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Experimental Photography

(Hannah Sewell)

(Out of Focus)

When first going out with the camera’s I didn’t know what to expect when putting blur against an object. We experimented different shots by doing different angles which were either above us, in front or below, we thought that by creating images at a different side or angle would help to give character to the image but also depth of field. For this project we moved the focus lens a lot because we were finding it difficult to get the right balance of blur, I wanted the image to show the objects clearly but to have a strong blur so that it makes the image more mysterious with it’s shapes. The first shape that was taken was one of our strongest because the repetition of lights and lines on that picture was really obvious but also quite smart looking. The blur really helped to outline the lights on that image which made them stand out the most. After we took this image we realised that lights could be our theme because light is how we discover things and it helps us to see. By taking a blurred image of a light we saw that it gave out a sparkle round the light, this made it more mystical and city like because of amount of lights that we see on a daily basis. On some of our images we put it on 100 ISO because the light was to bright for the images so by changing the setting helped to focus on certain areas of the image instead of the full image. The top and bottom image to me looks professional with lighting involved, the fact that we chose that theme meant that we had a variety of lights to look at around the building. We found a different type of light which was in the lift, I found this image captivating because when you look at it you feel like your going somewhere. The use of blurriness on the lift picture makes the image look quite creepy and modern looking, the use of the dark shade to the gold on the other side gave a nice colour contrast which was brought out in the blurring technique. A final method that we tried to show was to take an image of a person in all black and to put them against a plain wall, after this they would move there arms about which meant (with the blur) you could only see a black body in a blurry background, this didn’t work as the focus didn’t really capture the person and was to light in the beginning. The aperture that we used for the blur technique was F9 for me this was the best balance into getting a blurring image but to point out objects around it. Knowing that the most blurry aperture is F4 and the smaller blur is F18 means that F9 fits perfectly in the middle. Overall I feel that these images were done professionally and look quite different knowing they were in a normal college building. The out of focus effect really helped to capture the lights that we wanted and less of the objects around it.

What makes this image better than the rest is the fact that it’s sparkly around the light, this makes the picture look like it has stars inside a building which is creative and unique. This shows that the blur technique has worked really well with the lights because it has brought out darker colours which have balanced out the image really well. The blurry walls actually makes the building look much bigger and intimidating than it is, the further away it goes the deeper the walls are which gives a sense that the image is deeper and mysterious. The angle in which I took this image was to just put the camera above my head (which was looking up) this gave the effect that the lights are looking down on a person. This is clever as it looks like multiple lit up faces that are looking down on the prize, this gave a creepy feel to the image like something was about to happen. What makes the depth of field is the amount of lights in the picture, by having 8 lights right at the back of the image and 2 nearer and then one final light closer to the camera meant that the image would look bigger and better than just having a close up of just three lights. My final reason for liking this image is the different colour contrasts around the picture, the use of oranges, blacks, greys and even yellows have helped to make the image look quite moody looking, these kind of colours give out a mood was miserable, mysterious but also gentle. The use of oranges gives a warming feeling that would help to attract an audience towards the image.

(Movement)Before we started anything we put the camera to the ‘AF’ mode which is automatic focus, this meant that the camera would control the focus after the picture has been taken. Then we put the method to TV which helped produce the movement in the image. I think that by using a shutter speed really worked when being in a college as there is always movement all the time. Trying to capture a lot of people in one space was quite difficult as the camera had to be still for it to be taken. When walking around the college I found that using a flat surface was really great because it meant that I could find an area with loads of movement and then leave the camera to make the image. Some was successful and some were to blurry because I moved the image by accident. The first image was taken towards the end of the session, this was successful due to practice and knowing that I had people around me that were either standing still or constantly moving. The aperture that we used for the image was F10, this meant that it could capture certain parts of the image that show people moving constantly, this gave a ghostly and invisible vibe overall. This is definitely shown through the first image as there’s movement between one person whilst the other person is still and transparent, this gave a versatile look towards the image. The second image is a bit different as I still used the flat surface for the camera but I made sure that only moving people were in that image. This perfectly shows that people have been there but in past movement, what I like about this image is that all the walls and objects around it is still because they aren’t moving at all, because of this it highlights peoples movements straight away. What’s also noticeable is that the people inside the image are all in a black colour which gives a monster/ghost look about it, I like this as the movement technique makes a normal image into a scary mysterious one which is quite clever. This shows a successful movement image through have still and moving objects. The two pictures are completely different but by comparing them you can point out the different uses of movement for example they both use flat surfaces but the type of movement you see is completely different. For example again there is one person standing and others moving which is a variety of movements that work well in an image, whilst the second image has only moving objects which is simple but effective to give a creepy look. The last method I used for my third image was different to the first two, what I did was I took an image of two lights and instead of not touching the camera I moved it constantly so that it produced a flower looking object, this looked fantastic and it produces shapes and also have a clear blurred background. This shows off the objects and also how light can create beautiful works of art through movement.

