Ernst Haas Inspired Photoshoot

Within this shoot I focused on the aspect of movement, to create an abstract effect within my images, to do this I allowed a slow shutter speed of about 1.3 seconds to 13. This allowed me to make an abstract effect to everyday things, like cars and lights at the time of dusk. 

An artist I was inspired by was Ernst Haas. Ernst Haas was a photojournalist and a pioneering color photographer. During his 40-year career, the Austrian-born artist bridged the gap between photojournalism, and the use of photography as a medium for expression and creativity. I found many of the images he had taken in his years (Like the horse image below), as inspiration towards the somehow dramatic affect created by an almost simplistic technique.
Related imageTo really create the effect I desired, I drove round jersey to and from destinations, taking pictures of lights that interested me as a photographer, as I thought they would capture the eye of the viewer. Some of the techniques I would incorporate into the images were motion blur and low shutter speed zooming, I specifically made sure not to use a tripod, as I wanted to create a disrupted effect to most of the pictures taken. 

I decided to make a mind map of the objects and ideas behind them, that I could take in the shoot to help me along. From there I would be able to section off individual images from each segment, and choose the best image from each. This is what it looked like:
From here I went ahead with the photo shoot, and these were my results from this experiment below:
From these images taken, I chose the top ten images that I believed to be the best out of the contact sheet for various reasons, this is my selection:

From this selection of my top ten images, I decided to single them down even more to a top five, to really distinguish the good pictures from the rest. These are my top five:

Once again I decided to single out one image out of these five as my favorite. This is my final image:


I chose this image as I loved the triangular effect created by the outskirts of the blue lights at night when driving by, with a long shutter speed (1.8 seconds). I also thought that the contrast between the blue, really stood out from the rest of the image, making it very visually pleasing to the viewer, as seen by all the underlying shades of blue present within. What I really liked, was the fact that the image was an unbroken pattern, creating symmetry throughout the piece allowing for a greater effect.

High Contrast Images (Threshold)

What is threshold? 

The Threshold tool transforms the current layer or the selection of images, into pictures consisting of only pure black and white. In this, the color of pixel represents something, for example white pixels represent the pixels of the image whose value is in the threshold range, and black pixels represent pixels with value out of the threshold range.

I was inspired by the photographer Keld Helmer-Petersen, whose work was mainly based around this aspect as seen by some of his pictures below. I noticed that his images mainly consisted of every day objects, with a clear definition between light and dark, to which he would convert these using the threshold (As seen below).

Image result for keld helmer petersen

Image result for keld helmer petersen
This style of photography inspired me to create my own small contact sheet, in which I would incorporate this threshold idea into some of my picture taken previously, using the software Photoshop. This would really make certain aspects of the image that I desired to stand out from the rest, by reverting the image to a black and white only state. However with certain images, I decided to invert the colors as I believed it made the image more aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and in some circumstances made the object I wanted to pop out.

This is the outcome of my experiment:

The method in which I created these images on Photoshop are below:

1. Locate the Image tab above, and click the adjustments section, which will reveal the Threshold section.


2. For some pictures I then had the idea to invert my image colors, allowing for a completely different picture to be formed.
 

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Analyzing William Eggleston and Fred Herzog’s Work

William Eggleston

William Eggleston (born 1939) is an American photographer. He is credited for increasing recognition of colour photography as a legitimate artistic medium.

This photo below is one of his most famous pieces of work, it appears that flash was used to take this photo as you can see the reflection of the flash above the light bulb. The light bulb has been positioned to be almost in the centre to make it clear that it is the subject. There is high contrast in this image between the white light bulb/wires and the colourful red background. The photo is quite saturated as colour is one of the main focuses of the photo. A shallow depth of field appears to be used as the bottom right of the image is out of focus whilst the centre is in focus. A quick shutter speed along with a low ISO appears to be used as the image is sharp and doesn’t have a lot of noise.

