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surface and colour

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These resources are designed to encourage you to explore your use of the camera and it’s functions. The more you experiment and discover, the more control you will have and this will lead to more creative outcomes…

CAMERA CRAFT – exploring exposure settings

ISO – experiment with different ISO values to enhance your exposures…be wary of “noise” in your images with high ISO

Photography : ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed, and Exposure for Newbies
Image result for canon camera control dial

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the “color temperature” of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light.

Cheat sheet: White balance presets | Digital Camera World
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Homework | Practical / photoshoot

Due in WEDNESDAY 7th October

Minimum Expected frames/ exposures = 150-200 images

Choose from a range of camera skills that you have learned in Week 3 and 4 and 5 to complete a new photo-shoot…

We want to see that you can explore and extend your handling of

  • colour (try limiting your palette of colours to : primary colours, colour harmonies, contrasting or complimentary colours if possible)
  • texture and surface quality (aim for contrasts : rough v smooth etc)
  • Show that you can adapt and control both ISO and White Balance (WB)…and even use it creatively too
  • exposure control
What is Metering, Metering Modes and How to Use it? – Camera Harmony
Red box shows exposure meter – the centre indicates a balanced exposure

Picture

Follow the highlighted sections of The 10 Step Process and create a blog post that clearly articulates your process and tackles these Assessment Objectives thoroughly :

  1. Mood-board, definition and introduction (AO1)
  2. Mind-map of ideas (AO1)
  3. Artist References / Case Studies (must include image analysis) (AO1)
  4. Photo-shoot Action Plan (AO3)
  5. Multiple Photoshoots + contact sheets (AO3)
  6. Image Selection, sub selection, review and refine ideas (AO2)
  7. Image Editing/ manipulation / experimentation (AO2)
  8. Presentation of final outcomes (AO4)
  9. Compare and contrast your work to your artist reference(AO1)
  10. Evaluation and Critique (AO1+AO4)
Independent, Reading, Task

Looking And Seeing

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Abstract Photography

Abstract photography takes place when a photographer focuses in on a part of a natural scene, isolating it from the background. By zeroing in on the color, texture, line, shape, geometry, symmetry, or reflection of a scene, it warps our perception of the real world and familiar objects, making it look unique.

Abstract Photography Inspiration - Adaptalux.com
An image i found on Google, when i searched for “Abstract Photography”. (not taken by me)

Saul Leiter

– Saul Leiter was an American artist and early pioneer of color photography. His interest began in his late teens.
– Leiter’s first exhibition of color photography was held in the 1950s at the Artist’s Club, a meeting place for many of the Abstract artists of that time.
– At the age of 23, he left theology school and moved to New York, which is where most of his photos were taken.

All Saul Leiter’s images.

I like Saul Leiter’s images as the use unique viberent colours in a city environment, which normally consists of grey and white buildings, instead of red green and yellow. He uses a high aperture to blur half of the image to create a focus on the main object in the image.

My ideas

– Fill up a bucket of water, and spray paint and mix it round. Then take photos of the patterns.
– Play a colourful video on my laptop and shoot the images through different glasses, eg, wine glasses and perfume bottles.

My Abstract Photos

How i did it
First, i opened up a video on my laptop with a colourful video playing, then i put a glass in front of the screen and took photos through the glass. I made sure the room was dark and the lights were off, to get a nice ambient effect.

Explanation
I like the outcome of these abstract photos, as they have a lot of vibrant colours, which is visually appealing.
They display a lot of unique shapes and patterns, as the glass distorted the appearance due to the curves and texture on the glass.
The colours compliment each other, which makes them stand out.
The photos are over exposed, which makes them more abstract as its harder to tell what the image is of.
The highlights compliment the shadows, although the black point is higher making the black more dominant, therefore bringing out the colours more

My Out Of Focus Photos

Explanation
I changed my camera to manual focus and put it to the most blurry setting, and took photos of different objects in front of the screen, and through the glass, using the same method as the abstract images.
I edited the images to circles in Photoshop to make it different and look nice.

