Work Diary - Shoot 12

Evaluation

Shoot 12's surreal approach was a successful one. I intended to shrink members of my family to fit in scenes of tea and biscuits and teapots because my previos shoot inspired me to excel onto this topic. I've often found adding miniature people into normal settings quite tricky because it's a struggle to make it look like they are actually in the picture. Often the lighting on the person just ins't right enough to make them being in the settings look realistic. I have decided after this shoot, that even though it was quite successful, I won't be shrinking people into settings like these again. I'd rather shrink one person or increase the size of a person rather than an assortment of people. I liked the set up that I created becuase I thought that this was done successfully and looked like a genuine tea set up, I'm just half and half with the pieces that I've created.

This was possibly the most successful outcome of the four that I created. I feel that the poses I told my models to do worked successfully in fitting with the crockery in the photograph. However, when I've added people into surreal photography before, they never seem to look fully blended into the image. In future I will look at some tutorials in order to make them blend with the picture more realistically. I liked the set up that I created because the mixture of colours is effective and the bowls/cups etc. are attractive instead of plain and boring. Having my family in this picture is more effective than random people in my opinion so I am pleased with the outcome of this.

If I had to choose possibly the least successful photograph of today's session, then it would probably be this one above. Shoot 12 contained a theme of tea cups and tea in general, but this image doesn't really work together very well. I like the idea of placing miniature people on miniature house trees, but I could have perhaps made my mum pose casually sitting down instead of drinking a cup of tea. The composition was well structured in how the tree is placed in the middle of the frame, but to improve an image like this I could have had the table stretch across the whole half of the frame instead of beginning to curve off. This unfortunately spoils the composition in being 100% successful.

Progression

To improve my surreal approach I will be going back to food/sweets because this is something that I liked photographing in the previous shoot. I want to look at tutorials on YouTube on how to create effective splashes and explosions in Photoshop. I intend to make an apple look as though it has exploded along with perhaps a splash aswell. Once I have looked at these tutorials, I will take photographs suitable for editing and test out my skills on photoshop to see if this will make my photography effective. The reason that I'm looking at explosion/splashes is because I've taken many pictures on things falling or coming out of something, and this time I want to actually make an  impact within the photograph by having splashes and drops accompany the falling theme. This way, I will be able to capture even more effective photographs in the next shoot with all of the skills I learn in this one.

Straight Images - Shoot 12

Computer Experiments

Work Diary - Shoot 11

Evaluation

This session went extremely successful. I created one photograph from a studio shoot and the other photograph from a home shoot. The studio shoot was my favourite with the starbursts because the colour is extremely eye catching and colourful. The other two images also went successfully because the concept of the falling biscuits and exploding berries worked really well. I enjoyed this shoot and I liked the three whacky outcomes. I will continue to create images like I did during this shoot because the surreal theme in my project is exceptionally enjoyable for me to do. Using the studio lights was definitely effective because this allowed the detail on the sweet packet and sweets to stand out. If I was to shoot the other two photographs in the studio, the quality of them may look improved, however they came out effectively as they are anyway so I am very pleased with shoot 11.

This was the most successful creation that came from shoot 11. This overall photograph has been created with a variety of different images. I took individual pictures of the hand holding the sweets, the sweet packet, and the individual sweets on their own. I cut around these pieces and placed them into this frame, where I created the illusion of the starbursts falling out from the packet and piling up neatly into my models hand. I like this concept of falling sweets which is what I developed from my previous image of falling books.

In my opinion, this was the least successful photograph of the shoot. My reasons for this are because of the overall composition. I originally had a photograph of a bowl of fruit and yoghurt with a glass of smoothie next to it, with berries all added in to the image. I placed these around the top of the bowl to make it look as though they were exploding from it, however this wasn't very successful. It doesn't come across as an explosion, more so just berries floating around the frame. I did add some shadows to make these fruits look more three dimensional and realistic, however perhaps if they were a little more squashed, or the yoghurt was exploding aswell then it would have looked more complete and effective. 

Progression

After being inspired by Christopher Boffoli in creating photographs with added characters, I have decided after this shoot of food and sweets that I'd like to now add people to these already surreal styled photographs. I will be using my family and maybe some friends in some others to include in some of my food landscapes. In order to create the most imaginative and entertaining food landscapes I will do set ups of attractive crockery and food so that the overall images don't come out looking ugly and unprofessional. Below are a couple of inspiring photographs that I have found on the internet to inspire my shoot that I will do on Sunday, along with some photographs from my photographer research post on Christopher to also influence this shoot. 

