Where will I take my photos and why did I pick this location?
For this shoot I have chosen to use someone close to me as I think this allows me a good chance of capturing them well. I have chosen to ask my father to model for this shoot. I have thought about how I would like to capture him and while there are many options I have chosen to take photos of him at work as this is something that is important to him and describes him well. By choosing to follow the most used type of environmental portraiture I will have to make sure I follow the rest for the style well, this includes me making sure the subject is centred and testing if the rule of thirds work for the particular shot.
How will I take my photos in the style of environmental portraits?
To ensure I have followed the classic style of environmental portraiture, I will use an eyelevel angle keeping the camera in Tv settings or full manual to allow me to adjust the lighting within a shot depending on how much natural lighting is available. I will also look to make sure the model is the subject of the photo using the rule of thirds to look at the shot to then cut down on post production editing as it will be a well executed shot in the first place.
This is the contact sheet of my first photoshoot, I have then marked off the ones I feel aren’t the best as featured below.
The lines mark off the shots that I don’t consider to be the best options of the shoot, it also includes ones I don’t feel follow the style of environmental portraits.
Overall there were a few successful shots as I looked for certain elements in the photo. I looked for good lighting, well composed shots and if it fitted the brief of an environmental portrait. I looked for certain elements within the composure of the photos, for example by favouring the shot in which the model had his one of his hands on the desk and one resting on his lap the shot has a more authorial look and also follows the idea of environmental portraits being structured and not an action shot. The shot where the model was still moving his hands looks more like I had just captured a moment rather than composed a planned shot. At the beginning of the shoot I was fairly unaware of what I should ask the model to do so as I found my confidence in the type of picture I wanted the shots improved producing results I can now go onto edit.
August Sanders is a famous photographer who actually started by working in a mine and then working as an assistant for a photographer called Siegen who was also working in the mine at the same time. As he progressed who brought his own equipment and set up his own darkroom before his military service 1897-1899. After his service he started working for Photographische Kunstanstalt in Hungry before becoming a partner then later becoming the sole owner of the company. Later on he left the company and set up a new studio at Durener Strasse. His most famous work began in 1911 when he did his first series of portraits for his work, he aimed to show the differences in society during the Weimar Republic. He then divided the shoot into seven sections ranging from different professions, different classes to homeless people and veterans. Continuing his career he travelled to Sardinia for three months, while he took around 500 photos however he did not write his planned book on his travels. His most famous work continued when his ‘People of our time’ was published, this was a series of 60 photos aiming to describe and show the people of the 20th century. However sadly under Nazi regime his photography plates were seized and destroyed, along with later on his studio being bombed and the a fire wrecking what was left of his work. After the war in 1953 Sander sold 408 photographs of Cologne taken between 1929 and 1939, later on in 1988 they were published in book format, under the title Koln Wie Es War (Cologne as it was). His work has continued to be influential even now inspiring people with his environmental portraiture.
Beggar, 1926 – August Sanders
This is one of my favourite pieces of August Sanders work; just after the end of WW1 he captured a shot of a beggar on the streets. Many people were left without a home and or without an income leaving many people on the street after the devastating effects of WW1.
Within the photo there is not much, however it appears busier than it is due to the lines and patterns. The man is sitting in the centre of the photo with a crutch underneath him and holding his hat out for change. The photo is in black and white as all of Sanders work is as Sander never updated his equipment with the times instead sticking to his original set up. It’s quite a saddening image as it is very solemn and while it is a fairly simple image in its composition it has a high emotional complexity to it. When you first glance at the photo, I didn’t notice the crutch or the hat I assumed it was someone resting or waiting for a train. However as you take a closer look at the shot it becomes clear what is really happening. Sanders used the lines in the natural surroundings to create a busy look to the photo. By having a ‘busy’ background in the photo and around the subject it reflects the subjects daily life of blending into a busy lifestyle of everyone else. The composition of the photo is quite interesting as it isn’t an overly wide angle so there isn’t much foreground or background to the shot but the subject is slightly off centred to the left and in the little foreground there is immediately drawing the viewers eye to him. Harsh lines are prominent throughout the shot as a whole from the wall edge creating a harsh line to the fencing creating repetition both offset by more lines however they are softer and lead to the subject again. Creating this juxtaposition of the harsh world around the subject and the softer, emotive side of the subject is still a person no matter what his circumstances. This is a great example of an environmental portrait by having the subject as the main focus of the photo, providing context about the person by having a common environment of theirs as the background. By having the subject wearing a blank expression it takes away from the falsities that can crop up in photos by wearing different expressions, this instead helps the people look deeper into the photo and understand the correlation between the subject and the surroundings. Sanders used all natural lighting in a majority of his work not only due to his camera set up but also due to his work being in the subject’s natural environment didn’t allow for easy lighting all the time, in this shot he has balanced the exposure well creating a balanced tonal image. What Sanders has done particularly well with this shot is capturing a 3D scene and transforming it into an emotive, dynamic 2D image. By using the shapes and lines available in the environment it has enhanced the final outcome creating depth in the shot and providing a small background and a feeling that the image extends onwards confusing off the edge of shot from the simple use of the wall further away from the subject.
