thepoeticsofspacekaty

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Final Evaluation

For this assignment, I had various different ideas. These ideas consisted of shooting reflections, skies, silhouettes, colour and architecture. I first focused on shooting sky images since it was a simple idea and also one of my favourites.

To begin with, I was hesitant about shooting sky photographs because it’s a little basic and plain – I thought I could definitely push myself further. After doing this first shoot, I made a booklet to provide myself with a physical example of what my photography book could look like. I believe that, although simple, it worked nicely and looked pleasing. At this point, I was leaning very much towards this idea but thought I should focus on my other ideas before rushing into this one.

The second idea that I attempted to shoot was silhouettes. I found this idea to be difficult as I couldn’t manage my exposure appropriately to make my objects appear dark or shadowed. In order to improve on this, I could have used Photoshop to manipulate the appearance of the image but, I found that this meant spending a large amount of my time editing photographs which is not something I wanted to do- especially for an initial idea. I decided it was best to move along to my next idea and perhaps revisit the silhouettes if I really wanted to use them in my final book.

The next shoot I did was for colour. I went around the local area looking for bright colours such as reds and yellows. This idea wasn’t my strongest one and was certainly not the easiest to shoot. I easily saw colours and different vibrancies around me but the colourful things were not interesting and did not make for a good photograph – in my own opinion. The problem I had with the colour shoot was the focus I had on colour rather than the actual image itself. Although I managed to photograph colours, which was the objective, the composition of the images didn’t sit right in my point of view. I used Photoshop to brighten the colours and alter the images to give them a bit more depth but overall, I wasn’t willing to spend much of my assignment time focusing on what I wasn’t getting along with – I ended up straying away from this idea.

The shoot after that was reflections. I decided to head a different direction to where I normally shoot since I found it repetitive and un-inspiring. By doing this, I found myself photographing the scenery much more frequently and I spent time enjoying the area in which I was shooting. Luckily, I was shooting reflections in marshlands – this meaning that there were big bodies of water where I could capture reflections of the sky, trees, birds or even buildings. It made for a unique photograph and I was definitely happy with this idea. Originally, I was going to shoot using the reflection of shop windows and mirrors which would have become repetitive and dull. I believe I made a good decision in changing location to refresh my intrigue.

The next shoot I did was towards landscapes. To start with, I was going to shoot architecture but soon decided against that as I thought it wasn’t something I was initially interesting and I wanted ideas that I could work with happily. For this shoot, I found that for shooting landscapes perhaps a more wide-shot lens would be appropriate – this is where the lens workshop came in handy as I knew what lens I needed. I decided against shooting landscapes after doing a shoot because I wasn’t willing to use a lens that I wasn’t completely comfortable with. I also didn’t have a variety of landscapes around me which made the images too similar and not interesting for the viewer. I still think this idea was good but I would have to consider different locations and since I cannot travel around efficiently, I decided not to choose landscapes as my final idea.

If I were to do this assignment again, I would definitely make sure to produce more ideas as well as gathering enough inspiration from a wide variety of websites and books. I feel that if I was more inspired, I would have produced better, innovative ideas. Another thing I would improve on is the amount of research I do. For this assignment, I focused on the book layouts rather than individual work which may have pushed my potential down a little as I didn’t have any specific idea or huge personal development throughout. By improving this, I could have had more ideas and less struggle finding the perfect fit for my book. The layout of my book is also something that I would change. I wanted to (initially) have an assorted layout where each page that you turned provided a different style, perhaps, keeping the viewer interested. Instead, I decided to use a basic layout due to my inexperience of producing a book. I didn’t want to run the risk of making my book looking tacky and unprepared.

I believe this assignment will be very useful for future projects as I have gained a lot of experience in a lot of areas. One topic that I have benefited from is when I did the lens workshop. I got to use several different lenses and I also learned about how each lens is useful for a specific type of photography. For example, the 50mm is good for focal depth – if you wanted a very blurred background and a sharp foreground. Another topic that can help me in the future is when I was creating my photography book. I now know what websites are appropriate for creating a book and also I learned about the expenses of a book – whether or not it is worth investing in. I got many options related to layouts, titles and colours when selecting my book, if I ever wanted to produce a book in the future, I know where and how to do so. A third reason that this assignment was helpful was due to the amount of editing involved. I learned how to edit using subtle details rather than how I previously edited, which was by using obvious filters and shades. I definitely think that I have bettered my knowledge in more than one area during this assignment, therefore, I found it very useful to go through these different workshops.

Looking back at the brief for this assignment, I can see that I have followed the information carefully and accurately. The one thing that I hadn’t managed to do so well was producing 40 or more images. In total, I had over 40 images from my shoots but I only had a collection of strong images that paired well with one another and also complimented my book. I have a total of 26 images in my book which isn’t as much as there should be, but I didn’t want to add images that I didn’t like just to achieve the 40 image mark. I have shot enough images to know whether or not an idea worked so therefore, I wasn’t really upset about not producing many final photographs. Other than not having those 40 images, I have combed through the information given to me and have achieved a high standard or work. I believe I was able to reflect on each subtopic I was working on with an open mind and strong construction. By reflecting on my work, I was able to work on my strengths and weaknesses much more efficiently than I ever did with previous assignments.

In the end, I decided to go with my ‘sky’ idea as it was the idea that I liked the most and also worked best when I was shooting. As I mentioned earlier, shooting sky photographs can be repetitive and perhaps a little simple but it was something I was confident with doing. Personally, I lean towards more minimal images rather than busy images so I though this idea was best fit for my personal taste. I wasn’t going to go with an idea that I didn’t completely like, this is why I chose to shoot in such a simple style. It really suits my personal style as well as making it easier for me to add little (but effective) details. I think that my final images were picked well and carefully. I made sure to go through them over several times to make sure that I completely liked each photograph. Since I have to present my final images to other people, I need to make sure that I have confidence in my work so that I can discuss it fluently. Due to the images being put into a book, I had to also be aware of the positioning of the images and making sure to pair them up as appropriately as possible. If I went with a layout that looked askew or even slightly off, it could not only ruin the book, but the overall effect of the images I had chosen. The placement, sizing, colouration and typography had to be specific as each factor mattered just as much as the images itself.

One negative aspect of this assignment is cost. To produce the book, you have to make sure that it is affordable. Some people may struggle finding the money to pay for their book and therefore may not be able to order it, further implicating their work process. Fortunately, I can afford to buy this book but if this was a case of not having the money, I would have to find another way around approaching this assignment. Perhaps, printing my own book here at college would be a success. Another implication could relate to getting your book layout wrong. If you were to have accidentally shifted your photos and not noticed, or had a typo in your writing, your book would be ruined and there would be nothing you could do about it once it’s been printed. This makes the process a little more pressured as you have to be very aware of how you are editing your layout. I have checked through my book many times just to make sure that everything is the way I need it to be, therefore my money would not be wasted. Also, since you need to order your book online, the time for it to arrive is not reliable. The delivery may get delayed or misplaced which is risky but unlikely. One positive aspect of this assignment is working online. I find it much easier to work inline rather than in a sketchbook as you are able to go back through your work and correct anything you may have got wrong (such as; typos, information or grammar) whereas sketchbook work is glued in and becomes messy if you start using correction fluid, ripping pages out, etc. I also find it easier to add extra information where ever I need to and whenever I need to. With a sketchbook, I’d find that the pages would become crumpled and messy which didn’t help me work consistently.

