what is ISO – ISO (or international organization for standardization) is how sensitive the camera is to light, the higher the number is, the more light the camera lets in. From this we can imagine that the higher the number in a lighted condition the lower the quality of image, and in dark conditions it will benefit the image.
We will most likely see results like this from an example I have found on the internet of ISO –
what you can see above is something known as visual noise or white noise, this can be created by a high ISO in an image making it less visually appealing.
I will take picture with ISO in both light and dark conditions to represented which can be seen below.
contact sheet
ISO in a lighted condition –
100 – as you can see with the first one the lower ISO works better in lighted conditions and created a visible clear image.
800 – in the higher ISO we can see that the light is brighter and the image quality as degraded, this image is still visible but less clear.
2200 – this image is very low quality and we can clearly see that in a lighted environment the higher ISO has created a very unclear and less visible image.
6400 – we can see that this image is not visible and not clear representing that we should not use a high ISO in a lighted condition.
ISO in a dark condition –
6400 – as you can see in the image above it was taken in a dark environment with a high ISO, I decided to take a picture of something with lights on it to represent that it was the same image, you can see that this image is high quality and easy to see.
100 – this image is exactly the same as the one above but it has been taken with a much lower ISO of 100, from this we can see how ISO takes affect in a dark environment.
Final image selection and edited images
as you can see above I used P and X to flag my images to filter out the bad ones from the ok and good ones, next I rated these images 4 or 5 stars as 4 being ok ones and 5 being good ones, finally I gave them the colour yellow or green, green being the best and yellow being good. I will now edit these images that I selected and present them bellow.
conclusion
from the images I have taken I can prove what I said in the beginning and represent how ISO effects an image. on top of this I found out that also upping the shutter speed on the camera will also increase the brightness of the image while still keeping high quality in a dark environment. This perfectly represents how you must use all 3 ( ISO, shutter speed and aperture ) to produce a high slandered image.
in conclusion this task has taught me a lot of key skills and has shown me how ISO effects the image.
Shutter speed is the speed in which the shutter of the camera closes.
Fast Shutter speed
Shorter exposure
Lets in less light
No motion blur
Fast shutter speed image
Slow Shutter speed
Longer exposure
Lets in more light
Motion blur
Slow shutter speed image- motion blur
The difference between fast and slow shutter speed
Eadward Muybridge- fast shutter speed
Eadweard Muybridge was a groundbreaking photographer who made a name for himself in the late 1800s with his studies of motion. His biggest achievement was using high-speed photography to capture how animals and people move, which was pretty revolutionary at the time.
One of his most iconic works is The Horse in Motion, where he documented a horse running through a sequence of images. This not only highlighted how the horse moved but also prompted fascinating questions about the nature of movement itself.
Muybridge’s techniques opened up new doors for photographers. He proved that photography wasn’t just about snapping still shots, it could also capture movement and explore how things actually move. His work also impacted sport science, biomechanics and animation.
In summary, Muybridge’s clever use of shutter speed and his technique of capturing movement in a series really shook things up in photography.
Harold Edgerton- fast shutter speed
Harold Edgerton was an American engineer and photographer famous for his groundbreaking work in high-speed photography. He created techniques and gear that let him capture super fast events, allowing him to freeze motion like never before.
Edgerton created the electronic flash, or strobe light, which let him produce a quick burst of light. This was key because it allowed him to freeze motion in an instant, making it possible to snap photos of fast-moving things like bullets, dancers, and falling objects.
He used super short exposure times to reduce motion blur. By syncing the strobe light with the camera’s shutter, he could get exposure times in the microsecond range. This allowed him to capture details that you wouldn’t normally see.
By mastering shutter speed and lighting tricks, Edgerton really took photography to the next level, showing off the beauty and intricacies of motion like never before. His work opened up new paths for both science and art.
Hiroshi Sugimoto- slow shutter speed
Hiroshi Sugimoto is a famous Japanese photographer and artist known for his awesome and thought-provoking work. He often explores cool themes like time, memory, and how we see things in his photos. One of his popular series is “Theatres,” where he takes long-exposure shots of old movie theatres, really capturing the vibe of light and shadow.
Hiroshi Sugimoto plays around with slow shutter speeds in his long-exposure photography. This technique lets him capture moving light and shadow over a longer time, giving his images a cool sense of time and movement all in one shot.
