Back In The Studio

This week saw me heading back into the studio to create the images for the 'Snatchabook' book. Monday morning rolled around and after not much sleep I loaded up the car and dragged in as many props as I could.

Setting up the studio itself didn't take too long as I was planning on having just the books I'd made and the background, however, as always when it comes to the big shoots, there was a major issue.

The spot projector I was using decided that it wouldn't play ball and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to focus right. Cue a mad panic and the next few hours trying to source either a new projector, a vinyl background or an actual library!

By 1pm on Monday afternoon I was close to postponing but then the wonderful staff at Harrogate College stepped in to help. By 2pm I had a studio full of books that the fantastic library assistants had allowed me to take, a book shelf on the way and library trolley. Okay, so it wouldn't be exactly as I'd planned but hey, sometimes you just have to go with it.

I set up what I could and then tried the projector again. Much to my surprise, the fault that had started the panic actually added to the aesthetics of the new constructed set.

Tuesday morning I was calm and ready. My model - a fellow photography student who I knew would be perfect to play the Snatchabook - turned up and we were good to go. Before she headed into make-up I managed to take a test shot, the idea being I would develop it and make a quick contact print whilst she was getting ready. I would use this to make any necessary adjustments but to my absolute delight I found that not only was it unnecessary to change anything but that I had also shot the first image of this series.

As with the Hungry Caterpillar, Holly, my spectacular make up artist, knew how to interpret exactly what I wanted and by lunch I had the perfect personification of the Snatchabook.

We were ready to go.

In fact, the shoot went so well that I was able to create contact prints of the negatives and show them to my tutor. With a few adjustments to the set, we got the whole thing pinned down and I had put the camera away by 4pm. Astounding!

Next up I have the task of colouring, which offers a particular challange as I'm going to have to colour all three prints at the same time to ensure the colours match as closely as I can get them. Space is a bit of an issue so this should be another fun task in problem solving!