first shoot in the studio

Today I had my first day of shooting in the photography studio at Uni. I managed to loan the use of a fantastic Canon 7D camera to shoot my assignment with and wanted to have a preliminary time in the studio familiarising myself with the camera, lights and setup. I've brought in around 8 different plants to play with and experiment with different backdrop colours and lighting combinations. 

Setting up in the studio for the first shoot.

Some of the dried plant collections I've brought in to practice with.

There is a black, grey and white backdrop to choose from in the studio. I know already I'm not interested in using the black. The high contrast in the imagery like for example Robert Mapplethorpe's studio work shown below is not the effect I'm going for.

Robert Mapplethorpe, Cally Lily, 1987

I tried out the grey background and that was quite good.  When thinking about the project initially I was hoping to experiment with using low lighting to create mood and drama but enough light to clearly show the definition in the smallest of details. After trying the white background though it was definitely this one I preferred the most. Along with the use of one warm light and one white light on the lowest settings, I was able to start to get the kind of effect I'm really liking. I don't own a macro lens however but borrowed an extender to try and convert my 15-85mm lens into more macro use. This was one of my first images as shot:

Yarrow

I love the creamy warmth of the imagery. It highlights and completely accentuates the dried brown colour of the spent yarrow stalk. The side lighting hitting the tiny delicate dried flower spikes is exactly what I was hoping to achieve. I'm really excited now - I think this assignment is going to work!

The next specimen I tried though was a seed pod that has wonderful pattern and detail but I was finding it difficult to capture that in the frame. It just seemed too clunky, heavy and harsh. I think the hard edges were overpowering the balance of soft low light. I was also struggling a lot with the ability to focus so close up. Swapping between the extender and the lens was becoming tedious and slow. And finding the focus was hard at times. As demonstrated below. I think I need a macro lens or at least to try another extender.

Callistemon seed pods.

After a few more test shots and experimenting with lighting from different angles along with different combinations of warm and cool lights I think I have a few techniques sorted before my next shoot. Now to sort out the lens.