Front/Back Cover

For the front cover (and back) I will be using this image from the Bhamra-inspired photoshoot as a wrap around:

As the image is fairly detailed with lots of lines and details, I want to edit it to make it easier on the eyes. To start I used the ‘Cutout’ filter on Photoshop to make it softer. I like the way this filter makes the image makes the leaves more angular and sketch-like, to me it blends the idea of the organic leaves becoming like synthetic, angular leaves seen in decorations.

Here are two variations of this, each with a different level of detail (I chose to use the more detailed version):

Next I increased the saturation and contrast of the image slightly to make the colours and shadows pop more, making it appear more lively:

Here are some experimental edits of this image using different colours:

I will be using the original version (with pink leaves and green flowers) for my photobook.

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This is what the cover looks like within Lightroom:

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Title and Text

Next I decided to focus on the title for the cover – where it would be on the page, the colour, the text, etc. I decided that white would be the most appropriate as it looks professional and is easier to see with the image behind it than black.

After searching through the fonts on Lightroom, I found this font called ‘OCR A Extended’ which I think fits with the front cover aesthetically, as well as the theme of my project, as the font reminds me of a classic CLI (computer) font.

I experimented with the ‘tracking’ slider on the font settings, which increases the spacing between each letter.

Here is where I experiment with the placement of the title on the cover:

I think the version with the text being right aligned at the top of the page fits quite well (I will use this as the final layout for my book).

I don’t think that putting the text at the bottom of the image will be as effective, as that is the point in the image where it is the lightest.

Next I worked on the spine of the photobook:

I used the same font as the font used on the front cover, this time I used full-caps as I think it makes the font easier to see and makes it different. The title of the book is aligned to the left (top) while my name is aligned to the right (bottom).

Final Cover:

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Front Page

For my front page I put the title of the book in the centre of the page, using the exact same font and sizing as the front cover.

Here I have added a black and white version of the image on the front cover at 7% opacity so it is not fully visible, which I think gives the front page a nice effect.

I decided to add this photoshoot as I would like to add objects around my photos that have a connection to the individuals in each image. I feel that this will add for to the photobook and helps to enhance the narrative of my book creating in-depth stories for each person.

Contact Sheets

Below are some contact sheets which display ornaments which I felt have a connect to some of the people I will be showing throughout my photobook. I have used different colours to pick out the best photographs out of my collection, these are the most clear and defined so it will be easier for me to edit them onto a different background in photoshop.

Photoshop Editing

I will be transferring the still life images onto a black background in photoshop as this will be the colour of the paper in my photobook. I think that this is the easiest way to create the desired look that I am going for. For this I will be using the paint bucket tool in Lightroom to fully colour the background, I will then use the object selection tool to outline the ornament to transfer it onto the background.

Evaluation

I wanted to include different objects which portrayed part of the subjects personality throughout the book, I had taken photos of different ornaments which I thought would help convey a more throughout narrative. In the end I did not end up including this idea into my photobook as I felt that it would make the pages look to busy and untidy. I also had changed the background colour of my pages to white as I felt it fit with more of my images that were being used.

Editing –

Black and white –

To begin the process of creating my photobook, I wanted to experiment with turning all of the photos which I had selected into black and white. This is because there was a lot of different colours and tones in each photos where they were quite strong in colour, or neutral based tones. By turning them into black and white it made them appear to be all similar, which I liked as it gave it a ‘uniformed’ effect and the different tones/colours which were present previously were now controlled.

Examples –

Here are some examples of images which I changed into black and white, for the first two images I found that I had preferred them when they were in colour as they had distinct colours in them which I thought brought the photos to life. This made me go through my photos once again and analyse which ones I thought were best to keep in colour and this added a variety into my work that I really like.

Final images –

Here is the final set of images which I have decided to use to create my photobook in Lightroom. There is a variety of black and white photos as well as coloured photos. The reason why I have chosen to do this is because the images where there are a lot of different colours/tones in them made the presentation of the images together look messy and unorganised, such as of trees or people. This is compared to the photos which I have decided to keep in colour, such as landscapes or close ups, these photos are ones that I have decided look better in colour to add a range of images into my work and break up the uniformed look of my photobook. I really liked the idea of having the use of black and white photos as well as colour because I think that it adds a layer of creativity into my work where the surroundings look plain but the images which are in colour reveal what it actually looks like and the bright, unique and colourful tones which can be found in all of the places which I have explored and how nature can form beautiful formations and colours that many of us do not appreciate.

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Designing the layout –

Sequencing –

To begin the process of creating my photobook, I printed out my images into 9x13cm photos and laid them all out on the table. This made it easier for me to effectively organise how I wanted my images to look in my photobook as I could group or pair them up easily with each other and decide which ones I wanted to keep as standalones. How I decided which ones I wanted to pair together was through pictures that I thought looked as if they were a pair, such as; a fishing boat and a sign about fishing or a photo of a person who’s gaze looks as if she is looking at a picture of a bird.

