Researching Artists

There are four artists that I came across in my research stage and I thought it was important to look at their work before I went out and took my own images.

The criteria of my brief? A collection of images that equally promoted the old and the new around Hull. Something that could be used in marketing of thew freedom festival in 2017. I was interested in black and white photography of architecture because by removing the colour there is instantly more focus on situations, sceneries, objects and people.

Ellen Fisch was the first person I came across during my research. Her compositions are interesting as they use leading lines to make the user look at the focus of the image, which was generally not shown in the image, this was interesting as it attracted the viewer to something that isn’t visible in the image. You can see this in these three images below. This is something I believed was worthwhile noting for my photo shoots.

Joel Tjintjelaar images are really good, I found them a very helpful part of my research and you will see very clearly how he has effected my work. The images were shot in a way that they became abstract due to the fact that they have been taken in an unusual way. Joel is also another photographer who presents his images in a square format. So the lessons I have learn’t from Joel is that taking abstract and unusual images using depth of field and leading lines pays off, and that presenting your images in a square format works well.

David Gutierrez was next with a mix of styles. While choosing not to create square photos, there are clear depths of field in these images. Two of the images use leading lines to create interest while the other focuses more on framing the image. You can see them below.

Kelly McCann chose to mix between landscape and square format images, she uses framing in the shot of chapel, and she also uses the rule of thirds in the images to allow the viewer to get a sense of perspective when looking at the images. These images work really well and will influence my work.

Cameron Nielson has an interesting take on his architecture which he has branded as ‘straight up’ where his signature is that he just points the camera straight up and shoots. He ends up getting some interesting photos that show the the skyline of the building whilst also capturing the sense of scale with field of depth and leading lines, as we all stand street side look up, this is something every viewer can relate too.

I believe using leading lines to draw attention to the focus point of the image works well, so I will be using this technique, I also like the images being square as I think it allows for a constant size, which is the same for all images, making it more about the content than the shape.

References:

http://www.kellymccann.co.uk

Joel Tjintjelaar – http://www.bwvision.com/

David Gutierrez – http://www.davidgutierrez.co.uk/london-photographer–black-and-white-photography.html

http://www.ellenfisch.com

http://straightup.co/portfolio/san-francisco/

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Hull Open Day

Hull College had an open day for potential students and asked me to take some photographs of the day for the student union to use in advertising, below is the contact sheet:

CONTACT SHEET

I selected a couple of the images that worked well and used the techniques I have previously used, I ended up with a total of three quality images.

The first one was a shot of the classroom, I weaned to focus on the boys looking forward as if they are concentrating, a crop of the image fixed this. I also noticed there were a few ‘distracting’ elements to the image, the boy forefront in the image had a black eye which I was able to lighten up and made the area look a bit healthier, there is a lot of noise out the window so I was able to remove a lot of unnecessary items out side to tidy it up, then i tidied the room up inside by removing sockets on the wall and loose wires which made the image look a lot cleaner and allowed the viewer to focus on the people. The last adjustment I made was to play with the levels of the image, this allowed me to change the lighting to brighter the image as a whole. You can see the original and edited versions below:

The second image was of the Hull College logo printed on a window with a reflection of the church behind it. It was a nice image to begin with but a fees adjustments made it a whole lot  better. Firstly I removed the dirt from the glass, lights behind the glass and unnecessary reflections. Next I played with the levels to allow the logo to stand out even more, and then finally I selected everything but the logo and filled a layer with black, then brought the transparency down to 10% to make the background darker and again to make the logo stand out more.You can see the original and edited versions below:

The last image I edited was of the front of the building with the logo on it, again the image didn’t look right so I edited it in photoshop. In this image i removed lights within the building and the used the clone tool to clone closed windows onto open windows making all the windows closed, I straightened the image, cropped it then changed levels on the image to make sure the colours looked right. You can see the original and edited versions below:

Shutter Speed

The aim of this experiment was to put what I had learn’t about shutter speeds into practise. I was to create a set of three images with a variation of the shutter speed. This meant I had an image for the slow shutter speed, fast shutter speed and also a panning shot. We shot all the images at the roadside with the cars travelling past.Here is the contact sheet for the shoot:

CONTACT SHEET
The slow shutter speed shot was done easily by setting the exposure time to 1/8s and the iso speed to 100, this results in a image where the background is completely still while the object becomes blurred. You can see the best example of this here;

The fast shutter speed shot was really simple, all I did was set the exposure time to 1/125s and the iso speed to 160, this results in a image where the background and the object are completely still. The object looks completely frozen because it is captured at 125th of a second.You can see the best example of this here;

The final example I have is of a panning shot,  this basically is where the camera follows the object. This means that the object stays in focus but the background becomes blurred, it works really well to show off motion. You can see the best example of this here;

Exposure and Field of depth

The aim of this experiment was to put what I had learn’t about aperture and field of depth into practise. I took a few photos to practise using the techniques needed and here is the contact sheet for the shoot:

CONTACT SHEET

The aperture is the main focus of what I was doing in this shoot. The bigger the aperture the more light is let in and the more the background is blurred while the opposite is also possible where the smaller the aperture, the less light meaning more in focus the image is. Here you see two images, one is with a smaller aperture and the other with a large aperture.

