My project turned out to be successful – I communicated my idea well and had an original plan. My plan was centered around music and how it influences my identity. I used key pieces of music memorabillia I own in my photos e.g my record collection, to really get my idea across of the impact music has on people, especially myself. I related back to my artist references like Jim Goldberg and his collections and communicated his style through my work.

I sized my photos differently on a black background and placed them in different ways for each layout much like Jim Goldbergs work like Ruby Every Fall, but photographed myself and other models in ways like Bob Gruen did, and how his work explores each of his subjects individual identity.

If I could’ve improved on my work, I would’ve done more photoshoots in separate locations, and photographed more people than myself and Alex to take inspiration from how Jim Goldberg had multiple people in his collections. On the other hand, I feel I took a risk that was successful, as my final outcome was well representative of my identity and I presented it in an edgy and unique way I wouldn’t usually do. I experimented with my photos, using overlays and multiple exposure for most of them, and combined modern photography with older images, for example the photograph below on the right (of myself and my Grandad).

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

Early pioneers

Louis Daguerre was a French artist and photographer who after the death of Joseph Niépce, his partner whom he helped perfect the Heliography process, invented the daguerreotype process in 1839. The process involved the use of a silver coated copper plate, exposed in iodine vapour before being exposed to light. Some argue the date to the start of modernism, the is no doubt however that Daguerre’s invention market the turning point in the history of art and started a new era of experimentation and innovation. Aside from being know as one of the fathers of photography, Daguerre was also an accomplished painter.

Henry William Fox-Talbot was an English chemist, linguist and archaeologist trained at the university of Cambridge, who too was motivated to formulate a photographic process. Talbot could not draw his scientific observations even with the help of a camera lucida. He invented the process called Calotype, consisting of coating a sheet of paper with silver chloride and exposing it to light in the camera obscura. From there Talbot discovered that you can produce numerous positive images using the method of contact printing which involved placing the negative, emulsion side down on top of the light sensitive surface.

Henry Mullins was an English photographer who moved to Jersey in July 1848 setting up the Royal Saloon studio in the Royal Square. He was popular with the officers of the Royal Militaria Island of Jersey who liked having their portraits taken as well as their families. Mullins specialised in Cartes de visite (type of small photograph), today the archive of La Société hold a collection containing 9600 of his photographs.

Exploring techniques

Lighting is one of the most important factors when it comes to photography, not only it determines the brightness but also sets the tone, mood, atmosphere. Tts important to control the light in a way which allows for best textures, vibrancy of colours, intensity and harshness of the lines and shapes.

Diffusion of light

Diffusion of light relates to hardness or softness of light and determines the intensity of the shadow. Hard light produces harsher shadows and contrast between light and dark making the object stand out where as soft light diffuses the shadows producing soft edges that wrap around the object.

Hard light usually comes from a single, bright source, relatively small to the subject. A focused light will produce sharp shadows as it makes the light rays more parallel.

The softness of light increases with the size of the light source as the light travels in many directions moving towards the subject. you can create a soft light by using diffusion material or bouncing the light of as surface. Soft light makes colours more vibrant.

Natural light

Natural light photography uses sun as a light source. the amount of light you get varies by the time of the day. A lot of sun provides a lot of light while a cloudy day is good for photographing textures. Many photographers like the time of day knows as “the golden hour”. It’s the point just before sunset. It creates a warm, yellow light. At midday the light is much cooler, blue-white tone. The light turns blue half an our after the sun sets but there’s still light in the sky. The light changes colours over the day from oranges and yellows to blue light so it’s important to choose the right time and weather to suit it’s purpose.

Direction of light

The direction of the light refers to the way the light falls onto the subject. Front light evenly illuminates the subject without harsh shadows creating a flattening effect making the subjects features smaller and less noticeable such as wrinkles. In addition its extremely simple to use and widely available making it perfect for landscape images as well as portraits. Back light usually results in a silhouette or a blurry background. It can be used to emphasize the depth behind the subject as well as creating dramatic contrast between the subject and the background which makes it great for outdoor portraits. Side light illuminates the subject from the left or right this helps to show the texture, shape and form, it creates the strongest sense that the subject is three dimensional. since one side is more illuminated than the other the contrast will be stronger the harder the light. Overhead light generally isn’t great for photography because of the unpleasant shadows it produces sometimes resulting in “raccoon eyes”, deep shadows in eye sockets. Street and architectural photographers use it often as it creates interesting, contrast heavy shadows. Upward light lights the subject from below. This light is usually used in horror films, it makes us feel uncomfortable as its not natural. Sometimes portrait photographers use the upward light to get rid of shadows caused by highly positioned main light.

