For this shoot I will be looking at the idea of recently abandoned areas where evidence of humans are most evident. I intend to go to abandoned areas to capture the aftermath and the lighting created by untouched places. This hopefully would allow me to capture deterioration of the building which would emphasize aspects associated to the topic. Composition wise I would like to especially focus on the food and drink present within the rows of seats around me as this it what I want to be the main point of the shoot. Inspired by Roman Robroek, an urban photographer who specializes in recent abandonment of buildings, and the presence of humans and memories left behind, I intend to take ideas from him to put into my own workings.

Here are some examples of his work:After researching some of his pictures I wanted to make a mind-map consisting of various ideas I had for the shoot, such as lighting, angles and objects. This would make the shoot more efficient as I would know what to do when there and not waste time trying to figure something out. These are some of my ideas:

After finishing my mind-map on ideas that I could use to compose images when taking them I decided it was time to move onto the actual shoot itself. When doing the shoot I would take into account these ideas and use them as inspiration for the results wanted, whilst stopping me wasting anytime trying to think of ways to take each picture. Here are my results:

After completing this I decided to whittle down the shoot to a top ten images from the shoot. By doing this it would make it easier to figure out which is the best picture from the entire shoot, and why I chose that image. These were my top ten pictures:

Once I had selected the top ten images of the shoot, I decided to narrow them down again to only five. By doing this it would allow me to analyze each image and what I liked about them individually, whilst making it all the easier to find the best photo of the shoot. Here are the images I have chosen to analyze:

I chose this image as one of my top five because of the clear contrast between the darkness of the curtains and the light present through the window. Due to this lighting on the curtain it creates a feeling of neglect and emptiness from how the curtain seems almost forgotten, this also contributes to the aestheticism of the picture as the dark and the light half balance each other stopping it being too overpowering. This relates to the topic of conventions from how the curtain has obviously been left for a while and is now forgotten and unused, this is also evident through the dusty window opposite which looks neglected. One of the reasons I chose this image as one of my finals was because of the silhouette creates from the outline of the flower, this instantly become the focal point of the entire image from how it is the most heavily contrasted object against the light. I found that the yellow lighting from the window matched my theme in shoots where abandoned areas are illuminated by eerie lights, casting an uncomfortable feel to them. The picture was taken at a low exposure to emphasise certain features like the flower and floor boards, this really help to home in on the details like dirt and other features found in places like this. What I liked about this image was the symmetry of the overall piece. This was down to how the green walls contrasted the ripping and tearing of the paint, and alongside with the window casting a bright light in the middle really emphasized this. I found that the clarity in the image really defined the detail of the ripped paint, along with a relatively low exposure really balanced the photo as not to be too overpowered by the window. I used this image as it really related to the idea of conventions and the hidden story of what happened in the room, due to it not being common to see this in homes.  The reason I chose this as one of my top fives was because it is a typical scene associated with abandoned areas, rubbish on the floor, dirty walls, and a generally creepy light cast onto the objects highlighting this sense of rejection. The contrast in the image creates a great focus point within the center of the piece from how it makes a dark border, boxing what I intend for the viewer to mainly look at in the middle. The cracks and overall dark tones of the picture really emphasize a lack of human activity, as can be seen through dark shadows cast on nearly everything. This relates to conventions from how the bathroom is not being used for its original design and rather has been left to rot.What I loved about this image was overall the clarity, this really defined the individual pattern of the curtain, removing your attention from the rest of the picture which is surrounded by darkness. This contrast created by the black border on either side really shrouds the image in mystery from how it makes you wonder where it was taken, what the room is used for etc. The slight highlights of red and orange either side of the light source adds more depth to the picture as it removes certain aspects of the overall really dull colour scheme.

FINAL IMAGE:

The reason I chose this image as the final piece was due to the depth of field and composition of it overall. I found that the depth of field allowed for the silhouette of the actual flower to pop out more due to any sharp details being removed as a distraction, it also created more emphasis on the dirt in the doorway and how it looks neglected with background graffiti backing this. The dark border that envelops the piece in my opinion ties the image together from how it draws specific attention once again to the flower, doorway and backdrop, and allows a smooth transition for the light to emerge from. It relation to the topic of secrets, codes and conventions I found that the flower adds mystery the image, creating thoughts of why is it there etc. This it also helped through the dirty walls illuminated by the windows creating an unnaturally quiet feeling as a room is not conventionally seen in this state and so removes all elements of comfort that usually would be present at home.