Thursday 9th Feb, Show and Tell

I brought in these three images to present at the show and tell today. I felt one wouldn't be enough to explain my idea therefore I brought three that I'd been working and developing with to help me finalise an idea which will express my subject most with creativity.

The first image worked well, the gradient of colour was not planned but presented me with a better outcome than what I'd been receiving sticking to a white background. It pushed the object forward instead of blending and took away the harsh edges that I got from using the white background. I would like to go back and re-shoot this image as well as the other rocks because I didn't use a front light, thinking that would unbalance the colours and create that harsh outline. The object appears to be too dark for the viewer to recognise so some light will need to lighten the front of the object. 

The middle image was an experimentation working against textures which was advised to me during the last group crit. I originally photographed the rock against grey tissue paper but it was distracting from the the lustrous pink of the rock therefore I added a layer of colour in Photoshop which I thought worked effectively and is something I'm considering to do for the final images.

As for the last image I was inspired by Dan Holdsworth for his close ups of Iceland's glaciers. With the test shoot already I felt I was getting somewhere and with the correct lighting in the studio could enhance the landscape I was trying to create. I just need to experiment more with composition so that the rock blends in enough with the texture to create a landscape but is also centre focus as it's the meaning of the individual rocks that's most important for my subject.

Notes from the show and tell:

A few more photographers were recommended that would influence my visual approach and lighting techniques...

• James Man
• John Blakemore
• Rinko Kawauchi
• Lol Keegan

As I spoke of ways to create texture to build a landscape a few other materials were mentioned like silk and flour. Flour seemed interesting to use but using the university facilities I feel the job would be too messy. It's something to consider for the future however.

Rim lighting is something I need to consider with lighting as I want to capture the top of the landscape rather than the full body of the rock. 

I mentioned that the three rocks I intended to use was Amethyst, Rose Quartz and Grey Moonstone, however Matt said that they grey tones against the purple and pink may take away the colour and not fit within the coherency I'm working with. I will consider using another rock to continue the pastel / bright colours. 

I was recommended to review other healing methods rather than just the healing stones such as the Chakra. This had been mentioned to me previously and I'd already considered adding into my visual logbook.

Overall today's show and tell was extremely helpful as we are heading closer towards the submission date. After receiving great feedback about one of my images in particular I feel I have let myself down slightly with time management. If only I had started the project on time I could have developed this project into something very different considering the work I'd normally work with such as portraiture or landscape. I've very much enjoyed the project in comparison to the previous ones. I've become more involved and been booking the studio regularly when free. Out of the year so far I've only booked the studio for the last brief rather than taking advantage of it throughout first year and the first few projects. This is something I will consider and make sure that the second unit I will push myself and create work that I'm satisfied with and want to develop rather than leave it hoping that it will be good enough.