Behind the Lens

To truly be able to understand how to use a camera, I started to learn the different parts of a camera, and what they do.

There are a few key elements that are needed to be understood to be able to use the manual setting of a camera, I researched a little and these are some of the important elements that all fit in with each other to create the perfect image.

Exposure

Exposure is the amount of light that hits the camera sensor, this can be adjusted using the aperture controls, to do this you will look through your cameras viewfinder, and find the light meter, it usually has zero in the middle to indicate the exposure is just right, minus zero means the is insufficient light and plus zero means there is too much light.  There are two parts to take note of when looking at the exposure these are;

Available light when taking the photo should be something that should be accounted for when adjusting the aperture, if there is too much or too little light, you would change the aperture, ISO and the shutter speed accordingly.

Aperture

The aperture is an opening within the lens, its diameter is adjustable which controls the amount of light that gets through to the camera sensor, matching this with the right ISO and shutter speed will allow you to get the correct exposure.

F stops is what aperture is measured in, it tends to run in a f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/4 format, the bigger the number the narrower the aperture. The narrower the aperture the less light it can let in, and the wider the aperture the more light it can let in. Shutter speed needs be slowed down to counter the fact there is less light entering the lens therefore more time is needed for the lens to capture the image. So to recap f/1.2 would require a fast shutter speed while f/4 would require a much slower shutter speed.

Wider apertures create a shallow depth of field by blurring out a lot of the background, this would be useful when taking a photo of something small. Meanwhile the opposite occurs when there is a narrow aperture as it creates a deep depth of field which is better for taking photos of things like landscapes.

ISO

ISO stands for image sensor, and basically it means how sensitive the camera is to available light, the lower the number, the less sensitive it is, the higher the number, the higher the sensitivity is. The advantages of a high ISO is that it can compete images in low-light conditions without a flash, but this come with noise on the images. Most cameras have a base ISO which is the optimised iso level for that camera, it is usually around 200. The numbers double as they go up, but they also double in sensitivity, so they start at 200 and carry on to 400,800,1600,3200,6400. This also mean it takes less time to take the image, i found this great scale;

ISO Speed Example:

ISO 100 – 1 second

ISO 200 – 1/2 of a second

ISO 400 – 1/4 of a second

ISO 800 – 1/8 of a second

ISO 1600 – 1/16 of a second

ISO 3200 – 1/32 of a second

Therefore a focus that is moving fast can be shot with a high ISO, whereas on that is still can be shot as a low one.

Shutter Speed

A shutter can block out light from the camera sensor, this can be controlled to create different effects within an image, for example if the shutter speed is slow, the longer the cameras sensor is open to light, therefore creating blurred images meanwhile a shutter speed that is fast will catch an image in a quick snapshot almost making the focus look frozen. There are a few different methods that take advantage of shutter speed.

Having spoken about the most important elements to sum up everything I have just discussed there is the exposure triangle which is something that should be considered when taking a photo.

References:

http://digitalphotographylive.com/aperture/

http://digitalphotographylive.com/exposure/

http://digitalphotographylive.com/shutter-speed/

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/photography-exposure-basics/

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/camera/settings/images/exposure-examples.jpg

http://photographylife.com/what-is-iso-in-photography#ixzz3HLo1Xsp8

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-exposure.htm

https://maryelizabethhudson.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/iso-exposure.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/12/aperture.jpg

(http://www.exposureguide.com/images/exposure/shutter-speed.jpg)

Composition rules of Photography

There are many composition rules within photography that help look an image look professional, you always need to consider these when taking photographs.

The rule of thirds

This is basic photography and can even be seen in modern smartphones, a grid is placed onto the screen consisting of two horizontal and vertical lines meaning there are 9 equal sized sections. The aim of the rule of thirds is to get the important element of thew image either on the lines or where they cross.

Balancing Elements

When taking a photo using the rule of thirds you will sometimes realise that there is a large portion of the image that looks empty, if you fill that space with something else, it will make the photo seem more interesting.

Leading Lines

Lines within images are great because we are naturally drawn to them, so as a photographer you can use this to your advantage by allowing the lines to lead to the focus of the image.

Symmetry & Patterns

As human beings we find beauty in symmetry, as found in a New Mexico State University study which “utilises a program called FacePrints, which shows viewers facial images of variable attractiveness. The viewers then rate the pictures on a beauty scale from one to nine. In what is akin to digital Darwinism, the pictures with the best ratings are merged together, while the less attractive photos are weeded out. Each trial ends when a viewer deems the composite a 10. All the perfect 10s are super-symmetric.” By taking advantage of this in photography, you can create beautiful images.

Viewpoint

Placing importance on the angles we take our images from is a good skill to learn as it can lead to some more abstract pictures. When taking an image I should take note of what angles I could take the shots at, be that with height, distance etc.

Background

If an image has a background that has a lot going going on, it will distract from the focus of the image,simply changing an angle and getting a plain background can help the focus of the image stand out.

