Work Diary - Shoot 10: Multiple Flash Portraits

Evaluation 

For this shoot, the concept was multiple and/or different identities. Therefore, I used the technique Multiple Flash. To do this, my camera was set to the 'BULB' setting, F22 and the ISO was set to 3200. I used a black background in the studio as I believe it allows the multiple flash image to be seen better than any other coloured background. Within this shoot, I wanted to take photos of models whilst they move their heads and pull different facial expressions, so that my camera could capture the movement and different stages of their facial expressions. This continues my emotional portraiture theme, but by using Multiple Flash I can express different emotions within the same image. This shoot was one of the most enjoyable, because it was interesting to find out how the shot would develop once I had taken it, and seeing if it had actually worked. For this shoot, I used two general soft box lights because I wanted the most emphasis to be on the multiple exposure technique; this is a lighting diagram of the set up:

I particularly liked this image because the Multiple Flash technique captured the movement of the model, so that it looks as though her face is a mask due to the outlining around her face. Therefore, in one shot she is looking to the side, and in the other she is looking slightly closer to the front, and in this image we can see both angles. I also like that the flash on the camera has made the model look pale, so the 'mask' looks like porcelain or clay, which looks quite realistic. This shot relates to my project very well because it expresses a different or hidden identity through the 'mask' effect that has been created using this technique. 

In this image I asked my model to move her head from one side to the other, but before the first flash, I wanted her to smile, and afterward, once she moves her head I wanted her to look upset. The idea behind this image was that I could show two sides of a person, the 'happy but fake' side and the 'realistic and truthful sad side'. I like how this image turned out because it literally looks as though the model has two heads, and there isn't much blurring or movement shown from her body, so that the movement was only captured from her head. Therefore, the image has done exactly what I wanted it too.

Progression

Continuing with the multiple or different identities and emotional portraiture theme, in my next shoot I want to explore the idea of mental illness, and use different editing skills to portray the feelings and emotions that come with suffering from a mental illness. It is because of the images that I created within this Multiple Flash shoot that I want to focus more on emotions, which is where the mental illness concept has come from.