Animations- All Shoots

Shoot 1:

Shoot 4:

 Shoot 7:

Shoot 8:

 Shoot 9:

Shoot 10:

Shoot 11:

Shoot 12:

Overall Project Evaluation

This unit was a personal project, meaning we was able to choose what area of photography we would focus this unit on. I decided to do close up photography as I had a variety of different ideas for shoots. This made me excited because in my previous unit 2-Story Telling I ran out of shoot ideas and it made the unit less enjoyable. This wasn't the case in this unit as close up photography is an area of photography that I am very interested in which made the unit enjoyable in itself but also my unit being close ups is very broad, therefore I can have a very wide range of ideas it doesn't have to be anything specific like unit 2, it had to connect to story telling which gave me a very narrow approach. 

In order to get a deeper understanding of close up photography I had to complete a definition page which consisted of 4 annotated pictures, dictionary definition, my own definition and describing worlds. This allowed me to gain knowledge of the area I would be focussing my project on. Before I did any shoots I made an image bank of 25 images all related to close up photography, this allowed me to look at existing work and see how I could develop the ideas in my own way. Also by looking at a variety of different close up images it allowed me to start the project with many ideas as I gained many influences from the images. Research into photographers played a key part in this project. I started by making a research log of 20 photographers, this allowed me to explore existing photographers work. I then chose 5 photographers from my research log and looked at them in greater detail. This involved 4 annotated pictures of the photographers, why I had chosen them, how they have influenced me and a summary. By doing this I was able to develop my ideas even further as I was able to see from the photographer work what I like and what I didn't and also I could see what works and what doesn't, for example I learnt what colour backgrounds work best from looking at existing photographers work.

Throughout this project, after each shoot I had to make a work diary of two annotated pictures that I had taken from my shoot. The annotations included what I did for example what background and lighting I used & how I would improve the photograph if I was to take it again. This allowed me to evaluate my own work and understand what went well and what went wrong in order for me to correct it if I was to do it again, for example if I realised that the angle I took the photograph from just didn't work then I would know for next time. Therefore I would learn from my mistakes. 

Towards the end of the project I have to complete 5 connecting essays which included one of my own images and another image from the internet or a photographers image. I then had to annotate the two images and then say how they connect to each other, this could be by the same use of lighting or the same object has been photographed. By doing this it allowed me to learn how to connect my work to others. 

During the project I have done a number of print techniques: 

• image within an image
• image and text
• weaving 
• duotone 
• overlay
• selective colour
• repetition
• montage
• framing
• cluster

By doing the above print techniques it allowed me to develop my simple photographs into complex photographs. This also allowed me to develop my skills with using photoshop due to the fact that I learnt how to use new effects and tools that I wouldn't have used if we didn't do the print techniques. This also allowed me to understand which photographs work best with each print technique. 

Within the project I have learnt a number of different skills. My use of photoshop has developed and is developing every time I use it as I am learning different effects every time. Also In this project we have had to take pictures for a number of techniques, for example multiple imagery, blurring ext. This has allowed me to learn new techniques that I can incorporate in my person project in order to make it better. The techniques I included were multiple imager, blurring and animation. I have also developed my skills physically as my general capability of taking the photographs has improved massively from when I first started photographs as I have a clear understanding of what looks good and what doesn't and I am now very confident with using the studio. 

Overall this unit has allowed me to develop my skills within photography. It has allowed me to develop my own ideas as this whole project has been personal to me as we was able to pick the area of photography we wanted to focus the unit on. This has given me more confidence in photography as I really liked majority of my shoots and I experimented with a number of shoots that turned out a lot better than I thought they would. Finally I have realised that taking more pictures within my shoots allows me to have more variety of pictures and I found that it was more likely to get better photographs.

Connecting Essay Five

This image is a close up image of the centre of a flower. You can see the contrast between the glowing yellow and the vibrant purple. The image allows you to see the flower from a different perspective as you wouldn't normally be able to see the flower in sun detail. Due to the fact that the image is so close you have no idea how big the flower actually is and it looks to be a lot bigger than it would in reality. The lighting used is fairly brights and it almost makes the centre of the flower look like its glowing. 

