Advantages and disadvantages of studio photography

There are many advantages and disadvantages of using studio photography, some are different for each different style of photography and some the same for all styles of photography. An advantage for any style of photography is that you can choose the type and amount of lighting you want whilst shooting the image, but on the other hand daylight can look a lot better than studio lighting. Whilst shooting still life photography for advertising using the studio has an advantage because not all objects belong outside, for example a piece of cutlery, they don't belong outside therefore using the studio is an advantage for this type of photography. Weather conditions can also be an advantage of using studio photography because if the weather conditions are bad, trying to photograph an item of clothing or anything delicate could appear to be difficult because it would be difficult to keep the objects still. Shooting in the studio gives you a limit on what you are able to do, for example it wouldn't be possible to throw water or any liquids about because of electrical equipment, or it wouldn't be possible to throw objects about because of equipment all around the studio which are disadvantages of studio photography. Another disadvantage of using studio photography is the space, in the studio there is a limited amount of space, it would not be possible to have anything up high for throw anything too far upwards because of the ceiling, and there is also a limit on how far back you can shoot and the amount of objects or people you can photograph, whereas if these kind of things where to be photographed outside on a park for example there would be more than double the amount of space to do these things. The scenery of a studio is also a disadvantage, using the studio gives you a limit on the scenery and background of the photograph, whereas photography outside there is no limit, you could choose a type of scenery you would like to use and go out and find it, there is a lot of choice of scenery outdoors but is limited within the studio. Shooting portrait photography in the studio has its advantages and disadvantages. An advantage is that the position of the lighting can be chosen, you can choose where you want the light to shine and where on the face you want light and shadow, but a disadvantage of this could be that if you don't want any shadow in the image it could be difficult to get rid of this. All in all studio photography has its advantages and disadvantages, it just depends on the type of outcome image you want whether studio photography would be an advantage or disadvantage.

Studio Equipment

Soft boxes

A soft box is an enclosure around a bulb, which is a type of photographic lighting device. Soft boxes are used to bounce light off a surface to defuse light. It can be used as either a continuous light source or a flash. Once positioned correctly, using a soft box can reduce shadow and give more light to the photographing subject.




Beauty dish

A beauty dish focuses give light towards a focal point using a parabolic reflector. It is mainly used in portrait photography in which the photographers use by pointing the dish downwards onto the model to bring out the models bone structures as well as the facial features, which also creates a nice shadow to distract unwanted skin flaws.







Flash sync
Flash sync is the synchronizing of the firing of the flash with the opening of the shutter. Flash firing too late or the shutter speed being too high causes a dark line of shadow at the bottom of the screen, to stop this happening the shutter speed has to be correct, but not too low which will cause the photograph to be over exposed because too much light is being let in.

Reflectors
Reflectors are used to reflect light onto your model or object you are photographing. This can be one of two, natural light or artificial light.


Backdrops

A backdrop is a usually piece of material hung, but can be anything that can be used to enhance the look of a photograph, and is used as a background of a photograph, in studio photography backdrops are usually black or white but can be any colour you choose or can also feature images. To create a nice image using a backdrop you must make sure that the backdrop and the lighting are working well together. These are usually used in a studio or outdoors.

Third idea - Fashion

For my last idea I have chosen to focus on the genre of fashion photography to create a magazine cover whilst showing reflection.


An example of a magazine I would use for this idea is a fashion magazine. Vogue magazine is a good example of a popular fashion magazine that my idea could go on and would work well with.
















I have researched and found some fashion photography images on the internet. I have chosen these images to show different examples on fashion photography and the way they can be photographed. Some are close up and only show the top half and some are show more of the body to show the fashion. I like the image in the middle on the right because he is smiling and from researching I have seen that a lot of fashion photography images the model isn't smiling, I like that he is smiling because it portrays the image that he is happy in himself and in what he is wearing, and also the way his hands are joined and his body language make me believe that he is young and innocent. But I also think it works well when the model isn't smiling because it looks more serious and with the right pose represents the fashion well. If the model isn't positioned correctly I think that the clothing could become to look less important within the image, when this should be the main aspect of the image, the model is just there to show off the clothing and make sure it looks good. Fashion photographs like the one on the bottom left draw a lot of attention, because they are bizarre they attract peoples attention and the way the photographer has used colour in the background makes it look a lot more exciting than just a plain black or white background, which is what kind of background all of these photographers have used apart from this one image, the black and white backgrounds that have been used go well within those images but for this one a colour background works a lot better. The lighting in the top right images works well because it reflects off his face and brings attention the the fashion and the way he is dressed and what he is representing. Overall I like all of these images and think that in different ways they all work well as fashion photography.

















Julia Kennedy
I have chosen to research Julia Kennedy's work and use her work as an inspiration to create a fashion photography piece because I like the style of her work and enjoy looking through her images. Throughout her work she has different themes of fashion photography but all fit into the same style and link together in a way.

I have chosen this image of Julia Kennedy's work as my main inspiration for my work inspired by image. In this image I like how the light shines through the top left hand corner and the position this image has been shot in.

