Selective Focus PHOTOGRAPHY NOTEBOOK

Transcription

1 Selective Focus PHOTOGRAPHY NOTEBOOK

2 Selective Focus

3 Movement

4 Composition

5 Composition

6 Composition

7 RESEARCH NOTEBOOK Photo Technique: Composition Photographer: Inez and Vinoodh This photo is visually enticing due to the many elements used to create a photo with interesting composition. The first thing that stands out is the use of black and white, which adds drama to the photo. It seems this whole image is about contrast the model s smooth, pale skin stands out against the dark, textured background and the checkered pattern on the dress clashes with the stripes. The model s body and dress create gorgeous geometric shapes I like how her leg is lifted to open out the dress so the patterns of the dress really show. The shapes on the dress also create some sort of leading lines; the strips of material of the dress create rectangular lines, which seem to lead our gaze to her face. It s also unusual that her body is horizontally placed in the image, rather than vertical, like most fashion photos.

8 Photographer: Rankin This photo, taken by famous fashion photographer, Rankin, has such an interesting composition. The use of the mirrors is interesting, as the lines in them draw our eyes to the model, as they seem to lead to her. The mirrors also create a slight optical illusion of more mirrors, creating reflections of her from different angles. I particularly like the shape that she is creating with her body her legs and arms seem to mirror each other and also create strong lines, which contrast with the lines of the mirrors. The use of her clothing is also striking, where the colours of the garments compliment the blue tones in the photo, the texture and patterns on them create a sharp contrast with the smooth texture of the mirrors.

9 Photographer: Dennis Mebrouki This image is so engrossing - the perspective that the photographer, Dennis Mebrouki, has taken it from is intriguing, as it has allowed the sun to create rays of light to appear across the image. I love that the photo has been composed, so that the model, who is dressed in smart clothing, is hanging off a graffiti smothered train - a stark contrast of character and surroundings. I like that there is a colour scheme to the photo; the brown suit against the brown train is visually interesting. He is very central to the photo, making him seem important and the main focus of the image.

10 Photographic Technique: Movement Photographer: Nigel Barker This photo, by Nigel Barker was taken on season 8 of America s Next Top Model. I love the use of movement in this photo. The model, although she is the focus of the photograph, is on the far left of the photo. I like how bold the colour of the cape waves over the picture dramatically. Everything in the photo is moving but there is no blurring, however, I like how the bull is kicking up dust seems to create some dimension to the photo.

11 Photographer: Thomas Schenk This photo of Chanel Iman is gorgeous. There are pink/purple tones throughout the photo and the colour of her clothes almost mirrors the background colour and her smile is bold. I like that she doesn t look like she s moving but the scarf adds something interesting to the photo, adding some movement to the image. I like how the scarf is falling over her shoulders it almost looks like purple wings.

12 Photographer: Solve Sundsbo This photo is stunning. Everything about it draws my eyes in. the shape she has managed to create with the dress is amazing. She looks so calm and beautiful and the dress flies up in a floaty, feminine way. I love the contrast of her dark skin against the light dress - it s such a strong photo. She is directly centre of the photograph and stares straight into the lens, which is another striking composition. The movement of the dress is almost angelic.

13 Photographic Technique: Depth of Field/Selective Focus Photographer: Unknown This is a photo of Kate Moss for Vanity Fair. I am unsure of the photographer, however, this photo is gorgeous. She looks so beautiful and feminine and I like that the background is not in focus. It makes it seem like she is the only thing that matters in this photo. It also makes her look quite angelic, as she is almost bare skinned, dressed in white, wears a blonde wig and she looks very delicate.

14 Photographer: Mario Testino This image by Mario Testino is so striking. I love how the out of focus feathers frame the image. The use of colours is great as well the black feathers contrast with the bright red lip and blue eyes. The effect of the selective focus makes us focus more on her and directs our gaze to hers.

15 Mario Testino Marios work is constantly in Vogue magazine. He is incredibly talented and famous for his fashion photography. I particularly love his photo shoot of Lana Del Rey in Vogue. He is so creative and takes such beautiful shots. He has become one of my favourite photographers.

16 Jenah Yamamoto I like how she photographs using mostly natural lighting, giving her photos a really soft look. Her models are always beautiful and thin - she actually says she prefers working with slimmer models, as she personally feels they photograph better - which I feel works with her style of photos. With most of her models being underdressed, it's easy to go down the trashy route, however, Jenah always captures her models in a sexy, feminine way.

17 Irving Penn I love Irving Penn s photographs. They are so simple, most of them in black and white. He is mostly known for his portraiture, some for fashion. This one on the left is particularly striking. Rankin Rankin is an English fashion and portrait photographer. He has taken some stunning portraiture and usually creates some interesting images, working with texture a lot, as seen in the photo on the left.