This photograph is my own image. It is also a close up image of the centre of a flower. This photograph has been taken from directly in front of the flower and shadowy lighting has been used as there are bright areas and darker areas. Due to the closeness of the image you can almost imagine the texture of the flower. In the very centre of the flower the petals are green and then they fade out into a bright sunny yellow. 





Overall these images link because they are both showing the centre of a flower. Also they are both close up images. The colour scheme of yellow is portrayed in both photographs. Both photographs also show the flower in great detail which you wouldn't see in real life due to the fact that you wouldn't be able to get as close. On the other hand these two images differ due to the first photograph showing a clear contrast between the colours used, whereas the second image shows the colours blending together. The angles the photographs have been taken are also different as the first one has been taking slightly above, whereas the other photograph has been taken from directly above. 

Connecting Essay Four

This image is a close up image of a pomegranate. You can see that a location background has been used, in this case a kitchen side. The lighting used is natural. A knife has been placed in the centre of the cut open pomegranate which we can infer has just cut it in half allowing us to see the pattern inside. The area closest to the camera seems to be more in focus and then as it gets further away becomes less in focus. The pattern inside the pomegranate looks to be forming a start like shape. 

This photograph is my own image of a pomegranate, the image is an extreme close up. You can see the patterns inside the pomegranate and the closeness of the image allows you to imagine what the texture of the fruit would be. Vibrant lighting has been used but there are shadowily areas shown through the image with the darker areas. The image was taken in the studio against a white background but due to the fact that the image is so close you cannot see the background. 



Overall these images connect due to the fact that they are both photographs of pomegranates. They both show the pomegranate inside and highlight the patterns. Bright lighting has been used in both photographs to show the vibrant red colour of the fruit. On the other hand these two images differ as one is a extreme close up image and the other is only a close up. Also the second image is an abstract image as there is no sense of real life in the image, this does not apply to the first image as you can see the table is used as the background and a knife is included which indicates real life/objects. The lighting is bright in both images but also differs as in the first image the lighting seems to be rather shadowy whereas the lighting in the second image is very vibrant.

Connecting Essay Three

This image shows the diffusion of food colouring in water. Blue food colouring has been used against a white background. The photograph is an extreme close up and it allows you to see the movement of the water diffusing through water. Vibrant lighting has been used to enhance the blue food colouring but there are some shadowy areas in the image. There is a clear contrast between the white background and the vibrant blue. The movement of the food colouring looks like its floating through the water.







This photograph is my own image that I took in the studio, I captured the movement of food colouring diffusing through water. I used a white background and bright lighting to highlight both he background and the water. This is one of the extreme close up images that I took in order to show the patterns that the food colouring is creating. The water that I used was cold water due to the fact that I tried it in hot water and the food colouring diffused to quickly, meaning I couldn't capture the movement and mainly just got the water turning a different colour all together. 



Overall these images connect because they both show food colouring diffusing in water. The food colouring used is the same colour, blue. In both images a white background has been used with the same lighting. Both images are extreme close ups and have been taken from the same camera angle which is directly in front so you can see the movement of the food colouring. On the other hand these two images differ due to the fact that the pattern of the food colouring being diffused is different. Also every time you drop the food colouring into water the outcome of the picture will be different as you will never get the exact same pattern.

Work Diary- 12th Shoot

During todays lesson I did another studio shoot for my personal project. I took photographs of food colouring being dropped into water and capture the movement. I used bright colours such as, blue, green, red and yellow in order to make it stand out against the white background. I had the water in wine glasses to make the images look more attractive. If I was to do this shoot again I would experiment with the different food colouring colours that I could use as I really liked the bold blue & red but I didn't really like the green and yellow as they didn't stand out enough. I would also buy a better make food colouring as I think that is why the green and yellow wasn't as good due to the fact that it was only Asda's own make.

In this image I have captured red food colouring being dropped in water. This photo has captured the food colouring as soon as it drops whereas the image above has captured the food colouring once it has moved round slightly. I used a white background with natural lighting to highlight the glass. The water that I used to fill up the wine glasses was cold as I tested it with hot water and the food colouring diffused too quickly and I wouldn't have been able to take as many pictures. If I was to do this shoot again I would experiment with the use of video as I feel capturing the whole movement would be very effective. 