This is another one of Sanders famous pieces of work, there is not much information available about this shot in-particular. However it is evident that it is a great example of Sanders environmental portrait style. This photo was taken after WW1 (1928) however the effects were still very present. The frame of the photo is mostly filled with the subject an in a white chefs jacket, boots and black trousers. He is holding a large metal bowl that has small patches of lighter grey where the light is reflecting off it. While the chef is holding a spoon in the bowl he is not moving it as it is an environmental portrait he is posed and still. It would be noticeable if he was moving at all due the the nature of Sander’s camera equipment there would be blurring to the image where the movement isn’t captured quick enough to remain clear. The background and foreground of the shot are a complete tonal contrast to the white coat being black with small speckles of white from the grout on the tiled floor to the labels on the above counter cupboards. Having the subject in his professional environment is a great way of capturing an environmental portrait as it would have been where the chef spent a lot of his life. There is a also a connection between our jobs and out personalities and lifestyle. The chef has a neutral expression on his face, however he does not seemed annoyed or put out by the photo instead looks proud. This allows for the photo to be perceived as the man is proud of his job, this could be for many reasons but a large part of this could be that he proud that he could, after the war being able to enjoy his passion again. The more technical side of the photo is that Sander’s has used the space around the chef to provide a stark tonal contrast from the dark background. This draws the viewer to the subject, the chef, and away from the surrounds. However the dark background also makes the viewer curious to what is in it, this gets them to start looking closer to the the subject and where they might be standing in correlation to what he is wearing and if he is holding anything. Following on from that the dark background also helps the image appear more 3D which is a great skill of Sanders work in creating a 3D scene into a 2D photo while keeping the photo form looking flat. Sanders has used the rule of thirds to put the subject in the centre to keep the focus on him. He has also used the lines on the floor to add depth to the photo and provide a feeling of foreground and background. He uses many lines throughout the photo not just the floor, he also has something with a sharp edge and harsh line just behind the soft, unfocused edge on the side of the shot. The photo is filled with smooth looking textures like the subjects jacket and the metal bowl, this reminds me of how pastry chefs work is neat and appears almost perfect when it comes to things like cakes with white icing. Contrasting this is the mess on the floor, this is a great way Sander’s has captured the neatness and how pristine the chefs have to be as well as there work but it is an environment that is not very forgiving.
Newman was a Jewish photographer who created environmental portraits as his main style of photography. Particularly after the war he captured a very famous shot of a man called Krupp. He started working with photography as a medium in 1938 while working in a chain of portrait studios in Philadelphia. It was here he found his love for creating documentary style photos himself. In 1941 his work was featured in it’s first exhibition and he began to produce environmental portraits as they are know today. After moving home due to the war in 1942.1 In 1945 his Philadelphia Museum of Art one-man exhibit, ‘Artists look like this’ was recognised around the world quickly allowing Newman to open his own studio in 1946 also becoming a member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP.) His work grew greatly in popularity as more exhibitions and purchases of his work happened. Over his life time he won many awards and took photos that hoard such strong messages and reasons with what appears to be a simple snapshot portraits that even now his work is world widely famous.
This photo has many different aspects to it as it is a highly emotive, powerful photo. There is a lot of history and tension within the subject of the photo and the photographer which while I don’t find the tension is the main aspect of the photo there is a huge aspect of intimation within the image. Newman purposefully created this by using the lighting and pose of Krupp as he felt it was a great way of portraying Krupp’s true character. It was a unique situation in general as Krupp was a huge part of supporting the Nazi’s with suppling them with weapons and other equipment during WW11 so when Newman a Jewish photographer was asked to take the photo of Krupp he originally declined before then accepting and making it his aim to have a goal of personal revenge against Krupp hence the portraying of his true character from Newman’s composition of the photo. This led to Krupp being furious when he saw the shot but Newman felt satisfied with his accomplishment, ‘a little moment of revenge’ this quickly became one of Newman’s best photos.
