Shoot Three
This is my third shoot, and I think that this shoot has allowed me to develop my ideas into collections and memories, within this shoot I have created some successful images which could be used further on in my project, however I think that some of the images are not as successful and I will not go any further with these. Furthermore, I will edit some of the images to enhance them further and this will allow me to develop in my experimentation of photo manipulation. These images were taken in a studio setting which allowed me to use studio/artificial lighting to get the effects I wanted, I also used a flash on a number on the images to enhance lighting further. The background of all of the images is a box which gives a wooden effect to the viewer to illustrate the idea of collections within the box. All of the images within this shoot were taken on a Nixon D3100 camera in which was set on manual focus in which I took into consideration depth of field quite a lot – how much of the image was in focus. I think this shoot was successful because I have developed my ideas and I have used a range of angles when shooting the same objects. However, if I was to do this shoot again, I would maybe change the box that the objects were in and focus on a few particular objects rather than taking photos of lots of different ones even though the variation of objects illustrates my experimentation.
IWhen deciding to do this shoot, I thought that the idea would have looked better in a box rather than just scattered about, I previously seen I was inspired to do this by artists who have done the same things. However, I did not have a suitable place to do this straight away so I thought that I would make the box in which the objects were going into. To start with, I got a shoe box without the lid and got some sample wallpaper which I would cover the box with to give the wooden effect. This was a lot easier than buying a wooden box that would never have been used and a lot cheaper as the products I used were free. By doing my shoot this way, I think it was successful, also it made my shoot unique as I have went a step further by creating something specifically for the shoot.
I think that this image is a successful image without any manipulation as it explains to the viewer what the objects are about and is a good image to explain the ideas behind some of the shoot. All of the objects in this image have been collected by my grandparents over the years of their marriage and all of their anniversaries, they have collected these objects over the years and this is part of my theme of collections. In this image, I have tried to focus on as many objects as possible to illustrate the ideas behind them all and giving them all equal focus is showing equal importance. I would say that this image in underexposed as there are many shows and dark areas, this problem has been caused as I did not use the flash for this image, so if I was to shoot this again I would include a flash to highlight more areas and objects in the image. I would not take this image any further as it is not one of the stronger images, I just think that it is a good example to explain the background of this part of the shoot. Furthermore, I would say that the saturation of this image is quite low and this is due to the underexposure of the image. Within the image, it can be seen that the rule of thirds has been used to some extent as the objects would fit separately into three parts, the golden object in the middle possibly being the main point of focus. The background of this image is in a box which does link in with the idea of the collections being placed in a box.
Throughout this shoot, I have experimented a lot with the different uses of Photoshop, and most of my attempts have been successful, however when I tried to create a shattered effect with an image from the 3rd shoot, the photo in which I used did not work well with the effect because there was too much in the image such as the background and the surrounding objects which made the scattering effect be unsuccessful. Therefore, I figured that the scattered effect would only work with an image which had only one object and a plain background.
By having the middle object as the main focus of the original image, I decided to manipulate the background so that the object in main focus would be the only thing that would be in focus in the whole image. By doing this, the main focus of the image would be emphasised more and I will have gained a new technique within Photoshop. By clicking the quick mask tool then the brush tool, I was able to paint over the object, as seen in the first image, then when deselecting the quick mask tool, it would then select everything in the image except the object, as shown in the second screenshot. After this I then went to filter and blur, then radial blur, this then created the blur effect in which I wanted and a successful image.