In his “Theatres” series, for example, he keeps the shutter open long enough to let the projector’s light hit the screen while the rest of the theatre stays dark. This creates dreamy images that mix stillness with a sense of motion, making you think about time and memory.
In his “Seascapes,” the slow shutter speeds smooth out the water, creating peaceful, almost abstract landscapes that feel really calm and timeless. Overall, his approach with slow shutter speeds adds a lot of depth and a unique vibe to his work.
Francesca Woodman
Francesca Woodman was an American photographer known for her haunting, dreamy black-and-white shots. She often used herself as the subject and explored themes like identity, femininity, and the passage of time. Her work really captures feelings of vulnerability and has a unique vibe.
Francesca Woodman often played with slow shutter speeds in her photos to create a sense of movement and a dreamy vibe. This technique let her blur parts of her body or the background, giving her images a magical quality. By capturing herself in motion, she highlighted fleeting moments and the passage of time, which really adds to the emotional punch of her work.
In a lot of her shots, the long exposure creates ghostly effects, since she’d move around or let the light linger in the frame. This not only brings attention to her presence but also adds a layer of vulnerability and depth. The mix of sharp and blurry elements in her photos makes you think about identity and existence, giving her work that haunting, personal touch.
Shutter Speed is the length of time your cameras shutter stays open, which also determines how much light the sensor is exposed to. The longer the shutter is open then the longer the light will have to hit the sensor and brighten the image, The shorter the shutter is open then the shorter the time the light will hit the sensor which could result in darker images. Shutter speed is part of the exposure triangle which is the three factors that determine the exposure of a image.
By adjusting and controlling your shutter speed it can determine how sharp or blurry your moving image is. By taking images with a fast shutter speed you can capture a moving image and it will essentially be frozen in place so you end up getting a clean and sharp photo of your subject. By taking images with a slow shutter speed you end up getting images of your moving subject being blurry.
Examples
By using a fast shutter speed it makes your moving subject freeze in place in your image so you end up getting images like these below.
All photos used in the examples are not mine
We can see with this image that the bird that is flying as well as the water in the air were able to be suspended in place in the photo as it was using a high shutter speed while also maintaining the sharpness and clarity of the image as we are able to see image in great detail.With this image we are able to see the process of the bubble being popped. Due to the fast shutter speed we are able to see the bubble in great detail and the process of it being popped mid air which would typically be a quick process that we wouldn’t be able to view like this in person.
With this image we are able to see the glass shatter which would usually happen at a very fast rate but thanks to the fast shutter speed we are able to see many shards of glass fly throughout the image, and thanks to the high shutter speed we are able to see this sharply which allows us to see most of the shards with high detail.
If you use a slow shutter speed it can end up making the subject of your photo look blurry and can create some amazing effects like these images below.
All photos used in the examples are not mine
As we can see in this image the cars that are driving along the roads are moving quick which makes them appear as these lines across the road, this use of slow shutter speed makes the image look unique and fabulous to look at.
In this image we can see another use of slow shutter speed where we can see the cars moving down, due to the slow shutter speed it gives the cars that motion blur effect which makes it appear blurry.
In this image we are able to see the train tracks and due to the speed of the train and the slow shutter speed we can see that the train appears as these colourful lines across the track which makes the picture look amazing.
Francesca Woodman
Francesca Woodman experimented with slow shutter speed and was able to create an amazing series of photos. Her photographs were taken at her parents farmhouse in the countryside of Florence Italy where they would spend their summers. The European culture and art had a huge influence on her work. The influence of surrealist art in the photographs of Man Ray and Claude Cahun can be seen in the themes and style used in her photographs. Her ideas and skills were developed at the Rhode island school of design. Her photographs was important and had an influence for American artists. Especially since in the 1970s the status of photography wasn’t really as big as paintings and sculptures. However in 1981, Francesca Woodman ended up taking her life at the age of 22
Her images below:
My Photos
Thanks to the low shutter speed (2 Seconds used) I was able to create light trails using flashlights and led lights which in return made some interesting and spectacular photos.
Shutter speed is exactly what it sounds like: It’s the speed at which the shutter of the camera closes. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure the amount of light the camera takes in and a slow shutter speed gives the photographer a longer exposure. This is shown underneath
Raw images and examples
here the shutter speed is slower and therefore the camera lens takes in more light to capture longer images
1/8 sec , f/29
this is also demonstrated here with an even lower shutter speed , we can tell as the lights and background are blurred due to camera movement
Displayed in this photo is a higher shutter speed to capture a crisp image despite the subject moving
Fast shutter speed freezes the motion in your image. Fast shutter speed is 1/125 sec or faster. 1/1000 sec is super fast shutter speed. Fast shutter speed lets less light into your camera and will effect exposure making your images darker.
photo info: 1/250 seconds , f/5
Francesca woodman:
Francesca woodman was a female photographer mainly recognised for her black and white self images
Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred, merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured
Here we took inspiration from her work that often portray ghostly and eerie feelings
Francesca Woodman photographed herself, often nude, in empty interiors. But her pictures are not traditional self-portraits. She is usually half hidden by objects or furniture or appears as a blur. The images convey an underlying sense of human fragility. This fragility is exaggerated by the fact that the photographs are printed on a very small scale – they seem personal and intimate.
Most of the photographs in the ARTIST ROOMS collection come from Francesca’s former boyfriend Benjamin P. Moore. She gave him the photographs, and many of them include intimate messages written in their margins. The messages become part of the artwork.
Woodman continuously explored and tested what she could do with photography. She challenged the idea that the camera fixes time and space – something that had always been seen as one of the fundamentals of photography. She playfully manipulated light, movement and photographic effects, and used carefully selected props, vintage clothing and decaying interiors to add a mysterious gothic atmosphere to the work. Her importance as an innovator is significant, particularly in the context of the 1970s when the status of photography was still regarded as less important than painting and sculpture. She led the way for later American artists who used photography to explore themes relating to identity such as Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin.
In addition to its effect on exposure, the shutter speed changes the way movement appears in photographs. Very short shutter speeds can be used to freeze fast-moving subjects, for example at sporting events. Very long shutter speeds are used to intentionally blur a moving subject for effect.
photo info : 8/5 seconds f/5
Editing
This was my original starting points before slimming my selection down To compare my photos i used the x and y filter I then edited the temperature, clarity, highlights and other features in the photo to enhance the photos features and create a more solemn atmosphere in the photo , I also cropped the photo to re position the subject to appear more centred refocusing the photoThis left me with my final image In the side by side comparison you can see the vibrancy enhancement and the change in colour clearly.
I then repeated this process with the other select photos , the outcome is displayed bellow
ISO-ISO is a number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light. The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture. The trade-off is that higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or ‘noisy.
This photo is shot with using a high ISO you can tell by the the quality is clear and there is no noise in the background. I also made use of shutter speed which allowed more light to enter the camera making the subject more easily viable which reduces noise.
This photo used shutter speed to give a clear photo without using ISO.
This photo was taken in less light so we used a lower ISO to make the subject more visible and exposed.
This photo was shot with a low ISO. You can see this by the quality of the photo as it appears kind of grainy.
This is all my ISO photos I have selected my favourites by flagging them which I can the put a flagging filter on meaning I can separate my favourites from the others so I can focus on my better photos.
This is how I put the flagged filter.
These are my selected photos.This is the original of the photo I have chosen to edit.This is the edited version. On the right side is the features I used to edit it and what I did to it some of the things I changed was the shadows I made them more noticeable and darker.
Shutter speed is the speed at which the shutter of the camera closes. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure and controls the amount of light the camera takes in and a slow shutter speed gives the photographer a longer exposure.
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge is remembered today for his pioneering photographic studies of motion, which ultimately led to the development of cinema. He was hired to photograph a horse’s movement to prove that a horse’s hooves are clear of the ground at a trot.
To take these clear shots of a moving horse he used a high shutter speed to capture the act. Shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open and how much light it is exposed too.. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure ,the amount of light the camera takes in and a slow shutter speed gives the photographer a longer exposure.
This is a photo I took with a high shutter speed. This is a torch being moved in a shape of a star.
This is a photo i took with a low shutter speed you can tell as it is quite blurry and not a clear image.
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
examples of his work
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.
Pepper No. 30 Taken by Edward Weston in 1930
Cabbage leaf taken by Edward Weston in 1931
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
All of the Photos I taken. I have tried to favourite the ones I felt matched the style of Edward Weston as he is what my images are inspired from. As you can see some images were not selected as they were either taken by mistake, were too dark or I felt did not match the style that I was going for.
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.
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.
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.