All in all, I believe that I have completed this assignment to the best of my abilities. By being thorough and checking through my work, I have been able to correct any mistakes I have made. I have also evaluated each individual piece of work so that I can decipher what areas are weak and what areas I found myself doing well in. Evaluating every so often not only helped identify my own strengths and weaknesses, but it also helped me to conclude which sections of photography I like a lot and other areas in which I don’t like. It has helped me to rule out certain themes for my book as well highlighting what I should focus on. For example, I found that my sky images were the strongest set whereas my colour images were the weakest. This is why I chose my focal point to be around the sky and not colourful scenes.  I also feel as though I was very detailed about my annotations. In comparison to past assignments, I have gone into detail and explained where I took my images and why I took my images, I fell as though a detailed annotation allows you to create a story and perhaps a develop meaning for your images. Without the annotations, I feel as though my work wouldn’t make any sense and therefore will not have so much potential. I had a few ideas that I worked with to decide what my final theme would be based around but I felt as though if I had spent more time on research, I could have found bigger and better ideas. Either way, I still like the theme that I had chosen as I am drawn to a simple style of photography. I know that I have done everything, especially my writing, to the best form possible. This gives me the confidence to talk about my work to others.

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

My Final Book Layout

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

My Final Images (book preview)

This is the front cover. I decided to name my book ‘In The Sky’ because each of my images contain the sky and  my camera angle is adjusted to make the objects look as though they are in the sky, rather than on the ground. I wanted a plain and simple cover as my images are also quite simplistic so I felt as though it suited my theme well.

For my first and last image, I decided to use the same editing style to link them together. Different to the very blue colours found in my other images, the first and last images are a more muted blue colour as I felt it was a nice introduction to the rest of my images and also a good summarising photograph. I also photographed the same object in both of these photographs as it was appropriate to do so. Although, the last image had more trees and the moon, I still think the two images go very well together.

For my final page, I wrote ‘ciel’ which is the french translation for Sky. I felt it added a unique addition to my book, especially for the last page. I think that the simple layout and one worded ending makes the book come together nicely as it stays clear and consistent through out. 

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Editing My Final Images

In order to succeed in this assignment, I found that I had to go through my preferred images and edit them - whether it be an obvious or minute alteration. I took a few screen grabs of the editing to provide evidence and also so that I can display my processes through how I edit. 

There are many different ways to edit an image and it all depends on what specific look you are aiming to achieve. For example, some of my earlier work from previous assignments include obvious edits/filters such as a polka dot or blurred filter. 

For this assignment I decided to edit using little details rather than blatant editing styles. I thought that the slightest touch ups would work best for my collection of images, especially since they will be printed in to a book of my choosing. The type of areas I was focused on editing was the exposure levels, curves, selective colour, contrast and brightness.

Each of my final images have been edited as I wanted to get used to the idea of using slight alterations to transform my images. I have kept my style of editing consistent so that my images compliment one another - although, I feel as though I could have used filters to make my images completely different but I decided that it wasn’t what I was looking for in this particular assignment. 

Looking through the brief, I see that editing is a major part of producing digital images and so it was something that I would have needed to try anyway. After editing one or two images, I felt it was easy to do and your images end up coming out much better than the original. 

Editing is a huge part of photography and I find it extremely useful to be able to have access to tools such as photoshop, it has definitely improved my photographic quality. For future reference, I will know how to edit my photographs either slightly or majorly so by doing this, I have made it easier for myself to achieve specific looks.

Here are some screen grabs of my editing processes:

Here is a screen grab of one of my edited images (left) and my original image (right):

I feel as though I edited as well as I could have by altering the smaller details rather than focusing on the obvious. I will definitely be doing this agin with my future images as I can see the large improvements between the original image and the manipulated image. I didn’t find this part of my assignment to be boring or slow as I was able to improve my work and learn about how little differences can affect a photograph so vastly. I could incorporate the obvious editing styles with the more minimal editing style to completely transform an image in future projects. So far, I am pleased with how I have manipulated my images and I feel much more confident in editing than I did before this assignment. 

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

General Shoot

For this shoot, I decided to photograph an area that I hadn’t been to before as it worked so well last time I did this. I considered going back to the marshlands where I shot my previous images, but, I felt as though I should visit as many new places as possible since I would feel much more inspired. So, in order to do this, I decided to go in the opposite direction of the marshlands where I came across a river, bridge and multiple open landscapes. I ended up taking a variety of photographs that didn’t have a certain objective. Some are of the sky, birds, sunlight and landscapes. I decided that I should take initial photographs as a reaction to that new area and review them when I came back.

