On the final shoot. I got to do exactly what I wanted and that was to shoot on black plexiglass. The only thing I wish I didnt get  was camera problems. I was given a really old camera so I had to learn how to set it up. Then I was having issues with the lighting but that was an easy fix. Then the camera wouldnt focus so I had to use manual. Which was harder because wut looked clear to my eye, was blurry on screen. All in after all the problems I had, I got some of my best shots on the last day. The plexiglass did exactly what I was hoping for and they were my favorite shots. Towards the end I started working with gels and got a beautiful green colored photo. I got the silhouettes I was looking for but not to the extent of what I wanted. My weakness was lighting and trying to figure out the right aperture. I feel that took the most time for me to figure out and costed me most of my shooting time. My strength I honestly can not think of because I felt like I needed help in every aspect except for setting up the objects.  But I can say majority of my best was from the final shoot because I had so much trial and error. So I already knew what I was looking for and didnt have to jump so many hurdles.

The second shoot was ok. I didn’t get different variations like I’d hope for because I was modeling for Peter, Khyriel, and Kelly but the shots I did get were nice and would work for an advertisement. I bought in a shot glass and limes and didnt get to play with them the way I wanted to. Next class I wont be modeling for anyone and I will focus on my work. For the next shoot I’m going to revert back to just the bottle and martini glass and do silhouettes because on the first shoot I started getting nice shots like that but ran out of time. I want to work with plexiglass because I notice that it gives a nice reflection of the glass and the bottle.

I was really disappointed with the quality of my photography for the second shoot. While the setup was arguably the same as the first week, I was trying to do trickier things and it really wasn’t working.

I was trying to get Antonio (who is a great sport) to look like lightning bolts were coming off of his hands. We tried the shoots in a variety of ways – having him stay in the shot so we could measure where to “draw” the lightning, and having him come out of the shot just after the flash went off.

When he stayed in the shot, he was blurry every single time, because it’ s impossible for a human to stay perfectly still for ten seconds, or even eight seconds, or six seconds. We tried many different exposure times and virtually none of them were usable.

When we had him come out of the shot, it was impossible to draw the lightning without overlapping where his head was, or somehow not getting the light to line up correctly.

By the end of the shoot, I’d reverted to my technique from the week prior, and not have him interact with the light. I was just too frustrated.

I got almost no usable shots for this session.

I changed the the contents of vegetables and light settings from the first shoot. I used underneath light this time so the subject got seen pretty vivid and fresh this time; but the one thing that that I struggled with was that the middle of frame had just right amount of exposure but the edge of the flame was dark. Then I tried two underneath soft-box put next each other, then the area where were exposed to the light got wider and softer, so the flamed area got evenly bright. I think it ended up succeeding in terms of lighting this time.

For my final project, I’m creating portraiture that’s enhanced by playing with light.

What worked: there was one really cool shot of Barrington, one of Marielos, and one of Antonio. The shot of Barrington that I liked showed his head, and his torso was covered in a variety of light streaks. He has a slightly mischievous expression on his face that I felt worked in the shot.

The shot of Marielos was one of my favorites because it was the most minimal. It was more of a portrait without the light covering her up too much.

Antonio’s was cool because it was really moody. His face is strangely doubled in the image, but it went with the overall theme, and the way the light is coming off his body is really different than in the other shots.

What didn’t work: in the early shoots, we were all a little overzealous in the light painting, and got carried away. In some of them, the model is all but obscured by the light streaks. Next time, I think less is more. Also, instead of just having my model stand there, I want them to interact with the light more. Do different things with their bodies. Pretend the light is coming off their hands, or write a word or symbol with the light. For as dynamic as the images can be, I was having my models behave in a way that seemed a little static.

That being said, it seemed as though people were really having fun with this idea, and I enjoyed the collaborative aspect of it. And there’s no real way to ever know 100% how each shot is going to turn out. That’s partly why I was drawn to this project in the first place.

I also should play with the settings a bit more — there were some light leaks that got into my shots. It is unavoidable to a certain degree (multiple people shooting while I was shooting), but maybe if I shorten the exposure a bit, less light will get in.