Intentions
My aim is to create an image inspired by Julia Kennedy using this image as my main inspiration. I will attempt to do this in the studio and I will try to get the same lighting and using the same style of fashion to recreate this image as my own. Whilst shooting this photograph I will attempt to reflect this in a mirror to show reflections. When I am shooting this image I will also be experimenting with different lightings and angle to get different effects and will produce a range of images from which I will choose one I feel looks best.

Second idea - Portraiture

For my second idea I have chosen to focus on portrait photography to create a magazine cover showing reflection within the eyes.



Life magazine is a good example that fits well with portrait photography and is a good example of a magazine cover my idea could go onto. It is also a good inspiration in creating my images to look good once put onto a magazine cover as a lot of things have to be taking into account, for example having the portrait stand out whilst also having text on top.
















I have found some images on the internet relevant to the genre of portrait photography. I have chosen these images because they are good examples of portraiture
. These images show different angles portrait images can be taken in, different positions the lights can be positioned in to give different effects and produces different shadows. Each of these have different facial expression which I feel reflects their mood and what they are feeling. The top right image shows a good reflection of mood with their body language and also with the lighting, how there is barely any light, only on the opposite side to what the image has been shot on which makes it look more like a silhouette, to me this is a deep photograph and I get the interpretation that he is deep in thought, whereas the top left one has a lot more light with some shadow in shows a happier mood whilst having a deep meaning at the same time. The bottom two images have a lot more light and a lot less shadow, I like these images and think that they look good because of the detail in the face, because there is more light and less shadow there is a lot more detail visible and I like these images as an overall portrait. I have researched and found that a lot of portraits are black and white and I think that in some situations this looks better than colour, it gives it a better effect and meaning.

Tom Barnes
Tom Barnes is a portrait photographer who works worldwide and is based just outside London. He has photographed portraits for music labels such as universal records and atlantic records, magazines, and many more companies such as specsavers, comic relief and many others. He has photographed celebrities such as Olly Sykes, Sam Smith, Example, Greg James and bands such as 5 Seconds of Summer and Deaf Havana.

I have chosen this image as my main inspiration of this photographers work and with this I will produce a similar image inspired by this piece of this photographers work. I enjoy this image because I think that it is an interesting yet simple portrait and it shows a lot of detail within his facial expression.

Intentions
My aim is to create an image inspired by Tom Barnes using this image I have chosen as my main inspiration. I will do this by going into the studio and I will show inspiration from this image within my image by also shooting and black and white and will shoot my model wearing glasses. In this I will show reflection within the glasses. Whilst shooting this image I will experiment with different distances and positions of the flash and have a range of different images and in the end I will choose which I feel works best.

First idea - Music

For my first idea I have chosen to focus on the genre of music to create a magazine cover whilst showing reflections within the lighting in the photograph. 

An example of a magazine this idea could be used for would be a festival magazine. I have found an example of a festival magazine, The festival guide, which matches well with my idea and shows that my idea could work well with a festival magazine.

On the internet I have found a range of different photographs relevant to the genre of recording and performing and enjoying. I have chosen these images because they have a good representation of this in many different ways such as the image of the man in the chair represents him being blown away by the music which I feel is a brilliant image and a brilliant representation and I really enjoy this image. I have also found other images such as photographs of musical equipment, microphones and guitars which are objects that are used whilst making and performing music. Although all of these images are a good representation of music and I enjoy them all, my favourites of these images are the images of live concerts, I like these images because they are showing a lot of people coming together to watch one or a range of different artists perform their music and all enjoying it together. The lighting's in all of these images have a big effect and I feel make the images look more appealing and show reflection, I like the way in all of these images everyone has their hands in the air and the way these photographers have caught this has a happy effect in these photographs because it shows everyone is enjoying themselves. Lastly in the third of images the way this photographer has caught the smoke coming out from the stage gives it a better effect and bring something different to the image and also is showing people holding and wearing glow sticks brings colour to this image, these two effects are the things that attracted me to this image and made me want to use it as an example.

Nick Pickles

Nick pickles is a London based photographer who covers gigs, festivals and events. He has been commissioned by companies such as Red Bull, The BBC, EMI, Disney, The Fly and many more. He is also currently working as the house music photographer at Wembley Arena and has previously worked on many other festivals. Nick Pickles style of photography is mainly based on photographing concerts and festivals which includes capturing a wide range of artists in the action of performing from many different angles and distances to create different styles of in concert photography and also photographs portraits of bands, his work has been used for artwork and marketing materials for private exhibitions.

This is the image I am choosing for as my main inspiration of this photographers work, my interpretation of this photograph is an artist in a dark room performing their song that means something to them, I enjoy this image because it is very dark and mysterious and he looks very deep into the song and in this image his hand body language and facial expressions shows that it means something to him. I think that I will enjoy attempting to re create this image and will try to get it as similar to this image as I can. 

Intentions

My aim is to create a piece inspired by Nick Pickles using this particular image I have chosen as my main inspiration, I will attempt to do this by going into the studio and using low key lighting as that is what is used in this image of Nick Pickles work. I will experiment with different exposures and re positioning the flash and the person I will be photographing, using reflection within the lighting, but instead of photographing landscape it will be photographing portrait so it is able to fit onto a magazine cover.