Work Diary - Shoot 7

Evaluation

For this shoot, I took some photographs when I went on Holiday. They represent evidence of holiday because they were taken abroad, during winter, where sunny pictures wouldn't be available in England. This shoot was one of my most successful ones because all of the pictures fill the frame with the formal element colour, so they look appealing and refreshing to a viewer. I really enjoyed taking pictures abroad because the weather during summer is by far more appealing than photographs captured during winter. It was my favourite shoot so far because I believe that I got the most successful photographs out of it. Last lesson I looked at surreal photography because I found that I hit a dead end when it came to inspiration, therefore, I will still be doing shoots like these of normal photographs, along with surreal photography as well to give my project a versatile approach. 

This was my favourite picture I took during this shoot. It clearly portrays depth, through the twisty path starting from the bottom of the frame right up to just below the top. I really liked how this formal element is used in photography because it's extremely effective when creating photographic images. The freshly cut green grass hugging the path is an attractive contrast between these two features. The tools I used in photoshop to enhance this photograph meant that the path had more shade to it and the grass had the saturation increased slightly to add that extra summer feel to the overall image. 

This photograph of mine is one that perhaps doesn't convey a holiday as well as the one above it does. It's simply a bird box hanging on a tree, and although it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, for me it could have been taken in any location, during any season, and therefore having no meaning for evience of holiday. The box was also on a slant which makes the viewer uncomfortable when looking at the picture because they'd have to tilt their head, or not be able to view the picture as clearly as they'd be able to if the subject was straighter.

Progression

For Monday's photography session I am going into London to take pictures for shoot 8. I'd like to look at busy streets and perhaps a telephone box in London, anything that conveys a chaotic city, or perhaps even an empty city. I could create some really good selective colour pieces by going into London and aiming to capture a collection of pictures in this style. Below are examples of some city photography along with the types of photos I'd look to like for, or images that will inspire my shoot. This will excel my project further because it will leave me with yet more variety of evidence photography. The evidence I'd be portraying in Monday's pictures would be "travel", "London" and "city." I really liked how the depth worked in my twisty path photograph, which is why I will be looking for depth images in London.

Straight Images - Shoot 2 Studio

Inspirational post - Sweets

Shoot 5 progression

I could do close ups of all kinds of sweets such as these lollies, skittles, liquorice allsorts, m&ms etc. so that they all fill the frame and burst with colour.

I like the composition of this picture because the macaroons look tasty and delicate neatly presented in a little ramekin dish. The colours of this confecionery also works well together as the tones are subtle and sweet.

I'd love to do this type of picture so that the skittles are all flying out of the bag. I will use tools in photoshop to recreate this piece. 

Shoot 7 - Evidence of holiday

Inspiration for surreal photographs

Shoot 6 progression

I could also capture photographs of people looking like borrowers (small people in large places). I could have them hanging on a tea cup, or have them the same size as a cartoon figure or sitting in a crowd of teddies. I could have an assortment of people carrying a simple object together that a normal human being would find weightless.

Straight Images - Shoot 6 - Evidence of education/reading

Photographer Research - Barry Underwood

Barry Underwood

Biography

Barry Underwood is an American photographer who takes pictures of the mixture of the supernatural and the theatrical. He studied Masters of Fine Art, Photography at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He also studied Bachelor of Arts, Photography at the Indiana University Northwest; Gary, Indiana and Bachelor of Arts, Theatre also at Indiana University Northwest; Gary, Indiana.

Why I chose him

The reason that I've chosen Barry Underwood as part of my photographer research is because his photographs are different; they're unique and always stay true to his own style. His pictures represent evidence of light exceptionally well and I pretty much find them all extremely inspiring. The lights that are portrayed in his photographs are usually the main source of colour in his pictures as the background is often a lot darker than this feature, enabling them to stand out. Barry Underwood captures a lot of landscapes in his photographs which are mystical backgrounds for his lights, which transforms everyday scenese into unique images. Using illusion, imagination, and narrative, his photographs explore the potential of the ordinary. He approached his photographic work with a theatrical sensibility, much like a cinematographer or set designer would, and inspires me to perhaps create an image similar to his.

The black and green theme in this photograph in my eyes is a very successful combination of colours as the bright greens bounce off of the black tones, further enhancing the neon green glow portrayed through the lights in this picture. Inspired by cinema, land art, and contemporary painting, the resulting photograph is both surreal and familiar. It suggests a larger narrative, and yet that narrative remains elusive and mystifying. The miniature lights could somehow be mistaken for woodland bugs that you see in lots of animated films such as Avatar. This picture most certainly portrays an effect of space which is why it is so eye capturing yet peaceful to look at.

The stillness of this landscape contrasts with the luminescent, artificial quality of the lights, creating an otherworldly and etherial effect. His use of unnatural light and colour creates surreal landscapes or illusionistic spaces which he insist speak of the human footprint on the planet – our imposition of unnatural phenomena on the natural world, such as pollution, light pollution and bio-luminescent algae. The mist floating in the background of the trees along with this reoccurring theme in the sky is a contributor to the mystical theme of the photograph. The miniature crowd of lights in the grass makes the viewer question this feature.

This is my favourite photograph of Barry's. He has most likely used a torch or a glowstick and had someone run through the trees with it whilst the camera was on a slow shutter speed setting. This setting allows this type of photo to be taken because it captures the movement of the light and then concludes the picture with the lense shutting and portraying the glows route. This photograph is an example of this technique and it has worked successfully in this image. It inspires me to use the same technique but perhaps write a word in the air with a glow stick. 

The main feature of this photograph that attracted me would definitely have to be the dark trees against the pure white sky along with the ocean blue glowing water. By reading the landscape and altering the vista through lights and photographic effects, Barry has transformed this everyday scene into an extremely unique image. I like that the lights perform a reflection on the water as this adds to the depth of the image, as the water reflects the scenery above it. 

How he has influenced me

Barry Underwood has influenced me a ridiculous amount. He makes me want to use lights in the style that he has and make an attempt at recreating a few of his own images in my style. His photos are all extremely different, yet all contain that one feature; colourful lights. I aspire to achieve an assortment of photographs all containing the same feature whilst still looking different from eachother at the same time. 

This picture is what I took on my initial response shoot. I captured it because I loved the contrast of the two different types of trees agaisnt the icy white sky background. This was the main feature in the last photo above that attracted me to it also. I love this idea of having dark trees infront of a white sky because the contrast looks extremely photographicn and eye capturing.

Summary

Ultimately, Barry Underwoods creative use with light is effective in every single one of his photographs. I originally looked at his work with the intention of recreating my own style of light photography, because I studied him at the beginning of the unit with no idea where I was heading. I eventually found my route and discovered that I didn't intend to do any light photography because he became less important as a source of inspiration to me. However, his last photograph against the sky was inspiring and encouraged me to capture pictures against the sky as I explored a range of sky photography as backdrops.

Research Log

Lisa Viox

http://www.lisavioxphotography.com/

Evidence of: Family, children, new borns, life, love.

Lisa Viox's Photography specializes in all aspects of portraiture photography, including: newborn, toddler, teenager, engagement, wedding, maternity, highschool senior, special occasion, boudoir, glamour and family photography. She ensures that her shoots consist of fun, love and natural moments, not stiff, organised and set up ones. She only captures people for her photography; the above photographs are perfect examples of her kind of pictures. Her photographs demonstrate an evidence of family, new life and love which is why I have included her in my research log. Sadly, I wont be including her in my project because I dont intend on shooting moments like hers, where families and children are involved. 

Tim Hill

http://www.timhill.co.uk/portfolio.htm

Evidence of: Food, Presentation, confectionery. 

Established in 1985, Tim Hill Food Photographer has over 30 years experience in the food photography profession, with the focus on providing images of food and drink to clients throughout his local area. The company is managed by Tim Hill who has been focusing on the Photography Services business for many years. Having previously worked for CBS News and Fleet Illustrating, Tim Hill is adequately trained to run the company. He has photographed for Nestle and Heinz, and is an extremely successful photographer who captures beautiful close ups making tasty food look appealing through just a photograph. It's a possibility that I may include Tim in my project, as there is another food photographer below that I am also interested in. 

 Michael Ray

http://www.michaelray.com/gallery/pittsburgh-photographers-gallery/

Evidence of: Food, Presentation, Shape.

Michael Ray is a photographer who specialises in portraits, food and commercial photographs. I have included his food photography into my research log because this is the main topic of his that I am interested in. Over the years, he has worked with the most of the city's food related companies including Heinz, Del Monte, Eat'n Park, Kings, Sarris's Chocolates, Primanti Brothers, Giant Eagle Markets and many many others, not to mention the national clients that have come to pittsburgh to work with him also. Food photography is Michael's favourite thing to shoot, it covers the formal elements colour, pattern, shape, form and depth which all work together to produce attractive pictures like the one above. I may include him or Tim in my photographer research if I want to look at food photography as evidence of food.

