Force Easter Homework: FIRST RESPONSE TO THE THEME
Over the Easter holidays we had to take photos representing the theme 'Force'. I did this using gravitational force, mechanical force, the force of nature, force of fire and water/elements etc. Some of the images are badly exposed so I should try to make sure the exposure is correct before taking the photo (and taking it off automatic so it doesn't adjust badly).
Some gifs made on the 'Force' photos.
A time-lapse I made while on holiday to represent the force of nature. I took a photo every minute for a few hours. It could've been better if I put it on a set shutter speed/f-stop/ISO as halfway it looked like day when it was really night, as the camera changed the shutter speed to 30 seconds. Also near the end the ISO gets too high and a lot of noise becomes visible.
Radical Eye tate modern exhibition
These are some of the photos from the Sir Elton John's collection in the Tate Modern called 'The Radical Eye'. Sir Elton John collected many modernist photographs and hung them up on the walls around his house, but they've been temporarily placed there for public viewing. Here's a article about Sir Elton John and his collection. His collection contains around 200 modernist images from 1920 to 1950. One of my favorite images was 'Glass Tears', by Man Ray (top middle of images at top).
Force mindmap
Force of nature
The 'Force of Nature' task shows areas where nature has forced it's way through urban areas and have taken them back to natural areas. This shows the force of nature and the impending invasion of nature over man. I attempted to take photos which shows nature in urban environments while keeping foundation elements and composition. It could be better if I used a variation of locations and I could develop it further by taking photos of locations outside of school and by showing more of a mixture of man and nature rather than one or the other. I think a few of the images with plants and rust etc. related well the the topic and my intentions. I believe it would be better if we found derelict areas as it would show how when an area is abandoned, nature takes over and absorbs all that man has built, highlighting that nature is eternal and permanent while man is temporary.
Nadav Kander 'Dust'
Nadav Kander takes photos of the abandoned Chernobyl and secret cities that were used that were used for experimentation on the effects of radioactivity. These secret cities bordering Kazakhstan and Russia were used for testing atomic and long distance weapons. Scientists documented the effects of the pollution and radiation on the population.
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Kander intended to frighten the viewer. He did this by taking photos of cities used as nuclear experiments or effected by nuclear fallout. He wanted us to have pity on the people affected and reveal to us how dark and destructive human nature can be.
Kander is considering the cold war in this piece of work. The destruction shows the panicked evacuation of the city as nothing was preserved. He wanted to explore nuclear war.
Kinder used a large format camera in creating this work. This camera allowed Kander to isolate himself from his surroundings while he set up the image. The larger image allows him to capture the details of the destruction and decay. This helps to support his point about humankind's capacity for self-destruction.
Kander is considering the cold war in this piece of work. The destruction shows the panicked evacuation of the city as nothing was preserved. He wanted to explore nuclear war.
Kinder used a large format camera in creating this work. This camera allowed Kander to isolate himself from his surroundings while he set up the image. The larger image allows him to capture the details of the destruction and decay. This helps to support his point about humankind's capacity for self-destruction.
Clifford Ross
Ross creates surreal photos of waves. He does this by inverting the image. This makes the waves look more interesting and surreal. The photographer is considering the consequences of carbon-dioxide emissions with a focus on the melting Himalayan glaciers. He does this by taking photos of the growing waves from the melted ice and raised sea level. He wanted to draw attention to the significance of global warming and represent the violent and forceful effects it will have on humanity and the world. The photographer uses a fast shutter speed in order to capture the wave and make them seem frozen mid-crash. This helps emphasise how surreal the photo is and the impending destruction of the environment.
Jiang Zhi
The photographer presents force by burning flowers. The juxtaposition of the flowers and fire makes the image surrealistic. This makes the viewer consider destruction and artificial destruction of nature. Jiang is representing environmental issues and man-made destruction of nature. This is shown by beautiful flowers being burnt by fire. The photography makes the viewer feel the unjust incineration of the flowers to be wrong, therefore highlighting the point on environmentalism. The photographer uses a shallow depth of field to bring attention to the flower and the subject, therefore the viewer has nothing else to look at than the issue they're presenting.