Straight Images - Shoot 11

Connecting Essay 2

Internet Photograph

This is the photograph of the London Eye that I found online. It has been taking from an odd angle however this angle evidently conveys the formal element depth. The effect on this photograph make the sky an ocean teal shade and also defines the jagged shape of the clouds. Having just the structure of the London Eye in front of the summery sky allows it's shape to stand out. The pods and the structure have had the effect of curves on them to nearly make their shape/outline a silhouette. The frame of the overall image has also been filled with the bottom of the London Eye to the top of the London Eye which makes this piece successful. 

My Photograph

This is the photograph that I took in London on my eighth shoot. The original version of this was having half of the whole London eye in the frame, but I was instructed to crop it in the style of above. This meant that half the frame was filled with the London Eye whilst the other half was filled with lots of clouds. Having the London Eye against the fresh blue sky was an appropriate backdrop for this subject because the frame of it is an ivory shade which wouldn't stand out as well against a white sky. I was pleased with the outcome of my photograph because I liked that it included a contrast.

The Connection

The connection between my photograph and the online photograph is that they both consist of one of London's main attractions, the London Eye. Both skies on the days that these were taken included lots of white fluffy clouds that make the overall images more appealing to a viewer rather than having just a plain blue sky. They add detail and effect which is why I decided to go to London when I knew that there would be a lot of clouds. The differences between both of these images would be the composition. The framing of the internet image is square whilst the framing of my image is landscape. In addition to this, the actual structure of the London Eye in the internet image fills the whole of the frame whereas in my version it only fills half of the frame. My picture has been taken straight on whilst the internet's approach to the London Eye has been captured through embracing the formal element depth. Overall, both of these images are similar in what their subject is and how they both only include this London attraction and nothing else amongst its surroundings.  

Photographer Research - Christopher Boffoli

Biography

Christopher Boffoli is a fine art photographer, commercial and editorial photographer. He began making visual art at an early age but only began exploring the medium of photography in his teens after receiving a camera as a birthday gift. Largely self-taught, Christopher worked as a student journalist in high school and college, eventually founding his own commercial photography company while he was still an undergraduate. His diverse body of work for his Big Appetites work which features tiny figures posed against real food landscapes. In addition to his commercial and advertising work for  brands large and small, his fine art photography may be found in galleries and private collections in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. He currently lives and works in Seattle. 

Why I've chosen him

The reason as to why I have decided to study Christopher Boffoli in more depth is because his work is different to anyone else's that I've seen. He uses miniature characters to create bizarre scenes amongst food photography. He can use the simplest of food items and food setups yet still make them entertaining through the use of adding people. I'd use real people when adding humans to real life set ups and get them to pose in appropriate positions to fit the image. Surreal photography is something that I have found extremely enjoyable throughout the process of my project and after finding Christopher's work I am extremely inspired to do some photographs containing food and miniature people.

This bowl is filled with American cereal. The multicoloured hoops are a lot more attractive to use in a photograph like this than any other cereal because the formal element colour is eye catching. Using normal cheerios that are all beige shades would be boring but simple. Sometimes simplicity is a good thing, however in this photograph it is evident that the character is sunbathing on the spoon, so multicoloured cereal is perfect when representing the season of summer. The beige cheerios would represent the seasons of autumn. Christopher's idea here was clearly well thought about and this photograph of his was well composed and also very successful.

I like in this image that the doughnut is placed in the bottom right hand side of the frame because it allows more of the blue background to be exposed in the photograph. There are four female characters waling around on top of the hundred and thousands. They nearly slightly blend in with this coating of the doughnut but again, seem to be dressed  in summer attire. Therefore, the brightly coloured sprinkles also represent a more positive summery weather again because this whole photograph is filled with colour. It's a positive image and is another entertaining piece from Christopher.

This is my favourite one by Christopher Boffoli. Macaroons are an extremely fun piece of confectionary to photograph either as them just on their own or even with added characters. The characters in this photograph seem to be chefs, as they are wearing large white hats and white overalls. It makes this piece comes across as though these little chefs have cooked these massive macaroons which further exaggerates their miniature size. 

