UNIT 57 PHOTOGRAPHY- Assignment 1- Task 2 Contact Sheets

Contact Sheets (Clearer Images Available on my Task 3 Website pages)

Fine art Photography Contact Sheet- Nature

The fine art images that I chose to take were of various flora in my local park. I decided to photograph the plants and the flowers because of how their multiple colours and textures stood out to me.

My top images from my Fine Art Images

• Image 16- Image 16 is a very good example of texture being used because of how this specific plants structure was. The focal point of this image is at the very front so therefore the background is blurred so that the subject being the plant was able to stand out from the rest of the image rather than blend in with the rest of the plants.
• Image 19- In this image the subject, being the red plant in the middle stood out from the rest because of its distinctive colour. The red and the green are two opposite colours so therefore they help to contrast one another giving this image a very particular look about it.
• Image 6- The pink flower was very bright and contrasted the darker green leaves in the background making it stand out. The sunlight hit the flower from the left side which worked as a way of highlighting it so that it appeared brighter than it actually was.
• Image 17- Image 17 was a once in a lifetime shot and there was a very small window of oppertunity to take that picture due to the fact of the Bee presumably pollinating the flower that can be seen in the image. This image really captures nature at its core and what I liked about this image was how the flower and the bee stand out from the rest of the image because of their contrasting colours.

Documentary Contact Sheet- Tourism
The topic that I chose to document for my documentary photography was tourism within London and how the city is seen through a tourists eyes.

My top images from my Documentary Photography

• Image 1- I felt that Image 1 really captured British tourism and Iconography in a single image. The souvenir stand with the various Union Jack merchandise is exactly the kind of thing that one would expect tourists to go crazy for simply because of the Union Jack or because there are images of the London Eye or big ben on. The red, blue and white really stood out in the same way that Union jack does in general.
• Image 7- Image 7's large variety or colour is due to this diverse and densely populated area of London. There were so many people each wearing their own coloured clothes and going their own different way meaning that the colour is spread out all across the image. Also due to the fact that it was a darker day and quite overcast, brighter colours tended to stand out.
• Image 19- Image 19 showed a street performer on top of a very tall unicycle with crowds surrounding him. Since he was higher than everyone else and the centre of attention he is both in a physical and emotional sense above everyone else as he is the focus of the crowd. Since he is wearing black and the building behind him is brighter he stands out as this is a contrast.
• Image 20- I like this image because of the story it tells. From this image no matter what you can clearly tell that these two men are tourists whether they be friends or whether one just asked the other to take a picture of him. For these two there clearly was a fascination with Nelsons column and with Trafalgar Square in general and for them this area of London is seen as far more spectacular and interesting in comparison to the people who live and work in London.

Portrait Contact Sheet

For my portraiture I decided to stage a photoshoot with one of my family members. I found the perfect background for it which was against a plain white backdrop (On the website pages I played with the exposure effects which made it so the foreground would better stand out). 

My top images from my portrait photography

Within all of the images the white backdrop allows for the foreground to better stand out. It also allowed for the subject in the foreground and the props and costume he was using to be more in focus as there was nothing in the background for the camera to be focused on.

• Image 4- Image 4 had my subject in a very serious pose with the light hitting him from the left side. With the way the lighting was aimed it highlighted his face so we could see his emotion. I chose to use a medium distance shot so we could see him standing up straight with his shoulders and back straight which allows him to come across as confident within the image
• Image 13- In this image I decided to use a close up shot of just the face. In this image I wanted it to be to be all about his face to show his emotion and show his seriousness. By looking directly into the camera within this image it is as if the subject is looking directly back at the viewer of the image.
• Image 14- By having him side on within this image it makes it look as if the subject is looking at something off in the distance, which makes the viewer also curious about what it is that the subject is looking at. I wanted to have him in a more comfortable position with his shoulders relaxed in this image, I felt that this made the image feel more natural rather than staged even though it was in a pre-planned position.

UNIT 57 PHOTOGRAPHY- Assignment 1- Task 1 Report

UNIT 51 Magazines- Assignment 2 Task 2- Before and After Images

My task here was to take the images that I planned to use within my double page spread and to edit them so that they looked as if they belonged within the type of magazine that I was making. Using photoshop and the various tools that they offered I edited different images so that they looked more professional and suitable for my magazine.

For all of my images I used the spot removal tool, the paintbrush tool and also added a filter where I duplicated the layer, made them each a negative and then added the soft light filter, giving each of the images, in my opinion a more of a vintage look to them. I used the spot removal tool as well as the paintbrush tool in order to remove any blemishes, glare from the sun/grease, stray hairs as well as to remove any creases from clothing.


