David Nemcsik

Untitled
David Nemcisk
2012

Nemcsik is my second artist I am looking at, as I am looking at gravity I looked for an artist that has used levitation in their work. Nemscik has done a project called 'The levitation project', the project was done for a university exam, in this he would ask his friends "Where were you in your last dream?", with this he would take the setting for their dream and use it as the back ground for the photo. He would then have to find the surrounding that were the closest to the dreams, the aim of the pictures is to create a dream like perspective. Through research I wasn't able to find out how he did these particular shots but I did think about using photoshop, taking a picture of someone lying down, and a picture of chosen background then photo shopping the sleeping person onto it. Or having some lying on a table or something in the location then later photos shopping the table out of the picture.
This is what the photographer himself said about his collection;

“I’d like to show that people can levitate. It’s magical and mysterious. They are levitating in a lying position just as if you’d be if you were lying in your bed while you were sleeping.” 

The photo I looked at in particular was the photo shown above, the main reason I choose to look at this photo was because of the relation to gravity and levitation of people. An idea I had at the begging when coming up with initial ideas was to play around with levitation and people jumping in the air to capture the relationship with people and gravity.  This Nemcisk photo is based on the location of peoples dreams, I would like to take this idea of dreams and people mid air into a future shoot. The photo I have looked at for inspiration, above, does make me think of sleeping, dreaming, in a state of imagination, freedom.

Shoot 3 Fast Exposure Evaluation

For this shoot I have used fast exposure on water falling of an umbrella. As in previous shoots I used multiple exposure, I came up with another variation to capture rain falling and flowing down an umbrella.
For the lighting, I placed a light underneath the umbrella covered by a plastic bag so it wouldn't get wet. The umbrella was being held up by a black stand, for the water falling I had someone pour water out of a watering can from  hight so they wouldn't be shown in the photos but to also to replicate rain. In this shoot I wanted to capture the relationship of gravity and water as it falls onto an object.
The photo below is an example of fast exposure that I have found on Flikr.

'Biking in the rain' Fast exposure
Found on Flickr
By Araleya

I think tho shoot worked well as I was able to achieve the technique and finished edit I was hoping for. I also like the way the camera was able to capture the water falling in great detail due to the light below helping to highlight the water, this was also helped by the white umbrella on the black background. To create the dark back ground I had to increase the exposure and shutter speed so the camera would be able to capture as the rain fell of the umbrella. The depth of field is quite sharp as there was nothing else in the background for the camera to focus on as it is dark due to the exposure.

If I were to redo this shoot, I could use different objects to pour the water onto, even just pour straight onto the floor to capture the different patterns created by the water when splashing of different objects. This technique could be used in future shoots as it worked well and could be adapted if I were to incorporate it into another idea.
For the best edit, using photoshop I was able to use the painting tool to cover the stand holding the umbrella and the light seen below in the contact sheet photos.

Best edit 

Contact sheet

Shoot 2 Multiple Exposure Evaluation

For shoot number 2 I have used the technique multiple exposure. I chose to use this as it is able to show the stages of an object falling through the air, this relates well with my theme of relationship of gravity with objects. 

This shoot was done in a studio using a black background, as this helped highlight the object being dropped especially as I used a orange and yellow bouncy ball, making the bright colours stand out better compared to a white back ground. To be able to capture the pictures from my contact sheet below, I used a Nikon D3200 camera, for the lighting I used one soft box from the left hand side of the photo. This lighting also helped highlight the objects. For the shoot I tried to use a sharp depth of field so the camera would focus malignly on the ball that was closest to the lens as it bounced, however this did not work as well as I hoped it would as I did find it difficult to keep to focus as clear as possible.
The photo I have added below is an example of multiple exposure that I have found on Flikr.

'Swinging little zebra'  Multiple exposure
Found on flikr
By Alberto J

I think the shoot worked well as I was able to achieve the shoot I was aiming for using the technique. However it did take a while to get to this aim as it took many attempts to achieve the finished shots. This involved a lot of adjusting of the f number and shots per second. I also think that using the brightly coloured balls as the objects worked well as they were able to stand out and become more noticeable, in the last shots from the contact sheet I also used a yellow ball to see if I could get them both in shot however this did not work as well as the colour was not a noticeable, this could have been down to the lighting not being bright enough, or the focus not being as sharp as it could have been. Perhaps using a bigger object would improve the quality and make the object that bit more noticeable.

If I were to use this technique in future shoots I would use different objects, I thought about food. Using food would be interesting as you would be ale to capture the product falling, then as the food smashes on the floor with some pieces flying everywhere. When doing this I could also play around with the heights in which they are dropped to see if this effects the food as it drops to the ground.

