Task 8: Other Photographers

Tea Cup Ballet 2

Digital Diary

I decided to go with Olive Cotton's Tea Cup Ballet of 1935. Again, this proved very challenging. I sourced some French Duralex deco cups and saucers, hoping that their translucency might add another dimension to the shadow play. I then sourced a light to create the shadows, and found that dusk was the best time to shoot. 

I spent a long time adjusting all the variables: cup layout, light location/height, camera location/height and camera settings. I used a 28mm lens on f4, focusing on the mid distance. The shutter speed set at 1/60th and ISO 640. These settings seemed to generate the best result: a compromise between depth of field and noise reduction. 

I was interested to read that Tea Cup Ballet became Olive Cotton's most iconic photograph, and that she was a friend of Max Dupain.

Task 7: Panoramas

Panorama 1

Panorama 2

Digital Diary

This task was challenging for me - principally finding the right location and, once I had decided on dawn/dusk, finding the right settings to prevent too much noise occurring in the shots. I settled on dawn at the bay, shooting at around 5.30am, using a slow shutter speed and keeping my eye on the ISO levels. I was interested in the combination of streetlight and naturally occurring light. Found good basic info on dawn/dusk shooting here:  http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1347408&seqNum=9

Task 5: Ostranenie

Setup 1

Setup 2

Digital Diary

Love the Rodchenko shots. Most of his photography speaks of the urban environment in which it was shot. For setup 1, we worked in the Billinudgel industrial estate where there is a great graffiti wall. Experimented with different lenses and with aperture/shutter speed priority. For me the shots that work best are the f4.5 shots focusing on Kathy. Was hoping to do another shoot at the beach using sand ripples, but the windy weather has erased all trace of them. Feeling more confident using basic manual settings and enjoying the process.