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PERSONAL PROJECT PHOTOSHOOT 3 – Underwater

I put a GoPro dome attachment on the front of a GoPro, so that I could get a 50/50 shot. Half underwater, half above the water. I couldn’t see what I was shooting as there isn’t a screen on the back of the GoPro, as it is an older version. So I had to point and guess that the subject was in frame and that it was a good composition.

Overall, looking at the photos there were some good images that have a potential after post-production in Photoshop. Due to the water being “foggy” the clarity and dehaze slider will be extremely useful. However, since I shot during midday the water was lighter which allowed me to capture the underwater subject in more detail.

Final/Best Images

These are the best image from the photoshoot, after editing them Photoshop. There was no complicated edits involved, all that I did was make adjustments in a camera-raw filter, and occasionally use gradual and radial filter to emphasis the subject better.

Overall, these are my favourite images, especially the last three. They have a good composition compared to some of the photos that were produced on this shoot. They have great colours that give off summer vibes. The subject fills most of the underwater space in most of the images.

PERSONAL PROJECT PHOTOSHOOT 2 – Drone Photos

Firstly, I flew my drone around the bay and captured some unique angles of the bay, and a general overview shot of the bay. It allowed me to capture some of the features of the bay in greater detail such as, Fort Leicester (heritage site), and the l’islet. The contact sheet that contains the images from the drone flight of the bay.

I also explored the hill leading the Bouley Bay, as I could compare the images with some of the old photos form the archive. Using the winding road images, means that I could link in some photos of Bouley Bay Hill Climb, which is an iconic event which happens in the area. An example of the contact sheet featuring the hill.

These are the best images that I took with my drone, after being edited in photoshop.

These 2 images are my favourite images. I really like how the sky has a hazed look to it, and has a gradient of overexposed sky, which gives the image a softer look. For the jet ski image, I used the clone stamp tool, and the spot healing brush to remove distractions such as, bright orange buoys, and some floating seaweed.

I made sure to capture images of the road which the Bouley Bay Hill Climb takes place on, which makes linking images of bikers and racers easier to connected relations to.

Overall, I like how the images came out. I feel that I achieved my main goal when taking photos with the drone, which was to show unique angles, that offers a new perspective. I like the images that show the object in a more 3D aspect, rather than the straight down, birds eye view shot. However, it still works well, especially for the cars driving down the road. I found that editing these images were easier as I could easily change the composition at which I took these images, as there were no limits for example, with a normal camera you can only shoot from as high as you climb to reach, where as a drone is controlled remotely.

PERSONAL PROJECT PHOTOSHOOT 1 – LONG EXPOSURE

These are some of the contact sheets that include all of my long exposure images. They weren’t all taken on the same day, which allowed me to capture the area in different light.

Editing

Most of the images have been editing in the same way using similar processes, so I will only show one example of the editing process.

I decided not to use the basic filters, gradual filters, and radial filters. Instead I used the brush as there are lots of different elements that need to be individually focused on. I used the brush to select different parts of the image, for example I started with the pier, I increase the shadows, clarity, and the sharpness. The red is only showing the mask and won’t be there in the final image, as it helps you see where the edited are happening, but I turn it off when making the adjustments. I also used a brush filter on the water where I decreased the temperature, clarity, and texture.

For images that I combined multiple image to create one final image. I made sure that they were all aligned before making them into one image, then made the edits.

Final/Best Images

I edited all of the good images in Photoshop. For some of the images I had to merge approximately 10 images to create a single final image, and then do all of the simple edits, such as gradual and radial filters, brushes, contrast, exposure, etc.

I love the mist look that the water has, due to the long exposure. It is a combination of 8 images, which really helped display the effect. The composition is good as it includes the green, seaweed covered rocks, which balances out the green in the background of the headland.

This image expresses a wide selection of colours as it was shot during sunset. It is a composition of 10-15 images, as this helped it get the surreal look.

These images give off a cold atmosphere, they were shot earlier in the day compared to the two images above. They are my strongest images however they still show great camera skills and they have an interesting composition.

I like this image a lot, although it is not clear it was taken at Bouley Bay, it is clear that it is associated with a bay and the rock formations around a coastline. It strongly captures motion and the black and white edit creates more of a contrast, that brings out the blurred lines that is the highlighted water from where the sun is shining on it.

Another one of my favourite images, however there where boats in the image, but I removed them as they were blurry because they were moving. Plus, it gives a more natural look to they photo, although it takes away from the authentic bay feeling.