In total, I spent roughly around an hour and a half walking around observing things and taking photographs whenever it felt right to do so. I took 82 images altogether when I was out. I believe I was successful with this initial shoot as I don’t see any of my images being over exposed, which was a recurring problem last time I did a shoot. However, a factor that did affect the outcome of these images was the sun being quite bright. I could’ve solved this by either taking photographs facing away from the sun or editing the images in Photoshop. But, the sun was positioned in the same area as whatever I was aiming to photograph (the bridge) so I couldn’t completely avoid the light. Even though the objects appear darker than preferred in my photographs, I still think the images look great and do work as their own pieces. Perhaps I could discuss the idea of making the objects, that are very shadowed, appear as silhouettes since they aren’t very obvious/colourful.

Looking back on this shoot, I can see that I was good at capturing wide shots rather than shots that I have zoomed in to capture. Maybe this could affect the way in which I take photographs in the future since the wide shots are my strongest images. One thing I could improve on, is managing my exposure. I seem to either take photographs that are too overexposed or underexposed. With practice, I will be able to get the perfect exposure with each shoot. I always shoot using the manual mode so it’s harder for me to get the shutter speed and aperture to my liking every time. I could resolve this by shooting in auto mode but I want to be able to learn how to get my image to look a certain way by being in control of different factors (depth of field, ISO, etc.)

Here are my images:

Here are my favourite images:

I believe I like these photographs so much because of how the sky appears in the images. I also like the way in which the beams of light are captured reflecting off of the water/clouds. I also like the bird photographs as they almost look like a swarm of birds surrounding the area around them. They add a lot to the photograph and I think I was lucky with the timing as it’s quite hard to capture such a collection of animals in a single image.

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Digital Images

Digital images are a big part of photography. They are used for various different things such as;

- Magazine commissions, 

- Advertising briefs,

- Digital artwork,

- Blogs,

- Archiving,

- Generating personal themes in creative work,

- Source materials,

- Recording ideas development/work in progress.

One of these topics, ‘generating personal themes in creative work’ is specifically linked to this assignment as I have to use digital photographs in order to create my own book. For example; I take photographs using my camera before then uploading it to my computer. I will then edit my images and create a contact sheet compiled of my digital images so that I can post them on my tumblr - explaining why I took them. Since digital photography is the biggest part of my work, it is essential for me to know what processes to go through in order to be successful. There are many more ways in which digital photography is effective such as, ‘advertising’. By using digital photographs, you are able to promote a specific brand and earn more customers who are willing to buy into the product. Not only is digital photography important, it needs to be used effectively otherwise you’ll find yourself not finding much recognition. I believe that digital photography is the starting point for any photographer especially when considering how large social media is as a platform. Modern day society heavily relies on digital photography to advertise, sell or promote their own work. Instagram is one of the largest platforms that include a lot of digital shoots.

Not only are digital images used for many things, the commercial importance of digital images and editing includes multiple factors such as;

- The ability to get the editing completed on the due date as well as being able to edit efficiently in the amount of time given.

- The portability of your equipment (laptop, tablet). The more portable, the easier it is to work with.

- The ability to send the images to the client (using different platforms such as internet, apps, prints, etc.)

Digital photography requires a lot of efficiency and you need to be confident in working quickly at the same time as working with detail. since photography is very popular in modern day society, the platform is vastly competitive and you need to make sure that you are doing everything to the best of your abilities otherwise you perhaps won’t get so far as a digital photographer.

Another thing you have to consider carefully are the legal and ethical factors such as;

- Claiming ownership, copyright, intellectual property of imagery (make sure that you have a clear ownership of your work so that nobody takes it as their own)

- Having good information on laws, confidentiality and representing the appropriate brand or company. 

- Considering the benefits behind commercialising and making sure to trademark your work so that it can not be duplicated.