Depth of Field

To create an image with a great sense of depth, you must understand the elements of a foreground, mid ground and background. These can create a feel of scale and depth by itself. By using objects in each section for the depth, it will allow the viewer to understand the scale much better. You can also create an element of depth by blurring the background, this can be done by

Framing

You can create a natural frame within an image, placing certain objects around the edge of the image you create a focused image which will draw the attention to the part of the image with most importance.

Cropping

Cropping is a very important tool to use as a photographer as it allows you to delete unwanted details to reduce noise, making sure the focus of the image is all the viewer can see.

References:

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

http://legacy.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue6/features/feng.html

Featured Image -http://designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/photography-rules-are-made-to-be-broken-1.jpg

WEBSITE ANALYSIS 5 – SONY’S BE MOVED CAMPAIGN

Sony’s ‘Be Moved’ campaign main focus is to allow users to look deeper into the products they create and the teams that work in them. They created an elaborate website with a fully immersive user experience using parallax scrolling, which is where the foreground images move faster than the ones in the background. This method of having separate layers within a page and manipulating the size and the speed they move you can create a sense of depth.

The method of having images and text moving alongside each other and flowing in front of and  behind each other looks like something that would be somewhat of a nightmare should it be attempted using code.

The website is complete with animations of shattering glass, assembling of products and visual scenes of underwater, forests and the universe. It looks very professional and an extreme version of a parallax scrolling site, at first glances this website seems extremely complicated to build, but doing a bit of research I came to the understanding that it was much more simple than how I’d imagined.

By creating a video sequence that lasts 1306 frames and allowing the user to flick between the frames by scrolling is essentially all that is needed to create a website as creative and professional looking as this one. It then creates a website that looks like nothing else on the market as it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to create the movement of some of the objects in 3D space with just normal code. Looking at the code;

the .frameloads is a function that makes the display move on the the next image when thhe user scrolls, and the small_256,small_512 and large_960 are for the different size images for the different sized displays.

As you can see it is very visually appealing, the textures and layers just create this completely immersive experience for the user, telling the story of how they engineer and design together.

References

http://subtlepatterns.com/thumbnail-view/page/16/

http://discover.store.sony.com/be-moved/

https://ihatetomatoes.net/sonys-be-moved-website-deconstructed/

WEBSITE ANALYSIS 2 – APPLE.COM

The Apple website (http://www.apple.com/iphone-6/) has a great design overall but I am specifically looking at the iPhone 6 page for the design they have implemented.The homepage you are greeted with when you select the iPhone part of Apple’s overall site is this:

The product site has been split into ten individual sections focusing on design, display, technology, camera, connectivity, Touch ID (fingerprint scanner), Apple Pay (payment system), iOS8 (operating system), accessories and tech specifications. This can all be accessed the ‘explore’ button on the top right:

The page is full of subtle gradients for backgrounds to add contrast, smooth animations to enhance the user experience.

Looking at view of the site as a whole, you can see how perfectly structured the site is. The site again takes advantage of the negative space and fills it with visuals of the phone complimented by a small amount of text describing why the new phone is better. It tells the user what it needs to know pro be sold the phone and nothing else. If you break down the different sections of the page you find it is all sales talk. I have drawn on the image below to help break this down. The thing to bear in mind is that this page is to show the updates from the iPhone 5S, also note that seven of the nine sections have links to allow you to learn more in depth about that aspect of the phone.

1 –  Is an introduction to the phone itself,  Basically summing up the updates for the entire phone. This can be taken literally, the paragraph is

“iPhone 6 isn’t simply BIGGER — it’s better in every way. LARGER, yet dramatically THINNER. More powerful, but remarkably power efficient. With a smooth metal surface that seamlessly meets the new RETINA HD DISPLAY. It’s one continuous form where HARDWARE and SOFTWARE function in perfect unison, creating a new generation of iPhone that’s better by any measure.”.

I have capitalised the keywords to i will reference in the other points.

2 – “BIGGER/LARGER” are the keywords to be taken from section one. It describes the sizes and the names of the two products. This keeps the text to a very minimum, there is animation implemented into the page so that as scroll down the phones rise up.

3 – “THINNER” is the keyword to be taken from section two. This section describes the thickness of the devices and has a pitch to sell it to the customer.

4 – These are visuals of the device, again showing the size, thin design and quality of the build.

5 – “RETINA HD DISPLAY” is the keyword to be taken from section five. Again given precise details of the device in the terms of screen resolution. Aside from the details of this section, this is only the third image to contain a block of text, this is how Apple takes full advantage the negative space, making the content much more readable.

6 – “HARDWARE” is the keyword to be taken from section six, while describing the camera being better also giving you a visual of the product.

7 – “HARDWARE” is the keyword to be from section seven, describing how this model of the iPhone is the fastest yet and has the most LTE bands compared to the other smartphones.

8 – “SOFTWARE” is the keyword to be taken from section eight. This section causes further intrigue into the features of the iPhone, allowing the customer experience to transition flawlessly.

9 – Finally the last section is simply to inform and encourage the user to buy the iPhone. Giving them multiple options on how to do so.