I think that this is a successful image as I have used a simple manipulation to make the image look more effective to the viewer. By taking out all of the colour in the image, I think that it attracts the viewers attention to the main focus a lot more and it also allows the right amount of light onto the main focus, therefore this image is neither underexposed or overexposed. With colour, the image had quite a high saturation because of all the bright colours, however the bright colours made the viewer focus on other things in the image. Alike the full shoot, the theme/area of photography for this image is still life as I have found that this is my stronger point. When organising this image, I have focused on the depth of field a lot as I only wanted one object in focus at the end of the manipulation. When taking the original image, the shutter speed was quite high to ensure that I would get a focused and pixelated image, however when manipulating, I have tried to create the effect of a lower shutter speed to get the movement sort of effect when blurring the background. The idea of this image is that people collect things throughout the years and to remember special events, and in this case it is anniversaries, the wedding picture in the background is part of this as this is how it started of the collection. Also, that people collect such things so that other people can see what it means to them, this links into beneath the surface because the collection is part of their history and represents parts of their lives, which is essentially and metaphorically beneath the surface.
Similar to my first shoot, I have also assembled jewellery in a jar within this shoot to illustrate how my ideas have progressed over the project. Firstly, by having the jar in the wooden box, it illustrates that the jar is under the surface of the box, but also tat the jewellery is beneath the surface of the jar. This time, the jewellery in the jar represents someone’s collections of jewellery which no one knows about – which is why it is in the jar, and why the jar is in the box. However, the jar is overflowing which shows that the collection is becoming out of hand and people are starting to notice the individuals habit of collections. This is a contrasting image as the idea of the image is quite dark and shameful whereas the actual appearance of the image is pretty and enjoyable for the viewer to look at because of its high saturation. The focus of this image is the jar of jewellery which links into the idea of the image and the background of the wooden box also links in with the idea. Also, it could be said that the rule of thirds has been used in this image as the three separate ‘piles’ of objects break the image down into three separate parts, which links in with the depth of field because all of the image is in focus, so it is dependant on the size of the objects as to which one is the main focus of the image.
Alike other examples presented, I think that this image has been successful because I have made it unique by manipulating it to have a cracked effect, this gives the impression that the objects are old. Furthermore, the effect could enhance the idea of the image as the jar and the jewellery is to do with collections and so this effect could give the idea that someone has been collecting these things for a long time and they are starting to lose interest in the idea of collecting these objects which is why the cracks are starting to appear. Also, I would say that this image is overexposed because the image is too bright and some parts are hard to see as there is too much light in the image, however I think that this may be due to the manipulation. When looking at the angle of view, this image has been taken at a slightly high angle so that the top of the jar can be seen. I would say that the main focus of this image is the jar in general as this is what the idea is based on. Furthermore, I have tried to take into consideration the depth of field when taking the photo as I have focused on the jar and the jewellery in it to illustrate to the viewer that this is the main focus of the image.
This is an example of manipulating my image using the clipping technique to highlight certain areas of the image which have importance. The idea of this image is that the areas that have been enlarged using the clipping technique represent important memories within someone's life, for example – the shells metaphorically represent someone's memories of the beach and places which contain shells. Also, the enlarged image of the Buddha represents someone’s memories of religions they have seen throughout their lives etc. The contrast in this image would be the black and white effect that has been used and the idea of the image links in with the background as all of the highlighted memories are in a box (which is the background) so that they are safe.
Firstly, the idea behind this image is that the jewellery has been recklessly put into the jar which represents the abandonment of a collection of memories. This links to beneath the surface because the collections and memories to go with the collections are beneath the surface of the jar and the jar is beneath the surface of the box. Furthermore, the angle of view is just about eye level so that the viewer can see the opening of the jar and the objects coming out of it. I have manipulated this image so that it does not have that many colours however I have made the image brighter to enhance the effects. Furthermore, I have tried to focus on the objects inside the jar quite a lot in this image to show the viewer how they have been carelessly arranged, giving the effect that the owner of these items does not care about their welfare. When altering the image in Photoshop I altered the hue/saturation to make the image brighter and give it more of a vintage style effect.
