in photography is the visual quality of the surface of an object revealed through variances in shape, tone and colour and depth

Artist

Minor White

Minor White, born in Minneapolis in 1908, earned a B.S. in botany from the University of Minnesota in 1933. He moved to Portland in 1937, working as a WPA photographer and teaching photography until his military service in 1942. After the war, he studied art history in New York and was influenced by notable photographers like Edward Weston and Alfred Stieglitz. In 1946, he joined the California School of Fine Arts, where he became friends with Ansel Adams and co-founded Aperture magazine in 1952. White later taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology and MIT, co-founded the Society for Photographic Education, and edited Aperture until 1970. His mystical approach to photography, particularly in landscapes, emphasizes abstract images and spiritual self-knowledge, making him a significant figure in postwar photography. His work has been exhibited widely and includes notable publications.

Some of my own work similar to him

and first the raw photos, which are the best in my opinion

contrast sheet

edited in colour

most of the photos will be edited in a similar style

these were edited in colour however preferable it looks best and captures the texture best in the black and white versions and they are more similar to the artist.

edited photos

edited on light room ^

these are edited to make the texture more noticeable and into black and white to Mach the artist and all of the photos similar to this artist were taken of plants and mostly close up.

with all of these photos I made it so they were in black and white and the texture was increased to improve the affect and make texture more visible.

editing experiments

gradient overlay

in these there are the formal element other then texture, is colour cause of the unnatural colours that are in these edited photos of greenery.

invert

in these there are the formal element other then texture, is colour, which have lots of vibrant colours from editing them into inverted.

final outcome

I chose this as my final out come because its the most similar to the artist and the way its been edited the texture is most visible compared to the others ones edited in colour and since its in black and white it allows you to focus on the texture within the photos. With the simplistic layout it also makes it easier to focus on the photos.

these are my final images presented into the gallery, which were done in artsteps. which shows how you would view them in an gallery and can see that all of my final photos defiantly connect together. and show a similar effect the the photos the the artist produced.

In Photography, texture refers to the visual quality of the surface of an object. This can be things like the variances in shapes, tone and colour depth. Texture can bring life and vibrance to images which would otherwise look flat and dull.

Edward Weston

Edward Weston is a photographer who is often named as “one of the most innovative and influential American photographers”. He is best known for his Sharply Focused Photos of natural forms, landscapes and nudes. His mother died when was only 5 years old and was then raised by sister Mary who was nine years older than him. After a few years his father remarried but neither Weston or his sister got along with their new stepmother and step brother. Mary got married in 1897 and left home which results into Edward Weston being left on his own due to his father primarily focusing on his new wife and stepson which resulted into him dropping school and isolating himself in his room. For his 16th birthday his father purchased him a Camera and after going on holiday in the Midwest his interest in photography grew which led into him purchasing a better camera. In 1930 he decided to experiment taking photographs of different subjects as at the time he was mostly focused on taking Landscapes and nude photos. He took photos of Cabbage, Kale, Bananas, onions and in August of that same year photographer Noskowiak brought him seven green peppers which ended up into him creating one of his most famous piece named Pepper No. 30 which was taken of a green pepper in rich black and white tones. This photo was one of the best-known photos taken by Edward Weston. Another image he took which interests me is cabbage leaf taken in 1931 which was taken when experimenting taking photographs with different types of vegetables.

Edward Weston will be my inspiration for my textural photos as I really like the style of how his images are taken and the subjects in them. For example with the Cabbage we can see the veins of the leaves clearly along with the grooves and shape of them.

My Photos

My Six Personal Favourites:

I chose these images as I feel that the detail of the fruit and vegetables can be seen clearly which is important to me as it follows the same idea Edward Weston uses in his images like for example his image ‘cabbage leaf’ where you are able to view the grooves of the cabbages leaf in detail. So with these images it should match up close to his style especially when edited as I will be able to try get those details in the images to pop out more and be more obvious. I have used a large aperture in order to have a shallow depth of field which allows the cabbage and orange to be the only thing in focus which is needed for my type of photography style.

