In this shoot I experiments with gel lighting which is very relevant to my own personal project of colour as well as showing influence from my chosen photographer of Nadav Kander. When setting up this shoot I was using 4 separate light sources. As the image below shows, a soft box was placed in front of the model at a low level pointing up at the model which is effective in spreading the light over the whole body. This also reduced the amount of shadows produced. There was also another modelling light in front of the subject but from a high angle pointing down at the model. These two lights allowed the subject to stand out and also provided soft lighting which was very useful on female subjects as it could enhance their femininity. Two more lights were placed behind the subject with a honeycomb grid attached to it in order to ensure the light was concentrated and travelled directly towards the model. These lights allowed the outline of the subject to be highlighted, making them stand out from the dark background. Throughout the shoot I experimented with different light intensities to see what produced the best outcomes. We then were able to introduce coloured gels which were placed on the background lights. This therefore produced coloured glows which were very effective when aiming to create a particular mood.
I feel that this photograph isn't my most successful from the shoot but I learned something from taking it. I have an understanding of the importance of the choice of facial expression used with particular coloured gels are being used. For example this piece my model is smiling. However this doesn't work well with the colours of red and blue used as the overall colour scheme is considerably dark and sinister. I could've improved this piece by choosing different coloured gels and also increasing the light intensity to allow for a much brighting photo to be taken. I also could've reduced the shadowed areas to allow for a more warm lighting method which would be complimented by warm coloured gels. However I chose to improve this piece by changing the facial expression used as shown in the image below.
In order to create this photograph I turned of the two lights in front of the subject. This allowed for subject to only be lit by the two gelled lights. I then decided to turn off the left light, therefore only having red light coming from the right side of the subjects face. I then slightly turned down the light intensity to allow the piece to be rather dark but still bright enough for the model to be seen. In doing so, I created a very dark photograph with a red glow coming from the right side of the frame. This caused the right side of the subject's face to be enlighted by the light and the left side to be completely dark and blend in with the background. The fact that you can only see half of the model's face produces such an edgy sinister feel as it seems that the subject is lurking in the darkness. The colour red also has connotations of danger and blood which further this horror impression. There are still dark shadow areas on the right side of the subjects face which portray the structure of the facial features. I ensure that I didn't make the same mistake above and therefore made the subject pull a very serious face which is very relevant and adds to the mysterious vibe. This photograph shows a great influence of Nadav Kander's work as I have taken into account the colour gel and facial expression used. This piece produces a very similar atmosphere to the image below taken by Nadav Kander.
Progression:
In my next shoot I would like to try and create the same sinister and mysterious atmosphere but with a female subject and also allow them to stand out from the background more.
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