Sunday 22 November 2009

Clowning Around



While I was out shopping yesterday I spotted a set of three clown figurines that really excited me. I'm not particularly fond of clowns, or figurines, but do you ever just see an object and think 'oh I really want to photograph that!'. I had no idea what I would do with them, just that it was going to be fun finding out.

I had originally intended to spend some time this weekend redoing the scrabble shots for mod 4, because there was some overexposure in the corners of the original, but instead I have ended up combining the scrabble tiles and clowns to come up with this picture.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I just really like how its turned out. Now I'm not sure which subject to submit...

For this shot I used two of the clowns, backlit by my trusty desklamp, to provide the shadows on the wall, and I used a torch to put a spotlight on the clown in the foreground (I was hoping for a sort of Boris Karloff effect, with harsh shadows to increase the creepiness of the shot but had to compromise because his shiny surface made it really hard to expose). I intentionally underexposed by a couple of stops to darken the shot and add to the creepy atmosphere. I'm not sure whether that comes across to anyone other than me though.

As ever, comments good/bad/indifferent are always welcome :o)

Sunday 15 November 2009

Scrabbling for Ideas.....Module 4



I've been working on (and stuggling with) the assesment submission for Module 4 of my distance learning photography course. I just can't seem to find a subject that I find sufficiently interesting, or that looks as interesting in practice as it did in my head. I know that this is entirely due to my own lack of imagination, but still I'm finding it hard to be inspired on this one.

Which is ironic, given that the brief is to take photos with out of focus parts, something my husband accuses all my photos of containing ('oh another blurry one! Can't you learn a new trick?....').

The brief was to take 5 images of the same subject; a still life object with points of interest at different depths. The images would demonstrate how selection of focal point and/or aperture could be used for artistic effect. The closest I've come so far to a photo I like is this scrabble board. I'm not sure it's interesting enough, or whether it's just all a bit too obvious.....

Either way it continues my monochrome obsession :o)

I'm excited to have recently purchased the very lovely SB-600 flashgun, which I didn't actually use in this shot. I'm going to be spending a lot of my time trying to learn how to use a flashgun properly for effect, which should keep me out of trouble for a while.....

In the meantime the search for Module 4 submission images continues....Is there such a thing as photographers block??