First I looked at all my abstract photos and decided one which ones were the best. I choose the ones that were the most colourful and used the rule of thirds as they tended to look better as it had more composition. For the other images I used other good images that I’ve taken to fill in the blanks.
Editing
After, I edited them and boosted the saturation by about +10 to make it ‘pop’ and cropped it to line up with the rule of thirds, to make it more visually pleasing.
Displaying
To Finalise the images I found 2 different art blank picture galleries on Google. I grouped my photos into two groups, portrait and landscape. The gallery with the large wall would be for landscape photos, and the other for portrait photos. I put my abstract photos into the galleries, I put the image onto the canvas in the gallery, where I wanted it to be, then in Free Transform mode I pressed CTRL and dragged on the corner of each edge of the image and moved it to the corresponding corner of canvas space in the gallery to match the perspective of the gallery and its 3D walls. After the image was properly on the canvas, I added Drop Shadow and angled it to the same as the direction in the base image. Then, I added bevels to the image to make it look 3D to make it realistic. To add the effects I right clicked the layer then went to blending options. As there were blank spaces in the gallery I put in other good photos that I’ve taken.
Evaluation
I really like how it turned out, as they look realistic and they all fit in naturally. The drop shadows and bevels really worked well. Overall, it was relatively simple but took a long time to added all the images in.
Repetition, Pattern, Rhythm, Reflection and Symmetry Mood Board
Mind map of ideas
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer, born in 1864, who has been said to be instrumental in making photography an accepted art form. One of the ways in which he did this, was through his photo series ‘Songs of The Sky’, from 1923 to 1934, where he explored patterns and rhythm created in the clouds. His aim for the viewer was to cause them to have the same emotional response as him, at the moment in time he took the photo, and to also display that the content of a photograph was different from its subject.
Alfred Stieglitz – Songs of The Sky –
Image Analysis
Alfred Stieglitz – Songs of the sky
This black and white photograph taken by Alfred Stieglitz, which is a part of his ‘Songs of The Sky’ series, displays a dramatic image of the sky in which the clouds are swirled around the photo, almost splitting it into two halves, a light side and a dark side. These streaks in the cloud’s curve create soft leading lines, causing your eyes to wrap around and be lead to the dark patch in the left hand of the photo. This area of the image strongly contrasts with the bright, highlighted, white clouds and the right half of the piece. In addition, the texture of this photo appears to be slightly rough and grainy, although this could be by choice or simply due to the time period in which this was taken, and the camera quality then.
You can see here that the lighting of this photograph must be natural as it is taken of the sky, and it also creates strong and dark shadows. I think that Stieglitz used a quick shutter speed here, as the clouds would have been moving, so he would need to do this in order to catch a crisp and sharp image. Also due to the fact that all of this frame is in focus, I believe that he used a small aperture, allowing for the whole of the image to be clearly seen and observed and creating a wide depth of field.
Furthermore, you can tell from the angle and the framing of this image, that Stieglitz was aiming to show a subjective point of view, creating an inclusive experience of that particular moment, like he does in his other pieces from the ‘Songs of The Sky’ series.
Stieglitz Inspired Photoshoot
Plan
Contact Sheets
For this photoshoot I used fast shutter speed to allow me to capture sharp images of the moving clouds and the patterns they create. As the light changed throughout the shoot, I had to change the ISO and the white balance with it. Where I didn’t do this you can see some of my images are over exposed, which I have crossed out in red as I won’t be editing them. Although the photographs highlighted in green are the images I will edit, as I believe they best link to the themes of repetition, patterns, rhythm, reflection and symmetry, whilst also displaying a clear and focused image.
Photoshop Development
To create images that looked similar to the work of Stieglitz, I used photoshop to convert these images into black and white, whilst also increasing the contrast and texture, and lowering the exposure with the camera raw filter. After this, I went back with the dodge and burn tool to further define the shadows and highlights.
Final Image
I think that this edited image from my photoshoot in the style of Stieglitz is my best, as the space left in the center creates an almost triangle and with it a focal point, which is framed by the surrounding clouds. I also believe that this image could link to the theme of symmetry, although both sides are not identical, if the photo were split vertically down the middle and mirrored, it would result in a very similar final image.
