Christmas (1)

I have chosen to include these photographs as they are from when I went to Estonia for a weekend over the Christmas holidays. I thought they would look interesting as it shows a different aspect to traditional Christmas photos of presents, lights and a Christmas dinner. Furthermore, I think within this group they show a contrast, for example the coolness and plainness of the colours of the buildings contrasts with the bright and bold colours of the flowers that I have also decided to include. What I like most about all these photographs are their clarity and particularly for the images of the buildings, how you can begin to see the detail of the architecture.

Light and Dark (final photos)

For my final photos I wanted to look at artificial lighting, I explored this by doing primary research as well as secondary research as I explored this aspect of light and dark using my camera. My secondary research included researching different photographers who photograph artificial light, I decided to focus mainly on the work by Rut Blees Luxemburg and the images labelled 'Caliban Towers', a German photographer whose technique is to take images at night, mostly exploring the urban landscape. What I liked most about her work is the simplicity of the photos and also the hue/saturation of them as they have a slight orange/yellow tint to them which I think creates quite a warm feel. Figures 1 and 2 show some of Blees Luxemburg's work.

Figure 2

Figure 1

I explored Blees Luxemburg's style of these towers but I then continued to further my experiments by taking pictures of other objects within this light and dark topic. My photographs in the style of Rut Blees Luxemburg can be found below along with some others as I continued to develop my idea further.

I really like the three images here as although they are of a similar concept, they look different (especially the third one). I enjoyed taking these photos as I felt it helped me learn new camera skills as I haven't done a photo shoot in the dark before so it allowed me to experiment with finding the right shutter speed, aperture and ISO in order to capture a clear final outcome.





















































All these photographs show exterior lighting in an urban landscape, I also furthered this to explore interior lighting. I have chosen my favourite image to show here and also an edit I competed using Photoshop where I manipulated the same image four times and changed the hue/saturation to create different coloured effects. I used these tools to overcome a challenge faced with my original idea as at first I wanted to use different coloured light bulbs, however I was unable to get them.

Original Photo:

Photoshop Edit:

 

Aquarium/London Photos

Figure 1

The photographs that you see here are ones that I have taken when I went up to London and to the aquarium. I also tried to relate them to the topic of light and dark as this is what I was thinking of when I took them.


My favourite photo is Figure 1, with the starfish attached to a ball, what I like most about this image is the colours and how around the framing/edge of the photo is dark so all your focus is on the brightest area of the picture (the starfish). I think the colours look very warm as they are mainly orange, therefore this contrasts with the darkness of the edge of the image.





 

This image of the 'merry go round' is another of my favourite photographs, I like it because of the colours and how the brightness and boldness of them contrasts with the darkness of the sky and its surroundings. I also like how I have captured it clearly as it was moving which was one of the struggles I had when trying to take photos of it.

Overall, I like this selection of images as I think they each show something different for example some show a use of a shallow depth of field whereas other show a wide depth of field, I think I could improve my photos by exploring a wider variety of different angles and perspectives.

Light and Dark

When being able to choose what topic we wanted to focus on for two weeks before Christmas, I chose 'Light and Dark'. I found this topic enjoyable and felt that I learnt new aspects of photography as I experimented with natural light, artificial light and using reflectors and how each reflector changed how the photo looked, for example a gold reflector made the model look brighter and warmer whereas a silver reflector created more of a cool light on the model's face and balances the light. As part of this topic, I also enjoyed being able to work with new equipment that I have not used before, such as flash connected to a camera that triggers a light, using a spot metre to get incident light readings.

Figures 1 and 2 show pages from my sketchbook showing the readings we collected as a class and how we used light to create shadows and also to get rid of them.

Figure 1

Figure 2

These next images show how we experimented with natural and artificial light as well as using reflectors.

Reflectors:

These images show our experiments with the reflectors, the one on the left shows how the face looks brighter as the gold reflector shines the light on the face and gives it a warm look. The second image shows the effect of a silver reflector which has got rid of any shadows that were created and has made the face look paler in colour.

Natural Light:

This photograph was taken using only natural light and experimenting with the different settings on the camera, to take this the white balance was set on daylight and the ISO, shutter speed and aperture were also adjusted to create the right amount of light and dark.

Artificial Light:



These images were taken using a lamp and moving it around the model to see the effect that the different positions of it would have o  her face, it shows you how important the lighting is to create the right amount of shadows and also darkness which contrasts with the lighter areas of the pictures.

 



Shadows (based on exhibition)

I decided to base my photo shoot on Lutz Bacher's 'Black Beauty' and in particular the room where the horse created shadows on the wall. After looking into this aspect I continued to research different photographers and other people who use shadows to create a story which is what I was aiming to do. One of my favourite people who I researched was the 2013 'Britain's Got Talent' winners, Attraction, who are a shadow theatre group that use people to create different objects in shadow form to portray a story.

Firstly, I experimented with creating shadows by using hands to create different animals and objects. I then went on to think about how I can use shadows as a metaphor for history in order to provoke a storyline. I decided to photograph my Grandad and get my brother to create a shadow of someone saluting as I wanted to link it to my Grandad's past and how he used to be a soldier. I used Photoshop to create the final outcome by adding the shadow image to that of my Grandad and adjusting the size so it fitted. I was pleased with my final outcome as I don't usually photograph people so I enjoyed experimenting with this and trying something different. However, my work could be improved by making the story clearer and perhaps cropping more of the image in order to make the audience think a bit more and to make the shadow more of the focal point.

Exhibiton and gallery visits

I have decided to include my 3 favourite gallery visits/exhibitions from a trip on the 12th November 2013, these include 'Home Truths: Motherhood and Identity' and 'Jacques Henri Latigue:Bibi' from The Photographers Gallery, 'Saints Alive' at the National Gallery and 'Black Beauty' at the ICA.
I have taken photographs of the pages in my sketchbook relating to each exhibition as I have also drawn some aspects of some of the exhibitions and wanted to include them.

 

The Photographers Gallery

This image shows images from the two gallery's within the Photographers Gallery, my favourite of the two was 'Jacques Henri Latigue: Bibi'. What I liked most about it was how much I felt you could connect with his work, I also liked the different aspects he included, for example his stereoscopic images and  where you had to look through binocular type holes to reveal a photo as can be seen on the bottom left hand side of my sketchbook.
The other area within this gallery was that of 'Motherhood and Identity' which explores the representations of motherhood through a selection of different images by various artists. I found this exhibition to be quite moving, particularly once you have read about what the idea is behind the photos. On first look at them I thought that some photographs were quite strange and somewhat disturbing, however I now feel that I know the true depth and meaning for some of the series.

 

Saints Alive by Michael Landy

I found this exhibition very interesting as I had not heard of these Saint stories before, therefore I feel that I have learnt something from it. I also enjoyed being able to interact with it as you were able push the buttons that made the structures of the different Saints move. I think that this aspect of the exhibition made it more interesting as it shows mechanical structures and it was interactive.

 Lutz Bacher-'Black Beauty'

I also enjoyed visiting this exhibition as there was numerous installations to look at. The first one you see is what looks like black sand but it is actually coal slag, with a cracked mirror against the wall and a sculpture in the middle. This is accompanied by a sound work of Puck from William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. There was also a second installation that consisted of black AstroTurf going along the wall which was on the same level.
Bacher's work continued with two more installations, both in separate rooms, one consisted of a horse cut out with two lights that casted shadows on the surrounding walls. The other I found to be quite random as it displayed various objects such as a camel and dinosaur.
My favourite aspects of this exhibition was how unique it was, I also liked the area with the coal slag and that of the horse creating shadows as I liked how different it was.

Shape and Form

Definitions:

SHAPE-Is an enclosed area distinguished from its surroundings and often defined by a contour line. It has height and width and is usually considered 2D.

FORM-Is the organisation of visual elements in 3D. In addition to height and width, form has actual, or the illusion of, volume or depth.

As part of this topic I looked at photographer Andre Kertesz and his images of interesting shadows created by various objects. I also then continued to photograph different objects from unusual angles and perspectives to create the illusion of shape and form, all my photographs can be seen below.

In the style of Andre Kertesz:

I enjoyed taking these photographs as I like working in monochrome colours as I think this can make you focus on an image more as colours can sometimes be distracting. I also enjoyed being able to experiment with different angles and perspectives as well as using a shallow depth of field. I think the mood of these photos can seem quite mysterious because of the angles in which the picture has been taken and also because of the black and white colours, I think these colours also enhance the shadow created. However, I could improve these images by experimenting using flash which may reduce the grains that are slightly seen in some of the photos, I could also try and reduce this by changing the shutter speed/aperture.

