These two pages show an edited selection of photos from some of the shoots for 'Vampires and Artists'. The shoots were quite variable but the total number of shots taken is well into the thousands.
Heather (Bristol library). We explored various shots with mirrors before settling on a reflection in the bookshelf glass. Her pearl earring references this as a common motif in portraits of black slaves in the uk. I should have used a tripod, it was too dark to hand hold and shooting wide open meant the depth of field was too thin in some shots.
Annie (In her studio). We tried various combinations of warm/cool light. The basic 'over the shoulder' composition came quickly but we tried a lot of variants before settling on the 'blindfold head' version.
Ayuko (Spike Open). Not too many versions as it was hard to move the tripod round the very crowded Spike Island and Ayuko is not very communicative when in character!
Will (Dance Film Performance). The idea was to show anger masked - the anger of not being recognised on a red carpet. This is one of the weaker photos in the set and I wish I had made the lighting more interesting I think it would have worked nicely with slow sync flash (blurred movement plus a flash of frozen detail).
Cath (Unity theatre). We played around with the DX controlled lighting panel (which also controlled the hazer) until we got something we both liked.
Catherine (just behind St Anne's House). When I got to Catherine's studio at St Anne's house she was making paper balls and fixing them to her dress. Getting into the stream was a spontaneous idea!
Dee (her studio). Lots of shots, lots of angles. Her studio is full of props for her painting, the tarnished old mirror worked very well.
Finn (Stanton Drew standing stones). We tried a lot of ideas as the sun went down, including reflective tape over Finn's eyes.
Frank (his studio). This idea came about quite quickly - Frank built a den out of his paintings and we draped some fairry lights accross them.
Lou (Spike Island back lot). Strong backlight onto the plastic curtain door and various elements of front light onto the knitted sculptures. The most complicated lighting set up.
Mandy (her bedroom). This shoot came together quickly as she knew exactly what she wanted right from the start.
Mel (darkroom, Bower Ashton). Mel uses colour separation in her own work and we experimented with shooting some shots in different colours to combine as multiple exposure either in camera or in post. Neither worked. The shot we used was her moving a red light across the camera; the flare covering her body and face was serendipitous.