Colour is a major element of this photograph as it floods it all around except for the subject. There is a mixture of light tones in the wires and dark tones in the photo. There is a 3D effect in the photo as the light club is obviously closer than the corner of the room. It is quite a minimalist photo as there aren’t many different components – the only ones that stick out are the light bulb and the plain red background.

Eggleston was a pioneer in the use of colour in photography and in this image he is expressing his skills and showing how colour can bring an image to life and have an effect on the viewer.

Eggleston is trying to show that when a lot of colour is used, there doesn’t have to be a lot happening in the photo as the colour makes up for it and gives the viewer something appealing to look at.

Image result for William eggleston

Fred Herzog

Fred Herzog (born 1930) is a photographer known primarily for his photographs of life in Canada. He grew up in Germany but was evacuated in the second world war. His work focuses primarily on working class people and their connections to the city around them.

In the below photo, natural lighting appears to have been used as it is in a street. The photo has been set up so it is minimalistic – one third is the plain red door and the other two thirds are curtains with an arm poking out. There is not a massive range of tone in the image and the only real contrast is between the shadows and the curtains. A deep depth of field appears to have been used as the whole image is in focus. A quick shutter speed (possibly 1/60) appears to have been used along with a medium ISO as it is a sharp image with a small amount of noise.

The photo has been planned so that there is minimal colour – the only colourful item is the red door, this provides contrast of colour in the photo. There is a change of tone as it goes from light in the curtain to dark in the shadows. It is a very flat photo with no subjects appearing in the foreground. The eye is lead to the mysterious arm coming from behind the curtain.

The image is from his collection of images taken of the working class in the city of Vancouver. It shows the conditions and type of life that they live on a daily basis.

I think that by doing this Herzog is trying to express the differences in peoples lives. Someone living in the upper class in England may live in completely different conditions to the working class in Vancouver and this is Herzog’s way of making the world aware of everyones different situations.

Image result for fred herzog

 

Colour- Homework 5

Taking inspiration from Tamara Lorenz, I tried to re-create her abstract photography using sheets of coloured paper and arranging them in different ways. I selected colours that complemented each other and cut pieces of paper to create traingles and other shapes to make the photos more interesting.

I especially like this photo and the colours I used to create the pattern. The red sheet of paper with the blue layered on top creates a bold outline and is the point where your eyes are drawn to. Like Tamara, the addition of strong planes of colour provide another source of contrast in addition to those of line, shape, tone and texture. The cold colours paired with the warm colour creates a contrast between the sheets. The paper layered behind is arranged to create distinct geometrical shapes, emphasising the straight lines. I experimented with different angles to place the paper and tried to find the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement. I experimented with flash and natural light and decided that natural was better. This work also shows similarities to Franco Fontana’s work using bold, vivid blocks of colour to link into abstract photography.

To further develop these photos I could arrange them in a different shapes, e.g. a circular shape, to frame the photos even more.

 

Homework Week 5

Mark Lovejoy

Mark Lovejoy is a painter and photographer from Texas. Alough from a glance his work looks like photographs of think mixed paint colours,m when we look closer we notice the detail in the images. Io make each image Mark mixes a variety of pigments with oils, resins and drying agents. he then takes multiple images when the paint is wet and dry so they can be manipulated and played with later. The light reflections and textures are retouched by editing which helps the images looks so detailed and created the illusion that they are standing of the page. When the paint has completely dried they no longer retail the same glossy look, this is why his work is thought of more as photography than painting because all that remains is the photograph.

Tamara Lorenz

Tamara Lorenz is a German artist and photographer who creates various abstract constructions using different materials. a common theme running through her work is large areas of plane colour which contrast with the colours of the. the texture provided by the edges  and shadows of the shapes makes the images look more 3D and ads depth. The photographs creates a type of illusion that becomes more complex the more you look at it.

Best Images

Texture Editing

  Using  Photoshop I changed  the hue ans saturation of selected areas of the image to replicate the bright colours we see in Frank Hallam Day’s work. This Image that I took had similar textures to his series of photos on ship hulls, it also has interesting summitry and pattern which reflects his style.

I chose to edit this photo of the sea wall because the horizontal lines reflected the style of Frank’s ship hull series. I changed the colour of the cement wall so it looked more vibrant, this helped the weathered detail in the picture stand out.

On the same shoot I also took some photos in the style of Aaron Siskind, originally I didn’t like this photo due to the lack of colour and depth, however after changing it to black and white and adjusting the contrast and brightness the photo shows the style of the photographer. I also edited this photo of the textures in a piece of wood on the beach, the light and dark tones in this photograph reflect those in Aaron’s work. I used a long lens and a low aperture to take this photo which helped to blur the background, making the patterns of the wood look sharp and detailed.

experimenting with layout:

This was my image originally,I  chose this image because it has a lines of symmetry throughout the middle and due to the colour being vibrant. I also thought that all the lines of detail would compliment the composition of the piece when experimenting with the layout .

For my first edited I simply repeated these images in lines exactly the same as before,with the the lines throughout it is more obvious and appealing to see and it also portrays the highlights throughout very well.

next I flipped these images to all be different,this creates a more abstract feel and a less fuller sense as to what the leaf really is and also shows the tones in different interesting experimental methods.

I then proceeded to put my images into a squared again continued these are different angles within th images and again have flipped images within the squares.

The next image is interesting because I wanted to shows a somewhat continuation of the lines through the second image which is also at a different angle so creates a center point and allows the image to become more dynamic and interesting.

For This image I was again inspired by my previous experiment of the layout of the piece itself is making it so every center point is facing out of the middle. I still have point  from the two opposite leaves.

within this last image I want to form a mirror limes and. a sense os symmetry to the pieces also added a boarder so aswell as forming the piece it also breaks the form into specific piece of the text.This piece is also divided into darks and lights within the division.

For these next images I wanted to focus more on the actual development of colour, this  was in order to again experiment with form and how I can develop the different angles of the paper too.

These images are both slightly different angles of the colour itself. but I want to further this image to more of circular and line patterns .

Here I wanted to show a repeated pattern of the lines within the image  but still showing the fragments of colour at the same time. I also exaggerated the colour in order to further exaggerate the vibrancy if the piece.

Within the two outside images are facing out in order to show a clear cohesion  within the piece and symmetry  too.But the middle image is the direct line as it is different to all the other images.

Here I also furthered the image  into a squares and again  flipped the image itself around too.

And lastly within this range you can see my lines of symmetry but a continuation of the line too.

Homework week 4

Aaron Siskind

Aaron Siskind was an American photographer who’s work was popular in the 20th century. he became interested in photography in 1930 and joined a group of  documentary photographers however after a time his work moved to a more abstract style. His photographs generally involve some sort of close up texture and his arrangement of objects within the frame was admired by other photographers in the abstract expressionist movement at the time.  In the 1940’s and 50’s his work contributed to the avant-garde movement in America.

Frank Hallam Day

Frank Hallam Day is a photographer based in Washington who takes photos of ship hulls. His photos are have a common theme of vibrant colours interesting contrast in textures and perfect horizons. He started taking photos when he was 15, using a film camera and developing photos in a dark closet. He also has an interest in painting and we can see this style in his photos due to the bold colours and painted effect they give. The juxtaposition of the rough, rusted, paint pealed boats and the smooth water that reflects creates an interesting concept.

 

Adjusting Colour, Hue and Saturation in Photoshop

Colour, hue and saturation can change the appearance of a photograph greatly. The hue of an image is the colour or shade of it. The saturation controls how colourful or non-colourful an image is. These can be controlled in photoshop:

I took my original image and put it into a photoshop document. I then edited it by going to Layer then Hue/Saturation. This brought up a selection of sliders as seen in the top right of the bottom image. These sliders control lightness, hue and saturation. I made the hue a bright, abnormal colour to express how much it affects an image. I also put up the saturation to add extra colour to the image.