This image was inspired by the following photograph:
This image is of an artists called Marco Andras who explored Kaleidoscope photography.
In my image I attempted to create a similar look and feel to Marco’s image. In similarity, both our pictures are taken outside, use natural day lighting, are in black and white, have harsh shadows and dark tones and is uses both vertical and horizontal edits to create a Kaleidoscope image.
This image was also inspired and selected by my project about Alber Renger Patzsch
Step 1: Open photoshop and select the image you want to use.
Step 2: Select > All, then CTRL + C
Step 3: Go to Image > Canvas size. A window like this one should pop up:
Then, multiply the width by 2 and input what you got in the width section. After that, anchor the image to whatever side you want it to go then press “Ok”. P.S. You can change the image location through the Move tool.
Step 4: CTRL + V then move the image to wherever suits best.
Step 5: Edit > Transform > Flip Horizontal.
Step 6: Click on the main layer, left click and flatten the image.
Step 7: Select > All, CTRL + C Follow Step 3 but do it for the Height instead.
Step 8: Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical, then CTRL + V.
Step 9: repeat Step 4 then used the duplicate and fix tool to connect the images together to create a feeling that they both go into each other.
Step 10: Go to file > save as, and save your image.
For this project I explored Alfred Stieglitz’s work on patterns in the sky.
Patterns in the sky Mood Board
Mind-map of ideas
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred was an American Photographer born in 1864. He was an integral part in an acceptance of photography as an art form. He created a portfolio of pieces which focused on the pattern of things. His favorite way to capture this was by looking up and shooting patterns in the sky.
His images possessed flat, faded, contrast with bright, harsh highlights. They are also populated with pattern with little negative space.
In this image Alfred captures an astral, melancholic but also euphoric, free emotion with this image. It seems as if an artist has painted on these clouds. The flat contrast and sandpaper clouds give this image a faded, rough texture.
He has used natural light streaming in from the corners of the image to give it an astral glow. He has still managed to, even though there seems to be harsh daylight, combat this by slightly under exposing the image by deepening the blacks of the sky by using the cameras film. he has used a small aperture to gain detail in the distant cloud formations and give the image depth. Alfred might have used a slightly longer exposure to drag the clouds across the composition. He has also used a higher ISO to add a fine grain to the image.
The image also contains a pattern of the repeating clouds sweeping upwards. There is also a significant depth in tone created by the blackened sky contrasting with the white clouds. The image is also populated with little negative space.
Photo Shoot Action Plan
Who: There will be no subject in this project.
What: Cloud patterns.
Where: I will be shooting near my house and close to the coast as there tends to be more interesting cloud formations there.
When: On an overcast day
How: DSLR 50mm – 80mm lens with small aperture capability, lense hood to prevent glare and a ND filter to grab blacker skies. Walk down to coast and around my neighborhood looking up and following cloud patterns
Why: To experiment and learn more about photographing pattern.
Contact Sheets
Final Compositions
My above compositions portray the experimentation of pattern. They use deep tonal range with deep depth of field. My compositions featured similar elements to Alfreds work.
My image
Alfred’s image
Both pieces include soft sweeping pattern work. They both use de saturated deep black negative spaces with the cotton clouds contrasting in the foreground. They both Make use of natural lighting adding accents to the patterns from a certain direction. They both use a small aperture to gain detail and depth in the clouds. They both consider a longer exposure time to drag the clouds out more. Both images hold a gloomy astral emotion. Finally, one difference is Alfred uses a flat contrast and my image contains a deeper contrast.
Saul Leiter (1923-2013) was an American photographer who focussed on street photography and abstract expressionism. He started out as a painter so was heavily influenced by colour, shape and using his camera to create his abstract vision of reality. Leiter was well-known for his black and white work, however in around the 1990’s his personal colour photography was discovered, it still has an impact and inspires people today.
Leiter’s work holds lots of warm saturated colours which usually come from the artificial light of cars and shop windows. Additionally, he uses a range of focal lengths to show depth in his images. I really like his style of photography and the way he captures vibrant images in low light situations, it suggests he uses a high ISO so his lens is more sensitive to light. Furthermore, Leiter’s work differs in texture in each image, for example the image in the top right holds a sharp texture as the focal point is on the rain in the foreground. However, if we look at the bottom left image Leiter has created a softer texture by blurring the photograph, possibly using a shorter aperture.
Photo shoot Plan
Who – For one of my shoots I plan on capturing images of my mum with an umbrella, taken through the car window.
What – I have an idea to photograph vivid colours from street lights, shop windows, a red umbrella and neon signs. Also, I wish to capture raindrops as the fall down my car window.
Where – For the location of my photo shoot I plan on driving around St Helier to photograph the streets of town at night. This will hopefully reflect Leiter’s street photography with the vibrant colours reflecting from shop windows and signs.
When – I plan to do this photo shoot on Monday 5th October once the sun has set. It is due to rain that evening which will allow me to capture the raindrops on my car windows and on the street pavements.
Why – The reason for my shoot is to experiment with ISO and White Balance to see how it effects the colour of images. My photographs will be inspired by Saul Leiter’s work, capturing rain on windows and people with vibrant umbrellas.
My Response – Contact Sheets
Edited Images
I edited these images on Photoshop and focused on enhancing the bold colours and high contrast. I used the ‘Vibrance’ tool to heighten the saturation of my images in order to reflect the work of Saul Leiter. Additionally, I experimented with the ‘Brightness/Contrast’ tool so I could explore different ways of drawing the observer’s attention towards my chosen focal point, using bright highlights and very dark shadows to catch their eye.
Final Images
I have chosen these 5 final images as I believe their vivid colours complement each other well. Additionally, I really like the vibrant pink tones in the first image as I believe they provide a warm temperature to the image which reflects Leiter’s work. I enhanced this by increasing the saturation and contrast of the image to allow the bold fuchsia colours to stand out more against the black shadowed pavement. My first image also holds lots of artificial light from a neon shop sign. This bold lighting reflects off the puddles and creates an abstract composition with two beams of light forming leading lines down the image. Also, I like the way this image has an unbalanced rigid texture because of the irregular dips in the pavement. My second image reflects Leiter’s ‘Red Umbrella’ work. I really like the way the image has two obscure focal points, one being the clearly focused raindrops on the window, and the other being the bold red umbrella that is blurred in the centre. I used a shorter aperture to capture this image and have payed attention to the rule of thirds in my composition as the photo could be split into 3 separate sections.
In my third and fourth images I have been inspired by Leiter’s work where he captures rain on windows. I experimented with the white balance of these images when taking them because the abstract artificial lights behind the rain made it easier to explore the different settings. The first ‘rain on window’ image has a clear focal point just below centre, which is created by the strong leading lines of water flowing down the glass. Furthermore, the warm orange and pink tones blurred behind the rain create a shallow depth of field. In the second image, the blue hues that dominate the photo produce a cold icy temperature which contrasts to Leiter’s warm cosy work. I wanted to create this contrast to experiment with different colour temperatures to see how they added or took away from my images. I really like the repetition in this image with the four fluorescent circles of light as I believe they contrast with the dark blue shadows in the image. These two images also seem have a bumpy uneven texture as the raindrops create strange 3D-like effect. I have chosen the fifth photo as one of my final images because of its obscure out of focus nature and the warm colours which are reminiscent of Leiter’s work. I really like the soft texture this image holds because of its blurred effect, I created this by switching my camera to manual focus in order to capture an unfocused photograph. I also think the clear focal point of the red umbrella draws the observer’s attention to the centre of the image, allowing them to take in every warm colour surrounding the subject.
Alfred Stieglitz recognized his achievement in maintaining the realism of photography while addressing the goals of modernism, Duncan Phillips considered Stieglitz’s photographs of clouds important in joining photographic objectivity and personal emotion in his images. Stieglitz photographed clouds from 1922 into the thirties. A symbolic aesthetic underlies these images, which became increasingly abstract equivalents of his own experiences, thoughts, and emotions.
contact sheets
my photos inspired by Stieglitz
I liked the outcome of this photo shoot. I edited the images, making them black and white, lowered the exposure and made the clouds look more defined by upping the contrast to match Alfred Stieglitz- Patterns in the Sky.
