task 1

The task

For this task me and my team of three worked in the small studio space at the university. We chose this location as it was quiet and can be made as dark as you want and we could use as much equipment without being interrupted. 

When photographing we turned the main lights off as when they were turned on the pictures were too bright and the subject was lost in the frame. We first of all shot with the flash on as normal and then with anti red eye selected but there was no difference in the outcomes. We also used a tungsten light to light the subject additional to the flash head but we felt it washed the image out (below pictures). 

with tungsten light:

without tungsten light:

We then experimented with reflection and used light reflectors to try and bounce the flash off of to see if it made any difference than shooting the flash straight onto the subject. By doing this we found that the flash looses its power by about half, therefore leaving the subject only half lit up compared to when the subject has the flash shot straight onto them (pictures below). 

After this we decided to try and experiment with placing different coloured, clear plastic objects in front of the flash to see if it produced any effects like discolouring the subject. We found that the subject adopted the shade of colour which was placed over the flash and it produced an effect which reminds me of old processed photos or aged photos with water damage (pictures below).

From this we then experimented further with places objects in front of the flash but this time only partially. This was to let some of the flash through, in the hope of creating depth to the image (pictures below). As you can see this worked quite well and creates an almost dream or fantasy feeling. 

We also tried experimenting with the positioning of the tungsten light. We tried putting it in front of the camera but that didn't work as the subject was pretty much lost (first two pictures below). We then position the light facing up at the subject which created a very dramatic and sinister atmosphere (third and and fourth image below).

To finish off we tried the flash again but with something darker but transparent in front of the camera to try and tone the flash down. The results were what we expected in that the images turned out very dark (pictures below) but we thought we would try as it could have produced a deep and powerful image if certain parts of the flash caught the subject just a little bit more. 

From this task i learnt that flash if used effectively can be a useful tool but if used wrong it ruins photos as it can wash them out completely. Personally i would prefer to use a natural light source as you know what you re getting. When you use flash you don't really know what the picture is going to look like until after it is taken. I think the best shots taken from the above were the ones with the objects in front of the flash as it created a different and intriguing effect. I think the worse shots were the ones which the flash and the tungsten light was used as they were too overpowering and washed the subject out. 

I feel the purpose of this task was to show us the power of flash and how hard it can be to get it right as too much light washes the subject out and too little and the subject gets lost in the picture.