Still life

 In the studio I have photographed still life objects. Starting off with using a white background and using these objects which include my watch and phone, and parts of nature. I placed these objects on the table and photographed them from above and straight on. I have done this as an experiment on photographing still life. Although I like the image photographed straight on, if this image was to be used to advertise the image from above would be a better image because the objects are more visible and shows a lot more detail than the one from straight on.

I then photographed a range of different objects, this time using a black background to also show experimentation with photographing still life. I chose the use these objects and placed there where I thought would look good, I placed some stones and shells inside the bottle and placed some next to it to show two different looks for the stones, and also placed the mannequin hand at the top of the bottle to make it look like it was about to be picked up, and also places some bigger shells and stones behind to give more to the image. I played about with the lights slightly and have chosen this image because everything is placed out nicely, the lighting is good and I think that this is a good representation of still life photography.

Adjustment Layers

Adjustment layers are used to adjust images in separate layers so if something goes wrong the original image isn't ruined and lost and you can experiment with different techniques without having to keep reopen the image and start again. One layer can be used for each tool if you want to use more than one to adjust the image. So if you use one tool and get the image the way you want it, then use the next one and you don't like how it turns out you can just delete that layer instead of having to start again.

Hue/Saturation

Adding an adjustment layer and using the Hue/Saturation tool I have experimented changing the colours of parts of this image and have got the outcome of this image. I have shown the layers to show that I have one Hue/Saturation layer over the top of the background so if I don't like the way this image now is I can delete this layer and have my image back to how it was. I like the way this tool has changed the colours in this image and makes it look a little more dull but still has colour in it.
















Black and White

After experimenting with Hue/Saturation I deleted that layer and moved onto Black and White using a new adjustment layer. I have experimented with this setting and got the outcome of this image, I have made this image so that is it not all completely black and white, I have left some slight colour in her hair, and also using the pain brush I have removed the black and white in the ear to show the bright yellow colour in the ear plug, I really like this image and think that bringing some colour back into a black and white image works well.

Curves

Lastly, after experimenting with black and white I deleted that layer and adding a new adjustment layer moved onto using curves. I experimented with moving the curve bar around until I got it into a position to make the image look how I like it, I have given the image a little more light to make it bright, but not too bright and with this image I think it works well and isn't too bright.

Manual camera settings

The light meter
The light meter is used whilst taking a photograph to make sure that the image is correctly exposed, for it to be correctly exposed the arrow has to be on zero. If the arrow is below zero which is to the left this means the image is under exposed and if it is above zero which is to the right the image will be over exposed. To get the correct exposure the aperture, shutter speed and ISO all have to be correctly in sync whilst using the light meter to make sure these settings are correct to have the right exposure.

For this experimental task we looked at getting correct exposures using the cameras built in light meter.

First off I was asked to set my camera to manual and select the appropriate ISO for the lighting conditions, using the light meter to take a correctly exposed photograph. I started off by setting the shutter speed to 1/60, the aperture to f5 and the ISO on 800, whilst taking this photograph I made sure that the light meter was on 0 to make sure that this photograph was correctly exposed.

Then for the task I was set I had to under expose the image changing the aperture. Which I did keeping the shutter speed at 1/60, the ISO at 800 and changing the aperture to f13 which gave me this under exposed image by making the aperture smaller, to make sure this image was under exposed I have to make sure the arrow was below 0 on the light meter.






For the second task of this section I was then asked to over expose the image also changing the aperture only, but with the aperture on the highest it could go on I could not get an image over exposed by only changing the aperture, so i changed the ISO to 3200, with the aperture on f4.8 and keeping the shutter speed on 1/60, to make sure this image was over exposed I made sure that the was over 0 on the light meter.

For the next set of tasks I was asked to revert back to the correct exposure settings, then take an under exposed image changing only the shutter speed, I changed the shutter speed to 1/640, with the aperture on f8 and the ISO on 800, with these settings I was able to get an under exposed image by changing the shutter speed and making it faster which allows in less light.




