Research for MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY

Macro

A macro lens is unique in that it can focus from infinity to extremely close allowing you to take pictures of very small objects and having them fill the frame and displayed in all of their glorious detail. This is not to be confused with a close-up lens which does not focus to infinity. Macro lenses can produce images at a 1:1 ratio.

Here are just a few superb shots of macro photography I have looked at to 

help me get a better idea of what i would like to acheive with my macro shoot.

 www.bestpicturegallery.com/ Best_picture_galle...

I absolutely love how delicate this photograph is. The droplet of water looks as solid and clear as crystal and the texture of the leaves look almost identical to the texture of velvet.

www.busyboo.com/2007/ 09/06/macro-photography

 I stumbled across these two macro photographs (below and above) and HAD to put them into my  research as they put a smile on my face, i would also like to attempt to recreate a macro photograph like this, which should be fun!

 www.busyboo.com/2007/ 09/06/macro-photography

www.tristanowen.co.za/...

I think this photograph is beutifull. This insect looks like it is covered in little crystals and they are magnifing the detail on the eyes and body even more so than the macro lense, also picing up the soft pastel colours on the insects body. When i decide to take one of my macro shot i think i will consider using water droplets on the object as i love the delicate effect and the advantage of even more magnification.

timtrott.co.uk/ macro-photography-introduction

Here i like the definition of the focus point in this photograph. The shine and contrast of the tip of the leaf and the dark and rich red and turquoise of the insects colour.

 vi.sualize.us/.../

Above an amazing macro shot that has been taken by Kristina Buceatchi. tho this photograph is not a overly colourfull one, the most amazing element is completely focusing on the cats eye. I personaly have never seen a cats eye from this angle and in such detail which makes this photograph what it is. Almost like the eye has a water barrier over the top. I also came across some other photography work by Krisina Buceatchi that would be usefull inspiration in my research for natural/organic photographs.

here there is quite a famouse and common image by Corrie White. I think the most comon image seen by Corrie is the milk spalsh in coffee. The decicive moment that he seems to capture is perfect, the form of a droplet of anything going into any liquid substance that the human eye alone could never capture or whitnes.  we can only see this image in a photograph, which is what makes the series of images similar to this spectacular. Achiving a macro shot like this would probably take a begginer in photographer like me a lot of time, as it takes Corrie White a few hours to get a shot like this. Either way o would still like to give this kind of a macro shot a go.

I have managed to find  some instructions to take a similar photograph as the one above.

This image is actually the result of three separate exposures: one for the coffee cup, another for the column of pouring coffee, and a final capture for the splash. Getting one capture in-camera of this same scene would have taken many, many more hours, several gallons of coffee, and a box full of branded cups. As it is, I was able to shoot the entire thing in just a couple of hours using the only printed cup I had and a single pot of coffee.

By compositing the best elements of different captures, not only was I able to save a great deal of time in the studio, but I was able to provide the client with a layered Photoshop file that allows them to selectively display each of the elements: if they want just the cup and the splash, they can turn off the layer with the pouring coffee. If just the pour is needed, off goes the splash.
The lighting is pretty straightforward: two Nikon SB-26 flashes, dialed to their lowest power setting to produce the shortest flash duration, were on lightstands just underneath the table surface and pointed up and back to bounce into a white reflector to create a clean, white background. The front was lit with two Hensel monolights bounced into umbrellas.

Location Photography - 2 MAGIC HOUR LIGHTING

Above and below are my examples of magic hour lighting. this time of day is first and last hour of sunlight during the day. For a location sufficiently far from the equator, the sun may not reach an altitude of 10 degrees, and the magic hour lasts for the entire day if the sun indeed rises. This would be such sunny destinations abroad like teniriffe. this type of lighting tends to be ideal for potrait photography.

here is an example of magic hour lighting on a object. Creating a golden light on the object and casting shadows.

BLUE HOUR AND MY EXAMPLE
blue hour comes from the french expression l'heure bleue, which refers to the period of twilight each mourning and evening where there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness. The time is considered special due to the quality of of the light at this time of day. key tip* the blue hour is considered especially flattering for people with blonde hair in photography.

research for HIGHLY REFLECTIVE SUBJECTS

use macro for reflective. also anything else that has the same effect as reflective material such as metals( buildings ) glass water (still water puddles bubbles) mirrors so on. be on the look out!

a few ideas an inspiration.

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE  idea ; go to manchester mini waterfall. near Selfriges. and Urbis

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE again you see more coaches in manchester (nearest city) need a nice sunny day prefrably.

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE again a nice sunny day so to test both this and previous on the same day. pair of sun glasses in the beer garden on wood table.

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE  i could easily reacreate this image if it was a sunny day. this looks like my back garden. I also get amazing views of the clouds from my back garden. 

www.instantshift.com

maybe i couldnt pour oil into a river but could try the effect in a deep puddle? instead of using matt objects like the one above to bend the reflection in different dirrections i could use something reflective and see what effects i come out with.

www.instantshift.com 

ABOVE if i was going to recreate this photograph i would like to bring some more colour in the reflection of the bubble. using photoshop or lightroom. making it the main focal point

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE this photograph has made me think about turning the camera angle when photographing my reflective subject. reflection can be a trickery and deciveing even when you look at it from normal eye angle. it would be interesting to turn the angle to make it even more confusing.

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE AND BELOW again the city is full of tall reflective buildings such as these. i will have to go to manchester look around and see what i can find.

www.instantshift.com

www.instantshift.com

www.instantshift.com

ABOVE to reinvent a photograph like this i am going to have to experiment with the colour of eyes that i choose. I think a dark brown would be more reflective, the darker the better. i would also like to choose a grand location such as this one that has been reflected in the eye. a location like this would be more effective due to the mass being reflected into such a small reflecive area. 

www.instantshift.com

an opertunity to take a photograph like this wouldnt be hard. as a day hardly ever goes by without raining. the bus stop i wait at in the mourning is glass so i will try to recreate it there. i will also try it in black and white, dulling the background would help the eye focus more on the actual reflection. 

