LO5 Blog Evaluation

Upon reflection of my finished blog that I have worked through, I have come to the point where I feel I can evaluate my blog effectively.  I studied the theme of nature opposed to city life and the contrast that them two subject matters create. I chose this subject matter because I was sure it would be unique and its something that relates to the theme of identity and it interests me. This subject matter ahs many interesting aspects, such as the different emotions and personalities that nature can be perceived as through the use of photography, an also the different narratives and meanings that they can convey. The main rule of photography that applies to this theme is narrative as it helps convey the meaning.

I have recorded my experiences through screen shots of different steps, but mainly planning before hand. I have also recorded my experiences through evaluations in depth analysis's explaining my thoughts throughout the project and my intentions. I focused on the double exposure aspect of my project as it was the back bone behind the narrative aspect, which meant I had to take twice as many photographs; but this specific aspect especially came up when editing. I generally focused on composition in terms of photographic elements.

I have represented the scene I have photographed accurately but in the idea that I'm going to change the background and transform the scene anyway. I wanted to accurately portray the scene as it will directly contrast with other scenes through double exposure. I changed what you see to create the visual contrast and to create my narrative. Even though my new images are abstract they convey realistic themes and narratives.

The main photographers I was inspired by were; Martin Parr, Duncan Philpott, Irving Penn and Sufiskoo. Martin Parr was linked to the social reportage genre, he focused on photography the gritty realistic aspects of photography and showing a clear message; this inspired me to create my own narrative through combining his realistic aspects and double exposure. Duncan Philpott inspired the nature aspects of my project, as well as the making contrast a vital element in my project. Irving Penn inspired my heavy use of a model throughout the project. Sufiskoo focuses on double exposure and create visual contrast, this inspired my use of double exposure in my project. I studied them because they interested me and directly linked to my project through their unique style and elements. Comparing my work to all these photographer I was inspired by, I would say I have been heavily inspired by all of them and all my photographs include some aspect of each of the photographers.

Throughout the project I tried to use a variety of photographic techniques including; composition, focal point, rule of thirds, texture, narrative, light. I have found out by using these techniques that it makes photography much more visually interesting and gives the photographs more meaning and narrative. The experimentation behind these all were successful and effective in giving me an idea which to include in my final set of photographs. I feel as though having specific elements to focus on has assisted my development as a photographer through giving me small goals to reach the final larger goal, its helped me focus and get better at photography. I have combined two aspects in my photography, being photography and double exposure. The combination was very successful at creating my narrative and creating meaning and purpose, I found that double exposure can link themes and create contrast successfully as well as being visually interesting. I didn't include many digital techniques while considering them, them being; cropping and scaling, layers, green screen and text and image.

I have tried to include many technical aspects in my photography throughout the project. I thought very carefully about aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc. before hand when planning and when taking the photographs. Focus was a very prominent aspect, throughout the photoshoots I had to contemplate what would be in focus and out of focus, to give a focus and make certain aspects more prominent. Rules of photography were a large aspect of my photography and allowed me to create the narrative and visual meaning and purpose I wanted to create. Depth of field links to the focus I previously mentioned, being the struggle I had deciding what aspects needed to be prominent in the photograph.

My final photograph fits the brief being that I had to present a personal response of identity and link it to the Millennium Gallery in the process, being that nature is a large aspect of the gallery and identity and conveying the voice and personality of nature links to identity. My final photography clearly shows meaning, in certain shots the nature is denoted as small and not relevant connoting that nature is overlooking and needs a voice and an identity to represent it. In other shots the nature is seen as beautiful and large conveying the power and relevance of the nature. I was only trying to highlight a specific concept being the narrative and meaning conveyed by my project; I feel as though I have highlighted such aspects successfully and they are the most prominent parts of the project. My intentions when taking the photographs were raising awareness of nature giving nature identity and a personality, I also wanted to highlight the contrast between city life and natural habitats.

I have learnt a lot about photographic techniques throughout the project, it has helped me develop my photography skills and develop as a photographer.  I specifically focused on nature and portrait photography as well as double exposure and social reportage. I feel as though I developed these topics successfully and created an original response. My future directions are to develop further as a photographer and further my ambition and interest in this field.

LO5 Analysing other Methods of Display

LO5 Digital Techniques

Cropping and Scaling

Cropping and scaling was relevant to my photography as for the first photograph I edited, I had to crop the image so it was symmetrical. But in terms of scaling, when creating the double exposure I had to scale the second image so it lined up with the first when blended together. If I were to do this project again I would of made more use of cropping and scaling, especially cropping as I only cropped one photograph so that it was symmetrically proportionate.