Secondly I was asked to take an over exposed image using the same rule of only changing the shutter speed. To do this I changed the shutter speed to 1/30 and kept the aperture at f5 and ISO at 800 and with these settings I was able to get an under exposed image by changing the shutter speed to make it slower which allows in more light.

For the last set of tasks I was asked to revert back to the correct exposure settings and this time taking and under exposed image changing only the ISO. So using a shutter speed of 1/60 and an aperture of f5, I changed the ISO to 100 I was able to create the this under exposed image by only lowering the ISO.






Lastly, using the same rule of changing the ISO only, I was asked to take an over exposed image. To get this image I changed the ISO to 3200 with a shutter speed of 1/60 and aperture of f5.6 and with these settings I was able to get this over exposed image by choosing a higher ISO number.

High key & Low key lighting

Intentions
Before taking this photograph I set out to experiment and produce an image with low key lighting, doing this by have no light apart from one facing the person to produce a shadow effect.

Evaluation
I am happy with the way this image turned out, the lighting and the shadow is successful and the position of the light was correct. The light is mainly focusing on the left side of the face and shadow everywhere else, which is what I intended to do. In the future I could experiment a lot with this and try a lot of different techniques such as positioning the light differently and capturing different angles of the person and having them in different positions, but overall I think that this was successful and am happy with it.

Intentions
Before taking this photograph my intention was to experiment and produce and image with high key lighting, doing this by having full light as well as the flash.

Evaluation
For me this image isn't as successful as I had hoped, the position this image had been taken in didn't get as much light as I wanted to and isn't in the right position as it shows a little part of the room past the backdrop so it doesn't have the right effect on the right side on the image. I feel that the left side of the image is correct, but the right side is incorrect for this experiment. But this is something I can improve on and will continue to experiment and correct this.






 Intentions
My intentions for this experiment was to go back into the studio and experiment and work more on using high key lighting and produce a better image.

Evaluation
The first image I have shown is to show that at the beginning of this experiment it was unsuccessful as the light was in the wrong position producing too much shadow and not enough light. After realising this problem we moved the light around to shine more onto the background. After doing this and experimenting with different light exposures, I have produces the second image using an exposure of f7.1. This image is very successful, it has the right amount of light and I think is a good image and I am happy with this outcome.

Intentions
My intentions for this was to go back into the studio and experiment and work more with low key lighting and produce better images.

Evaluation
I have experimented a lot with low key lighting and have chosen to show these four images because I feel that they are the best images that I have taken using this experiment. I have experimented with the position of the flash and the position of the person and have produces a range of different images that have been successful and I am happy with, I have experimented with positioning the flash behind the person to give a sort of halo effect and showing light on different parts of the face and body and am very happy with the outcome of these images.

Angles, Viewpoint and Cropping

Photography influenced composition - Edgar Degas:

I have chosen to look at these images of Edgar Degas' work to show how photography has influenced composition in painting. Photography has influenced the composition in these painting by showing that not everything in the painting has to be in the centre of the frame, showing everything they feel that needs to be shown, it makes it look more realistic by having people walking out of the frame or not completely in it because that's the way the are stood or sat. Before photography, if this painter was to paint these images he would have both the people completely shown and not parts cropped out in the first image. In the second example he would of painted the woman from an angle where all parts of her body are visible instead of having her leg in the bath and it not being visible and in the third all of the ballet dancers would of been visible and in the centre of the frame and would not of had any of them walking out of the frame. I think that this shows photography has had a big influence on composition in the way this painter paints his paintings, and it also looks as if he uses photography to capture these images the way he wants to paints them then uses that as a reference to create these paintings.



Early kodak photographs
Photographs taken around 1878 to 1929 using kodaks have a lot of 'early amateur errors'. I have chosen these photographs as examples because they have good examples of these errors within them. In these photographs there has not been a lot of thought about the composition gone into them. There is a lot of cropping happening in all four of these images, from this I can tell that the photographer hasn't put much thought into taking these images, they have just taken the picture of what they wanted to capture and haven't thought about what is in the background and have not made sure that whatever is in the background is either not in the frame or is in it properly or making sure that other people are either completely in or not at all. No thought has been put into the composition of these photographs and on 3 of these images there have been people caught in the shot walking in and out of the frame.

