What is Sequence/Grid Photography?

Sequence photography is when you capture the movement of an object or of a sequence of events over time. The photographs are often taken at rapid-fire or they can even be taken separately. This can be displayed as a series of photographs or you could do some editing to make the movement all within one image. This is an example of the subject moving within the same image:

Grid photography can be either a collage of multiple photos together or splitting one photo into a grid known as the rule of thirds. Typologies are also a type of grid photograph and it is when photos are grouped with ones that have similar characteristics and laid out as a grid.

Mood board

Rule of Thirds

What is the rule of thirds?

The rule of thirds is a guideline in photography which places the subject in the left, right or middle third, leaving the other two thirds more open. The image is divided into 9 equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical lines of equal distance. The rule of thirds is generally used to create a well balanced, more visually pleasing photograph and draw the audience’s eyes towards the subject you want them to focus on.

Photo examples

Artist Reference

Brian D Smith

Brian D Smith is an American Wedding and Studio Photographer. He began his career in photography after photographing a wedding and making the decision to pursue his passion and drop his career in engineering. He is passionate about photographing weddings because he believes that committing to one person for life is a beautiful experience to witness. He also enjoys portraits and editorial work because he believes that it provides an opportunity to share a bond with a subject and reflect their beauty.

This is a series of photographs taken by Brian D Smith which have been arranged as a grid. In the top row, you can see that the woman’s eyes are becoming less visible to the camera each time, however, in the middle row she is making direct eye contact with the camera in each photo. On the bottom row, the subject is looking away from the camera in each photo and posing with her hands. In the top row, as her eyes become less visible to the camera, her hands are more visible. For example, in the first photo she is not using her hands, however in the second she is using both but only one palm is visible and in the last one both her palms are visible. Each image that makes up this grid looks like it follows the rule of thirds, apart from the bottom, centre image as the subject’s arm is aligned with the side of the photograph. Finally, this grid does not follow a specific trend as each photograph is different, however, they do all have similar characteristics.

Photoshoot Plan

Photoshoot/Photo Selection

I am going to be using this same set of photos for all Headshots editing.

Edits

Grid 1

I planned my first grid by selecting the photos I will use and positioning them where I want them in Freeform so I can visualise what it will look like.

The photos on the bottom row all appear a bit darker than the others, therefore, I am going to edit them a little bit on Adobe Lightroom Classic.

This is my improved grid after editing the photos:

To make my grid on Adobe Photoshop, I followed the following YouTube Tutorial:

The method I undergone for this was:

1) File > New: 1080 x 1080 pixels | 72 Resolution | Background: White

2) View > New Guide Layout: Columns: 3 | Rows: 3

3) Add a New layer and select Rectangular Marquee Tool then select any colour. Select first box, using Rectangular Marquee Tool, then right click and select Fill… > Foreground Colour.

4) Repeat this process with different colours for each of the boxes.

5) Select a layer and drag and drop a photo to place it on top. Right click the photo layer then select Create Clipping Mask.

6) After this, go to Edit > Free Transform and align the image how you would like it.

7) Repeat this process for the rest of the boxes to get your final result and clear Guides.

Grid 2

I used the same method from my previous edit, just with different photos. I decided that this grid would look better if I made it B&W, so that is what I did.

Grid 3

This will be the photos used in my 3rd grid. I am planning on possibly making the images in the middle row monochrome.

This is what the grid will look like with that row being in B&W. I then decided that I think it would look better with the B&W row being the bottom row so I changed it.

This is the final arrangement of my grid that I will make in Photoshop.

This is my grid that I created using these images in Adobe Photoshop:

Evaluation

Overall, I think my grids are similar to Brian D Smith’s due to the range of hand gestures and poses, although, my grids are different in terms of shape as they are squares whereas his are rectangular.

^ This is my personal favourite grid as I think that it looks quite professional and I like the B&W. I also like how the background of each image appear similar colour, except from the top left being a little darker.

Additionally, the rule of thirds is another form of grid photography and I would say that the majority of the images within my grids follow this rule.

What is double/multi exposure?

Double or multi exposure photographs are when an illusion is created by layering images (or parts of images) over the top of each other. This can be done on Adobe Photoshop by creating image layers and then using blending options and opacity control.

Mood board

Artist Reference

Man Ray was an American photographer, painter and filmmaker, born in 1890 under the name Emmanuel Radnitzky in Pennsylvania. He was most famous for his work in portraiture and spent the majority of his career in Paris, where he later passed away in 1976, aged 86. Man Ray was Jewish and a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist Movements, challenging social norms through art and writing. He invented many photography techniques, a remarkable example of this is Rayographs. Rayographs were made without a camera and, alternatively with the use of photosensitive paper which he would place objects on then expose to the sun.

