Mood Bored

Martin Creed

Martin Creed has been one of my main inspirations for this mini project. He has managed to capture a piece of paper in an interesting. There are multiple element which has made Creed’s photograph inspiring. First of all he presents the formal element of texture, line and shape through the crumpled piece of paper. This also helps to outline the different tones within the photograph which creates an element of 3D.  The shadow of the paper tells us where the artificial light source is coming from. Knowing this information will help to guide the viewers eyes through the frame of the photograph, starting at the lighter area of the ball moving to the darkest. Creed has kept the background of the photograph plain which ensures that the viewers eyes will not be distracted from the main focus point of the photograph, the ball of paper. Moreover, it creates space within the photograph as the frame is not filled. The image is taken as a landscape image at a straight on angle which helps to present the context of the photograph. The simplistic idea of Creed’s photograph makes it effective as he has taken an ordinary, simple object and made it something more interesting that what it actually is. In my eyes the camera settings that I believe Creed has used is: ISO 100-800 as there is no noise created from the lighting which has been used, a normal shutter speed as Creed is not capturing anything moving and the photograph is in full focus and an aperture of roughly F22 as there is a narrow depth of field. Personally I really like Creed’s photography as he has such a simple idea and object and has made it into something better. He has shown creativity to be able to think of taking a photograph like that. I also love the way he has used the artificial  lighting to help guide the viewers eye around the frame, I think that this is very clever and I would like to try it when capturing my photographs.

Plan

Setting, Time and Place

The photoshoot will take place at Hatulieu school in the afternoon, allowing the midday sun to be used, which means I will be using natural lighting.

Aim

I want to use paper as my subject, to present a theme of still life photography. I will be using one sheet of paper and explore different ways I can use it to make an interesting photograph. This simplistic aim will allow me to explore and present my creativity. I would like to use a plain background  to allow the tones and textures of the paper to be presented. However, I would like to capture photographs using  a background which may be busier. To do this I need to ensure that the focus is on the paper, and the background is not in focus, which will not distract the viewer.

Camera Settings

ISO: 100-800

Shutter Speed: 1/500

Aperture: F22

Depth of Field: Narrow

Formal Elements: Light, Texture and Shape.

Thoughts and Feelings

I have a lot of different ways that I can manipulate the paper in my head, making the capturing process easy. I definitely want to experiment with light to not only create tones and shadows, but also using it to guide my viewers eyes around the frame of the photograph. However, when it comes to editing I am not too sure what I am going to do. With the editing I would like to keep it simple in order to match the simplistic theme of the project. Currently I am thinking about turning photographs black and white to really emphasis the different tones and shadows within the photographs I will be taking.