This is another more colourful image. It was taken at high tide during a sunset. If gives off tropical ocean blue colours, which contrasts with the pink sky. This colour combination gives off a calming feeling.

This image was taken at the secret bay behind the pier at Bouley Bay. The rocks were just peaking above the water, which made for some interesting shots. The combination of blue and orange gives off a tranquil vibe.

Not the best image, however it showcases the bay during golden hour. And having the water out of focus makes the viewers focus shift to the islet and the headland behind.

Another favourite image, the blue tone creates a surreal, alone, spooky atmosphere. Whilst, the shuttle

Overall, I love how these photos came out. The long exposure effect creates a new perspective on the area

Photo book inspirational photographers

My photos consist of mainly 3 types of categories, underwater, aerial, and long exposure.

Underwater

The main photographers that inspired me to take the underwater photos was, Matt Porteous and Phil de Glanville.

These are Phil de Glanville’s most recent images which he uploaded to Instagram under @ phlyimages. He uses a mix of aerial and underwater photography to build his portfolio. The common, cold, blue theme stays consistent throughout his images which looks amazing makes it visually strong. He also does a bit of photo manipulation, an example is in the bottom right. Phil de Glanville is a great inspiration as he does a bit of everything.

Matt Porteous is an environmental portrait, a Royal family Photographer and, an ocean storyteller. He travels the world capturing images to raise awareness of the state of the ocean. He also a founder of Ocean Culture Life which raises money that goes towards environment protection and cleansing.

Aerial

The main photographer that inspired me to take the aerial photos was, Marc Le Cornu, and Tobias Hägg.

Marc Le Cornu is a Jersey based photographer that mainly focuses on aerial photography, to capture the key features of the island. He has won the NY Photo Awards 2021, Aerial Photography Awards 2020, and the Drone Awards 2019.

I took a lot of inspiration from these photos as they are of places I know.

Tobias Hägg is a photographer & videographer based in the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden. He’s passionate about exploring landscape, adventures & the great outdoors Tobias travels to the farthest expanses of earth capturing timeless moments from unique perspectives through photography and film.

Long Exposure

The main photographer that inspired me to take the long exposure photos was, Kieran Stone.

Stone is based in Melbourne, and is an NiSi Filters Australia Ambassador, which is why he is creating vibrant and eye catching photography from around the world, whilst creating NFTs and prints.

I like his work of the long exposure of the sea and the waves which is what I tried to capture in my photo book.

Deconstructing A Photobook

1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

“In the stately ways of our shining capital the dwellings of high and low raise their roofs in rivalry as in the beginning… how often does the mansion of one age turn into the cottages of the next.” (Kamo no Chomei)
Tokyo is a visual journey through a city at once futuristic and obsolete, its visionary design worn out – like that of a past era. Johanasson uses photography to index the city, finding form and pragmatic order through accumulation and sequence, revealing the city’s hidden, modular logic: lego-like segments, a basic square unit repeated indefinitely and in various sizes. These images are unpeopled, showing only the architecture of the city, a container of 13 million people, organised around mass movement and the funnelling of human traffic. Between the concrete, glass and steel, the occasional green life sprouts – miniature gardens in the narrow alleyways, or a cluster of flower pots lining the sidewalk. The architecture creates its own topography, and the city is glimpsed as the last outpost of a fading, mechanised world.

https://josefchladek.com/book/gerry_johansson_-_tokyo

2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)

Gerry Johansson. a Swedish photographer who lives in Höganäs in southern Sweden. He makes “straight and pragmatic” photographs with “an objective view of a geographic location.”

His books include America, Sweden, Germany, Antartic, Toyko, and American Winter. His work is held in the collection of Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden, where he has had solo exhibitions. He has been awarded the region Skanes kulturpris and the Lars Tunbjork Prize.

Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
The book is a hardback, with smooth paper that is easy to flick through, and it smells like paper.

Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
Good quality paper, with black and white photos. The cover is a linen, cloth texture.

Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
There is about 50-80 pages of black and white photos. There is one photo per double spread, that is quite big. There are some landscape photos that take up both pages. The orientation is portrait approximately A4 size.

Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. perfect binding/saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello.
It is perfect binding, that is sturdy and firm.

Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping.
The front cover has a image printed on the front with linen as the border, on the back there is a shiny imprinted text on blue linen.

Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
Literal: Tokyo (about Tokyo, title on the back of the book)

Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
Images of the city and its architecture, not a clear connection to a story. The black and photos showcase Tokyo using minimalism, shapes, and texture.

Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative.
Every image is based off buildings, or close ups of walls that include interesting shapes. Images may juxtapose each other using different compositions.

Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
Its either 1 image per page with a thick white border, or 1 image on a double spread that takes up about 3/4 of he space. There or there is a combination of both, a full page image with a white page with a small caption on.

Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.
There is only juxtaposition in how the image in presented, e.g. zoomed in that draws attention to its details.

Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others.  Use of captions (if any.)
There is no essay or text, there are only captions. For example, 044 Odabia. Most commonly there is one small caption on a small page, or several (3-6) captions in the corner of the blank page.

Personal Study – History of Photography Essay

Photography was invented in 1839, however, it goes back much further than this. Camera Obscura is a process that has been around for centuries before photography was invented. A dark room with a small opening on one side creates an inverted projection of what is outside the room.

Optics: the principle of the camera obscura. Engraving, 1752. | Wellcome  Collection

This process was used as far back in history to where it was believed to have been used to inspire paleolithic cave paintings where tiny holes in animal hide would create a camera obscura in a cave. It was then again heavily used by renaissance artists in the 15th century. The scientific knowledge of light sensitive materials also dated back far before 1839. The combination of these two past times in the exploration of light is what lead to the first photograph ever taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Niépce developed a technique he used to create the world’s oldest surviving product of a photographic process called heliography which uses light sensitive printing plate to produce an image. In 1826, he used the camera obscura technique combined with heliography to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. The image is simply titled View from the Window at Le Gras and it can be seen below.

When was the first photo taken? And what was it a photo of? | Metro News

However this technique was highly impractical, the image took 8 hours of exposure to create, but it was a quintessential leap into the invention of photography.

1839 was the year that a Frenchman, Louis Daguerre and an Englishman, Henry Fox Talbot introduced rival processes that would accomplished what the called ‘fixing the shadows’

Louis Daguerre | French painter and physicist | Britannica
Louis Daguerre
William Henry Fox Talbot | Biography, Invention, & Facts | Britannica
Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot was an accomplished inventor however he couldn’t draw. Henry wanted a way to capture what he was seeing before him and therefore started thinking about camera obscura and the chemical processes of light sensitive materials. He began experimenting with paper coated in silver salts and shoe-box sized cameras nicknamed ‘mousetraps’. This developed something called a negative. This is when the tones in an image are reversed.

Invention of Photography - Fox Talbot - The British Library

Talbot realised he could produce multiple prints from these exposures which made him realise it would be possible to reproduce images for the masses which would go on to shape modern photography. These prints are called Calotypes. Louis Daguerre was an academically trained French painter who had an alternative response to Henry’s process. Louis was described as a showman who was interested in spectacle. At the same time he started experimenting with photography he was selling tickets to see his large scale paintings like an early cinema experience. Due to this Louis wanted to be the person who gained the fame and commercialisation while Henry was more a private person trying to meet a private need. What ended up was the complete opposite. Louis developed a method of printing onto a silvered copper plate creating an image that was much clearer and sharper than that of Henry’s calotypes, these were named Daguerreotypes. However, Talbot realised producing daguerreotypes was a dead end and that human communication was through paper. Daguerreotypes did not have the ability to create a multitude of prints like the calotypes, they were also very fragile and if they you don’t guild them the image wipes right off, making it a less commercially successful process. Because the early days of photography were largely financially motivated, the beginnings of photography were all about the Darwinian struggle to see which process will prosper in the industry. Overall, Talbot ended up becoming the showman that Daguerre wanted to become.

The Gift of the Daguerreotype - The Atlantic
First Photo of a human – daguerreotype

The Photograph world was a strange place for the public. It had a magical element and there was a lot of mystery regarding the process of photography. The development of photography was a part of a boom in technology in the mid 19th century. Industrialism was changing the world as people knew it and photography was a huge part of this, being able to freeze a moment in time changed the way people understood the world. With developments from a man named Richard Maddox who developed lightweight gelatine negative plates for photography in 1871, photography was moving along in leaps and bounds starting to make it more commercially understood and available to the public.

History of Photography in Brighton

This leads onto the George Eastman. George is seen to be the man responsible for turning photography from a specialised craft haunting the doorstep of the art world into a mass market industry.

George Eastman | International Photography Hall of Fame

Eastman revolutionised photography by degrees, first by developing photographic film rolls.

