Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

Shoes, boots, heels, sandals, who doesn't love them. I am crazy about my footwear, knee high boots, ankle boots, cow girl style boots, winter cosy boots, high heels, stylish summer wear sandals, and I even have a pair of bright yellow wellies.

Therefore, I decided to photograph shoes this week in the most creative surroundings to make the idea in the finished photograph very stylish.

I have taken most of the photographs using my mobile phone and using natural available light as well as the functions on my phone.

The photographs below have also been photographed using natural light on my mobile phone. The heels were placed on a brown backdrop and were photographed at different angles and with some photographs, selective focus was used to enhance the detail.

These are photographs of one of my heels. I chose this particular pair because of the details on the straps. The high heel is covered with tiny coloured roses and gems.

Photo 1 - both heels
Photo 2 - a collage of all photographs taken at different angles, moving closer

Pink heels

Close-ups

The photographs below are of cowgirl style boots, the boots are very simple, yet I felt I could get a few good photographs of the same pair.  These photographs have been taken using my mobile phone on the normal camera setting, with the phone's aperture at f1.8 using natural light.
Photo 1 - taken in the garden
Photo 2 - boots placed on the stair banister
Photo 3 - boot placed on the table top and photographed from the top
Photo 4 - taken in the garden

The photograph below was also taken with my mobile phone, using normal camera setting and available light. The idea behind it was spontaneous; I saw the heels and weighing scale and thought of the shot. I was not sure if the idea was going to work, however it adds a different element to the concept of 'Shoe Photography'.

Silver heels

If you have little shoes, use them, as they can create very dramatic and interesting images.
These tiny baby shoes were photographed indoors using natural light and my mobile phone. I like the idea of the large empty space in front and behind the shoes as it shows the scale of the tiny shoes.

Tiny shoes

Try to create different compositions with little shoes or slippers, sometimes they can add drama to the final image. I created a moment in time with these slippers by placing them on a cushion as my little one used to do when she was 2 years old.
This photograph has also been taken using natural light and the mobile phone.

Precious slippers

The photograph below was taken as part of the 'Street Photography' series. This shoe was photographed in the shop window using my Sony A6000. The idea was to focus on the pink and yellow roses, so I used a shallow depth of field. The saturation of the final image has been increased slightly.
These are my settings:
Aperture - f4
ISO - 320
Shutter - 1/200

Shoe in the window

The photograph below was taken in 2008 of my model on location. I used my Nikon D200 for this image with off camera fill-in flash. I added this photograph in the 'Shoes' theme because it shows shoes in a different, creative manner. I remember that shoes were very 3D with laces on the upper part of his t-shirt.

Shoes on t-shirt

Try taking a photograph with your phone mounted on a selfie stick and capture your own shoes/wellies in action.This photograph was taken while I was out on a walk.

Yellow wellies

The photograph below was taken for the model for her modelling portfolio on the theme 'Punk Rock' in 2010 using my Nikon D200. I sat on the floor as I wanted to emphasise her big boots.

Big Boots

There are lots of photographic possibilities when you try different angles and techniques. The shot below is a collage of different shoes photographed, showing the details in each one of the shoes.

Details of shoes

Finally, the last image is of Doc Martens boots photographed using light painting techniques. This image was taken using a battery-operated candle on a mobile phone. Please see this link for a detailed 'Light painting with mobile phone'.

Light Painting shoes

This was another interesting project to photograph, I have used styles and techniques like selective focus, light painting techniques, close-up, different angles views, different surroundings. I hope you too will have fun photographing shoes.

Bhupinder Ghatahora ABIPP, ARPS, ASWPP
Ghatahora Photography
info@ghatahora.co.uk
www.ghatahora.co.uk
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