I’ve chosen this as my favourite image because of the fact that there are still and moving people, this showed that my shutter speeds and the use of the camera worked perfectly. When working around this image I realised that by putting the camera on a flat surface meant that I could produce a shot that is clear and shows the movement easily. When you first look at this image you look straight at the girl with the white jumper, this shows that the main focus is in the centre of the image. This image from that girl shows the different timings and how each person looks, with the ghostly look of the person right on the far right, you can see that they are walking quickly this is fantastic because then it gives them a transparent creepy look like someone was there in the past. Whilst the person that looks all black in front on the left, she looks like she is walking much slower because of the outline of her arms and body length, with the shutter speed I used (F10) really captured the essence of the bodies moving and the still shapes. Even though the image is really light you still feel odd when looking at this image because of the moving bodies and the fact that there were people there before and you can just see there black figures. This was by far my strongest image just for the variety of movements and the different outlines of bodies and keeping the background in clear focus which really brings out those shadows. I first of all when going around college thought about taking images whilst holding the cmaera to see the difference between each picture, when taking images to the floor and all around I found that whatever you do you will never get a clear shot. By learning these lessons I made sure I put it on a strong flat surface, take the image and then look at the outcome, doing this made my pictures much better and stronger.

When working on these images I found them very enjoyable, this is because of the fact that we went out and took about 30 images of the same object. I wanted to find images that were still, quirky and had one with a large area like the inside of a building. After looking at these I feel like I have produced those products. When taking the images I wanted to make sure that the object was clear and easy to see before creating the main montage, to do this we didn't’t need any main camera technique, we just needed the right balance of light and focus to see what the main image was. After this I did two images that were close up (when taking the images) so that it was detailed and close up, whilst my first image (shown) was taken in large sections because of the grand scale of the area. What I’ve learnt from this technique is that I lost focus when changing from each section of the object, to improve that I ended up taking the pictures slower so that it looked more clear and professional to an artist. What my images have in common is that they are all at the same angle, I did this because I learnt that doing it at that angle was most effective and made the pictures look more abstract and strange, the way the camera is pointing down gives depth to the images. I kept the fire box plain because the colour was so bright and eye catching which made it stand out by itself, I wanted to change the first and middle image because nothing was really going on, to do this I used the image > adjustments > hue/saturation, for my middle image I wanted it to be multi-coloured so that the paint from the art piece looks different and gives more emotion to the girl in the painting. By using black and white meant that I could link my montages to Hockney’s work, I understand the use of black and white because it highlights different sections really well. For the first image I used an effect which is image >adjustments>black and white, this Photoshop effect helped me to tint the image so that it was purple/grey, another effect I used was ‘levels tool’ which you press command L and then you can use the keys to make the whites whiter and the blacks blacker. I mostly made it more light as it balanced well with the purple tint.

(Reflection)

Reflection was one of my favourite images to take because of how simple it is to take an image than can ends up looking professional. When I first got told to do this I made sure that I found a puddle, this was because puddles can create works of art that look different in real life and strange to the eye. The angle that is used with puddle photography is clever because it can make a building look so different. When me and Hayley first went out with the camera to take images we didn't’t just want to take images of puddles we wanted a variety of images so that the reflection can be shown in different circumstances. The first and last images were the weakest because they didn’t show character and the look of the building. I picked the windows because of the light that was above them, getting the light to shine on objects will help to be shown on the windows, my favourite out of these two was the first image. This is because the lights and lines on the image makes it look modern and classy, if you look long enough you feel like it’s in an airport because of the larger windows that are reflected onto the glass. These images also go with movement because when you take a picture of a reflection you can see peoples shadows and there bodies in pre walking mode. On the first image you can see that there is movement and activity going on which makes that image look more exciting. Whilst the bottom image has less colour and only has a vending machine in, which has no character and expression. My middle image was one of my favourites this is because of the fact that putting the camera pointing down, helps to see the person and building go upwards which is clever as reflection does the opposite thing. The middle one looks the most depressing and scenic and this is due to the fact of having a dull grey ground and sky, these colour match perfectly so that the overall image looks creepy and different to the human eye. What these images have in common is that it’s hard to figure out what the pictures mean and why they have taken it, it allows you to think about the image and to explore it. I didn’t edit these images because I wanted them to be unique and to see what the actual colours and effects looked like. Having a natural image tells more to the audience than a really over edited one.

This was my favourite image out of all of the photography experiment, the reasons for this is:• The image takes up the area in which the puddle is in so it looks much bigger and more intimidating than before we took

the image. • The white patches around the image looks like frost so that it looks cold, damp and miserable, this really gives out

different emotions like being mysterious, scared, lonely and miserable. These emotions fit well with this image as the colour grey is know to be cold and sad which will automatically tells the audience.

• The image tells the audience a strong message straight away which shows a good photography picture by the image telling a message of sadness and loneliness.

• The main light, this is the most important part of the image because of how dark it is, the fact that it fades out at the bottom and hides behind the frost looking ground. I wanted the light to be in the centre of the image because of who tall it is and how it really captures an emotion in the image.

• What is also clever about this image if the fact that it looks like I’ve edited it to black and white, this isn’t the case, instead the sky was grey which made the water and ground look the same shade. By having a tall lamppost in the image it’s just coincidence that it’s black which suits the mood and look of the image.