PROJECT 1: OBSERVING, COMPARING AND PHOTOGRAPHING: THE NATURAL AND CONSTRUCTED WORLD
Research
Ansel Adams was a photographer, born in San Fransisco 1902 and died in 1984, whose work got noticed and developed between 1929/1942. His work was mostly around Natural photography. This included a lot of his photos being taken outdoors focusing on natures natural elements like seen in this photo below.
His photography is very detailed and is usually shot at a wide-angle to get a large amount of the landscape in. I like this photograph a lot because of its use of wide-angle style and the use of the mountains in the background which shows the height of the mountains and scale of the valley below it.
Aaron Siskind was born in New York 1903 and died in 1991. His photography was very different to Ansel Adams, not just because of what he took the photo of but how he took the photos as well. Aaron Siskind’s photography tended to be up close to what he wanted to take a picture of where as Adams was far out landscape. He started as a social documentary photographer in his early work and quickly started to get recognised. His work can be so simple, consisting of things we see in are everyday life but like in this photo below, he is showing the slow decay of this poster over time.
Planning
This mind map is to help me know how and what I am going to be taking photos of. It shows me what sort of techniques I will be using, the equipment I’ll need and what style of photography I will be taking.
These are a few examples of the photography I would like to take:
This is the route I am going to be taking from the College to my shooting location. It should be around a 20 minute walk. Because I want a detailed photo, the equipment I will need to take are a tripod and maybe a remote shutter release button to keep it perfectly still. I intend to photograph stuff like Bristol’s landscape, the suspension bridge and to also get close up photos of the arches on the bridge.
| Potential Risk | Precautions Taken | Emergency Procedure |
| The public tripping over tripods | Ensure that all tripods are in a safe place and that if necessary make sure that one person is guiding the public around the hazard. | Should a fall occur, and an injury is caused, firstly assess whether you need to call for medical help, 111 is for a general health enquiry but if the injury is serious then telephone 999. Take the injured persons details for insurance purposes. |
| Strangers stealing unattended equipment | Always stay close to your equipment and keep an eye on it at all times. | Call the police, tell your college and or go to a police station. |
| Flashing on camera flashes near people’s eyes | Make sure no one is in the way and do not use the flash unless necessary | Apologies to the person that you affected . |
| The weather could damage the equipment. | Check the weather before you go out on a shoot. | Bring a raincoat and water proof equipment for the camera. |
| Taking pictures of people in public spaces when they have an objection. | Always ask permission to do so and if they say no then you should respect their objection. | If you do happen to take a photo of someone, forgetting to ask permission then apologies to them and delete the photo. |
Contact Sheets
The reason I think this image is successful is because the detail and the d
epth of field contrast with each other. This image would look good in black and white, like Ansel Adams, because there isn’t too much light exposure in the photo.
I think this photo isn’t up to its standard because the light at the end of the tunnel is to bright and the quality of the photo is not great either. To improve the photo I could use a tripod and change the camera settings
These are a few of my images I took of the constructed and natural world when I went out on my second shoot. I took these photos at Brandon Hill not too far away from the college.
Final Images
Evaluation
My biggest success for this project was the editing I did on the photographs. The reason for this is because the use of colour and shadows really gave the photos that Ansel Adams and Aaron Siskind look which was what I was aiming for. Some of the techniques I used was the Shadows/Highlights tool and the Hue/Saturation tool which gave my black and white photos that gritty effect. In my photos I have also use depth of field a lot by changing the F/type on my camera.
My weaknesses is that I could have gone to more places or somewhere else on my shoots, that way I would have more of a variety of photos instead of them being in the same location.
Next time I am going to shoot my photos in Pill and Portishead as they are both easy to get to.
Bibliography
I got my information and bio of Ansel Adams on this site which gave me information about his early life, where he went to college and how he got started in photography:
https://www.biography.com/people/ansel-adams-9175697
This is the site I got Ansel Adams photos and information on the photos:
Aaron Siskind’s bio I found on this site which gave me information on how long he was active for and when he died:
https://www.theartstory.org/artist-siskind-aaron.htm
This is the site I got Aaron Siskind photos and information on the photos:
http://www.ethertongallery.com/html/artist_detail.php?recordID=7
PROJECT 2: PHOTOGRAPHING PERSPECTIVE LINE, FORM AND COMPOSITION.
Research
Norman Parkinson was an English portrait photographer born in London 1913 and died in Singapore 1990. He started his career in photography in 1931 after he went to Westminster School and between 1935 and 1940, Parkinson worked for magazines like Bystander and Harper’s Bazaar. I am a fan of Parkinson’s work because of the use of colour and rule of thirds. I also like the the celebrity portraits with Mick Jagger and The Beatles. My favourite one is the top middle one because of it’s heavy use of red and shutter speed.
Lewis Baltz was an American photographer who made his debut in the 70s and was born in California 1945 and died in Paris 2014. Baltz originally studied art in San Francisco and decided to do photography in the early 70s. His photography focuses mostly around structures that people wouldn’t usually think of taking photos of. My favourite one is the top left one because of it’s use of two point perspective and symmetry.
Planning
These are my ideas, for the photoshoot, I have put onto paper to help me know what I am going to be taking photos of. It tells me the style of photography I am going to be taking the location of where the shoot will be.