This last photograph of Christopher's is very interesting. The characters are wearing scuba diving costume to make it come across as though they are about to dive into this cup of tea. The teacup hasn't just been placed there in the photograph. It has a teabag soaking in it whilst sitting on a saucer with a spoon delicately placed beside it. This photograph has clearly been thought about which is what I want my pieces to look like when I interpret my own photographs in a similar style to Christopher's. The little characters also have shadows beneath them to convey how they re actually sitting there. If I do a piece like this with humans, I will have to include shadows below them so that it doesn't look like they have just been placed there. 

How he has influenced me

Christopher has managed to influence me immensely when it comes to using miniature people in photographs. I originally began with altering the size of humans with books, but during this shoot (shoot 10) I found that I liked the idea of sweets exploding, which then encouraged me to do some surreal photograph based on sweets and food. I then was influenced by Christopher's work to do some photographs based on food along with adding people to this also. Shrinking people was fun for me in shoot 10, which is why I have decided to develop this idea of mine, and Christopher has encouraged me to do so. Below are my two photographs where I shrunk people to be surrounded by a tea set.

Summary

Overall, I think that Christopher Boffoli is my favourite surreal photographer. He does lots of the above photographs for his project "Big Appetites" that I haven't seen done successfully or fully in anyone else's work that I have studied. He is a very successful photographer because he is unique, and this talent is key to making it in the large photography world. 

Straight Images - Shoot 7 - Extras

Connecting Essay 1

Internet Photograph

This photograph is something I found on the internet which I used to inspire my picture below.  In this picture, the young man is holding a pile of books in his hand, perhaps conveying how he has either a lot of work to do or just a large passion for reading. This photo could have been more effective with him standing in a library to exaggerate the theme of books/work and it would've complimented the overall outcome. However, the scene that he has been placed in is still very effective. People who spend lots of time outdoors in open fields like the one he is placed in are usually quite adventurous individuals. If the books represent how he is into reading he could be judged as a passionate and interesting character. The falling books have been edited into this piece to make it look like they are never ending; he always has work to do. This could be related to an A-Level student who cannot escape their pile of work. I like this piece because the idea behind it was a successful one. 

My Photograph

This is a photograph that I pieced together in my first proper surreal shoot. I was extremely pleased with how this looked in the end after I'd collected individual pictures to make this one picture. I believe that my editing in this photograph was unnoticeable and discrete, to avoid the outline of Danielle and the books come across as fake. I didn't want the viewer to be able to tell that these objects had been cut and placed against a white background, and I think that it does look more natural than edited. When I focus more on the white background, it looks as though the subject blends in to the rest of the page as the frame of the photograph isn't defined. This would be something that I'd have to improve in this image if I ever was to. I think it was effective to have falling books centred in the middle of the frame, and having one book open makes it look more realistic that they are all fallen, rather than having all three falling books shut; this wouldn't be believable. I feel that overall this attempt at surreal photography was a success.

The Connection

The connection between the internet photograph and my photograph is clearly evident when looking at both images. These two images have the identical idea/theme as it was the internet image that inspired this shoot of mine. I loved the way the books were falling into an already made pile because this surreal technique was something that I'd be able to do. It wasn't as technical as some of the surreal pieces online which is another reason as to why I like it. These two photographs therefore connect because they both include a model; someone who is holding a pile of books beneath their face. Both models are also positioned in the centre of the frame so that they are the centre of attention instead of anything else. My photograph having a white background perhaps allows the focus to centre more on my model than it does the internet model, as he has an interesting background behind him which the viewers eyes can wander off to. Another connection shared between these two images is the falling books. Some are closed and open in the internet image, and some are closed and open in my image to allow the idea to look more realistic as it looks as though they're actually falling instead of just being edited in. A difference in these two pieces would be the amount of books that are falling. Lots more are included in the internet image and one is also covering his face, whereas there are only three books falling in my image and none cover her face. Nevertheless, there is a strong connection between these two photographs and I believe both were successful in achieving what was set out.

Work Diary - Shoot 5

Evaluation

This shoot took place outside of my house, before I came to college when I noticed that it snowed and I couldn't pass the opportunity of getting photographs by. As I have been looking at weather in this project through the topic of evidence, this was the perfect time for it to snow. These photographs convey the evidence of snow, winter and cold weather. I enjoyed this shoot because I love snowy weather, so taking photographs of it was interesting because I was able to get a few close ups of the snow and edit them in photoshop to look sharper, making the ice crystals stand out more. The shoot was a successful one and a good follow on from my previous shoot, as lots of my previous photographs have included things in front of the sky with the white theme. All of these snow photographs contain the white theme and I am pleased with every outcome.

