Body - Workshop on lighting the body

For this workshop we were shown how to light the body, what lighting fell on a person and how to make it harsh or soft. We were also told how to use 'the triangle' to hep us get a better lit photo, a triangle formed on the opposite side of the person face from the shadow caused by the persons nose. 

We worked in groups of three, all taking turns to be the model, the assistant and the photographer. Personally i found taking the photo to be the best part for the obvious reason of having full control of the shoot. I did find that starting as the assistant i was unsure of what the photographer was trying to get across and relied a lot on her instruction to how i could help.

Being the model was somewhat intimidating, I found that when i do have my proper shoot i know that the model is going to have to relax a little for a nice relaxed photo to come out, the last thing i want is for her to feel uncomfortable. When i was taking the photos, it was nice to have full control over the shoot, however i felt nervous knowing that any mistakes made will be entirely my fault, in a way i was hoping i wouldn't have any but now that i look back i'm glad i did as it's all a learning curve.

We were given the task of four feelings those being:

- Venerability

- Pride

- Intimacy

- Aloof

At first i didn't understand why we needed these feelings to take the photo, it really got my thinking about  how the lighting should be for each feeling and how i imagined that feeling to be portrayed. I kept moving the camera angles around, also the height of the camera and how the light effected everything. I even tried a full length shot but found the marked floor ruined it. At first i wondered why but now i realise how useful the workshop was, i look forward to my final shoot coming up in December. 

To get the photos i used Ilford Delta ISO 100 black and white film. Below is a list of each shot and what shutter speed and fstop i used for each one.

- Venerability - 1/8 sec  f2.8 8/10

                       - 1/8 sec  f2.8 7/10

- Pride - 1/8 sec  f5.6 6/10

            - 1/8 sec  f11

- Intimacy - 1/8 sec  f2.8 8/10

                  - 1/8 sec  f2.8 7/10

- Aloof - 1/8 sec  f16.2

             - 1/8 sec  f16.2

 Below is a Contact sheet of my photos from the workshop.

Final quick contact sheet

The dirt is on he paper not the negative, but for a quick print i think this is ok. Im disappointed that they all seemed to come out very dark however the circled 'X' one is my faviroute. The photo was representing Vulnerability and i thought i captured it. After discussing it with Jonathan i found that if her shoulder had dropped slightly it would have been a better photo. Also she is slightly disappearing into the background so next time i need to think about lighting the model properly. I fully enjoyed this workshop, i found my strengths and weaknesses and feel a little more confident when it comes to taking portraits. I'm looking forward to my shoot in December.