Product comparisons to my images

Here are some images that I have found to advertise the products that I have included in my submission.

This is my image created outdoors to give a different view on standard presentation of golf shirts.

These are two images taken from a retailers site for the sale of Nike shirts, the left one being a ladies shirt, the right image being for a boys shirt. Both are valid images, and in a way I have adapted these two images to create my own.

This is an image  taken to illustrate this particular make of golf glove, and I have adapted to a version of this to make my own image.

This is an image advertising the RAM golf glove, plain and simple, with not alot of artistic merit.

This is my version of the Ram glove, which shows alot more detail to the glove, although this an older style of glove and of a different type.

This is also my image showing the packaging and associating the product further with golf with the inclusion of the ball.With a combination of them both the product is well displayed.



Here is the image for the climbers "nuts" to advertise the product. These are the more up to date specifiaction, colour coded for ease of reference, than the items I have used for my image. These have been imaged on a plain background.

This is my version of the climbing "Nuts", ( an older version), but I have included the shadow to emphasis the shapes of the various "nuts". I think yhis is a mors interesting version to that shown above, as it shows some artistic merit which draws your eye, and is just as simple to image.

Irving Penn still Life's

Shown below are some still life images created by Irving Penn. I feel they are somewhat dated but the principle is there. I particularly like the corks on the bottle and the lighting. The others have subtle shadows which enhance the products shape, as in the cheese image. The Vogue cover is a really great advertising feature, but it does have alot in the image to look at, as well as advertising the magazine.

This is a particular favorite of mine. If I was imaging this kind of subject this is the type of lighting I would use. I do like the way that a fellow student, Ruth, has imaged and lit here ceramics etc.

Product influences for final 10 images

The Flute image for Andrea's flute

This is a small selection of images taken from the Pearl website. This is how they advertise their products (in part) but are on their main front page.

This is part of one advert showing one of the different types of flute they have available in different styles.

This is on the opening stream

As is this one

This is not on the web site but shows a different way to shoot the product, although the background does not relate to music.

This is also not on the web site, but is another different way to show the product (see my golf shirts eg).I had considered stringing the flute up and photographing it before I saw this advert.

This is my final chosen image from my shoot which I set up on my dining room table, which is loosely based on the above with my interpretation, and there is still room for some advertising text on the image. Also there is a contact sheet which shows the alterative images I was considering. I chose the image due to the shape and coloring and lighting and the overall look of the image.

This then is my chosen final image

I have used similar techniques to produce the other images in this submission. For example I have included below the contact sheet for Graig's portrait and plastering equipment.

Here is my contact sheet for Craig

And here is my contact sheet Niki

The equipment used for these images was my own, with the lighting units borrowed from college, and using my dining room for all images. I tethered my camera to my laptop so that it was easier to see the results of the image once taken, and also, when photographing subjects the subject was able to see quite clearly the image that was taken, which made it easier to follow my instructions as he had the previous image in his mind to respond to. I have found that this is a good way to enable a better rapport between myself and the subject. I also use a wireless trigger wich makes it even easier to communicate with the subject, rather than trying to talk through the camera. This also makes it easier to move around, and even release the shutter closer to the subject when required to give directions in some cases, or hold reflectors as required, as you can see the image from the subjects position. Also used in this situation was the light meter, which has proved to be a boon and makes setting the camera alot easier.

Health and Safety wise, certainly when at home, you have to be very aware that the trailing cables are well away from the working area, not all plugged into the same socket, after taking note of the electrical requirements from the lights, camera, laptop etc. Also warning others in the house about what you are doing and placing certain access points out of use. Also some subjects will need a braek due to the intensity of the lighting, and this would also give the lighting chance to cool down.

59 Rodney Street, Liverpool

I went to Liverpool yesterday, 30th May 2010, with the express intention of visiting this studio at 59 Rodney Street, Liverpool. This was the last home and studio of Margaret and Edward Chambre Hardman, and is the only known British studio of the mid-20th century where the photographer's entire output has been preserved. It is now cared for by the National Trust.I had booked a tour(only 6 people at a time) and a whole new world was opened up. There currently is an exhibition dedicated to Margaret, which is quite unusual. You can see virtually the whole extent of the areas in which they worked, which have been carefully preserved (under NT conditions), but the staff are brilliant and knowledgeable, and the displays are good. But, when you get into the small darkroom that they used for their personal work you get the overwhelming feeling of the joy that they had in creating their work. It makes you want to do the same. They even play the music that they had in the room. Hanging on the walls are things like his mask for clouds for the Landscapes they enjoyed, and his other dodging tools for example. I was there for 3 hours, and you can take photos inside, but it is quite dark and flash is forbidden.

This is the exterior, and also shows the basket of flowers they put up so that they would be easy to find in the street. Note the 2 plaques each side giving the name of the studio. This is an elegant street.