This is the photograph from the shoot that I feel was the most successful. The branches on the tree and the bush are all coated in a layer of fresh snow, contrasting with the faint greens and light brown colours featured in this picture. These features appear effective in front of the white sky as it blends in with the overall snow. I like the different styles of nature in this image. One is of a tall tree with lots of bare branches, whilst the other one is simply of a small bush underneath it. I feel that having two different styles creates a good composition as the frame is filled and is effective.

This is another photograph that I captured from the shoot. It is unedited and therefore doesn't look as effective as the other photographs in my straight images post because the white of the snow is less vibrant and visible. If I was to increase the exposure of this image it would look more effective as the whole frame would be brighter. Furthermore, the branches of the tree are also undefined because I haven't used the curves in this piece; these darken already dark features to make them more defined and stand out. This photograph didn't excel into my straight images because the framing wasn't correct. The top left part of it is too visible to the viewer and takes their attention away from the snowy branches. 

Progression

In order to improve this project, I'd like to move onto something surreal. I have photographed a lot of weather images to portray different seasons, however I don't want my photographs to become repetitive and therefore I want to begin looking at something different. In my progression section in shoot 4's work diary I included a picture of a girl looking up at an enlarged book in the woods. I am more comfortable with this kind of picture now because I have looked at a lot of forest/branch work in shoot 5. In shoot 6 I will photograph an ordinary forest, however may possibly also use my snow forest photography as part of development.

Work Diary - Shoot 10

Evaluation

In today's shoot, I found it to be my most enjoyable, creative and successful one so far. The more shoots I tend to do, the more I find them successful as the further I've escalated in this project, each shoot has always been an improvement from the last. I wanted to continue my surreal theme of books since shoot 6 as I liked my idea of looking at knowledge and open minded people through this kind of photography. It links to the piece I produced in shoot 6 which is why I wanted to develop some more ideas, along with my library photography found in shoot 4 and 9. Each piece took a long length of time to be completed, however each one was a success when finally constructed. Looking at surreal photography has really inspired me and made me more intrigued in this style of photography as it questions reality and the mind. The photographer that inspired this shoot of mine was Joel Robinson as he has created lots of pieces on looking at book surrealism. He's part of my photographer research and one of my main inspirations for this project of mine. I found it difficult when cutting around the models I was using in my pieces as their was always such fine detail to look at and get right. I had to make sure they were also positioned in a way that was appropriate to fit the other object in a picture e.g sitting on top of a book etc. Overall this lesson was extremely fun and successful that I will definitely be doing more surreal pieces in the future of this project. 

This was my favourite piece I created from the shoot as I believe that it was generally the most successful one. My reasons for this are because I was able to edit the picture precisely to create that looks as though I am sat on a pile of books. I can't decided whether I look smaller however, or if the books look bigger because it's a difficult illusion to judge. I perhaps could have shrunk my size a little more to make me look even smalle, but overall I believe the idea behind this image and the composition of it was well thought about and also successfully constructed.

This was another successful image of mine, however I feel that the surrealism of it is perhaps a little obvious. My idea behind this photograph was that books are filled with imagination, always. Something the skittles company say is that these sweets feed your imagination. I wanted to link this with the idea of books bursting with creativity, and the sweets are a physical symbol of the imagination and creative thought exploding out from the pages. I liked my idea behind this, although perhaps the sweets being so defined and saturated compared to the book make this piece look less realistic. A positive however would be the fact I added shadows beneath the skittles to convey how they're actually there instead of just placed. This went well, along with the idea, it's just the reality of the overall image that I question.

Progression

As part of my progression stage after this shoot, I have found something through these surreal images that I quite like the thought of. Since editing skittles into the book photograph to convey a theme of imagination, I'd like to further this idea and perhaps look at sweets exploding out of their actual packet for example,  I could get a picture of someone holding a skittles packet with the contents bouncing out from the broken seal. I could then also develop this by taking ordinary photographs of sweet bowls or sweet packets or even a selection of confectionary spread out across a table and capture images in the style of one of my favourite formal elements, depth. I will always keep linking back my work to subtopics I have found interest in through my starting point of evidence. I would also like to create a piece similar to the pictures in my previous work diary progression section as this could include my surreal theme with my depth theme.