C is for... Celluloid: The Goodwin vs. Kodak patent battle over flexible  film - National Science and Media Museum blog

A few years later Eastman took this concept and put into into a compact amateur camera he called the Kodak.

Original Kodak Camera, Serial No. 540 | National Museum of American History

He marketed this towards the masses making photography an easy process for anyone with the money to do. The slogan for Kodak was “You press the button. We do the rest”.

The Controversy Behind Using A Button To Take A Photo

Kodak offered a service where customers would post their camera to Kodak and they would send back the developed images and the camera with a new roll of film loaded. He later offered a cheaper product originally marketed at children called the brownie.

The Kodak Brownie (1900) - FOTOVOYAGE

George Eastman made photography what we know it as today with film photography returning in popularity by a generation who never got to experience it.

The best film camera for beginners in 2021 | Creative Bloq

Steven Sasson, brings us to where we are today. He was an engineer who worked in Kodak, created the world’s first digital SLR camera. It was made from different camera parts, weighed 3.5 kilos, and took 0.01 megapixel B/W photos, recording them to a cassete tape.

What is the First DSLR in the World and Who Developed It? | Blog for  photographers | KeepSnap

Personal Project – Photoshoot Plans

Shoot 1 – Long Exposure

I plan to take long exposure photos of the bay at high tide, I will have to do this in the evening, as it is too bright in the day and the images will be overexposed, as the I’m using two gradual filters. 1 right way up and 1 upside down to create a homemade ND filter. I will also use a tripod to create a sharp image, to reduce camera shake, and I will use a 2 second delay to give the camera enough time to stabilise after I press the shutter release button.

Shoot 2 – Drone

I will use my drone (DJI Mini 2) to take aerial photos of the bay, the Heritage site, the islet, the pontoon, and the boats/jet skis. This lets the viewer see a angle of the bay that they have never seen before. I can also go up on top of the headland, which gives me access to a wider overall angle of the bay.

Shoot 3 – Underwater

I will also create a set of underwater photographs of people jumping off the pontoon. To achieve the summer look it must be sunny. This will also make the underwater section more clears as the sun is lighting it up. I will use a GoPro and an attachable underwater dome. This allows me to create a half above water and half under water shot. When in the water i can also take photos of the headland around the bay, as the angle offers a unique perspective.

Shoot 4 – Minimalism/Objects

For this shoot I will collect items/objects from the beach and take them to a makeshift studio and photograph them. I will use a black background and 1 light source to create some interesting photos. I can also use these photos to experiment with some photo manipulation and recreate an alive oyster in Photoshop.

Shoot 5 – Day Long Exposure / Shots

I will go down to Boulay Bay when it is high tide in the day time and attempt to take long exposure photos of the waterfall, the water, and water splashing off of the rocks. I’ll need a tripod and ND filters. I have taken some photos for another project, which I feel would fit in very well with this project

Personal Sudy – Art Movements and Isms

Pictorialism

Time Period

1880 to 1920

Key Characteristics/conventions

Photographs that resemble art, making photography handmade, break away from commercialism.

Artist Associated

Alfred Stieglitz, Julia Margret Cameron, Peter Emmerson, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Photo-succession, Brotherhood of the linked ring, Vienna camera club.

Key Works

Alfred Stieglitz – Equivalent (cloud studies)

John Everett Millais – Ophelia (inspiration)

George Davidson – Reflections

Methods

Vaseline on lense

Scratching the negative

Brushing prints with chemicals

Realism

Time Period

1915

Key Characteristics/Conventions

Break away from pictorialism, focus on sharp focus, shape and form.

Artists Assosiated

Paul Strand, Edward Western, Walker Evans, Cunningham

Key Works

Paul Strand – Photograph, Blind woman

Dorothea Lange – Migrant Mother

Walker Evans – Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife

Methods

Picture looks like it does in the viewfinder, emphasis on framing, abstraction and sharp focus.

Modernism

Time Period

1900 – 1940

Key Characteristics/Conventions

Reaction to the enlightenment, examine impediments holding society back. New alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life. New imagery, materials and techniques to create artworks that they felt better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies.

Artists Associated

Picasso, Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, Dora Maar, Edward Weston, Man Ray

Key Works

Edward Weston Nude 1936

Edward Steichen A Bee on a Sunflower 1920

Dora Maar Untitled (Hand-Shell) 1934 

Herbert Bayer Humanly Impossible (Self-Portrait) 1932

Tina Modotti Bandelier, Corn and Sickle 1927

Man Ray Glass Tears 1932

Methods

False brass lens to the side of camera, abstraction and a highly defined clarity,  photomontage,  cropping and framing a single body part, distorting and accentuating its curves and angles,  solarisation and using photograms (developing directly onto photographic paper rather than onto film) 

Postmodernism

Time Period

1970 – 2000

Key Characteristics/Conventions

Reaction against the ideas and values of modernism, as well as a description of the period that followed modernism’s dominance in cultural theory and practice in the early and middle decades of the twentieth century. Scepticism, irony and philosophical critiques of the concepts of universal truths and objective reality.

Artists Associated

Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Sherrie Levine, Jean Baudrillard, Edward Burtynsky, Jeff Koons

Key Works

Jeff Koons – Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Two Dr J Silver Series, Spalding NBA Tip-Off) 1985

Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol, 1962

Cut Piece by Yoko Ono, 1964

Joseph Kosuth – One And Three Chairs (1965)

Methods

artists experimented with form, technique and processes rather than focusing on subjects

interpretation of our experience was more concrete than abstract principles

Carolle Benitah Artist reference

Carolle Benitah is a French-Moroccan photographer, born in 1965, who is best known for her multimedia pieces that focus on the theme of identity, Benitah’s in particular, through archived family photographs. With these Benitah utilises the techniques collage, ink drawings and embroidery in order to create her narratives of family history, personal memories, mourning and the passage of time. As well as this, Benitah uses this work as a way to reinterpret her past, stating that she uses “the falsely decorative function of embroidery to create designs that break the images of happiness and deconstruct the myth of the ideal family.”. This look back on the past has also allowed Benitah to understand and establish her current identity in a more defined manner, and gain knowledge of the fears, secrets and memories that helped shape it.

Analysis

Carolle Benitah – A la plage (from Photos Souvenirs) – 2009

This collage image produced by Carolle Benitah, from her series ‘Photos Souvenirs’, showcases what appears to be an old family portrait of the children, in a beach setting. The composition of the original image places the group of children just off centre, leaving a large amount of empty space around them. This bright, white sand creates a heavy contrasts with the dark, black hair of the children, as well as the strong shadows cast behind them. Due to the vastness of the background there is a lack of leading lines in this photograph. The children are the clear focal point of this image, but in particular the child who had been replaced by a red silhouette is the main point of focus in my opinion. This is due to its bold contrast with the black and white tone of the photograph, bringing in some of the only element of colour this piece has to offer. As well as this, the red cut out section here seems to posses a texture which is different to the one of the photograph. Here Benitah has utilised the border of the photograph as a place to isolate the two children who have been cut out of the family portrait, leaving blurred white empty spaces.

From a technical viewpoint, it is clear to see that the original image was taken with natural light due to its beach settings and the shadows. These shadows can also be an indicator of the time of day in which this was taken, which is most likely around midday, as the shadows are short and close to them. As a result of the large amount of natural light flooding the lens, the ISO setting used when this photograph was taken was most likely low, meaning the image would not be over exposed. In addition to this, it is probable that the shutter speed was on a fast setting due to this as well, as a longer shutter speed would also result in an over exposed image. Due to this brightness of light, the white balance setting used for this photograph would have a mid to high one. This photograph appears to have been taken with a small aperture, as the image is taken far away from the children and they are all still in focus with no blur on the background behind them.

Here Benitah seems to have reinterpreted her family history and presented the truth by removing two of the children out of the frame of the photograph and onto the border, as well as making one completely red. This could be interpreted as a way to foreground the exclusion of these children, possibly by the child in red, as the blurred effect on the blank spaces where the children used to be could imply a sense of uncertainty and anxiousness, contrasting with the bold red and the powerful position the child is stood in. This piece may be highlighting how they might not have been treated as part of the family. This border acting as a frame for the altered image, may also be a way of communicating what is seen as the ideal family, removing any imperfections. This inclusion of the border could also be a way of showing the issues that have been left out of the photo and creating a wider perspective in which the audience are able to see the truth. Furthermore, the angle in which this photo was taken could suggest that the children are viewed as inferior as they are being looked down on, by supposedly the parents or adults that took this photograph. Due to this piece being taken from Benitah’s series ‘Photos Souvenirs’ it may be a depiction of her painful childhood experiences, in which she has chosen to portray the truth which was hidden by the innocence of the original photograph.