Photography Elective –
Emily Walton
Day 1- Learning how to use a camera and its functions.
First of all we learnt how aperture works; an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. The smaller the aperture the darker the picture will be , but for a picture to be shown the ISO has to be High.
This picture has been taken with the aperture on a low setting and the ISO on a high setting and using the flash with the subject close to the camera.
Lighting
Using lighting to lighten up a photograph. This is pretty self explanitory more light makes a picture lighter , less light makes it darker and to create a even lighter picture use a flash with lighting or flash lighting.
Experimenting with lights and Movement .
These experimentations where done with using a long shutter speed and a torch. But I also had to make sure that I got the right balance of ISO and apeture so the picture came out light still. This experiment is called light drawing or light trails, this is not a new experiment as piccasso experimented with it in 1949.
Experimentation with the torch to see what shapes it will create, parts of my body what have moved during this exposure have blurred .
Movement.
When taking this photograph I wasn’t sure if I could capture movement and a light trail. I created this by standing in the same place for a few seconds for each word I wrote. I also found that If I turned the spotlights out and left only a small light on in the room that the light trail came out brighter
.Day 2. Working with a white background and Flash lighting and creating a silhouette.
For this flash lighting experimentation I set my camera to shutter spead 1/200 , apeture F11 and ISO 100 I used these setting so the camera would only pick up the flash against the white back creating a sillohutte . This was my favorite experimentation as the outcomes where so visulally exciting.
Moving the light around to see if it created different effects.
The subject so the light shines on to the subject and playing around with the apeture and ISO to make the picture dark. I think that this effect is very visually exciting .
Using a lighting umbrella to soften the light. The umbrella controls the direction and quality of the light, sometimes making it softer light.
Day 3 – Photoshop experimentation.
When shooting all these photographs , I also shot them in RAW, this is different to JPEG. The RAW file captures what the camera sees, RAW files are uncompressed. In Photoshop I can manipulate my photos into whatever outcome I need or seek. I can make my pictures
anything from light to dark, Vivid to saturation, Black to white, Cold to warm.
In photoshop I used this RAW file and edited it to create this effect , I used the saturation levels and the light and dark levels , to do this, you can do this in normal photoshop using one or two certain tools, but I enjoyed learning something a little different.
I also used this as a RAW file to edit it , changing the hue, saturation and the light and dark to create a sepia effect.
From this.
To this using Photoshop I lightened this photograph to create this black and white effect this made the subject more visible and the whole picture more visually exciting.
Day 4 – Finishing off.
Statement of intent.
For this photography Elective I intend to take a series of photographs which will be based around the word solitude. I chose the word solitude as my current fashion brief is based around that word too. My Solitude mood board.
Solitude means 1. The state of been alone 2. A lonely and uninhabited place. I took these too meaning and based my project around both of them , I wanted to photograph a place
that was lonely where there was something that was alone, i.e a open space somewhere quite with a abandoned building there or one nearby. Because of the nature behind my project I wanted my picture to have a creepy feeling about them, I did some research and found two different photographers whose photographs look like this. I found the work of Sally Mann , Mann did a certain project called Southern Landscapes, These set of photographs where the look I wanted for mine .
Sally Mann – Southern Landscapes
Sally Mann – Southern Landscapes
I also found Martin Newth’s work, his work seems a bit kooky , he has a section of work called Sentinel , Where he had looked at the British landscape and within them there are thousands of pillar boxes and simple concrete structures , its about the relationship with these old structures and how nature and the landscape react to them.
Practice Photograph . The Original.
In Photoshop I plan on creating the effects like Mann and Newths work, I will tweek the photographs Brightness and contrasts ect, and I will be using the sepia tool to give me my main effect.
I have decided on a place that would fit everything I am wanting to capture in, I live in a little town just called Ferrybridge which the main feature of the town is the PowerStation. Down the side of the PowerStation is a old grave yard, In 1950’s the church was moved from this place brick by brick due to the fact it always flooded as it was right next to a steam and a river, when it was moved it left a grave yard which had been the original home to the church for around 1000 years. Now though it is a unknown place and very uninhabited, There around 50 old grave flags or tomb style graves left which are anything up to 200 years old , some have been broken and others have been taken over by nature . When I went to this place I expected it to be a very creepy place given that it is tucked away within alot of trees hidden away from roads, when I got there I was amazed at the energy of the place , it was very quite and tranquil and beautifully lit by the early morning sun. Giving my photographs an amazing outcome.
This is a picture I found on a website of my town, it is the church in its original location.
"...is approached from Ferrybridge through an avenue of fine old willows, gradually disclosing the view as the visitor advances. It's situation is most lonely and secluded ; closed in by the wooded grounds of Fryston Hall behind, and from the view in front by high rampart of the North Eastern Railway, which runs close to its hallowed precinths. There is an air of solemn stillness about the venerable pile, well suited for ' lonely contemplation', but rudely broken by the scream and rattle of the train as it rushes past"
C. Forest, in his book of 1871, entitled 'The History and Antiquities of Knottingley, gives a delightful description of the location of the Church.
I will be using the pictures I take for this project is for the images to be used as research in my current project “Applied fashion design”.
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In Photoshop I played with the levels to create a different brightness and a different contrast, then I used the sepia tool to create the final effect. This creates the over all effect I have been wanting, but I also think it finishes off the picture unlike its original above. I also think that it helps to tell my story of solitude.
Panorama View idea.
If I would of had more time I would use this idea , Take pictures of open space like martin Newth and I would use this panorama idea , which captures everything from your left hadn side to your right hand side in 3 images.
