Slow Shutter Speed

Throughout this assignment one of my main sources of inspiration has been Michael Ackerman. My initial thought was that his work was created by the use of double exposures but it would now seem more apparent that he works using a slow shutter speed. With this in mind I decided to try and reproduce the appearance of a double exposure/layering in Photoshop through using this alternative technique, to help create the contrasting light one studio light was set at 45 degrees to the subject. Images where taken using both flash and continuous light.

Below are some of the portraits which test this technique, I also used the Mamiya during this photoshoot but unfortunately the film had been loaded incorrectly and none of the images taken had been recorded.

Portraits with Flash

With flash, ISO 125, 2sec, f16

With flash, ISO 125, 2sec, f16

With flash, ISO 125, 2sec, f16

Portraits without Flash.

Without flash, ISO 400, 2sec, f16

Without flash, ISO 400, 2sec, f16

Contact Sheets

From analysing the images i feel that technically those which use flash are better but the double exposure/layering of images which i aimed at achieving is more apparent in the set of images which do not use the flash, it was however harder to achieve a consistent image when working in this way.

Ackerman also uses the same technique within his landscape photography, which I feel evokes a great sense of mood and atmosphere. I decided to also experimented briefly within this genre and below are the images which I created. i took these at night as I wanted the street lights to help create the contrasting light I was looking for in the image.

Contact Sheet

Overall, using this technique has opened up an alternative method to create an image which gives a different perspective on a 'normal' scene similar to that which I am looking into and the landscape photography here is now one area which I plan on expanding for a future brief.

Digital Test and Layering Textures

After my initial experimentation's with double exposures on film I have also decided to touch upon various other methods I can use to create a similar effect. One of those areas is layering, a technique which many photographers have use throughout the development of film and digital photography these include Nancy Burson, Gerhard Lang and contemporary, Idris Khan.

Below are my images which explore this technique; by using both image and textures I have then created a 'new' image. all of these have been taken using my digital camera, a Canon 50D. I chose to use this method as I wanted it to be a true comparison of film and digital photography.

Test 1

For this test I used just one image (image 1) and overlaid it using photoshop, in total there where 3 layers the first was at full opacity and the other two varied from as little as 10% - 70%. I only wanted the effects to be minimal as I was looking at creating a similar outcome to that of a slow shutter speed.

Image 2 is the final image and I'm fairly pleased with the outcome as I feel its slightly more interesting visually than the initial image I started with.

Image 1

Image 2

Test 2

For this test i wanted to experiment with the digital landscape images I had taken on a recent trip to Crosby with the 5x4 camera, I thought I wold be interesting to use textures and experiment with how the feel of an image can be change when doing this.

Image 1 is the texture which I used, and image 2 is the initial landscape before the texture was applied, other various editing to contrast and saturation also took place to create the final image. The method I used was to initially import my landscape and texture into photoshop I then overlaid the texture and experimented with opacity and layer mode, for example soft light and dissolve.

Again I am pleased with the final image and the aged appearance the chosen texture has given the initial image.

Image 1 (texture)

Image 2 (Crosby)

Final Image

Test 3

After experimenting with textures on the landscape I thought it would be an interesting comparison to use this technique on a portrait. The same method as mention in test 2 was again used to created the final image, although the initial portrait was taken using the in camera black and white preset.

The final outcome I feel possesses a real sense of mood and atmosphere, theres a vulnerability within the image which has really become really quite prominent from using this use of editing in an image.

Image 1

Image 2

Final Image

Contact Sheet

5x4 Portraits

Below are some images which I took on the large format camera. I wanted to experiment further with film and both individual and double exposures.

These where all taken on Ilford HP5 (ISO 400) 5x4 film. Again i used only one studio light set off to the left of the subject and with no flash.

Image 1

Double Exposure

Image 2

Image 2 plus texture

Low Light Experiment - Medium Format

This was the first set of images I produced on the Mamiya, initially I wanted to experiment with low light so I used one studio light to the left of my subject on half power and without flash. The film was Ilford HP4 (ISO 125) the camera was place on a tripod with setting for the single images on 60sec at f2.8.

The first three shoots taken were used to record the placement of light on various poses, experiment with composition, and produce images which envoke a sense of emotion within them. I also wanted to work on the technique of double exposures I had touch upon when using the large format camera, with the Mamiya the this would be harder though as the China pen I had used to mark the outline of the first image was not a possibility available to me now so I would have to relay purely on memory when composing the second image.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

As i new the camera setting would create a slightly underexposed image i decided to leave them knowing that this would then create a more correct exposure. The first image was the one which is in focus and i then intentionally zoomed in defocused the image. At this stage the work is purely experimental and i was interested in the effect this would have on the overall image.

Image 5

This was intended to be a double exposure but by mistake I never changed the dial when winding on the film thus creating a triple exposure instead of the single portrait and double exposure I had intended on. The desired effect of showing apart of someone through the second image (tattoo in this case) has still been created and I particularly like the placement of the tattoo over the face.

Double Exposures - Medium Format

After experimenting with the large format with Andy I wanted to try the technique for myself, Dan Mountford's work is something which has really inspiration and these shots where taken with his work in-mind.

A studio set up was used to help create the silhouette and then the second part of the image was photograph creating a double exposure.

layering of objects, depth of field

layering of texture

multiple exposure

experimenting with isolating parts of an image

Large Format (5x4 film) Test Shoot

For my Professional Practice assignment I want to try and develop my techniqe for creating a double exposure. A photographer who's work i was initially inspired by is Dan Mountford, below is one of Mountford's images which was used as a base to create the test shot for this technique.

Dan Mountford

Test shot.

Image of myself, taken with the help of my tutor Andrew Farrington.

How the image was created: