Self-Portrait - "Just me, nothing else..."
Photos online are often heavily filtered that we no longer see the features that make us human. I wanted my portrait to be close and 'unfiltered', with natural lighting to show all my freckles, smile lines, and scars which make up who I am. I used Lightroom to make small colour adjustments and add clarity to my eyes to make them stand out.
Equipment used:
- Lightroom
- Olympus OMD EM5 Miii
Camera settings:
ISO - 250
Shutter Speed - 200
F2.8
Lighting
Natural light
Personality Portrait - "Musical Freedom"
I chose to photograph my partner and chose to highlight his creative personality when he's in his element drumming. I'm fascinated by his ability to immerse himself in the rhythm of a song and have freedom within himself, the joy that follows. I used LED lighting aimed at him from the side to capture the movement of his arms. I was hoping to capture some shadows on the walls and tried a longer shutter speed to capture some more movement and blur, but it wasn't giving the look I was trying to achieve. Therefore, I changed up my angles to show his drums in the foreground. I was happy with the angle, capturing the drums, his sticks and the emotion on his face.
Equipment used:
- Lightroom
- Olympus OMD EM5 Miii
Camera settings:
ISO - 400
Shutter Speed - 80
F2.8
Lighting
Cool LED lights
Small Worlds - "A Seal in Need"
I was inspired by some small sea-life toys. As I had a selection, I thought about their positioning, and which would create tension between one another. I settled on the seal as our prey, being circled by two sharks. The seal is calling out for help under the moonlight, their safety relying on the small island of ice. For my first image, I used an iPhone light to act as the 'moon', and hover it above my kitchen bench, to act as light reflecting on the ocean surface. For the second image, I took a bird’s eye shot to add drama, showing the seal looking directly at the camera as it is circled by the sharks. For the final image, I utilised the water levels and light being on the shark and seal to add tension as the shark emerges from the water.
Equipment used:
- Lightroom
- Olympus OMD EM5 Miii
Camera settings:
ISO - 2000
Shutter Speed - 80
F6.3
Lighting
iPhone light
Object Photography – “Rainbow Nights”
I was inspired by this Moroccan lamp head, and thought it would be fun to photograph, imagining the colours it may reflect. While this did not work out as such, it was still beautiful to capture and play with the textures and experiment with how light affects how the eye can see all the various details. My first image is my favourite, which I chose from the contrast between the dark background and the coloured lights in the foreground. I can notice so many more details in the coloured beads, the flower mosaic, and the metal rope lining, that I didn’t notice as much in the other two images. My lighting technique included holding the lighting mostly off the object, to create the dark shadow in the background, holding the light directly over the object, and having the light ½ meter away from the object, to create a natural shadow. I played with rule of thirds and higher/lower angles.
Equipment used:
- Lightroom
- Olympus OMD EM5 Miii
Camera settings:
ISO - LOW
Shutter Speed - 125
F2.8
Lighting
Cool LED Light
Texture Hunt - "You can almost feel it"
I explored my house and tried to capture as many interesting textures as I could find. I settled on these for my final images, as I thought each image was interesting, and looks touchable, as though you can imagine what it might feel like. I also think there is ambiguity with each image, which makes it more interesting.
Equipment used:
- Lightroom
- Olympus OMD EM5 Miii
Camera settings:
ISO - 1000/1000/4000
Shutter Speed - 100/160/200
F6.3/5.6/5.6
Lighting
Natural Light / Cool LED Light
