4th plinth work diary 19th January 2016

During the lesson on Tuesday 19th January 2016 I captured images of an object within the studio and then edited them onto photos I shot at the weekend. I wanted to do an image out of the box and I thought, "If someone was to see something in the street what would be the strangest and oddest thing for them to see?" This is why I chose my object to be a dinosaur. Although when I came to editing, I wanted to make is a realistic as a dinosaur in London can be. I came across this by making sure the tone and colour of the object fitted in with the surrounding image. This meant changing the curves and saturation of the object layer.

A photo from today that I like…

I only managed to create 2 photos, This is my favourite one that I have. The reason I like this is because I feel that it looks as if it's really there. I spent much more time on this one than the other one so maybe thats why I prefer it. Alongside changing the curves around making it a bit darker and changing the saturation. I used the brush tool and painted over the darker bits- alongside burning the shadow parts.






A photo from today that I don't like...

This is the other image I create during todays lesson, although I do not like this one as much as I do with the one above, this is partly due to the fact I put a green object on a patch of green grass. Also, the colouring doesn't fit in, it stands out to much- almost as if a green screen. I also don't like how crowed this image is, the dinosaur is covering over people and it's just to cramped and too much to look at.






Progression…

To improve on my work, I would like to experiment with more objects to place within my images. Examples of objects I could use are shown here...

Landscape Rut Blees Luxemburg work diary 16th January 2016

After the lesson on the 14th January 2016, I set myself the task to take photos inspired by Rut Blees Luxemburg, as shown on my blog research of her work. This meant to go out a night and capture buildings. I done my shoot in London as I was already planning to go there anyway, it just meant me spending the day till night there. However, what I did not know what there was a light event going on which meant the streets were so busy and I was being pushed left right and center when trying to take my photos. I liked taking these photos, although unlike my shoot on Thursday, I wasn't able to use a tripod so my photos are either really dark, or they came out blurry. However I did manage to get a few photos which I quite like.

A photo I like...

 I actually really like this photo because I think it's positioned right on the corner. I also like how the lights inside the building are in rows- non of the bottom lights are on, then all the middle ones are on, then all the top ones aren't. I also like how the outdoor spot lights on the bottom show how this is late at night. Additionally the colouring of the lights give a sort of old tone. After I edit this, it should resemble Rut Blees work better. I really like how this photo works.





A photo I don't like...
I don't really like this photo purely because of the angle. I think if I was able to capture it further away and the whole building it would like much better. Also it is on a slight tilt, which I don't like, I think this would have been better if a tripod was used. However in the conditions I was in with the amount of people, putting out a tripod would have done much more damage and been a safety problem as people would have more than likely tripped over it.

Progression...
I really like Rut Blees Luxemburg's technique of taking her photos at night. I would like to progress in her work by exploring different landscapes at night. Examples of ways I could progress are shown below.

Progression put in place…

Landscape Ansel Adams work diary 14th January 2016

During today's lesson, I took on my research from the lesson on Tuesday as inspiration and went out in town to take photos in Ansel Adam's style. I really like his technique of taking would look like simple images, putting a black and white filter on it, burning a part of it, and it looks so intriguing. I also used a tripod for this lesson, one of the first times I have actually done this, apart from in the studio. This made my images so much better! (well in my opinion anyway) This is because it meant I was able to show straight lines and depth very clearly and easily as I could position my camera straight.

A photo from today's shoot that I like...
I really like this image from today's shoot because I like the straight lines and the depth portraying in this. I also like how the graffiti creates a run down look. This was a really dreary day and it was really cold, this is why I think the black and white effect works really well.






A photo from today's shoot that I don't like...

 I don't really like this image because I think the burning of the image didn't work well at all and should have been at the bottom of the photo instead of the side. I also don't like how it's head on yet the main building in the photo is slanted. If I was going to get the "ultimate" head on photo, I would have needed everything to be straight even that building. It would also be better if it was in the middle more.




Progression... 
Even though these images can count as landscapes, I do not think they relate to Ansel Adams as much as I had wanted, this is because his images captures things such as mountains. Although, the number of mountains are pretty low in Harlow, so old run down building was the best I could really do. However if I were able to do so, I would like to take photos relating to Ansel Adams much more! For example a beach or a forest. I also like skyline landscapes images so would like to include this in my work. Example of progression are shown below.

Progression put in place...

