When choosing my final images I decided to choose two taken from abroad and two from taken in Jersey. When taking photos in Jersey I decided to focus on old people as they seemed the most interesting. The top were things that drew my attention when I was away.

For this studio shoot instead of using the soft box as the key light source to create Chiaroscuro we used a more strong directed light. The light was set to head level and the model was placed in front of a black back drop.

I found this light source harder to use as it was a lot more directed to just one point of the face and getting the camera setting correct so that the images werent to light or too dark made it hard. However i think that was good Chiaroscuro images were photographed and i managed to capture images that were almost compleatly in the dark and then have just half of the face lit up

This image is one of my favourites from this shoot as the theme and body position of the subject complements the style of image. The subject help his hands in front of the face to create more depth to the image. The lighting has also work well in this image illuminating only a small section of the key features on the subjects face. The rest of the image is in darkness so the image has got the full Chiaroscuro effect. The directed light was on a low setting to create this effect and as a result the image has a strong orange/red tint to it which has been naturally created making the photograph have a warm tone to it. I think that this warm tone act as a strong contrast to the rest of the image which is black. it helps the facial features to really stand out and be the pure focal point of the image

Turning the image to black and white whilst enhancing the lighting tools on photoshop gave a different tone to this image. The image is now very cold. The message of the image being negative is also conveyed by the facial expressionand the colour tones of mainly grey and black in this image. Changing the image to black and white has effected the levels of the image as part of the right side of the face which was originally quite flat is now over exposed and white. this creates a higher contrast of light and dark in the image making it more dramatic 

Chiaroscuro

Definition:  the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting.an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something.

Chiaroscuro was originally an oil painting technique, developed during the Renaissance, that uses strong tonal contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms, often to dramatic effect. Now days Chiaroscuro is still being used by artists to draw but is a popular technique in film making and by photographers aiming for a more dramatic image.  Chiaroscuro  is used in cinematography to indicate extreme low-key and high-contrast lighting to create distinct areas of light and darkness in films, especially in black and white films. In more highly developed photographic processes, this technique also may be termed “ambient/natural lighting”, although when done so for the effect, the look is artificial and not generally documentary in nature.

The Girl with the Pearl earing – taken by Johannes Vermeer’s is an iconic version of Chiaroscuro in painting

This image shows how Chiaroscuro works. A bright/harsh light source is directed onto a face/object at an angle so that half of the face is lit up this usually leads to the other half of the face being shadow and in most cases unseen. To get the full effect of Chiaroscuro a black background is used and the photo is taken in darkness with just the key light.

This image was taken with a harsh light:

This image was taken with a lower intensity of light and then the use of the gold face shows the use of a reflection colour of light. The gold reflector rapped around the model creates a soft, warm light tone on his face.

When deciding my favorite photos I decided to split my contact sheets into photos taken in Jersey and photos taken abroad. The first are mainly all in color because of there bright colors I didn’t want to make them black and white. However, as there were no bright colors in the photos I took in Jersey I didn’t want them in color.

When taking photos in Jersey I wanted to mainly focus on old people as I found them more interesting than other people I walked past. I felt like through their posture and the way they are dressed they were telling a story. They lived through a lot and that’s why I found them more interesting.  This is also why I decided to make the photos black and white as these are old people. Photos would have been black and white when they were children so i wanted to reflect that. I also wanted the black and white to focus on every little crease and wrinkle on their face.

The photos above were used in my summer project (apart from the last one). These were taken in NYC, taking photos there was a lot easier as there were interesting people everywhere. These were just a few of them. The colors were vibrant and loud but also industrial and grimy. This is what caught my eye when taking photos. I enjoyed capturing the humor, business but also the loneliness. When editing I increased the saturation and darkened the outlines of the main focus. In many of them I also cropped them to focus on the main subject.

When editing these photos, I wanted to have a set theme throughout. As I am still taking inspiration from the photographers Christope Debon, Bruce Gilden and Trente Parke. I’ve changed the Saturation of all the image to black and white.