Here are some examples of Rayographs:

I find these photos fascinating that they were not taken using a camera and they appear like an Xray. These images also look like they have been edited to create a Muti exposure image, which is why Man Ray is an interesting artist for this.

Photoshoot Plan

Photoshoot/Contact Sheet

I am going to be using this same set of photos for all Headshots editing.

Edits

Edit 1

The photos I used for this edit are:

I started editing this photo by adding both images as a layer onto a blank document then lowering the opacity of the layer on top.

I then cropped the edit so that you couldn’t see the edges of the image layers then I went to Layer > Flatten Image so that the whole thing was just one singular layer.

Finally, I made the image B&W by going to Image > Adjustments > Black and White and making the colours how I wanted them.

This is my final result:

Edit 2

These are the photos I used for this edit:

Firstly, I opened up my first photo in photoshop and made the image red for rage by going to Image > Adjustments and changing the Colour Balance.

After this, I added that photo as a layer on top of the other and lowered its opacity so that you could see the other beneath.

Finally, I lowered the brightness and increased the contrast so that the red of the image, to signify anger, is clear.

Edit 3

The photos I used for this edit are:

I created the final image by, firstly, layering each image where I would like them and lowering their opacity.

I then decided to go a different way about these images. Whilst hiding the first layer, I used the background eraser tool to remove the background then used the regular eraser tool to clean up. This was so that the backgrounds of each image don’t overlay so, when in colour, you can see the clear contrast between the 2 appearances.

I then repeated this process for the other layer.

I then repositioned these layers and made each of them fill 65% so that they were transparent then added some colour. I added colour to each image by going to Image > Adjustments > Colour Balance and adjusting the colour until I was happy with it.

I then cropped this edit to create my final result.

Edit 4

The photos I used for this edit are:

I chose these photos because they are where her facial expressions are most similar so that they will match up well.

This was a very quick edit. I edited this by placing the image where her hand are on the side of her head on top of the other and lowering the opacity then aligning them so that her face remains normal.

I then decided to make this more interesting by making it black and white.

This is the final result after cropping it:

Edit 5

These are the images I used for this edit:

I edited this by, firstly opening up each image in photoshop and duplicating the layer. At this time, the photos were separate from each other. I then, like one of my previous edits, used the background eraser tool to remove the background of each image.

After this, I copy and pasted each layer onto a blank canvas, arranging them how I would like them then changed the colours of the images by going to Image > Adjustments > Colour Balance.

I did the same for this image, however, I also adjusted the Hue/Saturation.

Finally, I altered the opacity of each photo to give a double exposure effect.

Evaluation/Virtual Gallery

These are my final images:

Virtual Gallery

Evaluation

I personally don’t think that any of my edits share any similarities with the work of Man Ray, except from possibly this one:

I think this image is similar to Ray’s in terms of the B&W and Xray effect. I also believe that Man Ray has a rayograph that includes hands on the face, much like mine. This is also possibly my favourite edit for double exposure because I think that it clearly displays understanding of double exposure in Photography.

This is probably my least successful image and I think that I could have improved it by making there a clear contrast between the calm and anger by making just her face red in anger, rather than the whole image.

What is Photo-Montage Photography?

Photo-montage photography is multiple images are cut up and combined to create a new image. It can also be snipping an aspect from one image and adding it onto the same image in a different place. This can be done in two ways: The first way is by hand and the second is by using Adobe Photoshop. To do it by hand you just have to cut out one part of a photo and glue it, overlapping the other photo and arranging it so that it’s visually pleasing. There are many ways you could do this on Photoshop, depending on your wanted result. For example, you could simply create image layers then use the quick selection tool to cut out the image to or the lasso tool to cut out part of an image and then position the photos in their desired positions.

Mood board

Artist Reference

David Hockney, born in 1937, is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. Hockney is considered as one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century and was also a huge contributor to the pop art movement in the 1960s. He studied at the Bradford School of Art and later attended the Royal College of Art in London. Hockney was elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1991 and, additionally, has his work displayed in the Tate Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In 2018, David Hockney sold an art piece for $90.3 million at an auction. It wasn’t until the 1980s that David Hockney began his photography career, where he experimented with Polaroid photographs and joined them to create visually striking collages.

This is one of David Hockney’s photo joiners created with the use of Polaroid photos.

This is one of David Hockney’s photo joiners which was created using photo lab processed 35mm photographs.

