Sunday 2 May 2010

Catherine; living on the ceiling...

This is Catherine, no stranger to my photography; she puts up with it on an almost daily basis, we're married.

Recently, we had the opportunity to do some shooting in our good friend Paul's house. It is empty at the moment and undergoing major refurbishment. So, in the absence of a studio we headed out there one evening to have a bit of fun.

We have had this shoot in mind for a while now, Catherine in her skyscraper shoes and coloured tights. So off we went.
.
Catherine pink #1
.

Catherine blue #1
.
We had a great laugh and toook quite a lot of shots.
.
Catherin in pink
.
Catherine in blue

The lighting was a simple one light set up; an SB800 and about 1/4 power through a white umbrella from camera left at about 45 degrees. The camera was set to manual at 1/250 and about f5.6 or so. I simply did the test shot and then the rest of the shots were all the same. Quick and easy.

Of course when you shoot in an empty house there are bound to be a few problems, such as... no power. And that means no light. Well, you can imagine what happened... we lost track of the time. I only realised this when the camera was starting to struggle with the autofocus. So we had to pack up in twilight, because I forgot to bring a torch, stupid boy. Fortunately the only thing that was left behind was a filter.

I think the constant flashing from the bedroom windows raised a few eyebrows with the neighbours... enough said!

Thanks to Paul for the loan of his house and to Catherine for being my model... again.

6 comments:

  1. Wonderful how photography gives us the opportunity to experiment and express ourselves in ways no other medium can.

    That being said I'm sure the 'flashes' caused a few curtains to twitch around the neighbourhood :)

    Cheers,
    Glyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Noel, I like the panels you've shown here and the use angle to create the 'living on the ceiling' theme. (I can't get that Blancmange single from the '80's in my head now btw)
    Of the two I prefer the shots with the pink tights - I really find their boldness contrasts well with the muted, pastel colour of the wall and makes them the more striking set of images.

    I'm sure as has been said there was a lot of bemused neighbours that afternoon/evening.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glyn,
    It is always good to have a look at the world in a different way - thats where the architectural training helps. But you are right; photography is a unique and wonderful medium for expressing yourself. Where would we be without iy!

    David,
    that song shows your age - and mine! Yes, one of the neighbours rang my friend Paul and said there was a lot of 'flashing' in the house... i'm saying nothing..

    Thanks for commenting guys.
    Noel

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think Catherine is a fabulous sport! I absolutely love the images of 9!
    She's darling!
    Love the thought of flashes and you're not alone, after reading David's comments I too now have the blasted song stuck in my head.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Kelley - Catherine is a great sport. The photos were fun to take.

    However, now we will all have that song in our heads... aggh - and its all my fault. I'm blaming Catherine...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Noel I do actually like that Blancmange song and have it in my iTunes collection. So don't blame Catherine but take the credit for it instead ;-)

    ReplyDelete