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3155475669_beb7b01708_m.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fastcashphoto.com/tag/learn/page/2/&usg=__uOs6IFB0-S1OKs4PK2ZINWjJuQY=&h=230&w=240&sz=31&hl=en&start=36&um=1&tbnid=oB2ZEacQBhKZDM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhighly%2Breflective%2Bphotography%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18%26um%3D1

this is an article i came across on lighting when taking a photograph of a reflective subject.

research for COMMERCIAL PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY

With commercial product photography i will be testing different lighting such as low key, high key, back light and top light as i have prcaticed these lighting techniques in the studio and have been looking at some commercial photography, these lighting techniques seem to be used quite offten. here are a few examples.

Research for NATURAL/ORGANIC FORMS

Natural/ Organic Forms.

(something that has lived or is living)

One of the ideas i have for my natural/organic forms photograph is to take something natural/organic and make it look like something else maybe taking a natural/ organic form and recreating it to look like something unnatural, by the angle composition or taking something and physicaly minipulating it. I have also thought about the beutiy of nature and the sadness of somthing so beutifull dieing, in a way nature taking it course. There are also alot of strange detail when you look closely at organic forms, things we tend to miss, i would also like to concentrate on this element.

 Below are some photographers and artists that have inspired me to do this. and explain what i am talking about.

Here there are four pieces of work done by a photographer called Kristina Buceatich (one above and three below) the first one imperticular caught my eye for the nature/organic photograph. Its very interesting how Kristina has taken the normal everyday tree branch and tuned the composition around to make it look like somthing completely different. Which makes me think about how many things  that I could see on a day to day basis and  turn around to look like something else.

The photograph above makes me think how organic/naturals forms wilter. how they become something so beutifull and as they wilter look worn and tired. In a way this is quite a sad photograph.

I would love to recreate this photograph. in a way this image stands for alot. it says to me that no matter what the beiuty of natural and organic forms will always be there, and how they can can light up or make it more interesting of a dull scene or situation. the flowers being the main focal point in colour.

 

I chose this photoraph in my research because it is relevent to the beuty of natural and organic things. this image gives me a sense of tranquility.

This photograph above is quite similar to what i would like to acive in the sence of concentrating on detail of organic and natural forms, filling the frame with the weird and wonderfull details of natural and organic forms.

The two photographs above and below have been taken by Stanley and Kaisa Breeden. as i came across there work it cave me the inspiration to take an organic or natural form and make it look less orgainc/natural and more extrodanary  by useing symetry on photoshop.

below three sculptures by a well Known sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. Andy uses natural forms and reacreates them into his trade mark sculptures. Some of the sculptures he makes outside, takes a photograph of them and leaves them outside such s this one below in the lake. i have attended one of Andy Goldsworthy's art galleries where most of his sculptures are spread across a vast amount of land outside in a fields. You are given a map and have to hunt for each art piece. A very different and interesting way of aproaching an art galley. i really enjoyed the experiance.

Below are three photographs by Karl Bossfeldt. I really like the way he has taken oraganic and natural forms and used a scalpol to turn them into irregular shapes completely oposite to the natural form. also somehow acheveing slightly different textures to theses organic objects. i would like to experiment with my scalpol and try something similar.

Studio photography

Trying out different natural lighting techniques, how they reflect and their effects on a subject. At first positioning a white board behind George and him facing the large widows in the studio, then taking a portrait photograph of him with thelight falling onto his face.

The light outside was quite dull and cold.

Colour temperature / white balance

as you can see it gave the same effect of light on Georges face, the lighting is

quite dull and dark. Some features such as the nose and under eye areas have been emphasised, due to the dull lighting. It seems to have given a very matt look to Georges face with the

 shadow picking up too much detail of his facial features. the light reflecting onto the white

board behind him and escaping back out of the window, there is no direction of illumination

 hitting the subjects face at this point. white balance/

 

Then using a white board infront of the subject, with this the light fro

m the window behind and  was reflected on to the white board and then reflected on to the the subjects face at an angle just above the chin.

With this lighting effect the subjects facial features have not been enfacised as much. There are still sum slight shadowed areas such as the fore head and under eye area, but this technique dose give more bright and fresh  look to his face, on a day such as this one.

The next technique was to use 3 white boards around the subject at his left, his right, and above him making a doorway in the middle for the photographers view. As you can see in the image above this technique gives an over all softer look the angle of light is hitting the subjects face at his left, right and above there fore illuminating all of his face chancing no cast shadows

 caused by his facial features. this lighting technique was probably the most successful and         effective lighting for the natural light to complement the face.

This type of lighting would also be quite usefull for a female model, as it gives such a soft effect to the face.

The next type of natural lighting that was used was daylight from above, no surrounding light. the day light is still dull and quite cold. This type of lighting is making the bone structure of the subjects face more prominant, casting various shadows upon the more larger surfaces of the face.

I have also thought that this kind of lighting technique is not completely useless, if you are trying to make a face look more masculine, for example if a male has quite soft features and the face needs a more harsh / harder look lighting from the top would be a useful technique.to in a way harden the soft edges.

Next we have lighting from above with the subjects head raised and looking up at the light above him. The subject looking upwards the light is illuminating the wider and more raised  serfaces on the face such as the cheeks, nose , chin and fore head. due to the wider surfaces on the face being illuminated this gives a more softer look to the subjects face, the light is being able to reach the contours of the face. there fore no harsh definition occuring.