to belong to any kind of trend, other words she doesn't like being labeled. Also the hair is something she manipulates a lot, she likes the hair to be really simple and straight, by this I mean that it is not styled in something modern. Mirjana Vrbaski was born in Canada and also grew up in Serbia and in 2006 she moved to the Netherlands which she is currently studying and working in The Hague in the Royal Academy of Art.

This is one of the pictures taken by Mirjana and I chose this one because I feel it represents her. You can clearly notice the darkness and strictness in this photograph, the clothe and the hair brings thoughts of long time ago. Also notice the positioning, her shoulders are up, the hands, and her knees facing away from the camera. Probably one of the most important things to notice in Mirjana's art is the facial expressions, she doesn't like happy, she asks the person posing for her to have a really serious and almost sad look in the face and this is what she prefers.










I chose this photograph because it is very similar to the one I chose before. There is something about this picture that I really like and that is how the person has his hands, he seems to be messing with them, it is hard for me to explain but I believe there is something about the hands that add up to the whole photograph.

The main reason why I chose this picture is because it is a photograph of Mirjana herself and the interesting thing about this photograph is that it doesn't seem so sad or dark as I was expecting, she went all white which reduced the darkness of the photograph itself. Again notice the simpleness of the picture, no hair, simple clothe, serious look in the face.

This photograph was taken by film photographer Elliot Marks, he is one of the most famous and respected film photographers in the industry. This was on the set when they were filming the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Elliot Marks was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at first he had a career of wild life photography and then moved to still film photography, unfortunately Marks died in 2003 and since during that time he was working in the movie Starky and Hutch, after the movie was launched it was dedicated to him. I chose this picture because I liked the beam of light and how it goes together with the background.



This photograph was taken by famous film photographer Karen Ballard, famous for working on sets for movies which include James Bond: Quantum of Solace. I chose this picture it is a simple lighting effect on which the light is the top of the subject which creates darker areas on specific places, also giving a sharper image. Karen Ballard first focused in journalistic photography in the Middle East but then ended up working for famous Hollywood movies which led her to become an award-winning photographer.











This photograph was taken by film photographer Patti Arpaia, in this picture she was working for the movie called Head Hunter and the reason why I chose this photograph is because I liked how the lighting is coming from the right side and it kind of gives a white aura look around the character. It was hard to obtain any type of personal information for this photographer besides her filmography.













Sources:
www.youtube.com
www.google.com/images

Fashion - Hair (Lighting part III)

Diary Entry

For this project I had already started ahead of everyone because in Part 2 of this project I had already done a final print that could be used for this part. I believe this head start was a very good thing because it took me a while to do the last 2 prints since there were a few problems with filters which is not commonly when it comes to me, I think this happened because I was using the wrong aperture when I was taken the picture because I didn't take the weather and sun light into good considerations. Besides that filter issues there was not any other problems encountered for this project, I did not have to re-shoot since all my negatives came out good enough for the project, I will try to make sure to keep in mind the mistakes that I made during the lasts projects so the errors will be lesser on the next projects.

Theory Notes

Flash - The flash is a device used in photography to help illuminate dark areas and can also be used to capture rapidly moving objects which give a "frozen" effect to something that was moving when the picture was taken.

This picture is an example a camera that was using a fast shutter speed and flash.

This is how flash mechanism look today. They can be bought separately and then can be mounted onto the camera. Some cameras already come with build in flash.

Light Meter - Is a device used to the amount of light that a subject is receiving on a certain spot. It also helps to the determine a better exposure for a picture, the light meter will determine which shutter speed and f-number should be used for better exposure.

This is a picture of what a hand held light meter looks today. The white circled is the sensor that takes in light and then translates it into information for the photographer to use for the exposure. If using a model, the light meter would be placed really close in front of the model and then a flash will be used so the light meter can read it.

Printing Compositions

Final Prints for this project with their contact sheets

Time = 8 seconds

Aperture = 5.6

Filter = 0

This is one of the contact sheets for the prints. The circled picture is the one that was selected for this project.

Another contact sheet for the other 2 prints with the chosen prints selected. The reason there are 3 selected is because another had to be chosen because one of the previous chosen had some scratches in the negative.

Time=11 seconds

Aperture = 5.6

Filter = 0

This is a picture that works really well when it comes to focusing the viewer's eyes on something specific and in this case is the long hair.

Time = 9 seconds

Aperture = 8

Filter = 3

This is a print that goes into the angle consideration. The print it self is a little too dark and I explained in the Diary Entry why the prints were not coming out too good.

