18.7.2014 (Week 16)
Casey Chong Jing Ping (0318756)
Introduction to Photography
Photoshoot: Soft box and Beauty plate
Lecture
This week, Mr.Vinod showed us how to use the soft box and the beauty plate during a photoshoot session. It took quite a while to set up the soft box as there were some technical problems such as some plugs not functioning properly and the flash does not work with the camera on view mode. But that problem was resolved quite fast. First, Mr.Vinod taught us how to use the soft box and adjust it to the right height and facing up or down. He also taught us how to determine the same light intensity in both soft boxes at either side of the model by using a light meter. After finished teaching us how to use a soft box, Mr.Vinod proceeded to teach us how to use a beauty plate. The soft box will be used as a rim light when the beauty plate comes in as the main light. He demonstrated how to use a beauty plate, it is similar to how to use the soft box, adjusting the height and the main plate up or downwards. We used the light meter to determine whether the lights are all aligned, and took a few photographs with Mr.Vinod as the model. Everyone had at least one role to play in during the class, and I helped in moving the lights around to determine the alignment the most. After we were done with the lessons, we packed up all the equipment and put everything back to the original positions. Then, we all gathered around Mr.Vinod and showed him our sample printed out photographs individually. I had good feedback and only need to photoshop the brightness of the photograph because the photograph is too dark. Lastly, he taught us how to use photoshop to change the image and canvas size of the photographs. After that, Mr.Vinod gave us some final advice on choosing our final 5 photographs, then class was dismissed and we went for lunch.
Exercises: Final Project - Final 5
Here is the series I have put together for the project. It is called "Textural Abandonment".
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Flash Exercise:
Here are a few photographs taken from the Flash Exercise using the softbox and the beauty plate.
A few failed photographs at the start of the exercise when we stumbled and forgot to adjust the exposure of the camera, and also a shaky and blurry photograph:
Too blurry and unfocused.
So dark...
Way too bright!
Some pretty good shots using the Soft-box as the main light:
Some candid shots in between breaks:
Using the Soft-box as a rim light and the Beauty Plate as the main light:
Mr.Vinod, our awesome lecturer.
Imani, the owner of the camera that took these photographs.
Cigie, a very tall, model-like, good friend of mine.
Me... In the middle of talking. (Candid shot!)
Cherry, cute and sweet like the fruit itself.
Jannie, aodrable and so talented.
Group shots taken spontaneously (by Mr.Vinod), we wanted Mr.Vinod to be in the photograph too but he refused and offered to take the photograph for us when we could have used the camera's self-timer. The two lights at the back are the gigantic Soft-boxes, and as you can see, they are very blindingly bright:
And......(Drumroll please)...... The most iconic shot of all. This candid shot that Andrea accidentally took of Mr.Vinod while he was talking and teaching us how to position ourselves and the beauty plate in line to get a stable shot. We want Mr.Vinod to put this as his new Facebook profile picture.
Screenshots of the Hardcopies:
Screenshots for the Flash exercise.
The Rationale I wrote for the "Final 5" Project
Reflections
Observations:
Observations:
This week, I have observed that the more we practice and use our cameras, the more efficient we will get with it and the more we will get to know how to use it. As the saying goes, "practice makes perfect". I have also observed that everyone has come up with such amazing photographs for their final project. Moreover, I have also observed that everyone has a role to play in photography, especially during photo-shoots. An example of this is that during this week, even though it was not a real photo-shoot with make-up and everything, everyone had a role to play in it and nobody was just sitting around doing nothing. Everyone gave their own opinion on the light positions and the photographs. Even though it was not an official photo-shoot, everyone participated in it like it is a real photo-shoot. As Mr.Vinod demonstrated how to use the soft box and the beauty plate, some of us took turns to be a photographer, some manned the lights, some helped out the photographer and checked to see if the lights align, and some even became models for a while. Cigie was controlling the electrical box that was the power source for all the lights, and Cherry was in charge of the light meter. I helped out a little here and there, mostly in helping to align the lights. Another thing I have observed in class this week was that although these are class sessions and we were learning things that could sometimes be boring, the truth is that we are all having fun while learning all these new things. The class does not only consist of lecture after lecture, we have a lot of hands-on work where we have to take our cameras out and use it manually. We get to experience studio photography first-hand, and we all play different roles each time, from being the main people such as the photographer and the model, to being behind-the-scenes people such as the people who man the lights and the people who pull the background up and down and do make-up and hair. Lastly, what I have always observed is that even though we all come to this early class moody and grumpy, we almost all brighten up when class starts, and 10 minutes into class, we will all be having fun and laughing. There are always times when we will be serious as it requires us to be serious, but all in all, photography class is an amazing experience and everyone should try it.