- When making images public, especially within street photography, you have to be aware of people who are in your photograph and whether or not it invades their privacy or rights to be published in a photograph.

Here is a list of equipment needed to create digital images:

- Digital cameras

- Mobile Phone cameras

- Webcams

- Scanning equipment

- Flatbed scanner

- Film

Specifically you should use:

- USB

- SD cards

- Cardreaders

- USB camera-to-computer leads

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Phone Photography

As you can see, these photographs were taken using my phone camera. With the phone, you can easily edit the exposure by tapping the phone screen. Obviously, the phone camera doesn’t have as many functions as a DSLR camera so you can’t really get a specific look to your image (shutter speed/ISO). It’s probably the most used and recognised method of photography when on the subject of modern media. It’s very easy for anyone to photograph something that they come across and therefore makes photography a hard job to come by.

The differences between phone and camera photography is the ways in which you can alter the image to have a specific look. With a camera, you can manipulate the ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. Whereas a phone camera allows you to edit the exposure and that’s it. Of course, using a DSLR camera is the most appropriate for a photographer; although, a phone camera is not the worst thing available for capturing a scene. Another thing that separates phones from cameras is the quality in which the images are given. The phone images are not high quality and if you plan on printing or enlarging the image, the reduction of quality will be dramatic. It’s definitely best to use a proper camera as the quality is very very important. 

An advantage of phone photography is the easy access to a camera. It’s not something you should religiously use if you’re a keen photographer but if you wanted to remember something you could just take a quick photograph. This is the difference between modern-day technology and more dated photography. Cameras are now used almost by every person daily, making photography a much broader subject and perhaps more difficult to obtain a career in. In the past, people were lugging around heavy and expensive cameras if they wanted to capture something which made photography a much smaller hobby/career. There are both good reasons as there are bad reasons for using phone photography. 

By summarising the advantages and disadvantages, I can decide whether or not phone photography would be appropriate for this specific assignment. I believe that phone photography is quick and easy; yet, it’s not the look I am striving for specific to creating a book. I feel as though my images are not badly composed but the quality is definitely the issue since I need to produce sharp and clear photographs. I could possibly consider phone photography when going into later assignments that may not require as much attention to detail.

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Shooting Reflections

For this shoot, I went ahead and decided to capture reflections. I did this because it was one of my initial ideas that I liked. I feared that taking too many reflection images may feel very repetitive and dull, although, I feel this shoot was successful. Observing some of my images, you can see that a collection of them appear to be over exposed - but I could alter this if needed by using Photoshop. Originally, I had imagined myself using shop windows or mirrors to shoot reflections but I came across some marshlands that I thought would be ideal for this idea. When I was shooting I had to be careful of the damp grass since the ground was very pliable. I also had to choose the perfect time to go out during the day as I specifically wanted my reflections to contain blue skies rather than that of a grey clouded sky. I believe that I could go to the marshlands again because I found it enjoyable and there were a lot of different things to photograph. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I am very familiar with my usual shooting location so I don’t get particularly inspired by what I see. With this location, although still in Burton, I had gone somewhere I had never gone (unless in a car) so I found many things to inspire me and keep me interested throughout my shoot. If I went back to that location, I may think more about my exposure since I hadn’t really done too well this time around. Some of my favourite images are dark as I wanted the main focus to be the reflection on the water. Personally, I thought that I was still good with what I had captured; but, there is definitely room for improvement. Confidently, I can say that the marshlands are ideal for both capturing reflections and landscapes. Here are my images from this shoot;

I also made a contact sheet of my favourite - unedited - photographs so that you can see what I personally like and why I like it. I believe that the reflections are very easily seen which was my whole objective of this shoot, therefore, I prefer them the most. By looking back at what I found easy - finding good reflection locations - and what I found difficult - my exposure - I can do this again and end up with more successful results. I think that I should do another shoot to show my improvement based on evaluating what I have done so far. Here are my favourite images;

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

My Edits (Sky images)