This image shows the garden and rear of the property, also the balcony where the 2 of them used to breakfast, and has a great view of the Anglican Cathedral. The building has been extended 3 times, but this was done prior to the Hardmans buying the place in 1949. There are still 2 rose bushes in the garden that they used to have.
















This is the chair that the majoity of the sitters would use. You can just see the edge of the tray of tea that was also offered to the sitter/s. Part of the reason was to relax the sitter, but also to moisten the lips, which would then photograph better. This chair was slightly elevated on a small dias, and for this shot was lit by one of Hardmans actual lights. His electrics were somewaht chaotic though, and all lights were operated from one 2 pin socket!!!!!!! When the NT dismantled the kit the wall was very burnt, but no recorded fires have been found!








This image shows the area where the retouching of the image was done. Positioned very near the window this would have been a very delicate process. This area was also a very busy where the staff took tea braeks, chatted etc, so the person had to really concentrate when touching up the photographs, as this was done "longhand", not in photoshop. Mistakes could not be rectified.



These are boxes of film that Hardman recovered from the radiographers next door, who were throwing tham out, to store his prints and other papers in, and fill many shelves in the mounting office. A wonderful room where all the prints were packages etc.

Margaret Hardman

Margaret Hardman

Nothing could be more respectable than the devoted couple who lived at 59 Rodney Street, a smart Georgian house in one of the grandest streets in Liverpool. She ran the business, he, a buttoned-up Edwardian figure, reserved and quiet, took the pictures. Between them they created a photographic firm that proved the only place to go to for flattering portraits of plump babies, marriageable daughters, youths in uniform about to go to war, or aldermen bursting with pride in their robes.

But the photograph Edward Chambré Hardman took of Margaret Hardman in her silk camisole, or the smouldering photographs she took of actors such as Robert Donat, make it clear that there was more to the relationship than dull domesticity.

In 1926, and as a 17-year-old straight out of school, she was apprenticed to Edward, who was 10 years her senior. After she left to get a job in Scotland, tormenting him with accounts of other lovers, they married in 1932.

After her death he lived on as a virtual recluse until 1988, leaving an archive of more than 200,000 images, including thousands recording the now vanished houses, streets, shipyards and slums of his adopted city, an extraordinary body of work leading to his recognition as one of the most significant British photographers of the 20th century.

His belated fame, however, overshadowed his vivacious, clever and ambitious wife. She was the one who chatted up clients, bossed the staff and sent out the bills. But she also loved theatre, opera, dancing and music, wrote poems and music, took part in amateur theatricals, and left a wardrobe of film-star glamour, including dozens of hats and boxes of vividly coloured jewellery. Even her wellingtons had high heels.

It is Margaret whom people who visited or worked in the house remember. She stamped like a flamenco dancer and people came running, recalled a former employee. But they also recollected her kindness: one darkroom worker found at the end of the day that she had replaced his worn bicycle tyres. Margaret also left thousands of her own photographs, many stamped with the firm's name but unsigned.

"I'm starting to recognise them, they have a very distinctive quality," said Ffion George, curator of the Hardman house in Merseyside, which is now owned by the National Trust. "He was renowned for the use of shadows in his work, but she pushed that to extremes."

Her portrait of Donat, one of several of the Liverpool Playhouse stars the Hardmans photographed, transforms an actor usually pictured as gentle and soft into a dangerously sexy thug. "She has a real eye, and there's always a sense of drama in her photographs."

George is certain it was Margaret who inspired the move from the studio's first home in Hope Street, close to many other rival firms, to Rodney Street, a road still dubbed the Harley Street of Liverpool. There the couple lived in three small, dark, back rooms, leaving all the grand high-ceilinged rooms to the business – waiting rooms, dressing rooms, offices, studios, darkrooms.

The house still has its masses of toys, kept to distract and pacify small clients. The lampshades and mirrors on the ground floor, where the clients waited, are subtly tinted pink: the Hardmans could make the most unpromising subject look beautiful. The couple kept everything, including tinned food, even tinned eclairs, and medicines. But according to George there appears no evidence that the pair ever cooked anything except toast.

Margaret had been interested in photography from childhood; her headmistress sent her to Hardman with a glowing reference in 1926, and she quickly learned the business. Within three years she had left for a job in Paisley, clutching a glowing reference from Hardman, describing her as "energetic, most intelligent, versatile, and [with] an excellent memory".

He wrote: "We are very sorry to lose her." Just how much soon became clear. Almost immediately they started to exchange increasingly personal letters, and within months they were "Pearl" and "Gobbles". She sent him photographs and reviews of her roles in amateur theatricals, and accounts of at least two affairs.

