Connecting Essay 5

My Photograph

This is a photograph of mine that I took when I was at Brighton for my exam shoot. My intention with this picture was to convey interesting depth. Depth photography has been a big interest of mine throughout this project because it allows a photograph to portray a lot of things in one picture. Having these beach huts placed agains clear blue sky is effective in making sure they stand out in the picture. The colours of the doors are pastel shades which are soft and easy on the eye, rather than overwhelming like they could be if the doors were all of neon colours.The right side of this picture begins with a beach hut, and the left side of the picture finishes with a beach hut. This illustrates a row of never ending beach huts which could be seen as a type of illusion, because the colour of the beach hut on the right is big and can clearly be seen, whereas the colour of the beach hut on the left is not visible but you know it's there because the pattern of the beach huts are consistent as they fade into the distance.

Online Photograph

This is the online photograph that I found which consists of beach huts in front of what the viewer would assume to be a beach, because beach huts are associated with the sea and most often used in the summer. The colours are bold and vibrant, with bright yellows and reds and quite dark blues and greens. These colours all link to summer because they are bright instead of dull. The pattern of the colours in this photograph are not in chronological order, however all consist of the same 4 different colours. This formal element is effective in making what could be a boring looking beach hut look attractive. The depth in this photograph travels from left to right and right to left which I think is more effective photography than depth that travels from bottom to top and top to bottom.

The Connection

A connection is evident in the online photograph and my photograph. Both pictures consist of beach huts which is the main connection shared between both photographs. The huts in my photograph begin as large in the right side of the frame, which is the same for the internet photograph. All of the doors in both photographs contain colour which makes them stand out more than beach huts with doors painted dull browns or mouldy yellow for example. The frames of both photographs are filled with beach hut, although the internet image has another large building behind them whereas mine have just blue sky in the background. The formal element depth is the main key behind the success of these two pictures, without the depth theme they would both just be plain pictures of perhaps 2D beach huts. This supports depth as being an effective formal element, allowing the connection between the internet image and my image to be evident. 

Connecting Essay 4

My Photograph

This is my photograph that I took when I went to Brighton for my exam. This photograph was a favourite of mine from this shoot, because everything in it worked well as one photograph. I made my mum hold the ice cream on a slant so it was evenly composed in the frame, rather than have the ice cream standing up right in the picture because by doing this I feel that there would be more wasted space. Placing this ice cream in front of the sea was successful and effective. The weather is evident in this picture because the sky is clear blue, people eat ice creams when it is hot and they also go to the beach, so by positioning the ice cream in front of the sea it pairs well with the subject of the image. I also added a blur to the background in order for the ice cream to stand out more against the sea and the buildings. Without the blur, the photograph wouldn't look as complete. 

Online Photograph

This online photograph of a pile of different coloured ice cream stacked onto a cone is something that effortlessly caught my eye. It is evident in this piece that the person holding this item of confectionary is having a summers day out. The bright blue sky is clear, the trees and bushes have all of their leaves on them, the colours in the photograph are bright and positive tones and the actual ice cream itself represents the summer season. This photo could have perhaps been more successful if the person holding the cone, positioned it in the middle, although placing it more to the side of the frame allows the viewer to see the surroundings clearer. The high saturation in this photo emphasises the ice creams colours which makes it look more appetising. The exposure levels in this piece have also been raised to make everything brighter and more soft, rather than dark and gloomy with shadows and negative tones. 

The Connection

The internet photograph and my photograph share many similarities.  Firstly, they both include the tasty treat ice cream. The internet photograph contains a pile of 6 different flavours whilst the ice cream in my picture is one swirl of vanilla. The colours may be different along with the amount, however both are piled into an ice cream cone and both are of the same style (dairy ice cream). In the internet photograph, the ice cream is being held up in front of a road with high saturated trees in the distance, whereas in mine, the ice cream is being held up in front of the sea. The backgrounds are both associated with summer because both of the skies in the pictures are clear, and the colours are bright and eye catching. Summer is evident in both photographs, conveyed through both pictures having the brightness level increased. Neither of the backgrounds are clear in the photographs because then this would consist of just one block colour. It is more interesting with scenery in the background, and has proved to be effective in both the internet image and mine. 

Online Portfolio - Top 40 photographs

Exam plan

I intend to go to Brighton for my exam on Monday 20th April.

