Idea Blog for 11/19

Moth Film 01, video, Kerry McDonnell, 2009

I did a shoot for Ink magazine at the Byrd over the weekend that focused on fashion in iconic films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and The Devil Wears Prada. In total we did 6 shoots for 6 final images to be run in Ink’s February issue. It was great to be able to work with a team again and not have to worry about doing the styling and makeup and photography all by myself like I did for a majority of my fashion shoots over the summer. I was able to focus on just the photography and hone in on the details for each specific shoot. I worked with about 10 models in a 5-hour period.

Lighting was an issue and a lot of problem solving was involved. I had help from my flash for the really dark areas, but I really didn’t like the way they were coming out as I was having trouble balancing the light coming from my flash with the incandescent light and the sunlight being filtered through stained glass. So: a majority of the shots were taken in the lobby/entrance area where the glass doors allow in a lot of natural light. Not to mention it was a cloudy day so the light was beautifully diffused. It was definitely a challenge to not make those shoots look like they were all taken in the same area.

Again, it was nice to be able to work on something not class-related and it was a great opportunity to network.

I’ve managed to create a short experimental video (about 8 seconds) taking about 20 images from one of my shoots with the moth. It’s pretty cool to be able to see it in motion and the progression of the moth’s position throughout the film. It’s allowed me to see where I need to make transitions smoother and certain parts longer. For instance, the swing in focus between background and foreground needs to be more gradual in the clip I’m working on. I am having an issue, though, getting it to loop without having a black frame and a large jump between the first and last images in the film strip instead of it transitioning directly back to the first frame. There is a choppiness to the film that I enjoy as it reminds me of seeing light flash as something passes in front of a light source. It even more so suggests the movement of the moth’s wings, though not present in each picture. However I think the transition is a little too choppy, but the fastest transition available on the program I’m using is .125/s. I’m going to try this on another program more suitable for projects like this and I’m sure I’ll get the results I desire.