Manipulating images work diary 7th January 2016

During the lesson on the 7th January 2016, we learnt about manipulating images. My main aim to today's lesson was to make interesting and obviously out of place photos. I didn't want to do simple images and thought this was the best way to go about it as I learnt how to do it in an amusing way. This wasn't really my most favorite lessons because we didn't actually take any of our own photos. I also don't like using other people photos, so this is why I look forward to making our own 4th plinth photos later on in the term.

An image I like...

 This is my favorite image that I manipulated in today's lesson. Unfortunately my computer was running extremely slow so I only managed to create 3. This is my top one because I find it interesting how a monkey would clearly not be caught doing this. especially one  of this size. I wanted to position my monkey in this way because I think it makes it look like it is climbing.






An image I don't like...
This is my least favorite image from today's lesson because it's too simple and I don't like how it doesn't blend in as much. I think if there were other children character's it would make it a bit better because it would help it blend in. I tried using different techniques on photo shop although it just made it look even more out of place.

Progression...

If I was able to re-do this lesson, I would like to vary the ways I manipulated my images. Instead of adding an object into photos. I would like to manipulate the image around a bit. For example the one with the mouths on the hands- the horror aspect is really interesting in manipulating photos. Examples of ways I would like to progress in manipulating images are shown below.

 

Progression put in place…

Documentary Photography work diary

What is the story/concept
were I successful
How might my work improve
Not limited to two images
evaluate composition/formal elements, concept, camera settings.

Within my documentary, I wanted to tell the story of my life and what makes up my life, not exactly what I do. Non of my images have people in because I wanted to purely document the nature around my life. I start with my images being in early morning showing the sun rise, continuing onto day lit photos, to dark photos being light by the Christmas tree. The reason for this was because, even though I captured these all on completely different days, you could be non the wiser, documenting how nature is pretty much always the same, it can change in small ways, yet you are still able to capture them when ever you wish to. For example, the buildings I got photos of around my town will/ should be there years from now. The reason I wanted buildings with in my nature photos is because nature is old and the buildings help portray the history- not exactly my own history, but the history that I have grown up with my whole life. I have learnt about the history in my town since I was in infant school. I had a trip down my own memory lane, going to the road where I used to live, to the river I would pass every single day on my way to secondary school. I felt this was important to document because my town is me. The nature I have found interests me. I love and enjoy taking photos of nature as its so pretty and it's such a great thing to vary your angles with.

I think I were successful in photos such as the one (phone) and the (sky) photos because these were actually taken before I went to work. I wanted to take these images because I thought it looked really pretty and thought it was an ironic thing to put in a documentary of "my life" as I am normally not up to see the sun rise when I'm not at college as I'm in sleep. This is also the reason why I captured it. However, I went to edit my photo of the sky (put edit here) by taking out the lamp-post, although I just thought I was documenting the whole thing, so taking away a part of my image wouldn't be documenting the scene. Also after taking it out, I realized how it looks quite pretty with it there as its an almost silhouette, with a small bird on top. This photo can create a wide story, what ever way you take it is up to you, but still, I am glad I decided to not edit it in the end.

A photo I like from the shoot, 

I think this is such a pretty photo and I like it so much, I believe this is because the colours of the blossom really stand out. The foreground is in focus whereas the background is out of focus, I think this is the best way for photos such as this one. I like this for a documentary photo because alongside the fact nature makes up what I love taking photos of, it also documents the damage we are having on our planet as it is slowly warming up. Blossom should come out around spring time, the fact I took this in December shows how abnormal this should be, if we are getting blossom now, what will our spring look like?


A photo I don't like
I attempt this image several times, although the river was rather busy and there was lots of children feeding the swans and ducks. This meant the swan was swimming back and forth and not staying still. Even though this is the best one I took out of the other ones, I still don;t like it because the swan is turned away. I think if I was to get the perfect swan image, I would have to stay there for a lot longer and even take some bread myself to try and get the attention. It would also be better if I had a tripod so I could keep my camera sturdy, instead of hand holding it.




Progression.
A way I would like to improve my work would be to gather photos at certain points of the day, perhaps every morning, every lunch, every night for a few days or so. I think this would be a better documentary on my what I do in my life, rather than the mixed photos I have gathered that make up my life. I would also like a sequence in my photos, there is a slight one now I suppose, however I would like this to be much more clear, with a running theme through out. Family is a key part of my life and would like to document this and could do this by documenting "love" photos, such as photographer Brassi on the "Paris de nuit". I really like exploring his images as they can tell lots of words. I think this would be the main way that I would like the improve my documentary, if I were to redo it.