Other Photos:

These last three photographs show how I have developed my images by experimenting with more objects and photographing in unusual ways, what I like most about these photos is that they look quite abstract because of how closely I have taken the picture. I continued to keep in mind André Kertesz's style by looking at shadows and also by using monochrome colours. I could improve these images by experimenting with different colours and perhaps by zooming out in order to reveal a bit more of the object/subject.

 

Overview of Exploratory Stage

I have found the exploratory stage really interesting as it was good to be able to experience the different pathways that you can choose from and the type of work that you would be expected to produce for each. My favourite rotation was photography because this is the area I am most interested in and I really enjoyed learning how to use a camera properly as although I had learnt small bits during my time at sixth form, this stage helped me to widen my knowledge. It also made me surprise myself slightly as I didn’t think I was going to like the animation rotation as it is something that I have never thought about before, yet I really liked being able to see our animation come together and seeing the final outcome was quite impressive, knowing that that is something you have helped create. The area that I found most difficult was broadcasting because it was difficult for everyone to agree on a story and how it would be presented, but overall it did turn out well and the story was clear to the audience. If I was to do the rotations again, I think I would improve my work by taking into consideration the feedback I have got from others and also by pushing my ideas even further. Although I feel that this stage in the course has allowed me to think and create things that I wouldn’t normally do, therefore I feel that I have pushed myself, particularly with sound design as once I understood the software and the how to create the sounds I found it enjoyable.

Broadcasting

The final two weeks of the exploratory stage of the course was Broadcasting. I was looking forward to this because it was something I had never done before, the first two days were focused on learning about broadcasting itself, the 'chase sequence' and how the protagonist of your story will resolve the struggles they encounter.
Again we were in groups of 5/6 and one of our first tasks was to decide on a story, within our group we were stuck on two ideas and didn't know what one choose. The first story was about a music producer who goes deaf and teaches himself to understand music by the feel of it and the second was about a girl with schitophrenia who struggles to chase normality as she doesn't want to take her medication. We spoke to our tutors with these ideas and they both preferred the deaf story, however we still couldn't agree on one as a group. We then decided to ask some of our peers what one they would rather watch and the majority said the second one, this was then the one we decided on.
We then researched schiotzophrenia so we knew about the subject and what kind of things people who have it go through, e.g symptoms e.t.c. After this we drew up several storyboards of ideas and made many notes as our story kept changing. After our first crit on week 1 we decided on a final idea and began filming the following week.
I feel that we worked well as a group when we began filming as we took it in turns to film different parts of the film while one of the people in my group was the actress. My individual role within the group was to help direct I also played a role within the filming as I am in two scenes, we then worked as a group to come up with different ideas to edit our film, however we did encounter problems at this stage as at many stages we couldn't all agree on something.
I think that overall I got on well with the given tasks and that what we achieved was successful as the final outcome turned out well when it was all put together and the story was clear. The feedback that we got from others suggested that we didn't need the music that we had included to accompany the film, which was what a few people in my group and myself also thought, furthermore we could improve the film by having more/bigger obstacles for the protagonist to overcome. However, they thought it was a strong story which was emotional. What I found most difficult/challenging was being able to agree on certain things as a group as we had to go with the majority rather than all, furthermore, I think we could improve our film by trying different edits with it for example, without the music and the use of sounds instead.