I think that this still life image is very effective because of how close up it is to the lens and how high quality the focusing is. Furthermore, this is a good example of use of depth of field because it illustrates to the viewer what is intended to be focused on as the main object is the thing that is mainly in focus. The angle of view is at a high point, so that it is looking down on the image and this emphasises how small the object is in the real world. When altering the saturation of the original image I made it so that the image would finally look like this because I thought that the colours were too bright and was not appropriate for this image, by making the image dimmer I think that it has improved it and made it more successful. The idea of this image links in with collecting things which represent memories over someone's lifetime, and this object represents wedding anniversaries which will bring back memories for the married couple.
As part of my experimentation in this shoot, I decided that I would manipulate my crack effected image further by applying wax to it and then scratching into the wax get more of a cracked effect on the overall image. I think that the manipulation worked quite well with this image as it enhances the previous manipulation for this image and I think that it gives the image more of a 3D effect as the manipulation makes the image look like it is about to shatter. By enhancing the image with this manipulation, I think that the subject of the image is now the centre where it looks like the image is about to shatter and this is what the viewer will be first attracted to when the look at the image. When cropping the image, I have deliberately left the white boarder in the image, as the splatter of the wax can be seen and I think that this gives the image extra effects for the viewer to study. I have also digitally manipulated the image (before applying wax) to give the impression that the image is old and I think that the vintage effect fits in with the shattering of the glass as it shows that the image is old. The idea of this image is that the collection within the jar is very old and the individual whose collection it is, is getting bored of collecting the same things and so the cracks represent the collection breaking away.
This is my first attempt of sewing onto my images to try and create more of an effect and to give the images more texture. However, with this example, I used the sewing machine to sew onto the image, which I found quite difficult as I could not gain full control of the machine with the material of the image being paper. I did not feel comfortable with the sewing machine and so would not be using it again. The idea of using the sewing technique for this image was to experiment with different techniques and I think that it has made the beads outside the jar stand out more to enhance the idea of the image and illustrate that the collection is getting out of control.
I think that this example is a lot more successful than my first attempt of the technique. I felt more comfortable doing the sewing by hand and I think that the sewing looks a lot neater. Even though by doing it by hand took me a lot longer, I think that the overall outcome is better and will be using the hand sewn technique in the future if I decide to do this again. Once again I think that this technique enhances the image and enhances the idea of the image that the beads illustrate how someone's collection is overflowing and becoming out of hand. I think this image is successful as the extra creativity has enhanced it from its original.
Ideas to Progress:
Throughout this shoot, I think that I have experimented quite a lot within the angles in which I have taken the images and the amount of focus in each of the images (depth of field), even though I was taking photos of mostly the same objects I have tried to vary the images as much as possible and I think that I have been successful with this. Overall, I think that this shoot has been successful and it has allowed my ideas to develop and progress, within this shoot I have also tried to go one step further with experimentation by, being inspired by Anzeri, sewing onto the images to give them texture and extra properties to give the viewer more to think about and to illustrate the amount of work and effort put into each image. I have also explored further into the use of Photoshop and manipulated image to make them more successful. Furthermore, I think that by allowing myself to focus on different objects within the image for each image, it gives each image a separate idea and allows a lot of the images to be different from each other. However, I think that if I were to do this shoot again, I would take the images of the objects one at a time, rather than piling them all in a box so that they don’t all look quite similar and I think would allow me to explain more ideas about each objects and its relevance within the box. I would also try to take different images with different shutter speeds to see what the outcome would be like and this way, I could compare the images to see which is better and what shutter speed is better to use.
From doing this shoot, it has given me the idea of focusing my future shoots more on collections, and how collections link in with memories. I am going to also base my next shoot on the idea of collections and memories within a box, and how each collection holds a different story. I am also going to try and get more varied photos so that my next shoot is even more varied than my last one which will show that I am experimenting with my ideas but also developing them. My initial idea for my next shoot is to set up a jar which contains lights in a wooden box to represent different ideas to viewer and to illustrate the happiness and comfort in which people have when collection different items, the lights would also represent trapped memories, which are either good or bad. I am also going to try the pinhole effect with this shoot as I think that it will fit well with the ideas and objects that will be in the shoot.