I have chosen a select amount of photographs from photoshoot 1, flowers, to experiment on using different processes and methods in Photoshop.
Original Photographs:
Edit 1:
To create this effect I inverted the colours, creating a eye-catching glowing effect.
Best outcome: I have chosen this as the best outcome becuase I like the way inverted colours switch the colours, the purple and white petals turn a vibrant green and the dark green grass turns shades of purple, the glow, this bright colours creates a eye-catching contrast.
Edit 2:
To create this effect, in photoshop I posterized the photographs, popping the colours.
Best outcome: , making I have chosen this photograph as the bets outcome because I like the way ‘Posterize’ creates a cartoon like effect, this also makes the photograph look like a painting, making the colours block together as if they have been painted and this makes the photograph standout and appear brighter.
Original Photographs:
Edit 1:
To create this effect, in Photoshop I used ‘Gradient map’, this creates a spray paint like effect and I chose to group together contrasting colours; purples, oranges and blue to make the images stand out.
Best outcome: The gradient map effect creates a glowing effect, making the flower the focal point of the photograph stand out and the back drop contrast with it.
Edit 2:
I recreated the ‘posterize’ effect in Photoshop to create these images, experimenting with the white backdrop.
Best outcome: this is the most successful image because the bright orange is heightened by the posterize effect and contrasts well with the white backdrop.
Experimenting with similar photographs, ideas and effects is very helpful in finding the best possible outcome for the photographs, for example I used the ‘Posterize’ effect on both sets of flower photographs, white back drop and grass backdrop, experimenting with both allowed me to see that one us more successful then the other, for example the grass backdrop produces better outcomes because it creates contrast and is more colouful, creating a more interesting photograph.
For this shoot I wanted to focus my attention around the textures and patterns found within the abstraction and isolation of photographing a single plant. Having previously looked at the works of Karl Blossfeldt I became inspired through the simplicity of his style but effectiveness regarding the plants hidden beauty from their structure and aestheticism. What I wanted to capture in this shoot was how patterns and textures can be found wherever you go in Jersey whilst looking at the wildlife, and that one such instance, in this case plants, can’t be viewed by the everyday eye but instead needs to be viewed from a closer and unusual perspective in order to properly see how the plants truly looks. I wanted to achieve an aesthetic looks like Blossfeldt’s, using a monochrome filter that exaggerates the shades of the plant, contrasting it from the surrounding environment. Some of his work can be seen below:
Once I had looked at some of his work I decided to go onto make a mind-map for my shoot. By doing this I hope to make my shoot a lot more easy for me to complete, this is because by using a mind-map it would allow me to more effectively identify what I should photograph when in the are, stopping me from taking images that would maybe distance myself from my aims. Here are some examples of my ideas regarding the new shoot:
Once I had completed my mind-map I decided to go ahead with the shoot, my main focus for the area are around the coastal areas of Jersey which have the biggest variety of plants to photograph. Using my mind-map as my primary source of inspiration I decided to take 100-200 images regarding textures and patterns. Here are my results:
Once I had completed the shoot I decided to go onto select ten images I thought best reflected the overall intention of the shoot. By doing this it would allow for me to whittle the results down to only five which could then be used to analysed in more detail and find the photo that best overall represented the entire shoot and my thought process. Here are the selection of ten images that I thought both visually and contextuall reflected the shoot:
After I had chosen the ten images I thought were most effective I then moved onto selecting the pieces that I thought summed up the shoot well. To do this I will be analysing the five that I found to be both visually and contextually appealing to me and the viewers, this would include looking at the visual, technical and conceptual aspects of the piece in order to select the image that best sums up the overall shoot. Here are my decisions:
I chose this image because I loved the textured pattern created by the branches of the tree growing out, for me this resembled a spider web where a general formation can be seen from what the branches have created, however there is a randomness overall as each branch has no sense of direction. I found that the thickness of certain branches brought together the overall piece, this is because of how they provide a sense of aestheticism within due to smaller black lines dart out of the sides of think thicker pieces. For me this is particularly effective from how the backdrop is white and so creates silhouettes of the outreaching branches, really abstracting the tree and highlighting the patterns created from it. Overall I found this image related well to the topic of patterns and textures due to it presenting the top of the trees through a perspective not usually regarded. providing the viewer with an insight into the patterns branches make across the landscape.
