After colour coding and rating my images from my shoots, I began experimenting with placing them within the book’s layout.
For my first draft of the book, I placed images every page, alternating between square images with borders, full bleeds, and double page spreads. I liked how it looked but was still not entirely happy, as I felt some images were much stronger than others. I decided to make another draft with a different layout to experiment further.
For my second draft I decided to do the colour order in reverse, starting with the purples instead of the reds. For this version I also kept every image as a small square with no variation, reminiscent of Kawauchi’s photobook. I like this style a lot, as it makes every image’s importance feel equal. I was still unsure after making this version so decided to make another draft with a completely different order.
For my third draft I decided to alternate between spreads with two images and spreads with one, flipping between left and right. I also placed them in colour order but not as strictly as I had done in my previous drafts. While it is short and simple, I feel that it does give across the feeling that I was attempting to achieve, telling an interesting story across images through their colour and shapes. I tried to keep in mind the direction things were facing in this version trying to make it feel like things were pointing in towards the page rather than outwards, making it flow a little better, as seen in my examples.
I also tried to group images together based on shape, as seen in this example where both images have similar colours in similar places.
Overall I was mostly happy with this draft layout, and left the decision of the final design up to me during the exam.
These are the images i got from my second photoshoot of my exam project.
I went through my images in adobe light room classic and selected which images were the best and could be used in my final photobook.
I created virtual copies of each image and made them black and white. I then started developing the images in light room classic.
These are the images i thought were the best from my original shoot after being edited.
Experimentation
I experimented with the texture, dehaze and clarity of my images from this shoot. When decreasing the texture and clarity my images had an animated effect and when i increased the dehaze the background of the image looked stormy and ominous. I didn’t like the effects of decreasing the settings on my images however when increasing the settings i really liked the effect i got so i will be implementing it into my final image from this shoot.
Final Images
Image Analysis
This image was taken in colour and adjusted to black and white in light room. The weather on the day was overcast which gave an even lighting preventing shadows from forming which is good in a black and white image as it can can take the focal point off of the model. I got low to take the photo as it shows the scale of the motorbike in comparison with the rider as well as showing a different angle. The image has a high contrast with a central focal point and symmetrical surroundings.
This was the first object photoshoot I took for this project. I gathered the objects from the woodland shoots I took previously. I used white foamboard as the backdrop for this photoshoot, giving the images a clear background. I laid this foamboard outside on a sunny day which provided plenty of light, as well as some interesting shadows into some of the images, which I thought would add variety and shape to the images (however they do make some of the images deviate from the style of Blossfeldt and Talbot’s images. I tried to experiment with placing many objects in a sequence to create some juxtaposition or repetition (depending on the image) in some of the images.
Contact Sheets
Editing
Firstly, I used the ‘Pick’ and ‘Reject’ tools to choose which images I may use and those which I consider weak and will not use. These are the images I thought were strong:
Next, I gave each image a star rating which allows me to see how strong each image is, with 5 stars being the images I will definitely use in my final pieces. Below are my 5 star images:
Next I used the colour selection tool to further narrow my selection down, below are a selection of 4 star and above images:
Best Images from this Shoot
These are the images I chose as final images, as I believe they are the strongest in terms of composition. I did little to no editing for these images as I think the lighting and colour provided by the sun was enough (I did use the spot remover and cropping tools to clean up some images).
Black and white versions:
Comparison to Blossfeldt’s work
The biggest difference between my images and Blossfeldt’s is my inclusion of a shadow. This shadow is due to my use of natural lighting as opposed to balanced studio lighting from both sides. The lack of a shadow in Blossfeldt’s image gives them a more scientific aesthetic (due to them being images for his students to study art from), while the inclusion of the shadow in some images (such as my twig image) gives them a more complex and interesting appearance. A lot of Blossfeldt’s images capture complex and unique looking plants and flowers with many lines and shapes, however the objects I chose as subject matter were fairly simple in shape, as I chose to adhere to the ‘Simple’ side of the project theme.
Evaluation
Overall I am content with this shoot as a first try, as I think the images themselves are strong and are fairly different in comparison to my previous work. I do like the shadows in some of these images, as they give some of the objects a more interesting shape, however, their inclusion does make them different to the shadow-less images created by Blossfeldt and Talbot. I think the colour on some of the images (especially the green) are nice to look at and provide a nice contrast with the brown leaves/twigs. The black and white versions of the images are closer in style to the scientific images I was referencing, and could offer a contrast to my other images in this project, not only colour-wise, but also compositionally.
