Jack Cullum

For this week’s seminar we got to work in the photography studio. We got to use more equipment, mainly revolving around lighting, and got to experiment with portraits. Below are portraits that were taken of me to show the importance of light.

The portraits I’ve chosen have shown the importance of how you light a photo. There is a clear difference between the first and last photo, all affected by the lighting. Not only do they look different, but they evoke different feelings too. One of the main lights we used, we were taught should almost act as like a sun, allowing us to control the lighting of the scene better.

Here are some portraits of other members in the class, with soft lighting and gels applied. Each gel, at a basic level, evokes a different emotion. But the great thing I find about gels is that you can use them however you wish, they just allow for more creativity in the studio.

I’ve also recently been granted a small bursary from the university of £500, which I am hoping I can use to get some better equipment for my camera, so I have more creative freedom when creating my project. I’m thinking about possibly getting a second lens for my camera, but I still need to have a more detailed look at my options.

In this weeks seminar we were given our final assignment brief. Pick one of the following words; Entropy, Division, Synchronisation and Globalisation, and create a five to ten image response to that word. At the moment I think I’m leaning towards Globalisation, but I haven’t completely disregarded the other words.

Globalisation:  the process in which people, ideas and goods spread throughout the world, spurring more interaction and integration between the world’s cultures, governments and economies.

I think Globalisation would be a good project base because it’s so relevant in modern society and the possibilities for that project are massive. I think if I am to choose this as my word, I want to try create something that reflects the world news, especially amongst  growing concerns of ‘fake news’. One idea I have is to have people of different ethnicities to hold up the most popular newspaper from their country of origin, to show how different cultures portray the news.

Entropy: lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder. 

Entropy is probably my second choice out of the four words. I feel like the subject of entropy allows for some really interesting subjects that you could explore. I think if I were to choose this project I would want to take a look at the abandoned buildings, and how they’ve slowly fell into disorder with the over-taking of nature.

Division and Synchronisation: Division – the action of separating something into parts or the process of being separated. Synchronisation – the operation or activity of two or more things at the same time or rate.

I’ve paired these two together because they’re quite similar in nature. These are very broad terms that can be taken into a multitude of directions, such as with the use of colour, framing and focus. I think if I was to follow with one of these words I would try work with framing, because synchronisation within a frame and can be extremely aesthetically pleasing, while division in a frame can be as equally as satisfying.

Below I have attached my project proposal form.

MED1011M – Independent Project Intentions Form

Found Objects – Found object originates from the French objet trouvé, describing art created from undisguised, but often modified,objects or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already have a non-art function.

06/11/2017

So today I tried to make a start on my found photography project. I’ve found three objects so far that I decided to just experiment with a little bit, hoping to just get a better understanding of how I’m going to complete the project. The three items are; a small toy dog, a dolmios jar and a cardboard box. I’ve attached images of them below.

There are very simple items, but they gave me a few ideas for possible photos. I felt the small dog toy stood out as clear part to focus on, and maybe that the jar could act as a platform for the dog, with the cardboard box framing the whole scene. Using my lamp for lighting, my floor and bathroom door for the backdrop, I created a few test photographs.

These are a few shots I took. I think the final image is my favourite. Already I can see ways I can improve this image alone. Maybe adding some coloured paper on the back of the box, adjusting the lighting so the shadows aren’t so noticeable. I then thought that I could closer up, and perhaps have the dog framed inside the jar, and have the cardboard box act as background. Here a few images as a result of this idea.

I didn’t like the lighting on these images, trying to use flash and changing the camera settings several times. I also decided that I wanted to get even closer to the dog. I did also experiment with the point of focus in the images, but decided that it was just best to stick with the dog. I also decided that I should use a second source of light, so I used my Iphone’s flash.

I much prefer these images. I’m torn between the second and third images being my favourite.  I feel the lighting in these images suggests a feeling of curiosity, at least it did for me. I also much prefered being closer to the actual objects, having a crisp and clear focus and clear for the image. I was going to put these photos through light room but decided against it due to time limitations. Perhaps sometimes later this week I might put them through Lightroom. Below is an image of my final set up for my photographs.

Overall I have found that this small tester task has actually been quite useful. Already I feel like I have more ideas regarding the overall project and ways that I can explore ‘Found Photography.’

25/11/2017

Today I continued to make progress with the found objects task. For my second attempt, I used a vase, some grass, and a small vial. Instead of using my room for the setting, I opted to use my apartment’s balcony as it had a nice blue backdrop and the benefit of natural light.

 

I quite like the first photo, however there isn’t really much to it. I filled the vial with water to see how that would look, hoping that the water would allow for some interesting reflections.

I quite liked the effect it had. However I decided that I could experiment more if I changed the liquid in the small vial. I used a red and blue drink separately, then combined them to make a purple liquid.

I quite like these images, especially the red and blue. The purple looks a little too dull for my liking, and the use of the flash on my phone didn’t really help. However with some work through lightroom I think these could all look just a little bit better. I’m going to put each image of one colour through lightroom.

I think Lightroom benefits these photos greatly. The clear photo looks a whole lot warmer, the red vial really burts out in its photo and catches the eye. The blue vial image looks cold but suits well. I still don’t like the purple vial, I couldn’t really get it work. I’m really happy with how these turned out, and feel like I am making good progress to the deadline.

However I did also decide to put a few of the dog images from the 6th through Lightroom too, to see how they’d look!

Again, I think these photos really did benefit from Lightroom. The first two images have been darkened, really adding to that mysterious feeling the original images gave off. For the third image, I used an affect gradient to make it look like something bright was shining from outside the frame, drawing the dogs attention. The final image gives off an entirely different mood in my opinion, as the images warmth takes the element of mystery and discards it.

05/12/2017

Final Image

I have chosen this to be my final image. I really like this image, using three simple objects I’ve created an image that suggests a story. The image is crisp and with the help of lightroom the light is much more defining and eye catching. While it’s one of my earliest images, it stuck with me as one my favourites. I think it really captures the idea behind Found Objects, taking simple objects and making them into their own story. In my opinion the darkness distracts from the fact the image is made up of three simple objects. While I wish I had experimented more with my original images, I feel that my final image is a

Alternate Images

These are my three alternate images. Image two is colourful, vibrant yet straightforward. I feel like image third works as partner to the second image, being colder than it. The first image is similar to my final image, however much more bright. I love how it felt like the dog had happened upon a discovery, however I feel that my final image is more open to interpretation and works better as an image, as the darkness almost hides that the image is made of only three objects.

This week in our seminar we learnt about the importance of equipment during a shoot (tripod, lights etc) and also got to practice some found photography, which we will have to do ourselves soon. Found Photography is defined as ‘a genre of photography and/or a visual art based on the recovery (and possible exhibition) of lost, unclaimed, or discarded objects.’

For this task I worked with Ben and Ryan. In the end we took 83 photographs. Many of these were to adjust the lighting, angle and focus of the shot. In the end these were are two final favourites.

I much prefer the photo on the right. I can’t explain why, but there’s something about the photo that draws me. I really the contrasting pink and yellow, and the pattern of the marble. I still like the first photo though, especially the flower stem coiling around the wine glass.  However that isn’t to say these photos are without fault. Both photos suffer the same problem that is the creased pink paper, and persoanlly the creases on the plastic lemon bothered me. To try fix these issues, I turned to Lightroom. These are the two images edited.

I think putting both these photos through Lightroom really helped too. For the first image I lowered the tint, highlights and clarity and increased the contrast. I also managed to iron out some of the paper creases. For the second photo I lowered the temperature while increasing the tint, and then the clarity and highlights. I then used the spot removal tool to get rid of the creases in the plastic lemon and the pink card, as they really stood out to me. I personally didn’t feel like much else had to be edited though, as we got most of the details done on the day.

I feel that this task has made the actual ‘Found Object’ task a lot less daunting. Before I think I would’ve relied a little too much on Photoshop and Lightroom, but now I think I’ll try to get as much of the details correct when actually shooting. I think my favourite thing about Lightroom is how is allows you to manipulate the image even further, without being destructive.