Coctail Formation
This image is a hard, high-key, constructed, form based still-life. I have created a simple geometrical pattern which leads the eye to the centre. I have focused on the stem of the central glass and used a shallow depth-of-field to de-emphasise the distant glasses. Lighting is provided by a single studio flash through a soft-box, directly behind the glasses. The glasses were placed on a white card. Metering was quite difficult as I wanted to ensure the background was well over exposed but there was no obvious foreground subject to meter. In the end I spot metered from the gold stem of the central glass and subtracted one stop. This I knew would enable the stem to remain slightly underexposed, as it was not directly lit, while over exposing the background. I was not expecting the white card to under expose as quickly as it has in the foreground, this was not that evident with the modelling light. If you look carefully, you can also see that the glass on the middle right is leaning in. I did not spot this at the time and it detracts from the otherwise simple image. I think this is one of the best images in the set, which achieves its end through simplicity of design and form. I like the way the central glass reflects and distorts the shapes of the other glasses.Guinness Coctail
This is the first image I took for the project. I was keen to try black & white at the time and this shot was constructed with the intention of producing a pint slowly clearing from black at the bottom to white at the top while the background was lit black at the top to white at the bottom. However, the black & white images failed because I was not able to achieve enough difference between top and bottom and ended up needing too much contrast at print time to achieve the image I wanted. At the same time I took a set of colour images which do not suffer from contrast problems. In fact, I have learnt during this module that Velvia works well in low contrast situations. As a result of this session I decided to use colour for the project. I used a curved white card background with a flash & soft-box above, pointing down. The idea was that the curved card would mask the top and generate a shadow while the lower section would be fully lit. I used a water spray to provide a nice surface texture and the lime and cherry to add a little colour interest. The results in colour are quite striking. I especially like the graduated background and the diffused shadow around the base of the glass. I have used a small depth-of-field again, and for this image it is probably too small. I could have increased the depth-of-field by increasing the flash power. It would also have been better to ensure the entire glass was sharp rather than the just the cherry. If you look carefully, you can see there are some drips on the cardboard surface on the lower left. I did not see theses when shooting.
Set-piece
This picture was taken during a studio session where set pieces were being constructed. I thought at the time that there was too much going on in this image, but I think I was applying my rules of form. This image works for me on the basis of colour. I decided to focus on the wine bottle and use a narrow depth-of-field so that the peaches in the foreground would blur and provide a painterly feel. Light was provided with a single tungsten lamp on the left and white brolly diffuser. In fact you can see the brolly clearly in the reflection on the bottle. I used an 80A filter with 2 stops compensation and metered from the the napkin, adding a further 2 stops to ensure the white material remained white and was not over or under exposed. If I were taking this again, I would still err towards a simpler image but this works well in the context of the project. I have never used tungsten lights before and was interested in the warmth generated in the image, even after correction.
Fentimans
This image was taken using a single diffused tungsten light above and to the left of the bottles, however there was also a room light on at the time which is responsible for the lower level highlight in the centre. I used a spray to give the bottles some texture. The eye is drawn to the centre bottle well and the plane of focus has been placed on the bottles label. This image is similar to the cocktail glasses in composition but it is lower key because of the use of tungsten and a very different lighting configuration. As a result the overall feel is quite different. Technically, the depth-of-field could have been slightly larger to ensure the neck label was also sharp. However, this would have started to bring in the next layer of bottles and minimise the visual impact. The second light was a mistake, but it does not detract too much from the final result. Overall I feel this is my weakest image in the set, partly because it does not have as strong an individual impact and partly because I think the warm colours don't work as well with this subject
Fish
This is a classic form based black & white style composition but using colour. I wanted to capture an image which made good use of this interesting corkscrew. After some thought I decided on a simple composition using the related elements of the cork and wine glass. I set-up my studio flash and soft-box on the floor pointing up to provide a flat surface and placed a sheet of glass on top. I then organised the items into various positions until I settled on this composition. Because the light was coming from below, the corkscrew was bound to be in shadow. I did try some shots with fill-in flash, but I prefer this one. There is actually some light reaching the top of the corkscrew via the wine glass. Again, the depth-of-field could have been increased to ensure the wine glass was sharp to the top, but I don't think it detracts from the image as it is. I metered from the wine with an extra stop to ensure it was zone 6 and prevent under exposure. If I took this shot again, I would experiment more with fill-in flash and see if I could direct the flash only at the corkscrew. Although I like this image, a little more detail on the top surface would add some interest.
Port
This is an image constructed around a set-piece designed to be low-key and soft. It uses a studio flash and long exposure to balance foreground detail with the fire behind. When constructing the image I placed the items on a small table and positioned them close to the fire but far enough away to ensure the flames would be out of focus. I metered from the nuts using a spot meter and the flash to get f4. I then metered the fire and found I needed 4 seconds at f4. This gave me a 1:1 fill in flash and enough exposure to provide detail in the background. With careful inspection it can be seen that the 4XX on the neck of the bottle is not as sharp as it could be which is a shame. I am pleased with the balance between flash and ambient as it provides a nicely detailed and colour balanced foreground with a warm and not too distracting background.
Cork-screws
This is my favourite image of the project. It came as a result of a studio session where I was experimenting with some corkscrews on my inverted flash and softbox. At first I simply arranged the corkscrews on the softbox in various ways, but I failed to find a composition I liked. I then experimented with some empty bottles I had and was still getting nowhere. Finally, I placed one of the corkscrews in a bottle and noticed how the bottle conducted the light up into the plastic head of the corkscrew, which then became illuminated, bingo! I played with various compositions, but this is my favourite. I really like the way the 'sun' is sharp and peeping through the stars and moon in the foreground. The screws themselves are also lit from underneath but could benefit from a little more definition. I think the image is low-key and hard and works almost entirely on the basis of colour. If I were taking it again, I would try to emphasise the corkscrew elements more by choosing a lower camera angle. This would allow more of the light on the underside to be seen.