Layout in Lightroom –

To keep a secure and tidy flow throughout my photobook, I made sure that I kept to using around 4/5 of the same page spreads that I would alternate between throughout my photobook, these were:

• An portrait image on a page with a large white border.
• A landscape full page spread.
• A landscape image on a page with a white border.
• A portrait full page spread.
• A 3/4 page spread.

Reoccurring layouts for page spreads that I have used –

I was really happy with the layout and placements of these spreads which I used within my photobook as I repeated them all 2-4 times to create a steady flow throughout of image placement in my photobook, this is because it makes my work look more organised in the layout which is better than having a lot of different spread designs which makes it looks messy.

Title experiments –

These are my title experiments which I was experimenting with for my photobook, I changed the placement and font’s which I used to help me decide. I began with; “Nothing’s ever as it seems”/”Noting is ever as it seems” which related to not knowing what nature is really like and how unexpectedly unique it can be where I placed it in the top right corner as there was not a lot in the photo going on there to distract yourself from the title. Then I used the title “Adventures of the muddy paws” which related towards my dog, who is featured throughout my photobook, and how her muddy paw mark is seen on my sisters leggings within the photo as my dog is discovering new places where she has never been before in Jersey. The placement of this title I kept in the same place as the previous one to begin with, but I didn’t really like this so I decided to move it down a little bit and alter how it is perceived by changing the font’s size below and moving the placement of the letters so that the top line said ‘Adventures of the’ and the bottom line says ‘muddy paws’ to separate it which helps you to recognise the subject of the photobook.

Finally, I decided that I was not sure on any of the front cover titles which I had thought of, due to not being sure on a front cover picture as well as I kept changing it, so I decided to name it “Everyday is an adventure.”. I really like this title because I think that it represents that my photobook is about showing how beautiful and unique the natural landscape/weather can be and how the weather can completely alter how a landscape is seen whether it be sunny, rainy, windy, etc.

Front cover experiments –

After deciding on the title “Everyday is an adventure.”, I decided that I did not want to use a picture which I had taken for my front cover, seen by the 5 different options that I had chosen to use as options above. Therefore, I decided that I wanted my photobook cover to be primarily plain in a green colour with an extra detail in the middle of the page that represents nature, the primary theme of my photobook, this is where I began a process in photoshop with deciding what to use..

For this process of creating a front cover, I began by bringing my images which I wanted to experiment with into photoshop. To decide on what photos I wanted to use, I began by choosing images which were of different textures and could ne seen as quite abstract in how they appear. Then I brought in a duplicate layer, just in case I did not like the design I had decided, and another layer which I would colour in with a different shades of green to decide on what looked best. I ended up choosing a picture of some leaves which I had done a close up photo of and using a darker green colour. Then I selected the ‘filter gallery option’ which brought up a selection of experimentations of different textures that completely transformed the original photo. The image which I decided to use is the last image which you can see above, I chose this design and colour because I thought that they both work well with another, this is because the filter which I had selected to use looks as if it has a shine on it, and the leaves outline can still be seen very subtly which I really like because it shows nature yet in a way you might not expect.

I opened a blank book and started inputting images in order to further refine my image choices and to create a structure in the book.

I started by just randomly inputting my final images, finding colours that are similar in tone and presenting colour contrasts such as deep blues contrasted with dark oranges.

I knew what images I definitely wanted to be in a sequence, such as the sea images which have an almost turquoise colour, then the deep blue of the sky and cyanotype then the rich colours heavily contrasted by the black and white.

For images like the one above I have decided I am going to put the actual object in instead of editing it in, to further the sense of a diary. All the white spaces left in the book will be physically written on with a black pen once the book is printed

When deciding what I wanted my end and beginning pages to be I wanted to have busy, colourfully rich image so I used my textural images

I do not have much regularity in the layout of my images on a page however there is regularity in the way the images are presented- with there only being full page spreads, one two page spread and the only gaps being left to be written in either being below an image or down the side.

I had to decide some design choices such as the size, the cover and paper type- I chose for the book to be in standard square format with a hard cover including matte paper

I feel as if this design is quite successful- I like the reoccurring theme of warm colours such as the “textural” pages at the beginning and the end. I do not feel as if the images “flow” however this was not exactly what I wanted, I like how the images where green is the most prominent colour almost disrupt the flow of warm into cold colours.

