Assignment 7

Reflection

This was absolutely the hardest and most difficult assignment yet. I had the most optimistic and overachieving vision for this project. I had purchased a green screen set up back in the summer for a filmmaking class. My friend, Eleanor, had a lighting kit and volunteered to come over and help me set up my "home studio". Unpacking the bulbs and stands and fixtures was like Christmas morning! Ultimately, I am surprised that I didn't hurt myself from almost tripping over the myriad of wires I accumulated during the shoot. I had a desk lamp, the light boxes, and a couple of other household lamps that had made their way into the space.

I saw this little ceramic elephant with a succulent in it and thought it would be a wonderful subject for the project. I had decided, from the start that using one object to showcase the different lighting styles would be the best and most effective way to demonstrate the different types of lighting. The high gloss of the ceramic elephant made the task incredibly difficult and I had to discard a lot of the photos because the square lightbox was plainly visible on the surface of the elephant. When the time came to capture the low_key image, I just couldn't create an image that was pleasing. With feelings of failure, I reverted to the cactus and another little brown produce aisle item that were my backups for the texture image. 

I will definitely reshoot this assignment. One of my biggest struggles was balancing the light. At first, when I ran into a problem, I just added more light which created more problems. Another facet of this craft that is really giving me fits.......APERTURE: when to use which aperture??? And not to feel left out....exposure is still a big problem for me. I start every project repeating the same phrase, "You can do this!" and repeat it to myself continuously. And even though I doubt throughout the process if I really can do this, I do believe that I am getting better. 

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