From this contact sheet, you can see that all of these images are a part of my ‘sky’ shoot. The reason why I decided to edit these images is because I wanted the sky to look very rich and blue since it creates a great contrast against the whites and blacks featured in the photographs. I believe that the sky being edited to look quite blue, adds a sort of vibrancy, and maybe a warmer feel to them overall. Not only did I edit the colourisation to how I specifically wanted it, I also made sure to edit the exposure for when the sun was shining on to the clouds. It didn’t take too long to edit these images because I knew what I specifically wanted. One of my images aren’t edited to look vibrantly blue since it was from a separate shoot and the moon was captured. I felt as though a more subtle sky colour was appropriate for the components within the image (i.e, the moon). 

As you can see by the second contact sheet (the unedited images), there is a stark difference between the colours. I definitely feel that the deep blue makes my images much more interesting to look at. 

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Shooting Colour-based Images

For these four images, I decided to go outside and look for vibrant colours. Although I found a few greens and blues, I felt as though I was shooting mostly bright colours such as reds or yellows. As you can see from three of my images, I managed to find quite a few different yellow objects. Originally, the images were not so vibrant so, I decided it was best for me to edit the appearance of the images using Photoshop. I believe that working with colour can look nice and abstract if you have very vibrant objects surrounding you, otherwise, you may have to spend a significant amount of time going through your images and editing them to appear as a specific shade. 

Personally, I found it hard to shoot colour-based images because the weather has been dull which stopped colours from being lit by the sun. I wanted my colours to be as vibrant as possible so I needed to edit each of them, which took some time. I also find that since I was focusing on colour, my images aren’t particularly exciting or unique. You really need to consider not only the colour but the scene in which the colour is found as it does make/break the overall image. I feel like this idea was particularly hard to work with since I spent time restricting myself to certain colours - I felt as though I couldn’t extend my photography skills.

If I were to do this again, I would go and shoot somewhere that I do not always visit. Since I am very familiar with the location I shot at, it was easy for me to miss opportunities for shooting. I particularly found that over-familiarity doesn’t help for colour shooting and therefore I struggled to find motivation. The only reason I don’t dislike these images is because of the fact that I edited them to alter the way they look. I don’t think colour-based shooting is a strong enough idea for my book project so I won’t be focusing on this in a lot of detail. Here are the original images (below) in comparison to the edited images (above):

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Taking More Initial Photographs (skies)

Today, I decided to go out around the local area and take some photographs similar to my first shoot. I quite liked how my first shoot turned out so I thought it would be a good idea to try again. This time around, I found that my images weren’t as good as they were within the first shoot. I feel as though my images were a lot more effective when I shot using a high ISO since the grain made the images appear softer - personally, I like this effect. I don’t like these images as much as I liked my other images because the objects within the photographs don’t appear as silhouettes and therefore take away from the colouration of the sky. 

I think I like sky images because I favour the colour blue, every time you take a photograph of the sky it will appear differently. The clouds and hues constantly change and that is always something that makes the images more effective than if you were to photograph an object that won’t ever change. Although these images are not my strongest, they are still unique. I decided to, not only take photographs of the sky, but also incorporate trees into the shot since the branches are dark and contrast strongly against the blue. 

All in all, I believe that taking ‘sky’ photographs are coloured nicely and are definitely complimented by the silhouetted objects. Even though I do particularly like my images, I still think I can find more strength in shooting other things. By doing more shoots around various subjects, I will be able to conclude on what series of images will look good when making my book. Yes, the sky constantly changes but the colours are always made up of blues and whites. When I start shooting using my other ideas, I will know what approach I prefer whilst also considering what sort of style I want for my book. 

Looking through my images, I seem to like the more minimal shots that include one small object - perhaps, a bird or a telephone wire. Maybe I could consider shooting photographs with simple objects. I tend to lean towards minimalist photographs because you know where to look, whereas a busier photograph can easily look messy and unconsidered, this is my personal opinion. By evaluating my thought processes I can begin to summarise what I am looking for within a series of images. I am starting to look at my images in a more professional light and find that evaluating pieces is easier for me to do since I am doing it so often. 

