The last post I made was the mood board that inspired this photoshoot blog. For my weekly visual arts club meeting, we were tasked with creating new art pieces centered around the theme of “shadow”. For this shoot, and after I curated a mood board to inspire me, I really wanted to explore line work, both in architecture and portrait photography. I also decided I was going to shoot in black and white. Every camera will be different, but if you have a Canon Rebel T5 like me, here’s the process:
- Go to MENU
- Select PICTURE STYLE. This is the second tab on the menu for me.
- Select MONOCHROME. My monochrome settings are the manufacturer settings of 3, 0, N, N.
My mood board focused on two different avenues: architecture photography and portrait photography. I decided to go out during the early afternoon for some work with the architecture inspiration, and if I didn’t have enough material to work with, my sister agreed to help me later on in the evening with some portrait shots. Luckily, my outings earlier in the day produced enough satisfying results that I didn’t need to end up shooting portraits as well. (However, I still plan on playing around with those portrait concepts from my mood board later in the future.)
I thought about going into downtown D.C. and working with some of the free museums and sculpture gardens they have available, but ultimately decided to stay more local in Maryland around where I live.
My first thought when considering lighting and where might offer some interesting shadows was, you guessed it, the mall parking lot near my home. It should come to no surprise to anyone who has read my previous blogposts that I love mall parking lots for their convenience and range of use in photography. It did take me a while to adjust shooting in black and white, as you have to consider contrast in a different (mind the pun) light, but I adjusted pretty quickly and was able to start recognizing when a shot would come out good before I even took it. In fact, most of my favorites from the day were those initial pictures I took at the parking lot. One of my favorites, included below, actually played up the whitewashed effect caused by the direct sunlight and black and white mode I was shooting in.
I then headed to a local ice rink, hoping for some interesting outdoor architecture, but ended up not even getting out of the car because I really just didn’t see a lot of potential. Instead, I sat in my car as I looked up different art installations, museums, and gardens that I could use as my next location. I really wanted to go to Glenstone, but unfortunately they’re only open during half the week currently. If you’re in the DMV area, I highly suggest visiting; it’s a really cool space with awesome art installations and sculptures, and beautiful walking grounds. You have to make a reservation, but it’s completely free. Here’s their website for more information.
Instead, I found Brookside Gardens, a park with beautiful grounds, butterfly exhibits, fountains, and an ideal outdoor wedding venue. I actually saw two different wedding parties while I was there. It wasn’t in full bloom, given it’s still early spring, but it was still incredibly beautiful. However, I didn’t find as many ideal shots as I had hoped for; I quickly learned that the business nature often gives is not ideal for black and white photography (at least at the level I am currently at). I definitely plan on returning when it’s in fuller bloom to shoot in color though.
Though I was pretty sure at this point I had enough photos to satisfy the prompt, and knowing my stomach was eager to return home to be fed, I still wanted to go to one more location just to see if I could capture anymore interesting shots. I ended up stopping at a local Church on my home. I got a couple shots I liked, but didn’t spend too long there as I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to disrupt anyone with my presence, even if an official service wasn’t being held.
Overall, I really enjoyed my experience. I loved getting some new inspiration for something other than portrait photography, and I even was able to add some new spots to my list of shoot locations. I loved practicing with black and white photography, and will definitely revisit that setting in the future. (Especially considering the editing I did after the fact was a whole lot simpler once I wasn’t having to color correct excessively, haha.) I’m really excited to share the pictures I captured at my next Visual Arts Club meeting.
Until next time!
EAC Photos 