I will sign it at 9am and leave to drive which will take approximately an hour and a half to two hours.

I will visit Brighton pier, go along the coast, and also visit the lanes where I will capture photographs where I am able to create surreal pieces along with normal photographs. 

1hr 30 mins to 2hr drive from Harlow to Brighton.

10 minute drive from Brighton Pier to the lanes.

The current forecast for Monday's weather is sunny, which is what I want.

I am going to capture photographs that convey weather, as these were the style of photos that I originally took at the beginning of my project. I will also capture some photography that includes depth because this was a theme throughout my project that I enjoyed exploring. I will also look at some things in Brighton that I am able to photograph and edit to create multiple surreal pieces.

I will take the photographs by the sea and the pier first along with the food photography because this all needs the water and sky in the background. I will then walk along the front where I'll find the beach huts and create some creative pieces with these e.g. multiple imageries and maybe surreal pieces. If I arrive at 11/11:30 then I intend to spend an hour and a half on these above plans which will take me to about 1pm, then I want to use the time between 1pm and 2pm to go to the lanes, perhaps even go there earlier if I'm able to do the food and water photography quicker than expected. I will leave Brighton at 2pm even if I am not finished because I need to arrive back to college for 4pm in order to give me half an hour to download my pictures to my mac.

Links to my food photography and my weather theme.

The Pier.

Oleg Oprisco photographer research inspiration.
Take a photo of the water, a photo of a tall rock, a photo of my mum, a photo of a balloon.

Beach hut depth photography.

I will take a photograph of a whacky building in Brighton and attempt to create a piece similar to this. 

I want to find some creative things to capture that I can do selective colour with along with some fish eye photography perhaps.

Connecting Essay 3

Internet photograph

This is an online photograph that I found which is what I used as inspiration for my photograph in the first place. The reason this photograph caught my eye would mainly be because of the black and red theme, and the creative explosion style that makes the woman look as though she's fizzing away. Placing her in front of a white background was an effective choice of the photographers because it allows the bold foreground colours to stand out. White is an effective contrast to the black and red, which conveys this formal element as being used sufficiently in this piece. I also liked that the model is placed directly in the middle of the frame because this allows her to be the main focal point in this image. Her having her hand on her hip is also successful body language in pairing with the explosion effect on the other side because it avoids the right side of the frame from being filled with just the backdrop, if she had her hand hanging down there would be wasted space within the frame which would make this photograph less successful.

My photograph

This is my photograph that I felt was a successful outcome. Adding the explosion effect was my second attempt  in trying out this technique and I feel that it worked effectively with my face. By exploding just one side of me, this makes it look as though I am slowly and gradually fading away, rather than having all of me exploding in one go. Me not looking into the lens of the camera takes their focus away from my face, and more onto the explosion occurring to the side of me. This photo perhaps could have been improved if I was to place myself in front of a whiter background, because the ivory shade behind me perhaps isn't as effective as a white backdrop. I left only a slight empty space in the framing on the left which is acceptable because it isn't wasted, it just frames the left side of me. Overall, this photograph came out as a successful piece altogether.

The Connection

I have decided to look at these two photographs as connecting because they are very similar in many ways, where they both evidently contain the formal elements colour and pattern. Firstly, the colours composed in both of these photographs contain mainly red and black. I made sure I wore a red and light black shirt,  because after looking at the internet photograph I knew that these colours contrasted effectively with a light background and my light face. The connection shared between my photograph and the internet photograph is also evident through the composition. In the internet photograph, the model's upper half is all on show, whereas in my photograph, it is mainly my face and neck area that is filling the frame. The explosion introduced in my photograph has smaller particles than the explosion effect in the internet photograph, however both start from one side and expand to the end of that side of the frame. This conveys both pieces as fading away rather than exploding all in one go. Ultimately, these two photographs connect through the technique and the formal elements colour and pattern.

Work Diary - Shoot 14

Evaluation

I performed this shoot with previous inspiration from shoot 13. My intention was to photograph some more apples, improving the red one along with introducing a green one into my photographs and I was very pleased with the outcomes of todays session. I thought that the explosion technique has been successful in all of the attempts that I have tried and makes my pieces of work a lot more eye-catching an original. Exploring the food theme has been enjoyable, and by adding effective techniques through a surreal approach makes food photography a lot more creative. 