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

Making A Story With (5) Images

For this section of the assignment, I was tasked with choosing 5 images from the table and creating a story to go with them. I was in a group of 3 and we all had to link each image together to create a narrative. This task is useful for me as I am able to look at a collection of images and evaluate their meanings. Although, the images didn’t have a definitive meaning before adding a story, it’s a representation of how each person interprets different scenes. A photograph could have one story in the eyes of the photographer but also a completely different story to the viewer. It shows that photography is a truly diverse topic that can either mean a lot or perhaps mean nothing - maybe the photographer just likes the image. I believe I made a story successfully by observing images, yes, it wasn’t solely my own work, but it was still incredibly helpful for me. I suppose this activity helped because it urges me to look at my own images and give a narrative to them, even if originally they didn’t have any special story to them. 

These are the images we chose as a group and decided to narrate I will leave each sentence under the appropriate image (images are in order from start to finish):

There’s a huge argument in the household; between mother and father.

The daughter witnesses this huge argument.

She decides she has had enough of the stress; so, she packs her bags.

Catching an early flight, she leaves for a familiar place.

She arrives at the place she now calls home; her grandma’s house.

All in all, I believe I participated in this task successfully. After we had spent our time creating a story to match appropriately to our images, we had to tell our story to the rest of the class. This was good because not only did we have to tell a story, we had to confidently show that what we had interpreted a few random images and turned them into a narrative set of images. I read out the story to the class and was confident in doing so since we had considered our story carefully. It has helped me learn to understand my images instead of just capturing something. Personally, I find that narrative images are more important to the photographer than that of an image randomly taken - the photographer has attached some sort of deeper meaning to their work, ultimately, making the images much more unique.

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

MY  IDEAS SO FAR (shoots)

Shooting Reflections:

For my first idea, I thought that shooting reflection photographs would go nicely in a photography book. I am always drawn to reflections so I thought it would be good to concentrate on. Thinking in detail, I do realise that reflections may not be the best thing to photograph as it becomes repetitive quite quickly. If I were to shoot reflections, I would vary between shooting surfaces such as shop windows, mirrors and puddles so that my images were not all too similar. This is not my strongest idea but it is a good starting point. I don’t think I’ll incorporate reflections into my final piece.

Shooting Skies:

For my second idea, I thought that taking photographs of the sky would be nice. Every photograph that I take of the sky is different as the clouds move and the exposure alters frequently. I like that it doesn’t have to be an image of just the sky, it can include birds, buildings and branches. There is a lot you can add to a sky image since it is such an open space. One thing I do have to take note of, is that taking photographs of the sky isn’t the most creative idea and may be the easiest series to shoot. Although, it still can be done well if I apply enough thought into the process. 

Shooting Close-Ups:

For my third idea, I thought that taking close-up shots of object would be interesting. If I were to shoot using a macro lens (50mm) I would be able to take very detailed photographs of an object, perhaps a plant or a bug. I believe that close-up shots would compliment a book because of the detail that you are able to pick up in each individual photograph. With close-up shots, you can pick up a lot more detail than you can when shooting from a further distance. I feel like I would run out of interesting objects to photograph closely and it may take a substantial amount of time to shoot.

Shooting Silhouettes:

For my fourth idea, I thought of shooting silhouettes. I like the idea of making objects appear as though it is a shadow. The difference between trying to shoot silhouette images and regular images is that there will be less detail within the image but the effects will still be there. Another thing to do with silhouettes is that there will be less colours, since you will shoot dark objects/outlines, there may not be many vibrant colourisation. In this instance, I believe merging silhouettes with the ‘skies’ idea will benefit me. The stark contrast of the blue hues and blacks against one another will create an attractive image.