What went well:
Considering I don’t photograph objects too often, I feel like these images will make a very solid addition to this project, and will tie in nicely to the cyanotype and AI images I will create later in the project. I like the way these images were framed as they look uniform, even while I was trying to create something slightly more artistic out of these images.
How I can improve:
As said above, I feel like my inclusion of a shadow, while it is difficult to remove the shadow from a shoot involving natural light, makes my images stray from the scientific methods of Blossfeldt and Talbot, as I chose to incorporate the shadow artistically in some of these images.
This was the last woodland shoot I took, unfortunately a lot of the images came out blurry despite me making sure the camera focus was correct. I was still able to create some images that I think are strong, and the different location I used for the shoot gave me aesthetically different images than the previous images.
Contact Sheets
Editing
To start my image selection, as usual I used the ‘pick’ and ‘reject’ tool to select the stronger images from the shoot:
I then use the star rating tool to grade the images on their quality, with 5 stars being the strongest:
I then gave each image a colour, with green being the images I will absolutely use in my final piece, and yellow being the images I may use for my final piece.
Best Images from this Shoot
Edited versions:
Black and white versions:
Comparison to Lebas’ work
A glaring difference between Lebas’ image and my own is Lebas’ use of colour; her images are far more vibrant and contrasting than my own, which have a darker and gloomier aesthetic. A lot of images from this shoot use a scene with an open sky over a wider landscape, which differ to Lebas’ more enclosed landscapes where the sky and landscape is obscured by the dense trees. Another big difference between mine and Lebas’ images is that she uses a very wide lens to capture a large amount of the scene, while I used a standard sized lens. This shoot in particular focussed on the sublime aspect of my plan, meaning the dangerous aesthetic, which I took Lebas’ images as inspiration for, is slightly lost in this shoot. There is likely a difference between the times of the day these images were taken, mine being slightly earlier in the day than Lebas’ images, as well as the kind of weather; I suspect that Lebas took these images during more overcast weather.
While writing this comparison, I wondered how the images would look with a higher amount of vibrancy similar to Lebas’ aesthetic.
Evaluation
While this shoot was fairly unsuccessful in terms of the quality of the images due to a lot of them being blurry, however I was able to gather some images that I thought could be used for the final piece. The final images from this shoot look different to the previous woodland images as a result of the different location as well as the way I framed the images, this will give my final pieces more diversity in terms of aesthetics.
What went well:
Some of the images have a colour to them that invokes a feeling of my interpretation of the sublime, which was captured especially in the sky due to how I took the images during the golden hour. I think these images are very different to others within the woodland theme, which means they could be a good addition to my photobook.
How I can improve:
Some of the images are fairly dark and muddy (as a result of poor quality lighting from some positions as well as the blur on some of the images) leaving them in a poor quality.
This was a fairly short shoot where I revisited the location of the second woodland shoot, however this time I arrived roughly at sunset, meaning the images are darker and have a much colder tone to them. I took less images during this shoot as the light was beginning to darken massively towards the end of the shoot, however I think the contrast of these images and the previous woodland images
Contact Sheets
Editing
First I found the strongest images from the shoot by using the ‘Pick’ and ‘Reject’ or flagging tool. This narrowed down my selection to 4 images:
Next I gave the images a star rating so I know which images are the strongest and will definitely be using for my final piece(s) (5 stars) and the ones which I may use for my final piece(s) (4 stars):
I then gave each a colour to make it easier to see which images are the strongest:
Best Images from this Shoot
These are the images after I have edited them. While I was editing I wanted to make the images seem closer in tone and style to the images Chrystel Lebas produces, by making the images colder and more vibrant.
Edited versions:
Black and white versions:
Comparison to Lebas’ work
This shoot tried to capture the dangerous aesthetic of Lebas’ images, to do this I took the images around half an hour to an hour after sunset, making the lighting darker and the colours more vibrant. For this shoot I put a focus on the vibrancy of the colours of the images (I did little to no manipulation in Lightroom on the vibrancy of the images) which gave them a similar aesthetic to Lebas’ work. I chose to give these images a cold tone, also similar to Lebas’ work, which, in addition to the dark shades, is what gives mine and Lebas’ image that dangerous aesthetic. Like the other shoots, I took these images with a regular sized lens, so my images are not wide-angled unlike Lebas’. During this shoot I tried to give my images a feeling of enclosure due to the surrounding trees, something I noticed from Lebas’ work, further lending itself to the theme of danger.