What I really liked about this photograph was the use of motion blur to capture the lillies and the reflection of the water. By capturing the brightly coloured lillies against a mainly dark surface of water I found that it created an unusual texture as by incorporating both on a sunny day it removed the impression of water, instead replacing it with a mirror of what overlooks the pond. The motion blur for me also added a sense of movement within the piece due to how it distorts the water surface replacing it with a pattern of blues and blacks blended together making it look almost like a convas. Overall I found that this piece went well with the topic of textures and patterns due to how the blur smoothened the waters surface whilst using the lillies as patches of vibrant circles to highlight what is reality.
For me I selected this image because of how the forms created by the wood come up from the ground as if they were an alien species, these little wooden formations jot up from the group and spread out as they lead further back in land. This pattern they create for me really provided a great contrast due to the variety of different colours which can be seen defining the shapes through things such as grass, moss and water. I found that the black border which surrounded the piece really added to the overall effect due to ow it almost boxes in how the image is represented, making the viewer question what is beyond the patterned field of wooden spires. Overall I found this piece represented the topic well due to the odd spire like structures dotting out of the ground in random patterns, for me this was a good representation of natures patterns and how they can range from normal to unnatural.
The reason I selected this image was because of the use of repitition present throughout the photo. I found this image to be effective due to how it portrays a common pattern often seen in nature through many of the same plants seen side by side often next to walkways, and so capturing it using a composition that boxes this symmetrical and repetative pattern in really abstracts it from its surrounding environment as it gives the viewer a more upfront and personal confrontation to a common pattern seen in your everyday life. Overall I found that the piece is effective in presenting viewers with an everyday view into the patterns and textures you can find almost anywhere you are.
Like one of the images above what I liked about it was the use of motion blur to create a textured pattern between both the water and lillies. I really liked the random pattern created by the lillies onto of the water which reflects the lillies below the surface, by doing this the water creates the imapression of two layers of lillies on top of each other. I didn’t however find this photo to be overall that effective due to how the lillies for me take up too much of the surface leaving little for the waters surface to be portrayed properly. Overall however I found it did relate to the topic of textures and patterns due to how the double layer of lillies represented the repetition found in nature.
After my shoot and analysing five of the images it allowed me to come to a conclusion regarding the best outcome from the entire shoot. Here is my final decision for the photograph that best sums up my aims from the shoot:
Final Image:
When looking over this image I found that it put across a great sense of aestheticism with the blacks of the waters surface and the blues complimenting the vibrant lillies which are dotted around the photograph. I really liked the underlying lillies below the surface as I thought they added some depth to the overall image with the reflection of the trees overcasting the lillies added to the contrast of the image. In regard to the topic title of textures and patterns I found that the photo related well to the title due to how the pattern of the lillies dotted around the surface with the surface of the water becoming blurred from motion which as a result added texture to the surrounding area.
For each of the edits that I have done in this set I filtered between 3 images, the beach shot on a shadow colour balance setting, the woods shot on a midtones colour balance setting and the car park shot on a highlights colour balance setting.
I then adjusted the opacity of the two images in front of the beach photo accordingly so that all the people in the shots were equal in visibility. After that I then adjusted the brightness and the contrast to increase the highlights and shadows within the images.
Then as a final touch I went to the vibrance tool and decreased vibrance fully and increased the saturation by 50% to create an almost burnt out look on some of the edges.
First my first few photo-shoots I have a few ideas.
Drone Top Down
Steel Wool
Circles in town
Circles inside
Drone Top Down
For this shoot, I plan to shoot one if not more locations in Jersey where there are prominent circular features. These places include Noirmont Point MP1, Noirmont Point Lighthouse and a roundabout, likely at the Waterfront St Helier.