That did the trick: after Edward's flurry of panic stricken letters and telegrams they were soon engaged. A touching wedding-day photograph shows him looking down at the pretty woman straightening his tie. They would hardly be parted until Margaret died of cancer, aged 61. Edward, heartbroken, rarely left the house in his remaining years. George said of Margaret. "She was the power in the relationship … and a very interesting and talented woman."

experimental things 2

I had some climbing equipment lent to me as I wanted to photograph it, and I set out into my garden once again, also with some borrowed lenses. Many thanks Ruth. My idea was to create an image of the various pieces of climbing equipment in the form of a man. it would have been difficult to string everything up, so I got my ladder out, about my height and started to assemble my work of art. I had initially tried it out on the ground using the ladder to get over the top but this did not look right, hence "ladder man". Of course, the ladder was too dominant, as was the background, and even with a 50mm 1.8 lens the background was still too much in focus. So, out came the ladder, and I was pleased with the result, but not the background. I then decided to do the individual parts and I really like the results, especially of the harness. In using my garden I had to be aware of other people wanting to use it (so told them not to) and lighting the area, I did not have an extension lead long enough, so no artificial lighting, and I was aware of the dampening conditions due to darkness coming on. I had to be careful with the fishing line as I did not want to cut my fingers, nor damage the tree I was tying it too, nor the goods on show, and also the pulling force one the "arms" as the weight tended to want to pull the supports (lighting stands) over. Although it took a while to create, it took less time to make rather than create in photoshop ( which only to minutes to adjust the final image anyway)

Overall I was pleased with the the outcome, and the product shots I like, as I managed to blur the background as I could get closer to them, rather than being further back for the larger image of the "ladder man". In some ways it has inspired me to name this "hanging by a thread", as climbers rely faithfully on this equipment.

Class art

Some art is almost priceless, as is this portrait by Gustave Klimt, and is the most expensive in the world, sold for a reputed $135. wow
Not only is it the colours, the luxurious gold, like a shower flowing, the black hair and red lips, it is also the pattern on her long flowing dress, the abstract patterns, there is just so much going on. Amid the ornate and colourful background, the subject's face and, in particular her hands, stand out from this extraordinary show of gold. From this we can see that the subject conveys a confidence. This piece of is considered as we know it today as Art Nouveau, with Klimt at this time stretching the boundaries.
Also your eye keeps going round and round. the pose is quite extraordinary as well.
The subject is Adele Bloch-Bauer.

Paulo Lorenso Studios, Newcastle under Lyme

PAOLO LORASO STUDIOS
On Saturday Layla said she had a studio session and tutorial on Sunday, and asked me if I would like to go along to learn more about shoots etc. Needless to say no problem for me, hungry for knowledge and expertise.


And what fun and how interesting. So many tips and being made aware of what to look for. Most of it is only common sense, but you can get lost in taking the image as I discovered on Saturday. They are also the official photographers for the Signal 1&2 camera club.
The studio is a professional studio, and is set up to be very commercial. There were 6 photographers in the session, all working and Paolo introduced us to how he runs his business and where he makes his money. He showed us round his studio, the various lighting set ups he has, why he uses certain products etc for example a make of lights. The studio photographers showed us how to use the models in the studio with the various lighting effects, all operated by remote control, for instant changes.
The studio is permanently set up, and is adaptable for many forms of Photography, from single portraits to group shots. He also explained the various revenue streams that he uses to make his business.
We each of us then were given 5 minutes with each of the 2 models (Layla being one, dressed and made up totally different to Saturday, and Christy the other) with 2 different lighting set ups, but this got a bit higglely piggly, but we got there.
It was really useful and very eye opening to see a studio being run. Very relaxed but professional.
It was an experience that I did not think I would have and I am very grateful to Layla for the Invitation.
You can see some of the images here that I took.
Things I learnt are:-
Inkjet printers don't like dust so use in dust free environment
White ink is free(major cost for studio is the cost of ink-price per ml-generally allow twice the cost of paper for ink)
Models usually have a CD not prints because of this-only print when necessary-then usually 10x8.
Keep each area of the studio separate.
Use the best lighting equipment you can buy as this will last longer and work quicker.
Remote control of lighting leads to quicker changes, and turn round for different subjects, makes setting up the lighting really quick.
Using area lighting makes taking of images a lot easier where required.
Calibrate the camera to PC and printer(Spider Pro eg).
If cropping to 10x8 ensure your subject is in the correct frame when taking image.
Talk to the model not the camera
Don't stand on tip toe to take image.
Be very clear with your instructions to the model, talk face to face not through the camera.
When using projected backdrops be aware of any lines forming on the subject.
Check each picture you take, to ensure it is correctly exposed/in frame/composition is correct/enables feedback to the subject/ and you get what you are looking for.
This also allows you to rest your arms and prevents your hands shaking.
Always use a make-up artist, even for outdoors work.
Use of lighting to emphasize any aspects, or vica versa.

I used the studio 1D to take the shots, mainly as I had not used one before, and it was tethered to the PC. The set up was on 2 monitors, one for the photographer and one for the subject to see, but the results where after the shot taken.
The host Paolo was exceedingly knowledgeable and very hospitable and generous with his knowledge and answered any question put to him, with great amusement at times.
Here are some studio shots.