Unit 101 image capture (1b)

Task 1b: supporting evidence

Theme - water

All of my images were taken with a sony DSLR a390 and a standard 15-55mm lens. They were all shot either using image quality raw, fine or standard.  Only one image has been manipulated to make a better photograph all the others I left as they were originally taken, as I think this shows my work rather than a completely different image.  I also used auto focus for all shots, apart from my close up water droplet.

Photo session at the marina:

For the images taken at the marina I set off with my camera, spare battery, memory card and tripod (also my hubby and son in toe). I set off looking for the best things to photograph, being at the marina gave me lots of choice for my water theme.  I snapped away playing around with the aperture and shutter speed.  As I was outside and it was a sunny day I didn't need to use the flash. 

For this shot I knelt down on the floor and rested the camera on a ledge rather than using the tripod to steady the camera.  I just felt this shot needed me to be low down to get the full effect from the scene.  I purposely had the grass at the front of the shot to give a wide depth of field and to draw the eye into the photo.

 

Photo session at the fountain:

To be honest I just stumbled across this setting whilst on a spa day.  Luckily my camera was as hand so off I trudged getting lots of pictures.  I didn't have my tripod, but the wall around the pond came in very handy to rest the camera.  The shot of the fish look like they are behind a sheet of glass.  I rested the camera on a ledge and zoomed in to give me this image.  I wanted to give the impression of the fish being framed and I feel I have done this well.  The pattern on the water has been captured nicely and gives a marbled effect.

 

I love this image, its such a peaceful photo.  You can see the water rippling which is the effect from the fountain .  You can see quite a lot of detail on the leaves.  I wanted to shoot this photo to show a slight  narrow depth of field and I think I have captured this quite well as the main focus is on the leaves, but the background is slightly blurred out.

Photo session at bath time:

I had to be careful for this photo shoot as I had to keep an eye on my son and take photos at the same time.  I also had to make sure the camera didn't get splashed as my son really enjoys bath time.  I played around taking lots of photos, I felt this was the best image and really illustrates a narrow depth of field.  I really like the quality of this image, the boat is in really good focus.

Close up water droplet session:

This session took some time to set up.  I used coloured paper as backing and a silver dish to catch the drops of water.  I also set up the tripod so I could get really steady shots and get in really close.  I needed to use a slow shutter speed so the shutter was open longer to get the full effect from the water.  I took so many photos and only really one was good enough for me to share with you.  I created the colour in this image by using some fancy yellow rubber gloves.  I couldn't use auto focus for this shot as I needed to get in very close and the auto focus wouldn't let me therefore had to use manual focus.  I'm sure with lots of practice I can manage to get much better shots in the future.

I feel all my images relate well to the water theme.  Each image has water in the photograph or has something to do with it for example the boat at bath time.

Unit 101 image capture (1a)

Task 1a: Final images for my water theme

Landscape 

 



f8 1/3200 iso 100


 I love this photo, the barges on either side seem to draw the viewers eye into the photograph with the barges acting as leading lines.  I also feel the barges frame the water and other barges.  The sun is shining just right between the barges and seems to light the picture up.  I captured the light so you can see the shadowing of the barges in the water. With it being such a bright day I used a really fast shutter speed so not to let too much light into the lens.  It took a while messing about with the aperture and shutter speed to get it right. I purposefully had the grass in the foreground to create more of a frame, but really feel I shoul have cropped some of the sky out to make more of an intense photograph.



This is a lovely photograph of my husband and son, they look so peaceful looking out to the lake.  I slightly changed the original image to come up with this final shot.  As you can see from the image below there was a buggy in the corner which I thought took away from the photo, I used the cloning tool in photoshop to get rid of it.  I also altered the contrast and brightness  to make the picture sharper.  As you can see from the image on the left I have cropped the picture to remove the people in the background. My family are situated slightly off centre therefore having the water as the focus.  I love the shadowing  caused by the natural lighting. 

  Here is the original photo:



f8 1/400 iso 100



Close-up:  



1/80 f5.6 iso 200





This is a great example of a frame in a frame. I took the image from a height therefore had to zoom in quite a lot, but I feel that the fish are in very good focus.  I love to see the water rippling causing a lovely pattern above the fish, making them look like they're behind glass.  There is shadowing on the water caused by the natural light.





1/125 f5 iso 200

 

This a lovely calming picture showing showing a narrow depth of field just focusing on the leaves and the background slightly blurred out.  I would crop this image slightly for presentation purposes to create a sharper picture.











1/6 f36 iso 1600



I'm really impressed with this shot, it took me ages, but I finally got a half decent close up of water droplets.  It's not perfect, but it shows the use of slow shutter speed and colour.  I feel it could have done with better lighting, but this is the best I could do at home, with not a lot of equipment. I used a really slow shutter speed to capture as much detail of the water as possible and by using the tripod it kept the camera steady so as not to get camera shake.  When I learn to use photoshop better I will try and play around with this image to make it better.

  

 






1/25 f5.6 iso 1600

 
This is a shot I got of my son playing in the bath with his boat.  I love the focus on the boat, it really illustrates a narrow depth of field.  There is also focus on the water droplets on the bath handle.  Looking at this image I think it would look good if a changed the entire picture to black and white then added the boat back in colour.

  All images were taken with my sony a390 camera, with a standard 18-55 mm lens. The only photograph I used the flash for was the close up water droplet.



Photoshop-sepia and text

I had a go at turning a colour photograph into sepia, here is how I got on:

I desaturated the image first which took all the colour from the photo, I then selected colour balance.  After playing around with the photo I came out with this final image.



Shutter speed 1/125 f10 iso 100


I am very pleased with the final image, it reminds me of an old postcard, it really gives a warm feeling to this cold winters day.  Just by looking at the photograph I can hear the waves crashing against the prominade. 



I then attempted to put some text into the same sepia image, I played around with the words and thought it went really well in the sea crashing in the waves.  The words look as though they are being washed out to sea

  

Manipulation task

For this task we were asked to have a go at manipulating some images, I had a play about and this is what I came up with, I cropped the image into 6 sections and used variuos filters to to change the image.


Image 1

I used chalk and charcoal, craquelure, stamp, coloured pencil, fresco and graphic pen




Image 2

I used mosaic tile, cut out, glass, dark strokes, spatter and water paper












Image 3





For this image I cut and paste the image of the shoe  (using the magnetic lazzo) from another photograph and placed it into another photograph of the sea.  I moved the shoe around until I found a good place for it.  I re-sized it and this was my final image.

I haven't quite got round to manipulating an image into sepia or to put text in as to be honest I struggled doing what I did in class and don't have photoshop at home to play around with it.  If we get a chance I will have a go at this in my next lesson.











Ideas of water photographs

I tried to get a shot of running water.  I used a shutter speed of 1/125 and a small f stop of 4.5. I had to put the iso to 3200 as it was quite dark inside.  I do like this photo, I feel it captures the flow of water really well that I can almost hear the water.

I took a day trip to Barton Marina and seeked an opportunity to get some photos of barges and water shots. It was a lovely bright day therefore I only had to use an iso of 100. I used a quick shutter speed of 1/125 to get the rippling of the water and an f stop of f16 

This photo didn't really come out as planned.  I was supposed to have got a shot of the water running from the fountain.  I tried a variety of shots, but found it difficult as the water was splashing out.  I used a shutter speed of 1/200 and f8 and  It was a bright day again therefore I only needed the iso on 100.

Initial ideas

As I'm doing the award in photography I get to choose any image to photograph as long as it follows a theme.  Here are some of my ideas:

• Water
• Transport
• Heat

Brainstorming:

WATER

• Puddles
• Bath time
• Rain/Raindrops
• Steam
• Lake/River/Pond
• Glass of water
• Waterplay

TRANSPORT

• Buses
• Motorbikes
• Trams
• Cars
• bicycles
• Aeroplanes

HEAT

• Fireworks
• Patio heater
• Chimnea
• Bonfire
• Candles
• Sunset

I think after a lot of thought I am going to go with the theme of water.  I spend a lot of time taking my son out and he loves to go out and feed the ducks and where is it they love to be...yes thats right water.  We have so much fun spending time where there is water I thought it would be a great theme to go with.  I just need to find ways to make my photographs interesting to the viewer and I think that will take practice.

Research - Martin Parr

I first heard about Martin Parr on a TV programme I was watching, I then wanted to find out more about his work.  He was born in Surrey and took an interest in photography from his grandfather. Martin has also developed an interest in film making and this is one of many things Martin has done over the years in his professional career. Looking at his work for the first time I wasn't sure what to make of it.  His look on taking photos is very different form anything I have ever seen, but on the other hand I can relate to some that he has taken.  Looking at the photograph below I can see some similarities to photographs I have taken on holiday and I'm sure that many people would also relate to this too.


Martin Parr - from the series Playas

The next photograph that captured my eye was this one, I was just intrigued as to why a cup of tea inspired him to take a photograph of it.  It makes me realise that different things inspire different people.


Martin Parr - Common Sense (Cup of Tea)

All images on this blog page have been taken off the internet and are copyright to Martin Parr





Research - Ali Lomas

This photographer grabbed my attention whist looking through a book at college.  This photographer is a young local girl which really inspired me.  She was born in Burton on Trent and has a 1st class degree in fine art and then specialised in photography which she gained at Loughborough university.  She has a passion for portraiture and fashion.  I love the thought gone into the 'to feel beautiful' series.  I look at the girls in the photographs and feel I can really see what they are feeling.  Each picture tells a story and I'm sure to different people it will say something different.  It really intrigues me with the venues that Ali has used for her photos.Ali is obviously devoted to photography and has a clear passion for her work.

This photograph is my favourite, I love the lighting and the way it makes reflections.  You can see the deep thought in the models face and the more you look at the photograph the more it tells a story.

 



Ali Lomas - To feel beautiful

All images on this blog page have been taken off the internet and are copyright to Ali Lomas



photoshop

In this task we were asked to create an image using photoshop for each of these image adjustments: Hue/saturation, black and white, desaturate, channel mixer, half black and white half colour and finally a black and white image with some of the original colour showing through.

