I cannot use the previous idea because it follows no thematic ‘artwork’ as I did not fully understand the brief. Therefore, I have changed my idea to show off some of the nicest areas of Paris. This is going to allow me to tag the images with hashtags which are searchable on the site.
An idea for a photo uploading service, having read this article (http://www.stuff.tv/features/avoiding-hole-in-history-and-digital-dark-age) which discusses how we no longer keep photo albums and that we are living in a disposable age of photography, and such there are suggestions to lead many to believe that, in the future, there is going to be a void in history where we have no photographic evidence of us being around. Given that all technology and internet services don’t stay around forever (take a look at Kodak and MySpace for example) I have decided to build the concept of my image uploading site around this idea. I hope to create a service that allows the user top upload the images and tag them as an event, a destination, a year etc, this will allow the user tho browse through these categories and seeing what other have created. I am ultimately creating the ultimate social photography experience. Instead of being about users and advertising, this is all about experiencing photos from different events, and areas, like Google images but in a much more personal level, the images have been uploaded by users of their memories with a caption instead of a crawler finding it on the web. While this is a great service, it doesn’t resolve the issue of the images being stored online, therefore, I am going to try and provided a method of printing these images. These are my initial ideas and are than likely going to develop a lot more before final production.
I knew that presenting my images as a collection would be important, to look professional and be enjoyable to look at. Therefore I started to research how to present my images, the first lesson I learnt was that the purpose of setting this up is to show of my work, so it had to be all about the images, no distractions. The format I had chosen for my images were square with one horizontal rectangle. I decided the best way would be to split up the images into three, this would give the viewer more visual space to concentrate on the content and would also allow me to have a set of images. First I had to chose the images in each set and which order they would go in,, this was reasonably easy as I picked images that related to the other based upon their location being close. The next step was the actual order they were to be arranged in, I wanted the leading lines to draw they eye across the content so that the person viewing the collection would be lead from left to right with visual cues.
With my images being black and white I thought the best way to present them would be to use white borders and them present those on a black piece of card. In photoshop I created the layout for the overall portfolio pieces, I used rulers to measure 1 inch borders to each image. This meant the images were evenly spread out. Finally I printed them and applied them to self-adhesive mount card. After using the guillotine to cut them to perfect size, I was left with well present, professional version of my images.
Analysing my photos.
Pre production had a lot to do with the process of taking photos. In the photographs I noticed that because the colour was removed the artist relied on leading lines to make the composition interesting. By using leading lines you are also able to create shapes within the images, triangles, circles and symmetry all were common in the images that I looked at for my research, therefore this was something I tried to create in my images.
Image number one
In this image I thought about the shapes I was creating within the composition while I was taking the photo. I tried to create triangular shapes, notice how the image takes up 2/3 of the composition as a whole. There are leading lines that drag your eyes in a zig-zag motion starting from bottom right, along the metal barrier, the right again up to the point of the building. When the image has no field of depth and the colour is taken away it is very difficult to figure out a sense of scale so the framing of the image using the barrier really helps the viewer to understand the image. In the post production stage, I adjusted the levels of red green and blue within the image to make certain elements stand out much better, I wanted the light within the glass to stand out much better, but I also wanted the texture of the black wall to stand out too. I think I have managed to create an interesting composition that uses the techniques I have learnt in my photography research.
Image Number 2
This was an interesting image to take, I framed the deep with this bridge to give it a sense of size with the field of depth. I think the lighting of the image works really well as the focus point is the the point in which the two lines of the edge of the building meet. The position of the deep within the image is really good too because it is almost centred horizontally, but then takes up 2/3s of the image vertically. Using the levels adjustment I made the glass edge the focus of the image by making it stand out from the rest of the image more.
Image number 3
In this image the rule of thirds again is take into account, the main focus of the image again taking up 2/3 of the image, the spike creating a central focus point. The staircase on the right hand side in a sense creates a leading line that (like in the photos from my research) leads to somewhere that isbn’t visible to the viewer, this creates intrigue in whats the top and makes the composition as whole more interesting.
Image number 4
This images uses the reflection in the water to draw your eyes to the focus point in the image which is rectangular shape in the centre, taking up 1/3 of the composition. The other two thirds are made up above and below the focus point. The line from the left interestingly leads the viewer to the centre of the composition. Adjusting the layers allowed me to create a contrast between the broth and the actual reflection,
Image number 5
Leading lines are a major part of this image as it leads the viewer across the bridge, I made sure when taking the photo again that the windows would be the centre of focus within the image. There are a lot of triangular shapes within the image which creates in an interesting composition for the viewer.
Image number 6
This is one of favourite images from the set I took. The main focus of the image is the clock face in the upper right corner. There are a lot of lines within the image but this helps add a sense of scale to the image. The colours also help to frame the image as the dark colours of the church wall surround the lightness of the clock area, they also draw the viewers attention to the clock. The lines are leading upward from the wall right up to the clock face.
Image number 7
In this image I have used leading lines really well to give the image a sense of scale with depth of field. It shows the interesting cobbled streets of Old town around Hull. Like in the research of the other artists, I have tried to create this intrigue by not actually showing the user what round the corner, so that the leading lines lead to something that is not entirely visible. This image also used the rule of thirds to give priority and importance to the cobbled road rather than the buildings. This image is also made up of three triangles, the road, buildings on the right and the buildings on theft mixed with sky.
Image number 8
This is one of my most visually interesting images as there is the leading lines making the viewer peer round the corner, then there is the rule of thirds giving importance to the cobbled road. There is the person within the image which I have to chosen because it then shows the shadow of the sun and gives the image a sense of direction, making the viewer ‘look down the road’. Another interesting element of this image is the shapes within it, there are three triangles on the left, the road, the buildings, and the sky.
Image number 9
The focus of this image is the archway in the background, therefore when I took the image I made sure there were leading lines in that direction, and you will notice there are four different leading lines that lead the viewer to the archway. The chairs on both sides of the room, then there are the tops of the walls on the sides leading you down as well.
Image number 10
This image was an abstract piece based on one of the images that I found in my research. The leading lines allow the viewer to be shown across the image with ease. An important element of this image is the shapes within it, while the building is made up of lots go squares, the composition as a whole is made up of two triangles. The building and the sky.
Image number 11
Leading lines was the most important element of this photo as it leads the viewer across the bridge to the other side to the south bank, this immediately makes the bridge the centre of attention within the composition. This image also uses the rule of thirds as the bridge is the most dominant part of the image.
Image number 12
This image was to show off the fountain near Princess Quay, the building and the flare of the sun add interest to the the image. The image also used rule of thirds with the buildings in the background and the fountain in the foreground. This perspective add interest as well as showing the building almost in silhouette as the sun sets behind.
Image number 13
This image is of Princess Quay is a shopping centre in Hull town centre and it is built mainly of glass, and the reflection of the sun demonstrates this. There are some interesting shapes in the image as again this image can also be split into triangles. The importance of this image is to show of the general architecture of the build hence the reason the image is mainly made up of leading lines and has no general focus point.
Image number 14
This image is very well composed as it mixes the old with modern and newer architectures, there is one main leading line that draws you from left to right, starting with princess quay to the old municipal buildings, then to the most modern BBC building. You could almost imagine being a seaman on board a boat returning to port and being greeted with this view apart from the modern buildings. The prominent building in the centre has an interesting feature of the clock face which becomes almost a feature within the image itself.
Image number 15
This view shows the Humber bridge and both banks of the river Humber in all it’s majesty. The photograph was taken in the late afternoon as the sun was setting in the west and nicely shows the bridge and the river banks in silhouette. The image shows the most important part of the bridge, the two towers, these are so important because they play a prominent part in the design of the bridge structure and is even shown in the bridge’s logo. The rule of thirds is again shown in the image and makes the water more prominent to give the viewer a sense of depth of field.
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:
Joel Tjintjelaar – http://www.bwvision.com/
David Gutierrez – http://www.davidgutierrez.co.uk/london-photographer–black-and-white-photography.html
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:
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:
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;
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:
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.
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)
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
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