Imacon scans

I wanted to scan my two favorite images from the shoot using the Imacon and they happened not to turn out as well as the epson ones.
They have a green tint over them, which I couldn't seem to correct when scanning, but this is how they came out.



As far as I know i'm not planning on using these images as they are, however if I were to re-shoot them better that might change. They don't really fit as well with the other ones in the series so far.

Concerning negative space

So recently I've really been trying to shoot as much as I can concerned with the Vermeer assignment, and really trying to give myself lots of options for the ever looming deadline.

I wanted now to continue still with capturing this sublime moment, however really experiment with the style of Crewdson. I set up a light that was out of shot and which shone onto my model directly so as to illuminate him. I also chose to shoot from outside of the room in which this was happening so as to appear as if I was looking in and observing.



It just so happened that when I was setting up, I discovered that I could use negative to space to good effect and so composed the image so that the majority of it was in dark shadow.



I first tried out the shots with the model above, trying a variety of different positions with him, however the larger image above seemed to work the best.

With the rest of the shoot I used another model, who was a lot more confident with posing etc, but I feel this worked as a disadvantage to me, as it seems almost that he is acting too much and far too aware of the camera.
Still, here they are...





I think one of the main problems with the shoot was the actual narrative going on within the scene. I knew that to make it interesting and somewhat strange, I would to set up something out of the ordinary, so I chose to have the room full of boxes with coat hangers spilling out onto the floor. However I feel this didn't work to well, and if I were to re-shoot this, a better narrative would have to be created.



This image is my favorite from the ones with the second model. I really like the positioning he is in and the expression upon his face, however I think that my first choice of model worked better.

All in all I think these images work well to some extent, but if I were to use them they would need re-shooting with a better mise-en-scene. The enveloping darkness used as negative space works very well and is the best feature within the image.

Further edits

The idea for this image was to show a sublime moment in time, and so I wanted to have my character looking off, somewhere behind the camera thus leaving the audience in confusion and uncertainty, and ultimately creating an open ended narrative to the scene in which the audience could decipher.



The image above works well with him looking off and out of the frame, however i feel the cigar in his mouth lets the image down.



This photograph, with the two different versions is certainly my favorite from the shoot. The above one was scanned on the epson 4990 and has come out a little too grey, with the quality lacking slightly.

However, below is the same negative scanned in on the Imacon, and it looks a lot better. The colours are much warmer which helps create a dark shadow on one half of the mans face, and gives more of a feel that I wanted for an outcome.

A set up...

Following on along the lines of creating a moment in time I shot these....




I chose to completely set up a fictitious scene once again (as is my usual style), and control all the elements such as model and lighting. I wanted to create a scene in which a man, sat down was drawn to something happening off camera and out of frame. I wanted my image to look extravagant and over the top (so as to add to the sublime), and I did this by creating an old fashioned, stately home scene, wherein the man was sat with his cigar and cognac by his side. The props I was using were essential to my shot, and so I wanted to get everything right and everything looking like they belonged together.

I'm pleased with how they came out, and above is an initial edit of six of the frames.

Progression of ideas

I'm pleased with how in my previous shoot I managed to create a light coming from a location out of frame, however next I want to take it a little further.

It would be good to do that again, however this time create more within the frame; a much more interesting scene. The above sketch is exactly what I want to set up for my next shoot. It could be difficult, but I already have most of the props needed and so I think it will be possible to accomplish.

Second shoot

The main thing with this shoot was to experiment with 6x6 film, and see how square format would suit my images. In actual fact, I had never used 6x6 before this shoot and so it was all new to me, and I had to get to grips with the hassleblad.

It didn't take me long to understand the camera, and so I proceeded to set up for an idea that I had thought of quickly the day before. I simply wanted to shoot in the style of Vermeer in this one, but really make the image appear soft and dreamlike. I chose to have my model naked as to add to this affect and to keep with the neutral colours that the daylight provided.




Above is a contact print of the twelve frames that I shot on the film. The first thing to notice is that about half of them are really dark and half really light, this due to different light readings I took whilst shooting. I wanted to test what the light would look like when a reading was taken from the camera looking towards the model and one from the model towards the camera.

I think it's clear to see that the lighter ones look much better.

The image below is slightly better than the others that I shot, and I wanted to look at it larger so as to show why I wont be using it as a final image.

I do like the lighting and the softness that the photograph has, however there are issues with my framing here, as I didn't get in right and part of the foot is cut off. I simply don't think that a square image works, and I'd much rather stick to 6x7 and the general style and lighting of the image from my previous shoot.

Edward Hopper

I came across the work of Edward Hopper by complete chance while looking through another artsits blog. Hopper was an American painter in the 19th and 20th centuries, working mainly with watercolours. There is a clear resemblance to the work of Vermeer, especially in the sense of lighting as we see similar features used both of their works.

Okay, so the scene within the frame is reversed, but the light being cast in from the window or doorway is so impressive, and in the second painting really illuminates the face of the woman much like how Vermeer used to work, and if we look at the painting below by him we see the similarities.