Above all, I feel that this shoot went exceptionally well, despite the problems I ran into. I like the images, I don’t love them, but I feel like they meet my aims. I wanted a warm on cold contrast between the night sky and the bottle. There is definitely room for improvement though. I would have liked to have gone out on a clearer night, however, with the weather, this was the best I could get. I have thoroughly enjoyed this assignment and cannot wait for the next,
These are the final images of my commercial assignment. Above all, I feel like it was a success, but there is definitely room for improvement.
I went out at around 7pm armed with a Canon 5d mkiii, two Bowens lights, a tripod and a pair of honeycombs. This has to be one of my most challenging shoots to date. I needed somewhere that isn’t burdened by light pollution so that I could shoot starscape in the cold night. I wanted to do this to give my whiskey a warm and cold feeling. The warmth of the whiskey and the cold blue of the night sky. So, I went to Pendle Hill at the foot of the Ribble Valley. After I parked up, I had the difficult challenge of getting the equipment up the hill. Bare in mind it had been raining continuously for days, so it was extremely slippery. After I got to the top of the hill, I set up the lights and hooked them up to the battery. After doing so, I realised that the battery only operates the flash and not the bulb. So I was shooting in total darkness.
After I set up the camera, I set up the whiskey on a rock, with the lights of the town behind it, just for some extra lighting. It took a while of experimenting with different settings and trying to keep the camera from falling over in the wind, challenging as it was, it was rather successful. I feel that I got what I needed. All that is left to do now is the editing of the final six images that I have selected.
Due to the laws around photography it is with in my best interest to generate a code of ethics to work by professionally as a photographer.
The code of ethics above belongs to the NPPA, it suggests that photographers must give the up most respect to peoples privacy. In order to come up with my own code of ethics, I must ask myself an important question. Is this ethical? In order to answer this question, I must answer these.
Asking these questions, this is what I came up with in terms of ethics. This is based off the NPPA code of ethics as a guideline.
It is always important to know the law around your profession. Whether it be contracting or photography.
In general under the law of the United Kingdom one cannot prevent photography of private property from a public place, and in general the right to take photographs on private land upon which permission has been obtained is similarly unrestricted. However, landowners are permitted to impose any conditions they wish upon entry to a property, such as forbidding or restricting photography. Two public locations in the UK, Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, have a specific provision against photography for commercial purposes without the written permission of the Mayor, or the Squares’ Management Team and paying a fee, and permission is needed to photograph or film for commercial purposes in the Royal Parks.
Persistent or aggressive photography of a single individual may come under the legal definition of harassment.
It is a criminal offence (contempt) to take a photograph in any court of any person, being a judge of the court or a juror or a witness in or a party to any proceedings before the court, whether civil or criminal, or to publish such a photograph. This includes photographs taken in a court building, or the precincts of the court. Taking a photograph in a court can be seen as a serious offence, leading to a prison sentence. The prohibition on taking photographs in the precincts is vague. It was designed to prevent the undermining of the dignity of the court, through the exploitation of images in low brow ‘picture papers’.
Photography of certain subject matter is restricted in the United Kingdom. In particular, the Protection of Children Act 1978 restricts making or possessing pornography of under-18s, or what looks like pornography of under-18s. However, the taking of photographs of children in public spaces is not illegal.
It is an offence under the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 to publish or communicate a photograph of a constable (not including PCSOs), a member of the armed forces, or a member of the security services, which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. There is a defence of acting with a reasonable excuse, however the onus of proof is on the defence, under section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000. A PCSO cited Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to prevent a member of the public photographing him. Section 44 actually concerns stop and search powers. However, in January 2010 the stop-and-search powers granted under Section 44 were ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.
Following a prolonged campaign, including a series of demonstrations by photographers dealt with by Police Officers and PCSOs, the Metropolitan Police was forced to issue updated legal advice which now confirms that ‘Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel’ and that ‘The power to stop and search someone under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 no longer exists.’
It is also an offence under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to take a photograph of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or possessing such a photograph. There is an identical defence of reasonable excuse. This offence (and possibly, but not necessarily the s.58A offence) covers only a photograph as described in s.2(3)(b) of the Terrorism Act 2006. As such, it must be of a kind likely to provide practical assistance to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. Whether the photograph in question is such is a matter for a jury, which is not required to look at the surrounding circumstances. The photograph must contain information of such a nature as to raise a reasonable suspicion that it was intended to be used to assist in the preparation or commission of an act of terrorism. It must call for an explanation. A photograph which is innocuous on its face will not fall foul of the provision if the prosecution adduces evidence that it was intended to be used for the purpose of committing or preparing a terrorist act. The defense may prove a reasonable excuse simply by showing that the photograph is possessed for a purpose other than to assist in the commission or preparation of an act of terrorism, even if the purpose of possession is otherwise unlawful.
Copyright can subsist in an original photograph, i.e. a recording of light or other radiation on any medium on which an image is produced or from which an image by any means be produced, and which is not part of a film. Whilst photographs are classified as artistic works, the subsistence of copyright does not depend on artistic merit. The owner of the copyright in the photograph is the photographer – the person who creates it, by default. However, where a photograph is taken by an employee in the course of employment, the first owner of the copyright is the employer, unless there is an agreement to the contrary.
Copyright which subsists in a photograph protects not merely the photographer from direct copying of his/her work, but also from indirect copying to reproduce his/her work, where a substantial part of his/her work has been copied.
Copyright in a photograph lasts for 70 years from the end of the year in which the photographer dies. A consequence of this lengthy period of existence of the copyright is that many family photographs which have no market value, but significant emotional value, remain subject to copyright, even when the original photographer cannot be traced (a problem known as copyright orphan), has given up photography, or died. In the absence of a licence, it will be an infringement of copyright in the photographs to copy them. When someone dies the rights will have transferred to someone else, perhaps through testamentary deposition (a will) or by inheritance. If there was no will, or if the photographer has not specified where the rights in the material should go, then the normal rules of inheritance will apply (although these rules are not specific to copyright and legal advice should be sought). Scanning old family photographs, without permission, to a digital file for personal use is prima facie an infringement of copyright.
Certain photographs may not be protected by copyright. Section 171(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 gives courts jurisdiction to refrain from enforcing the copyright which subsists in works on the grounds of public interest. For example, patent diagrams are held to be in the public domain, and are thus not subject to copyright.
In order to make sure I follow the law accordingly, I will create a personal and professional list of ethics to follow when photographing on location.
My final idea is to bring the studio outdoors. I loved the image of the whiskey bottle outside on the ground. I loved the lighting and I loved the idea. However, I wish to improve on this. Whiskey is a warm drink. It’s coming up to Autumn and the weather will soon change. Leaves are already starting to fall from the trees and it’s mid-October. Whiskey is definitely a winter drink, especially if you want a drink that will warm your insides. I want to make warmth a theme in my photographs. Bring the winter into the images and light the whiskey using studio lights. However, I also want to incorporate something else.
This image is the one I’m basing my idea off. I love the lighting and the vibrancy of the bottle. However, I don’t like the shallow depth of field or the composition. The composition is great, don’t get me wrong, but I want to see more of the background. So this is what I aim to do.
My Aim: To create a small portfolio of images of a bottle of Gentleman Jack whiskey in a location shoot. I will use studio lighting to light the bottle and include a starscape in the background.
My Objectives: I will book out a full frame camera and two Bowens lights with honeycombs. I will then go to a location that is free from light pollution to shoot my images.
After I narrowed down my idea’s, I decided I didn’t really want to do any of them so, after thinking about it, I chose to shoot a bottle of Gentleman Jack Whiskey. I’ve looked at a few photographs of this particular product to try and get a feel for what I wanted to with the product. I know that I want to use a studio setting, but I wasn’t sure on what lighting or even scenery I wanted to use. Did I want to use a soft lighting? Did I want to use an acrylic board for a reflection? Did I want to use a glass? I had no idea. So I began to research existing photographs and came to a conclusion.
The first of these photographs is rather simple. Simple back lighting and a front flash to light the bottle evenly. As much as it is a very good photograph, it’s a bit simple. It would be a perfect photograph for maybe a small magazine or a leaflet for a supermarket, but it isn’t really what I’m looking for. It’s just too minimalist. It’s also whiskey! It’s supposed to be warm, but a white background sadly doesn’t do that.
This next photograph is a little better, but it’s still holding the same issues as the previous photograph. Granted, the background is a little better and the lighting is slightly better. However, it still doesn’t do this product any justice. Again, I feel that this is to minimalist. It needs more.
I quite like this one. Shot outside on what seems to be a car park. I know this because I can make out an out of focus can on the right hand side of the frame. I imagine those lights in the background are also the lights of a pub. I do like this though. It has quite a warm hue to it. I also love the concept of shooting it outside. Using the lights of street lamps and a flash gun, it’s created a beautiful frame of light around the broad shape of the bottle. I think I would like a similar effect.
I quite like the scene in this one, although the use of a wine glass instead of a whiskey glass is just ridiculous. I love the scene, but for me the light is off a little. I can see what the photographer was trying to accomplish with this lighting, but I don’t think it works with this particular whiskey. The whiskey is extremely light coloured, but the barrel and flooring is extremely dark wood. Mixed with the underexposure, it just doesn’t go. The contrast between the light of the whiskey and the dark of the barrel is off. It just doesn’t make it aesthetically pleasing. I do like the use of the glass though, it would be better with an actual whiskey glass though.
Overall, looking at these images I have an idea. Though I’m not entirely sure how feasible it is yet.
So, it’s time to narrow down my idea’s. After I eliminated most of my idea’s for content, I narrowed my choices down to wine, chocolate, food, chocolate and produce. After looking hard at other photographs and weighing up what it is I would like to do, eventually I came to a conclusion.
I found that wine is quite generic and a bit of a cliche. However, it also has the potential to be absolutely beautiful by filling the frame with props to bring our vibrant colours. Chocolate was also another interesting idea. I could have used melted chocolate to bring the chocolate bar down to it’s original form and doing something with that. Food photography is also something I could do, taking photographs of plates of beautifully made food. And of course produce. Vibrant fruits and vegetables to create a bright and beautiful series of photographs.
All of these idea’s have their pro’s and cons, but none of them really stood out to me. I do like the idea of wine more than most of them, creating a beautiful scene with a beautiful bottle that is lit to bring out the shape. It just doesn’t feel right. So I did some more thinking and decided to shoot a bottle of whiskey. I got the idea after looking at this photograph:
I love the shape of the glass, the colour of the whiskey, the reflections off the glass and the ice. I also love the warmness to the background. It just gives the warm feeling a glass of whiskey gives and that is something I can really admire. So I have chose to shoot a bottle of Gentleman Jack, a slightly more expensive Jack Daniels. I got the bottle as a gift for my birthday a few months ago.
I broke down my spider diagram to eliminate idea’s so that I could come to an agreement on which idea I wanted to go with. First I started with unfeasibility and moved forward from there, eliminating ideas due to expense, size and technicality in terms of photographing. This is what I came up with.
As you can see I eliminated;
I eliminated these due to the reasons listed. If they are too expensive, I most likely have these products, but have been used and I would need to purchase new items. Products that are too big are too big to carry every day to the studio etc.
This leaves me with wine, chocolate, food, chocolate and produce. These items are relatively cheap and have great potential in terms of scenery and lighting. I will need to list the pro’s and cons of each item to distinguish which one I want to go with.
I decided to go with product photography after weighing up pros and cons. I decided that it was much more likely that I become a product photographer, than an art photographer. Although I would probably find more enjoyment photographing something a little more creative and abstract, I feel like it is more important to put my likelihood career first. With product photography, there are more challenges and much more to learn as it’s crucial and time limited.
I drew up some ideas so that I could look into them in a little more detail. I did this by drawing a spider diagram on Ms Paint. This way I could save the image onto my blog.
As you can see, I listed many different types of products I could photograph in a studio environment. However, I need to decide whether or not I want to take the pictures in a studio. I will decide this after nI have decided what kind of product I want to photograph.
James Telford 