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new topographics Photo shoot

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Photoshoot Plan 

Concept:  After researching the New Topographic, urban landscapes and the photographer Lewis Baltz  I am going to take inspiration from the style of their work and apply it to my own photos.

Location: I am going to take photos at the industriel estate at La Collette, we will walk from Harve des Pas along the coast line and through the industrial estate and along the harbor taking pictures relating to our topic of New Topographic. The area has a wide range of urban scenes which i can take pictures of.

Lighting: I will use natural lighting to take these photos and I will take them in the afternoon to avoid over exposed images with light flares.

Camera settings: I will take the photos using the manual  expose setting and experiment with long shutter speed and the waves.

Contact Sheets:

I also edited some other photos that I took in a different location. They were in the style  of  Nicholas Nixon’s landscapes so i edited them in black and white and enhanced the highlights to give them a higher contrast whilst still making them look faded.

 

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Psycho-geographies

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Psycho-geography

Psycho-geography is defined as the study of the specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. The creator of the psycho-geography group, Guy Debord, said that the definition has “pleasing vagueness” meaning that the term can be applied to a wide range of situations.

Snow Hill Psycho-Geography

I will be looking at snow hill for my area of interest. Snow hill has some history behind it; in the 17th century it was the eastern limit of St. Helier and was called La Pompe De Haut because of the public pump found there. In the 19th century a theatre was on the site. Between 1873 and 1929 it was the terminus of the Jersey Eastern Railway which ran trains from St Helier to Gorey. The building of the Harbours in the middle of the 19th century used huge quantities of rock for infilling between the outer walls of the harbour and much of this rock was taken from the area now known as Snow Hill car park.

Image result for snow hill car park jersey old

Image result for St helier jersey 20th century

My Archival Image Response

We visited Snow Hill on the 18th January and took archival photographs of the area. There is lots of history behind the area as it has been for used for multiple things such as a railway station and a cable cart station so it was an interesting place to use for comparisons between the new and old. This showed us how much the area has changed and how the past often gets forgotten.

General Photos of the Area

We took some photographs of the area just to show what Snow Hill is like now compared to what it used to be. It is obviously a lot more plain and run-down now as seen in the photographs below.

 

AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas

architectual,night and panoramic Shoot development

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My shoot development

For my shoot I wanted to continue using my artists inspiration of the new topographic’s and of rich urban landscapes but a clear view or traditionalism and nature aspect contrasting within the background of the image.For my photo shoot I will try and visit Scrapyards, building sites, cranes, restoration yards, derelict ruins,additionally to this I will also look for any area that has pipework or a clear decoration of man made activity.

For my second artist who has more of a humane feel to the area and the way in which nature and buildings has a strong relevance to peoples lives I will photograph shops and long distance views of roads and such,this could also be seen within theaters and large populated areas.For the title and main inspiration for my shoot I have chosen the themes of juxtaposing urban and isolated compared to sky and habitats. This means that my images will have a strong sense of new upcoming society and how it can be isolated from other areas and a clear vision of separation of lack of nature within that area.

How I will edit my images

Once again I used HDR in order to get a  crisp image with lots of light and vibrancy of color and or tone.I also want to use some of my own development ideas  such as slow shutter speed to capture an urban effect during nighttime,this can be done from being high up above traffic and brightly lighted town and also within the areas and also develop the  focused nature aspects,these would look like:

I chose this image as an example due to its high over towering view so allowing a clear focus on light but also how nature is wrapped around all human light and presents clear lines and paths within the image itself. 

Secondly I thought this was an accurate perception of my idea due to the large presents of nature within the center of the urban landscape,it shows a subtle formation of the two elements.

panoramic development

Additionally  I also want to capture panoramic shoots,i will achieve this by developing my images into one after taking a course of many over an area with small movements in between. I would want to displays this in a straight forward lines and then secondly with separations of lines and cuts to show repetition of a scene and lastly a divided area in which i can present the image in many different levels such as:

I will still be  focusing on my theme of urban isolation contrasting with nature and sky,this allows me to use all my techniques and capture all these themes in different mannerisms. Overall I  still want to use the same elements and angles that the new topographic achieved but in a more  modernized and inventive mannerism.

Edits:

I decided to divided my edits into color and black and white dependent on what is the most appropriate and effective.I really swatted to nature the contrast between he deep architectural lines and with colour on the background.

first shoot:day time shoot

 

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

I think this piece is really effective as its composition is centred and then further enhanced by the light  background of the image. it also has a structure  due to the ladder , but has  a delicacy to the line lines reflected within the water and the rhyme and form that bring to the piece itself. 

all of this images above I clearly wanted to focus on stature and how it can be enchanted by a natural background,it creates an effect of nature formed within a harsh man made structure.

further editing: 

with this image I wanted  to form a romanticised background and then form this with the architectural structure from this shoot.i do think though it is not as effective as the small detailed liens when edited do not achieve the same realism and are not as effective.

here I wants to from an interesting architectural piece using a repletion and building using lines to from a large building going through he centre,i think this makes an interesting composition yet still forms a line and stature overall. 

wihtin this edited I wanted to try and from both interesting  clouds to show the strong presence of nature and then also from and lit in the industrial aspects of human development that I wanted to capture.

night shoot:slow shutter speed light capture

 

I wanted to experiment within night shoot in this method as it is more abstract and would be effective in an overlay within other images too.it also allowed more to capture the night city scape whilst also forming a slow light pattern.This method also means I am able to from the shape and not dependent on wirer the light is already.

panoramic development:

I did not take many sets of image such as this is I knew I did not want to develop within this method, although for my final I think the overall prevention would look successful hung in size order alongside each other.

Overall analysis

overall I think I have developed within many methods and shoots and now I am able to see and decided what will be the most successful and effective within the future  of my work.

AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Coursework, Homework Assignment

New Topographics Homework Assignment

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Planning

Task: Take 100-150 urban landscape/night photos

Props: I will be using a tripod in order to capture some long exposure shots at night.

Camera settings: For my long exposure shots I will be using a shutter speed of 30 seconds to make them more effective, along with a 100 ISO. For other landscape photographs I will be using an ISO of 200 with a shutter speed of 1/20 to allow enough light to enter the lens.

Lighting: I will be using lights from passing cars, buildings and lamp posts to capture my photographs

Location: Town

Context: I will be capturing photographs with the style of the New Topographics in mind.

Concept: To capture photos whilst taking influence from the style of Robert Adams and Stephen Shore.

My Photographs

Contact Sheet

My Edits

My Favourite Photo

In this photograph I used natural lighting. I took advantage of the lights in the down as dusk approached in order to cast contrasting orange colours against the blue-tinted town. I used a deep depth of field of  20 to capture this photograph to ensure that the whole of the image was clear and in focus. I used a shutter speed of 1/20 in order to allow enough light to enter the lens from the dark environment, paired with the low ISO of 100 that I used, it allowed me to create a high quality image with a wide tonal range.

There are lots of intense colours in this photograph such as the orange lights and the blue sea and sky which cast a blue tint on the photograph. It is generally quite a dark image with the lightest tone being the bright lights. It has a slight 3D effect due to the harbour in the middle separating the foreground and background.

This photograph has been taken with the work of the New Topographic movement in mind. It shows the industrial side of the environment and all the man-made structures along with nature being pushed to the background or covered up by man-made structures.

The photograph shows how the nature shown in the photograph has been taken over completely by man-made structures and has lost the attention it once had. This is symbolic for the New Topographic movement taking over from the Romanticism movement. It shows how quickly things can change for better or for worse.

 

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Harve Des Pas Walk

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I planned to walk from Harve Des Pas to the Incinerator following the path back to town. This gave me different views and landscapes to photographs showing  my route and journey. I presented my images in a contact sheet and throughout you can see how the route and scenery change from natural to urban.

I then chose my favourite photos out of all the images, edited them and displayed them in the contact sheet below so the images can be seen more clearly. I chose these images as each one is completely different and shows the different landscapes I passed and the journey I went on- focusing on structured , man-made objects as well as nature.

I chose this photo as one of my final images as it clearly shows how urban is taking over nature, similar to concepts The New Topographics focused on. The image shows a very structural industrial building in the background, and a natural hill in the foreground. The contrast between both parts of the image makes it seem like they wouldn’t be in the same place and so close together. It also shows a bright red sign post on the hill which also presents  the new topographics unease about how the natural landscape were being eroded by industrial development. I decided to leave the image in colour with not much editing as I think it emphasises the differences between the two sections of the image.

I also chose this photo as one of final images as I focused on industrial buildings and the structures they make. This image takes inspiration from The New Topographics as it focuses on geometrical shapes and symmetry. The image doesn’t contain any natural elements and only shows man-made structures which contrasts with some of the other images I have taken. I left the image in colour as the it only contains browns, greys and blacks that contrast with each other which would not happen as much if the image was in black and white. It also shows the structures and the sky being completely different (natural vs urban).

I also chose this image as it shows an alley that I tried to make  symmetrical to show lines and repetition on both sides. I turned the photo to black and white taking inspiration from the new topographic photographers, trying to get the same effect. The industrial photographs I’ve taken have similarities to Albert Renger-Patzsch style in The New Objectivity with clear, black and white pictures of industrial archetypes.

I also tried focusing on industrial buildings, zooming in on specific sections of the same building so I could present them together to show different perspectives. I edited them to black and white as I think it makes the images have more of a contrast between the tones of grey and emphasises the shadows underneath of the balconies and where the light hits the outside of the balcony walls, making the images more powerful. I arranged the images so some of the lines join up between the photos connecting them together to make a new image.

AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Homework Assignment

Homework 2- Night Photography

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Night Photography

Night photography refers to photographs taken outdoors between dusk and dawn. Night photographers generally have a choice between using artificial light and using a long exposure, exposing the scene for seconds, minutes, and even hours in order to give the film or digital sensor enough time to capture a usable image. With the progress of high-speed films, higher-sensitivity digital image sensors, wide-aperture lenses, and the ever-greater power of urban lights, night photography is increasingly possible using available light.

The following techniques and equipment are generally used in night photography.

  • A tripod is usually necessary due to the long exposure times. Alternatively, the camera may be placed on a steady, flat object e.g. a table or chair, low wall, window sill, etc.
  • A shutter release cable or self timer is almost always used to prevent camera shake when the shutter is released.
  • A camera lens with a wide aperture, preferably one with aspherical elements that can minimize coma

For my urban landscapes homework I decided do my photo shoot from a higher perspective taking inspiration from Nicholas Nixon and photographed buildings, with architectural views. I also took inspiration from Thomas Struth’s photos of industrialised cities and how he incorporated people and movement, presenting images of chaotic urban activity in some images, which is why I captured the movement and business of the cars. I decided to take my images as the sky was turning dark as I thought it would make the lights from the cars and buildings stand out more than if i took them in the day. In my first contact sheet the images have a blue tint where the the sun has not completely gone down, whereas my second contact sheet the sky in completely black by the end, showing the differences the light has on the images. In my second contact sheet the lights from the buildings and cars are much more bright and noticeable as the yellow/orange is contrasted with the black background , making it more clear that it is night time. I think these photos are more effective as the lights from the cars make the whole road light up, making it glow and stand out more.

I first tried editing my first image in black and white which makes the roads seem more dark and atmospheric with the street lights and windows contrasting  from the dark roofs. It shows clearly where the road leads from where the streets lights up  even though you cant see the street.

I compared my photograph in black & white and in colour and decided that i preferred the image in colour because of the how the yellow/orange lights contrast with the black roofs and buildings more than they do than in black and white. Also how the road is emphasised more as it is illuminated from the light which is soft and isn’t too intense.

“Most photographers struggle with one thing in particular. That is how to make their photos stand out from the crowd. You’ll be surprised at how many locations that appear rather mundane during the day can be made to look incredibly dramatic at night. In cities, for example, you will find well-lit facades, bridges, skylines, etc. The city lights add interest and a dramatic effect giving you lots to work with.”

I also chose this image as it shows the business of a road filled with movement, presenting an image of chaotic urban activity, similar to Thomas Struth. The city that Struth presents is unregimented: there is little architectural unity, this is what i tried to interpret. I tried to show energy and speed within the image which I think I achieved from the blurring of the cars and lights by slowing the shutter speed slightly. I increased the exposure when taking the photo so all sections in the image are visible, still keeping the cars and the road the main focus of the image.

I chose this image as it is different from my other images but still overlooks chaotic urban activity but  scaled down by using a long lens to focus in on a specific street. The headlights of the car highlight the people crossing the road not too intensely so the overall image is softer than it would be in daylight. The corners of the image are black where the buildings are and gradually towards the center of the image is where the main focus of the image is.

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Natural Landscapes Photoshoot

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Photoshoot Plan 

Concept:  After researching romanticism in natural landscapes and the photographer Edward weston I am going to take inspiration from the style of their work and apply it to my own photos.

Location: I am going to take photos in on the sand dunes where the is a range of natural settings I can make use off such as a large pond and trees.

Lighting: I will use natural lighting to take these photos and i will take them in the afternoon to avoid over exposed images with light flares.

Camera settings: I will take the photos using the manual  expose setting and the manual focus setting on my lens so i can change them both for each photo to get the best quality.

Contact Sheets:

Best Images From Shoot:

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romanticised landscapes final images

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Final ideas for my shoot:I was inspired by Ansel Adams and Fay godwits work, this is due to the way they both dramatically emphasised the amount of beauty but also movement and sense of attention within their piece,They continually did this by their high or mid perspective.Also the use of their dark contrasting tones wihtin the pieced how they continually evolve and move throughout the piece in order to show a sense of unity to the piece as a whole. Furthermore I was also inspired by the way in which they all used lines in order to draw a sense of direct view to a specific part of the images altogether.

when taking my images I focused  more upon the dramatic Skys and a contrast of softer Skys and an idealised beauty compared to a power possessive sky.I also had an aim to to take images of the landscape and direct lines continually going through although these were not my strongest outcomes.I edited the images with some in colourful saturation and others in more tonal ranges to show a large to relation to that of the artists.I did look for many leading lines and I was able to find some but they did not correctly show a continuation in the way I would expect so were not as successful as the coastline images.

Above you can see the contact sheet of green landscapes and also the different angles of sunsets.I chose to take the photos at golden hour in order to see the changing and dramatic colours but also the darkness approaching from the right side within my images.It brings a warmth to many of the images and a great depth of colour.

you are able to see the before and after previous to editing the images and how I was able to enhance the colour to show a better detail of clouds and how to allow the reflection to be more vivid in its tone.

Here you are able to see I edited my images by enhancing the saturation and the colour of the piece,I chose to enhance the colour due to being able to see more drama and a stronger contrast between sides of the image, the juxtaposition of the lighter left side and the dramatic clouds and castle on the right.Additionally I edited the image this way due to the mirroring effect in the water surface and it looks as if a continuation of the sky.

I wanted to use the weather to evoke a sense of atmosphere snd emotion,I wanted their to be a relationship fo love within the coloured image and a sense of movement of light and attention,this is due to the stereotypically romantic choice of lighter colours and also how the sun is used to enhance from a stutter and the reflection of the sea shows a sense of peace altogether throughout the image itself. My aim was to capture the coastline and the sand dunes and how they are continuously evolving to capture different compositions and effects of light. 

overall I think this is my strongest image due to the lens of illusion and gradually forming power throughout the image.I wanted to show an understanding of reflections rising  the composition of the piece and how light can be used to suggest from and also movement to the piece itself.I took this image knowing I wanted both the light sense of warmth and other the authority of the castle and harsh clouds I used the technique of getting very high but lowering my camera so everything in the image looks level but additionally only capturing the reflection and the sky itself. I enhanced the exposure so the light so was able to progress throughout the image and used a wide angle lens in order to capture the whole angle of the image and see the size and power .These images are successfully romatisized landscapes although not edited within similar style due to the colours further down I edited my images tonally with a warmth in order to emphasis the artists styles too.  within the images above I wanted to capture a romanticised landscape in a much more vivid and and poetical extreme of colour caught within the golden hour, although I also wanted to capture a sense of clam that will soon be abounded due to the oncoming stormy strength of the high side and cloud formation.

These last images I edited in order to show the light and dark within the image and show a stinger relationship to the artists themselves. It connotes a much more stormy atmosphere all together but still effectively shoes the beauty within the landscape,the cloud in the last piece has such. strong depth and overwhelming power throughout the piece itself ,this was important because contextually it commands attention and shows how one beach can have such beauty and also dominate representing the power that nature has over people.

