The aim of this photoshoot was to get some staged images and some candid ones, this is because I wanted to capture my friends in a natural state but also stage them to exaggerate the girlhood theme. I wanted images of my friends in trees and looking playful.
Contact Sheet:
CHOSEN IMAGES FROM THIS SHOOT:
Image Analysis
I put these images next to each other to compare them as they are very similar and I want to use only one of them for my final photobook. The top image presents girlhood better as there are three girls in it, all in and around the tree however I prefer the tone and composition of the image on the bottom. The tree is more central and creates a nicer focal point.
These two images are very similar however I like the composition form and space of both of them. Therefore, I plan on maybe putting them next to or above one another in my photobook.
I decreased the exposure in this image but brought the shadows up a bit. This was because the image was very overexposed so I wanted to define the image more. However, with heavy shadows, it caused the seaweed to take over the image a lot as its the darkest component in it. Bringing the shadows up just lightened that a bit.
I started by rotating the image to straighten the horizon, I then cropped the image and this made it all more central. I like this image as it has very clear broken up foreground, midground and background. The foreground of the sand, midground is the two girls and the background is the sea horizon. The focal point of this image is the two girls and they also contrast the image as the tone of the background and surrounding of them are lighter and colourful and they are a darker tone so stand out.
Using the 64 images I had picked to be my favourites and the most suitable for the photobook, I started designing my photobook in the “Book” tab of Lightroom Classic.
I started picking what images should go in what order and resizing them to the pages of the book after picking the format (Portrait).
After narrowing the images down again, I ended up with about 50 pages in my book.
Editing process of a handful of my photos taken so far under my ABANDONED chapter in my upcoming photobook.
During my earlier days, I would sneak into a collection of abandoned places throughout Jersey with my friends. I remember key elements that most of the places I visited would share. Such as danger warning signs, dark rooms being dimly lit by your friends torches, cold temperatures and the constant feeling of general unwelcomeness each building gave off, combined with the thought that we were going to be spotted or badly hurt at any moment. I wanted to reflect all of these in my images by adjusting light levels to low, having bad weather and slippery environments, making photos look grainy and damaged and overall giving the photos a sense of eeriness.
I made sure to change the lighting levels in this photo to have the sign appear brighter than the background to bring out the significance of it being the main subject of the photo. Also to imply that a torch is being shined on it. I’ve encountered many signs like this whenever I have snuck into somewhere, always saying something along the lines of “Danger” or “Keep out”. Attempting to deter people and make the site dangerous and less likely to enter, but accidentally making it more intriguing.
I wanted to make this image appear darker, I felt it had a more ominous look paired with the warning sign, to arise a sort of fear for the viewer. I also made sure to make it just bright enough to appear there was a flashlight being shone onto the sign too.
I liked the idea to just cut off the rest of the photo, because the rest was just wall, and make a box aspect ratio. I feel that the less the image shows, the little more mystery it brings about this door. Why has it been boarded up, and when? Where does it go? What caused the giant scratch on it?
I wanted to bring out the lights in the car park more, and make the steel beams more visible. I felt that by making the lighting more yellow it made the image look more appealing instead of just plain white, I felt it made it more cinematic looking too.
I wanted to also make this have a smaller aspect ratio because it focuses more on the doorway. I made the photo darker because I wanted the photo to look scarier and more serious, it makes the doorway darker and less inviting because you don’t know what is through it. I made sure the photo was straighter as it makes the fence look better and more satisfying to look at.
Raised By Wolves is about probes the gap between dreams and reality in the lives of teenage runaways living on the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and bout a neglected community which people don’t think about, and the youth which are getting lost in addiction and substance abuse, this project let the people be heard and seen when they hadn’t been before. Jim Goldbergs work always shows a divide in society predominantly focusing on the side which most people don’t see and making people see it this aspect of his work is truly moving n the sense he gives people voices and allows them to tell their story’s when no one else would listen.
His work is documentary, made to make people think twice about how other people live and to not take things for granted.
Jim Goldberg
Jim Goldberg is an American photographer who likes to focus a lot of his work on the neglected and ignored populations he takes time on these projects collecting thousands of photographs to make sure that the photos he choses represents his thoughts and views on the subject/ mater he is trying to get across, Goldberg uses film and digital cameras to create his book Raised By Wolves which shows a neglected and hurt population, his work is moving to his audiences as his work has been personalised by the people who he has included in it from people writing notes, drawings and dialog, this shows he is a photographer who wants to make an impact on people and wants to get people to speak up about where and who they come from.
Many awards and grants received by Goldberg for Raised By Wolves are a Guggenheim Fellowship (1985), two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships (1989, 1990), the Mother Jones Documentary Photography Award (1989), and the Ernst Haas Award for Photography Book of the Year (1995).
Construction Of The Book
Raised By Wolves is constructed by fitting images, drawings and writing that has been scanned in and placed in the photo, there are polaroids and film negatives used in the photo-book, the use of multiple different photography elements gives the book depth and a more interesting approach.
The book itself is printed on thick printing paper, this a card front cover making it a soft copy, which is glossy, the images are mainly taken in black and white, in a high resolution, and the images which are in colour are typically vibrant, the sizing of the book is slightly larger than a A4 piece of paper with 315 pages, some of the images being full bleed across both pages and sometimes one page with may not taking up the full page and being accompanied with handwriting.
