Nathan Cutler Photography

Will still be posting on here but now have a new blog -

http://nathan-cutler.tumblr.com/

Go check it out and follow.

Also I’m part of a new project over at The Photographers Retrospective so go have a look over there

Over all I am happy with my final result from recreating the Jill Greenberg image. I think that there are some differences but its clear that mine is an interpretation of her work.

I struggled with some things to start the shoot such as placing the front 3 lights to give the correct reflection in the eyes. However I feel like I got there in the end but if i was to work on this images again I would get a few assistance to help control the 6 different lights.

Another difficult I had was with the back two strip lights. Firstly they weren't firing due to the boards blocking the light meaning that their cell couldn't pick up the light. I then solved this by moving the boards slightly but there is still a slight issue with their brightness in the final photo. I would guess that Jill Greenberg would use flash tubes, which give a brighter strip of light, but unfortunately these weren't available to me at college.

The last problem I faced on this shoot would only be solved by using a child as it was difficult to frame the image in the same way as children have a different head to shoulder proportion then adults.

Camera and Lens

I have decided to use the Canon 5D to make this image and used a 24mm - 105mm lens. The 5D will give a good quality and also not need a hot shoe attachment due to the flash port being built in. I then chose a zoom lens, as I won't be able to move closer to the subject easily as I'm shooting through the flash ring on a light stand.

Mise En Scene

I have decided to recreate this image from the series End Times by Jill Greenberg.

Lighting

I have then thought about the different lights I will need to use to get the same effect. To begin this process I looked at the eyes on the image. This showed me that it was two umbrellas and a ring flash to light the front of the face.

After this I looked at the different highlights around the face and found the long strips on either side of the face and in the hair. I decided that these would be strip lights on either side to give the long thin stretch of light. The hair light seemed to be a beauty dish giving some contrast from highlights to shadows.

I then began to think about the backdrop and decided that a focusing Fresnel would be this best thing. I chose the Fresnel as it would let me focus the light and make the glow behind the models head bigger or smaller to fit. I then released that light from the front three lights would ruin this effect so added in the boards to my plan. This will block the light from hitting the backdrop and so the white background can become very dark in the area the Fresnel doesn't hit. To give the white backdrop a blue glow I planned to fix a gel on the front of the Fresnel, as this will put blue on the background but not the model.

"My inspirations range from pop, and simple clean portraits like Irving Penn, and then painters like Fracis Bacon - and then some of the surrealists".

I found this quote in an interview with Greenberg for a book named Photo Wisdom. I found in interesting that she named Irving Penn and like that both my photographers have that link. 

During that same interview she talks about how big the reaction was to the End times series and how the images became so controversial. I then found a Guardian page talking about the work:

"Photographer Jill Greenberg has whipped up a storm of controversy with her new exhibition, End Times. The pictures in the show, for which she deliberately provoked tearful outbursts from children by taking away lollipops she had just given them, have been described by some as tantamount to child abuse.

Greenberg herself insists that the children had the sweets returned within 30 seconds, that no lasting harm has been done, and that her concern was to depict what she says reminded her of the "helplessness and anger I feel about our current political and social situation."

This is my final Echo of Irving Penn's image. I am happy with my final result as I think I have captured the same over all feel within my image. I shot at an aperture of F10 which is a bit of a strange half stop but I put the lighting onto F8 and then decided the image needed to be slightly underexposed so closed down my aperture. 

If I had more time I think that my photo could be improved by using film rather then digital. Also the jacket was pretty small on Jude and so lots of his long arm is showing and he should be wearing a white shirt or give the highlights under the chin. Other then that he made a pretty good Richard Burton. 

This is my lighting diagram for my Irving Penn image. 

I will set the light at F8 and then move the light and model backwards and forwards in order to get the correct shadow and tone on the backdrop. The further the light is from the background the darker it will be due to the effects of the inverse square law. 

I have chosen this photo by Irving Penn taken in 1950 showing Richard Burton the famous actor. I decided on this photo as its very typical of Penn’s style using a simple lighting set up to show a famous or know person in front of a matte grey backdrop.

Lighting.

Over all the image is slightly underexposed with some high lights but lot of pretty harsh shadows. I think that the set up uses just one key light that’s on the photographer’s right hand side and high up looking down. Looking at the shadows and catch light in the eye I have decided that this should be a small soft box attachment.

Camera and Lens.

I would guess that this was originally taken on a medium format 6x6 camera due to the grain and proportions of the image. However I will use a digital camera so will need to crop square and add grain. I think that Penn has also used a wide-angle lens to make the hand so large in comparison to the head. There is no noticeable movement so a fast shutter speed has been used and no blur from depth of field so an aperture of around f8.

Mise En Scene.

The subject is centered in the frame and fills most of the space. He is looking towards the camera with his eyes but his face and body as towards the left of the photographer. The way that his is facing means that half his face shows very little detail due to the shadow.

Irving Penn was an American photographer who shot in many different styles and genres, but is best known for his influential fashion photographs. He was born in 1917 and lived until 2009. Through his career he worked for many clients and companies such as vogue, Issey Miyake, and Clinique.

His work has inspired many more contemporary photographers working today as well as having a massive influence on photography as a medium. Penn was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a simple grey or white backdrop and he effectively used this simplicity.

This was our second image that we were given to practice recreating portraits. The photo is by Robert Mapplethorpe and shows female body builder Lisa Lyon. 

For this photo we used one medium soft box high up on the right hand side of the photographer in order to give a shadow around the body. We struggled with this photo because it’s difficult to get a full-length portrait, as the backdrop isn't high enough. This could have been resolved by moving the model closer to the backdrop but then we wouldn't be able to use the inverse square law to give a grey backdrop. 

We needed most of the light to have faded before it reached the backdrop meaning that the under exposed white would then come out grey. To ensure that the model fit of the backdrop the photographer had to shoot standing on a chair to look down. This solved the issue but meant that the bottom of the backdrop wasn't at the same level as the original photo. 

Echo: Exercise 1 

For this task we were given different influential and famous portraits to analyse the techniques used then attempt to recreate the image. 

The first photo we did was a portrait by Richard Avedon taken from a series called 'In The American West'. These photos were taken outside using natural light with a north facing building as the backdrop however we attempted to recreate this same effect using soft light in the studio. 

For our remake of this image we used two medium soft boxes both close in either side of the camera. They were just above the height of the camera so that the light looks down on the model very slightly. The light on the right hand side of the photographer was the key light and was slightly stronger in order to give the slight shadow on half of the face. The key light was set at F8 and then the other was set just bellow to reduce the light on half the face. The camera was then set at half a stop below the key light to make the image slightly over exposed. The combination of the 2 soft boxes was a very soft light that gave the impression of daylight. 

Bellow I have posted the four final images that I have chosen as my most successful from my colour project. I have also printed these A3 for my portfolio.  Overall I am very happy with this outcome and think that they convey the meaning that I was trying for in my project.

 I think it has also worked well how I have chosen different images rather then having all of them as just head and shoulders portraits as all the different photos give a message. Although the images are different I fell that they still work together as a set and I think that this is due to the composition and framing. In all the photos the subject is placed in the center of the frame and the photos are taken in a very straight way.