Photoshoot Plan

Photoshoot

I am going to be using this same set of photos for all Headshots editing.

Edits

Edit 1

I made this photo collage using the following images:

I opened each image in photoshop and used the 3rd image along as the background. I then used the Rectangular Marquee Tool to cut out segments from each image and made them into a collage.

For some segments, I changed the colour slightly by going to Image > Adjustments > Colour Balance.

Edit 2

This is the image I used for this edit as I think it would be interesting to have the 2 different colours:

I used this grid template for the squares so that they are the same size:

I placed the image as a layer on top of the template and lowered the opacity.

I used the rectangular marquee tool to select part of the image and copy and paste them to create the little squares. I moved around the photo to get the specific sections I wanted, whilst keeping both the photo and grid a constant size.

These are my completed squares:

I then reopen the image on its own in photoshop then copy and pasted the squares onto it and arranged them how I would like.

Finally, I edited the photos and squares to make them my preferred colour. I also added a Gaussian Blur to some of these squares. Additionally, I also rearranged some of my squares. This is my final result:

Edit 3

I started off editing this photo by getting a triangle template off of safari and making it a layer on Photoshop with the image I will be using as a layer above and lowering the opacity of the layer so that the template can be seen below. I am going to use this template

I used the polygonal lasso tool to create triangles, guided by the template, which I then copy and pasted to create a new layer that I could edit separately to the entire image.

These are my triangles:

As you can see, I went a bit off the template, however, it was a good guide in the beginning.

I then added a Gaussian Blur to some triangles and colour to others or both.

Finally, I flattened the image and cropped it.

This is my final result:

Edit 4

My plan for this edit it to use the following 3 photos as different sections of the face, with the middle one being just a small section containing her eyes.

I started this off by opening each image in Adobe Photoshop and creating background copies so that I could copy and paste them onto a blank document, however, before that I cropped them as to how I would like them. I used this image as the background:

Then, I cropped the following images and aligned them so that the sides of her head match up for each layer

Finally, I edited each layer so that they are B&W and match up well together.

This is my final result after cropping it and regulating the background by selecting it and using the brush tool:

Edit 5

I used this image for the background of this montage:

I then opened another image and used the lasso tool to make swirl cut out and copy and paste it onto the other image.

This is the image I used:

I then added some colour to each layer to make the edit more interesting and this is my final outcome:

I also made this using the image that I cut the part out of and just changed the colour of it to B&W.

Evaluation

My Final Outcomes

Virtual Gallery

Evaluation

Overall, I think I have created some interesting photo montages, however, none of them are noticeably similar to Hockney’s. I think that my image which is most similar to the work of Hockney’s is this image:

This is due to the small squares which create a photo, however, the squares in mine are jumbled up.

This image is also quite similar to Hockney’s as it does consist of smaller images joined together to create a larger one, although a distorted larger image.

This is my personal favourite outcome because I like the use of different colours and the blur and I just think it all works out together very nicely.

I think this is my least successful photo as it looks a bit silly, however, it was good for experimentation and learning.

Virtual Gallery

Chiaroscuro

Rembrandt

Butterfly

Evaluation

Chiaroscuro

I think that this is my best chiaroscuro photo as, although her head is slanted, there is a straight line down the centre of her face where there is a contrast with the lighting.

Rembrandt

I think that this is my best Rembrandt photo because there is a clear triangle underneath his eye and the photo didn’t need a lot of editing.

Butterfly

I personally think that this is my best butterfly lighting photo as you can clearly see the shadow under his nose and the cheek bones.

Contact Sheets

For these photoshoots, I did multiple photoshoots focusing on trying to get each of the various lighting effects rather than doing a photoshoot for each.

Contact Sheet for Butterfly

These photos were all taken in my bedroom using a tripod for the camera and then I held a torch above towards his face so it was facing down on him to create the shadow under the nose.

Butterfly Edits

Edit 1

I edited this photo by, firstly, making it black and white and then slightly lowering the exposure. After this I increased the contrast, highlights and shadows. Finally, I used the brush tool to increase the exposure and whites and decrease the texture and clarity to make his under eyes appear less dark.

Edit 2

I edited this photo by cropping the sides then slightly rotating it so that it follows t he rule of thirds. I then lowered the exposure, highlights and blacks and increased the contrast, shadows and whites. Finally, I used the brush tool to increase the exposure of the dark speck near the top of the photograph.

