Studio Photography

Studio Photos.

I took some photos in the studio and experimented with different lighting techniques. I also tried to use different backgrounds and textures. I like the outcome on most of the photos, many of them are below. I enjoyed taking photos with the low lighting and the flash stands.

I like the shadowing on these photos and the way that I used my bird skin as the background, creating quite a nice textured piece, however, I believe that the lighted part of the skull are too bright, so I might want to turn up the aperture next time.

I tried a different, whiter background with this one, and experimented more with the shadows on the floor moreso than the shadows on the skull itself. I like the soft atmosphere it has to it, too, the blues compliment the soft yellow of the skull well.

I like the backlight on this photo, and the way it bounces off the skull and the feathers. I also like the extremely dark background, as it makes it softer.

I like the shadows on this picture, and I like the way the lighting shines through the bones. I also like the angle and the focal point of the picture.

I like the way the light shining through the skull makes it look like a latern, the way it lights it up. I also like the light bouncing off the skull, the black background making it the main focal point.

The complexity of this skull is what made this picture to me. I like the way the shadows and light play with the shapes included in it, and the way the red and yellow of the pheasant skin gives it a background.

This is my favourite photo in the set. I like the angles and the curves, and the shadows in this piece. I also like how only a little part of the skull is spotlighted, so the rest is in darkness, making it quite mysterious.

I like this picture for the same reason as above, the spotlighting, colours of the background, and the shadows.

I like this photo due to the background, and how soft it is.

I like the darkness of these photos, and how symmetrical they are, however I like that one side is in darkness, giving them mystery and eerines

I like the closeup of this photo, to the point where its difficult to be able to tell what it is. I also like the way the textures of the skull show up quite well, and all of the small details.

This picture is also quite alien, and very soft. I also like the complex design of the skull and how it plays with the lighting.

This photo is also a light experiment, to see how the light would shadow through the ribs. I like how one side is light and the other is dark, giving it quite a conflicting look.

This picture is quite silent, little to nothing going on, very empty. The blues give it quite a secluded atmosphere, and the shadow is also very soft.

Bones and feathers

Collage bone photography

I decided to take some collage pictures with my feathers and bones. I decided to drop them down anywhere and then take the photo, instead of thinking the photo through. I also used flash as it was very dark, and I thought flash would bring out the colours of the feathers more, too.

I like this photo because of the angle its taken at and the way the light reflects off the spine, the way the shadows play. I Like the way only half of the spine is visible, too. The composition and the complementary colours work well.

I also really like this photo as it works more like a coat of arms  with the composition and the camera angle. The way the photo was taken above the subject and the symmetry to it. I also like the natural look to it. However, I think I could've taken some more time to set the shot up. 

I love the browns in the photo, and how natural it is. The natural lighting also enhances this shot. I also believe the quite natural angle helped out, too. I really like the shadows in this picture and I cant pick anything to fault it. Its definitely one of my favourites.

This is also a set that I took which is based on animal parts, naturally. I like the way that the reds and yellows compliment the bones and how good of a backdrop the pheasant makes. I used very natural lighting for these photos, and I like to think they came out okay.

Drawings

Observational Drawing

I did some observational drawings of the skulls I own and the skulls college owns. I did them digitally, attempting different brush strokes in an experimental style.

I decided to use a brush called "bristle" which is pretty self explanatory and Im very happy with the outcome.

I really like the shading I've done on this picture. I tried to do it quite realistic and quite in depth, whilst keeping it obvious that its a painting. I like the way the britstles make it look natural, and the way the white of the skull contrasts from the dark blue background. I also like the way the drawing is very soft, with desaturated colours, it gives it quite an eerie atmosphere

This was just a small warm up sketch I did, but I like the way I coloured it, it was a more sketchy. I like the way I mirrored the sketch in the background but kept it focused on the main one. This one was just a quick sketch, so I cant really comment about it.

Bones in the dark.

