Creating a book

I chose to create a book for my final outcome however it is slightly different to what I had planned. When starting to create the book I realised that actually the smaller size would be inconvenient as it would not show exactly what I wanted to show. I instead created at 11x8.5inch book that had an open panel at the front. When thinking about design I thought hard about what style to give my book. I created it at Jessops and on the machine. For the pages I kept a simple outlook to ensure I was leaving some subtlety in my images and making the most of the blank spaces. I photographed a light switch for the front page as this begins to give some inclination of what my images were showing however not giving too much away.
I began the book by leaving two black pages at the beginning as before light there was only darkness. I then moved on to the first forms of lighting I looked at, this being a simple torch. The image is quite dark and the light is also quite yellow in style. Then I moved on to natural creations of light, this being the 'fire' aspect of my images, using a lighter and matches to illuminate the face. These images are also quite dark and yellow so the first 3 sit together well. In my experiments I then started looking at artificial lights that are used for other purposes. The fairy lights from the Christmas tree were a great example of how even small lights can illuminate the face and still keep the twinkling style of what they are really used for. I then used a red rope light and I took lots of different pictures with this particular form of lighting. I ended up with choosing the image with the rope wrapped around my face. It shows up my eyes and face however does not give out tons of light, hence why it is closer up than the other images. The coloured disco light used next gives off massive dramatic effect, because of the dark shadow over the face. The glow stick image works much like the red rope image giving the idea of a techno outlook on the image. Finally the UV paint image is slightly more playful however shows how even the small amount of face can illuminate the whole face with the tube.

How to present my images

I was thinking about imaginative ways to present my images, this could be in a video or in an exhibition or in a book format. I have decided to take the book format approach as this will enable me to show my images off in a stylish and professional way. The book will be a small photo book perferably square as well, rather than landscape style. I will use black pages to create atmosphere and thinking space between my images, also showing the lighting I used to create the images.

Further experiments with Light

After my previous my experiments outside I brought my images inside to create some different styles that were perhaps more visually pleasing. I used different coloured lights with the usual set up of black background and the camera with the lights turned off. I was hoping that the colour in the lights may create more atmosphere. I had a look around the house to see what types of lighting I could find that would create playful and different images.

I firstly used fairy lights to illuminate my face. The lights were tiny so I wasn't sure just how much of my face they would illuminate. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the lights did actually illuminate my face and they created quite a dark atmosphere that is perhaps seeking more light but the effect keeps the tone down slightly.

I borrowed a butterfly light from my sister, much like the ones that are brought from the circus and other such entertainment venues. The butterfly did give off minimal light meaning that my face was definitely the in the background of the image, with the butterfly taking up the foreground. I think the image is effective though as the shadow from the butterfly is reflected onto my face.

 The glow sticks were found in my room from a party I had previously used them for. They don't give off as much light as the other light forms I have found so they did require the use of a back light which was a torch. I did not want to use flash as it illuminated my face slightly too much but the torch just gave enough light to ensure  did not fall too much into the background. I think the image holds quite a lot of atmosphere in its style with the anonymity of the face being shielded by the sticks.

 I also found a disco ball in the loft. Obviously the image seems quite out of focus particularly with the ball however rather than keeping the ball motionless I let it rotate as that's the normal use of the ball. It gives the image a sense of movement. As well as this, being bright it gives off a lot of light and a lot of colour creating a disco type feel to the image.

 This image is one of my favourite out of the whole set. I was purely coincidental how the  shadow created a mask over my face and I think this takes the image up a level in composition. Because the light gave off so much light it forced its way through my hands to even illuminate up to the face even though it was on the floor. The colours in the image are quite yellow which makes the colour palette quite similar however I think the black of the face enhances the image fully and creates a sense of the unknown.

This image was the most fun to make. I purchased some UV body paint from a local shop but was quite apprehensive about using it as I wasn't sure on its quality. The light is a UV light that is just one tube in the fitting. It illuminated the whole space so did not require any extra back lighting. The effect it has given is brilliant! I did not realise just how well the paint would show up and did not find out until I viewed the images after. As well as the light the use of the paint highlights particular aspects of the face which adds to the overall atmosphere of the image.

This final image was using a disco light that my dad owns. It has a rotating modem inside that rotates to the sound of music or noise. I set it on a table at the height of my elbow and it projected upwards slightly. The coloured light reflections are much bigger than in the other lights I have used, this is possibely due to the fact that the lighting was professional. The colours fully illuminate the face and my expression gives a slight sense of wanting more from the image as the viewer is unaware of where and what the colour is coming from.

EXAM

The exam blog I will be using is as follows; http://sarahjenningsexam2012.blogspot.com/

Venturing Outside.

I went outside my house and used the available lighting around. This included using a car headlight, street lamp and porch lighting.

The street lamp is quite far out and is very yellow so I think this changes the whole look of the iamge to what I wanted. I wanted something a lot darker, this would require more lighting and perhaps some reflectors to bounce back light.

This image is next to the headlight of a car. Again I dont think it works well because of the loss of light around the face.

I think these images work well as the light is pouring down onto my head. This illuminates the top of the face but not too much of the rest of the body.

Yellow lights

After using fire and white light I tried using a yellow light. The yellow light adds some more colour into the image however I am unsure on how effective it actually is. The second of the two has more to it than the first as the looking up can be seen as looking into the sun of such like which I think makes the image more effective.

I then used a reflector. I used this as the background. The gold background was good as it lightens up the images compared with all the others I have previously taken. The gold also matches well to my skin tone which makes me slightly blend in with the actual background, especially in the first of the two images with the duster.

New Explorations with Light

Further to my research on how expression and light affects an image I have taken more pictures experimenting with different types of light. Again I set up a background in my lounge and used different lights to illuminate my face.

Firstly I used two matches to illuminate my face. The use of the matches creates a different style of light different to what I have used before. The matches create a sense of searching as the facial expression gives the idea that by staring right at the fire I am searching for why they are there or what the purpose of the matches are. 

I also used a lighter to illuminate my face. I don't think this is as effective as the matches are as the matches gave a sense of unknown as to why I have them and what they are used for. The lighter looks quite safe however the expression in this image accentuates the style. The image seems quite sinister as the low lighting gives a sense of uneasy atmosphere to the image.

I also again used a torch to enlighten my images. I found a piece of plastic that had lines over it and taped it over the light which created a patterned look over my face. The first and second of the two are perhaps slightly too distorted however I think the last one is very effective as it is a close up and has more emotion than the other two. Also the sense of unknown is also very prominent in this image as you cannot see anything past the face.

I also used smoke. I had some spay smoke that I sprayed all around my face to create a more distorted overlay, however it was very difficult to work with as it was so strong and also moved very rapidly.