A similar stlye to what I would like to try – Image by BAM Perspectives
Steel Wool
For this shoot, I would like to produce something similar to what is below. It involves sparking a strip of steel wool and swinging it around in a circle.
Unknown
Circles in Town
Walking around urban areas, photographing things that are circular. I am not sure what to expect but I would imagine I will find a lot of examples.
Jono Vernon-Powell
Roundabout
Again with the drone, I would like to fly over a roundabout (perhaps at the Waterfront St Helier) and shoot top-down onto the roundabout.
Unknown
Circular Tiny Planet
For this I will take images and then use a circular photograph program to create this images.
He was born in London, started taking photographs as a teenager, and has been involved with photography ever since. In 1979 he set up Science Photo Library, a picture agency specializing in science and medicine. In 2003 he started a new career as a landscape photographer, with a focus on exploring natural change in the world around us. Sea Change, a series taken over 10 years, compares identical views at high and low tide around the coast of Britain. Sea Change won the LensCulture portfolio grand prize in 2011 and has been exhibited in Britain, Italy, Denmark, and the United States.
From 2003 to 2012 Michael Marten traveled to different parts of the British coast to photograph identical views at high and low tide, six or eighteen hours apart. His beautiful and surprising photographs reveal how the twice daily rhythm of ebb and flood can dramatically transform the landscape. This links to my previous studies of the depiction of light and how this can transform a familiar landscape. I have also focused on the sea within this and therefore looking at the sea in another way and the way in which it changes a landscape really appeals to me and connects perfectly for my project.
“I am interested in showing how landscape changes over time through natural processes and cycles. The camera that observes low and high tide side by side enables us to observe simultaneously two moments in time, two states of nature”.
Recent landscape photography often focuses on human shaping of the environment – urbanization, globalization, pollution. Even when critical and committed, this approach can emphasize and glamorize humankind’s power over nature. “I’m interested in rediscovering nature’s own powers: the elemental forces and processes that underlie and shape the planet. The tides are one of these great natural cycles. I hope these photographs will stimulate people’s awareness of natural change, of landscape as dynamic process rather than static image. Attending to earth’s rhythms can help us to reconnect with the fundamentals of our planet, which we ignore at our peril.” — Michael Marten
“… a sense of threat as well as one of miracle attends Marten’s images. The people who fill his beaches at low tide seem often still to be there at high tide, invisibly in their fixed positions, fatally swallowed by metres of sea.” – Robert Macfarlane
With one of the fastest moving tides in Jersey I think taking inspiration from Marten’s sea change project will be a very interesting subject matter. It will be especially appealing for local residents to see the dramatic change that they often overlook everyday when driving past. The difference between low and high tide creates a completely different mood similar to lighting which i have previously looked at. With this focus on how a place feels, the mood and atmosphere, as appose to the detail of a certain subject matter I am going down a different route to the stereotypical type of photography.
I have chosen to photograph flowers as a way to represent ‘variation and similarity’ because there is the opportunity to photograph a wide range of the same type of something but at the same time have them be very different, therefore being a variation of similar objects, flowers. I photographed the same group of flowers on a white backdrop and in a grass backdrop, this also creates variation and also allows me to experiment with what creates a more successful photograph.
Most successful photographs:
I have chosen this photograph as one of my most successful because I like the movement within the petals and the fact they are curled up and all in different directions, created by the fact the flower is dying. I also like the contract of the bright yellow flower and the dark green grass and the fact the flower is almost being tangled within the grass, this photograph was taken in outdoors in natural lighting, this allows the colours to be more vibrant and also shows off smaller details caught in the light like the water droplets on the grass and the pollen and creases on the petals and blades of grass. Over all I think this is one of the more interesting photographs due to the movement and busyness of the image.
This photograph was taken outdoors in natural lighting, high lighting the colours of the flower, I have chosen this photograph as one of the more successful photographs because I like the way the colours progress through out the petal, how the colour develops from light to dark, white to purple, this is made more apparent by the movement within the petals, giving the impression that the flower is moving with the wind, when really it is wrinkling up, I picked the flowers the previous day and arranged them back into the ground and photographed them over the next couple of days, I did this to create a more interesting effect. The natural lighting high lights interesting features of the flower and surrounding, for example the steam and its details, the detail in the near by blades of grass and leaves, this creates a more successful image because it gives you more to look at.
The focus of German photographer Micheal wolfs work is life in mega cities. He explores and documents the archaeology and culture in cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Chicago, and Paris and address issues such as population concentration, mass consumption, privacy, and voyeurism.
In Michal Wolf’s ‘Architecture of Density’ he has used natural light from the city of Hong Kong to catch the repetitive and colourful high-riser apartment block. A shutter speed of 1/60 would have been use as it is the usually one for people and slow moving object an ISO of about 100. this has lead to a visually appealing image. Natural lighting has been able to capture the natural tonal ranges of the building which I think depicts the city of Hong Kong well. A deep depth of field would have been used this is because all parts of the photograph are in focus.
So far I am following my project specification very closely are taking inspiration from the artists, photographers and movements which I have researched. I have stuck to my aesthetic plan of a chaotic look, and this is something which I believe is particularly working very well. Although I am taking inspiration from my research as I said, I don’t feel like this is to the point where the pieces I am producing so far aren’t original, since I personally feel like the aesthetic of the work is something which I have come up with myself. Aside of the 15 responses to the work of Dexter Navy which I made…
…I have also begun to use my initial two shoots to begin creating some photo-montages, here is what else I have made so far…
I am so far satisfied with how my techniques of photo-montage are working, using cutting out and double exposures to combine images with subtle links. From these further 4 montages above my favorite is the fourth, this is because of the carefully considered colour palette and the open spaced elements of the piece. Whereas with the other three although I think they are successful maybe they are overly chaotic and don’t actually look controlled. Therefore I plan to make a post on my editing process of the fourth photo-montage so that I am able to follow the process and hopefully continue to produce successful pieces.
Before going ahead with the next shoot I decided that I would plan what I would want to focus on within the shoot. To do this I had previously looked at the photographer Karl Blossfeldt, a photographer who took a more abstract approach to photography looking at contrast within the structures of plants as his main method of depicting the presentation of them in a more abstract way, doing so through pattern and texture. By using him as my main source of inspiration towards the shoot I would like to produce a response which can also link into my topic of textures and patterns. An idea for the shoot is to photograph colorful or monochrome image in an abstract way regarding areas of Jersey which present me with a huge variation of plants that can reflect that area of the island. To do this I have produced a map which highlights the areas of Jersey which would allow me to take imagery in the style of my chosen photographer through what is present there. Here are some of the locations that I could potentially go to when in the process of the shoot:
When looking over the map I decided that the reservoir located on the East of the island would provide me with the wider range of plants due to there being a broader variety of types that can be located along the shore and further into the trees. When taking the images I would have to become more up close to the subject due to wanting to capture the symmetry present in their every day designs. The North of the island however provides me with more sea based plants such as sea-weed and other plants, something completely different to the plants that could be found elsewhere. Here are the locations within the mood-board that I wish to capture in my shoot:
The aspect that I wanted to explore the most is based around the structure of the plants themselves, looking at their hidden beauty not seen to the everyday eye due to their aestheticism being hidden to those who walk past. I want here to combine both aestheticism and texture and patterns together through these natural formations as I think they provide a great contrast to my previous shoot which looked at the large forms of textures and patterns in everyday lives surrounding the coast.
Another idea could be the use of a high aperture, by doing this like in my previous shoots it would allow me to further remove the subject photographed from the actual backdrop possibly making a more unusual and weird result. From here I really wanted to draw people away from the way plants are usually seen, using a sense of aestheticism and how their shadows cast on the land could provide other forms of abstraction that I could compare to using pattern and texture.
Finally for my last idea I could use editing software such as Adobe Photoshop to edit the saturation of the plants into a different colour, by doing this it would allow me to produce more abstract images due to the contrasting colours being seemingly otherworldly and impossible to find. This could also work with their shadows which I could edit in the software to increase the contrast and produce a set of images where the shadows are emphasized.
In 1881 Blossfeldt began his studies as an apprentice at the Art Ironworks and Foundry in Mägdesprung, Germany, where he studied sculpture and iron casting. He then moved to Berlin to study at the School of the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum). In 1890 Blossfeldt received a scholarship to study in Rome under Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist and professor of ornament and design. Along with several other assistants, Blossfeldt created and photographed casts of botanical specimens in and around Rome. He continued to work with Meurer through 1896 and traveled beyond Italy to North Africa and Greece to collect specimens. Beginning in 1898 Blossfeldt taught design at the School of the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule), and in 1930 he became professor emeritus. There he established a plant photography archive that he used to teach his students about design and patterns found in nature.
Blossfeldt had no formal training as a photographer and used homemade cameras that he outfitted with lenses capable of magnifying his subjects up to 30 times their natural size. The use of magnification resulted in images of extreme detail and clarity. With the precision of a botanist, Blossfeldt photographed the natural world for scientific and pedagogical purposes and inadvertently became a modern artist. His work was considered the forerunner to Neue Sachlichkeit photography, which favoured sharply focused documentarian images. In 1926, when Blossfeldt was already in his 60s, his work was exhibited to the public for the first time at Berlin’s avant-garde Galerie Nierendorf.The works exhibited there were published in the book Urformen der Kunst (1928; Art Forms in Nature [2003]). The first of his three photo books (the other two were Wundergarten der Natur, 1932; and Wunder in der Natur, 1942, the last published posthumously), it was enormously successful and remains one of the most-significant photo books of the 20th century.
I was particularly inspired by how the textures and patterns created by these natural forms really highlighted minute details that could not usually be seen by the everyday eye. Some examples of his work can be seen below:
After looking at Blossfeldt’s work I decided to go onto analyse one of his images, here I would be looking at technical, visual and conceptual aspects of the photo. By doing this it would allow me to have a better understanding of how he goes about composing his imagery, and the composition he uses to do so. The image I have chosen to analyse is called Hordeum distichum and is part of his fine art series looking at textures and patterns within the structures of plants:
Visual: Visually the piece is extremely aesthetic, using contrast and a symmetrical appearance to highlight the various shadows and depth of the plant. By capturing the plant up close on a macro scale it essentially brings together the whole photo as it fills in a space that otherwise would be blank with symmetrical lines, using a high contrast to highlight the identity of the plant which seemingly unfolds from itself using predominantly darker shades to fill up any space which would contain negative space. The image itself has been taken on a closer level so that the viewer can become more personal with the plant, as seeing it up close presents the viewer with a perspective that might not have been traditionally provided for them. Because of this the photograph seems to make the plant into something completely different to its original appearance, as by singling one bud head out it casts a light onto it that maybe is not accessible when viewing them en mass.
Technical: The photo itself has been taken in black and white, using a black sheet of paper as a backdrop which highlights the structure of the plant, adding a sinister and symmetrical feel to the entire piece. Blossfeldt has made sure to capture only the head of the bud so that it may be presented in a overall symmetrical manner which leaves the end result more aesthetic for the viewers, as using an increased contrast making the different shades pop due to it greatly exaggerating the change in shade so that things like black are emphasized. When taking the image the shutter speed would have been relatively normal due to Blossfeldt not needing to capture any moving object due to the photo being taken in studio conditions, which as a result gives off a beautiful result which perfectly presents the head of the plant in a way not previously done before. Texture and pattern making up the majority of the piece as the photograph breaks up the plant so that it becomes more abstract, creating shapes that could not be previously seen due to a greater scope needed to see it.
Conceptual: Conceptually Blossfeldt can be seen taking this image in reference to fine arts, using a simple but effective camera angle and subject to produce a piece that is extremely aesthetic to the eye, emphasizing the shades so that they perfectly contrast each other and define the overall result of the photograph. The piece plays part in a series of photographs of bud which at the time were taken so that his students could use them to produce biology based work that could be used in class, however his passion for this kind of photograph led him to create more of the typographic styled method.
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