Edit 3

I edited this photo by starting off by cropping and rotating it to fit rule of thirds. After this, I decreased exposure, contrast, vibrance, texture and clarity and increased highlights, shadows, whites, blacks and sharpening. Lastly, I used the brush tool to increase the exposure and lower the texture and clarity of his under eyes.

Edit 4

I cropped and rotated this photo then lowered the exposure and contrast. Additionally, I increased the highlights and shadows and texture and decreased the clarity.

Edit 5

For this photo, I started off by rotating and cropping it to fit the rule of thirds. I then lowered the exposure and increased the contrast and texture to finish off.

Contact Sheets

For these photoshoots, I did multiple photoshoots focusing on trying to get each of the various lighting effects rather than doing a photoshoot for each.

Contact Sheet for Rembrandt

Camera Setup

Rembrandt Edits

Edit 1

I didn’t think this photo needed much done to it so I just slightly cropped the top and sides, decreased the exposure then increased the clarity.

Edit 2

I didn’t edit this photo, I just cropped the sides so that there is less empty space.

Edit 3

I only edited this photo by cropping it then slightly lowering the exposure.

Edit 4

I edited this photo by making it black and white, cropping it then lowering the exposure.

Edit 5

I edited this photo by cropping it then lowering the exposure and highlights.

Edit 6

I edited this photo by cropping it, making it black and white, using the brush tool to make the trifle under the eye slightly more exposed and then decreasing the overall exposure.

Edit 7

I didn’t do anything to this photo except from cropping it on the sides and top.

Edit 8

I cropped this photo and, instead of making it black and white, lowered the vibrance and saturation.

Edit 9

I edited this photo by cropping it then decreasing the exposure, contrast, highlights and vibrance.

Contact Sheets

For the studio portraiture photoshoots, I did multiple photoshoots focusing on trying to get each of the various lighting effects rather than doing a photoshoot for each.

Contact Sheet for Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro Edits

Edit 1

I edited this photo by using the brush tool the decrease the exposure slightly on the left side of the face to give more off a light-dark effect. I also cropped the edges and top to make the face larger in the frame.

Edit 2

I edited this photo by cropping each side and using the brush tool to make the left of the face dark by decreasing the exposure. After this, I decreased the overall exposure and increased the texture.

Edit 3

I edited this photo by, firstly, cropping the top then making it black and white. Then, I slightly lowered the exposure and increased the texture and clarity. Finally, I used the brush tool to make the shaded side of the face a bit darker.

Edit 4

To edit this photo I started off by making it black and white then slightly decreased the exposure and setting the shadows as -100, rather than using the brush tool. After this I increased the whites and blacks to around 20 each.

Edit 5

I edited this photo by cropping each side then decreasing the exposure, highlights and shadows.

Edit 6

All I did to edit this photo was crop each side, including the top and bottom, and select the background to increase its exposure rather than the whole image.

Edit 7

I didn’t think that this image needed editing so all I did was make it monochrome then cropped the top.

Edit 8

I edited this photo by, firstly, making it black and white then lowering the overall exposure. Finally, I cropped the side so that the side of his face and the edge of his ear met each line that makes the vertical centre of the rule of thirds.

Edit 9

To edit this photo I started off by making it black and white then cropping each side. I then decreased the overall exposure and increased the highlights and shadows. I also increased texture and decreased clarity. Finally, I selected the background and lowered the exposure to make it black then continued to use the brush tool to clean up areas of the background and around the edges of his face which were not black.

Why do we use Studio Lighting?

We use studio lighting because it allows us to create a variety of effects naturally, without the need for editing. Studio lighting also presents a professional look in photos, differing from the quality without studio lighting. Studio lighting does many things to a photograph like setting the mood, creating shadows and texture, providing direction and more. Using studio lighting is much easier than any other, for example, natural lighting, you can’t move the sun around and adjust the brightness like you can with most studio lighting.

1 Point Lighting

1 point lighting is a lighting set up which uses a single light source to illuminate the subject. The light is often positioned directly in front or behind the camera and can create the illusion that the subject is 2D, however, it is also often positioned at a 45 degree angle to the subject. The light used for this set up is known as the key light.

2 Point Lighting

2 point lighting consists of 2 different types of light, the key light and the fill light. The key light is placed to one side of the camera and illuminates the subject, creating shadows and the fill light is positioned directly opposite the key light to ‘fill in’ the shadows. This produces a more harmonised and authentic appearance.

3 Point Lighting

3 point lighting involves the use of 3 lights which are strategically placed in order to create a well balanced photograph, whilst illuminating the subject. Alike 2 point lighting, 3 point lighting includes a key light and fill light, however, it also has a backlight. The backlight is placed behind the subject to illuminate the sides of the subject and make it stand out from the background, rather than blending in.