18 Photo Workshops Photo Workshop Week One

19 Personal Response to Photo Workshop 1 How does changing the focal length affect the size of the objects within the image and their composition (the objects relative sizes and position)? We found that when we got closer to the subjects, they become much bigger in the image, whereas moving away made them appear smaller. See how closely you can match the composition of the image when the focal length of the lens changes. How do you do this and how closely do the images match? We achieved more depth of field when we got closer to the subjects, however, the overall look of the images looked quite similar to each other. How the perspective of the foreground and background objects is is affected when the background objects move? You are able to achieve depth of field the foreground subject was in focus whilst the others became softer and more blurred. The foreground image also looked much bigger in comparison to the background objects. In terms of composition and perspective, how does moving the camera and keeping the subject still compare with moving the objects and keeping the camera still? By moving the camera, the composition changed a little bit but perspective is changed and you are in control of it, however, keeping the camera still means your perspective is restricted, however, you can get more interesting compositions. How did photographing objects compare with photographing people? We found photographing people much more fun, as there was a lot more involved more direction for people, more experimenting with composition and more for people to get involved with (eg. Styling) Are there images where you can see the rule of thirds and/or leading lines working? We have one photo using the rule of thirds, where the models are not in the centre of the image but instead, and closer to the edge of the composition which we found made the photograph look more visually appealing.

20 Photo Workshop Week Two Our group: Photographer: Sasha (myself) and Martyna and Daniela Stylist: Annabel Note-Taker: Aisha Video Recorder: Lalidpat This week s photo workshop started off a bit slow, as a Canon user, I found getting used to the Nikon a bit strange. However, with the help of my group, we managed to figure it out together and get on with the task. We started with the still life task, where we had to photograph bottles, changing nothing about the composition or camera settings but the aperture. Here are a selection of photos:

21 During our second task, our aim was to have one of our three bottles in focus at a time, to show the depth of field. Our three bottles were place on the table in a row. There was around 10cm distance between each one getting further away from the photographer. We found it really difficult getting the focus on one at a time and often, when we tried focusing on one bottle, another one would focus. Here are our photos: 1. best photo for front bottle in focus 2. best photo for middle bottle in focus 3. best photo for back bottle in focus Our final task was to take some portraits, showing depth of field and a group shot, with us all in focus. Again, we had some difficulty getting the background out of focus without the whole image going blurry. However, here are our attempts: In the first image, Daniela, is in focus whilst the background is blurred. I also like how we managed to achieve this in the second photo too, with Lys out of focus in the background. The last photo with Lys and Daniela is fully in focus.

22 Photo Workshop Week Three This week we were working with shutter speed and changing it to see what kind of effect it had on the photograph. We started off with a fast shutter speed of 1/800 as this was the highest setting on our camera. Although we caught movement without blur, the photo was extremely dark. The photo below was taken at 1/600. This photo was one of our favourites, as it caught movement without blur and the lighting was really good. This was taken at 1/250

23 As the shutter speed became slower, we were not managing to freeze the movement in our pictures. As you can see, this photo, taken at 1/100 has a blur to her hair, which is moving, however the lighting became a lot brighter. Our last photo, although it is almost fully blurred, it was one of our favourites, as her hair is a complete orange blur but her face has some strong features still. This photo was taken at 1/30

24 Evaluation of Two Photographers Don McCullin, is a London born photojournalist, whose work became popular in the late 1950s when he first began photographing gang culture in London. He grew up in Finsbury Park, North London a poorer urban area. His first photo (shown below) was published in the Observer, where he realised his love for photography. It s such an interesting photo, as it really shows the hostility and destitution in London. His works depicted the poverty and war during the 1960s, not only in the U.K but also across the world. In 1960, on a journey to the Congo, McCullin managed to trick a mercenary in believing he was one of them, in order to photograph what was going on. He went on to cover many other wars, reporting for the Sunday Times, In 1968, he travelled to North Vietnam to cover the Battle of Hue. One of his most memorable photos was produced; Shellshocked Marine (below left) shows an image of a soldier. The photo is so strong and without showing the death and obvious sides to war, McCullin manages to show the trauma caused by war; he captures the way war is haunting, which you can see in the soldier s empty eyes. The photo on the right is an image he half manipulated. McCullin had caught some people stealing this dead soldier s belongings and he d asked them to lay them on the ground so he could photograph them. Stating that this was the only time that he d ever done this, he said he was glad he did it, as he felt it expressed that this man was only a victim. McCullin s photographs show the period in which he was working in clearly and honestly. His work is never manipulated and we can see that he doesn t try to hide anything. He is very direct about what he wants to show the world through his photographs.

25 Evaluation of Two Photographers Nigel Barker is a London born, model turned photographer. He began photography in 1996 and is famous for his fashion photography and particularly, his appearance as a judge and photographer on America s Next Top Model. As a fashion photographer in a time when digital photography and image manipulation were becoming increasingly popular, many of his works show examples of the use of photo editing. Above right is a perfect example; here, a bull has been photo- shopped into the image of the model. This has obviously been done rather than using a real bull, for safety reasons. On the left is a photograph taken whilst Barker was a photographer on America s Next Top Model. It is clear that the model has been retouched a common and almost guaranteed occurrence in fashion imagery these days. The model s skin has been smoothed and clear from any blemishes and her eyes have been edited to look more blue and clean. Below is an image, which has been edited so that 3 different images of one model are in the photo. This is often seen in magazines and fashion photography. His work demonstrates the use of image manipulation often and is highly glamourised to suit the industry he works in.