I think our work shares some similarities as we’ve both used trees in our photos in order to frame our image and add character to it – the leaves on the trees create an interesting pattern which makes our images more visually interesting [though the trees are more prominent in my photo]. Along with that, we’ve both used the sky to add contrast to our work, making the shadows more prominent whilst drawing attention towards the other features in our images.
However, there are also a lot of differences between our work. For example, Fenton’s work uses a lower contrast, making the shadows appear lighter, creating a dreamlike feeling due to how light and airy the image looks. I, on the other hand, use a stronger contrast, causing my shadows to appear dark and overpower most of my image which draws attention towards the leaves in the centre of the image that overlap and start to create a pattern.
These are the contact sheets I have for my second photoshoot down at corbiere. I thought this would be a perfect location for a more coastal setting for my photographs.
Once again, I have picked and rejected the images that I want to include in my final outcomes after editing and the ones that I don’t want to include in my final pieces.
Key artists from the exhibit include Robert Adams, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Joe Deal, and Stephen Shore.
Robert Adams, Tract House, Westminster, Colorado, 1974, George Eastman House collections
What was the importance of the New Topographics show and its movement?
On the one hand, New Topographics represented a radical shift by redefining the subject of landscape photography as the built (as opposed to the natural) environment. To comprehend the significance of this, it helps to consider the type of imagery that previously dominated the genre in the United States.
Robert Adams, Tract House, Westminster, Colorado, 1974, George Eastman House collections
What was the New Topographics a reaction to?
Their stark, beautifully printed images of this mundane but oddly fascinating topography was both a reflection of the increasingly suburbanised world around them, and a reaction to the tyranny of idealised landscape photography that elevated the natural and the elemental
Robert Adams, Tract House, Westminster, Colorado, 1974, George Eastman House collections
These are my contact sheets for every single photo I ended up taking. I took a really big range of photos so that I would have a really good selection to choose from. For these photos, I ended up going for a walk in St Brelade’s around where the railway walk and the dunes are. I ended up sticking to mainly photos of the woods as I enjoyed the landscape they provided in front of me. I prefer taking photos of dense areas that are also quite cluttered as they present a more interesting image.
What I did was I picked or flagged all of the images that I wanted to use (pressing p), and then I rejected all the remaining images that I didn’t want to use for my final outcome (pressing x)
These are all the images I have ended up picking, getting ready to give them a star rating out of 5 and colour code them in order of green (ones I want to use), yellow (ones I might use) and red (ones I will not use).
Firstly I went through my images and colour coded them, separating the green ones to represent which photos I was using. I wanted to show a range of different landscapes and elements of nature. I was thinking of grouping different images together to show contrast e.g the soft clouds in the photos of the sky juxtaposed by the pebbles on the beach.
The majority of my photos will be in black and white to show my inspirations taken from photographers like Ansel Adams or Minor White however other photos will be in colour to show present day photography and the colour in nature.
I edited the exposure in this photo to add shading and define tone of the pebbles as i felt the photo in colour lacked emotion.I increased the texture and turned down saturation of the photo to make it darker at the top and lighter at the bottom, this highlights the road that to me looks like a tunnel.For this image i focused on the colour of the sky to contrast my black and white images. I wanted to represent the sublime so i made the sky the main focus by increasing the saturation.This image lacked emotion to me so i made it black and white to almost tell a story – the house behind the tree makes the photo look almost eerie.
BLACK + WHITE PHOTOS
The images i chose to edit in black and white are the ones i think represent my photographer inspirations the best. The original photos didn’t provide enough inspiration for me so alongside turning down the saturation I edited the exposure and contrast to show a clear focal point for some of the photos, for example the image with sky view – I highlighted the clouds and attempted to eliminate the bottom half on the photo to make the focus the light of the clouds contrasting the rest of the image.
My favourite image from my black + white photos is the one of pebbles on the beach, taken at Anne Port. I like this because the pebbles provide different shades which reminds me of Ansel Adams’ zone system. I also like the photo because it shows texture in a different way to my other images.
COLOURED PHOTOS
I selected these photos because the colour reminds me of romanticism photography/art and colour being used to bring an image together. I edited most of these by turning the saturation up slightly and lowering the exposure.
My favourite photo from my coloured images is the one of the sea, because to me it looks like a painting, and the yellow tone of the clouds over the sun reminds me of romanticism art/the sublime. Although the sea takes up the majority of the image i’ve made the clouds/sky the focal point because to me it evokes the most emotion.
COMPARING IMAGES
I’ve compared my photo (left) to one of Minor Whites pieces (right) i’ve chose to compare these images because they both present texture in a different way. Both photos are in black and white, however my photo is a harder texture and more defined whereas White’s image is a blur of texture, making it almost difficult to figure out what the photo represents. Both photos show a different range of light and dark tones in different places. However, the image on the right has wider areas of dark or light.
For my first shoot, I took photos on the cliffside of fort regent and down by pier road multi-story carpark, I also took photos behind the carpark by going along the pathway on the cliff edge. I used the flagging system on Lightroom to pick my best and favourite photos to use for editing.
Shoot 2
I took a lot more photos on shoot 2 compared to shoot 1, I once again used the flagging system on Lightroom to select my best images.
Best photos Shoot 1
I selected these images because I believe that they portray very well how a man-made urban landscape has a huge impact on nature and the natural landscape on the Earth, these were the best photos I took from shoot 1 out of the 55 photos take.
Best Photos Shoot 2
These were my favourite images from my second photo shoot, I like them the most as I believe these are the best images I took that portray an urban landscape the best.
Lightroom Edits
I used a before and after image on Lightroom to show the difference between the original image and the edited version of the image. Most of the Lightroom edits consisted of changing the contrast and exposure to make the images brighter/darker. I did this as some of the images cane out too bright or too dark and I wanted the images to look a lot more effective.
Shoot 1
Once I edited the exposure and contrast of this image, I created a virtual copy of it to create a black and white version of the image as well, which is below.
Shoot 2
Photoshop Edits
On photoshop, I experimented with introducing black and white into the images while also keeping parts of colour in the photo to create a unique and interesting effect. Original photos are on the left while the edited photo is on the right. I also experimented with a double exposure effect to create some unique and interesting images.
This photo was taken on Les Varines hill as the sun was going down. I like this image because I think the clouds and sun have a really good effect on the image due to the colours mixing together effectively. I also like the way how the exposure is low which makes the sunset stand out more than the trees and wall. The sky reveals a lot more detail than the bottom half of the image which is what I was hoping for when editing this image.
I will be using this as a reference towards my photographs as it will help guide me. I will mainly focus on taking photos during the day as it is easier to capture shots in the daylight and i preferably think that photos look better during the day as you can edit and change them to how you like, i will experiment taking some in the dark to expand my work and use of skill.