Independent, Reading, Task

Looking and Seeing

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Focus and aperture mood board

For this project I explored the different ways in which aperture and focus can be experimented to create unconventional and abstract images.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard

Ralph was an American Photographer born in 1925 whose work was focused on disassociating with mainstream photography by creating unconventional abstract images. The projects in Ralph’s portfolio I will look at are ones where he experiments with focus and depth of field in order to broaden expressionism in photography.

In this photograph Ralph has tampered with the focus. He has made the image out of focus to create abstract silhouettes. He has also created a large tonal range by shooting the subjects in black and white. The subjects also bulge from the negative background as the composure consists of simplistic white background with repeating simplistic positive figures in the foreground.

In this image Ralph experiments with aperture. He focuses on the centre of the twig making the immediate foreground and the background out of focus. He does this by using a wide aperture. The angle at which he has framed the twig has created the out of focus foreground to lead the eye down the twig into the point that is in focus which gives the image a lot of depth and creates a satisfying abstract composition.

Saul Leiter

An American pioneer in photography in the early 50s. He specialised in experimenting with compositions to do with street photography. I will look at his work where he explores focus and depth of field

In this image Saul dabbles with both the focus and the aperture in this image. The out of focus exposure gives this image an energy and insinuates movement in the composition. The Large aperture has placed focus on the centre subject of what saul was trying the capture and leads the eye straight to it. This also makes the subjects look as if they are frozen in time as everyone around them is in chaotic movement.

Ossi Saarinen

Another Photographer that has experimented with depth of Field is Ossi Saarinen. In this composition he frames the fox by using a large aperture and focusing on the fox in the background and using the leaves in the foreground as a kind of vignetting. This gives the image a great depth of field and accentuates the subject.

Contact Sheets

Experimental Aperture Compositions

When composing these images I used a large aperture of f/1.4. I took inspiration from Meatyard and shot up close to some twigs and adjusted focus to accentuate different parts of the twig. I shot at an angle that would create a simplistic negative white background to contrast the twigs in the foreground. I also shot these images with a low ISO to create a gloomy feel. I then experimented with having my subject stand in various positions so I could create a great depth of field by using a large aperture.

Experimental Focus Compositions

When composing these images I took inspiration from Meatyard by intentionally shooting my images out of focus. This creates a promiscuous abstract feel. I edited the photos with a lot of contrast to help distinguish the blurry silhouettes from the background. In some of the images my intention was to make the subject somewhat noticeable however, in others I was aiming for an extremely abstruse composition where the subject is barely recognizable.

Independent, Reading, Task

The World is Beautiful

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Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German Photographer born in who specialised in black and white landscapes capturing the beauty of the natural world and also its man made elements specifically industrial architecture. He often shot in harsh lighting which gave his images long shadows and a large tonal range. He liked to shoot ordinary scenes from a unique angle. A lot of his pieces also had rhythmic features as he shot a lot of repeating items. He was also associated with New Objectivity Movement.

Albert arrived to photography when a new generation of photographers were moving away from pictorialism. His work reacted to expressionism, a way to face a reality and to have a figurative approach about photography.

Albert Renger-Patzsch started his work in nature, He drew the eye close to natural elements of the word around us. As he moved on, he began to focus more on modernity and drew our eye to more dynamic angles of our world, his favourite way to do this is by shooting industrialism and in addition to this he focused on how humans have changed the landscape around them.

In his book “The World is Beautiful” he creates a metaphysical description of the world in 1928. There is a thematic progression in the book; it starts with nature and then animals, then landscapes and the world constructed by man and he finishes it with an ambiguous image of a persons hands instigating they are preying or begging. He was aware of a transformative perception that was taking place in the 20s

The new objectivity movement was, simply put a style of photography that emerged out of Germany in the 1920s reacted to expressionism in a way that focused on the objective world. Some of the other artists involved in the era were August Sander and Karl Blossfeldt.

I think another photographer that has been influenced by the new objectivity movement is Henry Wessel. Henry shoots ordinary scenes and withdraws the beauty from them.

My Favorite photos from Albert Renger Patzsch

Image Analysis

The similarities in this image include:

  • They are both industrial settings which are man made.
  • They both have leading lines which make your eye travel down the length of the image.
  • They are both shot with a lot of light and therefore possess a large tonal range
  • Both images have a repeating rhythm, the image on the left has repeating geometric window frames and the image on the right has repeating factory chimneys.

