Year: 2017

In the sixth week of photography we made use of a studio for taking portrait photos, the advantages of using this space was the access to space allowing us to set up a load of different lighting to create different effects in the photo.

This was the first portrait taken of me. What I like about this photo is the deep black shadows almost engulfing most of my body and half of my face, so the light in the frame draws the attention to the left side of my face. It creates for quite a mysterious effect, as my identity is half shrouded.

In this photo, a purple gel was placed over the light source, to give an overall purple tint. This further amplifies the mystery of the shadows, as purple is quite a mysterious colour.

Here, the purple gel was replaced with a red gel. As you can see, just by changing the overlaying colour and my facial expression, we go from a moody mysterious shot, to a dark and sinister shot.

Finally, a green gel was applied over the light, this emerald green colour combined with my longing stare at the ceiling creates a very envious mood within the photo. envious of what however is unclear as I am staring off camera.

MED1011M – Independent Project Intentions Form

In our week 4 workshop we moved on to a body of photography known as Found Object, in which we were tasked with putting objects together in front of a backdrop to create interesting compositions. We also learnt how to utilise different pieces of equipment to create better photographs to one that we would get if we were to just take a photo of something right off the bat without having to set anything up. The equipment we utilised were tripods, to maintain a steady composition, and various different lights (LED, Flash Light etc.) to change the way the camera photographs an image.

This was my favourite photo, I really like the juxtaposition between the fish and the earring, I feel like is says something consumerism in this day and age, by giving the fish the human like trait of fashion, perhaps insulting the intelligence of people who give into this consumer capitalism. Moreover, I really like the way the light contacts with the earring as it gives it this diamond like shimmer. Also the slight glow around it gives off the effect that it is really shiny.  I had to take this photo into Photoshop for some slight editing, in order to remove the hand in the bottom left corner. whilst I was in Photoshop, I also decided to slightly bump up the contrast and the vibrancy of the photo, to try to pop this exotic red/orange colour.

I was also captivated by this image in particular, it creates a sense of juxtaposition between the flowers and the other object which looks like a cannon. This could easily be an anti war photograph, as the flowers that come out of the end of the cannon represent peace, as when we think about flowers and nature we typically think peaceful thoughts. This accompanied by the slightly subdued yellow in the background depicts the silly nature of war. The way it is framed directly in the centre draws our eyes towards it and suggests that this is important.

In the third week of photography there was no task set by the tutor, however I decided to take this opportunity to practice different photographic techniques on my mobile phone using it’s manual settings. The camera on my phone works pretty much like a DSLR camera. It allows you to shoot in RAW or JPEG, to adjust focus, ISO, shutter speed and white balance and even aperture. These are a few photos that I really liked the outcome of.

 

In this photo I tried to capture the grandeur and authority that the cathedral represents by taking it at a very low angle, I really like the fact that the sky is completely white without editing as it can be seen as representative of heaven, above the cathedral.

In these photos I tried to experiment with shutter speed, and made an attempt at light painting. by lowering the shutter speed to 2 seconds and moving a small light in front of the camera, I was able to achieve these scribbles of light.

With this photo I decided to experiment with the flash, by lowering my ISO so that the picture was dark, my flash lit up all of the light parts of the photo such as the white of the cream and the cup, creating this great contrast of dark and light.

Finally I really like the composition of this photo, I feel like I have done or at least tried to do something original with the cathedral. With the way I have framed it and the way the warm bright lights illuminate it, it almost looks like a 3 pointed crown, which represents the link between monarchy and religion and again demonstrates the cathedral as a superior power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the second week of photography, during our seminar, we were given a photograph and was tasked to ponder various things about the image. These were:

What time period, decade or year do you think this photograph was created in? What visual cues support your choice?

Judging by the contents of the photo I believe this was taken in the early/mid 20th century, perhaps somewhere between the 1930s and 1950s. This is apparent from firstly the vehicles that are displayed in the upper half of the photo, the design of said vehicles looks to be quite vintage, judging by the trim, bulky bodies and white wall tyres. Secondly, you have the dress code of both the subjects and the photographer in shot. all of the subjects look to be wearing pre-war fashion dresses. Finally the fact that the photo is black and white is reminiscent of the times in the early 20th century where photographs could not be taken with colour.

Where in the world was this photograph taken?

I am of the impression that this photograph was taken somewhere in an English speaking westernized country judging by the words on the van in the background that says “Corp” which is a shortened down version of the English word Corporation, and the style of clothing which was worn throughout the UK and USA. In terms of what English speaking country I would suggest that it was taken in the UK, which is apparent from the side of the road the vehicle is driving on. Even though it looks like the car is driving on the right hand side of the road, it is in fact the reflection that creates this illusion. The vehicle is in fact driving on the left hand side of the road.

In a short paragraph, how would you describe the key visual elements of the photograph?

The main visual element I believe is the way the subjects have been framed in the clearer part of the photographers reflection, it is the only part of the photo that looks fully opaque, whereas the rest of the photo looks almost ghostly. This draws the attention of the eyes to the 2 female subjects who are sat inside. Another key visual element is the visual differentiation between the inside and the outside within a singular image, which was possible by taking the picture from outside looking through a window, as you will be able to see the reflection on the window as well as what is on the other side of the window. It is also a very unconventional photo as we recognise the presence of the photographer.

How is/are the human subject(s) of the photograph engaging with the camera/photographer?

The main 2 subjects in the photo each demonstrate different reactions to the camera. One of them is engaging with the camera directly by looking straight at it, and the other woman is not engaging with the camera at all, instead all of her attention is on the girl who is engaged with the camera. This looks to me like a mother is angry with her daughter and is giving her a lecture, which would explain why all of her attention is on the younger looking girl. As for the younger girl, judging by her closed body language and her acknowledgement of the camera, I would say she looks slightly embarrassed or vulnerable, and she is too fearful to look at her angry mother in the face so she looks for any distraction.

How is/are the human subject(s) of the photograph engaging with the camera/photographer?

I’d like to think that the photo wasn’t staged, that this is a genuine reaction of guilt and embarrassment that she caught in a photograph.

What do you believe the photographer wants, you, the viewer to take from the image?

Due to the inclusion of her reflection, I think the message to take from this is to be aware of the photographers presence, as they can catch you off guard when you aren’t posing for the photo.