Last week -Festive Winter card & Video :)

Festive Winter Card

Last week our group went outside to take photos of the snow.We took different photographs of the snow for a festive winter card.I had to take a minimum of 15 photographs. Each of the photographs had to show the 'Beauty of Winter'.I had to consider careful composition -look for the best type of "lens mm" to use to best capture the scene.I had also consider the automatic camera settings,Marco Lens,Tripod and people and places. For automatic camera settings-i set the camera to manual  and I set  the ISO,APERTURE and shutter speed.I didn't use a Macro lens for this project and I didn't use a tripod for this project either. I didn't take any photographs of people. We took photographs of icicles,spiderwebs,footprints in the snow,snow falling,snowy trees.My favourite photographs we took were the spiderwebs and the icicles ,as the spiderwebs had detailed beautiful patterns. After, each of the members of our  group made a christmas card with the photo they took.

More photos to be uploaded .......


Festive Winter Video 
Last week our group also went to take a mini video.We used flip cameras to produce this 'Festive winter video',which we put on the program 'imovie'/final cut software to Festive themed music. Each of the members of the group took turns to capture a video to add to the project.I had consider the following for my winter movie;In camera editing,Steady Filming,Zooming in,Pan and Tilt.In camera editing -This is where I had to start to record a scene then when I finished filming the required length of time then I stopped recording the video.I moved to a different position an composed the shot with a different zoom setting. Steady filming -I had to be careful not to wobble the camera,as this can look awful and unprofessional . Zooming in-i had to use the zoom capability of the flip camera to add variety to the filming. Zooming out can add another dimension to my filming. Pan and Tilt- These methods can reveal a scene to the viewer,panning is the shot movement of the camera slowly from one side to another. Tilt is where the camera  starts either at the top or bottom of a scene and tilts the opposite way.

Flip Camera

This is the flip camera I used to take the mini video clip. Its really easy to use as when you the press the red button it starts to record and to stop recording you press the red button again.

Javier Vallhnrat-Fashion photographer :)

Janvier Vallhonrat was born in 1953 in Madrid Spain.He is a fashion photographer.The interest of being a photographer took him to become regular contributor to British,French and Italian Vogue and The New York Times,beside many other publications.He began to work for severeal lead fashion designers,include Comme des Garcons,Jill Sander and John Galliano. He started to work for Yves Saint-Laurent,Chloe, Lancome etc from 1992, and recent years he also had experimented with film of varied advertisements. 

Style of Work

His fashion photography revolved around fine arts as some of his images,the mixing of colour,light and other factors create a fine art photography and telling a timeless dream out of the picture.His colour in his photographs can vary but always displayed by a highly natural way,light creates a very comfortable fantasy scene with proper shadows.By the early 80's,his work was the prediction and the main influence for a generation who learnt that the natural hue of a garment didn't have to dictate its colour in a photograph.He brought a different way of using light,images that are more about experimenting with light.He only leans upon low-tech spotlights and gels to shape a vision of style that connect to the emotional concepts for the image.

"I think Javier  Vallhnrat  uses of lighting is astonishing, you can see every crinkle in the voluminous chiffon sleeve below. They remind me of photo realist paintings."

Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott-Fashion photographers :)

Mert and Marcus are Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott,fashion photographers.Their work and style is heavily infulenced and shaped the photography of Guy Bourdin.They have defined the look of the past decade and as a duo are one of the most respected and acclaimed photographers working today.Mert and Marcus,both born in 1971 in Turkey and Wales.They met for the first time in England n 1994 after worked for a brief period in completely different areas,the first in classical music and the second in graphic design.Marcus was an assistant photographer and Mert was a fashion photo modeler. After working together in photography business they decided to create a team.When they showed their first photos to "Dazed and Confused",the london fashion magazine,they immediately made the cover .

This photograph is of Diane Kruger and its frtom the september 2009 issue of interview Magazine mixies the the fashion of eyes wide shut with German military regalia.It was created with 4 lights.Since this image relies more on shadow than light,they key is acually a silver umbrella at f16(+2 stops) to camera left of Diane and slightly behind her.A large Octabank at f2.8 1/2(-2.5 stops) behind cameta serves as overall fill.Two small strip lights,both at f8,are behind Diane to the left and right.These are aimed down at the floor and provide some separation from the rear wall.This is a black and white photograph and her neck is tilted to the left and she is standing up with one arm on her hip.

Designer,Robert Cavalli has always been one who appreciated the art of the print.The cheetah print that is ,so its fitting his fall anniversary campaign features his adoration of the animal print and the ever so adored Gisele Bündchen. The model queen lights up the Desert literally in the campaign shot by Mert and Marcus.This is fashion photography at its best.From concept to the sensational imagery this campaign speaks ultra-glam and perfectly defines the Robert Cavalli brand.The Dynamic duo Mert & Marcus are behind these marvellous shots and have managed for the numerous time to capture luxurious imagery which  fits for fashion.

Flip camera and Sony HDR FX1

This is one of the video cameras that we will be using to take a video outside, it is an Sony HDR-FX1. This video camera is high definition video handycam with 3 x 1 Megapixel. It also has a 12x optical zoom.

We have been asked to produce different shots on theses video camera's. such as:

• Pan shot from left to right and then a different shot from right to left
• Close up shot of someones face.
• A wide angle shot
• A tilt shot from high to low and then a different shot from low to high.
• A shot which manual focuses on a person walking towards the camera and retaining focus.
• A pull focus shot.

I think that the flip camera was easier to hold, as its smaller and lightweight, however the Sony HDR-FX1 was more beneficial because you had far more manual control than using the flip camera. Although using the flip camera has its advantages, its small and very light weight but the quality of the final video is not that good.

Sony HDR-FX1- Pro's - Much more control- More manual features- Better quality when filming.

                             Con's- Heavy-  Not easily accessible.

Flip Camera- Pro's- Lightweight- easy to use- User friendly

 Con's- Lesser quality of videos.

                    

Studio: Wednesday 1st December :)

We went in the studio to take some photographs and to experiment with different lightning and we also experimented with the coloured gels. The camera we used was a Canon 5D Mark . The main lighting we used was a three in on grid defuser with a honey comb. We also used a colour gel on the background.

This photograph looks too dark, as the model was either standing in the wrong place or the lightening settings needed be adjusted so this would photograph would be better quality. I could of adjusted the camera angle maybe be to make the light hit the model where it should do.

I think this is quite a good photograph, as the blue colour gel looks clear and of high quality. This photograph is more clearer than the first one, as the lighting hits the model in the right place. 

The equipment I used:

Bowen 500w Gemini Lighting (Below)

3 in 1 Diffuser (Above)


Barn Doors - Honeycomb gel set (Below)