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.