The plan for this photoshoot is here: LINK

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

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Contact Sheets

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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:

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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:

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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.

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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.

The plan for this photoshoot is here: LINK

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.

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Contact Sheets

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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):

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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.

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Best Images from this Shoot

These are the final images I ended up with after the selection process:

Edited versions:

Black and white versions:

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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.

The plan for this photoshoot is here: LINK

This was the first photoshoot I did for the woodland side of the project (as well as the project in general). I took images around a footpath in the valley, which provided me with primarily images of trees and bushes, however I also managed to find streams and a derelict building, giving more variety in the shoot. I took these images about an hour before sunset, giving me plenty of time to use the light, however the sunlight wasn’t always pointed directly at the subject, nor was it always visible, making some images a tad too dark or colourless. I feel like my camera handling for this specific shoot was some of the best I’ve done, as I was able to adapt the settings to changes in the lighting of the subject and positioning of the camera.

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Contact Sheets

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Editing

To start editing, I selected the images I thought were strong and removed any blurry or under/over-exposed images, leaving me with around 60 images to choose from as my final images.

Next, I went through these images and applied a star rating to them, which will allow me to filter through to the images I think are the strongest. Below are all 4-star and higher rated images:

I also applied a colour to each image using the colour selection filter tool in Lightroom to help visualise my selection. Below is a screenshot of a selection of 3-star and higher images:

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Best Images from this Shoot

These are the final images I ended up with after the selection process:

Edited versions:

Black and white versions:

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Comparison to Lebas’ work

For this shoot, I made most of my images colder in tone as it fits with the aesthetic of Lebas’ work. I took these images during the later parts of the day during the golden hour, giving the images an effective lighting. However, many of the images were taken in the shade of the woodland, leaving the images with a colder tone and fairly low contrast. Some of Lebas’ images invoke a sense of danger in the way her landscapes seem to trap the viewer within the woodland, I feel like as I was focussing on both a cold tone as well as the sublime beauty of nature as opposed to danger. A difference between my images and Lebas’ is that she uses a wide-angle lens to capture a wide shot of the scene she is photographing, while I use a standard lens, giving my images a regular, rectangular shape.

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Evaluation

I think this shoot was successful, as I managed to adhere to my plan and intentions for the shoot, providing me with images which will fit into my final outcomes. Due to the position of the sun, the lighting of each scene I photographed slightly changed, meaning I had to effectively use my knowledge on camera handling to make sure that each image had the correct exposure. For my next woodland shoot, I will aim to photograph more of the colours provided by the sun during the golden hour, as to make my images more vibrant and/or to increase the dynamic range of my darker images. I will also take pictures during the blue hour, as this will allow me to get the colours and lighting that are on Lebas’ images.

What went well:

In particular, I am happy with the images involving the pond/stream I took at the start of the photoshoot, as I think those images offer a nice contrast to the rest of the images in terms of subject matter and composition. In those images, I was able to adjust my camera settings to allow for a long exposure, which would give the water a ‘misty’ look, this is a technique I have been wanting to experiment with for a while. I like the way the colours turned out on some of these images, some have a vibrant green which stands out among the browns and greys, while others have an orange due to the golden hour lighting, which gives a contrast to the green tones, as well as the darker images.

How I can improve:

I feel like the lighting could have been a tad better for this shoot, while I started these images an hour before sunset (the golden hour) I felt that I wasn’t fully successful in capturing that lighting in some of my images, leaving them bland and muddy. Some of my darker images, where I was trying to mimic the style of Chrystel Lebas, I feel like the vibrancy and contrast in Lebas’ work was not in mine, so for the next shoot I will aim to focus on those things.

As I plan to use AI software to help create some of my final outcomes, I researched the software I could consider using. Most AI software are locked behind a subscription fee, or have limited uses without subscribing to them, meaning I will research open-source/free-to-use software I can use to get a better understanding of how the prompting to create the images works.

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Dream by WOMBO

The first piece of software I used for experimentation was Dream. This software allowed me to input my own image to influence the image that the software generated, which adheres to what I am trying to achieve. The images created using this software is usually not the most detailed or accurate, which could provide a unique effect for my outcomes. These are images I have created using this software:

I used this image as reference for the images.