Here you can find out more about light direction and emotions:

https://photovideocreative.com/en/light-direction-emotions-choice-light-position-photos/

Temperature

Colour temperature is a way of measuring the hue of different light sources and it’s measured in kelvin. Visible colour temperature ranges from 1700 kelvin to 12000 kelvin (you cannot see infrared or ultra violet light).

The right colour temperature is important to achieve wanted results. Yellow and orange light creates a warm vibe where as blue light produces cold feelings.

Human eyes adjusts to different type of light so that it looks somehow normal and so we can see a white object as white even if the light is tinted. A camera on the other hand captures the real colour. In order to see whites as whites on camera you can adjust your white balance in three ways. To automatically adjust the white balance on your camera you have to engage the Automatic White Balance mode (AWB), this way the camera will try to correct it using sensors. Another way to adjust the white balance is manually. This can be done by thanking a picture of a white piece of paper as a reference point. Next, you choose the photo of the piece of paper and adjust your settings. If you plan on shooting in the same conditions as before, your cameras white balance should be correct. a third way to adjust you white balance is to do it in post processing using software such as adobe light room or photoshop, regulate the white balance using the temperature slider. Last way to adjust the white balance is by the presents on your camera, you have many options to choose from including daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, flash and even fluorescent light.

Using reflectors

There is two types of light you can use when it comes to photography, natural light and artificial light. Light can be tricky sometimes especially when using natural light. One of the most underrated tool is a reflector. Reflectors can be used to bounce or diffuse or flag the light.

When choosing the right reflector for your purposes there’s a few things you need to consider. First off, decide on the size of your reflector. For individual portraits and small work a smaller reflector might be best, although a big reflector might create a large are a of soft light, they are usually harder to handle so if you’re planning on using it mostly outside it might be a bit difficult to fold and carry. A 42″ reflector is the most used as it provides you with ease of use and good light. Choosing the reflector colour is the next step. This might be tricky as depending on the conditions of your environment one colour might be superior from the other. A silver reflector can increase highlights resulting in a high contrast image, its best for videos, product shoots and black and white photography. A gold reflector gives out warm natural light, its great for indoor portraits. White surfaces give out white, natural coloured light, its great as a fill light source. Black reflectors don’t actually reflect light but rather absorb it, it can be used as a flag to block out the light. Translucent reflectors are used to diffuse light resulting in a larger soft light source. When it comes to choosing different brands and shapes you might consider putting in the extra money if the product includes handles, brackets or frames, it might pay off in the future. There’s plenty ways to handle a reflector. You can hold it yourself, have an assistant hold it, or even have the subject hold it. You can also buy a stand designed to hold the reflector.

Methods of lighting

Key lighting – The primary source of artificial light. It allows for control over the atmosphere and style of the photos

Low key lighting emphasises the dark tones, blacks and shadows, increases contrast and minimalizes the mid-tones and whites creating a dramatic and mysterious effect.

In order to achieve a low key lighting you’ll need to use a small, intense light source and place it closer to the subject than you would with high key lighting and off to one side. You can experiment with additional light sources and reflectors as well. Place the subject a bit away from the backdrop to the light doesn’t illuminate it. Since white backgrounds easily reflect light, low key lighting photographs look best with a dark background. You can also use additional black fabric to help absorb the unnecessary light.

Low key lighting is best for dramatic close ups such as journalism and documentary photography or when emphasising a feature. It also works good for sports photography in very intense action.

Camera Settings

ISO – controls the amount of light by the sensitivity of the sensor. The ISO settings tell the camera how much light it needs to be able to produce an image. The higher the ISO, the faster the shutter speed you can use in low light situations whilst using the same aperture.

Aperture – controls the amount of light by the intensity through a series of different sized openings just like the pupil. The smaller the aperture the brighter the exposure and the smaller the depth of field. Small f-stops such as f/4 represent larger aperture and bigger f-stops such as f/16 represent smaller aperture.