These are some examples of the style of photography I would like to take:
This is where I am going to be doing my photoshoot which is about a 20 minute walk from the college. I have chosen this location because it is a busy centre and I think will make for great juxtaposition down there. I will also be taking some photos in Pill, which is where I live, for some nice portraits as there is a lot of countryside there.
| Potential Risk | Precautions Taken | Emergency Procedure |
| The public tripping over tripods | Ensure that all tripods are in a safe place and that if necessary make sure that one person is guiding the public around the hazard. | Should a fall occur, and an injury is caused, firstly assess whether you need to call for medical help, 111 is for a general health enquiry but if the injury is serious then telephone 999. Take the injured persons details for insurance purposes. |
| Strangers stealing unattended equipment | Always stay close to your equipment and keep an eye on it at all times. | Call the police, tell your college and or go to a police station. |
| Flashing on camera flashes near people’s eyes | Make sure no one is in the way and do not use the flash unless necessary | Apologies to the person that you affected . |
| The weather could damage the equipment. | Check the weather before you go out on a shoot. | Bring a raincoat and water proof equipment for the camera. |
| Taking pictures of people in public spaces when they have an objection. | Always ask permission to do so and if they say no then you should respect their objection. | If you do happen to take a photo of someone, forgetting to ask permission then apologies to them and delete the photo. |
Contact Sheets
This is a good photo as it captures the way Norman Parkinson did his photography. He is made to look like he is naturally sitting there almost like he didn’t know he was having his picture taken. This makes the photo feel more real.
This photo is not so good as the exposure us too bright and the depth of field only focuses on a little bit of the lock.
Final Images
ONE POINT PERSPECTIVE
For this image I have used one point perspective. This is shown by the train tacks drawing the viewers attention to the centre of the photo.
FORM
This image has form as the only thing that has light on it is the bridge and everything else is blackened out.
RULE OF THIRDS
Rule of Thirds has been used and you can see this with the grid because the person is only in half the photo with the rest of it being blank with not much in it.
TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE
This photo makes us look to the right and left of the photo because of two point perspective and this uses that because of the corners of the building which splits the into two directions.
Evaluation
The biggest success for this project in my opinion is how much the photos I took are inspired by the photographers I researched and I shot plenty of photos which meant I had a wider selection of photos to edit and also showed the amount of time that went into getting those shots. The photos were also edited very well which showed I didn’t just put effort into the practical side.
I think I could extend a lot more on the written work for my research and planning to show my knowledge of the photographer more and which might even have changed the way I took my photographs. If my planning time was a bit better as well that would also improve my written work.
Next time I am going to focus more people in my photographs then buildings to change it up a bit.
Bibliography
My information on the type of photography styles and what they mean came from this site:
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/3500/using-a-vanishing-point-in-your-photography/
My information on the two photographers, Lewis Baltz and Norman Parkinson, came from these to links which includes a good amount of information about their bio:
https://www.galeriezander.com/en/artist/lewis_baltz/information
PROJECT 3: WILLIAM EGGLESTON
Research
William Eggleston is a Southern American photographer who was born in 1939 and is still alive today. He is famous for being a serious photographer to introduce colour and show that it can be more than black and white. Eggleston finds mundane and ordinary and turns it into something that most photographers would have never thought of doing. He first started experimenting with colour in 1965 after he first acquired his camera in 1957 at age 18. These are a few of my favourite Eggleston photographs.
In all of theses photos it is clear that Eggleston doesn’t focus on portraits and landscapes, which most photographers did, but just on everyday things we tend to overlook. His use of bright colours makes the objects in the photos much vibrant and interesting. I’m a big fan of his work and that’s because I like the simplicity of his photographs. He doesn’t try to get shutter speed photos or tries to change the focus until he sees it as perfect, he just takes the photo as it is and it’s done.
This photo is my personal favourite as his use of bland colours draws your attention to the one thing in the photo which is the red/orange drink on the table. This is a good use of juxtaposition which I am a big fan of in photography. The reason
William Eggleston never names his photographs like a lot of photographers did. I think this might have been because he wanted everyone to pay attention to nothing but the photograph and not what it was called.
His most famous photograph was “The Red Ceiling”, which was what we named it but is also known as Greenwood Mississippi after the location it was taken. The photo was taken in 1973 in his friends house and is now in the Museum of Modern Art.
Planning
I have made a mind-map to make it easier to know how I will be doing my photoshoot in Weston-Super-Mare, what I will be taking photos of and the style of photography I will be taking.
These are some photos that are similar to William Eggleston’s work and is the sort of photography I would like to be taking.
This is the route I will be taking from my house to Weston-super-Mare which should take no longer then 40 minutes in a car. I will be taking my tripod and my camera to get good, still images.
Contact Sheets
This is not a good photo because the image is too dark to make anything out and the image is also tilting which is not good for landscape shots which was what I tried to do.
This is a good image because you can see to inspiration from William Eggleston and the image has good symmetry.
Final Images:
Evaluation
I think the most success I got out of this project was the amount of photos I took and how much I followed William Eggleston’s work and replicate that with mine, mainly the photo of the sign. I took a lot of photos when I went out on my shoots which meant I had more options to edit, criticise and pick from.
My weaknesses are that I need to expand a little bit more on the written work and I need to show my understanding a bit more on my knowledge of William Eggleston. If I looked more into why and how he took his photos I think that would have changed the way I took my photos and maybe would have resembled his work a bot more.
Next time I am going to focus on taking more photos of the inside of buildings like cafes.
Bibliography
This is the site where I got the information on the bio for William Eggleston:
Furlong Photography 