Experience:
Starting from this week, I have stopped taking photographs for the series as I have been busy with choosing the final 5 photographs for the final project and photoshopping it. I also had to do the rationale. There are also tonnes of other assignments to do that I have to pass up day after day, never ending. But I have finally chosen 5 final photographs and everything will be done pretty soon. It has been a very hectic week and that is why I can only post right now which is between Tuesday and Wednesday midnight, while listening to calming Christian songs, as I am an auditory learner.
Starting from this week, I have stopped taking photographs for the series as I have been busy with choosing the final 5 photographs for the final project and photoshopping it. I also had to do the rationale. There are also tonnes of other assignments to do that I have to pass up day after day, never ending. But I have finally chosen 5 final photographs and everything will be done pretty soon. It has been a very hectic week and that is why I can only post right now which is between Tuesday and Wednesday midnight, while listening to calming Christian songs, as I am an auditory learner.
For this week, we experienced a lot during class as there were a lot of technical problems. Mr.Vinod taught us how to use a soft box and a beauty plate in studio photography so we can be able to take good photographs with those lights. The first problem came when some plugs did not work properly and the flash that usually works in sync with the camera shutter button did not work. At last, we found out that it only does not work when the camera is in view mode. Mr.Vinod said that that never happened before as the flash works no matter if the camera is in viewing screen mode or in the other mode. Nevertheless, we could finally go on with the class. Mr.Vinod was the model for this week's exercise while the others helped out in various other things in the studio. The soft box was difficult to move as it was very heavy, and we had to be extra careful while handling it as it is very expensive and we cannot afford to pay for such an expensive item. Finally, when everything is in position, Mr.Vinod taught us how to operate the electrical box that connects all the lights together and Cigie was asked to control the electrical box. The electrical box is yet another thing that is in the list of the technical problems, as we could not switch off the soft box lights even if they were obviously switched off, which was pretty scary. At last, we could do nothing else but force the lights off by plucking them out of their sockets when we made sure that all the switches are obviously off. Next, Mr.Vinod taught us how to move the soft box pole higher or lower. He taught us to use the light meter to test the accuracy and equality in all sides of the lights. Cherry was requested to man the light meter. The photographers vary from shoot to shoot. After that, Mr.Vinod also taught us that soft boxes can also be used as rim lights while the beauty plate can act as the main light. Therefore, we repositioned the lights, which was not easy. We need the light meter to get the right amount of light of both sides to create the rim. I helped a little in repositioning the soft boxes and determining the equality of both soft boxes. We learned briefly about the usage of the beauty plates and used it to take a few photographs with varying photographers and varying models. When we were done, we put all the lights back where they are from, and that was not an easy task to do as we had to lunge three heavy lights. Mr.Vinod looked through our sample printed out final photographs and gave us some feedbacks and comments on them. Mine was a photograph of wooden seats, and Mr.Vinod told me to lighten the photograph a little using photoshop. He also taught us to adjust the image and canvas sizes of the photographs using photoshop. After that, class was dismissed and we went out to have lunch as we were very hungry.
