Experimentation 1, 2,3,4 and 5 of picture story 1 :

1: in this experiment, I layered a bunch of different shapes with a various of shades of blue, thickness and opacity and although I liked the blue, I found it overwhelming therefore started to add different shades and colours. I also didn’t really like how the shaped overlapped the images, so this was rejected. I stuck with the title throughout the whole of the experiment because I really liked it.

2: For this experiment, I stayed with the blue shapes and didn’t change much from the first experiment however decided to add a black shape but immediately disliked it.

3: I started to find what I actually wanted to create with this picture story, in this experiment. I played with different colours like pink and grey and also played with the opacity and thickness. I liked how colourful it was getting and realised that I wanted to make it colourful so I carried on with the experimentation with colours.

4: Now her was where I was really having fun with the colours, I liked the contrast between the feminine colours and masculine colours and the different shapes. However I still did not like how the shapes were overlapping the images so thus was rejected.

5: This was my final product. I had finally figured that the coloured shapes would stay as the background and the pictures would overlap the shapes. I also decided to ass some shading and frames that coordinated with the images to enhance the images and really highlight the title in the mention of ‘aura’

Experimentation of picture story 2 (didn’t really experiment as I just went with the flow and liked the end products so kept it like that)I did however, play with the colours of the outlines of the photo frames. I debated wether the left side should be black and the right side all blue, however my main picture had lost of blue, so I put the larger frame on the left as blue to form a correlation between the image and frames. I also played with the thickness of the title especially the part where is is cursive. I thought the cursive words gave it a ‘Chique’ tone to it:

Experimentation 1 and 2 from the 3rd picture story :

1: with this experimentation, I played with the title in terms of size and font. I really liked the font and the size of it, especially the thickness and as seen on further blog posts, this ends up being my final product. I noticed that lots of my images in this picture story had brown in it so decided that I would put the frames for the image in brown.

2: in this experimentation, I changed the thickness and font of the title to see if it gave it a more rustic look to it however, I did not like the look that the font made the picture story look like. It made it look like really messy and childish, therefore it was rejected.

For my final images I went for Black and White as the main theme. I chose this because of the structures I was taking photos of were mainly old and looked best in black and white.

Decisive Moment

For these pictures I chose to put filters over them and selected the thing that stood out the most in each image (people) and I kept them in colour so there was a nice contrast of dark filters and a pop of colour.

Henri grew up in a wealthy family, he was initially into art with him starting to paint at just five years old. in 1927 he went to a boarding school called the Lhote Academy which was ran by a cubist painter and sculptor called André Lhote. Henri Described André as his teacher of “photography without a camera.”

In 1929 Henri Cartier met Harry Crosby who had an interest in photography and gave him his first camera and they would take photos together, which was the awakening of his photography legacy and gave him an interest in it.

His work

The Decisive Moment

One of the things Henri was famous for was coming up with the concept of the decisive moment, He described it as “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative, oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.”

In summery Henri is basically saying the decisive moment is the moment in candid photography when the composition is all perfect and you take the photo which can never be naturally re-created again, making it a once in a lifetime photo.

Image Analysis

The photo which Henri Cartier-Bresson took was at the Gare St.Lazare train station in 1932 and captures a man trying to jump over a puddle. The photo uses the rule of thirds, with the man jumping over the puddle being in the last third of the image and the man standing in the background being in the middle third of the image.

The photo is in back and white and contains no colour but there is still good a contrast between black and white, especially in the reflections in the water. Furthermore the Water also gives the bottom half of the image a smooth texture which contrasts with the top of the railings in the background, as the top of the railings look quite sharp and pointy.

There is a bit of shape in the photo. The roofs in the background create a triangular shape which makes the photo more interesting to look at compared to if the roofs were flat. The railings/fences in the photo create diagonal lines which gives the photo a bit more depth. They also help distinguish between the foreground and background of the photo.

Page Spread Planning and Designs

After being introduced to InDesign in class, I played around with the tools to become familiar with the Software and this is what I created. As you can see, I have inserted some random images. These images won’t be the selection that I will use for my final design, I just used them to learn how to add images and move them around.

These are some other layouts which I came up with and, as you can see, I have decided to go for the title ‘Within the Walls’. Another good title would be ‘St Malo through Phone’ as I took these images using my iPhone as it is more distinct, however, I think this title would be informal and doesn’t look as good.

I then added some placeholder text in the areas which I am planning on putting text within my Page Spreads.

I also added the French flag behind one of my layouts by using coloured shapes and sending them to the back.

Another layout option which I tried was to have an image behind the text. I inserted this image like I would any other then moved it to back and lowered the transparency to 24%.

I also added some borders around my images which are the colour of the French flag as it is much more minimal than having it as the entire background. I did this by making the edges of the images have a 3pt border then colouring the borders to be like the French flag.

I designed another layout with some more smaller images, rather than having a clear establishing shot. This will allow me to display more of my images and works better for my images as the majority of them are vertical.

After this, I added images to one of my design layouts, as seen below:

Here is my reasonings for each of the images’ positions:

I also tried this same layout in B&W to see what I think would look best:

I have decided that I am going to keep the images in colour as I believe that it is more pleasing to the eye and St Malo is a very colourful place so it represents it well.

After this, I put an image of a woman eating ice cream behind the text to see how it would look, however, I think that it just looks a bit messy.

Here is another image layout which I have created:

I made this page spread monochrome by exporting it and putting it into Lightroom, rather than using B&W images.

Once again, I think that I prefer in colour as it strips the character from the images when in B&W.

These are the 2 layouts for me to choose between:

I have decided to go for the second layout as I think it is a better way of positioning the text and will allow me to write 2 separate paragraphs on different topics, rather than one big one. One the other hand, there are some images which I don’t think quite fit with the rest, therefore I am going to change them.

I have swapped the image with the church to the one where the man is walking past the 2 ladies sipping their drinks. I prefer this layout much more now compared to how it was before and I think that this image is a better representation of the decisive moment.

I then made another change to my images as I thought the image of the woman eating the ice cream didn’t really fit in so I replaced it with the image of the man cycling and replaced that image with people walking their dogs. I strategically placed these images here as they draw your eyes into the page spread.

This is the text I would like to add to my page spread:

1st text box:

Saint Malo is a historic walled city on the coast of Brittany, France. The city has a long history of piracy and has been home to numerous sailors and explorers. At the end of World War II, it was set on fire and 80% of it had been destroyed. 680 buildings were demolished at this time, including Saint-Vincent Cathedral, which was under reconstruction for 21 years and completed by the beginning of the 1970s. The reconstruction of this city had begun in 1947 and it is now a popular tourist attraction for its coastal location, distinctive architecture, privateer history and more.

2nd text box:

Packed with French culture and history, the walls of Saint Malo offer many experiences such as shopping in unique French shops, eating at tasteful restaurants, exploring the historic attractions and more. The city is also located on the coast and has beautiful beaches which are known for their large tides. Overall, this city is perfect for those who are eager to create new memories, have a love for history and food and want to explore the French culture.

Here are my layouts with text:

I have decided to go for the first text option as I think that it best fits the boxes I have left for text and also matches the title as they are both serif fonts. I have also put made sure that the text was displayed with my most recent layout. Here is my final result: