Final 6

abstracThis has been a long time coming...these are the 6 images I have chosen as finals and is this order I can't help but see an abstract fish. The only deliberate move was to create a flowing set of lines and there is a rough oval created within this set. The only real objection I have to presenting them in this fashion is that it looses entirely the point of the images!

When presented as overwhelmingly large singular images it is clear in my mind that the subject of the images spills outside of the frame...

...the focus is pleasing but all six images lead my imagination to extend the lines infinitely and conjure up forms that I could never hope to create within the frame of the camera! 

It's fair to argue that some are much weaker than others, the last image suffered a lot technically but it remained a favourite on the basis of how it flows. The curves exposed by the light are nice and with better kit/technique maybe this can be revisited in the future...

Enjoy!

Dissecting the frame...

It's more than a little frustrating taking what feels like a few steps backwards. The style of lighting in previous shots has given a high degree of control and this last series had none of that! Using the snoots and with no dependency on ambient light I was able to create the image, the way i wanted it, in camera. With more experience i'm sure that i could of created some sort of barn door rig with ND Grad filters to kill off some of the light to give grey as well as the black and white. I guess the frustration lies in that I've had to settle for something less than I set out for! At least with Photoshop I can use these raw files...and turn them into images I actually like.

The process of editing couldn't be simpler, levels adjustment layer to alter the black and white point, a touch of sharpening and that's it. A crop comes later to ease the printing and to ditch a few distractions at the top. You could argue that this image wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on unless I had photoshop to help me out...but i don't see this as any different to common darkroom practice. It's non destructive, I'm not adding any information and through a carefully drawn mask I'm only taking light away. You can achieve the same effects with contrast filters and some clever technique, so I'm happy. 

I like this a lot. I've settled on the explanation that I want the subject of my images to dissect the frame, it doesn't matter in this case at all that it's paper. In many of my research images I found lines that extended beyond the frame and force you to consider something larger.

  

This ability of the image to create something in your imagination fascinates me and I want to apply that to my own work so I moved away from the pretty little paper waves and ground out some lines!

( I would like to moan about the difficulty I had with the picture formatting whilst writing this post. )

Polar Opposites

I wouldn't necessarily have used these two unless they opposed each other so well...

High and low, mirrored composition, sparse and abundant texture, black and white vs a tonne of middle grey.

Sheets and Lines

The minimal step had to be taken and this is it...

I've gotta admit that the blanket high key lighting in these wasn't much fun, didn't give anywhere near the same precision as with the home brew snoots but it gave me the shots I was hoping for. Working with larger A3 sheets laid on on top of the other meant I ended up with a large working area and every slight change in angle gave a nice result. To achieve the crisp lines this time I finely scored some pages, introducing a crease along this line. Taking a long time getting the pressure right I had 50 sheets binned before the first frame and even then the results were still a bit hit and miss. 

They're due some editing but there's a lot of tidying up to do within all of my selected images.

More to come...

More images, final edits and my favorite pick!

Bigger and better...

The move to A3 worked! Larger models allow me to frame the shots more effectively, it's given more flexibility in the lighting but they are more of a handful. Making use of an old tripod and paper clips I hung the new model but found issues with being able to see right through it...

...this was easily solved by hanging a strip of backing sheets.

Not ideal but it serves the purpose perfectly. Shooting in the evenings is easier as the drop in ambient light gives more control back to me and the flash guns.

167 shots thinned out to 18

18 down to 4...

    

....and 4 to 2

 

Trying many variations resulted in me choosing two images that are almost identical (except for lighting) shot an hour and a half apart. Ultimately I know that I may have to choose between them but after reducing 18 to 2...i'll leave that decision for another day.

Next time...it's gonna be minimal.

New models...New problems...

With the relative success of the previous models I created two more very simple stacks of paper, glued at one end with each page curled over individually to form a staggered shell-like pattern.

After all the effort put into glueing and precarious drying methods...I don't like them. The main issue is was size, the minimum focal distance of the lens didn't allow for me to get close enough to fill the frame! So all efforts were wasted and i was left with two solutions...use a macro lens or switch to A3.

There are some positives though! I really like the contrast of light and dark, in particular the progressive drop off of light from foreground into the background. More messy lines and poor framing shows that I need to get things cleaned up before i press the shutter....NOT AFTER!

Trying to make the most out of an otherwise unsuccessful series I do like this particular crop and orientation, it feels a little easier to look at...

Initial ideas...

My first image has spurred on an endless flow of ideas...things to

try out, forms to emulate and also techniques I've had to learn. A little playing around with lighting enabled me to effectively create the images I had in mind.

High powered flashes and a tight frames gave me the flexibility to create these in my own time, outside of a studio and with very little photoshop work the results were promising. I do however need to improve a lot....

Unwanted lines, messy cuts and fumbled edges are all over the place in these images...it's still very early stages but I have already learned to use gravity in my favour....