Since classes have recently started again, I have had a recent surge in the amount of shooting I do on a weekly basis, not only for class but just in general. For some reason, looking through photos significantly increases my desire to go and shoot.
Most of the photos in this post aren’t actually for any particular project yet, with the exception of the skateboard pictures which are from my Advertising and Illustrative Photography class. Speaking of that class, we’ve only met two or three times so far but I’m already leaning toward it being one of my favorite classes, if for no other reason than that it makes me think about lighting in a more practical way than I’m used to. It almost seems trivial now in retrospect, but it honestly feels like the suggestion of lighting’s significance will bear strong significance in my future work. For the exercise contained below, we were given the task of shooting the same subject twice, with specular and diffused light (specular being light from a small, intense source that produces harsh shadows, like sunlight at noon on a sunny day, and diffused light being from a larger, more even source that provides generally more uniform light, like a cloudy or overcast day). It’s remarkable to me how much of a difference the type of lighting can make in the appearance of a final photograph.
Advertising and Illustrative Photography is one of the three photo studios I’m taking this semester, the others being Advanced Black and White and Color Photo II; overall it seems like this semester will be a big step forward. Where Advertising and Illustrative Photography focuses on the proper execution of studio lighting and adequate exploitation of natural lighting, Advanced Black and White focuses on the use of 4×5 view cameras. Advanced seems like it will be an interesting change up considering my primary analog experience thus-far has been 35mm and a 4×5 negative is notably larger so it will be exciting to see the level of sharpness that that will provide. In addition, view cameras allow the photographer to manipulate, to a point, what will be in frame, its orientation, and how the depth of field lies offering what will be a very different way of taking pictures. Color seems like it will give me an opportunity to refine my employment of color in photos to a greater point, although I have some background in color photography I wouldn’t say I use color to the extent that it can be used.
