work record 3

work record 3

plans for shoot

for this shoot i would like to continue to look at the style of ansel adams. i really like the high contrasted images he produces and i would like to experiment with including colour in my photos.

i dont have a specific place that i am going to photograph in mind. for the last photo shoot i completed, i travelled to places in the countryside and stopped when there was a good photograph opportunity. this proved to work well, therefore i am going to use this approach again.

research influence

for this shoot my influence was ansel adams. his work uses high contrast images and black and white to create his unique and impressive photos. his work has a distinct old fashioned style from the camera he used. this s one of the things i would like to recreate on photoshop.

i am going to try and do this using a combination of the dodge and burn tool and adjusting the levels of light, dark and contrast.

contact sheet

image bank

the above collection of images are some examples of similar work that i would like to recreate. the weather recently has been very bright and cloudy which means there have been some interesting cloud formations.

my best images











i chose these images as my best because of the composition and lighting. these would be interesting to edit in photoshop.

images that require improvement







these are of two of the photos from the shoot that require improvement. i would change them by changing the composition to make it more interesting. the photo above is of a dark storm cloud and power lines. the issue with this photo is there isn't much depth in the cloud so the photo looks more like a block colour rather than an intense cloud made of layers of grey.

the photo below it is of the sky behind a field and some houses. apart from the photo being horrendously blurred, the composition doesn't draw the viewer in and make them focus on a specific point. the exposure is also much too high which could've been changed using the camera setting, for example increasing the ISO number.

edits from the shoot

work record 2

work record 2

plans for shoot

for this shoot, i am going to look at different objects that obstruct the horizon line. i have chosen Ansel Adams as my inspiration. his work consists of mostly landscape such as Yosemite park, near where he lived. he usually shot in black and white which is something i can create in photoshop. 

for the location of this shoot, i don't have a specific place in mind but i would like to continue the theme of looking at things that disrupt the horizon line. i am going to bring my Nikon D7100, a lens hood and a tripod. Adams photos are usually very sharp and detailed which means he probably used a high aperture. his images are also not over exposed which is something i also need to be careful. i can do this by changing my camera settings.

a challenge that i may face during this shoot are the weather conditions and the locations i want to shoot at. because the part of England i live in doesn't have a wide variety of landscape, there may be a challenge in finding places to photograph. as my exam project is based on the sky, i would like to capture a dramatic scene with clouds but this is partly dependent on the weather.

research influence

my influence for this shoot was ansel adams. his work consists of beautiful landscapes and mountains. his photos are usually very sharp and high quality with high contrast between the light areas and the shadows. his photos are all black and white as he used a Deardorf 8×10 View Camera, which he would have to carry wherever he wanted to take a photo. 

contact sheet

image bank

the above collection of images are some ideas i would like to pursue for this shoot. i like the two photos at the top as they show a landscape feature in front a dark and dramatic sky. this is something i would like to attempt to create during editing.

my best images

i chose these images because of the composition and the sky behind each image. i wanted to capture a dark and menacing looking sky with the windmill being the main focus of the photo. 

photos that require improvement

i chose these photos because i would like to change the composition and the angles at which they were taken. to do this i would go back and stand at different points around the windmill and experiment with different height and orientations of the camera.



edits from the shoot

AO2- to edit these photos, i used Photoshop to turn them into black and white images. then i flattened the image so that i could use the dodge and burn tool to brighten and darken areas of the photo such as the windmill or the outer edges of the sky. i did this for all of these photos to create the final responses.

discussion-of the exam paper

exam brief

writing

words have been an inspiration for photographers and film makers, for both their appearance and meaning. Nancy Hellebrands close-up black and white photographs of handwriting are abstract studies of very personal linear forms. the posters by Jacques mage De La Villegle created from printed lettering that is combined and juxtaposed in torn layers. the title sequence from Wim Wenders film 'wings of desire' shows poetry in the process of being written with pen and ink, in contrast with the credits which appear as chalk on blackboards. produce your own response making reference to appropriate work by others.

the sky

Observations of clouds and skylines have proved inspirational for many photographers and film makers. Stephen shore and Edward Steichen photographed clouds at various times of the day. in the film mistaken memories of Medieval Manhattan. Brian Eno produced a time lapse sequence of new York filmed in a vertical format, with buildings silhouetted against a drifting atmospheric sky. in the photo book solitude of ravens, Masahisa Fukase produced evocative images of birds in flight against dramatic skies. produce your own response, making reference to appropriate work from others.

research log

photographer research - the sky

fukase masahisa

Fukase Masahisa is a photographer based in a studio in Hokkaido. his work usually has quite a dark theme. he usually shoots in black and white, capturing different scenes in contrasted images. his earlier work includes a series called 'kill the pigs, 1961' where he spent time in a slaughterhouse and documented the environment. his later, more famous work is a  series called 'the solitude of ravens' 1986, where he took photos of the birds in groups and on their own.

 

this photo shows a group of ravens perched in a tree. i like this photo because it is quite dark and grainy which gives it the feel of an old fashioned horror movie. to achieve this effect, he may have used a high ISO or quite an old camera, possibly film. this image remind me of when you see a group of birds perched in a tree and a loud noise causes them all to fly away.

Masashisa may have used a tripod but the photo still appears blurred as it may be moving in the wind and the birds are usually constantly moving.

this photo shows a raven on its own landing on a post. the background is quite hard to make out but the plants behind look like brambles which resemble barbed wire. this makes the image appear quite sinister and dark. the raven is slightly out of focus which makes the features more difficult to distinguish, and gives the impression of movement. However i like the image because of the composition ans the way raven stands out.

this photo shows a man dressed in a black robe, posing in an abattoir. the cow that is pulling on his clothes looks very young and some may consider it cute. this cow may be one of the may that are going to be slaughtered, or is possibly the calf of a cow that has already been killed. this gives the photo a dark and sad meaning. in the background, there also looks like there are dead animals and live ones who are probably unaware of the fact that they are unlikely to make it out.

the mans cloak is jet black, and swamps him entirely. black has many connotations, one of the most popular associations of the colour is death. this adds to the dark and melancholy scene.

this image shows  the outline of a raven made of many tiny dots. this is an interesting image as there are different ways that he could have created it. one of which could be that he used an editing software to cut up a photo of a raven, however at the time this was taken, the software is unlikely to have been developed yet.

the connotations behind this image could be the unity of a group of ravens. this is shown in the way they stick together and work as their own society. each individual dot could represent a single bird. the raven is in flight which could suggest that they stick together as they travel. the way that the dots all come together to make one big bird could suggest that without each other, they are incomplete. these birds are very intelligent and can form emotional bonds with each other, this image reflects that.

this image shows a group of ravens sat in a tree. they are perched very closely together which links to the other photos from this photographer and how he displays the unity of the birds. the image gives the illusion of movement as the tree is visible through the birds, giving the impression that the branch is swaying. this is an interesting effect and challenging to explain. the photographer couldve used a long exposure, but i am unsure of how he avoided motion blur. he couldve also layered two photos on top of each other, slightly changing the opacity to bring the background image through.