What I like most about these photos is the contrast between the highlights and shadows and the way they contrast against each other, these photographs were taken in natural day light. I like, in some images, you can see the sunlight bursting through the clouds, or in some way trapped behind it. I like how in each picture the clouds are never the same, making each image different to another, this relates to how he saw his photographs as abstract equivalents of his own experiences, thoughts, and emotions, and how everyone’s thoughts and feelings are different, just like each pattern in the sky.
Alfred Stieglitz is one of the most significant contributors to the history of photography. Stieglitz contributed not only scientific and artistic photographic studies, but also introduced modern art to America and furthered the theory of photography as art.
I imported an image I thought would look interesting in a reflected manner into photoshop. I chose an image of a church window with two rising parallel pillars either side of it.
I then used “ctrl + T” to enable free transform. I then rotated my image by 60 degrees by changing the angle in the top hotbar.
I then moved my image to the edge of the canvas to isolate an isosceles triangle. Once happy with the triangle I made it a seperate layer.
I then enlarged the canvas by 400%.
I then flipped the isosceles triangle on a vertical axis and lined it up with the original one to make an equilateral triangle.
I then flattened the layers and rotated the equilateral triangle around the same anchor point by 60 degrees. I then repeated this step to make a hexagon. I then filled in the rest of the image with the hexagons.
Stieglitz was an American photographer in the early 20th century. modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form. Stieglitz espoused his belief in the aesthetic potential of the medium and published work by photographers who shared his conviction.
Photos by Alfred Stieglitz – Patterns In The Sky
Photo shoot plan
For my photo shoot, I will carry it over a few days, in small chunks during the day. this is so then vary my outcomes as the clouds would have moved and created new patterns to photograph. I will take these photos in different locations, again to help vary the patterns and shapes of the clouds. For this project, I can carry out my photo shoot independently as I will not be needing a model.
Final Edits
original photos
For these photos, i uploaded them into photo shop and experimented with the exposure levels, brightness levels and contrast, this was to enhance the ripples and the texture i saw in the clouds to bring them more to life.
Final Photo
When I first look at this photo, my eye is suddenly drawn to the 3 similarly shaped clouds following a diagonal line through the photo, this is due the composition of the photo. When taking the photo, I used a fast shutter speed in attempt to capture the texture and liveliness off the clouds, a fasted shutter speed meant that there was no time for movement from the clouds. However, a faster shutter speed also meant that there was less time for light to reach the lens, this made the unedited version darker. To change this, I uploaded the brightness and contrast to lighten up the photo. I also increased the exposure as the unedited photo was under exposed due the high shutter speed and low lighting.
I especially like the contrast between the orange clouds and the blue sky. In this photo, the two colours heavily compliment each other, making the photo more visually appealing.
Ralph Eugene Meatyard ( 1925 – 1972 ) was an American photographer from Normal, Illinois, U.S. Meatyard’s work spanned many genres and experimented with new means of expression, from dreamlike portraits – often set in abandoned places – to multiple exposures, motion-blur, and other methods of photographic abstraction. When he turned 18 during World War II, he joined the Navy, though he did not have the opportunity to serve overseas before the war ended. Meatyard purchased his first camera in 1950 to photograph his newborn first child, and worked primarily with a Rolleiflex medium-format camera. He took up membership of Lexington Camera club in 1954, and at the same time joined the Photographic Society of America. Much of his work was made in abandoned farmhouses in the central Kentucky bluegrass region during family weekend outings and in derelict spaces around Lexington.
ZEN TWIGS
In this series of photographs, Meatyard has experimented with the different aperture settings on his camera in order to create the blurry background whilst still keeping the main subject in focus. The harsh black and dark tones of the subject contrasts to the white and brighter range of colours that can be seen in the background. Meatyard has avoided photographing rough and straight lines, instead choosing to look at the naturally occurring shapes that appear in the trees. This gives the images a softer look and feel, even though the contrasting tones could suggest otherwise. The blurred branches present in the background also adds to this effect. The fact that the main subject of the photograph is the only thing which is in focus draws the viewer’s eye to it, creating a focal point. Additionally, most of the subjects appear to be in the centre of the image, creating an equal amount of space on all sides, therefore making the photograph more aesthetically pleasing to the viewer’s eye.