The best edit I chose is used as out of the shoot it was the clearest, best quality and the closest to my intention.

Contact sheet 

Best edit

Shoot 1 Fast Pace Powder and Lissy Laricchia Evaluation

For this shoot I looked at the artist Lissy Laricchia and her photo 'Dust in the wind'. I choose to look at this photo as it uses the technique I have been looking at and experiment with called 'Fast pace flour movement'. As my theme is gravity I thought this photo above linked to it well, powder and gravity.

Contact sheet for shoot 1

Lissy Laricchia 'Dust in the wind'

I tried to recreate this technique used in Laricchias' photo, but using a different movement of model creating a new pattern of the powder in the air. For the shoot I used talcum powder as the powder, the camera was a Nikon D3200, the lighting I used was called 'mixed lighting levels' as this was able to highlight the models body well, but also helped camera pick up the detail of the powered in a good contorts to the back ground.
I think this shoot worked well as I was able to reach what I had hoped to photos would look like, and was able to use the technique successfully. I also thought the blue t-shirt worn by the model stood out well against the black of the back ground, and the white of the powder.
If I were to do this again or in future shoot i would use a different back ground/setting, for instance the beach, or the forest as this could add an interesting element to the photos. I could also change the substance used as the powder to see if this would effect the photo, or change the pattern when in the air. For this shoot I have used a small depth of field as I just wanted to have the model and the powder clear on the photo, I also did this by lowering the F number and increasing the exposure and shutter speed to darken the back ground and use a fast shutter speed so the camera was able to capture the flour in the air.

Best edit

I think in future shoot I would use this technique and artist as it links well to my theme of the relationship with gravity and objects, but also the outcome can be varied as to the movement of the model, and can be manipulated to be able to achieve what you aimed for.

Lissy Laricchia

Dust in the wind
Lissy Laricchia
Not dated

Lissy Laricchia is the first artist i am looking at. Laricchia is a Canadian photographer, in 2011 and 2012 she took part in the project called '365'. in this, the photographer had to take a picture everyday for a year the represented that day. at first try she did not complete the full 365 days, however when attempting again succeeded and finished.
after the project she then went travelling documenting her adventures using her camera and uses Facebook as a platform for her followers to view her work. Laricchia has had work published and appeared on CD and book covers, photography and fashion magazines.

I've learned to sleep with one eye open
Lissy Laricchia
Not dated

Laricchia work ranges in themes and ideas used, for example she did a series of photographs using eyes and placing them on different places on the human body, this collection was called ' I've learned to sleep with one eye open (Especially if you're near)', she used the series to express her feelings about trust issues and venerability in relation to herself. I think the photo is trying to reflect the feeling of being watched, I find the picture quite creepy and unsetteling having the eyes photoshopped onto the hands, its unusual. I also find it very creative in the way that as well as the picture, the name gives it a outline of a story or more information into the meaning of it and why she did it.  This collection was released on Facebook over a long amount of time.

Untitled
Lissy Laricchia
Not dated

The photo above 'Dust in the wind' is from her portfolio collection on her Facebook page, I chose it as it relates to my intention of using the flour technique. The photo makes me think of sleeping as if the model is dreaming, the white of the powder makes it feel pure. However through research I was unable to find out if the photo 'Dust in the wind' was part of a project she took part in, how she did it, or the meaning behind the photo. Also shown in her portfolio collection are some photographs using levitation, which also relates to my theme of gravity and I could use as inspiration in future shoots.

Initial shots - Fast Pace Flour Technique and Multiple Exposure

Using the techniques and artists I have found, I have done some initial shots to get some ideas for future shoots.
First I have done some initial shots using the fast pace flour technique. I chose to do these shots first as I wanted to test to see if it would be viable for future shoots, as I had never used a technique similar to this I wanted to test the difficulty.

Fast pace flour technique

For this shoot I used a Nikon D3200 camera with a test button connected to the top to control the flashes, the lighting used is called mixed light levels, this is where the model has two lights either side, opposite each other both at a 90 degree angle.

Multiple exposure 

This worked well as I was able to achieve the shots I was aiming for, I also found that this technique is achievable for future shoots.

Another technique I found that related to the theme of gravity, is multiple exposure. To be able to capture the shot above I used a Nikon D3200 camera, for the lighting I used one soft box from the left hand side of the photo. For the back ground I just used a plain black material. I used this technique as I found the idea of capturing the object as it gradually falls in stages very interesting, and relatable to my theme of gravity.
In future shoots I think I will use this technique, however using different objects. I though about using food as then the camera would be able to capture the falling staged, but then also as it hits the floor.