Documenting Dslr
A DSLR camera, is a digital single-lens reflex camera. When taking the picture light passes through the lens and is refracted into a prism as it hits a mirror inside the camera. To see properly orchestrate what you are taking you can look into the viewfinder. The mode dial is found at the top of the camera. It is circled shape and includes different settings. The image below shows each setting from the mode dial.
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ISO
This is effectively the camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the higher the sensitivity and exposure. It is typically measured in numbers, a lower number represents a darker image, while brighter images means a brighter image. Examples of ISO include; 100,200, 400.
Shutter Speed
The shutter speed is the amount of time that the camera lens closes and opens to light and is measured in fractions of a second. A slow shutter speed allows more light into the camera and is used for low light and night settings, fast shutter speeds help to freeze motion. Examples include 1/15, 1/30, 1/60 and 1/125.
Aperture
This is the hole in the lens of the camera that can be adjusted to let in more or less light, depending on how exposed you want your images to be. Aperture also controls the depth of field in a photograph. For example if the aperture is small then the depth of field is large and if the aperture is large then he depth of field will be small. In photography aperture is represented as F also known as the f numbers since this is the ration of diameter from the lens.
This is effectively the camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the higher the sensitivity and exposure. It is typically measured in numbers, a lower number represents a darker image, while brighter images means a brighter image. Examples of ISO include; 100,200, 400.
Shutter Speed
The shutter speed is the amount of time that the camera lens closes and opens to light and is measured in fractions of a second. A slow shutter speed allows more light into the camera and is used for low light and night settings, fast shutter speeds help to freeze motion. Examples include 1/15, 1/30, 1/60 and 1/125.
Aperture
This is the hole in the lens of the camera that can be adjusted to let in more or less light, depending on how exposed you want your images to be. Aperture also controls the depth of field in a photograph. For example if the aperture is small then the depth of field is large and if the aperture is large then he depth of field will be small. In photography aperture is represented as F also known as the f numbers since this is the ration of diameter from the lens.
white paper test
For this task we were given a piece of white paper and asked to create unique photographs structurally changing it and disrupting its pattern in some way. In order to do that we could re-shape it, bend, fold, crumple and curve it to manipulate its shape and form.
Firstly we shot against a white background using a torch light to help manipulate the shadows of the image in order for it to appear abstract, then we could move on and develop our photos further with the use of a black background. There were also different colours of opaque plastic, that with a light shining through reflected these colours onto the paper. This created these interesting effects and made what once was a plain two dimensional object into something that doesn't resemble paper anymore.
Firstly we shot against a white background using a torch light to help manipulate the shadows of the image in order for it to appear abstract, then we could move on and develop our photos further with the use of a black background. There were also different colours of opaque plastic, that with a light shining through reflected these colours onto the paper. This created these interesting effects and made what once was a plain two dimensional object into something that doesn't resemble paper anymore.
paper task white background
second development: black paper background
Overall, I was pleased with the multitude of forms and shapes I managed to capture with the paper, resulting in it being manipulated therefore it came across as something truly abstract thus completing the tasks intentions. By experimenting with angles and a vast majority of shadows I also manged to achieve a difference in the colour gradients which really make the images multiple surfaces stand out to the eye. I believe by achieving different levels of colour gradients makes the clearly two dimensional objects appear as something else entirely thus contributing to the appearance of it being abstract. However, I wish I managed to improve the quality of the images as it would've made the images sharper and cleaner even if they were curved. In order to overcome this issue a tripod could have ensured sharp straight images. As well as tis the composition of my images could have also been improved as most of them were photographer in an upl-close fashion.
first development
of paper task
In this task we were to do develop our experimenting with paper task further by focusing on another photographer of our choice, I chose to first focus on photographer Brendan Austin.
brendan austin
Brendan Austin creates photos of imaginary landscapes and mountains by using martials like tissue paper and disrupted card, his photos sit between reality and nature as his images replicate the natural landscapes so well.. These were called 'paper mountains' as Austin showed what he saw as the human impact on nature. They are situated on the border of reality and nature. Each mountain is said to be a printed photography of a mountain, worked and crumpled to replicate the peaks and shadows of the American coast. With his images she wanted to question reality. The vast empty space around the mountains reflect his unease and the creases make us question the ties between reality and humans.
I started this task by first assembling some crumpled paper to make them appear as different landscapes or natural occurrences. By crumpling the paper it gives it more definition and the creases add the extra questioning of reality and fake like Austin questions in his artwork.
When I first began I love the compilation of the colours as it appears very abstract and the different variety and shades of the colour give more depth to the image as well as the addition of the torch to help manipulate the light and shadow. However I strayed too far from the intentions of the task which were to imitate Austin's work, so to further improve and correct this error I retook some images and made them appear black and white to be more similar to Austins work.
When I first began I love the compilation of the colours as it appears very abstract and the different variety and shades of the colour give more depth to the image as well as the addition of the torch to help manipulate the light and shadow. However I strayed too far from the intentions of the task which were to imitate Austin's work, so to further improve and correct this error I retook some images and made them appear black and white to be more similar to Austins work.
edited collection
second development
I further developed it as I don't believe the first set of images best simulated Austin's work the best.
second development of
paper task
After I finished taking my images I edited my favourite collection which I felt best showed the intentions of the task.
edward weston
-ordinary to extraordinary-
edward weston
Edward Weston (1886-1958) was a 20th century photographer who has been called one of the most innovative and influential of all American photographers and a master of photography. His career spanned 40 years and he photographed an expansive set of subjects, including landscapes, still-life, nudes, portraits, and genre scenes.
Some of Edward Weston’s most famous work was close-up images of vegetables and fruit, photographed in a way that captured the “essence” of the object, taking them out of context. His manipulation of light to highlight shape, texture and form helped bring photography out of the shadow of painting and stand on it’s own as a credible art form.
Some of Edward Weston’s most famous work was close-up images of vegetables and fruit, photographed in a way that captured the “essence” of the object, taking them out of context. His manipulation of light to highlight shape, texture and form helped bring photography out of the shadow of painting and stand on it’s own as a credible art form.
Pepper NO. 30
30 is one of the best-known photographs taken by Edward Weston. It exposes a solitary green pepper in rich black-and-white tones, with strong light effect from above. In this image, the pepper is shown to be isolated on its own to concentrate all attention towards the explicit details of the ordinary vegetable. It is said that when working with this image, Edward Westons greatest challenge was the depth of field (attempting to get all of the pepper in focus). The shape of the object is very intriguing as it is seen to be completely divergent to what you would normally expect a pepper's appearance to be. This image has taken place in dark environment to depict the contrast between black and white and to also present the subtle shadows of the inanimate object. |
For this task we experimented in Weston's style of photographing vegetables. In order to capture the simplistic objects in his way of photographing them we would have to focus on showing as much detail as possible therefore resulting in multiple abstract forms and shapes. By focusing on detail and lighting we have control over shadow from photographing different angles of the objects. We used a pepper (like Edward Weston did), broccoli, cauliflower, a pineapple and a mushroom.
We firstly used natural lighting to illuminate the objects in this first task.
We firstly used natural lighting to illuminate the objects in this first task.
natural light
edited selection
studio light
This task was a slight development from the first as the only change made was transferring from the use of natural light to studio light by using flashlights to illuminate our images instead of natural light. This created an artificial lighting but it allowed us to manipulate the light more to suit the composition of our photographs. It also created powerful contrast between the dark undertones of the shadows to the light of the torch.
EDITED SELECTION
abstract comparisons
-BOdy and nature-
Alicja Brodowicz is a polish photographer who is known for her experimentation of combining the two elements of nature and the body. By combining these two elements she attempts to find similarities, often looking for features such as converging lines, textures in the layout. By doing this she is focusing on finding unity between the human body and nature. |
For this task we were required to photograph different elements in nature looking out for textures and structures that could possibly resemble a human feature. After photographing a selection of nature images I picked out the ones I felt could be replicated in the form of a body part and then photographed the body part I believed it resembles.
comparison images
abstract portraits
Bill Jacobson
Bill Jacobson was born in 1955 in Norwich, Connecticut and was more widely known for his out of focus photographs of both the figure and the landscape. He began his signature, indistinct images in 1989, and has since then been putting his work in galleries and museums throughout the US and Europe. These early works of his which are called Interim Portraits, feature shadowy, pale figures that evoke the feeling of loss and grief that was experienced by many people during the height of the AIDS epidemic.
The blurred subjects underline the futility of capturing a true human likeness in both portraiture and memory. |
erwin blumenfeld
Erwin Blumenfeld was born on January 26, 1897 in Berlin, Germany, and worked as an amateur photographer during his childhood. Following World War I, the artist began working professionally and garnered international attention for his portraits of artists Henri Matisse and Georges Rouault.
Erwin Blumenfeld was a American-German photographer best known for his editorial photographs, experimental fine art works, and portraits of cultural icons. Often in both his independent and commissioned works, the artist combined black-and-white images with small areas of bright, vibrant colour. He produced a very large body of work including drawings, collages, portraits and nudes, celebrity portraiture and his renowned fashion photography both in black and white and colour. |
EDITED SELECTION
Ambiguity
Johnny kerr
Johnny Kerr is an American artist and art educator. He is best known for his abstract photographic arrays that reveal the colourful undertones hidden in a mundane Arizona metropolis. He is Self-taught in photography and cites his lifelong study of art, his graphic design experience, and his appreciation for minimalism as having the largest influences on his work. Johnny’s imagery often explores the abstract qualities of his subjects, positioning them outside of their context.