Image Analysis
It is an emotional shot, holding a lot of anger and intimidation within it due to the historical context of the shot. Krupp who is the subject of the image is illuminated in an unusual manor by having the lighting rear and the side makes Krupp’s eyes become quite dark and less noticeable making him appear sinister and unfriendly. There are harsh lines though tout the image starting with the two large pillars ether side of the subject framing him with blocky, dark, imposing features, then leading onto the industrial background of the shot has lines of light filtering through the roof. The colours of the image are dark or a rusted orange adding to the feel of danger as it’s not inviting and instead almost forces the viewer to look into Krupp’s eyes which are also dark and not very visible in the shot. Krupp himself had a weathered face from age and Newman highlighted this in his choice of lighting creating deep lines and grooves all over Krupp’s face furthering his appearance of an imposing, harsh character. Newman used perspective to his advantage, by putting Krupp’s o a close depth of field and the rest of the shot has a fairly long depth of field it encourages the viewer to look at Krupp’s and enforces his not necessarily good authority.
Environmental Portrait – a portrait executed in the subject’s usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject’s life and surroundings. They are normally used to reveal something about the subject in the photo particularly in relation to the background. This does not mean it has to be a positive association like the photo Arnold Newman took of Alfried Krupp and the way Newman has framed Krupp to represent the person he is and what he has done.
Typologies – A body of work with a consistent style. Often portrayed in many different forms, some being in a structured group with equal spacing in-between or a particular style in general like the style of environmental portraits. Environmental portraits are often associated with the style of typology as they are always structed images with the same idea of the subject looking into the camera and often centred.
I found this project quite testing but very useful, I found I didn’t pay enough attention to the details during the shoot, so this has taught me to be patient and check all the details in a shot. I would take the photos then realise when I went to edit them the lighting was off or the object wasn’t completely centred. It made me look at the finer details within an object as well which is what Walker Evan’s intended in his work, which heavily influenced my work. The lack of background in the shots meant I had to really look at how the photo was composed and get the other elements very accurate to provide a solid, neat photo as if not the shot would be very unimpressive and look unfinished. Overall the project has taught me a lot and I have new skills and ideas can take onto more creative, different photoshoots in the future.
For this project I chose my best shots and put them in a virtual gallery, I chose to place all the shots on one wall as I liked the idea that all the shots taken in the same way would be presented in the same way. By having a single colour background and no frames also takes away from the idea of the presentation being too busy. I chose the shots that I thought were the best after editing, many of them have an off white background so by keeping the gallery wall off white it helps contrast the photos and show off the details which is what this style is all about.
My response to Walker Evan’s and Harvey Regan’s work, was a very similar style, looking at how the object is presented in the photo. I started by trying different lighting settings until I found one that worked. I also used a few different objects, some that were particularly nostalgic to me personally and another that I thought was really quite interesting and could make a great result.
I started by adding all my photos into a collection on Lightroom and then rating each image and putting a corresponding colour code, red- low star rating, yellow for photos that have a middle ground rating, and then having green for any high rated photos that I will go onto edit.
This is the original image and the settings I used on the camera. I used a low shutter speed as the setting was static and fixed into a tripod with a low iso as the lighting was LED studio lighting. I took the image on a copy table as well so I will have to crop out the edges of the photo.
I started by cropping the image to get rid of the excess background and to focus the subject of the photo in the frame.
I then chose to adjust the tone by increasing the exposure to produce a whiter background and really highlight the comb.
Second Shot
I started by cropping this image as well, to again focus the subject.
I then changed the colouring slightly using the temperature toggles and the tint, this allowed me to level out the lighting as there was some small glares in the original photo.
My next step was to adjust the tone settings to create a whiter background while keeping fork true to real life colourings. By adjusting the exposure lower and the contrast higher to washed pout the background while bringing out the silver metal.
Choosing to next alter the presence as I didn’t like the purply light around the edges of the fork created by the previous editing, I reduced the texture as the fork is already fairly smooth it was unaffected however this removed the haze from the edges when used along side altered clarity and dehaze settings.
(This before and after doesn’t show the image before cropping) Overall I am very happy with the results as the editing has greatly benefitted the image. I have one more photo left I would like to edit using the skills and ideas of settings I have just learnt.
Third Shot
For my final image I chose to first again crop the shot, making sure the original is unlocked so I can individually adjust a side over having each side effect the rest.
