Why did I chose car light pollution for Anthropocene?

I chose to do car light pollution for this topic as most if not every person on the island uses a car, and by humans using cars we are damaging the environment we live in. I also thought this is quite a broad topic to focus, therefore, I wouldn’t be less limited as to what I could photograph. i became inspired by a British, London based photographer MSH* and Sebastien Coell. They take photos using long exposures, waiting for all the cars and tubes rush by with their lights on creating light trails all around London.

How did I plan?

Initially, when I planned to do this photo shoot I was going to plastics which were found in the sea which was causing pollution and impacting the world. However, I chose against that idea as i became quite limited to what I could photograph due to the low levels of plastic found on Jersey beaches.

I chose to go out to do my photoshoot on a fairly cloudy evening at peak rush hour to get the best results possible for the images to show car lights. I went with another photography student to take photos as we had the same idea and could help each other out. We waited until the sun was fully set and created the images shown in the other blog posts.

Photoshoot-

As mentioned above, I went with another student as we found it difficult at times to get the tripods set up straight on a very slanted wall. By taking the photos at night, i managed to broaden my knowledge of what settings should be used to create the images I want.

The process was very much trial and error, as I had to time the photos perfectly to work with the cars moving due to traffic lights. and many times my shutter speed was too fast or the camera was nocked whilst taking a long exposure image meaning the outcome was blurry.

Even better if…

I believe my photoshoot could’ve been better if I was able to take more photos so when it came to editing them I had more choices to pick from, however that is partly due to the fact the camera didn’t have enough battery. therefore, I would make sure my camera was fully charged. I also think that I should try stick to my original plan a bit more. Even though I have very happy how this project has come out I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had stuck to my original idea.

Overall evaluation of Anthropocene-

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this project as I got to go outside of my comfort zone and experiment with the camera. I am very pleased about my final out come images. However I should have gone out a couple more times to take more photos and maybe have tried to take some images in different lighting.

Virtual Gallery:

When comparing my images with David Maisel’s you can clearly see a comparison in areas such as the textures in the layers of rocks and the contrast in tone. Maisel took his image with a drone so his images have more of a ‘birds eye view’ feel to them then my images as I had limited access to the quarry.

.

Flagged images:

Final image selection:

Lightroom editing:

Image 1:

Image 2:

Image 3:

Image 4:

Image 5:

Photoshop editing:

I’ve manipulated 2 of my images so that the pool of water is bigger because the bush was in the way.

Image 1:

Image 2:

Experimentational Editing:

To get the final image seen above I cut out sections of the same image in black and white and layered them on top of the original image to represent what was there from when they started the quarry in the 1930s.

I combined images of Ronez quarry over the years to show how it has changed and had an effect on the landscape surrounding it.

HOW DID I PLAN THIS PROJECT?

I planned this project By looking at how single use, disposable vapes as they can be bad for the environment in different ways. Since they are a type of single use plastic they can only be used once which contributes to litter and pollution. They also carry lithium batteries that are not always recyclable, which can also contribute to the pollution aspect. The plastic that these types of vapes are made of can take hundreds of years to decompose fully and yet still will have microplastics leftover. Over the last few years when these types of vapes have gained popularity it is also very common to see them end up on the roads, beaches and pavements. The vapor that comes out of these vapes can also contribute to air pollution due to the particles and chemicals that they let out.

PHOTOSHOOT AND EDITING:

I did my photoshoot in the studio in school as i felt that it had the best lighting for my type of shoot. I placed my images out on a product table and an infinity curve. I felt that the infinity curve helped show the detail of my images due to the look of it being consistently white. For my portraits I used a tripod so my camera didn’t move while I was taking the pictures. I also made them sit on a chair so I could figure out what the best angles would be. I edited all of my pictures on photoshop as Lightroom wasn’t working. For most of my images I played around with the colours, saturation, exposure and multiple other things. on a few of my pictures I also added frames around them to give them more of an eary look to them.

WHAT WENT WELL/WRONG IN THIS PROJECT?

Lightroom wasn’t working on my computer so I wasted a lot of my time trying to get it set up. I also found it more challenging using only photoshop and I am more used to Lightroom’s set up. I also wish I would of taken some picture outside in the natural light which would of given me a bigger variety of images, However I think that the pictures that I took in the studio turned out really well and I was pleased with the result of them.

HOW MY IMAGES RELATED TO MANDY BARKER

My images related to Mandy barkers as we both laid out single use plastics which highlight the harmful affects that they have on the environment. Even though Barker focused more on plastic debris in the oceans where I focused on land pollution, I can definitely see some similarities between our pieces. Barker was my main inspiration for this project so I am happy with the way my images turned out.

Barkers image

My image

Barkers image

My image

The image below was my original image

On photoshop I turned the image black and white by using this tool from adjustments.

Then I opened different frames from the folder and experimented with different ones.

For the images below I dragged them together and created the picture of the objects as a background for the portrait.

I also used adjustments to change the saturation and different tones of the image. This helps highlight the areas of the image I like and are the focal point.

I thought that this image would look cool as a kaleidoscope

So I duplicated my image and then inverted it on photoshop. Then I merged the images together so there was no gap between them.

For my final images I created a virtual gallery to see what they would look like in an exhibition. To create this gallery I used the website www.artsteps.com. This allowed me to choose a space/room to add my images to to make it look realistic. Firstly, I chose the gallery that I wish to use, in this case I used ‘the loft’.

After that I then added my images into the gallery by clicking add image and dropped it into the space from my folder.

I repeated this process with all of my images adding them to different places in the gallery. Overall I think that the gallery is a very effective way of presenting my images as it allows me to see what they would look like as well as see how I could improve them next time.

Eventually I went down to the Dump, and decided to take some images, sadly they didn’t allow me onto the “primacies” as they do not allow pictures, but they couldn’t stop me from taking pictures outside of the area.

In general I like the variety of colours shown in the images, they show straight forward intention towards objects, or have a wide angle view to show the surroundings of wrecked carnage everywhere. Furthermore there are a good use of lines in the images, which aren’t too eye catching but are still noticeable and work well with the placing of the image, which includes the skies are top and context at the bottom.

Now that was just to show people what happens at the dump. My main Idea was to do with cigarette buds, as people don’t think about them much but at the same time, they are litter, and are found almost everywhere.