Skin Macro - Studio

I shot some more close ups of skin, again using a DSLR with a backwards mounted 50mm lens, but this time with studio lighting. I used a single Bowens light with a softbox, placed directly to the right, and facing upwards to create subtle shadows on the skin, whilst highlighting all the different qualities. I've had the same problem as before, because the camera automatically sets to f00, there is a really shallow depth of field, making focussing very difficult.

I prefer some of these to the naturally lit ones, because of how they've turned out, mainly the range of grey tones. Although the others were really similar, I think having a controlled lighting set up has helped me massively.

I'm going to reshoot a lot more of these, but based more around faces and eyes rather than all on hands like these. I really want to get a huge range of close up shots because of the detail captured in them.

These are probably my favourite of the set, particularly the third one, mainly because there's so much more contrast in all the wrinkles of the skin because of the darkness of the model's skin. I think it's worked a lot better, because there's so much more detail rather than the models with lighter skin, I think I'll bare it in mind for later shoots. 

Marbles

I photographed some marbles with a DSLR and a 55mm lens, I lit the marbles from behind whilst they were sat on white paper to shine through the marble and highlight all the details. 

I've shot these marbles to show that although two things can be the same, they can be massively different, for example all the subjects are marbles, but they have unique qualities which make them individual, similar to people. I thought it would be appropriate because of my 'appearance' theme, and I'll definitely be shooting some similar subjects, because of how well they've turned out.

I really like the detail that has been captured with this lighting, and I'll be using it again for similar subjects. But if I decide to reshoot these in future, I'll get a much wider variety of marbles to get a broader range of photographs.

I really prefer the brighter, slightly over exposed photographs compared to the correctly exposed ones. I like that the light, when passing through the marbles projects colour onto the white reflector to create blue and red shapes. If I reshot marbles with a wider range of them, I'd probably do it like this.

Tattoos

I have photographed people's tattoos on a DSLR as part of my theme, using only natural light from a window. I've photographed them because they're becoming a massive part of people's appearance in recent years (although they've been popular for a lot longer). Seeing someone with tattoos often changes the way you look at them, when really tattoos are just art. Personally, I think it's incredibly unfair to discriminate against people with tattoos, it doesn't affect anybody else in the slightest, so why should it matter? A prime example would be job interviews, people are instantly shunned, and usually rejected for having any kind of tattoo or piercing because it 'looks bad' or 'unprofessional'. Neither of those things are true, if it makes somebody happier to have tattoos, then it shouldn't matter what they look like.

This is probably my favourite shot from the set. The models arm is only in focus with a shallow depth of field, so most of the tattoo looks really soft. As well as that, the light from the window isn't particularly bright, so it only lights the side of the arm closest, leaving the rest in a smooth shadow.

Skin Macro

These are some shots taken on my DSLR with a 50mm 1.8 lens, mounted backwards with a reversal ring which allows it to be used like a macro lens. The problem with this is that there is no electronic connection between the lens and the camera body, so the aperture can't be changed and all focussing has to be done manually, and because the aperture is constantly set to f00, the photographs have an incredibly shallow depth of field. I didn't use controlled lighting for these photographs, the model was sat next to a window, which I think has turned out a lot better than using studio lighting, the skin appears a lot soften, and nicely exposed despite the difficulty with the lens/camera.

I like these photographs because of the massive amount of detail captured by using the lens this way, even though there is only a small part of the photograph in focus, the closeness really brings out the detail in all of the skin. As well as this, the photographs are quite abstract, not all of them are clear which body part they are, which I feel is definitely a positive quality, and one I'll be trying to use more often.

I like this one the least from the set, it's a lot more obvious and clear what it is unlike the others, which puts me off. I'd like to try reshooting mouths in a more abstract way, similar to the rest of this set.

This is my favourite shot from the set, I like how the light really highlights every bump in the skin. As well as that, you can't really tell what it is straight away, and it makes the viewer have to think a lot more about it, rather than acknowledging it and moving on.