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HOME PROJECT #2
CREATE PHOTOGRAPHIC
ART WITH PENCILS
➜ AS SHOT BY BEN HARVEY
OLOURED PENCILS ARE
synonymous with creativity,
used by many as a tool to
craft unique pieces of art.
Chances are your home is full
Cof ordinary objects such as
these, just brimming with photographic
potential. Although Ben Harvey’s
motivation for this project was
something different, what he’s created
is nothing short of inspiring.
Ben explains: “Whether I’m staring at
the foam bubbles in my cappuccino or
simply scrolling through my social media
feed, I’m on the constant search for
photographic opportunities. In truth,
I have a long list of project ideas that
I’m working my way through and
although I love photography, sometimes
I lack the motivation to start working on
these projects. I learnt very early on to
eradicate excuses, buy the props and get
54 PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY
a date in the diary. I told people what
I was going to do and when I was going
to do it in order to make me accountable.
“The pencil project was more of an
off-camera flash test for me. I bought
a softbox and some triggers and simply
wanted to learn different techniques
while practising on a static subject. As an
architect, I have a lot of pens and pencils
hoarded away, which made for a great
subject. Setting up for these shots in
camera was a relatively straight-forward
process. I knew I wanted to get in close
to my subject so I reached for my Canon
100mm f/2.8L macro lens. This lens is
great at achieving pixel-sharp images at
short focusing distances.
“As for settings, I used an aperture
between f/8 and f/11 to achieve ultimate
IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A GOAL IN
MIND WHEN STARTING A NEW PROJECT
sharpness, a shutter speed between
1/100sec and 1/200sec to align with
the flash sync speed, and a low ISO to
provide the cleanest possible image, free
of digital noise. The only aspect that
needed to be adjusted was the power
of the flash in order to balance out the
exposure when alternating between
using black and white backgrounds.
“It really is amazing to see the results
you can achieve with easily accessible
everyday objects like coloured pencils,
and undertaking a project like this really
is a worthwhile thing to do to keep you
shooting and developing your skills.
Although it does sometimes take extra
motivation, I guarantee that as soon as
you attach your camera to the tripod,
it becomes much harder to ignore.