In my first photography lesson we looked at photo safari. We had to find pictures that matched the shapes on the card. I had expected to use a camera but we were given iPods instead. I wasn't sure how to use the iPod and wondered why we had been given it but later on I found it it had a variety of apps such as Hueless, (which created black and white photos) and Hipstamtic, ( which was a more colourful app). I found that I really liked black and white photographs and most of my early experimental photographs were in black and white. I started to learn about different photography angles and techniques such as wide shot, close shot and ground level shots.
We looked at a variety of different artists throughout unit 1 such as Anne Atkins, Man Ray, Harold Edgerton, Gjon Mili, Robert-Paul Jansen and Jill Freeman and tried out lots of different techniques such as Cyanotypes, Photograms & Rayographs, pinhole photography, light painting and multiple picture photographs. My favourite photography technique was multiple images and this influenced my final picture at the end of unit 1.
Anne Atkins and Cyanotypes
I had problems creating Cyanotype pictures as I could not produce a final picture that I was happy with. This was because I needed it to be a clear and sunny day and I needed to use objects that were heavy and dense. When I tried to create a cyanotype picture the weather was overcast and cold and all the dense objects had been taken by the other students. I have learnt about effective techniques to create good cyanotype pictures, such as leaving the objects on the cyanotype paper for a longer time and placing the paper in direct sunlight, but ran out of time to create a good picture.
Fantastic and strange
I looked at pinterest and I found photos of people holding mirrors. I really liked the ideas presented and wanted to try to take some photos using the photo shop skills that I had developed throughout the year. I created a mind map to help me develop my ideas. I particularly liked Laura Williams photos so I researched about her on you tube then took some photos. I found the technique quite easy so decided to push myself and try a technique that I did not know how to create. I found pictures I liked by Denis Darzcq on google and learnt how to recreate similar pictures by watching a video clip from youtube. I tried to take photos of myself jumping in the air but found the timing difficult and the floor really hard and painful when I landed. I then came up with the idea of asking the PE teachers if I could use the gym as they had a trampoline. Because I could jump higher and had a soft landing I was able to take more successful photos of me in the air. I really like the style of photos and developed new techniques in photoshop that helped me to create more effective pictures that would have been impossible to do without photoshop.
Absurd
I decided to pick the topic absurd for my final piece of work and using inspiration from Laura Williams I created three final pictures.
My teacher had previously shown me how to use a variety of photoshop tools that helped the final picture look realistic, such as Rectangular Marquee Tool, Rubber Tool and flattening the image etc. I learnt quickly because I had remembered what I was shown and was able to practice the techniques when creating different pictures.
I am really happy with my final pictures because I think they have an impact on people when they look at them, making them ask-"how do you do that?" I worked hard, constantly looking closely at the picture, checking any imperfections that would spoil the realistic effect and making changes to enhance the picture, softening the edges, merging the pictures successfully and making sure I kept the shadows in the final picture.
If I had more time I would like to create additional pictures that show Levitation as I have many creative ideas that I would like to try and develop.
We looked at a variety of different artists throughout unit 1 such as Anne Atkins, Man Ray, Harold Edgerton, Gjon Mili, Robert-Paul Jansen and Jill Freeman and tried out lots of different techniques such as Cyanotypes, Photograms & Rayographs, pinhole photography, light painting and multiple picture photographs. My favourite photography technique was multiple images and this influenced my final picture at the end of unit 1.
Anne Atkins and Cyanotypes
I had problems creating Cyanotype pictures as I could not produce a final picture that I was happy with. This was because I needed it to be a clear and sunny day and I needed to use objects that were heavy and dense. When I tried to create a cyanotype picture the weather was overcast and cold and all the dense objects had been taken by the other students. I have learnt about effective techniques to create good cyanotype pictures, such as leaving the objects on the cyanotype paper for a longer time and placing the paper in direct sunlight, but ran out of time to create a good picture.
Fantastic and strange
I looked at pinterest and I found photos of people holding mirrors. I really liked the ideas presented and wanted to try to take some photos using the photo shop skills that I had developed throughout the year. I created a mind map to help me develop my ideas. I particularly liked Laura Williams photos so I researched about her on you tube then took some photos. I found the technique quite easy so decided to push myself and try a technique that I did not know how to create. I found pictures I liked by Denis Darzcq on google and learnt how to recreate similar pictures by watching a video clip from youtube. I tried to take photos of myself jumping in the air but found the timing difficult and the floor really hard and painful when I landed. I then came up with the idea of asking the PE teachers if I could use the gym as they had a trampoline. Because I could jump higher and had a soft landing I was able to take more successful photos of me in the air. I really like the style of photos and developed new techniques in photoshop that helped me to create more effective pictures that would have been impossible to do without photoshop.
Absurd
I decided to pick the topic absurd for my final piece of work and using inspiration from Laura Williams I created three final pictures.
My teacher had previously shown me how to use a variety of photoshop tools that helped the final picture look realistic, such as Rectangular Marquee Tool, Rubber Tool and flattening the image etc. I learnt quickly because I had remembered what I was shown and was able to practice the techniques when creating different pictures.
I am really happy with my final pictures because I think they have an impact on people when they look at them, making them ask-"how do you do that?" I worked hard, constantly looking closely at the picture, checking any imperfections that would spoil the realistic effect and making changes to enhance the picture, softening the edges, merging the pictures successfully and making sure I kept the shadows in the final picture.
If I had more time I would like to create additional pictures that show Levitation as I have many creative ideas that I would like to try and develop.