Building sets and creating atmosphere with basic materials in the studio (Low budget!)

in #photography5 years ago (edited)

Building sets and creating atmosphere


Lately I've been looking more and more into the in and outs of set-design because I want to explore and understand that part of photography a bit more. I truly believe that the more you learn, the more creative you become.

It all started with the many ideas I sketched out in my notebook. The more and more I looked at my sketches, I realized that in almost every single one of them, some sort of set design was involved. So, I started looking for materials to build some landscapes for my "staged photography" class.

To my surprise, I actually found a lot of useful stuff at home, so I didn't have to spend money at all. I knew beforehand that I wanted to light the set in the studios at school because I could hide a lot of the "cheapness" using and shaping light.

After building the set I added some finishing touches. I used water to create some reflections, and some cheap haze spray to introduce some atmosphere into the shot. By doing this in-camera, I had to do less work in photoshop, yay!

My shots were based on the tv show "Fargo" because the assignment stated that we had to use a show or movie as our reference point. I'll show the screenshots on which my images were based first, followed by my shots.


Screenshot 2019-02-16 at 11.43.24.png

Screenshot 1, Fargo S1EP1. I used this scene because it's more than just a landscape. The car introduced a human presence, without showing a person directly. It's also quite dark, which made it easier for me to hide the "cheapness".


Staged_002.png

My interpretation of the screenshot shown above. It's a more exaggerated version, which I like very much. I didn't want to create a 1:1 replica of the chosen scene. So instead I've opted for a more personal route.


Screenshot 2019-02-16 at 14.07.44.png

Screenshot 2, S1EP3.


Staged_001.png

As you can see, just like with the first image, I made a more exaggerated, rugged version of the base material. I just liked the differences in height and textures more, than the relatively flat screenshot.


You've reached the end of this post. Thanks for reading! if you have any questions, critique, anything at all, feel free to comment below :) I'll do my best to reply to each and every one​ of you :) Liked what you saw? Consider​ following me on Instagram