The differences in this image include:

  • With the image on the right albert has framed the industrial factory between the two street side buildings, whereas when he took the image on the left he did not frame the building.
  • The image on the right has a greater depth of field
  • The image on the left is more geometric, this is created by the perfectly rectangular and uniform windows and the sharp corners everywhere.

My reaction to Alberts photography:

I exercised shooting interesting angles, macro framing and objectivity in our man made and natural world. I focused on finding leading lines that draw the eye to centre of the image. I also shot with a small aperture to create a great depth of field and to create more contrast in the image and accentuate the black and white film photography look that Albert used to shoot in.

Contact sheets

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the formal elements – paper

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Jaroslav Rossler

“Light Abstraction” – Jaroslav Rossler (1923)

Jaroslav Rossler was born in Czechia, in 1902. Rossler is an example of a photographer who focuses his work on “The Formal Elements”, as he finds the beauty in the simplicity of objects. He started his journey in photography at 21 years old, as he used this skill in his career creating typographic layout for magazines. Jaroslav Rossler’s work was heavily influenced by futurism and cubism, this lead him into creating his art of abstract photography.

“Akt” – Jaroslav Rossler (1926)

I took inspiration from this photograph titled: “Akt” by Jaroslav Rossler to approach the theme of “The Formal Elements”, as it perfectly represents the beauty of simple composition to focus on lighting and shadows. The geometric shapes of the paper create crisp, sharp shadows into the background to create a juxtaposition between light and dark.

My Response:

To explore “The Formal Elements” I photographed paper and explored lighting and texture by using artificial lighting to change the intensity and movement of shadows and distressed the paper in different ways to experiment with different shapes.

I don’t like the images in red because they are either out of focus or the lighting makes it difficult to define the creases and shadows.

I believe the images in green are my best photographs because they have distinct, contrasting shadows and shapes.

Photoshop development:

for the first two images, I used the invert adjustment and the monochrome filter to distort the images original shadows and lighting but still keep the same uniformed, lack of colour.

For the third image I used the invert filter again to switch the shadows and lighting but used colour hues and adjustments in order to achieve the pink-toned look of the photograph.

Using the Formal Elements to analyse my photographs:

Light: For this image I used artificial lighting. The light source is coming from the bottom left, behind the paper to create distorted shadows in front of the shapes.

Lines: The lines of the paper vary in size, however they all have the same, uniformed, triangular shape. I believe the leading lines are the straight bends at the top of each fold which directs the viewers eye to the almost pyramid-like shape of the paper.

Repetition: The form of repetition I used in this photograph is the repeated pattern of folds in the paper, that create the repetition of triangular shadows.

Shape: The folding of the paper creates a geometric repetition of triangular shapes leading to the centre of the image.

Space: Although the image is very organised and minimal, I believe the shadows add a sense of depth to the image. The negative space in the background allows the viewer to focus on the sharp shape of the folds, rather than the chaos behind.

Texture: The smooth texture of the paper is juxtaposed with the sharp folds to create a contrast of texture.

Value/Tone: There is a range of tones from dark to light in this image, with the top of the folds being the lightest part of the image and the sheltered area under the folds contrasting this with the brooding darkness. Overall, the photo tends towards lightness in the image.

Colour: Although there is minimal colour within this image, there is a slight green hue to the image. I think this is purely a reflection from the artificial lighting mixed with my current camera setting, however it gives the image an almost ominous tone.

Composition: The composition of the photo is very simplistic in order to showcase the simple geometric shape of the folds. the focal point of the folds is present from the bottom left third and into the middle third.

Independent, Reading, Task

the world is beautiful

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Albert Renger-Patszch was a German photographer who was heavily involved in the new objectivity movement which emerged in 1920s Germany to contrast the abstract art of German expressionism . The movement focused on industrial objects and buildings and was similar to the style of realism. His attitude towards photography created a ‘faithful recording of the world’ according to the Tate. Renger-Patszch photographed a range of different things, from botanical’s, to still to life, to industrial architecture. His book “the world is beautiful doesn’t focus on just one aspect and instead shows this mix. He often used light to create beautiful shadows in his photos. He also used a lot of symmetry and repetition which made his industrial photos look more harsh but grew him criticism for being “too beholden to a naive idea of photographic realism and ended up aestheticizing everything, thus obscuring social realities” Other artists who were prevalent in the era of new objectivity were August Sander and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

analysis of his photos

Both of these photos are in a black and white tone. This was the only option for Renger-Patszch at the time as coloured photography was not available. Even though this wasn’t a conscious decision, it adds to the affect on the audience as it accentuates the monotony of the repeated line of loves as well as making the shadowing on the glasses clearer. The lack of colour brings attention to the objects. Both photos are of man made objects, even though the loaves are more organic they have a more industrial feel to them compared to the glasses as the photo is so focused on their symmetry and faultlessness. As said before the shadowing in his photos are excellent, this is partially due to the artificial lighting that adds an almost clinical feeling to the images, especially of the loaves. The cropping and framing of the photos is interesting as in the right hand photo, not all of the glasses are in frame and in the other photo the frame has been tilted instead of just rows photographed. This gives the illusion that the loaves just carry on going forever, again giving the photo an industrial feel.

Renger-Patszch inspired photography

I was especially inspired by Renger-Patszchs work on still life, in particular his photo of glasses, so i decided to take some similar photos using objects around my house. I ended up using some vintage crockery and cutlery which I felt worked really well.

  • This is my final image
Independent, Reading, Task

the world is beautiful

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 Albert Renger-Patszch

Albert Renger-Patszch was a German photographer born in 1897 and later died in 1966. Renger-Patszch began his photography career at the early age of twelve, and got his first job in photography in the early 1920’s for the Chicago Tribune. He opened his first photography exhibition 1927 and produced his second book, “The World is Beautiful”, in 1928. This book focused on the aspect of New Objectivity, a German movement as a reaction against expressionism. “The World is Beautiful” displays one hundred of Renger-Patszch’s best photographs which focus on natural forms, industrial subjects and mass-produced objects. Like Edward Weston, in the United States, Renger-Patszch believed that the value of photography was in its ability to reproduce the texture of reality, and to represent the essence of an object.

Albert Renger-Petzsch’s iconic black and white work could be compared to the work of Ansel Adams, who’s career in photography was also relevant at the time of Renger-Petzsch’s work. The main similarity they share is the uniformed, black an white theme, which allows the viewer to focus on the shape, pattern and lighting rather than the colours.

“Mount Williamson, Sierra Nevada, from Manzanar, CA” – Ansel Adams (1944)

Photo Analysis

Contextual:

This image, named “Fungi Lepiota Procera” was featured in Albert Renger-Patszch’s famous book: “The World is Beautiful”. It is a photograph from his botanical study is of the underside of a mushroom found in woods and pastures within the northern hemisphere.

Conceptual:

“Fungi Lepiota Procera” was taken as a part of Albert’s famous publication in 1928 which contained 100 of his best images that focused on the New Objectivity movement. The purpose of this publication as a whole was to disregard old-fashioned expressionism and to explore the universality of both natural and man made life throughout the world. Essentially, the Renger-Patszch’s idea was to capture the mundane everyday objects and bring their beauty to light by cropping sections of the image and adding a sleek monochrome tone.

Technical:

I believe artificial lighting was used for this image as the photo is of high quality and bold shadows are created. The harsh lighting creates a clear contrast between light and dark within the lines which is exaggerated by the monochromatic effect. the lighting is coming from straight ahead as the shadows aren’t cast in a particular direction and they are all rather even around the surface. The photo is quite flat as there is no background to compare depth against the focal point, and the whole image is in focus, so it is hard to tell if there is a narrow or large depth of field.

Visual :

A pattern of repetition is the main focus of this image, with the repeating lines pointing towards the centre of the mushroom to create a focal point, that being the stalk of the mushroom. the focal point is in the centre third of the image and the other two thirds are taken up by the fine lines leading from the stalk. There is no colour in this photo which accentuates the intense shadows in between the contrasting, white lines

“The World is Beautiful” inspired photoshoot:

I feel like the images in green are my more successful photos as they display better patterns of line and repetition, like the ones seen in Albert Renger-Patszch’s work.

I don’t feel like the images highlighted in red are as successful as my other images because they don’t show repetition or patterns of lines like the work of Renger-Patszch, and for a couple of the images the lighting is too over-exposed. I think these images are less relevant to the subject of “New Objectivity”.

Photoshop Development:

For the first edit, I took a close-up photo of a hydrangea and cropped a section that I felt was the most interesting, with a repetition of curved lines. I used the invert tool to change the shadows and highlights and then changed the image to fit the monochromatic theme of Renger-Patzsch’s work.

For the second and third edits, I cropped what I felt like was the focal point of two succulents and used the monochrome filter to fit Renger-Patzsch’s black and white theme. These two photos are more relevant to the theme of New Objectivity as they display clearer patterns, texture and repetition.

I used natural lighting in these photos to prove the true, natural beauty of the subjects in their natural form. I chose to focus on Renger-Patzsch’s photographs on natural forms, as I felt the patterns and repetitions produced by nature are more interesting to the viewer as they are not man-made, therefore there is less explanation to the way they look which, in my opinion, makes them more beautiful.

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Contact Sheets

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Contact sheets date back to when you took images on film. Now they aren’t used a digital cameras have a SD card in them.

A contact sheet is all the developed negative images laid out onto photographic paper. They aren’t full size, instead they are used to give the photographer an idea on how the images look.

Contact sheets are helpful as they allow the photographer to see all the images, select the best quality images and then develop the images they want without wasting resources.

William Klein

William Klein is a photographer who was born on April 19th 1928. He was born in New York, however during WW2 he was stationed in Germany and later France, where he would later settle after being discharged in 1945.

He sometimes used his contact sheets to tell a story. However he mainly used them like others, to decide which images he wanted to use.

William Klein

My Own contact sheet

Independent, Reading, Task

The World Is Beautiful

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New Objectivity by Albert Renger-Patzsch (686PH) — Atlas of Places

Albert Renger-Patzsch
– Renger-Patzsch was born in Wurzburg, on June 22nd, 1897. He was German photographer who began making photos at the age of twelve.

– In 1928 Reger-Patzsch published The World Is Beautiful, a collection of 100 images, which had lots of detail, mostly patterns in nature and man made structures.

– He likes to take photos of highly detailed and complex flowers and other nature plants. Additionally, he prefers to take photos of unique architecture.

– His nature photography captures what the eye can’t see. He captures each fold in and every detail in each picture.

– Renger-Patzsch makes his images black and white, which gives the image a high contrast, and reveals the tones more.

– The black and white makes it so that you focus on the geometric patterns rather than the colours.

– Lots of Renger-Patzsch’s images use leading lines, framing, repetition and rhythm. Which gives off a more visually pleasing image.

Image Comparison
– Both these images were taken by Albert Renger-Patzsch.

  • Firstly, the trees are natural and randomly positioned, where as the spades are carefully positioned.
  • There is more depth in the photo with the trees, as it fog makes the trees fade away.
  • The photo with the trees uses natural light, where as the photo of the spades is most likely artificial light.
  • Both photos have repetition of the subject.
  • The whole of each spade is in shot, however in the other photo, the top of the trees are cut off, this shows how big the trees are in comparison to the spades.

My Photos

Architectural Photos
– Firstly, I took photos of buildings that have detailed symmetry and patterns from the windows.
– I made sure that the sky was in all of them and i commonly used the line of thirds technique to make them to create a unique appearance.

Nature Photos
– I used a macro lens to get a close up shot of the objects I photographed. It made it so you can see every detail on the focus.
– It created a shallow depth of field, as I used a low f/number. This makes us focus on a specific object as the background is blurred.
– I took lots of photos of leaves as there have many natural patterns. Also, I took a close up of a feather, which as a repeated pattern with smaller lines coming off the central line.

Overall I made all the photos black and white, as it is in the style of Albert Renger-Patschz. The black and white effect, created a high contrast and made all the patterns more visible.