Contact Sheets

Below is one of my contact sheets from my first photoshoot, these are recreations of an older photo which I think is a clear representation of how friends can turn into family. There are also images of my brother in his rugby uniform as its also a recreation of a image from when he was much younger in his first football uniform, I wanted to show this transformation as its able to show time development in my photobook. I have had to edit these quite a bit as the lighting was bad due to these being taken at night as well as in a house with Christmas lights.

Contact Sheets 2

Here is the contact sheets for my second photoshoot, these are group photos of friends who have developed into family as they provide the same support that a ‘normal’ family would. These have better lighting then the ones above but still had to be edited to make them look better for my photobook.

Editing

As the lighting was under exposed and had a pink tint to it I have to increase the contrast and slightly decrease the exposure this was to try and cancel out the underlying tint, I also adjusted the tint setting. I found that it was hard to edit these images as I feel that they were not well taken as well as taken in bad lighting.

Evaluation

Overall I do not think that these were successful photoshoots which is why they have not been used in my final photobook. I found it difficult to find the right lighting as they were taken inside with the first photo shoot being done in the evening. Even though these images have not been used i do like the composition of these photographs as they do portray the classic family portrait but I didn’t feel that they were good enough photos to be displayed in my final piece of work.

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While starting to make my photobook I decided I wanted to make it slightly smaller and into more of a photo zine as I had been focusing on specific photoshoots and edits. A theme in my book is showing coastal points in jersey before and after the tide changed, as well as capturing the horizon over the coast.

I tried to keep the first 4 pages in a similar style in order for them to flow off of each other – but I included 1 variation to keep it interesting to look at

The last photo contrasts the first 3, however, upon turning the page it links into the following photo as the tide appears to “rise” under your hand.

This part of the zine is where I introduce my edits, however I decided to change the bottom 2 spreads around as it makes more sense for the images to flow into the sunset.

I decided to end with this photo as it completes the zine’s transition from daytime into night.

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Final Layout

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Link To Photobook on Blurb

For this project I wanted to experiment with the editing for some of my images, inspired by the style of Vasantha Yogananthan, who has his film pictures hand painted. They use unrealistically pastel colours to create Pictorialist inspired images.

For these images I tried to take inspiration from the work of Vasantha Yogananthan and colour these using photoshop, making the original image a black and white multiply layer and then placing my chosen colours underneath. For the images above, I did not spend very long on them and struggled to get clean lines and a nice colour scheme.

Because of how messy they looked, placed a blur filter over them to try to make the colours mix together a bit nicer but I still did not quite like the result.

For my next attempt I used a simpler image and referenced the colours of the original to try to make it more accurate. I like this a lot more as it looks a lot neater.

For my next experiment, I took an image from my parents’ wedding and placed a gradient over my mum, I really like the contrast between the colour and monochrome.

This decision was inspired by some of the images in Yogananthan’s last photobook called Amma, where figures are painted over with bright colours.

Photoshoot contact sheets

This was the first photoshoot I did, I wanted to create a very feminine photoshoot which showed interests of my group through things such as posters. I conducted this shoot in December on a winters day, the light was quite dark so I did use artificial lighting. I asked my friends to act as if I wasn’t there and to do things which they would normally do.

This shoot I did after a night out, i snapped photos of my friends as they were in conversation to try and attempt an authentic shoot. I decided to take images of this gathering as i feel it was a good representation of teenage life, and gave an authentic inside perspective of a teenager with their friends.

I began using the flag tool to select my favourite images. Doing this, i selected any images which i liked and thought were suitable for my project with a white flag. I then used a black flag to select the images that weren’t suitable or effective e.g blurry images, images where the subject wasn’t in frame and images which i felt didn’t hold much impact.

I then went through with the star tool to narrow them down, 5 stars for yes, 1 star for no. I ruled out which images were my favourite by using the XY feature, this was especially helpful on images that were similar and i needed to chose between the two.

To start off, I selected my favourite images from my 3 photoshoots and put them in a new folder in Lightroom to create my photobook. All the images I selected were edited previously after their respective photoshoots and I had 62 photographs overall, and my book once finished consisted of 42 pages and I used around 40-50 of the photographs which I selected for the book. I decided not to use certain images as I could not find anywhere for them to fit into the book, and they did not match the style of the book too well.

Complete photobook

I decided to predominantly use black and white images for my photobook apart from the cover and a couple images within the book, I chose to do this because it creates a focus on the subject within the photograph and not anywhere else due to the lack of colour, I also believe that it makes the images look much more eye-catching and effective. I did not want to add a title for my book, as I want people who look at it to come to their own conclusion about what the book is about instead of being told by a title. I used a lot of double page spreads in the book as well as some juxtaposition to add some variety to the book and help with the narrative of the book. As well as this, I put photos on pages in a variety of different layouts and sizes to make the book much less repetitive as well as including photographs of people instead of just all skateboarding photos. Overall I believe that I did very well on this photobook project.