AO3 Record Ideas, AO4 Present Ideas, Homework Assignment

Homework 1- Romanticism in Landscape photography

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To explore romanticism i planned to visit 3 different places on different days so each image was varied with a different setting and weather. I planned to show an interest in the natural world, taking inspiration from Fay Godwin creating careful compositions and control over tonal values, light and atmosphere.

For this photograph I tried to find a path or stream to be in my image with a natural setting. I focused on the branches in the foreground of the image and left the background more out of focus emphasising the misty environment which creates more atmosphere in the picture. Fay Godwin photos mainly consist of natural environments with trees, fields and beaches which is where I went to take my images.

For my second photo shoot I decided to take my images around sunset creating a more romantic setting. Both images have clouds making them more atmospheric and interesting.  In the first photo I decreased the exposure to make the sea darker which emphasises the white and the rocks in the bottom half of the image. In the top half of the image i did not decrease the exposure, but did increase the contrast slightly and adjusted the levels to make the image more effective.

I also tried, when on one of my photoshoots, to take a panoramic on my phone to get a elongated field of view an dot get  wider view of the environment

Panoramic Photography:

Panoramic photography is a technique that stitches multiple images from the same camera together to form a single, wide photograph (vertical or horizontal). The term “panorama” literally means “all sight” in Greek and it first originated from painters that wanted to capture a wide view of a landscape, not just a certain part of it. The first panoramic photographs were made by simply aligning printed versions of film, which did not turn out very well, because it was close to impossible to perfectly align photographs. With the invention of personal computing, advancements in computer software and digital photography, it is now much easier to stitch digital images together using specialized software.

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Romanticism Photoshoot Response

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In this shoot I will be focusing on photography surrounding Romanticism. To help me with my shoot I will use Fay Godwin as my influence from a photographer, I chose her because of how her photography uses much of the scenery seen in Jersey and so could use her techniques to provide guidance on what to take as seen below:Image result for Fay GodwinBefore taking the shoot I wanted to pull some ideas together on what to take, allowing for a guideline to my photos, this was my outcome:

Once I had a general idea on what I could do for the shoot I finally moved onto the images themselves with these being the outcome:

From the photographs I decided on, I made a selection of ten images that I thought presented my best imagery from the overall shoot on the topic of romanticism. These were my choices:

I chose these images because I thought they popped out from the rest of the shoot, and had a greater understanding of what romanticism in photography was about. I found that their vivid colours and use of depth of field made them particularly effective. From here I wanted to whittle my selection down to just five images to really provide a clearer insight into my final image for the shoot. This is my selection:

I chose this image due to how I loved the effect created from the back light that was meant to illuminate Gorey Castle at night, that instead silhouetted the housing and trees around it, creating an aesthetically pleasing result as an outcome. And with the slight use of red and oranges from the housing I though it really balanced it out.

What I loved in this image was the use of the depth of field, this created a focus on a certain section of the woods which instantly drew the eye through the use of its vivid greens. Within the image I used Photoshop to enhance the greens within the image to make it more suited to the theme of Romanticism with the expected outcome as desired.

I found that this images use of contrast between the light provided by the lamps created an aesthetically pleasing photo. This was because of how by making the oranges within the picture more vivid, it emphasised the shadows created by the surrounding boats, thus drawing the eye instantly to the soft glow of the lamp centred in the middle of the picture.

The gradient created by the sky I thought particularly allowed for a romanticism theme. This was because of how the majority of the image was made up of the slow but constant changing of shades of blues into yellows, with only a small percentage made up by the landscape. I found that by darkening the ground it created a greater effect onto the sky due to an emphasis to the colours.

What I loved about this image was the composition and the dark and grim colours. This is because of how the skeletons of the trees create a sinister but beautiful effect on the pathway through the middle of them, with unclear imagery of people in the far distance. I also liked the use of depth of field as well due to how the trees slowly faded and merged into one collective backdrop, whilst maintaining the desired look.

After analysing each of the five images, I decided to come to an overall decision on the final piece from the selection. This is my final choice for the best image out of the shoot:

I chose this as my final image because of how I loved the contrast created by the floodlights to Gorey Castle. I found that through this it completely emphasised the silhouettes of both the tree and the house in a sinister but fascinating way. I also liked how the floodlight captured by the camera is seen as a circular gradient in which slowly fades into darkness, with the three red lights being there to balance out the image as a whole and not let the black overpower the piece.