A different approach (mouldy boots)

dnme

Folks,

This might be of interest or might not, lets see.
I have a pair of old boots that have gone half way round the world with me. For the past six months I have been unable to find them until the other night when I came across them all mouldy. So I decided to throw them out. But over the past few days, I have decided that before they go, I'd like to photograph them as we have been through so much together and they hold centimental value.

The atached photo, is the boots taken just now on the kitchen floor. As a beginner, I thought it might be useful / interesting to post here looking for ideas as to how I might take a great shot of these boots / setup / lighting / composition / whathaveyou. So, here they are. any suggestions as to how I might photograph them ?

.Longshanks.

An ironic approach like below

dnme

ke ke ke ke ke :D

but seriously......

DK32

How about placing on top of a pile of Autumn leaves. The colours should work well together.

sineadw

Oo I'd be for doing a stop motion jobbie on them. Bring them on one last little journey!

KarmaGarda

I was thinking stop motion too!

Also, another idea, how about photographing them beside prestine clothes? Like a tuxedo, sophisticated dress, or similar.

dnme

wow, great to see great replies especially as Im a beginner (this thread could be very helpful to me and others)

Can I ask, what do you mean by stop motion ? I know that in general, stop motion means freezing time with a fast shutter speed, but in the case of the boots, they are just sitting there, they are not moving.....
Are you talking about throwing / dropping them ?

KarmaGarda

good example here on wiki

KarmaGarda

Basically move the boots little by little and take a photo of each increment. Then put them together like a movie.

dnme

KarmaGarda wrote: »

Basically move the boots little by little and take a photo of each increment. Then put them together like a movie.

ah you mean I end up with an animation, gotcha ya now. Unfortunately not what I had in mind. I am very much hoping to learn a bit about still photography, setup, composition and creatiuve ideas / inspiration etc. (but a big thank you for the response)

Dodgykeeper

Receate this



Actually looks like you have!

Chorcai

^^^^^^^^ resize it plz its HUGE !!

so your not using them anymore ? Well ya could do the stop motion thing, but have the boots walking into fire/or set em on fire !

KarmaGarda

Well, you could go all out, hire a model and a studio and do a proper studio shot with the model wearing nice clothes and a pair of mouldy boots. Or better again, naked apart from a pair of mouldy boots.

dnme

KarmaGarda wrote: »

Well, you could go all out, hire a model and a studio and do a proper studio shot with the model wearing nice clothes and a pair of mouldy boots. Or better again, naked apart from a pair of mouldy boots.

guys,
I have just started into photography, I'm a student living in rented accomodation, can we leave the word "hire" out of this please

KarmaGarda

dnme wrote: »

guys,
I have just started into photography, I'm a student living in rented accomodation, can we leave the word "hire" out of this please

no worries! How about AnCatDubh poses nude for free then? I'm sure he'd love to

Chorcai

KarmaGarda: Or better again, naked apart from a pair of mouldy boots.

dnme wrote: »

guys,
I have just started into photography, I'm a student living in rented accomodation, can we leave the word "hire" out of this please

Hey post it on the right site and you could get a big hairy builder over to ya ! If your into that sort of thing :P :P :P :P :P

dnme

One idea I have has is to bring them to an old derelect house, hang em near a window and try and get an atmospheric soft half lit pic. What would you think?

KarmaGarda

That could work. What sort of camera/lens/setup have you? Or do you have a point and shoot/bridge camera?

dnme

KarmaGarda wrote: »

That could work. What sort of camera/lens/setup have you? Or do you have a point and shoot/bridge camera?

Karma
I have just spent my first years savings on a 50D with 17-85 kit lens. I also splashed out for a 430EXII and have a reflector board ordered off ebay. Lens not great aparently but as I say, I'm just starting and it will be a while before I save up enough to start buyng my first glass.

KarmaGarda

Wow, well you've got the gear for something quite good. For me it depends on the shot you want though. I'd start by googling Strobist and also Flash photography in general. See if there's something in that which you would like to learn, and then apply it.

For a rustic shot I might have been more inclined to use very little flash (if any), instead go for a very high ISO, get a noisy photo in a run down house, and see where that brings you. But that's just me! Everyone has their own style.

Anyway, as I said read up about strobist and flash photography first, then decide how you'd like to attack it.

dnme

Many thanks Karma,

I have actually done a lot of reading and a fair bit on flash. Also youtube is an incredible source for beginners (of any subject), actually while I'm banging on, heres a serious recommendation for learners

http://digital-photography-school.com
and in particular their forum
http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/

It is a wonderful resource for learning (by far the best I have come across), the forum has sections such as "How I shot it" etc

Anyway back to your comments, the no flash / high iso sounds really interesting, also the only reason I mentioned the flash and reflector was to explain that I have quite a bit of leeway in terms of options here with this project.