Sound Design

The first week of sound design consisted of learning the basics about sound and the software that we would be using in order to edit our sounds (SoundtrackPro). We were also able to have a practise using the recorders and objects around us to create unusual and different sounds. After the initial practise we then got into groups of 3/4 to start discussing and planning ideas for our sound journey. Before coming up with our final idea my group and I brainstormed different ideas of jorineys we could record, for example first day of school, birthdays, death e.t.c. We then came up with the idea pf fears and what scares us, we then came up with a list of sounds that we could create based on death. However, after speaking to our tutor we came up with a new idea based on all our fears and to make the journey more specific. Based on this we came up with the idea of being buried alive, we wanted the sounds to be from the perspective of the person who is being buried in order to make it feel like it was happening to you. We researched this topic and watching different films such as 'Buried Alive' and 'Buried' we came up with the story and the sounds we wanted to record in order to portray this. Within our group I think we worked well as we each had different roles to play, we all researched and planned the ideas and then I was in charge of recording the sounds while another made them and the other edited. I think I got on well with the given tasks as the final outcome was successful, I found that out of photography, animation and sound design, sound design was the one I found most difficult as it is something I have never done before. However, like animation, once the sounds were coming together I quite liked it. Whilst editing our sounds we did encounter some problems as the first draft we created, the first sound of a creaking door cntinued to play thorughout the whole journey which was not what we wanted. Therefore we had to get rid of this and start again, we also found that when we was putting it together and listening to the sounds, they were not what we wanted so we had to re-record some of the sounds.
The feedback that we got from others was a bit of a mixture, overall they thought it was good howvever they found that the beginning was unclear, but when we explained it they understood. Others also thought that we could improve our journey by having more background noises from outside, e.g. the sound of nature. I think all these points are valid and if we were to do it again would be something we would do to make the journey clearer, I think we could also improve the story by having more of a struggle. What I think was successful about our work was that we recorded all our own sounds which made it easier to edit them and they were also clear, I also liked that we had a story arc as the sounds depict a struggle to realisation. Overall I think we managed our time well and effectively but we could improve it by spending more time planning on what it would actually feel like to be in that situation and also thinking about the sounds you would hear, like the sound of nature.

Animation-week 2

The second week of animation consisted of finalising our ideas as a group in order to create the final outcome, after we had decided on the story we was going to use we then developed it further by each contributing ideas. After we had done this we began creating the characters and objects that we were going to use in the animation, we each had a role to play at this point as we worked together to make what we needed out of different coloured card and paper, as we used the idea of how the characters in 'South Park' were created as we liked the cartoon look of how it made our charaters look, it also helped to make them fit in with the scenes and setting that we were creating. After we had finished creating the characters, settings and other objects we were then able to start setting up our equipment to begin shooting each scene. We tookabout 10 frames per second so that we could then cut some out if we needed to, when we began shooting we each played a role as one person was in charge of taking the photos, everyone else (including myself) were in charge of an aspect in the frame, for example the people, the clouds, the road e.t.c. My personal role within this group was helping with the creative aspect at the beginning when we were planning and making our characters as well as taking part in the production side by helping to move the scenes along. After we had finished taking all our shots, we were then able to edit them by adding sounds, music and credits.
I think I got on well the given tasks as we worked really well as a group, I also found that I enjoyed the process and seeing it all come together as at first I didn't think I was going to like animation. I feel that what we achieved was successful as the transitions flowed well from one to another and we also receieved positive feedback from others. For example, others thought we had a good use of sound effects and editing, they also liked the bright colours which in some scenes evoked humour. However, the story could be improved by creating more of a courtship between the biker man and the woman at the end, which I also agree with and if I was to do this again, it would be somehting I would add in order to develop the story.
One of the aspects that I found most difficult was deciding on a story because our group had some really good ideas, I also found the production quite difficult because each object in the scene had to move but only slightly so getting the amount right was quite hard. The aspect of the animation that I am not happy with is towards the end as I feel it was a bit rushed and also the markings on the road have been knocked and therefore do not follow its usual pattern. The activities I found easy were creating the characters and the setting, I enjoyed doing this as well because I am quite a creative person. I think time management and planning could be improved by working quicker at the designing and creating of the characters/scenery e.t.c which would have allowed us to start filming earlier.

Animation-Week 1

On the first day of animation we were put into groups of 6/7, these were the groups that we would then work with to create our animation to present to the rest of the class the following week. One of the first things we had to do was write down our responses to a number of questions that was being asked by the tutors, from this list we then had to pick one object to draw and pass it round the group for other members to add something to it. We then used this first object to create a short storyboard individually which was then presented to the rest of the group and the best one was chosen to exapnd on before presenting the final one to the other groups. I found that this process helped to understand the different ways in which you can think up a story, as this is the aspect that I usually struggle with the most. Over the course of the week we were asked to create another individual storyboard to present to your group, this would be the idea for our final animation. I decided to base mine upon the brief/theme of memories by creating a protagnanist who shows this by being able to see into their head and all the things they want to do/have in the future.
On the second day of animation we created a practise animation based on events that had happened in 2013, as part of this we had to draw a seperate image and the sequence to this image on a seperate piece of paper within our group which we then put together to create the final outcome. I found this quite enjoyable when you was able to see it all come together, I also enjoyed watching other peoples animations and being able to see the different ideas and transitions that people had created.

