Studio Induction

Last week  we had a brief induction to the studio to refresh are minds of what equipment there was to use and how to use it.


Through this post im going to have a look back at what i was learnt and recap it briefly for future reference. 

1. A studio flash head is used to control lighting in photographs when natural light is not available. Studio flash heads with dials can alter the amount of light coming from a flash.








Attachments 
The light that comes from a flash head is very powerful but also very direct and harsh(strong shadows). You can use attachments to change the quality of light.

Snoot.

A snoot is used to make light into a narrow spot light.
Its good for long shadows and bringing out textures but its not usually to good for lighting large areas.


Umbrella
An umbrella creates a large, diffused light. The flash hits the silver side of the brolly and bounces back sending the light in a wide circle on the subject.
Its good for soft lighting and reducing shadows on large objects.
Its weak point is its hard to control and light can go everywhere.

Softbox
A soft box  directly softens light. Usually used for people it creates very soft shadows which means it can give a flattering effect on the skin, its good for very soft light, people and reflective objects. 
Its not to good for when you need to create textures

Barn Doors
Barn doors are an attachment used to help control and direct illumination.  By adjusting the barn doors in intensity and direction of the flash can be altered. 

Honeycomb Grid
A honey comb grid fits straight into a reflector. A honeycomb grid  is a light modifier which acts like a spotlight. The honeycomb pattern works to direct the light into a certain spot and diffuses light really nicely. A grid can make the light very soft and when you put it on something you get a focused soft light.

Beauty Dish
A beauty dish is a photographic studio reflector.A beauty dish can reflect more light than an umbrella or other indirect studio lighting. Its good for when your in a situation which needs intense light.

Induction Project-Objects.

An object can be photographed in a variety of different ways depending on what point the final image wants to make to its viewer. 

For this project we have been asked to look at two different images done by two different photographers and compare the different purposes and contexts of the photo's taken.

The first Photographer i decided to look at was Michael Jones who is known for his work in portrait, fashion and product photography. Over his years as a photographer he has worked for companies such as Nike, Microsoft and Adidas and has developed his own signature style known for pushing ideas and setting styles making him stand out as a well known photographer within his field.

The photo above is an example of work done by Michael Jones for Nike. One thing i  like about this is that although his work is kept simple Jones likes to emphasize the products he is photographing by enhancing them with simple twists such as the mud on the sports shoe.We all know this is a sports shoe and a good studio photo would get this point across but from my point of view this adds a slight narrative to the photo and helps project its message even more without going to far or into to much. To me the way the photo is shot makes it much more interesting than just in image of a shoe. I think the clever attention to detail is what makes this photograph a great commercial image. The image is shown for what it is and what it is about and the idea behind the photo although a simple one is helped through the way it is presented. 

For me this makes it a perfect example of how to photograph an object for commercial use as a viewer can view it and easily identify and understand what the product is about.

As we know objects are not just photographed for commercial use and the next photographer i looked at does both art based still-life and commercial photography and you can see that both styles are easily present within both types of work. To me Jamie Chung manages to turn simple everyday objects into photographic pieces of art, often chungs images are quirky and clearly thought out.

Alot of the work i have seen from Chung has a bizarre quality to it. It is very modern looking and very much studio based. From looking through the work of chung which you can see here (http://www.jamiechung.com/, I feel asif chungs images have an iconic feel to them and often are witty and quirky. To me the top photo of the turtle shows chungs sense of irony which we often see in the still life works chung has produced typically for humorous effects. Post production is used the enhance alot of chungs work such as the reflection done on the turtle image.

One of the main things ive picked up from by looking at both photographers is to keep the object your photographing the main focus as much as possible. Although both photographers add their twists to the images they still show what there shooting without taking away to much from it keeping it familiar to the viewer.