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Craiyon

Craiyon is another free-to-use software which works similarly to Dream; you enter a prompt and the images are generated. This software (formerly known as Dall-e Mini) was popular as it was an online software that could be used on a browser, as well as the fact that the images it created were characteristically humorously distorted. These are images I have created using this software:

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DALL-E 2 by OpenAI

DALL-E 2 is one of the more popular AI image generator software around as of now. DALL-E 2 provides users with free credits, allowing them to create a certain amount of images per month (with no fee), I will use these to experiment with prompting and perhaps create some final images in the meantime. These are images I have created using this software:

(I was unable to access this software due to its servers being blocked)

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DreamstudioAI

Dreamstudio AI is a web-based software that allows you to enter a prompt, an image for reference as well as the general style you would want in an image. The software uses a credits system similar to Dall-E 2. Below are some of the images I have created using this software:

These images used one of my images as a reference:

For this photoshoot/these photoshoots, I would like to take object/still life images of objects I have collected from the woodlands in a similar style to the images created by Anna Atkins, Karl Blossfeldt and Henry Fox Talbots images (specifically Talbot’s fern images in his book Pencil of Nature). To create the plain background, I will use a piece of foam board to create a studio to put focus on the object I’m photographing.

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What?

I will take images of objects (flowers, rocks, twigs, leaves, bark, etc.) I have taken from woodland areas in a style similar to a formal portrait. My main source of inspiration is Blossfeldt’s work, however I would like to implement colour in these images, as well as create black and white versions in Lightroom after. Blossfeldt’s images also contain the details of each object, while images by Atkins or Talbot are silhouettes of the object, I could explore both during the editing process as well.

Where?

The studio I will use will be at my home, using the natural lighting from windows or even directly outside. I could also try using flashlights or something similar to create a different effect with the lighting (during the day time or otherwise).

When?

As I aim to use natural lighting, I will take the images when the natural lighting is at it’s brightest, so likely midday on a sunny day, or as the sun is setting (which positions the sun to be within the line of sight of the object through the windows).

Why?

I think this style of object photography offers a large contrast to my other photoshoot, with this photoshoot focusing on a formal aesthetic with a blank background.

How?

I will position my camera so that it is facing straight down towards the object, which will create a shadow on the board. Another way I could try this is to prop the object up and place the white background a distance away so the backdrop is still there, but with no shadow. If I attempt the latter, I could try positioning the camera in a way that makes it look like I am looking upwards at the object, to give it a sense of scale.

For my first (and likely other) photoshoots, I would like to respond to Chrystel Lebas’ work by taking landscape images within a woodland setting. For this project I would like to explore areas I have not photographed previously, as this will help me focus on this current project. I will photograph the valley near my home, which has an abundance of woodland, streams, etc. and would be a good location for this photoshoot (below are some images from google maps of this location):

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What?

I will take images of the forest setting that depict a sense of danger in their composition, lighting and atmosphere. My images will mainly conclude trees, leaves, twigs/rocks/dirt on the ground, water and maybe animals. I will aim to make my images simultaneously appear dark, yet have a sublime/romantic tone, in a style similar to Chrystel Lebas.

Where?

I will start my photoshoot in the valley, which contains a large amount of woodland and would provide a suitable spot to take images akin to Lebas’ images.

When?

I aim to take the images around the golden/blue hour, this is so I can get scenes similar to a romantic/sublime painting with bright sunset lighting, but also the darker, dangerous aesthetic. These times will also allow for my images to be more aesthetically pleasing due to the lighting at both the golden and blue hour changing the tone of the image, as well as how shadows are affected by the light.

Why?

My main theme for this project is the sublime, taking pictures under my interpretation of the sublime in nature, I think the valley is large enough and contains what I need for my idea of the sublime. Specifically, my idea of the sublime is a grand landscape with vibrant colours, with an almost divine aesthetic, very similar to how classical painters interpreted the concept.

How?

I will take close up shots showing the smaller details of objects/scenes within the woods, as well as wider shots showing the larger scale of nature. I will use a tripod as the lighting will be darker, which will allow a slower shutter speed.

The Golden Rule (or Ratio) is a mathematical, scientific and artistic term which is represented by the Greek letter φ (phi) and equals 1.618 (rounded to a thousandth). Put simply, the rule represents a sequence where a number in the sequence is equal to the sum of the last two numbers that came before it. This can be visualised mathematically as:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89… (indefinitely)

This rule is seen throughout the creation or design of everything natural, with humans taking inspiration from it within various art forms. Here it is visualised simply in a diagram:

In the spiral, the size of each sector is summed by the addition of the last two sectors, creating a spiral which grows as a result of this rule. These are examples of the Golden Rule within nature:

It has been theorised that artists throughout time have used this rule to create visually pleasing paintings, drawings and architecture:

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The Golden mean may also refer to the philosophy between the deficient, middle and excess. The theory tells us that the middle ground between a deficit and excess is the most desirable. For example, a virtuous trait such as courage is only virtuous when it is kept in check (as courage), if it is taken to an excessive regard, it becomes recklessness, and a deficit of it becomes cowardice, the latter two clearly being the least desirable. This theory was acknowledged by Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, as well as others throughout western and eastern culture. A Greek story which clearly demonstrates this concept would be Icarus: Where Icarus and his father Daedalus escape imprisonment by King Mino using wings Daedalus made for himself and his son. Daedalus instructed Icarus to not fly too low to the sea or too high (the excesses), Icarus disobeyed his father and flew too close to the sun, with the wax holding his wings together melting, causing Icarus to fall into the sea and drown.