Fill Lighting

Fill lighting is used to reduce contrast between highlights and shadows in an image as well as illuminate areas which may be unlit to reveal details in the areas of the subject which may not have been seen beforehand. It’s most commonly used in portrait photography to create a more aesthetically pleasing image.

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is a word which originated in Italy, translated to lightdark and defined as a bold contrast between light and dark. Using this technique creates a 3D effect in photos and paintings through highlights and shadows, as well as create a sense of depth. The light and shadow becomes more pronounced and impactful in this technique when in black and white. Chiaroscuro is also used in photography to emphasise shapes, create a sense of volume and drama, evoke mood and suggest motion. The most used technique for taking these images are 1 point lighting with the use of a reflector and sometimes even a back light.

Rembrandt lighting

Rembrandt lighting is a technique named after Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, who was a great Dutch painter. This technique refers to lighting which produces an upside down triangle below the eyes of the subject. This triangle is formed by the shadow of the nose and is often opposite the key light. This technique is used to create an appealing result without the need for the use of editing.

Butterfly lighting

Butterfly lighting is a portrait technique where the light source is positioned directly in front of and above the subject to create a shadow under their nose. This technique is named ‘butterfly’ as the shadow beneath the nose resembles the wings of a butterfly. This technique reduces shadows on the subject’s face to highlight their features and it is often used for glamour shots.

Virtual Gallery

Evaluation

I personally think that this image is one of my best Environmental Portraits because I think it is effective how his outfit fits the environment he is within and I also think that the photo is unique because it’s not very easy to get into the warehouse for the government vehicles. If I were to take this image again, I would potentially try and take in in another position so that you can see more of the warehouse, however, I was not allowed to get the number plates in the photos.

I also really like this photo because I think that the women’s character and appearance reflects the shop she is in and I also like how she is wearing her apron with the little badges as they suit the background.

Photoshoot Plan

My plan for this photoshoot is to go to various workplaces and take photos of people within their own workplaces. I would like to aim to take photos of mainly people who have dresses in a way that links to their workplace, such as by wearing an apron, suit or outfit with logos of the workplace. I also think it would be a good idea to get photos of my Grandad in his armchair as it is typically the place he is associated with. Some locations I am going to try get photos are in the Market, at Waffle House and I may see if I can go to the States of Jersey offices with my parents.

Contact Sheet

This is my contact sheet of all of my photos taken in the photoshoot. I am now going to create a smaller contact sheet with all of my best images for editing.

This is a collection of my best photos which I am going to use to edit.

Edits

Edit 1

This is a photo of my Grandad in his Armchair. I edited this photo by cropping it then decreasing exposure, contrast and shadows. I finished off by increasing highlights, texture and clarity.

Edit 2

I got this photo in Little Wren in the Market of the lady who works there stood at the till. I edited this photo by slightly cropping the bottom and increasing the texture and clarity to make the image more clear and give it more depth.

Edit 3

This is a photo of the man who works in Waffle House. I edited this photo by, starting off, cropping the top, bottom and left then slightly decreasing the exposure. Lastly, I increased the temperature, tint, texture and clarity.

Edit 4

This is a photo of my Dad at his desk at work. I edited this photo by cropping the top and bottom then increasing the texture and clarity.

Edit 5

This is one of the very important bosses within the States of Jersey. I edited this photo by, firstly, cropping the top and bottom then slightly rotating it so that the side of the shelving unit lines up with the side of the photo. Finally, I increased the exposure, highlights and texture.

Edit 6

This is a photo of a random guy at the States building. I edited this photo by cropping the bottom and then increasing the texture and clarity to enhance the finer details.

Edit 7

I took this photo in the Warehouse where they maintain Government vehicles, this is one of the Mechanics. I edited this photo by slight rotating the photo so that the beam across the image is straight and then I cropped the top of the image. I also increased the texture and clarity and slightly adjusted the exposure.

Edit 8

This is a photo of another Mechanic who is doing work on a Police Motorcycle. I edited this photo by cropping the top and slightly decreasing the exposure to make is more clear and less pixelated.

Edit 9

All I did to edit this photo was decreasing the texture then, additionally, using the brush tool to decrease the exposure of the windows.

Edit 10

This is a photo of one of the States workers who are in charge of the pumping stations on the Island, as shown by the map on the TV screen. I edited this photo by cropping the top and then increasing the texture and decreasing the exposure.

Final Outcomes

Virtual Gallery

Evaluation