For my third sets of edits I wanted to showcase my ability to use different elements of photoshop in order to showcase further development into the importance of bunkers during Jersey’s journey through the second world war. Due to my top outcomes already looking somewhat distorted I wanted to keep the edits simple but still make them further distorted. My Initial ideas of edits are:
- Colour Splash
- Blur adjustment
- Adjustment of Curves and Levels
- Reveal Conceal
For my first experimentation I wanted to use the acetate as an image which was taken back in the war and the bunker behind it as an image taken from now, which begins to present Jersey’s Journey through WW2. The image itself looks as if the acetate is being peeled back to reveal the idea that the bunkers have been isolated since the war and nothing much has changed to them, which successfully allows the aim of the edit to be showcased. To make this idea seem more realistic I used the quick selection tool and selected the acetate part of the image, once selected I pressed ctrl + u and lowered the saturation so the acetate was in black and white and the background was in colour. Then I adjusted the levels and curves to allow detail to be shown within the edit. I believe that this is my top outcome from the photoshoot as it shows clear camera skills such as depth of field, focus, ISO and aperture. It clearly presents the formal elements of texture, shape and space due to the use of camera settings along side the editing use. Moreover, it showcases my ability to use different tool within photoshop in order to manipulate and image to create a certain effect. I really like the way the photograph has turned out as it is visually stimulating to look at and allows Jersey’s journey through WW2 to be presented.
In my second edit I used an image where the acetate was held up to the camera and the shadows of the bunker is found in the background of the image. Already, this image is very distorted so to add to the effect I decided to add a blur to the image which creates texture, almost as if I have raised the ISO on my camera to create noise. The idea behind this is to make my viewers rethink the way the bunkers look and realise the use of them during the second world war, which allows the journey of the subject to start to be presented within the viewers head. I believe that this image is successful as it allows contextual and conceptual, how and why the bunkers where used in the war (presented in a unpleasant way due to the blur and acetate and shadows) and how they have been left alone factors to easily be communicated to the receiver due to the distortion created. This image is also successful as it shows my ability to think creatively and critically towards what I am wanting to capture as well as my camera and photo manipulation techniques.
This next edit is not as successful as the others, needless to say I have decided to keep it in order to showcase my exploration and thought process. I selected this image as it is of the bunker and the massive image of the same bunker that I printed off. The idea was to showcase the size of how large the bunker is, which would metaphorically show how big of a role the bunkers had within the second world war. However, I do not believe that this idea is presented through the edit. I also used a colour splash to create this edit, having half in colour and half in black and white, same steps as the first edit. The final outcome is not great as the edit is not visually stimulating to look at, which is due to the image itself. The way it was taken is not the best as it is clear that I have used the wrong camera settings. In my opinion the conceptual factor is still slightly being presented, but the technical, visual and contextual aspects are not as strong which is making this edit less successful.
The idea behind this edit was to make the acetate blend into the sky, making it seem like a past memory, as I purposefully made the image over exposed. To do this I made this photograph naturally lighter by adjusting the levels and curves, I also cropped the image to take away the bottom of the image, which slightly distracted the viewers eyes. Although, I do like the way it looks I believe that it could have been more successful, there is something to it which is missing or needs changing which is making me not like the edit that much. I think it is due to it looking too artificial which takes away a strong link to the contextual factor. The edit clearly presents the journey of Jersey through WW2 and allows the conceptual factors to be presented, I think it is again the technical element which is lowering the successfulness of the image. Needless to say, I have been able to show my creativity to produce a new concept to present the same ideology.
Evaluation:
To evaluate I believe that I have been able to show my ability to think creatively to produce outcomes to a follow up photoshoot to an idea. I have been able to show clear further exploration to an initial idea and have been able to create links between the images and Jersey’s Journey through the second world war. The images themselves, showcase my ability to adjust and use camera settings to create different effects, and show that I have carefully thought out how and why I am capturing an image in that way. Furthermore, I have been able to show my ability to use photoshop to manipulate my images, using the different tool provided in order to create a stronger link between my photographs and the theme of Jersey’s journey through the second world war. Although, these edits are not my strongest set of edits produced I still believe that they have some elements which makes them strong, but they show my exploration to this theme. If I was to further manipulate these images I would look at printing out an image of a bunker in colour, then using the acetate I would place it over the top, which creates a distortion but also presents then VS now. This would be further development to the first edit and would show Jersey’s journey through WW2. Although I have enjoyed looking at Jersey’s bunkers and there importance I feel as if I have explored them in enough detail, and if I was to do further exploration it would be to much and the images would not be ‘as good’ as the images above and the first photoshoot.