This was the most successful piece from Monday's shoot. In order to excel from the previous shoot, I wanted to photograph more apples in a variety of ways. Photographing a red apple inspired me to photograph a red and a green apple as I thought that these colours would contrast effectively together. I was very pleased with the splatter effect on my last shoot which therefore encouraged me to create more pieces like this. I took a picture of these apples on a white background but placed them on a black background because this enabled them to be more eye-catching as their colours bounce off the background effectively. The explosion technique worked well again here in this picture and it definitely makes apples look more attractive as the style of unique and effective. I decided to compose this piece so that only half of each apple was on show as this successfully fills the frame and works well as an overall photograph.

My idea for this photograph was that since I have explored the theme of quite abnormal photographs in general and of food/drink, I wanted to attempt linking all of the Lucozade's together in one bottle. This came out well and I was pleased that I managed to get the proportions of the bottle accurate. The Caribbean Crush (blue bottle) isn't really visible much in this piece, but because I think this is the most attractive colour and contrasts with the pink, orange and red, it should be more exposed; I will attempt this again in the following shoot. After looking at this piece, I feel that it could look effective against a black background like the apples. 

Progression

After experimenting further with the explosion technique, I wanted to mix my style up a bit and look back at photographs of food and sweets that included the surreal theme. By this I mean a photograph that looks extremely creative, yet is impossible to actually look like that or happen for example, my photograph where the nice biscuits were falling into a pile and the starbursts falling into a hand neatly and accurately. Therefore, because I enjoyed piecing these pictures together I want to take some more photographs similar to this, and below is some inspiration of the sweets I will take photographs of along with the style I may take them in.

Straight Images - Shoot 14

Work Diary - Shoot 13

Evaluation

For this shoot I chose to look at capturing photographs that I could take through the process of photoshop. I wanted to attempt some skills on this editing software in order to create more effective pieces of work. I looked at the exploding effect through having previously taken falling and exploding photographs that would have been more effective with splashes and splats of the subject. Therefore, taking a picture of just an apple wouldn't be that interesting, but with the explosion effect it's miles more eye catching to the viewer. Having said this, attempting it on human faces was also something that I thought was an extremely creative way of portraiture photography. I enjoyed performing the editing of these images which was easily carried out through watching a YouTube tutorial. Because this was a successful attempt, I will definitely be exploring and developing it through photographs in my future shoots. 

I liked my idea of applying an explosion effect to a persons face. I photographed myself here with quite a blank and down expression which works well with the theme of erosion; the splats look as though I am beginning to erode. This has been conveyed through one half of me fizzing away. One side of me is unaffected, whereas the other half isn't as clear. The composition of having me fill the centre of the frame is successful because it means those who look at this image will immediately be drawn to my face. Moreover, this type of photography could be interpreted in how people can sometimes lose themselves, and by applying an explosive pattern over one half of me I am portraying to a viewer that I'm perhaps broken (even if realistically I'm not). It's a thought provoking piece and I'd enjoy developing this idea in other people's faces perhaps in an upcoming shoot. 

This would have to be my favourite photograph out of the two from my 13th shoot. My reasons for this are that I set out in the beginning to convey an exploding apple through photoshop tools, and by the end of this session I had successfully created my intended piece. I also added a radial blur in this photograph which makes the explosion have a larger impact; something that I unfortunately forgot to do in the one of my face. I feel that having the apple sit on a breadboard worked well because this beige tone is effective with the contrasting white wall, and dark red subject. It definitely allows the apple to stand out more. Framing it in the centre was successful, but makes me want to alter the composition in future pieces. I might look at taking a photograph of a green and a red apple, one half of the red one being visible on the left hand side and one half of the green one being visible on the right hand side.

Progression

This shoot has definitely boosted my inspiration when it comes down to being creative. I have found an enjoyment through photographing food items in this project overall, and now I have more experience with techniques to make food photography more appealing. I'd like to carry out a photograph of a red and green apple as described in the evaluation of my second photograph. I'd also like to be creative with a lucozade bottle and its frame. I could edit in the explosion effect to make the bottle more effective, however I'd also like to perhaps take pictures of four different coloured lucozade bottles and then edit them to construct just one bottle; therefore one bottle including four different flavours. This will be more understandable when I actually create this piece in shoot 14. 

This inspired me when I saw it.

Straight Images - Shoot 13