These are the adjustments I did to make the photo slightly different. Originally I liked this edit, however I will go onto to remove some of the yellow as it looks slightly over saturated.
I much prefer this photo as it’s much more true to life with its’ colours. The background was effected meaning some of the purple tint came back but it doesn’t appear as purple and instead provides a solid, smooth background.
Fourth Shot
Starting again with cropping the image gives me a nice base to the editing. I try to frame all the images using the rule of thirds and removing as much of the unnecessary background as possible, like Regan and Evan’s style, instead focusing on the subject.
Looking at the colours in the photo, white background, white handle, black/ tarnished blade. I wanted the saw to stand out, which while it can be tricky to have white on white and make it stand out, as the saw is dirty and marked. (a reflection of how it has been used) The off white handle means it is bold on the page even without shadowing. This emphasises the shape and wear and tear with the tool.
This is the final image after editing, I like the follow on from the research of Evan’s and Regan’s work with the object in focus and a plain background keeping the focus on the subject and not everything around it. I used continuous hard lighting on a table with the camera on a tripod suspended over the object, ensuring the lighting didn’t wash out the saw if it was too harsh for the camera settings. Using white, harsh lighting made sure the object had little to no shadow, wasn’t an overly tonal image and didn’t feel warm and inviting instead intriguing and almost clinical in the attention to detail. While the photo started slightly under exposed as the shutter speed was 1/60 but the room was fairly poorly lit, after editing it was much improved by the increased exposure and decreased contrast. I’m happy with the image as unlike some of my previous work it does not have a purple tint, instead being a rather neutral boarding cold image, this is only emphasised by the saw handle being off white and showing high contrast between the pristine white background and the used saw handle.
These are my final images, by using a mixture of objects I created a varied array of shots which I then developed further with editing to produce my best four photos. The comb and boot brush are very nostalgic items for me personally and I love the way this style has captured every detail of each item making it very easy to at a glance remember all the good memories. the saw and the fork are not personal items to me but instead objects I found very intriguing to look at and are items that are very often used but never properly looked at, for the details and the flaws, or even the wear and tear of each object.
‘Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.’ -Walker Evan
Evans was an American photographer, capturing everyday, working class citizens.
Evan’s had many unique approach that were benefitted from his slight frame, allowing him to take many photos unnoticed, perfectly capturing things and people completely unaware. He was also a close friend of Ernest Hemingway who also ended up shaping much of Evan’s early style. He was one of the first to use portable cameras which got increasingly more modern with faster shutter speeds only further benefitting his style of quick snaps, expertly timed and framed. He actually began his career wanting to be a writer, which the literacy style stuck with him though all of his work as in himself he could not fully identify with the poor, rural farmers he portrayed in his work, so he often used literature to help understand and present his work.
Tin Building, Moundville, Alabama, Walker Evans, 1936.
Beauty of Common Tools – Walker Evans
Darren Harvey Regan
Beauty of the common tools – Darren Harvey Regan
Darren Harvey Regan is a photographer who was also a mixed media artist combing sculpture and photography. He wants to break the constraints of photography hence the mixed media. Many of his images are comedic and his aim is to get people to study the subjects of the photos. He is often linked to the style of formalism as his work is heavily focused around: lines, shape, colour and texture. The style he uses forces people to study each part of the image and look for meaning and reasoning behind the photo.
Darren Harvey-Regan – The Erratics
Analysing Regan’s style
Regan’s work tends to be black and white, with a wide grey scale. He heavily focuses on lines and textures in his work, for example the image above has a chalk on a stand adding further lines and direction to the photo. It also has a triangular shape carved out of it, which has a very different texture to compared the rest of the chalk as it appears smooth like the surrounding area where as the rest of the chalk looks very rustic with organic textures. The lighting is soft but well lit with sharp edges when the lighting changes in the image appearing very satisfying to the viewer.
Comparing Regan and Evans Work
Regan’s photo is o the left and Evan’s photo is on the right. There are obvious similarities between the two images, with them both being clack and white although this is reflective of the period of time Evan’s took his photos. There are other similarities like the subjects both being a tool and that it is on a plain white background. I believe the background is to get people to stop over looking an everyday tool and appreciate how interesting it is with the lines and patterns. There are differences like Evan’s photo has the tool on an angle like it had just been thrown on the floor, where as Regan’s photo appears well thought out and structured. There is the other big difference between the two images is that Regan’s photo has been edited as it is actually two tools merged together that you wouldn’t notice unless you actually looked at the photo due to the grey scale and similar shapes of the tools. While they are technically both photos, are Evan’s photo as Regan used Evan’s photos to make new collages and new experiments.
