Test shots in the studio using fabric

I photographed some images with the help of a friend so that I could practice using continuous lighting. That way when the dancer is in the studio I am more familiar of how the set the lighting and capture the image.

When the dancer is in the studio I will still be trying different types of lighting such as continuous and tungsten lighting and maybe trying other lighting sources such as a torch but my aim to to try high and low key lighting when capturing my images.

Below is an example of some of the test shots I captured the studio using continuous lighting.

I used one continuous light behind the person and the fabric as seen below

My inspiration for the image below is from Arno Rafael Minkkinen where he uses different parts of his body to create shades. I wanted to symbolize that the dancer is trying to break free and feels constricted

I asked my friend to try and put her face through again to give the impression that she feel constricted by the material and cant break free but her nose points out too much and makes her look like a form of an animal and she looks like she whiskers. I asked her to then turn to one side and to see how it looks in comparison. I will try this with the dancer and see whether it looks correct or not

My friend turned to one side so I can get a profile image and she placed her face by the fabric. Due to the light in the back and the way the model is its shapes her body and the gives the shadow of the person have different textures. For example her hands are darker that her arm and her arm looks thin and long

The two images below are examples of my friend Emma holding different poses. This is my aim with the dancer to have her hold different poses while I capture her and have her stretching out of the fabric more to emphasize the dancer trying to break free. I will try high and low key lighting.

My idea with the dancer is to try something similar to Martha Graham's dance and to wrap the fabric around the dancer and have her stretching out again to symbolise she is trying to break free. I tried this on my model to see how it would look

Below is an example of the lighting and how it was set up and of how the image turned out to look

The light is coming through slightly so I would over expose the image to make it more promenade. I also wrapped the fabric around Emma and found it looked untidy and did not keep on properly so when I try it on the dancer I will put the fabric on her front first and click it in the back and hopefully the fabric will not come apart and you will be able to more of a shape form

I used one continuous like, I will try and use two lights and put one at the top behind her shoulder area and one further down by her feet so it is more well lite

I then continued to try using the light in different ways and placed it either side of Emma and slighting behind her and asked if she hold the fabric up so I could see how the lighting looked

As Emma held up the fabric I liked the shape of the fabric and what it had formed but I it didnt show her off behind and didnt achieve what I was aiming to get which was the light shining through and giving a more of a silhoutte shape within the fabric

Eventually I wanted to try the same lighting but with the fabric that was more clear and more floaty. I like the concept of the idea that even though the model is within the fabric, because the fabric is soft and see through it is more suttle and more illegant. I would like to try a few of these images to to see how they would look

Below is an example I would like to try high key lighting

Below are contact sheets from the test shoot in the studio