Project: Tower Block

So, a long spell with no updates again... a mix real-life, being away on shoots, and updating (finally) the folio site to better reflect that we're more Fine Art photographers nowadays.  Still, lots of pics to post from Easter (and some big projects) so lets dive straight in with a concept shoot of mine (Bens) from the Easter Hols, "Tower Block".

This was something of a trial project, trying to experiment with light and silhouettes for an Open Call for an exhibition, and comparing/contrasting urban and countryside imagery.  I wanted the tall, stark shapes of a block of flats (such as the rather austere example in Bingley, next to the Leeds Liverpool Canal which I photographed a couple of months back). 

Back in the days of "Inter-City" http://ribbonartandphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/project-intercity-2015-reshoot.html  I experimented with making passable skyscrapers from packing crates and file boxes and thought something similar might work this time.

This is the sort of thing which will be going on the model making blog soon, but I'm still getting ready to re-launch that so in the meantime, it can go on here...

I should point out we were in Wales at the time, and this was a very short-notice shoot, so a rush down to town and a wander around Wilkos for inspiration turned up this fold-out stacking crate.

A sheet of thick card from the local art shop, and some judicious cutting and gluing resulted in a large-ish standing structure with a kind of cardboard tray which would hold the crate in the right shape.

A few more bits of card and rubbish were added...

Then it was outside to blast the lot with black spray paint from a rattle can.

As with the Inter-City shoot buildings, the inside was covered in masking tape to diffuse the light from some LED push-lights strung up inside, and the effect seemed pretty good.

Then one evening it was off up into the hills to get some test shots- I was mainly up there to snap some pics for another project which needed total darkness, so this was something to do during the twilight...

Much playing with the settings on the camera (and a little tweaking in Photoshop of the hue/saturation) gave the effect I was after.

Certainly the more dramatic angle, below, worked better for me.  As it happened though I didn't end up running with the idea for the Open Call come the finish, but I reckon I might do more with the idea in the future, and the design of the building miniature itself is something I can re-use for the upcoming shoots for "Inter-City".

You may notice the blog has changed design a bit, in line with the new, darker theme of the folio site.  Given we were doing a lot more night-time photos with bright colours, it seemed better to move away from the light blues/whites/greys of the old site... new folio, with some new work (and a proper list of the exhibitions we've done) here:

http://www.ribbonartandphotography.co.uk/

Should be back to regular updates now, so another post from Wales at Easter coming soon...