This thread is becoming very useful, hopefully it will end up with a few different attempts and results.

Learning is half the fun

KarmaGarda

Well, you've probably done most of your homework so! My advice is rather than getting stuck on the thought "I want to take a photo", instead try thinking what you want the photo to say. And how can you say it. To me it sounds like you may already have some idea of what you want the photo to say. So think about things like:

- A dirty/old/noisy feel by using an iso of 800+
- B&W or sepia.
- Clever flash positioning to either reduce or create lots of shadows to draw the viewer into the photo.
- Silhouette of the boots or something like that.

Patience is the key. If you're not spending more time thinking about and setting up the photo then you're rushing it .

dnme

I have never done any Post production whatsoever, thats a whole other area that I will have to start learning.

Anyway, back to topic...

We have idea #1, boots in a derelect house. (Alol I have to do now is find a derelect house )

Any other suggestions ?

sineadw

Hmmm.. to be honest unless you're Van Gogh you're really gonna have to think a lot about creativity to get this to be anything other than a-shot-of-old-shoes. You could have the best kit in the world and still not get anything (although that goes for any subject really). My best suggestion would be to think about why *you* were drawn to shoot the boots in the first place. They obviously mean a bit to you on an emotional level, or have some significance or specific memories. Then you need to figure out what you want to try to capture that. And to be honest I'm not sure we can help you with that - it needs to be from you - your vision (without trying to sound poncey). Still life's difficult for that reason. It can all too easily end up as a series of studies of a subject, with no real soul.

Maybe if you think about/tell us what you want to capture about them?

dnme

Hi Sinead,

Yea they have a sorta centimental signifigance and have been half way round the world with me. They ar enow beyond use so I am throwing them out, but before I do, I thought it might be a fun thread / project to throw open here.

I am a beginner and sometimes have trouble understanding how a photo was composed, why its good as opposed to bad or visa versa, how it was setup, why it was setup etc. So, I thought to myself, well what about an exercise where we expose these learner difficulties from the beginning, and come up with suggestions from people as to how I might go about shoting them.

I can put the boots on the floor and shoot them, (see above) and the result is a cold practical lifeless meaningless inventory shot. but why?

How do I change that ?
How do I add warmth ?
How do I add age ?
How do I add decay ?
How do I add sentimentality ?
Is it possible to communicate their story ?

and then technically . . . . .
How do I use light ?
How do I shoot them
Where do I shoot them?

I often look at others photos with similar questions. This is my first attempt at anything like this.

sineadw

dnme wrote: »

Hi Sinead,
.......

I can put the boots on the floor and shoot them, (see above) and the result is a cold practical lifeless meaningless inventory shot. but why?
...............
How do I change that ?
How do I add warmth ?
How do I add age ?
How do I add decay ?
How do I add sentimentality ?
Is it possible to communicate their story ?

Now ye're talking

Think about the tone for a start:

Should they be black and white?
Shuld they have a lot of blue tones? Red tones?
What sense of emotion do you want to portray?

Should they be small and isolated in the frame? Or should they fill it? Do you want to shoot them from a height (weak emotionally) or close and from below (suggests strength).

Do you want to have all detail in focus? - suggests a wider, brighter shot
Or do you want to pick out teensy details and bring them to the fore - suggests a macro with a much shallower DoF in possibly less light.

Do you want to isolate the subject with them in brightness and the background not so important? Or place it in context in a wider 'environmental' shot, where the background is integral?

Keep thinking Can't really guide you with this - what do you see??

pullandbang

dnme wrote: »

Anyway, back to topic...

We have idea #1, boots in a derelect house. (Alol I have to do now is find a derelect house )

Any other suggestions ?

Click on one of the links in some of the sigs areound here - mine is pix.ie others have flickr.

Use the search facility and type in "boots". There are loads of photos of boots and you'll be able to draw some inspriation from other peoples work.

A quick look on pix.ie shows a few nice examples on the first page.

dnme

God I'd love to study photography formally

sineadw

dnme wrote: »

God I'd love to study photography formally

Doesn't have to be 'formal'

chevron

Love the idea of this tread. very helpful and informative.

an other idea you could do with them in the old house is have them partially standing against a window (heel on window sill and toe part on glass( maybe some rains/water drops on the glass?). one at up to 30 degree angle and the other 45 degree angle ..as if they are looking out longing to be traveling again and the outside would be full of autumn colored trees and leaves on the ground.

