Queens Valley Reservoir is owned by Jersey Water, being completed in November 1991 makes it Jerseys newest and largest reservoir as it can hold up to 1,193 megalitres of untreated water. It is split into two sections, the bottom being the largest and can provide Jersey with water for up to 48 days. In the middle of the reservoir there is a large tower, where water can draw off of three different pipes of varying depths throughout the water which transports it to different treatment works, it also acts as a overflow in case the water level gets too high. This reservoir is opened to the public where you can go for a walk, run, etc as it has several routes around the reservoir and the main circuit being 1.9 metres where you can see an array of nature and wildlife.
Examples of my least successful shots –
Why I think that this is one of my least successful shots is because the lighting caused by the sunlight makes the photo appear really dark in half of it and the part which isn’t affected appears to be really bright, which I do not like. Therefore this makes the intricate details of the tree trunks/water ripples in the lake/colours of the leaves become lost within the photo, which I do not want to happen as in my photos I want to show how unique and beautiful the natural landscape can be. If I were to take this photo again, I would make sure that I am using the correct settings on my camera where the shutter speed is increased so that the image is brighter as more light is being let in to the photo.
Although I do believe that the reflection of the landscape within the puddle makes the photo look quite unique and different, as if the puddle wants to show off its surroundings to others. I think that this is one of my least successful shots is because of how the camera is positioned as it is slightly wonky, which I do not like. I also think that the sunlight overexposes the composition of the photo, especially on the water which resembles a blob of light, and the photo is also slightly blurry. If I were to take this photo again I would make sure I would experiment more with the different shutter speeds which allow a certain amount of light in to the photo and for this photo I would make sure that the shutter speed is decreased which would make the image brighter.
Why I think that this photo is one of my least successful photos from my photoshoot in Queens Valley is because the photo is blurry, the colour is drained from the photo due to the overexposure of the sunlight and the positioning of the camera frames the picture to be wonky. This is because I was experimenting with different camera settings and positioning of my camera while taking this photo, so if I were to take this photo again I would make sure that the framing is straight and not blurry to make it crisp and clear and that I am using the correct shutter speed for the photo due to it being a day where it is sunnier as it can impact the outcome of a photo.
Contact sheets of my best shots in Lightroom –
Once I had brought all of my images into Lightroom, I began by choosing the images which I thought were the best ones in which I could use. I did this through an elimination process where I used ‘P’ to select the images which I liked the most and ‘Z’ to remove the images which I didn’t like. This made it easier for me as I was now able to make the amount of images I had smaller, this is so that I can end up having about 10-12 images which I can edit further so that they can be used in my photobook. Here are some examples of images which I have selected so far:
Sorting system –
To make this decision easier, I created a sorting system within Lightroom to make the organisation of my photos easier during my selection process. This involved going through my images again and putting the images I was still unsure of at 4 stars and the images I felt confident and happy to use with at 5 stars.
Colour sorting –
Once I had decided on the photos which were 4 or 5 stars, I began a final elimination process of using the colours on Lightroom. I used green for the most successful ones and yellow for the images which I was unsure on upon further analysis. This process allowed me to get around 10 final images which I could use for my photobook that I thought matched the theme of weather and natural landscapes well for my work.
Best shots to use in my photobook –
Finally, these are the 11 images which I have decided to use within my photobook. This is because I think that they are images which I believe work well to represent the weather and natural landscapes as they include people/animals and images of the surroundings (such as leaves, trees, tree stumps, etc) that I found when I was out in Queens Valley. I was very pleased with the outcome of this photoshoot, this is because I think that there was a good balance between the people who I photographed as well as the surroundings/further zooming into textures or different objects which I had found on the floor to create a deeper story of where I am. I also think that the weather made the outcome of the photos more successful within my work, this is because there was not a massive amount of sunlight to overexpose the images although some came out darker than I had intended because of this. In images where the sky may be a a bit too bright, I will use the ‘Adjustment brush’ tool in Lightroom which will help to transform the image and make the sky have some definition of clouds within it.
