Blue Suede Shoes

This post is just a look back at a shoot i did last year for one of my projects which was to create a professional footwear shop for an advertisement. I really enjoyed this shoot apart from actually buying the shoes. (I looked a bit weird going into New Look looking for shoes…)

From the start i knew i wanted a strong contrast in my shot which would draw your attention to the actual product. I managed to find some women's blue suede heels so i got a red background, which would also be reflected on the black surface the shoes were on. For this type of photo shoot you really just have to make sure you get the lighting on the product perfect first, then go about moving the model and styling it the way you want. 

Smaller Things In Nature

It is true that when i'm photographing wildlife, i prefer to photograph the bigger animals. When i was in Kenya it was Lions, Giraffe, Elephants. But even back home in "sunny" England i still prefer to try and capture Foxes rather than Insects.

But you don't become a great photographer just photographing one thing. So i got my camera out and set out to photograph the smaller things in nature. Thankfully there were lots of Butterflies, Hover Flies, and Bees around.

For these only natural light was used, and i was zoomed in as far as i could. I also used a low f-stop to get a shallow depth of field.

Not Just Animals

I was looking back at work i've done from last year and there was one thing which i took which i was actually very proud of! And no, it's not wildlife! Last year we had a fashion brief on my course and we were shown the tricks of the trade in photographing product shots of clothing for websites and magazines. One of the techniques shown is called photographing an "invisible mannequin", and it's pretty much what it says. Making it look as if the clothing is on an invisible mannequin...

…which is easier said than done. But i got the hang of the photoshop skills needed, and pretty soon i was very happy with the results. We were set the task to photograph 5 or so product shots, front, back, and in detail, using one of the techniques shown. I chose the invisible mannequin, naturally. 

1st Of December!

Today is the 1st of December! The start of Christmas! I'm definitely a Christmas person. I love the snow, music, mince pies, everything! (See i do like things other than photography and wildlife).

This time last year though i remember getting an early present. My dad got an old Canon A1 35mm passed down in the family and i loved it. But he loved it more and wasn't going to give it to me… But he did surprise me with my own! And a bag full of lenses and film to go with it which apparently he got on the cheap. Needless to say i was very excited to use it. My very first film camera!

During the course of the next few months i went through the film very quickly, especially the black and white film. I couldn't think of anything better than photographing snow in black and white film. Anyway, as it was my first time with film the pictures weren't all perfect. I'd say they have a rustic feel to them. Here are a couple of ones which (for my first attempt) i quite like.