My Photobook
To create the photo book we have used blurb which links to Lightroom Classic allowing us to work in Lightroom and do all editing and placement on one program, I have selected a small square book with a hardcover back and matte paper which I think will reflect well on the images I have taken due to them being taken on film.
To get the framing up you need to press the black box with the arrow on it which will allow you to pick the bleed and placement of the image you are placing, you are able to adjust it to wherever you want it to be but by using the suggested placement this allows the image to be well centered and have equal white space and measurements.
I have placed my photographs in a sequence that i believe fit well due to them being taken at different times of the year, I have tried to make the photographs all flow together.
I have put some photographs on two pages to try to break up the sequence making the book more eye-catching, they are all going to have a white border around except for the ones which have are on a double page spread the reasoning behind this is due to the sizing of the photobook i don’t want to cut out any part of the photographs and by having them in that way with the white border it doesn’t cut anything and i think it gives them a slick look.
I have placed these two photographs together on a double page spread as the pole in both photos flows together making both photos look like one.
I have picked some of my top images from this project and placed them into a virtual gallery to this I used artsteps, I picked the layout of the gallery and decided where they should go, the photos I picked are the ones I have enjoyed taking and I love the outcome of them as they were all taken on film with the development process it was a bit hit and miss with the outcomes as I only had a certain amount of photos available on the film negative which limited me on the amount I could take meaning I have to take the photographs carefully.
I am happy with the outcome of this project and the shoots I have completed, all the photographs I have used are personal to me as they focus on my friendships and us having fun, whilst I was taking the photographs my intention was to capture people having fun, in places where we all enjoy which hold memories for the individuals, I have made links to the photographer Theo Gosselin as he captured people in their surrounds having fun in a beautiful almost calm setting which I have done to the best of my ability and like Gosselin I have used a film camera for this project which I think gives it a more authentic touch to it as the slight graininess to the photos suggests the photos haven’t been hyper-edited and have a natural feel to them. Within this exam I have enjoyed making the photo book as it is something I haven’t done before and I enjoyed the process of selecting and designing the look and presentation of the book however, if I was to do this project again I would try to get the resolution of the images higher so that I would have the ability to make them larger because due to the medium resolution of the photographs it limited my ability of how large I could make the images on the phonebook as it impacted how they would print.
Selecting – I flagged all the images I wanted to choose to edit using ‘X’ and ‘P’
examples
These are the photos I am going to edit from shoot 1:
Basic Editing
Although Kawauchi uses the same sized images in her photobooks, I have decided to use portrait and landscape to keep a variety throughout the book. I also feel like the unorganised look of the different presentations could link to my theme of these images being through the ‘eyes’ of me as a child.
I used the preset ‘cool mat’ for these images because it has the blue tones Kawauchi uses, and it means I can start with a basic edit. Each image will have the same colour and hues to start with, keeping a consistency throughout my images. I don’t want any to look as if they have been edited drastically different to each other.
I wanted to achieve a ‘dreamy’ look on some of my images to draw the nostalgic emotion, and present my images how I would have viewed these places as a child.
I rated the images from this shoot with red, yellow and green so I can choose which images are the best.
Red Images (unedited or images I won’t use)
Yellow Images (ones that I might use but I don’t think are the best)
Green Images (photos that I will use in my photobook)
Moodboard of my final basic edited images
Further Editing in Photoshop
I want to do further editing on some of these images, adding light orbs and sun beams because when I took this shoot the lighting was not the best.
I experimented with ‘Filters > Render > Lens Flare…’ to add a light orb.
Here are some options:
This is my favourite outcome from the edits
I have done this with a few more Images just to add the same style of light Kawauchi uses, and make the photos brighter. It also captures the magical and dreamy effect I want – from a child’s view
My Images compares with Kawauchi
I’m not sure if I am going to include these images as they are the only ones I have of food. Although they feel nostalgic to me, I am going to wait and experiment to see if they will work within the photobook. I may also take some extra photographs of food that is nostalgic to me, like Kawauchi.
In Lightroom, I went through each image and flagged the ones which I liked and want to edit, which filters them down and helps separate these images from the rest.
photo shoots one:
Contact sheet:
My first photo shoot is based on Justine Kurland’s image ‘Bathroom, 1977’, I took photos of girls getting ready for a night out. I positioned my model in front of mirrors to try and create an idea of not knowing that the camera is there and so its almost from the models perspective and point of view. This was taken place in the evening, therefore I had to use artificial lighting.
Photoshoot two:
Contact sheet:
Photoshoot two is inspired by Michelle Sank, I took my model to Red House Precinct, and staged her in basic positions similar to Michelle Sank’s images. This was taken on a quite dull day which made the natural lighting perfect as the sun was not reflecting off of anything.
Editing process:
Photoshoot three, four & five:
The next photoshoots had no particular inspiration. This took place at a small house party and captures youth in a fun and creative light. These were all taken in the evening, therefore, there was no natural lighting so they were taken with artificial lighting. They were taken after a night out and wanted to make the images as authentic as possible so I tried to capture moments in which the subjects were not paying attention to the camera.
Contact sheet:
Editing Process:
Contact Sheet:
Editing Process:
Contact Sheet:
Editing Process:
Photoshoot six:
Contact Sheet:
Editing Process:
Selection Process:
After editing all of my flagged images, I then proceeded to colour code my best images from each photo shoot to keep everything together and make it easier when picking my final images.