I missed a day of college when we were supposed to be in the photography studio, so I chose to improvise at home to make up for what I'd lost, using my fish tank lights to get a spotlight effect. At some point I decided to involve a metal bowl to attempt to bend the light more. All in all, this photo set is just an experiment with lighting, and I am pleased with the outcome. The photos were difficult to take as the shutter speed was low to make them brighter, and I had no tripod on hand. 

I like this photo, the way the feather is shining blue, and the dark colours, the way many things are in shadow. I also like the natural wooden background, giving the photo a natural image.

I really like bird skulls, they are very complicated and make great photos, so I decided to take two of my gull skulls and photograph them in the dark. I also used a bowl as a reflection for the piece, and I like the outcome.

This was my favourite photo from the shoot. I like the complete total darkness aside from a small part of the skull, and how clear and symmetrical it is. The white highlight is very soft.

This is another one of my favourite photos from this set, I set the skull in a bowl and took a picture, playing with the lights and the blues. It makes for quite an interesting photo.

More bone photography.

Photography at home

I took some photos at home when it was a sunny day, so I decided to use the light to my advantage and take some photos of the skulls I have at home.

I also decided to take advantage of my Grays Anatomy book as a background for the photos, as its vintage and makes a decent background for my project, especially considering my project focuses on anatomy.

Photo taken on F5.6, Shutter speed 1/125, ISO 400

I really like the composition of this shot, and the colours are complementary.  I also like the way the background is blurred so it doesn't steal attention from the fox skull but it is still obvious what it is. The colours are also very soft on the eyes. The lighting was quite bright so I used a lower ISO to darken the photo and give it some kind of atmosphere.

Photo taken on F 5.6, Shutter speed 1/125, ISO 400

This photo was focused more on the perspective using a small depth of field to bring attention to the small details. I like the clarity and softness of this image too, and how you can see the details in the leather of the book as well as the details in the foxes skull. The angle of the photo also makes it more interesting, too.

Photo taken on F 5.6, Shutter speed 1/125 and ISO 800

I wanted to make this picture slightly brighter than the rest so I increased the ISO of this photo. I again like the perspective of this one, and it was supposed to go in harmony with the first photo in this set, just the fox at a different angle. I also really like the holes where the teeth used to be, they add some interest to the image. 

I then decided to take some photos of the inside of the book as a background, as the pages and images look quite vintage too. I also thought as they were diagrams about internal anatomy that I could combine the skulls with the diagrams to express the human and animal similarities.

Photo taken on F 5.6, Shutter Speed 1/125, ISO 1600

I like the lighting on this photo, and I also like how I chose to put the fox skull on the page about the cranium. As I stated above I wanted to create a relationship between the object in the photo and the pages of the book. Again, the page in the book doesnt steal the spotlight from the fox, it works more as a complementary background.

Photo taken on F 5.6, Shutter speed 1/125 ISO 800

I like this photo a lot as it is symmetrical on both the fox skull, the amount of teeth the fox has, and even the pages in the book. However, I do believe that I could've made the left page stand out a little more, it was more in the light than the right page so it came out a little pale.

Photo taken on F 5.6, Shutter speed 1/125, ISO 800

Photo taken on F 5.6, Shutter speed 1/125, ISO 800

More Bone photography

College has a horse skull, which I decided to snake into my project. The lighting in the room was very well lit and very bright, so I decided to take advantage of it. These were the photos I came up with. 

I tried to pick unusual angles, not just taking pictures of the skull, to make it a more visually appealing shoot. I then looked through the photos for the best ones and came out with two.

I really like this picture as the horses eerie death smile shows up very well on it. It has a very eerie presence to it which is what I was going for. I also like the diagonal composition of the piece, distorting the smile on the skull further.

I also like this shot from the inside of the horse. I measured it up so that both sides were pretty much symmetrical and Im very happy with the final result. I also adore the lighting in this piece, its very atmospheric. I think I will use this shot as part of my final piece.