Here I have created a contact sheet. A contact sheet is a piece of photographic paper where the photos you have taken are displayed and dated. These photos allow you to see each photo clearly, this allows you to select the best ones easily. I also have taken the same photo but put a different white balance setting on them each time.
This is the Kelvin scale. The Kelvin scale is a scale that measures temperature. This is used a lot in white balance. When light is exposed to harsh white light it is seen as blue where as if it exposed to indoor light that is as harsh it is seen as orange going onto red. The Kelvin scale puts these things in a range that can be measured.
For my final environmental portraiture photoshoot, I decided to capture my Papa in his true natural surroundings; his island-renowned tractor collection consisting of over 50 tractors!
He treasures this lifelong collection so dearly. He refurbishes each of tractors gradually to make them look their best and stores them in security-guarded sheds. He has already had a successful year; Bing advertised in the JEP’s section – ‘Jersey’s Biggest Collectors’ a few months ago. He’s also had a double page spread about his compilation of farm machinery in an English magazine. I knew he’d be up for posing again! I thought this shoot captured the essence of environmental photography.
My second photoshoot involved further use of environmental portraiture. This time, I thought the scenes at Spice Music and Arts annual festival would be perfect; self-employed business with their stalls scatters around everywhere! From jewelry to textiles, from art to food and from music to interactive activities. Because this was public; street photography, I had to ask for permission from stall-holders, however, my mum was also holding a stall there. The end was product is very pleasing and I feel I have captured the criteria of this task in a nutshell.
I produced my first contact sheet from a set a homework – produce three photoshoots of environmental portraiture; here’s my first! I took it of my step-dad with his bicycle as he’s really big into bikes, races, the history! I thought it’d be a perfect opportunity for my first shoot.
White Balance is the process of taking away unrealistic and unwanted color casts. This is so that objects that appear white in person, are shown white in your photo. Using White balance on your camera , means the camera has to take in account the color temperature of a light source, which is the relative warmth or coolness if the light.
The table below is a guide to the color temperature of some common light sources.
Color Temperature
Light Source
1000-2000 K
Candlelight
2500-3500 K
Tungsten Bulb (household variety)
3000-4000 K
Sunrise/Sunset (clear sky)
4000-5000 K
Fluorescent Lamps
5000-5500 K
Electronic Flash
5000-6500 K
Daylight with Clear Sky (sun overhead)
6500-8000 K
Moderately Overcast Sky
9000-10000 K
Shade or Heavily Overcast Sky
These images below are the display images that would appear on your camera when changing your white balance.
Auto White Balance
Custom
Kelvin
Tungsten
Fluorescent
Daylight
Flash
Cloudy
Shade
Here is an image of the Kelvin Scale to show the differences in the color of light between the different temperatures.
What is a contact sheet? – a piece of photographic paper onto which several or all of the negatives on a roll of film have been contact printed.
Photographers use a contact sheet to display all the photos that they have taken in one shoot. They also use it to easily chose and highlight the best images from that selection.