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In my AI generated images, I will attempt to incorporate the golden rule by entering prompts such as ‘Fibonacci sequence’, ‘Fibonacci spiral’, ‘golden mean’, etc. to see how the AI software interprets this concept. I could also use a diagram of the golden mean spiral which will aid the software in creating it’s likeness.

Anna Atkins

Anna Atkins (March 1799 – June 1871) was an English photographer and Botanist known widely for her work using the cyanotype process to create what is considered to be the first photography book: Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, which was published in 1843. By 1850, this book was expanded upon with additional text and images. In 1854, with the help of Anne Dixon, she published the book Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns, demonstrating Atkin’s interest in botany: ‘Despite the simplicity of her means, Atkins’s project was the first sustained effort to demonstrate that the medium of photography could be both scientifically useful and aesthetically pleasing’. She was taught by William Henry Fox Talbot on his methods of photography, being the Salt Print and Calotype processes and is considered by some to be the first woman to take a photograph.

The cyanotype process used by Atkins was created by Sir John Herschel in 1842. It leaves a blueprint of the object placed on a piece of paper which is coated in chemicals and left in the sun for about 5-10 minutes (or more depending on the weather). Due to the nature of this process, only the outline, or blueprint, of the object can be placed on it.

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Moodboard of her Images

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Karl Blossfeldt

Karl Blossfeldt (June 1865 – December 1932) was a German photographer and sculptor inspired by the forms and archetypes of nature. Blossfeldt’s dedication to capturing the form and patterns within nature can be seen throughout his work as well as his development of home-made cameras that could capture large amounts of detail. His most famous works being Urformen der Kunst (Art forms in Nature), where he photographed unique plants he had retrieved on a plain background. The plants he photographed typically had an intricate and complex shape, demonstrating that art was present simply within the forms of these plants. Blossfeldt stated that ‘The plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure’, (1999, Blossfeldt. K) suggesting that the form of plants, as well as sculptures and buildings, should be admired in a similar light.

Unlike Atkins’ (as well as what some make him out to be) his is not a scientist, his photographs were made as a piece of art to marvel at the beauty of nature, to be studied through the lens of art as opposed to the sciences. ‘Blossfeldt was neither a trained photographer nor a botanist. He was a sculptor who, as a professor of art, was interested in the plants for didactic reasons’. However it is interesting to see the similarities between these artist’s styles, while both having different purposes.

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Moodboard of his Images

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Image Analysis and Comparison

Atkin’s images, due to the nature of the cyanotype process, is a vibrant blue, giving it a colour that would not have been seen in other images created at the time, this vibrant blue also seems to give life to the leaf she has photographed. The leaf being on a blueprint may be an indirect reference to the construction of nature, linking with the golden rule, however it may also allude to the industrialisation of human society. The image itself is very angular but the shape of the leaf is organic and flowing in multiple directions, showing the irregularity of the shape.

Blossfeldt’s image is angular, with each leaf having some sort of thorns protruding off of it, creating an unusual shape. The plant itself seems to have a pattern in which the leaves are positioned, giving it a uniform, almost architectural appearance. There is a contrast between the tones of the plant; the centre parts of the leaves being a white and the ends/thorns being a dark grey/black. In addition, there is also a contrast between the lines that make up the plant, the thorns and stem having hard lines and edges due to its sharpness, and the lines inside the leaves being softer and curved.

Both of Atkins’ and Blossfeldt’s images depict a simple plant which has been removed from its natural environment, in an almost scientific way. It is work comparing the fact that Atkins was a scientist of Botany, while Blossfeldt was a teacher of art, meaning these images look similar, but have different purposes. Due to the difference of the processes the two were using, Atkins’ image is colourful compared with Blossfeldt’s, however, while Atkins’ image is still detailed, the process cannot show details within a shape (such as the lines within the leaf), unlike Blossfeldt’s image which shows the soft lines and differences in shade in the plant. As said above, both images have angular shapes and lines, giving the plants an arguably more interesting appearance.

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Links to information:

Blossfeldt. K, Bataille. G, Mattenklott. G, (1999), Art Forms in Nature – The Complete Edition. Munich: Schirmer Art Books.

Accessed on 01/03/2023

https://wonderground.press/artdesign/the-art-of-nature-karl-blossfeldt/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Atkins

London-based photographer and film-maker Chrystel Lebas explores psychological significances that can be found within the landscapes she captures. Through her photography and films, she uses the darkness of these landscapes to create a sense of wonder in the viewer. Lebas’ signature style involves the use of a panoramic camera, providing a wide field of view, giving the images themselves a larger and almost more eerie/dangerous tone. Lebas states that:

‘I attempted to reveal the hidden side of nature, the nature we have glorified, forgetting its real harshness and purpose‘

linking psychology, history and art together creating images that I would consider to be on the scale of the sublime.