His large use of space reflects his affinity for quiet, while his continued evolution of style and subject matter represent an authentic pursuit of curiosity. His images also have a definitive touch to them with the added sharpness of their edges of the different combined shapes which add to their abstract qualities.
His large use of space reflects his affinity for quiet, while his continued evolution of style and subject matter represent an authentic pursuit of curiosity. His images also have a definitive touch to them with the added sharpness of their edges of the different combined shapes which add to their abstract qualities.
For this task we were required to travel around the school grounds whilst looking out for geometric like structures such as unique architecture or basic elements like corners. We were aiming to replicate the style that Johnny Kerr portrays so in order to successfully do that I was more interested in photographing sharp edges or complicated architecture as shown below in my images. After photographing a set of images we were pleased with, we needed to force the colours of each of the surfaces in our images to be more vibrant and clear by editing them in the style of Kerr through photoshop.
Below I have presented the images I took.
Below I have presented the images I took.
After taking them, I selected the best six in which I believe showed the intentions of the task the most successfully and then edited them.
in colour
Ambiguity individual work
Abstracting the environment
stephen calcutt
paul leiter
chemigrams
Strand one
-Chemigrams-
For my first strand I decided to look at the work of chemigrams and develop that further than what we looked at earlier, by instead of replicate this style onto images of faces. By doing this I attempted to distort and disrupt the models appearances and challenge the mind of the viewer when piecing it all together.
Strand two
-john batho-
John Batho
Originally from France, he was born in 1939 and is a photographer who created the series 'Present and absent' as it brought him memories of his father when he was younger. His father was a war prisoner for four years. Before his father returned home Batho was made to welcome a portrait of him every evening until his father returned. Batho said when looking at the portrait of his father he found himself in front of a stranger and when he returned home he had looked different and not like the portrait. This inspired Batho when creating the series to photograph "people as coming from memory to evoke absence, loss, faulty identity." This is further shown as in the images the faded figures look like fragments of memory of lost loved ones, which adds an emotional feeling of absence to the photographs as a whole.
In order to achieve the same ghost-like effect Batho has photographed people in front of a condensed window, resulting in a ghostly like figure. The humans become very disturbing as the water vapour on the window makes them un-interpretable; making them a trace of the human species rather than a human. These works epitomize a ghost or the spirit of a person, yet remain abstract.
Originally from France, he was born in 1939 and is a photographer who created the series 'Present and absent' as it brought him memories of his father when he was younger. His father was a war prisoner for four years. Before his father returned home Batho was made to welcome a portrait of him every evening until his father returned. Batho said when looking at the portrait of his father he found himself in front of a stranger and when he returned home he had looked different and not like the portrait. This inspired Batho when creating the series to photograph "people as coming from memory to evoke absence, loss, faulty identity." This is further shown as in the images the faded figures look like fragments of memory of lost loved ones, which adds an emotional feeling of absence to the photographs as a whole.
In order to achieve the same ghost-like effect Batho has photographed people in front of a condensed window, resulting in a ghostly like figure. The humans become very disturbing as the water vapour on the window makes them un-interpretable; making them a trace of the human species rather than a human. These works epitomize a ghost or the spirit of a person, yet remain abstract.
I love how this work perfectly reflects the title as the people appear faded yet so visible which demonstrates the ideas of presence and absence as your eyes can decipher a person but are held back by not being able to see its entirety. Inspired by this work, I want to create a more tactile piece like this by using a slate of glass covered in Vaseline, which I held in front of my camera when photographing the models.
Below are the images taken.
Below are the images taken.
After selecting a collection of images I converted them to black and white and edited the contrast and brightness levels to ensure the same effect that Bathos images had.
Below are the edited selection.
Below are the edited selection.
further development
- Bill Armstrong -
To further develop this project I decided to go from looking at the work of John Batho to looking at a photographer called Bill Armstrong as I believe there is a similarity between their works. They both are intrigued in seeing where peoples imagination will lead them will do when presented with abstract collection of photos in which a blurred outline of a person is visible. Their photographs show their similar intentions very clearly as I started from taking inspiration from Batho by photographing black and white distorted, ghost-like figures. I then have chosen to further develop this by using the help of Armstrong's brightly coloured figures and creating a similar series of my own.
Bill armstrong
Bill Armstrong is a New York based fine art photographer who is known for his blurred colour photographs. He grew up in Concord, Massachusetts. Fascinated by the profound effect that colour can have on perception and emotions, Bill Armstrong produces lush, semi-abstract, semi-figurative photographs. In his series, he makes his photographs by taking intentionally blurred photographs to invoke the sporadic, and often temporal feelings of the moment. .The series in which I have taken inspiration from 'Film Noir' which revisits the themes of the classic black-and-white films of the 1940s and 50s, but with the lush, saturated colours for which Armstrong is now well known. Solitary figures contemplating the unknown reference the ethical and philosophical dilemmas in those stories.
