Shoot Two
My second shoot was based on collections of pottery mixed with jewellery, which has been used in previous shoots. I took these images with the background of a wooden box to illustrate how the collections are contained and to illustrate the individuals collections within a certain place. I took this shoot using a Nixon D3100 camera, in which I used different angles and manual focus, with different zooms and shutter speeds. I have used a variation lighting techniques so that shadows can be seen in some of the images. I think that there is a variation of lighting in the images allowing some to be underexposed and some to be overexposed – however this can be modified when manipulating the images. I think that I have been successful when shooting these images because I have a variety of angles and a variety of images which have different focus points and so I have achieved what I wanted from this shoot. However if I was to reshoot these images I would change the background so that this shoot is different from the rest of my shoots.
When taking this image, I used I smaller aperture to allow more light into the image, this then effected the depth of field which I have decided to focus on the teacups in this image to enhance the idea to the viewer that this is the subject of the image. Also, this image has a low saturation as the colours are quite cold making the image quite bright. I think that this image could be improved by improving the lighting in this image as I think that by using natural lighting, the image has became overexposed. This has effected the quality of the image and the detail is not as good as it could have been if professional/studio lighting was used. The idea of this image is the collection of tea cups and the way that the top cup has been positioned illustrates to the viewer that this individuals collection is not that practical and can become untidy if people collect too many of them.
I like this image because I think that the angle in which I have taken it at is quite interesting and it shows the objects in a different way and expresses their different shapes. The way in which the objects have been placed – the composition – makes it seem to the viewer that they have been placed without care, which links into the idea behind this image. The idea is that this collection has been abandoned because the individual does not want to think about the memories which come along side the collection and so the memories (represented by the pearls) have also been abandoned and I think that this image portrays that idea well. The location also links in with the idea as the background illustrates they have been hidden away in a box so that the owner does not have to look after them. I do not think that there is much vibrancy within this image, so to improve the image I would manipulate the lighting and the colours of the image to bring out more detail in the objects.
Improved Image:
The idea of this image was to illustrate a persons memories from a collection by using the jewellery to represent memories pouring out of someone's mind from looking at a collection and collecting things. I think this is a good idea for this image as the main focus of the image is the selection of the pearls pouring out of the jar which represents the idea. This also takes into consideration the depth of field enhancing the techniques used on the camera showing that a small aperture has been used to focus in on the selected subject. The contrast in this image is the parts of the image which are in focus and the parts which are not in focus, this also reflect on the depth of field. To improve this image I would use studio lighting so that the image is not too light and this would allow the objects to show off more detail in an improved image.
I think that this is a good image because there is a good contrast between the objects and the shadows from the light, this creates a good composition for the image. The main focus of the image is the pearls and this reflects onto the shadow giving the idea that the memoires are reflected from collections. It can be seen that the rule of thirds has been used in this image as the subject of the image is the most in focus whereas the background is not as focused. I also think that this image has quite good lighting as studio lighting has been used to see whether or not the image would have looked improved, I think that it has been improved by using studio lighting because the shadows of the pearls bright more to the image and add to the idea.
In this image, I have overlayed two of the images to give the impression that this collection is very big and that there is barely any room for the objects in the place in which they are stored. The contrast between the two layers in the overlay give the image more of a subject and it illustrates that there are two parts to the image. By inverting some of the image, it brings out some of the detail which cannot be seen in the normal image due to lack of lighting. Also, the overall composition of the image is quite good because I think that it gives the impression that the tea cups have been piled up as if they are about to be washed, and have been put there carelessly.
This is the most successful manipulation image that I have produced within this shoot as I think that it is unique and is varied from the rest. When creating this image, I took 3 separate images and only kept the background of one of them, I then took the backgrounds from the other 2 images, I was then left with 3 layer which I then used the layer with the background as the bottom image, putting the others on top creating. The idea of this image is to make the collection to look dysfunctional which is the reality of most collections and memories, as people usually collect lots of things and end up abandoning and forgetting about them. The composition of this image is also successful as it links in well with the idea and because all of the layers are focused, I think that this makes the image higher in quality.
Ideas to Progress:
I think this shoot has been successful as I have expressed and developed my ideas, I have also developed my experimentation with Photoshop which I have challenged myself to do. Most of the images that I have manipulated have just been enhanced in brightness and exposure to develop the detail in each image, however I have also developed skills in overlaying images and flipping them to make all the objects look like they were all in the image when the image was taken. Also, in this shoot, I think that I have done well on trying different angles with the camera, this was a problem with some of the previous shoots and I have managed to improve this by shooting the images from different angles to make each image look unique. Towards the end of the shoot, I also experimented with artificial lighting available to me at the time which was interesting. When using the different lighting I found that the quality of the images were better and so this would be a possibility for future shoots, I also found that the lighting left shadows on some of the images, which was unexpected but made the images look interesting and unique to the rest of the images in the shoot. Furthermore, I tried including the lights from my previous shoot in some of the images along with the objects in this shoot, however I think that these images were not as good as the rest and I would not take these images any further.
To improve in my next shoot, I will try to improve the lighting of the images so that more detail of the objects can be seen throughout. Also, in my next shoot, I am going to vary the background and location of my images as I think that having quite a lot of shoot with the same background portrays the same idea and I am trying to progress with my ideas, so by changing the location it will allow my ideas to progress.
The initial ideas for my next shoot is to use objects which have a texture to their surface and which will be quite different to my previous shoots, I am going to do this in studio conditions to see how the shoot goes then maybe progress to another location if the shoot is successful.