My Six Personal Favourites Edited:

These are the images after they have been edited and with the images edited they are looking much better. You can see the details pop out more as the black and white colour scheme brings our attention more to the small details of the images. For instance with the orange picture on the bottom left the wrinkles in the orange skin are more visible and easier to look at compared to the same image in colour. The use of a high aperture also helped to keep the subjects in focus which is needed in order to capture all the small details in the photo.

What is ISO?

ISO controls the amount of light your camera lets in, and therefore how light or dark photos turn out to be. The ‘base’ value of ISO is typically around 100, usually used for sunny outdoor photos or high lighting shoots. For darker / low lighting shoots, ISO 1600 or above is best.

If the ISO is too low – such as the ISO 200 image below – photos can come out too dark or blurry. If the ISO is too high – such as the ISO 6400 image below – photos can turn out grainy or noisy.

Noise

Visual ‘noise’ by definition is ‘excessive and irrelevant visual information that can distract, confuse, or overwhelm an observer’. In photography it usually takes the form of grain.

Experimenting with ISO

To experiment with ISO, I took a camera and chose a few subjects to photograph. I found I got the best results (of differences between the ISO settings) in a dark room photographing an LED music deck.

I held the camera in the same position and repeated the same shot using a range of ISO settings, and these were my results.

What is texture?

Texture in photography is all about how the surface of an object looks visually. It shows up through differences in shape, tone, and colour depth. Adding texture makes photos more lively and exciting, turning what could be dull images into something really engaging.

Formal elements and what are they?

Marc Anderson

Marc Anderson is famous for his nature photography, especially his amazing close-up shots of tree bark. His pictures highlight the complex details of the bark on trees.

Marc Anderson’s photos:

Marc Anderson’s photos are eye-catching, yet they focus on the texture of tree bark. He takes the photos at an eye level angle. The images are taken close up/macro, to focus your attention on the textures and patterns created by the tree bark. It seems likely that he used a high f-stop number, which keeps everything in sharp focus with little to no blurring.

My Inspiration

Francis Bruguière

Bruguière spent his life trying out different photography techniques like multiple-exposure, solarization, and photograms, along with exploring how regular film reacts to different light wavelengths. However he was most famous for his intricate abstract paper photography. Bruguiere cut up sheets of paper and placed them in random positions so he can capture the cuts and curves within the paper.

These photos, from Francis Bruguière, are a unique look into paper photography, the cuts and angles of the paper show some depth and texture of something so simple. The abstract approach to these images makes them very mysterious and will leave the viewer wondering what the image is of. Moreover the macro effect further enhances the abstraction of these photos. The light in these photos are carefully angled to show a strong contrast between the dark shadows and bright highlights, this creates a strong sense of balance, pattern and texture within the image. The images are monochrome, which increases the depth of this image and makes the view look at the entire image instead of being distracted by colour.

My Photoshoot

Selection process

I used the colouring in feature in Lightroom to show which photos were strongest, okay and not good.

My best photos

Editing

In these edits I increased the contrast to make the black and white parts standout and I also increased the sharpness and texture so you can really see the texture in the paper.

My second photoshoot

Selection process

I used the same colour coordination technique as my first photo shoot.

My best photos

Editing

I increased the black and whites to really bring out the contrast. Furthermore I increased the texture and sharpness to really show the creases and folds in the paper.

Final images

Art steps gallery

Overall thoughts and evaluation for above photos

I believe the photoshoot turned out really well. I was able to take some close-up shots that showed the texture of the paper in great detail. After editing, the images looked even better, and I’m super pleased with how they came out. Furthermore I managed to use the artificial lighting effectively to show off the small details in the paper and really highlight the texture, corners and creases in the paper. Moreover my Art steps gallery shows off my paper ball photos really well.

Compositions:

I tried a couple different Positions with my three photos so I could make a decision on my favourite one.