Camera height
For the first experiment I went out around the college to take photographs using camera height, taking photos looking up and looking down.

First off I intended to take this photo looking down on some stones and part of a bush growing fruit, I was aiming to create a good image using camera height. I achieved this image just as I had intended and was successful in using camera height as it is focused down from a distance and has also caught a good image. I like this image as it uses camera height well and also has a food focus and composition. Overall this is successful in all areas. I could improve on this by using different angles from above.

Secondly I aimed to create an image of a set of steps looking down on them using camera height. I achieved this image of these few steps which I think was successful in using camera height and using this makes it look better than it would if taken from a different angle. I like this image but I think that I could improve on this by trying to include more within the frame.

My aim for my next image was to capture something from a camera height of looking up rather that down. With this I achieved this image of part of a building looking upwards towards the sky. Although this image isn't very interesting it is successful in using camera height. I could improve on this a lot by also getting other parts of the building in the frame and making it more interesting which I will continue to work on and will achieve in the future.

For my last image I aimed to create a nice image facing down on a nice plant or bush. In doing this i achieved this image focused on this bush facing down. As well as this being a nice focused image I think that this was successful in using camera height. I like this image overall and think that it was very successful, although I could improve on this a lot in the future by getting more of the bush into the frame and less of the ground which I think will make this image look a lot more successful than it currently does.

Camera angle
For this experiment I went out around the college to take photographs using a camera angle.

For this first photograph I aimed to take a nature picture of some trees using a camera angle. I have achieved this picture of trees and grass, to get this camera angle I rotated my camera to the left. Although this was successful in using a camera angle, I think that this photograph would look better at a straight angle. Rotating my camera has given this photograph a different perspective and has been successful in this task and experiment, but as an overall image I don't like it.



Secondly my aim was to get a photograph of an object around the college whilst using camera angle. I have achieved this photograph of a vending machine around the college, this time I have rotated my camera to the right. I feel that this was successful in using a camera angle and makes it look more interesting than usual, which makes me like this photograph, it is different and gives a different composition. Overall I think this photograph is successful in all areas. I could improve on this by experimenting more and photographing this from different angles.

 For my third photograph my aim was to take a photograph of something around the college whilst tilting my camera upside down. I have achieved this photograph of a circular window which I achieved by angling my camera almost upside down but not quite. I like this image because it is looking at the window from a different perspective and gives it a good composition, due to this I think that this image is successful and is a good photo. I could improve on this by standing in different positions whilst taking the photograph to get different perspectives of this.

For my final image on camera angles my aim was to photograph of one of the hallways around college with this aim I achieved this image of a hallway, for this I rotated my camera slightly left again. This turned out very successful and for me makes it look a lot better because it gives a better view and perspective of this hallway, whereas if I had held my camera straight I would not have caught as much in the shot as I have with this camera angle, therefore I really like this image and feel that is is my favourite out of this camera angle experiment.












Camera crop
 For this experiment I went out around the college to take photographs using camera crop.



My aim for this image was to photograph this building but cropping it and only getting part on the building in the shot and for this I achieved this image of the side of the building with part of the college showing in half the image cropping out the rest of the building. This image is a good representation of cropping but could be improved by taking it from a different distance showing more of the building but still using crop but overall I feel this is a successful image for this experiment,











For my second image my aim was to capture a photograph of two fire extinguishers using cropping in which I achieved this image that I feel has been successful in using cropping because it is showing enough of the objects but has cropped it at the same time which I feel overall has been successful but in the future could be improved by zooming in more getting more of the fire extinguishers in the frame but still cropping them.

For my last image my aim was to photograph this hallway with the bin and cropping the bin half way. I achieved this image which I feel has been successful as it crops the hallway and windows as well as the bin which shows more than one example of cropping in this one photograph.














For this image I have used two of these techniques in one. I have used the camera rotation by turning my camera left and also used cropping which has been shown by cropping out part of the stairs, window and the stair frame. This image has been successful in what I had set out to do, I like this image and think that it looks better when more than one of these techniques have been used within taking one photograph.