I created this image using hue/saturation



This was created using the black and white tool



This was created using desaturate

I used the channel mixer for this image

1/2 black and white, 1/2 colour

I used the history brush to show a fragment of the image in colour

Composition

In this task we were asked to photograph a number if images showing the following composition aspect: Lines, frame within a frame, patterns/textures, balance - rule of thirds, angle - (high, low, tilted), reflections, shadows, distance - far/near (abstract), colour and focus.

Here a variety of images showing these aspects:



Lines
I feel this a good shot for leading the audience into the photograph. It gives the viewer a sense of depth, imagination and curiosity.  I used a shutter speed of 1/125, an f.stop of f5.6 and iso of 400




Frame within a frame
This image shows a frame within a frame leading out of a park and also shows a good shadow of the gate.  I used a shutter speed of 1/125 an f.stop of f10 and iso 100

Frame within a frame
I really like the way this image urned out, i love the way the background is blurred.  I used a very fast shutter speed of 1/1250 and a low f number of f3.5 and iso 400

Patterns/Textures
This a great pattern of the wall outside college which I feel came out really well.  I got up very close and used a shutter speed of 0.4 and an f number f5.6 iso 400

Balance
I feel this image shows the rule of thirds, but am still a little unsure as to what makes up a rule of thirds image. I used a shutter speed of 1/30, an f number of f3.5 and iso 400

Angle - tilted
I really like the way this image looks at a slight angle and think it would look great with someone walking along also to an angle. I used a shutter speed of 1/13, f3.5 and iso 400

Reflections
I love this reflection in the puddle, it also has an aspect of frame within a frame. I used a shutter speed of 1/60, an f5 and iso 400

Shadows
I liked this rock I found in the local park and thought it would look good for a photo shot and it had the added bonus of forming a shadow. I used a shutter speed of 1/60, f22 and iso100

Distance - far
These stepping stone logs came out better than I thought and show distance well.  I also feel it it incorporates tilted composition.  I used a shutter speed of 1/125, f4 and iso200

Distance - near
The same image as above which shows what it looks like close up.  I actually prefer this image, it really shows the pattern from the wood and the pattern around the base.  I used a shutter speed of 1/125 a low f number of f4 and iso 200

colour
I wasn't very pleased with the way this image turned out, I feel it is really out of focus.  I think I need to play around a bit more to achieve a good focus.  Putting focus aside I do feel this shows colour very well I used a shutter speed of 1/8, f 5 and iso 400

Colour
I feel this image shows the concept of colour well and I love the way the background is out of focus, showing all the detail of the grass.  I used a shutter speed of  1/800, f5 and iso 400

Focus
This is a nice shot of a spider in its web and shows focus well, I feel if I had a better Len's I would have got a much better close up.  I used 1/640,a ow f number of f3.5 and iso 400

Focus
This is a lovely image of some water left over from the rain, it really shows focus and also shadows.  I used shutter speed of 1/5, f5.6 iso and 400

Evaluation: I really enjoyed this task, being able to shoot what I wanted to incorporate different composition aspects was so much fun.  I found myself looking at things in a different light and placing them into a category eg, seeing the gate and using it as a frame.  Before doing this course I would never have seen things like this...they would have just been a gate in a park.  Some of the time I got a little frustrated as on sunny days I had to keep messing about with the aperture, shutter speed and iso, I'm sure in time it will come naturally.  I did find it easier using live view as this showed what the picture would actually look like.  Overall I really enjoyed this task and will continue finding different images t make my own.

Camera control exercise



Wide depth of field: using a shutter speed of 1/30 and a high f.stop of f.22 and iso of 400.

Looking back at the picture I feel I could have used a higher iso as it was getting darker.

I had a go at another shot with a wide depth of field which I think came out a lot better:
I use a shutter speed of 1/160 and high f.stop of f.22 with an iso of 100

Narrow depth of field: using a shutter speed of 1/640 a low number f.stop f3.5 and iso 400

Fast shutter speed (short exposure): using a shutter speed of 1/125 combined with an f.stop of f.18 and iso 400    

Slow shutter speed (long exposure): using a slow shutter speed of 1/6   f.stop 18 and iso 400. For this photograph I placed the camera on a wall as I didn't have a tripod.  To make the photograph better I would place the camera on a tripod and use a  slower shutter speed. 

                                                                            

Julie's photography blog

I have chosen to study for the C&G Level 1 Award in photography.

My background in photography is just recreational, therefore all of which I am going to be learning really is totally new to me.  I am very excited in learning about photography and how to take a fantastic photograph.

Level 1 Award in Photography

Unit 101 introduction to image capture:
I will be required to produce 6 images of my choice which will all relate together in a thematic approach.  I will provide supporting evidence showing my preparation etc.

Unit 107 introduction to presenting photo images:
I will use a presentation method of my choice to present my images this I will learn throughout the course.

Unit 108 digital image manipulation:
I will manipulate images and show written accounts to show what modifications I have made and how the images relate to the theme.