WK 3 Digital Technology 2 - Auckland Museum response

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Today our class went to visit the Auckland War Museum we first met with Shaun Higgins who has worked with photographs for almost two decades ranging from research, exhibitions, collection management, imaging and archaeological investigation. As Pictorial Curator at Auckland Museum he looks after photography and artwork collections in a documentary heritage context, focusing on research topics such as New Zealand photographic history, conflict photography, photographic technology and identification and attribution.

Archdeacon Henry Williams.

Unknown photographer. (ca. 1854).

Auckland War Memorial Museum - Tamaki Paenga Hira. PH-1964-2-1.

We then shifted to the Collection Imaging studio looks similar to a large commercial studio, with space for four photographers to work simultaneously on individual projects.
 The team have captured preserved birds, fossils, eggs and WWI medals.i was mostly interested in the different species of shells and eggs how every detail became so visible.

Below are the images i took inspired by our museum trip i learnt that their lighting techniques is a must in order to get every detail on the subject.Unfortunately i didnt take any images of the eggs and shells to compare my work with theirs.both images were taken from a high vantage point.

with flash

without flash

reshoot with main light

reshoot with main light

With the two images above i placed the main light on the left the first image with the yolk i placed it in a measuring cup and the second image i placed the egg on a white lid to emulate how they took the fossil eggs at the museum.
How does their work compare to yours? they used a lighting surface to capture different egg species
What ideas are similar? white surface to place the egg,taking the image from a high vantage point
How does your work differ from theirs? they used macro lens,lighting is very different

with flash

Reshoot with main light

How does their work compare to yours? they used a single shell,lighting techniques used
What ideas are similar?  white background,using the same objects that is the shell,taking it from a high vantage point.
How does your work differ from theirs? lighting,lens

Genre:Still life,preservation

Below are the images i emulated from our Museum trip the differences between my images and the museum images is obviously where the subjects are taxidermied pigeons, ancient weapons, naval flags greyed by battle smoke and marine specimens preserved in alcohol.While i used my sons toys and other objects i found at home more complementary to what they have photographed.The ideas are quite similar that is capturing still life,i used one main light i placed it on the left side of the frame to capture these images.Changing the background and subjects.

BY AUCKLAND MUSEUM.

I like the black ground but you can still see the material so i changed the background and placed the toy dinasour on a white paper and the results was way better.

stuffed Tui

I couldnt find a dead bird lol so i used this stuffed kia.

A Diptych

weaved fan with black background

weaved fan with black background

weaved fan

Tefui with white background

Tefui our traditional garland

magimagi used like a belt 

Reference:

BY AUCKLAND MUSEUM.

http://www.prophotographer.co.nz/features-test/017/museums