Findings:
This week, I learnt a lot from class. Before this, I have never used photoshop all by myself before, as I have always asked my friends Cigie, Katrina, and Jannie to help me to photoshop my photographs. But this time, I did it myself after getting tips from Katrina and Jannie. I have also burned a CD using the laptop for the first time, and hopefully I did not do anything wrong. This is also the first time I have went to the library's computer lab to use the computers for assignment purposes to type the Word Documents and Rationale for photography assignments to pass up, as my laptop had died on me and I was stranded with nothing. This brings me to the next point, which is that this is the first time I am actually borrowing a friend's laptop for a month, just so I could finish my assignment in time. My friend is currently on break and she went for a one month holiday, that is why she lent me her laptop, and I am forever grateful to her for this, as I would never have been able to finish my assignment if I had only depended on the library's computers as the library closes early, and does not open on Sundays. This is the first time I am actually borrowing such a valuable and expensive object for such a long time, and I am very afraid because I am a clumsy person and I am very scared that I will break this laptop during this one month that I am using it. Moving on, in class, I have learnt how to use the soft box, the beauty plate, the electrical box that controls it all, and the light meter. I learnt how to adjust the height of the poles of the soft boxes and the beauty plate. I have also learned the right way to adjust image and canvas size using photoshop. From this week's photo-shoot, I realized that teamwork is very important in photography, especially during studio photo-shoots. You cannot do it all alone, and even if you can, it will take ages and also, you need a model, and just you and your model requires teamwork to get the photo-shoot done. In addition, I found out from Mr.Vinod how to choose the perfect combination of photographs to make into the Final 5 Project. I learnt that sometimes, it does not work when you put all your best 5 together in a series. You have to see if they all work in sync, and when you put them side by side, they must be perfect together as one theme and one series. You will need all types of shots inside, such as close-up, middle shots, and far away shots to make it vary a little but not too much. Sometimes, you even need to throw out a great shot that you love a lot and replace it with another shot that you do not like at all, and that is exactly what happened to me. I threw away my good shot of the moulding wall and replaced it with a photograph of some rusted gates, which I do not like as much. It pains me, but it has to be done, as it makes the entire series look better. At the end of the day, it all comes down to how you choose your shots. Last but not least, I learned how to write a rationale. Apart from clicking on the link that Mr.Vinod sent to us through Facebook to refer to, I also scrolled through the previous batch's rationales to refer to and to see how to write a good rationale. I also clicked on the link to the previous batch's example link that Mr.Vinod sent to them on the group wall, also to use as a reference. All these really helped a lot, and I learn new things every time.
This week, I learnt a lot from class. Before this, I have never used photoshop all by myself before, as I have always asked my friends Cigie, Katrina, and Jannie to help me to photoshop my photographs. But this time, I did it myself after getting tips from Katrina and Jannie. I have also burned a CD using the laptop for the first time, and hopefully I did not do anything wrong. This is also the first time I have went to the library's computer lab to use the computers for assignment purposes to type the Word Documents and Rationale for photography assignments to pass up, as my laptop had died on me and I was stranded with nothing. This brings me to the next point, which is that this is the first time I am actually borrowing a friend's laptop for a month, just so I could finish my assignment in time. My friend is currently on break and she went for a one month holiday, that is why she lent me her laptop, and I am forever grateful to her for this, as I would never have been able to finish my assignment if I had only depended on the library's computers as the library closes early, and does not open on Sundays. This is the first time I am actually borrowing such a valuable and expensive object for such a long time, and I am very afraid because I am a clumsy person and I am very scared that I will break this laptop during this one month that I am using it. Moving on, in class, I have learnt how to use the soft box, the beauty plate, the electrical box that controls it all, and the light meter. I learnt how to adjust the height of the poles of the soft boxes and the beauty plate. I have also learned the right way to adjust image and canvas size using photoshop. From this week's photo-shoot, I realized that teamwork is very important in photography, especially during studio photo-shoots. You cannot do it all alone, and even if you can, it will take ages and also, you need a model, and just you and your model requires teamwork to get the photo-shoot done. In addition, I found out from Mr.Vinod how to choose the perfect combination of photographs to make into the Final 5 Project. I learnt that sometimes, it does not work when you put all your best 5 together in a series. You have to see if they all work in sync, and when you put them side by side, they must be perfect together as one theme and one series. You will need all types of shots inside, such as close-up, middle shots, and far away shots to make it vary a little but not too much. Sometimes, you even need to throw out a great shot that you love a lot and replace it with another shot that you do not like at all, and that is exactly what happened to me. I threw away my good shot of the moulding wall and replaced it with a photograph of some rusted gates, which I do not like as much. It pains me, but it has to be done, as it makes the entire series look better. At the end of the day, it all comes down to how you choose your shots. Last but not least, I learned how to write a rationale. Apart from clicking on the link that Mr.Vinod sent to us through Facebook to refer to, I also scrolled through the previous batch's rationales to refer to and to see how to write a good rationale. I also clicked on the link to the previous batch's example link that Mr.Vinod sent to them on the group wall, also to use as a reference. All these really helped a lot, and I learn new things every time.
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