Formalism is a photography technique that describes the design, lighting and composition over the main subject matter. More simply the attention to detail over the main subject and how it is presented.
Analysing of photos has it’s own specific language to describe each element of the photo. All photos consist of formal and visual elements which is similar in all art but the language used is not all related to art, for example timing, framing and focusing aren’t things that relate to art pieces but mainly photography.
There are many different types of lines, straight, curved, a mix of both, or there can be lines like psychological lines and implied lines. Straight and curved lines are a great example of manmade lines often found in many photos. Psychological and implied lines are a great tool to add context and a story to a photo.
Shapes within photos are 2D, they bare easily manipulated from familiar to an unfamiliar shape by the photographer changing the lighting, angles and general form of a photo. Within an image new shapes can be made when the separate shapes combine with the use of techniques when structuring the photo. There are different types of shapes, geometric and organic shapes within photos, quite often a mix of natural and manmade appears in photos.
‘the shape and structure of something as distinguished from its material’ Like shape, there are two types of form geometric and organic it can also be complex or simple. Form has overall height, depth and width as it is 3D. Tone is incredibly important for photos that are focused around form as it helps show off the different lines and shapes as well as the general composition of a photo.
Texture is one of the few elements in a photo that can be 3d as while it relates to what you can see in the image it can also be the feeling of the print as some photos are edited by hand to add depth, texture and feel. Texture is a very useful tool in photography dramatically changing images. Texture can be a subject in many photos the aim is, by using lighting and angles to benefit the image to, make the photo appear you can reach out and touch it.
Light is often thought of as colour, however this is not the case, actually light doesn’t become colour in a photo until it has been shone through something to give the originally colourless light colour. It is widely used in a variety of different ways; it has three properties, hue, saturation and value, each heavily contributing to the image often used to help put across a mood in a photo and to help benefit other elements.
‘physical magnitude, extent, or bulk : relative or proportionate dimensions’ Merriam – Webster. Size is important in photography as it is often used to give scale. Within a photo size can be a relative or an illusion, noting it can be a great tool to perceive scale within a photo. If there is a familiar object within the photo like a dog or a football, or even a door it helps us make sense and be aware of the other objects or things within the frame and their scale. It does mean size can also be used to create optical illusions within a photo making for something extremely unique and interesting to look at.
A photograph is a 2D representation of a 3D scene. We as photographers can manipulate the appearance of depth in photos to create something compelling and sometimes emotional to look at. Depth is often used to get the viewer to look deeper at the photo and start to search for more. Rendering depth is a crucial part of a photo as while pretty much every photo will have depth it does not mean it won’t look flat and uninteresting depending on how the photo has been rendered. Rendering can come in many forms during and post production, many photographers use things like leading lines and lighting to create depth. Textures and patterns are another hugely useful tool when it comes to creating depth in even a simple photo.
Analysis of Formal Elements
This photo is a great example of the formal elements working well together. When you first glance at the photo the depth of the shot it what first catches your eye pulling the viewer to look at the middle of the photo following the curved lines that are the walls, and the lines and depth being used to make a 2D photo appear very 3D and continue beyond the shot. While the shot is in black and white the two colours have been used in varying ways to create a unique and interesting shot as the squares of f the flooring are matched in tone to the ceiling creating a round feel to the shot working with the depth and lines already making the shot feel 3D. The size is used to benefit the surreal feeling even further as the corridor is round the size of the corridor feels huge in comparison to what it potentially is. There doesn’t appear to be any rough textures and instead everything appears smooth, quiet and surreal, which is helped by the overall shape as while the shot is a landscape rectangle it encourages the viewer to believe it’s round due how the rest of the formal elements have been used to influence the viewer of the photo.
My final thoughts on this project, I enjoyed trying different things and it taught me a lot on how to compose a shot as well as how to use a different camera than I’m used to. I enjoyed using ‘props’ however I also liked using my own items likes the tie and stock as this felt more personal and linked it to the idea of nostalgia. When editing I played around with different tonal options and black and white or in some shots I chose to keep a softer background than a bright white. I also used photoshop to remove small details like scuffs and marks that made the shot look busier or unfinished. Over all I liked the project and found it very useful to get used to new things while producing high quality work.