Time = 12 seconds

Aperture = 5.6

Filter = 0

This print is of two subjects and it is also a bit too dark but the background doesn't help much to make the subjects stand out more. I will make sure to take more things in consideration next time I am taking photographs.

Test strips of the finals prints

I do not have have test strip if this print with different time intervals but i do have the final test strip before making the full print at 11 seconds, 5.6 aperture and 0 filter.

Aperture 8

Filter 3

This is the test strip for one of the final prints for this project. As you can see this test strip doesn't match the final print because this test strip is of trials that I did at the beginning.

T=5

T=7

T=9

T=12

T=14

Aperture 5.6

Filter 0

This is another test strip of a final print with different time intervals.

T=17

T=16

T=15

T=14

T=13

T=12

T=11

T=10

Image Bank

This photograph was taken by Simon Green, he was born in 1973 and although travelled throughout his childhood was brought up in Consett in the North East of England. Simon originally trained as a chef at Derwentside College and Blackpool and the Fylde College. Simon left the Army in 2002 to work as a freelance photographer and through his wedding and fashion photography has quickly gained a reputation for creating beautiful, dynamic and stylish images. Simon's wide and varied experience and technical knowledge enable him to get the most out of his subjects.

Simon has been awarded over 60 merits and awards including 2007 BIPP Western region Advertising Photographer of the Year, 2006 SWPP Landscape photographer of the Year, BPPA 2008 Award of Excellence in Fashion Photography and is an Associate of the British Institute of Professional photography.

He regularly teaches, mentors and advises on photography. His clients include BBC, Channel 4, National Magazine Company, The Financial Times, WED magazine.

I chose this photograph because I personally liked how the hair goes with the profile type of picture that it is and also how the color of her hair really stands out which catches the viewer's eyes.

This photograph was taken by Joel Santos. He is a freelance editorial, travel and documentary photographer based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He is represented by Wonderful Machine in the United States and by Invision Images in Europe and Japan. He is available for assignments across Southeast Asia and beyond.

I chose this picture because it relates to one of the prints that had to be done full front of the face of the subject. I also liked how the color of the hairs changes from a light violet at the top and goes down to a brownish red.

This picture was taken by Mari Moon. She lives in Sao Paulo Brazil and she occupies in fashion and costume designs. I chose this picture because I liked how the blue hair stands out and it is in motion.

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_%28photography%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_meter

http://www.simongreenphotography.co.uk/entrance

http://aaronjoelsantos.wordpress.com/

http://www.flickr.com/people/marimoon/

Fashion Photography (Lightning pt.II)

Fabrizio Di Marco

Photography year II

Diary Entry

The continuation for the lighting project was a longer process than the first part, this time we had to do 9 prints in about 4 classes. I was very stressed about it because I was a bit late than others while I had about 4 prints done and some were already finishing. My pictures are coming out nicer than last year in photography year 1, I am still getting low times and i hope it stays this way. For this project I had to re-shoot once because I did not have sufficient pictures to be used for this project and this delayed most of my work because I had to re-shoot during an open lab when I could have been working on prints, but luckily the pictures from the re-shoot turned out pretty well. For this project I decided to stop using the new reels that were given to us because I find them harder to use than the normal beginner ones and I won't waste time trying to use the new reels when I can use the beginner reels.

Theory Notes

When taking photographs and in low light and sun light the photographer has to take somethings in consideration. In sunlight for example, you have to remember to keep your aperture pretty close or else there will be too much light entering. Position is also very important when dealing with sunlight and this is because if you take a picture of a subject and the sunlight is coming from behind then the subject will appear dark and light around it because it would be the same thing as looking at the sun directly with your own eyes it just doesn't work, unless that you specifically want that effect in you photograph. When taking pictures in low light it is important to open your aperture to let enough light go through or else your pictures will not come out and also you must be expecting the get a soft effect on the subject unless you are using other light sources to sharpen the image.

Printing Compositions

This is a test trip

of one of the final

prints for the accessories

category. The settings

were: Time = 5seconds+2seconds

aperature = 5.6

no filter.

This is the test strip for another accessory picture and the settings were: time = 15seconds + 2seconds ; Aperture = 11 ; No filter. This picture came a little too dark because there was some problem with the developer that was used.

This is a test strip for a shoe category picture and the settings used were: Time = 11seconds + 2 seconds ; Aperture = 8 ; No filter. I think that I should have used some filter in it because the shoes are white in real life but it doesn't look white enough in the print and also the same developer that was being faulty was used.

Image Bank

This Picture was taken by a photographer called Rachel and she specializes in wedding photography, she has her own blog where she shares her work with everyone. The reason I chose this picture is because it ties in with the project and also because I liked how the white goes with the dark background.

http://decenturbanlifestyle.blogspot.com/2007/10/another-vavoom.html





This picture was taken by a photographer named Amril Nuryan. He is a member of the photo.net community since September 26, 2005. I chose the picture because I liked the color red, and since there is a lot of white I think it ties in very well and something else that caught my mind was that the color red for me in woman's dresses signifies something important, and this thought comes from when I watch movies.

http://photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=1850149

This photograph was taken by Jerry Yoon and he also bases on wedding photography, he lives in San Francisco. I chose this pictures because I liked the color blue of the shoes, for me it makes the picture seem very delicate and also with the help of the flowers in the background.


http://www.weddingbeepro.com/2009/06/09/kristi-anthony-pulgas-water-temple-redwood-city-wedding/#more-13240



This photograph was taken by Olivia Malone. She is a clothing photographer from New York. I chose this picture because I thought the idea of the bricks on the background matching colors with the model.



http://oliviamalone.com/splash.html







This picture was taken by photographer Shaun and he likes to take pictures of models that are willing to be creative, thus resulting in the odd clothing that his models use. I chose this picture because I liked the grey in her hair matching her clothe, also because I find the photographer is willing to challenge his creativity.




http://smpphotography.net/gallery/fashion/dementia-clothing-4sized?mode=minimal

This photograph was taken by Kaity Peschke and she is an international photographer that lives in the UK. I chose this picture because I liked how the subjects are ignoring the photographer and it reminded me of the 'The Gaze' essay we had to do in class.

http://www.kaytipeschke.com/

This photograph was taken by Dorothee Brand and she also bases on wedding photography. I chose this photograph because when I saw this picture the first thing I noticed were her big pearl earrings.

http://www.belathee.com/

This still life was taken by photographer Jonas Lundstrom . Jonas was born in 1978 in the idyllic small town of Kalmar in southern Sweden, known for its handmade crystal. His inspiration comes from the nearby island of Öland, famous for its limestone barren landscape. Ever since the age of five, when he was given his first Instamatic camera, Jonas has been obsessed with capturing beauty through the lens. I chose this picture because I liked how the picture seems like it is floating in the air.

http://blog.jonaslindstrom.se/?page_id=300

This picture was taken by Dhruv Kapoor from New Dehli. I chose this picture because the first thing I noticed was the bunch of necklaces around the subject's neck.

http://my.ibibo.com/profile/view/8cdebaee-ed05-4ce3-a774-4af4de0b0a2e/Photos/aHR0cDovL3Bob3Rvcy5pYmliby5jb20vcGhvdG8vNjQ2NTUwNi9mYXNoaW9uLXBob3RvZ3JhcGh5LXBob3RvLWFjY2Vzc29yaWVzLWdpcmw=

Final Prints & Contact Sheet

Time = 9 seconds ; Aperture = 8 ; No Filter

This are the contact sheets and the pictures selected for the project circled in red.

Time = 6 seconds ; Aperture = 5.6 ; No Filter

Accessory Print.

Time=9 seconds ; Aperture = 11 ; No Filter

I really enjoy this picture because it seems like the subject is waiting for someone or something, and the watch in her hand helps this thought.

Accessory Print.

Time = 6 seconds ; Aperture = 5.6 ; No Filter

I really liked this picture because the white really stands out and the scarf is seeing clearly.

Accessory Print.

Time = 14 seconds ; Aperture = 5.6 ; No Filter

In this picture the subject doesn't look too calmed, and making the model look calm is a very important thing in fashion fotography and I will try to keep this in mind more often.

Clothing Print.

Time = 12 seconds ; Aperture = 5.6 ; No Filter

I liked this picture because the subject looks calmed.

Shoe Print.

Time = 7 seconds ; Aperture = 5.6 = No Filter

This was the first print I did for this project and I was happy with it although I could have used a little bit more time.

Shoe Print.

Time = 8 seconds ; Aperture = 11 ; No Filter

This picture was developed with the bad developer thus causing the weird effect that can be noticed.

Shoe Print.

Time = 10 seconds ; Aperture = 8 ; No Filter

In this print I believed I should have used a filter because the white is not white enough.