Further editing

First I started experimenting with inverting colours.

Inverting the colours gave a interesting and different perspective on my image.

I inverted the colours on the other two images as well.

Final composition inverted

My final photos and final inverted photos combined

All my final photos in Art Steps

My final selection of paper photography, combines 3 images that have been duplicated and inverted. The tight cropping of the photos further shows off the cuts, creases and texture within the paper, it really draws the views eyes to the sharp corners and cuts. All the photos have a reduced saturation, with increased contrast to really show off the tonal value, further more the shadows and highlights are better shown off due to the strong saturation adjustment. While some images are cooler in tone, some are warmer. This allows the image to be more balanced and gives the photos more variation and contrast within the tone. The Repeated photos in the grid add a balance to the final presentation, especially with three inverted photos which complement the original photos really well. The macro focus on the cuts of paper add an interesting and detailed pattern and a greater depth of detail. Moreover this even further exaggerates the tone.

Auto Focus and Manual Focus (AF and MF)

Auto focus is for general use, so you can use it for a large variety of things as it is the basic use for a camera. It automatically focuses the image. Whereas, manual focus is for specific photos you want to take, like close ups and detailed images, so it enables you to control the focus of the image.

Auto focus is typically used to track a subject when it’s moving around the frame, as it’s easier to get a clear image since auto focus will capture the subject without making it blurry.

The Focal Length

Focal length is the optical distance (usually measured in mm) from the centre of its lens and its focus. This helps to determine how much you can see from the camera.

For example, in this image below, you can recognise that the picture taken on the far left has been from up close, whereas the image on the far right is using a high focal length and a shallow depth of field as the background’s blurry. By using the focal length, the man’s face is now more symmetrical, as it’s taken from afar but zoomed in to make him look more proportionally accurate.

Depth of Field and Aperture

depth of field is the range of distance in an image that is sharp and in focus. A shallow depth of field means that only a small area is in focus, whereas a deep depth of field means a large portion of the image is in focus.

Aperture controls the amount of light let into the camera by adjusting the lens. The higher the f/stop number, for example, f/22, the smaller the lens hole will mean there will be a small aperture. This enables the entire image to be in focus, with all the details being clearly visible. Whereas, with a lower f/stop number, like f/2.8, only the subject will be visible with the rest being more blurry. You can look at other examples on this chart below:

My examples from the Canon Camera Simulator:

Shutter Speed: 1/3

Aperture: 22

ISO Setting: 400

At this aperture, you can notice that everything is in focus, as the higher the aperture, the clearer the image will be. This is useful when you take photos where you want everything to be in focus, like if you were to take a photo of landscapes as all the minuscule details are captured.

Shutter Speed: 1/60

Aperture: 8

ISO Setting: 1600

As you can see, in this image the plane is still in focus, however around the edges the objects are slightly blurred. This is because the aperture number is in the middle between out of focus and clear.

Shutter Speed: 1/180

Aperture: 2.8

ISO Setting: 400

In this image, it is recognised that only the subject (the plane) is in focus whilst everything else is blurred and out of focus. This is due to the low aperture number, but this is good for taking images where you only want one subject to be the main focus.

Artist Research

Ralph Eugene Meatyard

Ralph was born in 1925 and passed in 1976, but in his lifetime Meatyard pursued his passion for photography in various ways, like his most famous work ‘Zen Twigs’ and his no focus work. His ‘Zen Twigs’ are photos of zoomed in twigs (using large aperture and a small depth of field) to make the twigs the main subject and the rest blurred. His no focus images are made by putting the camera on manual focus and changing the lens to create a foggy effect.

Ralph specialised in changing the cameras focus and depth of field, as well as motion blur and a range of exposure to invent an interesting look, as your mind tries to assemble what some of the images actually are, like in the ones above where you can partially figure out what it is.

Contact Sheet

Best Photos: Edited

Shutter speed is the time taken for the shutter of the camera to close. There are such things as fast shutter speed – which is needed for fast moving objects like sports, or quick animals, or slow shutter speed – which is used to create a blurred or delayed effect, like a cars tail lights when it drives.

A slow shutter speed can increase the amount of light let in through the lens, whereas a fast shutter speed has a shorter amount of time to let light through the lens, meaning images can sometimes become ore dim-lit. A slow shutter speed’s exposure time is usually around 1/4, and an example of a fast shutter speeds exposure time is 1/500.

In-between these two, is a medium shutter speed like 1/30 seconds. A medium shutter speed is the in-between amount from a fast shutter and a slow shutter speed. To understand this concept, look at the image below:

Artist Research

Francesca Woodman

Francesca Stern Woodman was a talented photographer who was born in America (April 3rd, 1858 – January 19th, 1981). She is well-known for her long exposure images, which consist of herself and other female models making extravagant movements to achieve a continuous and blurred effect. Woodman’s work was in monochrome colours, to enhance and highlight the range of movement seen in her work. Her images were actually part of her portfolio, as she unfortunately passed at only 22 years old. Her work is loved by many still to this day, decades later.

Here are some examples of her work:

In my images, I implemented Francesca’s shutter speed photos into mine by spinning around to create a similar effect. But, I also had to be weary and ensure my images weren’t having exposure for too long, as that can cause the image to dim so the work isn’t visible.

As you can see, her images were in black and white, so I made sure my images also had the same effect by editing them in photoshop.

My Contact Sheet: Studio Images

My Contact Sheet: Outside

Best Photos : Lightroom

edited images

Paper Ball Photoshoot

These images were inspired by Paul Jackson who was an artist from north of England. Jackson claims to have “been a fan of photography since he could walk”. He is currently studying for a BA in Photography and has trained in the New York Film Academy. Before his career in photography Jackson used to serve in the British Military. He is also a performer and enjoys travel and playing rugby. Here are some of his original works:

Paul Jackson

I then edited the Original Image using these settings on Photoshop:

I then used an auto B&W filter from photoshop.

I then edited the image using these settings on Photoshop:

I then edited the image using these settings on Photoshop:

I used drastic settings when changing the vibrance to create a Black and White effect

I then edited the image using these settings on Photoshop:

I also hanged the image to black and white and manually changed the settings

I then edited the image using these settings on Photoshop:

I also used the “Sharpness Tool” to help keep the focus on some specific areas.

I then edited the image using these settings on Photoshop:

I also did some texture images outside using nature to show detail with my own ideas rather than artist research.

I also used “Sharpness Tool” on the two leaves in focus.

In all my images I tried to use the formal elements. For example in this specific image I showed lines within the overlapping leaves and the lines of colour that run through them. Also, I used shape with the unusual long and twisting shapes the leaves make when they wind over each other. Space is used in the way the photo is layered and that the horizontal leaf is closest to the camera and then the others behind it are further back in the depth of field and there is more shadows in the background. I’d like to argue that repetition is used when the pattern of multiple leaves going vertically through the frame is repeating. Texture is used in which the texture of the leaf is in macro focus showing how its smooth. Colour is used as the leaf is very colourful in general especially in the bright sunlight however I have also heightened the colours significantly using photoshop to give it an almost neon green look. Tone is used in the difference of the brightness the closest leaf is in almost like a spotlight however the rest of the bush/plant is in a deep green darkness/shadow behind it. Therefore all of the formal elements have been used within this image and I’d like to say also the other images.

Comparison

A similarities between these images is the lighting is from the same direction casting a shadow on the right side of the paper sculptures. also the background is similar as there is a blend between the background wall and the floor with a grey shadow. A difference between the two is Paul Jacksons work looks to be in black and white as there is no hint at any blue shadows in the image that the white light casts and everything is on a greyscale where as my photo is in colour and you can see the different shades of the paper, the blue shadows and the yellow shade of the other papers.

Evaluation

Overall, I think the the photoshoots and editing went well especially the paper ones with multiple structures within the image as I felt there was the most depth of field used including different heights of the subjects. I also like the outdoors ones and use of colour. in my next shoot I’d like to focus even more on colour use as I felt the colour you could create with the paper ball project was limited. I’d also like to experiment more with cropping and depth of field looking at different subjects. I struggled mostly with finding the correct lighting to use for the paper balls to create enough shadow to make it interesting with out it being low quality image due to being dark, but also not having too much light or exposure to make the paper create a white glare.

TEXTURE MOODBOARD

Texture as a photographic concept is defined as the quality of an object, referring to the variances in tone, depth, colour and shape.

James Welling is a photographer who did a selection of photos of crumpled paper. The images have a strange heavenly effect to them because the highlights are glowing and slightly blown out. The paper looks simultaneously flat and textured – a contrast. They also have a high amount of contrast which creates more texture in the paper. The photos almost look like they could be a birds eye view of an alien landscape.

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Photoshoot 2

INSPIRATION

Gabriele Basilico is an Italian photographer who explores texture and repetition of texture in urban landscapes – ruined and perfect. I find his photos very beautiful as he captures things honestly. Some of his photos explore the effect of war in urban landscapes and show the destruction. He shows texture in the different layers and strange ways in which the architecture often contrasts the sky. I am going to try to capture similar things when I visit the Barbican in London over the weekend. I want to capture how the repetitive, brutalistic architecture contrasts not just each other but also the sky and other surrounding things. Other photographers I looked at for inspiration were Lewis Baltz and Minor White.

ANALYSIS – This is clearly a fil photograph and I can tell this because of the grain and way nothing is as sharp as it would’ve been digital. The mise-en-scene of this image is a large, semi-circular warehouse stood against a grey, grainy sky. The windows are repetitive yet have some anomalies – smashed and white that show character and tell us that the building is old and run down. The use of line in this image is very clever, there is a clear deliberate contrast between the grid pattern of the windows and the circular line of the warehouse. There is lots of texture in this image, from the brick walls to the grainy sky, to the different coloured windows. The lighting is very flat and the tone is greyscale. It captures a repetitive and brutalistic piece of architecture, and knowing the context around the image, is a nice message about war. The photo uses the rule of thirds clearly and obviously, more so vertically than horizontally though, The top third is sky, the middle third is the warehouse and the bottom third is the wall – this intentionally splits the image up and makes it more visually pleasing and easy for the eye to process. I believe the ISO is higher – maybe between 400 and 800, I can tell this because of the grain and the way the light doesn’t seem to be bright daylight. The shutterspeed is probably medium as there is no sign of motion blur but its not particularly sharp. The aperture is likely higher and I can tell this because of the wide depth of field – everything is in focus.

My photos.

I edited these photos by turning up the contrast quite high, and turning down the black point to make the blacks very contrasting to the white. I used a lightroom preset called Silvertone which added a sort of black and white film effect to my photos.

To finalise and showcase the images I took of the Barbican I created a virtual gallery. The virtual gallery gives the audience an immersive experience and allows them to decide at what pace to view my images. IT gives them an insight into my photographic intent and is generally a cool showcase of modern technology contrasted against the 90s brutalism showed in the images. To improve I could’ve made sure the white balance matched exactly in each of the images to make them a better selection.

Brendan Austin

Brendan Austin is a photographer who explores the illusion of how paper can be manipulated to represent nature.

His photos often consist of scrunched paper placed that replicate the look of mountains

This inspired me to attempt to re create this illusion.

Other images

ISO ( ) is a number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light therefore effecting how bright or dim your photos will be.

A high ISO is suited to be taken in low light situations since the sensitivity is so low meaning you need a less amount of light to take a picture.

A low ISO is the opposite, and should be used in situations where the lighting is better since a low ISO means less sensitivity to light. Using low ISO in these conditions will reduce the amount of background noise in the photo leading to a high quality photo.

This photo was taken with a low ISO in dim lighting. This caused the image to become lower quality making it more grainy and resulted in more noise in the photo.