Layers

Layers was a very important aspect of my photography, due to creating double exposure I had to have lots of layers which were placed appropriately and on the right  layers. I had to create clipping masks combining the layers, and change the opacity and blending settings to actually blend the layers together. Managing the layers was very important, labelling the layers and making sure I know which order I need to organise them into.

Green Screen

Even though I didn't use a green screen in my project, I contemplated using one so that the model couldn't stand in front and I could replace the green screen with one of my photographs, this would have made it easier to select the area around my model and make it more accurate. I didn't use a green screen because I needed the model stood in front of such photographs instead of in front of a green screen. Green screen could have been a very helpful tool, and could of made the editing process a lot easier, but sadly I didn't have access to one and didn't consider it an option until after my photoshoots.

Text Image

Text was never really an option in my photography. I never considered adding text into my photographs when presenting them, but if I had to id probably add the title I gave to them, but it would be faded into the background; it wouldn't be a significant part of the photograph. I added text to my final presentation to explain the titles, but I wouldn't actually interfere with the actual photograph itself.

Time of day and Lighting

Time of day and lighting were a very important part of my photography, when planning the photoshoots and actually taking the photographs I had to consider the time of day and lighting. I had to make sure I had enough light so the photograph wasn't too dark, but not too light so the photograph was washed out. Since most of photography was taken in day light, the aperture and capture settings were low and faster.  

LO5 Improvements

There are many improvements that could be made to my project as a whole, including; how successful the outcome is, number of shoots, photographic elements, the theme as a whole, some of my justification.

With some of my final photographs the final outcome wasn't as successful as I would like it to be, due to having to create 10 final photographs some of the photographs are vaguely similar to some other final pieces. If I were to go back and take some photographs again and do some more photoshoots, I would have more of a diverse range of ideas and come up with visually creative ideas, so that no two images are similar. I feel as though I had to reuse some photographs from the same shoot, if possible id prefer to not do that. And also I feel as though the quality and finish of some of my final pieces could of been vastly improved.

I completed three full photoshoots, one of them being a practice shoot and two of them being final photoshoots which would consist of my final photographs. If I were to do this project again I would complete more practice shoots and final shoots to have more of a range of photographs and more practice with the camera, so I was more used to adjusting the settings and such of the camera. Other practice shoots would allow me to test out more photographic elements and any ideas I wasn't sure of, it could create more variety in my final pieces and a better quality finish.

My theme for the brief was about nature and even though that was a strong enough theme on its own, I had a sub theme of double exposure which worked well together and it made my photography more visually interesting. If I was to do the project again I would choose a theme and a sub-theme which worked together as well as nature and double exposure did. If I was to do this project again I would make nature a more prominent aspect, because the most prominent aspect in my photograph is the model which isn't what I was trying to achieve; the model was there to link the theme and sub-theme and to relate to identity.

LO5 Method of Display

I imagine my photographs will be displayed on a 30" x 20" canvas which can be changed around to display the differently positioned photographs. A single canvas of this size would cost £60 but has gone down in price to £30. So to present my 10 final photographs for my exhibition it would cost £300 to display them all on canvases. I would display my photographs on canvases of this size because it would influence the viewers to look at the little details within the photograph, and grasp more of the meaning and narrative behind my photographs.

The timing implications for my exhibition will be as followed; my photographs will be displayed for roughly a 2-3 months depending on the popularity and interest.

The advantages of displaying in a gallery setting is; presenting to a wider audience/ raised awareness, convey more meaning and narrative, present it in a more professional format and easily accessible. The disadvantages are the cost, time constraint and more criticism.

Bibliography

Canvas Sizes and Prices - https://www.photobox.co.uk/shop/wall-decor/canvas-prints/sizes

Martin Parr - http://www.martinparr.com/

Duncan Philpott - http://duncanphilpott.com/

Irving Penn - http://irvingpenn.org/

Sufiskoo - https://picsart.com/sufiskoo/

Millennium Gallery - http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/museums/millennium-gallery/home

Focal Length - http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/article/g3cu6o2o/understanding-focal-length.html

Influential Photographers - http://uk.complex.com/style/2013/06/the-most-influential-photographers/

Sheffield City Centre - https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/out--about/city-centre.html

Double Exposure Photographer Andre Defreitas - http://andredefreitas.com/Double-Exposures

LO5 Photography Presentation - Natures Voice