Just a thought.

bullpost

Couple of other ideas based on the fact that you want to convey the many journeys undertaken:

Create and image where you shoot through a hole in the shoes which reveals a landscape image - Shoes could be out of focus in the shot.

Take them to a beach , create some footprints in the sand and place the shoes at end of footprints walking into the horizon, to symbolise the journeys?

Anyway those are off the top of me head but there is loads of scope here .

CabanSail

I do like the Macro idea as there is a lot of texture that would look good with a low DOF to isolate it. Maybe the companion boot off in the background.

You could also take them out around to various Shoe Shops & place them in line with the nice new boots or other footwear & look for various compositions around that. You would have to think first & be ready as I doubt the staff would want them on display too long.

What's actually wrong with them, other than a bit of mould? When I was a Student they would have been considered quite good. Shoes only were replaced when the holes were large enough to wear out socks.

dnme

CabanSail wrote: »

What's actually wrong with them, other than a bit of mould? When I was a Student they would have been considered quite good. Shoes only were replaced when the holes were large enough to wear out socks.

Would you like them ?

Adriatic

Reminds me of a shot I took!
I hope I'm allowed to post links?
http://adriatic22.deviantart.com/art/Old-Boots-139098278
same on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/adriatic22/4018282732/
Any inspiration?

CabanSail

dnme wrote: »

Would you like them ?

They look too small for me & my student days are well behind me, but thanks for the offer!

dnme

ah I dunno, they're size 12's :P
Trust me CabanSail, if you saw the inside of these boots, you would never want to put a foot in them again. They're pretty bad.

dnme

It seems that I cant find a suitable delerect house anywhere. So option #2 is to go to a beach and do what someone suggested earlier.

Perhaps a trail of foot/boot prints either going into or out of the water and maybe a DOF shot with th eboots in focus and the trail / sea slightly blurred in the background. Do you think this could work ?

KarmaGarda

dnme wrote: »

It seems that I cant find a suitable delerect house anywhere. So option #2 is to go to a beach and do what someone suggested earlier.

Perhaps a trail of foot/boot prints either going into or out of the water and maybe a DOF shot with th eboots in focus and the trail / sea slightly blurred in the background. Do you think this could work ?

I say go for it. Sounds like it could work.

dnme

I gave the boots their first and last outing today. I was in Donegal for the weekend so I had an opportunity to stop off at Murvagh beach this morning and later found an old derelect house heading through Co. Galway.

I tried the boots in verious positions and poses but found this really difficult. I took a lot of photos and imo the beach just does not work. I am showing you just a sample of what I consider to be the best but what do I know. The derelect house seemed to work much better but it was hard to meter in the contrast of dark rooms and sun rays. I am posting a few here and I's really love to know what you think and any suggestions as to how I might improve them.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


2 or 3 more to follow . . .

dnme

#6


#7


#8

DK32

You could try burying the boots in the sand slightly, apart from additional textures of the sand it might look like someone is buried there

Snap Happy

I prefer the position of the boots in number 3.
Like it was disgarded and fell over. A little less posed.

Number one looks like to left them there and walked out in to the water never to return.

I like number 6 & the colour in number 7 not pushed about number 8 (But like it croped number 2 I think)




A good idea here the Assignments - 3 very different photo's with the something the same in it. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055661119

Or also a game - Someone picks a small prop, people sign up to join a list. the prop gets sent around the list with everyone taking a photo of it and posting it.

ThOnda

Just fill them with soil and make nice couple of flower pots from them. And take the picture in the spring with flowers in full blossom

salamanca

Snap Happy wrote: »

I prefer the position of the boots in number 3.
Like it was disgarded and fell over. A little less posed.

Number one looks like to left them there and walked out in to the water never to return.

I like number 6 & the colour in number 7 not pushed about number 8 (But like it croped number 2 I think)




A good idea here the Assignments - 3 very different photo's with the something the same in it. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055661119

Or also a game - Someone picks a small prop, people sign up to join a list. the prop gets sent around the list with everyone taking a photo of it and posting it.

Perhaps a composition with this song for the current challenge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRkovnss7sg ?

dnme

I should point that I left the boots in the derelect house by the fire place, just seemed fitting somehow and if I ever drive past it again I'll think of the connection.

I have done a little bit of proecesing on one or two of the images in an old copy of paint shop pro. Just tried to rescue some of the blowouts and de-flatten slightly.

DanGerMus

I'd like to see #2 in b/w maybe cropped bit. like this maybe?

dnme

DanGerMus wrote: »

I'd like to see #2 in b/w maybe cropped bit. like this maybe?

That definately works, many thanks.

I'll tell you what, the simple act of taking an object, placing it for a photo and shootig it is not easy. Personally I am unhappy with all the photos I took but its a great learning exercise.