This is my virtual gallery for my still life project. It is a selection of my best, after editing photos from this project. I mainly used the ones from my second shoot as I ended up much preferring them over the first shoot. I used a variety of different shots, some landscape, some portrait and some one black and white. I think viewing the photos in a virtual gallery allows me to see how well the final photos actually came out. I chose not to add frames to the final photos as I think it would take away from the simplicity within still life shots.
I started by looking at how different presets effect the photo. Presets are pre made sets of edits almost like a filter. Using them can be very beneficial as it allows for many edits to be put on one photo very quickly, it also allows for similar lighting and style of editing on a set of images or a singular shot. I used pre made presets as I hadn’t yet tried editing the shot myself, if I had I could have made my edits into a custom preset.
I then wanted to remove the small scuffs and marks from the background. To do this I used the spot heal tool on Lightroom and if something didn’t look right I would then correct it by moving the selection replace patch.
The final edit (as pictured above) doesn’t have a huge contrast in look than the before (the left picture above) but as you start to look at the shot in detail you can notice the small improvements like: there is no longer scuffs distracting and leading the view away from the objects, there is less yellowing on the icing set highlighting the details in the box while keeping the used look, the bottle is a brighter cream colour, truer to real life.
I was then curious as to how a black and white version might look as it is a great way of making photos feel more nostalgic and feel older. I used the black and white option in Lightroom and then compared the original shot and the black and white version. While I like the black and white version I then felt some of the lighting and colouring needed changing. To do this I increased the contrast to add to the definition of objects, I then furthered this by using the sharpening tool as well. By decreasing the highlights and increasing the shadows it allowed for more tone in the image making a successful black and white image.
The next step was to remove all the scuffs on the violin as well as the yellowing sticker on the neck of the violin. I did this by using the spot heal tool to camouflage the replaced part with the actual parts of the photo.
This is the before and after of the finished edit, I noticed the black parts of the background showing though takes away from the overall appearance of the photo as it quite distracting to the eye and takes the focus away from the subject in the photo.
To amend the previously mentioned background showing I used the spot heal tool to attempt to cover up the black sections without cutting the box out of the photo as I think it adds depth and great lines in the shot. However it didn’t quite work as the spot healed background didn’t completely match the rest of the shot making the photo look messy.
Photoshop Editing of the same shot
Although I have already edited this shot in Lightroom I felt photoshop could have a better effect on redoing the background.
I started by selecting the edge of the box and moving it towards the mug. This allows me to remove additional blank space while still keeping the different depths in the photo.
I then chose to crop the image, keeping the edge of the box in so it still added to the photo, drawing the viewers eye into the image with an additional leading line from an object that isn’t in direct, front on view in the shot. I also chose to crop the height and the side of the shot to keep it equal and make the shot feel more personal. This helps tell a story within the photo as it’s not just emphasising the objects as if it was it wouldn’t be over lapping or have some of the object cut out of the frame.
Before
After
My last couple of alterations for this shot included, using the spot heal and clone tools to fill in scuff and remove marks on the image overall particularly on the violin. The editing actually made this photo look complete as before it looked very unfinished. I love how the shadows are only enhanced by editing adding, to the tone of the image. As this is a still life image, I focused on composing a story within the photo, to benefit this during the editing I fixed the background and left little room to be distracted when looking at the photo. Shape plays a big part in this image, making sure I used different shapes, some with smooth curving lines that lead around the image making it feel soft and almost safe like nostalgia does. To harsher more abrupt lines pointing to other elements in the photo. In general there is a smooth appearance to the objects, after editing and removing the scuffs, as our memory tends to manipulate smaller factors and seeing how scuffed something really is can make the photo look unappealing and take away from the image as a whole. Warm colours are focused on as the image as a whole and by using the ‘hue’ slider within photoshop I very slightly warmed the image while keeping the cool toned things like the metal tankard looking realistic. Depth within the image is always important during still life photos, to make sure the image didn’t appear flat I staggered the objects, I also took into consideration the size of each object putting the smaller ones at the front pulling the viewer to the back of the photo.
For this shot I felt it was rather flat as an image on the whole. before editing. To improve this I adjusted the hue to balance the image before then changing the image to black and white.
After making then image black and white I noticed that the bottle on the left had beleneded intot he background, to alter this I used the dodge and burn tool
Before After
For this last shot I chose to turn the shot black and white to add different tonal elements and by also removing some of the blemishes on the sheet of paper used as a background adds a smoothness to the overall look of the final photo. I did this editing in Lightroom as I didn’t feel it needed further editing in photoshop and instead I wanted to look at the colouring and lighting of the shot which Lightroom is great for.