Main Image

Before

After

Changes made

• Glare/Grease removed from the forehead of the boy second from the left- Airbrush blending tool
• Spots/blemishes removed from each person- Spot removal tool
• Stray hairs removed from the two boys on the left- Paintbrush
• Image cropped down to size- Cropping tool
• Colour Filter added- Duplicated the layer, added a soft light filter and made the above layer less opaque

Secondary Images

Before

After

Changes Made

• Spots Removed- Spot removal tool
• Image Cropped- Cropping tool
• Shirt creased removed left shoulder- Airbrush blending tool
• Crease removed right arm- Airbrush blending tool
• Shadow reduced on the bandana arm
• Colour filter added- Duplicated the layer, added a soft light filter and made the above layer less opaque

Before

After

Changes Made

• Shine/glare removed from foreheads- Paintbrush tool, airbrushing tool
• Dirt/debris removed from shoes- Airbrushing tool
• Image cropped- Cropping tool
• Colour filter added- Duplicated the layer, added a soft light filter and made the above layer less opaque

Before

After

Changes made

• Creases removed from shorts- Blending tool
• Grease/glare removed from the forehead of the subject on the left
• Colours blended and matched on the jacket of the subject on the left so that the colours are more consistent- Colour blending tools
• Shadow removed from the forehead of the subject on the left- Airbrushing tool
• Image cropped- Cropping tool
• Colour filter added- Duplicated the layer, added a soft light filter and made the above layer less opaque

Before

After

Changes made

• Markings on the neck removed- Airbrush blending tool
• Shirt creases removed- Colour blending tool
• Glare on the forehead removed- Airbrushing tool
• Image cropped- Cropping tool
• Colour filter added- Duplicated the layer, added a soft light filter and made the above layer less opaque

UNIT 51 Magazines- Assignment 2 Task 1- My Mood Board

Task 1

For Task 1 I had to source images for my double page spread and produce a mood board using photoshop as inspiration for my double page spread. The mood board had to be relevant for the magazine I was trying to create which was a music magazine so therefore the images that I sourced had to relate to this. The images I used had to be both my own images and images that I had gathered from elsewhere.

UNIT 57 PHOTOGRAPHY- My Texture and Colour Photographs

UNIT 57 PHOTOGRAPHY- Texture/colour/shape

Using Texture, Colour and Shape are basic ways to enhance a photograph

Texture

• Everything has a surface so everything has a texture
• Some are course, some are fine
• Texture can be seen by looking at something carefully
• Taking pictures of textures can produce fascinating pictures
• Texture can also be added within photoshop. This will be done using texturizers

Colour

• One of the easiest ways to add impact to a picture is to improve use of colour
• Saturation is one way to play with colour as is contrast
• The three primary colours- red, blue and green- are very powerful and add energy and impact to an image
• Red is the strongest and can dominate an image
• For best results with colour, shoot in strong, bright light

Shape

• Helps with composition
• Shapes can be real or made up
• A roof might be triangular
• Use shapes in area you are in

UNIT 57 PHOTOGRAPHY- Introduction to Aperture

What is Aperture?

• The size of the opening in the lens when the picture is taken
• When you hit the shutter release button of your camera a hole opens that allows the cameras image censor to catch a glimpse of the scene you're wanting to capture
• The aperture that you set impacts the size of that whole. The larger the hole, the more light that gets in and vice versa with a smaller hole
• The word Aperture simply means "An opening"
• In the case of photography the aperture is created by an adjustable iris that can be opened or closed to control how much light enters the camera
• The iris is made of a series of thin metal blades that move together to roughly create a circular opening

How is aperture measured?

• Aperture is measured in f-stops
• They are referred to as n f/number for example f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/22 etc
• Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the size of the amount of opening in the lens and the amount of light getting through
• Large apertures where lots of light gets through have smaller f numbers
• Small apertures when little light gets through have bigger f numbers

Depth of field and aperture

• Depth of Field (DOF)- The amount of shot that will be in focus
• Large DOF- Means that most the image will be in focus whether it's close to the camera or far away
• Small DOF- means that only part of the image is in focus and the rest is fuzzy
• Aperture has a big impact on depth of field. Large aperture will decrease the depth of field, small aperture will give you larger depth of field.
• Small numbers= Small DOF
• Large numbers= Large DOF

Some styles of photography require large depths of field (and small aperture)

• Most landscape photography will have small aperture settings (large numbers) 
• This ensures that from the foreground to the horizon is relatively in focus
• On the other hand in portrait photography it can be very handy to have your subject perfectly in focus but the background blurred to ensure the subject is the main focal point and that other elements are not distracting
• Macros photography tend to use larger apertures to ensure that the element of their subject that they are focusing on totally captures the attention of the viewer of their images while the rest of the image is thrown out of focus.

Large Aperture

• Large apertures produce shallow depth of field- f2.8 and f5.6 will do this
• Basically this means the area of sharp focus in the picture will be small
• This can be useful when you want to isolate the subject matter of your picture while throwing the background and other distracting elements out of focus
• Wide apertures are good for portraits and close ups

Small Apertures

• f16 to f32 increase the depth of field meaning more elements of a picture from the foreground to the background become sharply focused
• This can create a distinct sense of depth to a photograph. Small apertures are a must for most landscape photographs