Shooting Colour:

For my fifth idea, I thought of shooting colour. I like the idea of focusing on a certain colour and editing the image so that the specific colour is very present. Although, it may look the image look nice and well-thought out, it could be difficult to follow that pattern since you have to make sure that one; the colour is present, and two; make sure it is something you want to photograph. A lot of different things need to be taken into account when you try to shoot colour such as how long the editing will take, if the colour suits the image and also if the coloured object is actually interesting. For example, if I took a photograph of a red bin, it would not be the most exciting image.

Shooting Architecture:

For my sixth idea, I thought of shooting architecture. Buildings can offer a lot to an image when considering the many different grooves, indents and shapes that are featured on the building. Shooting architecture may be difficult because it can become repetitive and dull to look at, especially when thinking of filling a book with those images. There can be various colours found on buildings but commonly, the colours consist of greys, reds and oranges so you would have to consider that the images may not be eye-catching or necessarily interesting to look at. This is probably one of my less unique ideas. I, personally, want my images to have dimensions so that you enjoy viewing them. 

Summary

So far, I have made a mini-book applying my ‘skies’ idea. I believe that it looked good and complimented the page. I have also incorporated some silhouettes into my sky photos and I believe that it added a simple yet effective touch to the image. I am not quite sure as to whether or not this idea will be used again as shooting images of skies can be plain and easy. I feel as though I can definitely develop my ideas into something much more diverse and creative. I could separate the two ideas and do individual shoots to figure out which idea is most effective. Overall, I feel as though the two ideas together are great and make the photograph much less boring. I also have to remember that my photography ideas have to match with my layout and page colourisation. I am leaning towards having an assorted layout so that way, each page is different from the last - it adds more variety and keeps the observer from being easily bored.

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150mm lens

When using this lens, I found that the lens was able to zoom into objects from a moderate distance away. I was able to photograph people walking in the streets and also photograph cars driving on the road. The depth of filed was shallow, but not really shallow, making the focal length slightly blurred in some areas of the image. This camera lens would be useful for pan-shooting or shooting sports event where there is a lot of movement. The images were shot clearly and had a slight depth. I prefer this lens over the other zoom lens (200-400) since it was not too much to handle. This lens was also a lot more portable than that of other lenses I had used previously. Although, it was moderately okay to shoot with this lens, I don’t think I would personally shoot with this lens due to the zoom not being something I particularly favour.

Here is what the lens looks like:

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45mm lens

When using this lens, I found that whatever I photographed, appeared smaller than they actually were. I enjoyed using this lens because of how it alters the objects that you capture. Personally, I would consider using this lens again because of how much I enjoyed the affects it had on my images. If I was trying to capture photographs trying to display perspective, I would definitely use this lens. Although, I shot out of the window for this shoot, I still found the quality to be really good and handy for shooting people, cars and other standard objects that I could see. The depth of field was shallow so I think that’s one of the variables as to why the objects appear smaller than they are. 

Here is what the lens looks like:

[thepoeticsofspacekaty]

300mm lens

When using this lens, I found that the quality was very good. Although, these images seem foggy, it is because I was shooting through a window rather than going outside. I didn’t go outside because I wanted to get used to how the lens functioned rather than actually take detailed photographs. This lens was also quite heavy and hard to use, I found myself getting frustrated at the zoom because I didn’t know what to photograph. I don’t think I’d personally use this lens myself, because the zoom isn’t essential for my own projects. The zoom was useful but I get easily frustrated as it zooms so far into various objects - I can never decide what to shoot. 

Here is what the lens looks like:

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200-400mm lens

When using this lens, I found that the zoom was very useful for shooting far away objects. I decided to shoot people from a window since the lens was able to do so. I feel like this lens would be good for sports photography as the zoom quality is very good and can pick up detailed action shots. The depth of filed was also able to be made shallow which is something I particularly find useful when taking photographs. If I were to use this lens again, I would use it perhaps to shoot nature shots including birds or general wildlife. I found that using this lens was not that much of a great experience since it was heavy, bulky and not a must-have for my type of photography projects.  I don’t think I would personally use this lens again as I prefer to take photographs close-up.

Here is what the lens looks like: