I assisted George Coppock in a photo shoot with the new band called the Grammatics.
When I called George to ask if he had any exciting or upcoming photo shoot inline, he told me that things was pretty dead after Christmas and e was just tidying his studio up, ( just after Christmas I wasn't expect George to be fully loaded with work like he was before hand). A couple of days after I called George again to see if their was any updates on any shoots and he told me about the Album cover for the Grammatics, he asked if id like to come and help out because it would be a good experience and id learn some techniques (this was ideal for me because the upcoming week I was asked to shoot a new band called 'Sketchers' and I wasn’t really sure what directing I was going to shoot the band.)
The shoot:
The shoot was at Tadcaster School at 6 pm we arrived. Prior to the shoot of the fireplace (shown above), George had to shoot another shot using the glass ceiling; while he was doing this I unpacked the car of all his lighting equipment.
- I made sure that all the similar equipment was piled together e.g. stands and extra bags were moved out the way to reduce tripping and aggravation.
- I moved expensive and delicate equipment out the way, to stop accident happening. For example, cameras left in the bag adding extra safeness but also moving the bag out the working space until needed.
7.30pm quickly rolled up and the set up (shown above) was sorted and lit correctly for the photographs to be taken, just needed the elements such as products adding to the scene and the bands name ‘Grammatics’ which was displayed using paper (shown on the next post- previous album covers).
Problems;
· Lighting the letters, was difficult because one – the colors had be to correct to stand out from the background and two- the material of the paper from which the letters are cut from, shone little light back into the camera.
- To overcome this I moved the light slightly right (as George asked), to cast the light reflection to another angle, resulting in no light glare and angled shadows making the letters stand out more, hitting two stones with one rock.
· The props the band wanted in the shot had to be symmetrical and look coordinated with the theme of the background.
· The band members seem to argue and never were happy with alterations made by another band member making it difficult for George.
The location/ setting:
· There were detailed fractures that added texture and attractiveness to the image. Such as the marble fire place, the wooden floors and arching stair walkway.
· A lot of the colours were shades of brown and creams.
What I learnt from my experience:
· George faced the light backwards hitting the wall opposite the image to bounce the light back into the shot. This was to have less harsh light hitting the walls in the frame casting softened light creating softer shadows.
· George’s light boxes are different from mine and having him show me how to set them up, I dissemble them an re assembled them again to make it to memories how it is done.
· The clients were not happy with your work, in the end their right because their paying you.
· Time was always an issue – keeping track of time and not spending ages on a shoot when other important shots are more rewarding.
· Simple issues that propped up – the woman’s dress didn’t hang right this made her body look bigger than she was in the image (as mentioned before she wasn’t happy with this). All the band member par one were very conscious about their looks and how they looked in the photograph, which was not knew to me but I just thought been in a band and having eyes on you at all time on stage then this wouldn’t be such a big issue, in the end this properly was the biggest issue.
It was great to learn how to light a room with two lights and keep all the products lit perfectly, I enjoyed setting up the shot and knowing how to basic skills I assisting George, which leads me to believe I could do this for anyone.
