Christmas Project

Christmas Project

 

 

 

The photographs above are just some of the photographs I took over the Christmas period. I feel each picture has its own good quality too it. I think all the photos have their individual qualities varying from textures and patterns to colour and composition to layout, aperture and order. I feel each image was successful in its own respect, and they all I feel have a Christmas feel to them. If I were to improve I would have taken more photographs of my family without them looking as I feel the one above is really effective as the three in the photo are a family of three. I think portraits of other family members would improve the project overall.  



light and dark research

ResearchI found the light and dark project very helpful it really made me consider things I wouldn't have considered before. I learnt all about artificial and natural lighting, and how to use the equipment properly can skilfully. Doing this project really made me consider all the different light sources and where they were angled and coming from. This gave me a far better understanding of light and dark and the formation of shadows.

One of the main photographers I looked at for this project was Bill Brandt. I was immediately drawn to how he contrasts black and white.





My main interest with Bill Brandt is his shadowing I think this is really helpful for my final picture. Brandt often used the darkroom to alter his photographs. For example, in the photograph Policeman in a Dockland Alley he used the 'day for night' technique employed by cinematographers to transform images photographed in daylight into night scenes. I want to create this effect using my camera and editing.

light and dark

Natural Light

Here I was experimenting with daylight and camera settings in order to create the right contrast between light and dark areas in photographs. These images were taken using a lamp and moving around the model with it and with the camera. Moving around the model would light up part of her face and also cast shadows. As you can see from the photos the shadow either lies on the face or the backdrop, Depending on the strength of the light/flash or where the light and camera all effect where the shadow will form.

 

In the darker pictures above the model looks like a much darker figure this is due to the light source coming from behind making her darker.

 

Artificial Light

On some of the photographs the light source is coming from the left hand side causing the models face to light up on one side leaving the other side quite dark. One side of the models face being almost black from the shadow.

 

 

Tungsten Light

To get these images I was experimenting with different white balances to see how this would effect my photographs. I used tungsten light and daylight balances in order to change the colour hue in these images.

 



light and dark final idea

Firstly, I experimented with creating shadows by using hands to create different shapes. I then went on to think about how I can use shadows in order to provoke a storyline. I decided to photograph my sister and use my hands to create a shadow of my hand to connote something she could be scared of, almost like a childhood fear. I used Photoshop to create the final outcome by changing the brightness and contrast to make the shadow darker. I was pleased with my final outcome as I don't usually photograph shadows a lot so it was good trying something different. However, my work could be improved by making the story clearer and perhaps making more story lines and more of a setting behind the model instead of the white background.

Aquarium visit

Sea life Aquarium

For the project light and dark we were asked to note different lights and how they effect a setting or change a place or person. I then decided to visit the aquarium for this project I thought that it would be a great place to capture different lights in different settings.

 

All the different artificial lights lit up the fish and made for some interesting photographs, and the blue lighting on the fish really set the mood.

Final Idea

My final Idea

For my final idea I decided to take portraits of  two adolescent girls with mechanical aspects to there faces. The idea behind this was the idea that the younger generations in society are constantly influenced by the social media, magazines and celebrity culture to think in certain ways about how they 'should' look or 'should' be. Leaving society with ideologies of physical appearance and the idealistic way to look. I chose to put the two models in black and white too represent a black and white mentality of todays culture. I then put the mechanical parts of the models in colour this is because the mechanical parts inside the models is the working part. I edited these photos on Photoshop I took down the brightness slightly and slightly edited the contrast as well. I also used Photoshop to add in the mechanical parts to make it look like its apart of there head/brain. This being the thing that controls them. I think these pictures could have been more successful as due to lack of time I feel the precision could have been better and maybe make the concept a bit clear or more specific for the audience.

Inital ideas for project on exhibitions

My first idea for this project was to use a face and change the features of the face by replacing those features with a feature from other peoples faces. For example I would take eyes of one individual, lips from a completely different individual then say a nose from another. This idea was inspired by the 'Saints Alive' exhibition by Michael Landy. Michael Landy's work was for me the most interesting so I chose to develop my idea from his exhibition. I was mainly drawn to his sculptures, which brought me to the idea of in proportionate features of the face.

This idea could also maybe have represented the idealist view on what 'society' says we should look like, so in the picture I potentially gave the model features that are desirable, in society. This was just an initial idea to develop more ideas for the project.

My initial idea

 

Here are all the sculptures featured in the exhibition.

 I was particularly inspired by the mechanical aspects of the sculptures and all the different mechanisms they were made up of.

 

 

I then researched a photographer called Stephan Gill. He took photographs then put objects on the stills to make it look like something else or too add to the photograph.

 

 

 

Research for Project

Here are some of the photographers I researched in order to gain inspiration from.
Thomas Robson

 

 

 

Stephan Shanabrook

'Paper surgery'

 

 

David Hockney 'The joiners'

 

 

Carsten Witte

 

 

Each Photographer I researched had a connection with my project and I used little elements of each part of my research in my final product. This research really made me consider what I could do with portraiture and how I could change up features to make for a more interesting photograph.

shape and form research

Shape and Form Research

 

Bill Brandt

   

 

Brandt’s nudes definitely capture my full attention on several levels. They give off a sexual vibes that comes out of the frame. But they also have the power to change our perception of what the world is like. When photographing nudes, he displaced objects and distorted so that the viewer must reconsider the what they thought they saw. Looking at these photographs, we have to free our eyes and teach them to see the statement of intent in the natural form.

Andre Kertesz

 

 

 

 

"My talent lies in the fact that I cannot touch a camera without expressing myself."

Kertész was very conscious of the visual arts beyond photography. He became engaged with still lifes, a subject favored by contemporary painters and one he would explore over the course of his career.