His technique of extreme blurring de-materializes the figures, transforming them from the mundane to the ephemeral. His meditative pieces transport the viewer to another world, as he blends and distils hues to create a sophisticated chromatic psychology. Both Armstrong and Batho use blurring in their images to erase individual features, therefore pushing the viewer to supply their own interpretation. Armstrong has been said that when it comes to this type of photography he is interested in this increased subjectivity: that the psychology and imagination of the viewer comes in to play.
From looking at Armstrong's work I believe it is associated to this idea of perception, and how we try to resolve images but can’t, and how in that moment of confusion, when we are unsure of what is in front of us the human mind is derailed and we are freed to respond on a more subconscious level. so that is what my target intention is photographing this inspired collection.
His technique of extreme blurring de-materializes the figures, transforming them from the mundane to the ephemeral. His meditative pieces transport the viewer to another world, as he blends and distils hues to create a sophisticated chromatic psychology. Both Armstrong and Batho use blurring in their images to erase individual features, therefore pushing the viewer to supply their own interpretation. Armstrong has been said that when it comes to this type of photography he is interested in this increased subjectivity: that the psychology and imagination of the viewer comes in to play.
From looking at Armstrong's work I believe it is associated to this idea of perception, and how we try to resolve images but can’t, and how in that moment of confusion, when we are unsure of what is in front of us the human mind is derailed and we are freed to respond on a more subconscious level. so that is what my target intention is photographing this inspired collection.
When beginning to photograph the development, I used a blue background in the studio which acted as a stable colour and a LED light that helped me manipulate shadow of red around the models colour. The contrast between the constant blue background, and different parts of the models face being illuminated by the reddish glow complement each other strongly like Armstrong's work. After I was finished with the photographing, using photoshop I edited the images more by increasing the blur effect and brightening the colours in order for them to stand out and draw attention.
final edits
When evaluating these edited images I believe that the subject chosen to photograph suited very well to the theme as it featured bright, intense colouring. As well as this, the lighting in the photo suited the theme very well as bright intense colours helped to not only shape and outline certain facial features, but also add the element of abstraction to the image thus further challenging the viewers imagination. My editing help support the overall intentions as the colours were more definitive due to adjusting the levels and brightness, but the blur effect was also executed successfully as it it blurry to an extent to allure the audience but not to blurry that the facial features cannot be seen. However, in order to make these images more successful I could've used a wider range of colours and angles as the ones presented here are repeated multiple times not leaving room for variety.
final development
- silhouette -
For my final development for abstraction I decided to combine the dark ghostly figures on a white background in Bathos images and move forward using the blurred manipulation of light in Armstrong's images. For my final development I have found that silhouettes are the best technique to use when describing, they are a solid, dark image of a subject against a brighter background. I have used my model silhouetted against the background in order to achieve a promising shadow.
This links to the work I did when under the influence of Armstrong as he is seen to use extreme blurring in order to de-materializes the figures, transforming them from the mundane to the ephemeral. By doing this he intends to transport the viewer to another world, which is what I intend to happen with my own examples below by instead of extreme blurring I simply use the form of a blurred shadow and allow the viewer's imagination to create their own interpretation.
Both Armstrong and Batho photographs use blurring in their images to erase individual features, therefore pushing the viewer to supply their own interpretation. I have twisted this further by hiding my subjet in darkness thus creating a sense of mystery and unknown as well as allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks using their own thoughts.
This links to the work I did when under the influence of Armstrong as he is seen to use extreme blurring in order to de-materializes the figures, transforming them from the mundane to the ephemeral. By doing this he intends to transport the viewer to another world, which is what I intend to happen with my own examples below by instead of extreme blurring I simply use the form of a blurred shadow and allow the viewer's imagination to create their own interpretation.
Both Armstrong and Batho photographs use blurring in their images to erase individual features, therefore pushing the viewer to supply their own interpretation. I have twisted this further by hiding my subjet in darkness thus creating a sense of mystery and unknown as well as allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks using their own thoughts.
In order to achieve this mysterious effect I placed my model in front of a plain background in order for full focus to be directed at the silhouette, and when the sun was at the right point of setting allowing for this orange-ish glow to be achieved I photographed their silhouette at different angles. After I was happy with my achieved look I edited them in photoshop by ,again like I did in my other two projects, increasing the blurred effect by meddling with the 'field blur' tool in photoshop as well as adjusting the levels and brightness settings of the image. This would've helped me to achieve that significant contrast of the black against the yellowy-orange glow, therefore making the silhouette more intense.
My final edits are seen below-
My final edits are seen below-