For this photo shoot i decided to explore shooting videos to portray nature as i wanted to show the movement which isn’t shown in a still image. I particularly wanted to show the flow of water in a stream or lake and thought that a reservoir would be a good place to shoot as it has different aspects of nature surrounding the water i.e. plants, trees, and animals that i could capture in video. I was also interested in recording the sounds in the landscape. As I walked around the area I took videos and pictures of aspects of the landscape that I found interesting and beautiful. I also took inspiration from abstract art in this shoot, trying to focus on lines and shapes in the landscape.

Videos

One aspect I like about creating videos of what I was originally photographing is that the different shots change after each other, comparing each angle to the one before. I also like how in each video there are different sounds of the surrounding wildlife because I am in different areas. I wanted to emphasise the fragility, beauty and existence of the plants and water and think I did that effectively. I like how in some of the shots you can tell that I am holding the camera up because of the movement giving the video a more personal effect, emphasising how I have just noticed these aspects of nature on a walk.

Images

I took photos as well as videos on this shoot so I could compare to see which was most effective. I also wanted to experiment with these images by manipulating the colours and tones within them to see if they make a more interesting image. I first started experimenting with shutter speed as I wanted to see how the images would look when I photographed moving water and the reflection of a tree. I thought that this would create an interesting series of images of the same subject of nature.

I like these images displayed together as it shows the different effects created by the faster and slower shutter speeds. The first image I chose to display was the third shutter speed I experimented with. I like this image as it still shows the details of the branches and the shapes of the leaves, but has a blurred effect from the movement of water. I don’t think that it’s bios that this image is a reflection in water and makes the reader questions what the image is of. The second image I chose to display shows less of the details in the branches and has a more exposed appearance, making the image brighter. The shares of the branches are still noticeable against the white water, but it still contrasts to the first image which is darker. If i wanted to edit these images further i could manipulate the tone and underlying colours in these images so that they could contrast even more i.e. i could edit one to be a cool tone and emphasise the warm tones in another. The third image I displayed is the slowest shutter speed I used and is the mot exposed. I also like this image as it creates a emphasised blurred effect that contrasts to the other two images, making it even harder for the audience to see what the image is of. I think that this series of images really reflects the fragility of nature through the soft blurred lines of the slow shutter speed that making the plants seem more transparent and other worldly.

In future shoot where i want to experiment with shutter speed i could use a tripod to see the effect o the water of the camera being even more still. I could also experiment with different aspects of the landscape that aren’t moving, and physically move my camera to created blurred effect.

I like these two images of elections of plants o the water as they contrast with my images from my experiment with shutter speed as they are much more detailed as they were taken with a faster shutter speed. This allow for the different directions of the ones and shapes of the branches to be noticeable. In the first image I wanted to include the tree with flowers as I thought this reflected ideologies of beauty and thought that the shape it created in the reflection was interesting. One aspect I don’t like about this image is the composition as I think that they is too many details that are over powering. I think that the combination of the flowers on the tree and the reflection is effective, but I think that the reflection in the top left of the image makes it too chaotic. If i wanted to use this image as a final outcome, I could edit out the reflection in theta left to make a more atheistically pleasing image.

The second image is he more abstract image and is harder to identify as a reflection than the first image.This is my favourite image out of the two as its composition isn’t too overpowering with the negative space at the top of the image which is then continue in the pattern of the reflection. I also like how the plant is distorted through the ripples in the water as creates stretched blurred shapes which makes a more interesting image.

I also focused flowers and plant in this shoot by themselves and in water. I chose the first image above of the whit flowers as I liked how the background was out of focus with the flower in the foreground being in focus. This makes the colours the background blend together, making the areas where the sky is more brighter. One reason I took this image is the spider web which is hanging from one flower to another on the branch. I also like the round shapes on the flowers that emphasise stereotypically feminine shapes.

I displayed the second image looking through plants to show moving water. This was one of the angles I used in my video. I wanted to display it as an image as well as i thought i could compare the two. I think that the video is more effective as it showing the fast moving water in the background which isn’t shown in the still image. Also the movement of the plants in the wind shows them more naturally. I liked the composition of this angle as the surrounding plants and leaves frame the image and make it seem as though you’re looking down through the plants. I think that the plants in the foreground being blurred is effective, with the water being in focus, as it turns the audiences attention to the bright water. I also like how the plants go across the frame in different direction as it creates a more detailed, intricate composition and how the pattern made by the ripples of the water contrasts to the pattern made by the plants.

I included the third image as it reminded me of an image I took in my first photoshoot with the same type of plants in water. This image is completely different to the first as it shows the reflection of the trees above the water. I like how the shapes and branches of the trees are still noticeable even in the reflection and make the composition of the image much more interesting than the first. I also like how there are a few brown plants in the right side of my image, adding to a range of different colours in the image.

This is another image where i experimented with shutter speed. I found that this image reminds me of the photographer Andrew S. Gray’s work who explores abstract landscape photography by moving his camera when taking pictures. He says that ‘The looseness and ability to play without being tied by the light or weather affecting the scene you’d normally be shooting is the style’s appeal to me, also the chance of creating a scene that was not necessarily there’. I think that this concept is seen in my image as the detail of the branches in the right side of the image are still noticeable, but are blurred enough with the trees in the top on the image to create an image of ‘something thats not necessarily there’. I also like the composition in this image as it’s split into three sections of different colours, reflecting ideologies of abstract art. I want to experiment with this camera technique more i future photoshoots as I think it’s effective. I will look more into the work of Andrew S. Gray.

Examples of his work:

Evaluation

Overall I think this shoot went well in exploring the movement of nature and the sounds in the surrounding area. I think that shooting videos was good way to show plants ad water naturally. For this project I still feel as though I don’t have a developed concept so I will continue to research different artists and art movements to inspire me and give me ideas. I also want to explore more with shutter speed and the movement in nature linking to fragility in nature and draw more inspirations from abstract art.