In this image I have captured the movement of blue food colouring being dropped into a wine class of water. I used a white background but in photoshop I edited it to make it look pink as I feel it looked better as I couldn't get the background to look white enough. I used natural lighting and then used black card at the sides of the class to create a crisp black outline on the glass. If I was to take this image again I would change the background and actually use the pink background instead of white as I feel it looks better than the white, therefore that is why I edited the background pink in photoshop.

My inspiration behind this shoot came from Corrie White's photography as I chose her as one of my 5 photographers and became very interested in her work. 

As a result of this shoot and throughout my whole project I have realised that I love the use of vibrant colours as I find it's much  more appealing to look at as its eye catching, I have also found that I much prefer to use the studio rather than location as my photographs generally turn out better when I do them in the studio. I have also noticed that I like to experiment a lot more with different ideas within this project. 

Personal Project- 12th Shoot

Work Diary- 11th Shoot

During this lesson I did a studio shoot for my personal project. I needed to use another one of the techniques that we had learnt at the beginning of the project, therefore I photographed multi coloured lights using the blurring technique. I took the images in the dark, using no studio lighting only the lights that I was photographing and then I used a black background. If I was to do this shoot again I would use more lights so the image is more colourful as some of the image include too much black background. 


 


In this image I used the technique blurring to photograph a set of colourful lights. When taking the image I turned down the focus to blur the image and create the blurred lights. I used a black background to make the vibrant colours stand out against the background. If I was to take this image again I would take the image closer up to avoid having so much black background included in the image. 

I also made an animation of a number of different images I took of the lights. The animation makes it look like the lights are moving due to the different pictures being taken from different angles and having different compositions. If I was to make an animation again for this shoot I would experiment with the blurring technique within photoshop, meaning I would take a focused picture and then slowly take it out of focus in photoshop and make an animation. 

My influence behind this image came from a photograph that I found from the internet as I was looking at the technique blurring due to the fact that I needed to add another technique into my personal project. 

As a result of this shoot I have found that I like the blurring technique and would like to incorporate it it future projects. Again the same as majority of my shoots I like the use of vibrant colours against a plain background as its eye catching. For my next shoot I want to again experiment with the use of vibrant colours in a different way, therefore for my next shoot I am going to photograph the diffusion of food colouring in water as I was influenced by Corrie White's photography. 

Next Shoot: 

Work Diary- 10th Shoot

During this lesson I did a studio shoot for my personal project. I took a number of photographs of the models features including eyes, hands, lips & ears. I used a black background to make the features appear to be floating in mid air. I used natural lighting to light the model not the background. If I was to do this shoot again I would take more variety of pictures, meaning I would take more pictures of different parts of the human body. 

In this image I combined 4 of the same images but all rotated in different ways. I then placed them all together so it looks like the hands are joined together. I used a black background with natural lighting. I like this image as it makes the viewer question how its done and it looks different to the other images I've edited. If I was to take this image again I would have the model position her hand in all different ways to experiment with what it looks like. 

Also in this lesson I made an animation of the models eye opening and closing. Ever time the models eye opens it changes colour. The composition of the animation only includes half of the models face this is due to the fact that I wanted the eye movement to be obvious and the main focus of the image. Again I used a black background and natural lighting. If I was to make this animation again I would have the camera on a tripod as the two images of the models eye open and then shut move slightly. 

I don't feel that this shoot went as well as it could have as it was planned late due to the fact that I was going to do another shoot but didn't have the equipment I needed. Also the majority of the photographs I have taken in previous shoots have involved vibrant colour whereas this shoot it very plain and simple, therefore I feel that it isn't one of my best shoots. 

my influence behind this shoot came from my first shoot of the Lips as I liked to photograph human features as it shows clear detail as the image is close up. 

As a result of this shoot I have realised that I prefer to photograph objects rather than people as it it easier to position the objects in the way that you want to & you can experiment more with different angles. Therefore in my next shoot I am going to photograph an object rather than a person. As I need to include another technique within my persona project I am going to photograph christmas lights but out of focus so I can incorporate the blurring technique within my project. 

Next Shoot: 

Technique Page- Location portraiture

Location Portraiture: is a way of making something appear bigger than it actually is.

Step by step guide: 

1. Use a wide angle
2. Make sure that the camera is close to the subject
3. However the subject must be separate from the background
4. Use different angles, for example: High & Low

Personal Project- 11th Shoot

Personal Project- 10th Shoot