Portraiture Low key lighting work diary, Tuesday 8th December 2015

Shutter speed: 1/125
F-stop: 16
ISO: 200

Shutter speed: 1/125
F-stop:16
ISO: 200 

 During today's lesson, I was able to further my exploration into portraiture, however unlike my other lessons, I was able to control the lighting- something I've been wanted to lean. I really enjoyed learning about controlling the light in this way because I believe it creates a really well final result- doesn't even need to be edited too much. My set up is shown below. However, I didn't keep my light in the same place when taking my photos. I experimented in different ways, such as making the light close up to the face. High above the head, or low. I also varied how much exposure there was on the white reflector wall because this meant the other side of the face was too dark.

My studio set up...
As you can see, I had a simple white background and a white reflector wall on the left side of my subjects. The way this is placed is very important because if it was too far away, it wouldn't have made a difference, however as it was close, it made my images much better- by making the shadowed side of the face lighter- yet not as light as the high lighted part, so there isn't much distraction. Also you can see how my subject was placed in the middle of the light and the reflector wall. This photo of my set up shows the closest my light was to the subject. However as mentioned above, I did vary my light placement. I believe this is the main thing in this type of set up that you can manipulate, other than the subject of course as you won't want the same position throughout your images.





A photo I like from this shoot...
This is one of my favorite images that I shot today. This is because when researching Low key lighting on portraiture, I came across images where the highlighted section wasn't on the face, yet was on the hair. I really liked this idea and believe this image is a good way of showing this. The main concept of portraiture is to show expression, I believe that this is still conveyed in this photo even if the highlighted section isn't on the face. The camera settings on this image was the shutter speed was 1/125, the F-stop was 16 and the ISO was 200, these camera settings made the background as dark as this and it also meant the focus was on the light. I also like how the features on her face are very clear, such as the eye lashes, showing a very feminine touch to this photo.





A photo I don't like from this shoot...

I don't really light this photo because my subject was mid laughing and as she ducked down from the light, there is a clear division of lighting- going from clear highlight to clear shadow. If she was sat up, it would have varied much better. Although as this is the final image, I don't really like it very much. I also don't like how the lighting is clearly on some of the background because it is lit up more than I had anticipated- unlike the image above.










Progression...
If I were to re-shoot this task, I would like to have made only small sections on a face or body light up, whilst the rest was in darkness. I would also like to experiment with different camera settings- to see which is the best way to capture the images in the way I wish to. Examples of this progression are shown below...

Portraiture Landscape Thursday 26th November work diary.

Shutter speed: 1/125
F-stop: 9.0

Shutter speed: 1/125
F-stop: 9.0

 Due to being ill, I missed the lesson on Tuesday 26th November, so when someone was round, I went out around town to take photos of her. I really enjoyed this because I was given the chance to put my portraiture knowledge from last lesson including landscapes in the background. When taking photos, I found myself using a lot of Alec Soth's work- including the whole body and landscape surround- to tell a story (as shown on the top left hand image on this blog). However I also used Thomas Ruff's work, just instead of a plain background, I had a landscape/ objects instead (as shown on the top right hand image on this blog).

A photo I like from this shoot...

I really like this image because it's a simple dead pan but shows not only the background, but the whole body. I tried as much as possible to center her head on the top line of third. I also like the simplicity of this image, I didn't want her to sit on the very top step because otherwise she would have looked too close to the door, which I didn't want. The shutter speed I used here was 1/125 and the F-stop was 9.0. Most of my images from this photo shoot had the same camera settings, I should have had a wider range although I did change the ISO. 

A photo I don't like from this shoot...

I don't like this image because she is mid through speaking so her mouth is open- I would have rather this of been a dead pan. Another reason I don't like this photo is due to me missing the lesson, I didn't want all my shoot to be of the person shown above, so after college I done a shoot with a couple of other people, but this was at 4:00 so it was quite dark, this meant to get the best lighting I had to use the flash but this artificial way of lighting creates shadowing which I really would like to avoid when taking portraiture. The shutter speed here was 1/125 and the F-stop was 8.0.   

Progression...
If I were to re-do this task again, I would definitely make sure that all my images were taken during the day so I don't need to use the flash because not only does this wash out the subject, it also removes the landscape/ objects behind it. I would also vary my camera settings a lot more to get a variety of different images. I would also like to position my subject further away from an object (for example position them away from the wall) so I can manually focus my image, making the background out of focus and my subject in focus. Examples of way I would like to progress my work are shown below...