 

 

 

Photography-Final photos to represent memories





















These two photographs are my final images that I selected for the final day of photography, I have taken them in response to the brief which is based on 'memories and future memories'. I decided to take photographs of objects that I associate with different holidays I have been on from when I was little and until more recently, I also took photographs of objects associated with countires I would like to go to in response to 'future memories'. What I found most difficult about this task was how to portray 'memories', I had an idea that I wanted to photograph still life objects but I could not decide on what these objects would be or how to photograph them. At first I thought about photographing old photos however I thought that these would be difficult to photograph in an interesting way as they are 2D, after planning different ideas I decided upon the idea of souvenirs which is french for memory and I thought this related well to the topic. I then gathered research from photographers such as Edward Weston and Irving Penn who photograph still life objects in black and white, I focused mainly on Weston's style of photography as he photographs one object at a time using dramtic lighting which is something I also wanted to do. I feel pleased with what I have achieved with my final outcomes because I think they are successful and respond to the brief, they also allowed me to experiment with the camera settings such as shutter speed and aperture based on what I had learnt the previous week. The feedback I received from others was positive as they thought there was good use of lighting which made the objects look bold, particularly the lighthouse and the writing on it which is clear and intriguing as you want to know what it says. Furthermore they also thought the sheel was a clear link with Edward Weston and the golden section. I think I could improve my photographs by experimenting with more adventurous angles and perspectives as both of these photos have been taken the same way as the subject is on the right hand side. I think I managed my time well and
I found my planning effective, however I could improve these by planning more different ideas that could further develop my work.

Photography-Egg photos (further experiments)

Whilst continuing to experiment with different camera settings and light and flash we had to bring in an egg to photograph. The photographs below show a selection of different images I captured both outside with natural light and inside with studio lighting.

These were the first photos that I took when starting this experiment, as you can see they are very similar to each other however, they show how I was adjusting the camera's settings in order to capture the egg as best I could.

 

 

For these next photos I experimented with the different light and colour settings on the camera, for example the use of black and white colours in the last image and the use of tungsten light in the first. Furthermore in order to control the amount of light and the direction of it I used a piece of plain white paper as I did not have a reflector, which may have added a warmth to my images.

 

 

These next three photographs were taken inside using one studio light and a gold reflector in order to try and create a 'sexy' looking egg without drawing or writing anything on the egg itself. In order to try and portray this, by working as a group of 4, we used a fur coat to nest the egg in and using different camera settings to make the lighting look warm and romantic.


 

We then continued with this romantic theme by including a model to kiss the egg, as can be seen in the third image. I think the lighting in this photo continues to work well and the use of the reflector creates some slight shadows, I also like the use of red listick and how the colour contrasts against the orange tones of the egg.



 

 We continued to photograph the egg in the studio however these photos show how we continued to push our ideas by including the use of a plastic screen. These are some of my favourite images from this day because they are clear and a different style to the other photos. We created this look by placing the light source behind the plastic screen and then standing in fron of this screen with egg, which created a silhouette look to the photos. The first image is slightly different as we used two eggs to create the shadow effect as one person stood in front of the screen and another stood behind it. What I like most about these photographs is the clearness of them and how soft the features of the images look because of the lighting.




This photograph is my favourite image of the day because I like the colourings and again the clearness, I also like how having the light behind the screen makes the objects in front of it look bolder as they become darker than what they actually are which then creates a contrast against the background. I think this photo could be improved by cropping the image even more so that the focus is purely on the subject of the eggs as there is quite a bit of space around them.









I found the given tasks enjoyable because the photographic field is the one I am most interested in, I also enjoyed experimenting with the studio lighting as it makes a big difference to the standard and look of your photos. I feel that what I achieved was successful because as the day went on I feel that I progressed with my work and the standard of my photos. The image above was the final photo that we decided on as a group to show the rest of the class and tutors, overall the feedback was positive as the style of the image was different to other peoples as no one else had used the screen, they also said that the photo could be more closely cropped which is something I will take on board when developing my images in the future. What I learnt from this task and the previous task is the camera's settings, such as ISO, shutter speed and aperture and what the best settings are for certain lighting and space. One of the things I found most challenging was thinking of how to photograph the egg in interesting ways both inside and out as everyone was photographing an egg and I wanted it to look different. I think I could improve these photographs by pushing my ideas even further in order to create unusal images that would stand out, I also think that the advice given about close cropping will have an imapct on my images and is something that with more time I will do.