Ian Phillips

Ian Phillips was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland and by the age of 18 he was a DJ at night and studying photography in the day. During his second year he was approached by the BBC to make a television programme about him called 'A style of ones own'. after the success of this he bacame Artist in Residence for Photography at the Glasgow school of art and in 1990 he held a show representing Glasgow as part of its 'City of Culture' programme.

Ian has worked with artists, celebrities such as: Ben Cura, Patrick Knowles, Joe McFadden, Josie Taylor, Christina Cole, Jemima Rooper, Malcolm Temple, Peter Griffin, G L Brierley. He has also worked with various busnises to create some corporate and fashion images such as, BBC TV, EMI, L'Oreal, M&S, TOPSHOP, HSBC, GMTV, Bombardier, Asda and Arcadia Group.

He moved to london in 1991 to continue his successful carrer in photography working with all of the big names in fashion, buisness and television. His Natural no-gimics style has won over many followers and he has since started creating his own Blog.

The above two images are of the same person but of a completely composition. Although the lighting is very similar it gives the two images a different feel, a feeling of mysteriousness. The top one is composed using the rule of thirds where the model is standing in the second line. The use of lighting in the two images highlights his eyes and they are sharp.

Studio Layout Plan - Studio Portrait. (Theme 1)

Plan

In my low key work i will have one light with the barn doors to create a dark moody feeling, I have a feeling i may have to use a black background but i would like to create this effect with just the lighting alone. 

Actual

 

As you can see the actual layout is much different than i had orriginally planned. This was my 1st studio shoot i was a little nieve into thinking that it would be a breeze....i admit defeat. Because of the nature of the shoot, we tried different poses and lighting positions to get it right. I have included some images of the set up and equipment that i used and my favorite 10 images from the shoot will follow in the next blog. There was a last minute addition to the lighting thats not on the floor plan and thats the snoot but it didnt feel comfortable so i removed it.

Maternity Photography.

For my first studio session i have decided to enlist the help of my friend to model for me, the catch is...shes expecting a baby! The reason I'm choosing to create some maternity images of my own is because i simply find the images interesting and hold a story behind them. Taking classy, tasteful, low key images of pregnant women is a beautiful way of documenting an important rite of passage and natural progression of a woman. I have a clear idea of what i want and i have searched the Internet for examples of what i want to create and they are as follows..

Those images are what i want to base my images on but with my own twist on. I have been sampling some images at home using my kit and a speedlight, then working in photoshop to enhance the image further and removing some of the imperfections to create a polished and smooth overall appearance..

ISO-100, 1/80s, f/10

ISO-100, 1/80s, f/10

Statement of intent - Studio Portrait photography Theme 1

Intention.

My aim for this theme is to create a mixture of low and high key images. The purpose of creating  both low and high key images is to explore how the mood of an image changes when you adjust the lighting.

Reasons.

Ive been naturally interested in Portrait photography for a while and whilst researching established photographers such as Rankin, Wolf Kettler and Bart Leger i have come to the conclusion that i would like to do a mixture of high and low key images so i can distinguish between the differences in lighting. I have chosen two images that i would base my final decision on for each as follows:

Low Key.

The low key session will be maternity shots because i see them as being interesting images. I think that they fit in well with the sensual feeling of low lighting and a mixture of colour and black and white images.

High Key.

 

The high key images i intend to produce will be fun and bright. A complete contrast to the images i will produce in the low key section.

Equipment.

The equipment I'm using will the studio equipment at collage and the same for the lighting. 

Camera - Canon 5D

Lens - EF 24-105mm ISUSM

Studio Lighting

Tripod

Techniques and Lighting.

As i will be completing more than one shoot and more than one model to produce my final images the visual messages will be different. The low key session will be low, moody, sensual specifically highlighted images where as the high key work will be bright white and happy.

Health & Safety.

Because the lighting hangs from the ceiling, this reduces trip hazards but walking into the lighting units could be an issue. For the high key work then the room will be brightly lit so every potential hazard can be seen, for the low key work the room will be dimly lit so clear walk ways to the door will be specified.

Homework - Looking in squares.

 This weeks homework is to create 5 images with 5 different objects and a person or people in them. The only setting i can use is manual (m) and each image is to have a different ISO. They have to be cropped into 8x8in squares and be taken using natural light. I haven't used a tripod for any of the following images and i have used my own equipment which is a canon EOS 1000D with a 18 - 55 mm lens. 

   

   

I took this image at home using just the natural light through a nearby

window, the camera settings are ISO 800, shutter speed 1/4s and an 

aperture of f/5. 

This was taken outside and its taken through a structure at a garden

center that i visited recently. The settings are ISO 100, shutter speed

of 1/50s and an aperture of f/18.

This was taken outside, so the lighting is natural. The settings are ISO 400, 

shutter speed 1/60s and an aperture of f/13.

This image was taken in mid-afternoon at the side of a lake in a 

bird watching station. The camera settings are ISO 200, shutter 

speed 1/50s and an aperture of f/10.

This is the final image i have selected for this task, as you can tell

it has a lot of noise in the image and this is due to the high ISO. 

The camera settings are ISO 1600, shutter speed 1/6s and an 

aperture of f/5.6.

 Overall i found this task quite challenging because its the first piece of work i have done. Now that i have worked with the manual settings on my camera i find it easier in understanding what the settings mean and how they work. i captured more images than what i have shown but due to the specifics of the task i have left them out because they have the same ISO. Instead i can use them in further work should i need to. now being able to use flash was also a challenge because even the standard camera flash adds that extra bit of light even on location.

Wolf Kettler...Portraits.

Wolf Kettler is a passionate portrait photographer who likes to explore the relationship between photography and reality. Born in the 1960s, he has been a keen photographer since he can remember. He has the attitude that everybody is beautiful and captures images from the young to the old, male and female.   Although he prefers to work from location he has a studio at his home where he welcomes people to open their soul to the camera.

The composition in these images show the human form as being at its most comfortable, the lighting is very suttle and and adds to the photography meets reality theme. The black and white images of the female form are exposing the female form without actually revealing it. This in my eyes adds to a seductive appeal without being seedy. 

http://www.wolfkettler.co.uk/index.html

These images are more of a classic portrait style from Wolf and these are along the lines of what i would also like to capture. Working with children would be great for creativity because children are fun and you can make bright fun images that would be appealing to the eyes. 

  

What Im doing..

The two themes i have chosen this term are 

1- People and portraits

2- Still Life - jewellery

the reasons for picking these two themes are that I'm interested in portrait photography and want to work on this interest and make it a skilled hobby. The still life part is more interesting because,  i will be working with  items that i cant possibly pose and i will have to make an everyday item interesting.