Unit 23 – Photographic Media, Techniques and Technology criteria P 1,2,3,4
When we were first tasked with taking a still life image which draws inspiration from classical art I immediately thought of Vanitas , having seen mention of it in films and tv shows I had previously watched. There is something intriguing about a collection of objects and their meanings and placements and the Semiotics and meaning behind objects. I immediately had an idea of what I wanted to do and I wanted to do it differently, It was after all the idea of the task to draw our inspiration from the paintings not simply replicate them.
THE INSPIRATION
Some of the Images I looked at during my research. I love the idea of creating a still life with hidden meaning or a message withing the visual spectrum of the narrative.
THE THEME
My idea was to do a Scaled down Vanitas consisting of just a few select items that give a feeling of drakness and horror, of the fact that time is moving and nothing is forever, in short, the end is coming and no one is escaping it. To this end I chose a Skull, a candle, a pocket watch and a book of Poetry by Edgar Allen Poe as his themes frequently revolved around death,endings and darkness. I wanted to pay homage to Vanitas paintings I had seen on trips to the national gallery.
LIGHTING
As with my portrait I wanted to put my own stamp on this image, I tried several lighting apporoaches and schemes using speedlights and studio flashes but I really wanted a low key image and the ability to selectively pick out particular components of the scene without over lighting others and taking away the dark shadowy feeling I wanted to permiate the scene. With this in mind I decided that, for the most part, the scene would be light painted using a torch and small snoots and have an element of candlelight (real not replicated) I would also add any small bursts of flash if I needed to.
COMPOSITION AND TECHNIQUE
For this shot I set up my scene on my desk against a black paper roll background to ensure a nice uniform darkness across the frame if any light did spill.

I used a focal length of 24mm on my 700d because I was relatively close but needed to get a wider view at f7.1 iso 100 but I actually combined 2 layers because the candle exposure is vastly different than the actual exposure for the light painting. Had I left the candle burning whilst using the torch the detail in the candle would have been lost and the overall image would not have worked as a candle lit style image. I used an exposure of around 15 to 30 seconds for the main lighting and 1/3 of a second for the candle portion. I used a white torch with a homemade cardboard “snoot” to narrow the beam and even then I used my hand to squash the end and shape the light into a sort of S shape giving a fantastic effect on the skull. Because the light wasn’t uniform I was able to really closely select the exact area I wanted lit and how strongly I wanted that area lit. I used a tripod and remote release to mount the camera and allow me the freedom to light the scene as I wanted with my chosen equipment.


I then used photoshop to edit the images together using layers to make put certain parts then blend using screen blend mode to make sure only the light part of the image was blended. For the most part the exposure was spot on as I was manually lighting so got to choose the best exposed image from the 15 or so I took.
THE FINAL IMAGE

PRINTING
For the Still Life image the paper used was Innova Fabriano Printmaking Rag 310gsm which features a mould made base dating back to the late 13th Century. Fabriano Printmaking Rag is traditionally the oldest and most renowned paper in Europe, used by the masters. This traditional paper provides unique white tones and soft grain texture to your artwork. The blacks on my image were extremely deep and yet the colour in the image was bright and well defined and the whites were equally as good, the texture and feel of the paper oozes quality and the paper hold the ink very well. You can view the paper information HERE
CRITIQUE
Well what can I say really, I am extremely happy and proud of the way the overall image came out. I love the lighting I have managed to create and the ambiance and atmosphere. I love how the candle has picked out the red/gold highlights in the book cover and made it appear to glow which adds alot to the scene. Overall feedback from everyone who has seen it is positive and if I were to really nitpick I think I would like to have perhaps had the composition slightly differently perhaps with more of the book cover seen and a slightly lighter watch face.