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....

The starting point...

Being asked to create a single picture in response to an early monday morning lecture baffled me at first...but then I realised this was the turning point. I wasn't creating an image to satisfy someone else anymore. The final outcome would be 4 hours of theory, analysis and headscratching...applied to my own work.

There was no brief other than to create something we wanted to...but I've sat on this image for a while now. Call it an alpha...it's definitely pre-beta, no where near RC 1. There's so much room to move, roll on Plato.

la la laa...la la laaaa blah blah blah? oaijwd awd aw aw aw oaijawodij waoidj aoiw djaoiw jdoaiw jdoiawj doijaw doijawdo ijawo ijaw odijaw odijaw doijawo dijaw oijaw oijaw doiajw doiawj d

testy test

awd awd aw d edit test awdawdawdawd