Barry Underwood

http://www.barryunderwood.com/portfolio.html

Evidence of: Light.

Born 1963 Wilmington, Delaware Barry Underwood received his Masters in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art. His work has been presented in several international art fairs including Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition, Photo Miami, Chicago NEXT, and Scope in Basel, Switzerland. His photographs focus on light in an extremely creative way. His pictures are mystical and intriguing and he'd be a perfect photographer to study for evidence, which is why I have chosen to include him in my photographer research.

Jeff Roberts

http://jeffrobertsphoto.com/sarah-j-maggie-inc-fashion-photography/

Evidence of: Fashion, light, shadow, people, clothing.

Jeff Roberts is an experienced fashion and beauty photographer working in Boston, Portland, Maine, and throughout the Northeast.  Whether in studio or on location, Jeff skillfully controls light and shadows to highlight and accent the uniqueness of each subject he photographs.  From the precise simplicity of a beauty portrait, to the warm appeal of a commercial campaign, to the compelling statement of a fashion editorial, Jeff’s images celebrate the beauty of human form, the garments worn, and the individuality of each client’s vision. Form is portrayed in lots of his photographs like the one above and he is extremely inspiring when it comes to capturing fashion. He is a possible contender for my photographer research because I admire the way he captures his image.

Carl Warner

http://www.carlwarner.com/image/foodscapes/tatziki-bridge_13/#&panel1-13

Evidence of: Fruit, Food, Surreallism.

Carl began his career by going to Maidstone College of Art with a view to becoming an illustrator as he had a good talent for drawing, but he quickly discovered that his ideas and creative eye was better suited to photography as he saw it as a faster and more exciting medium in which to work. Carl quoted “I’ve always enjoyed the discipline of working in the studio, and the spontaneity of working outdoors in natural light, as you never know what you’re going to get. With my ‘Foodscapes’ I can now put together the knowledge of natural light with the control of recreating it in the studio in order to bring out the colours and textures as well as the beauty of a scene." His work is extremely detailed and it is evident that a lot of effort is always put into his photography which is an inspiring feature of his. I like the thought of shrinking people on top of fruit or around fruit; anything to do with a healthy food source really because shrinking people is something I've enjoyed when approaching the surreal theme.

Ursula Abresch

http://www.ursulasphotos.com/

Evidence of: Allsorts (each photograph is evidence of something)

Ursula is an art photographer based in the West Kootenays, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

She has a degree in Education with a concentration in Art and History, and is currently the Artistic Director at the VISAC Gallery of Art in Trail, British Columbia. Outside of that, she dedicates most of her time to photography. Ursula quoted that"There’s more to a moment than what you see with your eyes. There are the thoughts at the time, the sounds, the smells, what you touch ... and more. All these are real and integral to my photography. It’s the sum that makes the photo." She is extremely inspiring and her abstract approach to photography is interesting because it's something different and original. She captures all kinds of things in an abstract style which could be evidence of absolutely anything and that's why I admire her work so much.

Jan Thijs

http://www.janthijs.com/

Evidence of: Reflection.

Jan Thijs is a unit/still and gallery photographer based in Canada, Montreal & Toronto. He works in film and television and captures photographs for DVD covers and posters etc. He's quite a low key photographer, as the above picture is the only one I have found that was taken in a studio. I love this image, but unfortunately he wouldn't have enough information for me to do an indepth study of him. His photographs are of great quality, but because they're mostly film covers I'm not interested in including him in my photographer research. 

Tim Walker

http://www.timwalkerphotography.com/

Evidence of: Fashion.

Tim Walker’s photographs have entranced the readers of Vogue, month by month, for over a decade. Extravagant staging and romantic motifs characterise his unmistakable style. After concentrating on photographic stills for 15 years, Walker is now also making moving film. His photographs portray a creepy style of model(s) that make you sometimes feel intimidate by their intense stare at the camera, an example of this would be through the above photograph. With its fairytale sets and arresting images, Tim Walker's fashion photography is instantly recognisable. I like his work a lot, it's unique and not the typical type of fashion photography which is why it's interesting. The clothing of his models and the sets he shoots in are well thought about and extremely detailed, which is what I admire in fashion photography.

Oleg Oprisco

http://www.oprisco.com

Evidence of: Surrealism, open mind, imagination, education.

Oleg Oprisсo was born in the small city of Lviv in western Ukraine. From the age of 16 he worked as an operator at a photo lab. At age 18, he moved to Kiev, where he began his professional photography career. At age 23, Oleg Oprisco changed from digital capture to film. His work covers part of the surreal approach and a lot of his photographs are original and well prepared. He adds characters, props, location and light to enhance the quality of his photographs. This image above is a perfect example of his style of work. He likes to include a lot of colour in his pieces which is an important formal element when capturing someones attention, however when it comes to surreal work this is usually enough to be eye capturing without all of the colour. 

WeeGee

http://www.amber-online.com/exhibitions/weegee-collection

Evidence of: Misfortune, suffering, chaos.

Weegee was a photographer noted for his gritty yet compassionate images of the aftermath of New York street crimes and disasters. For much of his career, photographer WeeGee was, in his own words, "spellbound by the mystery of murder." His images have the air of a still from a film noir, photographed as they were usually at night and often with infrared film and flash. He paid special attention to the expressions and gestures of his subjects, who for the most part came from the lower strata of New York society. All of his photographs are shot in black and light, exaggerating the formal element tone in all of his pictures. I like his work but don't think I'll be focusing on anything as intense as he does, as his photographs demonstrate actual evidence where I wont be looking at the obvious type of "evidence", more so the discrete evidence of things in photographs.

Bill Hinton

http://flickrhivemind.net/User/Bill%20Hinton%20Photography/Interesting

Evidence of: Reflection, Colour, Landscapes. 

As a Seattle based photographer, Bill Hinton has always gained a true sense of inspiration and vision from the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. His eye for color, composition and mood always stand out as predominate features of his work. I am amazed by his ability to see, and photograph scenery that quite often goes unnoticed. Reflection is usually a dominant feature in his photographs, for it creates depth and extra detail with what is the subject of his images. Bill would be an inspiring photographer to research and perhaps may be included in my photographer research, because I admire the creativity behind his pictures.

Joel Robison

http://joelrobison.com/

Evidence of: Reading, Surrealism, Knowledge, Education.

Joel Robison is a 27 year old teacher who has a great passion for photography. He's a conceptual portrait photographer living in Cranbrook, British Columbia Canada. He enjoys creating whimsical worlds where size, scale, movement and function don't play by the rules that we all know. Joel has done all kinds of different projects within his photography. He's done a four 365 days project, two 52 weeks, as well as side projects like "inspired by Disney", "Peaceful food", and a collaborative project with Coca-Cola. I like his style of surreal pieces and how he shrinks himself in his photographs to give a mysterious and interesting feel to his photographs. He will most likely be featured in my photographer research.

Jose Antunes

http://www.joseantunes.com

Evidence of: Colour, nature, outdoors.

 Jose Antunes is a writer and photographer at Pro Video Coalition, Phototuts+,Manfrotto SoX, eBooks - The FOTOdigital Library; the best place to find the best photography eBooks in the world. His passion for writing and photography started in school days. Jose has been writing and photographing professionally since back in the eighties; newspapers, magazines, books. From aviation to zen photography, from technology to nature gazing. He has written books about Photography and Virtual worlds and is also writing eBooks currently. He has photographed a lot of colourful flowers, and the other one above is of the Atlantic Realm where he toured. His photographs are usually situated in the outdoors on beautiful locations. I quite like his work and the way the colours in his flower photography contrast with each other, along with the background colours being blurred. This inspires me to perhaps use this effect similar in my own photographs.

Lara Jade

http://larajade.co.uk

Evidence of: Fashion, colour, pattern, fun, models, magazines.

Lara Jade is a fashion photographer who currently resides in New York City. She grew up in Staffordshire, England where she discovered her interest in photography at an early age. She later moved to London to pursue fashion photography full-time before making NYC her home in 2011. Through her ever-growing business Lara has had the opportunity to travel the world to share her vision and experiences with an international audience. Influenced by playful narratives, color and elegance, Lara enjoys creating stories with a cinematic approach. She is inspired by elements of old masters in painting, romantiscm and untouched beauty. As well as working on her personal work, she also tutors fashion photography workshops worldwide. I love the edgy aspect to her photographs and how they are always filled with pattern, colour and crazy accessories. Her photographs are far from boring and often look fun and extremely well thought about. I may include her in part of my photographer research.

Ross Caugher

http://rosscaughers.com/

Evidence of: Food, fruit, colour, art, landscape, depth.

Ross Caugher is a photographer living in Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. He has been taking photographs for six years, beginning in my early twenties focusing then mostly on concert photography. Now he focuses mostly on the rich landscape and history that Ireland provides him, occasionally branching out to try different ideas to keep his mind fresh. He often tries to find the time to explore other areas like Smoke Trails and Toy Photography. I like his work with the fruit because the selective colour theme has always been a favourite computer experiment of mine. 

Ken Kaminesky

http://blog.kenkaminesky.com

Evidence of: Buildings, travel, tourism, scenery, city, roads.

Over the last ten years Ken has been shooting commercial lifestyle images for stock photography agencies such as Alamy, Jupiterimages, Corbis and Getty Images. He's been lucky to have worked with some amazing people, both at these agencies and on my teams of models, producers, stylists, and assistants. He's had his photographs published for editorial and commercial purposes all over the world and have had some great commercial clients along the way as well. Ken has captured photographs or landmarks and well known buildings in certain areas such as Rome and New York. He travels everywhere and along his way captures images to keep as memories which is what I love about his photography. All of his photographs contain elements of high quality detail and most often burst with the formal element colour, bringing his pictures to life and making them eye catching to an audience. If I were to ever travel I would most certainly use this photographer as  inspiration for my own photographs. 

Gregoire Alexandre

http://www.gregoirealexandre.com

Evidene of: Colour, models, set ups, surrealism.

At only 27 years old, French photographer Gregoire Alexandre has built an impressive portfolio, ranging from advertising to high end editorial. He creates some amazing sets and props, which helps him capture some beautiful images. A lot of his work consists of the colour white. His photography is fresh and pure, featuring models with quite extravagant outfits and hairstyles. Pretty much all of his work is captured in a studio, and his advertising pieces are my favourite. They may be presented in a photographer research post if I decide to study him in more depth.

Zev

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/zev-self-portraits_n_3366936.html

Evidence of: Miniature, surrealism.

14-year-old Zev from Natick, Massachusetts, has taken the photography world by storm with his surreal photo manipulations. Better known by the nickname of ‘fiddle oak’, Zev presents a highly imaginative portfolio of surreal self-portraits, which he created together with his sister Nellie (aged 17). His work seems to mirror the transition from the fairy-tale childhood worlds into those that are way more complicated and still unknown. A lot of his work consists of scaling people to be a lot smaller than they are in reality and placing them in abnormal surroundings, or areas that are ordinary to us, however surreal for the tiny character in the picture.

Laurent Chehere

http://www.laurentchehere.com/laurentchehere.com/www.laurentchehere.com.html

Evidence of: Surrealism, sky, clouds, houses, fun.

Laurent Chehere is a French photographer born in 1972 in Paris. He likes to explore cities, suburbs and country, as he likes to explore all fields of photography from reportage to conceptual picture. Laurent's flying houses are a combination of his "explorations" of poor neighbourhoods of Paris and inspiration by some movies. He tries to highlight buildings to show their hidden beauty and getting them out from the anonymity of the street to help them to tell their stories, real or not, funny or sad. He was interested by gypsies in caravan, African immigrants, the heart full of hope and a small neighbourhood cafe. He has photographed dozens of buildings in the same light, then reworks all with Photoshop to build one. In gallery, the images are exhibited in large format, so they make sense, leaving the curious observer care to discover details that heightens realism and suggests a double reading, a story from far. His work is beautiful; the houses are all bright and well lit instead of dark and filled with shadow and I have always preferred bright photography to dark photography.

Christopher Boffoli

http://www.bigappetites.net

Evidence of: Surrealism, miniature, people, food, entertainment.

Christopher Boffoli (born in 1969, Worcester, Massachusetts) is a fine art photographer. photojournalist, independent filmmaker, and journalist based in Seattle. He is best known for his "Big Appetites" photographs series, in which tiny, detailed human figures pose in real food environments. His photos have been published in dozens of countries around the world, and are displayed in galleries and private collections in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. His work is truly inspiring and very entertaining and would be enjoyable for me if I was to use real people in replacement of his miniature characters.