Then I would edit them in the way I have done with the rest of my photographs. I love the way this photograph has come out it shows the space I was in beautifully , but what it doesn’t show that inside off the overgrowth the flags and ruins .
This original shot is composed well in my opinion, i think it reads from left to right but due to the sun shining and taking its creepy feeling away I think I need to Photoshop this to get the right feeling I’m looking for.
After photoshopping this picture I feel like it has a better outcome to its original and follows the rules and sets the scenes I was wanting it to.
When taking this photograph, I saw the sun shining down and reflecting off the grave stone, I made good use of the natural light available to me, but the original picture still didn’t fulfil my idea. One thing I loved about this shot is how the grass and moss have started growing over the grave stone, it really does show that how ever much you try you cannot get in the way of nature.
After using photoshop to edit my shot, I found that I had to use the darkening tool due to the light this shot was expose to when taking the original, but I found the looking I was wanting to create . After darkening this , the tool just darkened the darker parts of the picture leaving the flag stone still reflecting with light making it the main focus point of the picture.
This picture is another great example of the fact that you cannot get in the way of nature, I love how the brambles are growing over the stone making it hard to read but drawing your eyes to different parts of the picture.
After editing it , the true feel I was looking for comes out, this picture is creepy yet reflects solitude perfectly as, whoever has been berried here is solitude as the are in the state of been alone and in a uninhabited place at the same time.
This is one of my favorite images of the set, I love how the stone has been broken and how the flowers are growing out of it, but its not just a flower its a bright red flower , which gives amazing contrast against the grey stone.
When editing this image I didnt want to lose the beauitful contrast of the red , so in photoshop I changed the colour to sepia, and I used the history brush to bring the red back out against the sepia.
This is another of my favorit shots of the shoot, it makes this grave yeard look beautiful. Which to be quite honest with you in the sun it was . Think picture has layers , the front layer been the 3 flags close the the front of the picture, the trees and the shadow been in the middle and then the line of flagstones at the back taking your eyes all the way across the picture. I think the colours in this image really do bring it to life, good terminolgiy considering the subject of the photograph, but ther vivid green against the colourful leaves sourrounded by the deathly grey colour is just so viuallly exhilarating .
This edited version kinda of loses the beautiful feeling to it , but iv got to remember thats not what I am trying to show. With the colours in the picture been all the same just different tones of it, it makes the flags really elervate from the ground , almost like they are coming alive, yet again great terminology.
This is one of my favorite photographs of them all , It was a totally random shot, a photo I couldnt stage myself . I edited this photo in the way I have with the rest of them and it did not have the feeling I wanted it to so im going to keep on playing about with it, and if that doesnt come throught for me I think this original is absolutly beauiful , the different coloured leafs on the grey grave stone are very visually exciting.
The edited version, I think this edited version looses it touch when in sepia and makes it look bland. Trial and error with this image I think.
For this photograph I used the sepia tool to create the effect then I used the history brush to bring out the colour of the leaves. I did this because I thought the colour of the leaves where so beautiful and it made them stand out against the dark cold colour of the grave stone.
This picture was absolutely perfect when I saw the subject I just had to capture it, It was situated under a tree and as the early morning sun came through the trees and shone on the stone I couldn’t resists.
I moved away from the graveyard for this image .This photograph reflects the word solitude, the slight ripples in the water have a tranquil feeling. The way a path has been created next to the river , creates a feeling of people have been there but they are not always there and it is hidden away behind some trees, secluded .
As you can see I took a lot of images on this shoot , but chose 10 as my Final images to present, and a few more to edit just out of curiosity of what they would look like.
Final Evaluation
For my final pictures I chose the specific out come which would make my pictures look creepy and have a scary feeling to them. I chose this medium, firstly because the nature of my pictures. My pictures where taken in an abandoned graveyard so I wanted to reflect my medium in my pictures and visa versa. I also chose this medium because I wanted to relate my elective work with my current project “Applied Fashion Design”, I will eventually be using these pictures to use and work from in my research. In this fashion project my work was based round the word “Solitude” which means 1. The state of been alone 2. A lonely and uninhabited place. I wanted my pictures to relate my pictures to both of these points. So I looked for a place that was once habited so this could be related to the meaning “A lonely and uninhabited place “ and with this place having a trace of once been habited I could be related to the meaning “the state of been alone “ I wanted to show that what had been left behind had a history and a past and was left there alone to be taken over by nature. I also chose for the way that my pictures would be photo shopped would reflect my word , after looking at such photographers like sally man and martin newth , I wanted my photos to look creep and scary so I used certain tools in photoshop to create this.
In my final results I think I have succeed in what I wanted to create. If I had more time or used my time better I would of done this project I would of travelled further and taken more shots of different things in my are. But I do think I am lucky to have such things surrounds me in my small town and how perfectly it fit in with my chosen subject. I also think I could of achieved my final outcome in a different way. As I have studied Photography at college iv used lots of different techniques. I think that my idea could of been captured on a film camera ,this is because I have seen prints turn the brown/sepia colour I have been creating .
Finally I have chose to present my final images on black card , I chose black just because it links in with my scary feel and then Neatly bound together for effect of seeing them larger and physically. I have done this because I believe in true photography and I think the power of the print gets left behind sometimes as technology has changed. Also If I had more time to this project I would pay for them to be printed around A4 size on photographic paper , but the site I order my prints from takes more than a week to dispatch them .
In conclusion I think overall that this whole project has been a huge success and I have really well and truly enjoyed it.
