Planning:

In preparation for this photo shoot I looked back at Sian Davey’s candid photography, in order to reflect on the techniques she used, so that I can implement her approach into my work. I wanted half to be highly staged, more like an environmental form, family portrait, and half naturalistic in order to showcase a true representation of my family, following more of a candid form of documentation photography. My camera setting where kept similar to the detail shot photo shoot, due to the shoots occurring on the same day.  used the AV setting, allowing me to focus on the aperture and depth of field. On the day these photographs were taken, the lighting was dull, but well lit, which meant that I used a low ISO. My f number stayed on 5.6, unless the room itself was much darker. The shutter speed was set on a quick setting and the white balance was set to the day light setting. In order for further control I used manual focus, allowing me to control the depth of field and the overall composition.

Edits:

Colour:

For my colour edits, I wanted the outcomes to be kept as naturalistic as possible, so I ensure that the detail and structure was not over the top, creating soft outcomes, focusing on the conceptual reasoning, family love, to be presented within my imagery. I explored with adjusting the white and blacks and shadows in order to create outcomes which still presented tonal contrast, allowing the colours and environment and subjects to be the focus of the composition. I am pleased with the way in which these outcomes have turned out, due to me keeping the editing simple, to capture the naturalism of the photographs.

Black and White:

For my black and white outcome, I explored with an image which uses a birds eye view angle. The tonal contrast and new angle allows the conceptual meaning to be presented in a new way, which showcases this further exploration as successful. The photograph follows a candid style of photography, and presents my three subjects, with one looking at the camera, implementing an environmental stylistic feature to my work. The composition uses the rule of thirds, allowing viewers eyes to be guided around the frame. The formal element of space plays an active role with the outcome. In the frame there seems to be a lack of empty space, thus my models are in close proxemics to one another, which emphasise the conceptual representation of family love and bonding within the work. The background, is kept simplistic with not much going on showcasing my families naturalistic environment.

Technically, the photograph uses a small aperture, due to the the whole frame being in focus. The ISO used is low which is shown through there being no noise being created. This also allows us to understand that natural lighting produced by the daylight was used to capture this, and informs us that the white balance has colour accuracy and that it presents a sense of warmth, adding to the overall pleasant mood to the piece. In addition, the shutter speed is quick, due to no interned blur being presented within the outcome.

In order to achieve all of this, I kept the editing simplistic. I turned the photograph black and white and focused mainly on adjusting the black, white, shadows and contrast sliders in order to create the overall photograph.

Evaluation:

To evaluate I believe I have produced strong photographs which clearly showcases my understanding of ‘Establishing a shot’ and the ability to use candid photography in order to produce naturalistic outcomes, which explores a narrative within my work. I have reinforced my ability to have control over manual settings and shown my competence of using Lightroom in order to edit my photographs. Although I have produced strong imagery, I do not believe it is as successful as the detail shot photo shoot. However, the imagery still produced has an clear overall aesthetic and shows exploration into the home sweet home briefing.