After writing the comparison I went back to Lightroom and gave this image more of a contrast to give it an even closer resemblance to Lebas’ image.
Evaluation
Even though this was a fairly small shoot, I am pleased with the way the final images bare a resemblance with the work of Chrystel Lebas, conforming to my plan for this shoot. These images darker than my previous woodland shoots, which will make them stand out and create a contrast when I place the woodland images into a sequence. I think revisiting the location while it is darker will also create a juxtaposition between a lighter, warmer and perhaps calmer depiction of the area and a darker, somewhat more dangerous one.
What went well:
My images were able to mimic the style of Chrystel Lebas’ work, due to their cold, dark tone, matching my plan for this shoot. I think the colder tone of these images will contrast nicely with the other images in the woodland shoot, and could perhaps be used to introduce or setup for the inclusion of my cyanotype images within a sequence.
How I can improve:
This shoot was cut short as the light was dwindling, if I had more experience in night/blue hour photography I would have been able to take more images during this shoot.
This is the second photoshoot I took within a woodland area. It is an within the area close to the first woodland photoshoot but in a different location, which will give me more variety in my images. I decided to take this photoshoot slightly earlier in the day, which gave the images much harsher lighting and bolder shadows in comparison to the first woodland shoot.
Contact Sheets
Editing
To start my image selection process, I use the flagging (or ‘Pick’ and ‘Reject’) tool to select the images I think could be the stronger images from the shoot.
Next, I applied a star rating to each images to discern which images are the strongest in this selection. Below are images 4-star and higher:
Lastly, for the selection process, I applied a colour to each image to show which images I will use as final images, those I might use and those I will not. Below are images in yellow (will not use) and green (will/might use):
Comparison to Lebas’ work
This shoot took the aesthetic of the sublime as opposed to the danger proposed by Lebas’ work, however there are a few similarities between some of my images and her work, such as the feeling of being trapped within a dense woodland (can be seen in my image on the right), which give them a sense of danger. However, this sense of danger is largely lost due to the warm tone of the image, as well as the bright lighting. My images from this shoot are very warm in their tone, which appeals to my interpretation of the sublime, unlike Lebas’ colder-toned images which offer another form of the sublime that I hope to capture in a future shoot. A lot of images from this shoot focus on one smaller part of the landscape, whereas Lebas’ images (due to their composition as well as her use of a wide-angle lens) focus on an entire scene.
This is a colder version of this image inspired by Lebas’ work. While it not as effective on images from this shoot, I would like to capture a cold tone in future shoots.
Best Images from this Shoot
These are the final images I ended up with after the selection process:
Edited versions:
Black and white versions:
Evaluation
I think this was a successful shoot; the images turned out close to what I had imagined in the plan and I was able to gather objects for the object shoot(s). I think the images match with characteristics of my interpretation of the sublime in nature, specifically the harsh lighting, which provides colour and contrast to the landscape. While I did not take this photoshoot during the golden hour, meaning some of the images may have had less colour or contrast. These images will fit in with the previous woodland images which will help in the creation of my photobook.
What went well:
The I like the colours in some of the images, particularly the warm yellows and oranges which give the scenes a more grandiose appearance. I think the harsh shadows give the images greater contrast by complementing the bright colours of the leaves and sky. The black and white versions of my final images also work well, giving them a style that resembles the sublime work of Ansel Adams and other photographers of that time.
How I can improve:
I think some of the images during this shoot came out too muddy and cluttered, especially as I got deeper into the woodland, as the trees and bushes merge into clumps. As I took these images earlier in the day, the lighting and colour in some of the images are plain.
Mon 24 April, Thurs 27 April and Fri 28 April Class 13C + 13D 15 hours controlled test Photography classroom + Photography studio
DEADLINE: LAST DAY OF YOUR EXAM FINAL PRINTS > PHOTOBOOK > BLOG POSTS
IN PREPARATION FOR YOUR EXAM MAKE SURE THE FOLLOWING IS READY BY THE END OF THIS WEEK:
Complete and upload new photoshoots and begin to edit in Lightroom – make sure to produce blog posts showing selection process and experimentation of images.
A draft layout of your photobook using BLURB templates in Lightroom – exam time is used to fine tune design with teacher’s approval
Review Checklist on blog for overview of work that must be completed – improve, complete and publish missing blogposts.
Structure your 3 day Exam as follows:
DAY 1: PRINTS: Complete editing photoshoots, select and prepare final prints. Make sure you have produced blogposts for each photoshoot with a clear progression of selection and editing.