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Moodboard of her Images

These are some of the images I take inspiration from. In particular, I would like to capture the darkness in a similar way to Lebas’ work, her use of colour is also a key feature within these images, as each one is vibrant, offering a contrast with the dark tones of the image. This contrast gives each image a more artistic and wonderous tone.

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Overview of her work (my interpretation):

Lebas’ work clearly demonstrates the relationship between the beauty and danger found in nature. Her images have an otherworldly/dream-like aesthetic about them, something that is akin to a fairy-tale interpretation of a forest. This link between the real landscape and the man-made, dream-like interpretation of it is, to me, forefront in Lebas’ images, her works aims to create something ‘magical’ out of these bright yet sublime images. Most of Lebas’ images include either darkness due to the time she takes her images (likely an hour before sunset/sunrise) or another phenomenon that limits the visibility of her images such as fog, which is where the primary sense of danger in her images comes from. By making her images vibrant in colour yet dark in tone simultaneously, perhaps Lebas’ is commenting on the vitality of natural landscapes within the grasp of human advancements, without literally showing it, perhaps this ‘magical’ landscape now represents how nature would have been before the mechanisation of human society. I think her use of a wide-angle lens is used to accommodate for the sheer size of nature, and by widening the field of view, she is able to capture that size in a more literal sense.

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Image Analysis

This is one of Lebas’ panoramic images, giving the image a wide and broad scope, this is effective as it gives the landscape she is photographing a feeling of size as to be somewhat threatening or awe-inducing in the viewer. The use of a panoramic field of view also links with the idea of the sublime in nature, by depicting nature as something grand and threatening. Lebas’ use of colour in this image makes the forest appear much more ‘alive’, the colours being vibrant gives each plant a healthier, prospering look. On the other hand, Lebas uses the harsher dark tones to give the forest a dangerous aesthetic, contrasting with the brighter colours used on the plants, while also adding to the idea of the sublime. Lebas likely used natural lighting for this image, as it lends to the natural aesthetic of the image, as well as what she is trying to capture in her work. The time of day this image was taken was likely later in the day, maybe just before sunset or the blue hour, meaning Lebas may have used a longer shutter speed to get the correct exposure. Linking with the colour of the image, it appears to have a colder tone, giving some of the leaves on the plants a more blue colour. This fits in with the idea of the forest being an unwelcoming place, as this use of a cold tone gives it this unsafe and unwelcoming feeling. Lebas using the large white tree on the right as a focal point was effective as it is one of the lightest parts of the image and as such it provides a contrast with the darker parts of the image.

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Links to Information:

Accessed on 27/02/2023

http://www.chrystellebas.com/information.htm

https://printsales.thephotographersgallery.org.uk/artists/46-chrystel-lebas/overview/

For my exam project, I will focus on looking at the theme of SIMPLE OR COMPLEX by taking images that relate to the sublime – an emotion defined by terror, ecstasy and sheer beauty. In order to capture the sublime within my images, I will turn my camera on the woodlands around my home, with my images aiming to display an innate feeling of danger, while simultaneously showing the beauty of the natural landscape.

I will take a range of images including close up shots, as well as more grandiose landscape images that relate closer to the feeling of the sublime (this linking with the COMPLEX side of the initial project theme). For these images, I will take inspiration from Chrystel Lebas’ work, as her work (specifically her woodland images) give off a sense of danger and beauty in the way I would also like to capture in my images. I think this sense of danger would add to the idea of the sublime and, with nature being forefront in the sublime anyway, settings such as a woodland would be a good way to capture the idea of the sublime.

As for the close up images, I would like to explore the idea of the Golden Ratio that can be seen all throughout nature, linking human concepts of mathematics (Fibonacci) with nature. I would also like to explore still-life/object photography by collecting objects from the natural woodland and photographing them in a home-made studio in the style of Talbot’s fern images or a cyanotype image created by Anna Atkins (linking with the SIMPLE side). I like the look of these images as they appear fairly simple and have a level of detail (as well as a somewhat abstract look) that gives them complexity. I will also take images during the blue hour, in order to further my knowledge and skills of taking night photographs.

An artist with a similar approach but different outcome would be Karl Blossfeldt, whose work captures natural form and shape in objects such as flowers and other plants in a formal, yet alluring manner.

After I have taken my images I will explore the use of AI software such as Dall-E or Midjourney to recreate my own images. This will diversify my images (not only within this project, but also with my images from previous projects) and juxtapose the idea of taking images of an ancient setting such as the woodland with the use of modern software to recreate them. I will research the AI software so I can make better use of them later in the project. The use of AI would also link to the complexity of the software itself, linking back to the main theme of the project.