BLOG: Produce blog post showing presentation ideas and create mock-up in Photoshop. Consider appropriate sizes and ways of presenting images as singles, diptych, triptych, multiple grids/ collages/ combinations in window mounts or foamboard etc.
You must save final images (see guidelines below) in print folder here by end of the day: M:\Radio\Departments\Photography\Students\Image Transfer\Yr 13 Exam
DAY 2: Photobook: Experiment with photobook design using BLURB in Lightroom – show variation of layouts and creativity.
Blog:Evidence of photobook process 1. Research and deconstruct photobook used as inspiration. Comment on different design element such as: feel of the book, paper, binding, format, size, cover, title, design, narrative (if appropriate), editing, sequencing, image and text.
2. Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design with reference to the same elements of bookmaking as above.
3. Produce a blog post showing your layout and design process in Lightroom using a combination of print screens + annotation.
4. Final layout of every spread and write an evaluation.
5. Upload book design in Lightroom to Blurb and order your book via Blurb account. Once uploaded produce an hyperlink to book browser – see below for more details.
6. Once you have received book in the post bring into school.
Those who are not making a photobook can begin to mount up final prints and follow instruction below for Day 3.
DAY 3 PRESENTATION: Begin to mount your final prints as per your mock-up plans. Each final outcome must be labelled and velcro attached too. Make sure all your final images are presented in a folder with your name.
BLOG: Produce a virtual gallery and write a final evaluation of the exam module and your final outcome. Consider the following:
– How successful was your final outcomes? – Did you realise your intentions? – What references did you make to artists references – comment on technical, visual, contextual, conceptual? – Is there anything you would do differently/ change etc?
FINAL CHECK: Finish and publish any missing blog posts as per Checklist/ Go4School Tracking sheet and comments from teachers.
No students is allowed to leave until an authentication form is signed and teacher has signed off too.
PHOTOBOOK Make sure you have a made a blog post that charts your design decisions, including prints screens of layout with annotation and write an ongoing evaluation. Final book design must be checked and signed off by teacher.
BLURB – ORDER BOOK Inside Lightroom upload book design to BLURB, log onto your account on their website, pay and order the book.
Consider spending a few extra pounds on choosing better paper, such as Premium Lustre or Premium Matte in check-out, change colour on end paper or choose different cloth/ linen if needed.
LINK TO ONLINE BLURB BOOK
Your final blog post should be an online link to you BLURB book with an evaluation. If you have already written an evaluation as part of another blog post on your book design then add the online link to that blog post and change the date to make sure it sits at the top.
Log into your blurb account and click on Sell my book
Click on Privacy & Sharing
Copy link circled in red above.
Make a new blog post: MY PHOTOBOOK and copy in link from Blurb into the title of your book using Link button above.
FINAL PRINTS Select your final prints (5-10) from various photoshoots or photobook and make a blog post showing ideas about how to present them.
In photoshop produce a mock display (create new document size A1: 594 x 841mm) using different image sizes, for example: A3 x 2, A4 x 2, A5 x 3
PREPARE AND SAVE IMAGES FOR PRINTING:
Add your images to the print folder here…M:\Radio\Departments\Photography\Students\Image Transfer\Yr 13 Exam
Complete any unfinished work from last term if you have time, For example check your coursework portfolio and mount up any prints from previous projects.
File Handling and printing...
Remember when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to 1000 pixels on the Short edge for “blog-friendly” images (JPEGS)
BUT…for editing and printing when EXPORTING from Lightroom you must adjust the file size to Short edge for “high resolution” images (JPEGS) like this…
A5 Short Edge = 14.8 cm
A4 Short Edge = 21.0 cm
A3 Short Edge =29.7 cm
This will ensure you have the correct ASPECT RATIO
Ensure you label and save your file in you M :Drive and then copy across to the PRINT FOLDER / IMAGE TRANSFER
For a combination of images, or square format images you use the ADOBE PHOTOSHOP > NEW DOCUMENT + PRINT PRESETS on to help arrange images on the correct size page (A3, A4, A5)
You can do this using Photoshop, Set up the page sizes as templates and import images into each template, then you can see for themselves how well they fit… but remember to add an extra 6mm for bleed (3mm on each side of the page) to the original templates. i.e. A4 = 297mm x 210 but the template size for this would be 303mm x 216mm.
Making a Virtual Gallery in Photoshop
Download an empty gallery file…then insert your images and palce them on the walls. Adjust the persepctive, size and shape using CTRL T (free transform) You can also add things like a drop shadow to make the image look more realistic…