Force of nature homework
The pictures of birds and squirrels show how wild animals live and take over urban environments. I also took photos of various rusted and broken items (such as cars) where nature has destroyed man made objects. Furthermore, I have taken photos of overgrown grave stones; it shows how people are buried back into nature when they pass and the relationship with nature and the human race. The concrete cylinder structures are World War 2 tank traps which have broken down and been covered with ivy and moss over the years it has been left.
Top 5
Although I think the images match my intentions, the contrast and saturation on the images are too high, making the images overly saturated which doesn't really represent and contribute to the task and the feel the images should have but it can be edited better. I feel these represent the force of nature as it shows man made objects to be overrun with plants and decay
Applied Force
Francois Delfosse
This 'Antarctica in a bag' project uses macro of the inside of a plastic bag to represent icy caves. It represents the force of scale
We took a photo of the inside of a plastic bag. The light and the reflective nature of the plastic bag makes it similar to ice in a cave or on a glacier.
The strong exterior light is passes through the bag to scatter the light. This mimics the transparency of ice and can create interesting looking shadows to give the bag a sense of exaggerated scale. Next time I will consider using better and more interesting lighting, a larger plastic bag and crumple it more for detail and also think about using techniques such as tilt shift to show scale and make the images generally more interesting to look at. Also using a high aperture will capture more detail and make the image look like a larger scale.
The strong exterior light is passes through the bag to scatter the light. This mimics the transparency of ice and can create interesting looking shadows to give the bag a sense of exaggerated scale. Next time I will consider using better and more interesting lighting, a larger plastic bag and crumple it more for detail and also think about using techniques such as tilt shift to show scale and make the images generally more interesting to look at. Also using a high aperture will capture more detail and make the image look like a larger scale.
applied force: Popping water balloons
Used a fast shutter speed to capture the point when a water balloon breaks and show the water falling. This shows the force of the water and pressure in the balloon releasing. I think the images would be better if I only saw the water and balloon and not the knife and people's arms. Maybe it would also look more interesting if the water collided with an obstacle, as it could further show the force. In order to freeze the water in air with more detail, it may be better if done in a studio environment with brighter lights and generally better lighting to allow the camera to use a higher shutter speed and for the water to stand out stronger against it's background.
best 3
I edited some to give it vignette, change the contrast, the saturation and adjust exposure.
applied force homework
The force of breaking, smashing, burning and destroying objects captured with photography. I think it would be better if I destroyed a larger variety of objects and maybe in more creative ways. I also think the saturation was too high on some photos making the colours look a weird. I believe these images effectively present physical force with images before and after breaking.
3 strands
First Strand : Imposing architecture
Inspired by Rut Blees Luxembourg's 'Towering Inferno' project which uses architecture to show force and mankind's footprint over nature. Rut Blees uses underexposure and bright lights to give a good impression of night time city-scapes while still keeping detail.
These photos were taken from London Bridge and around that area of Central London. I think my photos could be improved if they were brighter (maybe I used a tripod to keep it still) and also a longer shutter speed so I could use a lower ISO (for less grain and noise). Also, there was too much sharpness so some of the details look odd. |
Top 3
The top three photos are edited to be brighter, cropped, less/more saturation, and the burn/dodge tool to lighten/darken areas of the picture. These images successfully show the force of architecture as a monument of technology and the ability of construction.
Second strand : Nature over man
Thomas Jackson
Thomas Jackson takes photos of a mass of floating objects in an urban/natural environment.
This shows the force of nature when it reclaims man-made objects. These are photos of my garden. I think they could be improved if there was a bit of a higher saturation and sometimes a better exposure would be needed.
This is me practicing taking photos of nature.
Here's a test I did. It would look better with flatter lighting (overcast weather) and with more photos. That looks great! I didn't realise it was by your at first. I thought it was another image by your photographer. Make sure that you include contact sheets and that you screen grab the process of how you made it at least once.
The top three photos were edited to give more/less saturation and to bright/darken the image using curves. I think low aperture looks good with macro photography so in some photos I was using an aperture as low as f/1.8.
This image was created by throwing balls in front of the camera multiple times and then using layer masks to isolate each individual ball. This is better than taking images of the balls with a white background as although it is harder to mask, the lighting matches up perfectly so therefore gives the picture a more realistic and naturalistic look. After that, I made a shadow on the floor by blurring a shape and lowering the brightness to finally create the image above.
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Third strand : Blue room/left london
Inspired by 'The Blue Room' by Eugene Richards who takes photos of abandoned houses/rooms. These are photos of inside my garage (which isn't used so it's dirty) and from some broken objects.
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Some images by Eugene Richards:
His images use good contrast between light and dark with muted colours to give the viewer the sense of abandonment from the images and to emphasize that the buildings are derelict.
My attempt:
I think it would be better if there was brighter lighting in some of the photos and also sometimes could use a bit more saturation as some of the colours are faded (although it can add to the mood of the images). The darkness leads to loss of detail so a brighter image could be generally better looking and more interesting. Although darkness can create a mood and grunge vibe from the images if the pictures are too underexposed it takes away from the image.
TOP 3
favorite strand
My favorite strand is the architecture/night time photography because I like the low key lighting and how quiet and empty it is at night and how you can capture the scale of buildings. I can develop it further by going to different areas of London at different times of day. I need to research Rut Blees and Gilles Coulon. This shows the force of light contrasted against darkness.
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I think the photos could be better if I went a bit earlier so there was still some ambient light or found a quieter place where I could set up my tripod so I could use a lower ISO. A lot of the images had too low brightness ending in a lot of lost detail and I think the contrast between the light and dark was too extreme. To avoid this, I could set up a tripod and take an image at multiple exposures and use HDR toning or otherwise just change location or time where there's ambient light and therefore a brighter image.
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Some brightened up pictures:
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further development
Dryden Goodwin's 'Cast' series shows force of people by taking photos of them while on buses. Nick Turpin and Saul Leiter also takes similar photographs that show people in buses while in deep thought, showing force of people.
Saul Leiter
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Dryden Goodwin
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Nick Turpin
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Nick Turpin is interesting as the condensation on the windows acts like a blur creating focus on the people near the windows and fading lights and colours to make them look blurred and abstract. Turpin could be taking photos of people on buses for a similar reason as to Dryden Goodwin: as it's when people are in their deepest thought. With Goodwin's photos he represents their thoughts by drawing over their heads in red ink which could represent chaotic thoughts. The condensation on the windows could maybe be used to give the impression of clouded or confused thoughts (or maybe it was just for aesthetics).
For the final project I have taken photos of contrasting lights at night and also photos of buses/pictures in buses. This shows the force of light and contrast and also shows the force of people.
Unedited:
Unedited:
These photos could be better if I used a camera with better ISO and noise cancellation in order to get brighter, less blurred and less noisy pictures. The shutter speed was too high on quite a few in order to compensate for the lack of light therefore a lot of pictures are effected by motion blur.
For editing these photos I used a multitude of curves and levels. Some of them had masks with a radial/elliptical gradient to create a vignette and bring attention to the subject of the photo. Sometimes saturation was changed as the colours on the bus could be overwhelming and too bright.
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Alternate editing using bright colours:
When editing the colourful ones on the top layer I have a colourful gradient on 'Overlay' blending in order to give a coloured tint. Then I do a variety of curves and levels in order to change the brightness and used masks to make some areas brighter than others and to make a vignette and bring focus to the subject. Then I would have some vibrance/saturation in order to change/brighten the colours and use masks to ignore certain parts which stand out too much (for example the poles on the buses are bright yellow and they stand out too much if the saturation is bumped). I used the 'de-noise filter in Photoshop to make the image a bit smoother and get rid of noise created by a high ISO. This does mean some edges are blurred and I lose some detail but it's worth it as the noise can be really obstructive.
Final Piece
The final piece was made by taking pictures of buses at night, overlaying a gradient onto the individual stories and editing them to make nice light colours, then, using Photoshop, I de-noised and stacked the stories on top of each other to create the final piece.
This photo's main objective was to show the force of people. Taking Dryden Goodwin's idea where people are at their deep thought on a bus journey I'm trying to show the individuality and the different people and stories we pass everyday.
This photo's main objective was to show the force of people. Taking Dryden Goodwin's idea where people are at their deep thought on a bus journey I'm trying to show the individuality and the different people and stories we pass everyday.
I had to do a lot of manipulation of perspective and scaling to make the windows match up as the photos where taken at different angles and distances. Because of this, some of the windows don't match up perfectly and the perspective seems off so if I was to do it again I would make sure the photos were taken of the same: kind of bus, floor, angle, and distance to provide a more seamless and realistic photograph. It also could like nicer if there was less black empty space and if some of the colours were a bit more defined. Also, the picture could be more interesting if they were taken in different weather conditions like rain or snow so that some of the windows are distorted. However, that could take away from the simplicity and the minimalism of the photo. I think I would need to also do it over more time so I could get more photos.
evaluation
During the 'Force' project I have managed my time well (for most of the tasks) and completed every task. I have used the work of other photographers to inform my development. My analysis sometimes covered context, intentions and technique. I think I've learnt some more techniques and I have gotten better at camera control. However, I gave myself more time for a couple of the tasks than some of the others. Some of the photographers also seem to be loosely connected to the theme and the strand so I think I should try to choose more relevant ones. I need to use tripods more often in darker areas and also avoid taking underexposed photos and make sure the shutter speed isn't over ~1/30. Some of my annotations were too brief and I need to look into photographers and the photos in more depth. My final piece doesn't really meet my expectations as it seems to stray too far from the original photographers and theme.
developing
thomas jacksonRepetition of everyday objects floating within an environment. Objects digitally edited in. Creates an interesting surreal effect on what would be a normal environment.
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sandy skoglundBright colours and repetition of similar objects creates a chaotic scene. Difficult to recreate due to the coloured rooms.
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tokihiro satoSimilar patterns of light in a black and white image. Sometimes digitally added in but sometimes created with a light and long exposure.
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All of these artists use a repetition of objects, lights, colours and patterns to convey a chaotic scene and give the viewer a sense of force through the chaos and disorder of the images. This relates to the theme of force as it shows the force of controlled chaos represented through the repetition of objects and bright colours.
Thomas Jackson development
Alan Sailer
Alan Sailer uses an extremely fast flash (1 micro-second) and a fast shutter speed to capture movement as a sharp, still image. This is just an example of fast shutter speed in photography but I feel like using flash to capture the movement could ruin the lighting and the look of the image. This shows how light is essential for high shutter speeds to properly freeze movement in time.
Denis Darzacq
Denis Darzacq uses a fast shutter speed while jumping or falling to make it seem like the figure is suspended in air while carrying on with normal activities. Very similar to Yowa Yowa but still helps highlight the surreal use of a fast shutter speed.
Yowa Yowa is a photographer who takes photos of her self jumping and in mid-air. She usually does this while performing everyday activities and tries to make herself look natural. She uses a very fast shutter speed to capture the movement and freeze it in time. A longer shutter speed would cause motion blur which is why a low shutter speed is essential.
This is an attempt to make photos similar to Yowa Yowa's style and practice freezing people in movement.
We used a fast shutter speed so there was no blur and it creates the effect that you're frozen in air. The fast shutter speed made the photo quite dark, meaning we needed a small f/stop and a medium-high ISO number. When taking levitation images it's important to have a fast shutter speed so there's no blur and a high ISO or small f/stop a lot of light to compensate for the high shutter speed.
This is an image I took earlier in the 'Force' project inspired by Thomas Jackson. The image was created by using a background image and then throwing an object in front of the camera and editing it in after. The pictures were taken in the same lighting so the objects didn't seem out of place or unrealistic. This could be further developed by possibly using motion blur on the faster moving objects and by multiplying the amount of objects to further emphasise the chaos and movement of the image.
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Development tokihiro sato
To create these photos of light trails, we used a long shutter speed and shone a torch at the camera. To compensate for the long shutter speed we used a low ISO number and a medium/high aperture. We used a tripod since when using long shutter speeds, everything would be blurred since you can't hold a camera still for very long. We took these photos at night so we could use longer shutter speeds and so the floating lights would stand out more.
Our biggest problems with these photos was to make sure the camera wasn't moved when you press the button, keeping the light on frame and trying to make the person holding the light invisible. I think ways to do this would be to make sure the tripod was tight, the camera was pointing at a better angle and for the person holding the light to move faster.
In order to take these images I needed a long shutter speed which was achieved by using a tripod (to prevent camera shake and motion blur) and I also used a low ISO and a high aperture. The images would be more interesting if there were more lights and if they always followed a uniform shape, rather than being too unstructured and chaotic. Also, I need to work with colour better by considering: coloured lights (maybe coloured LEDs) or possibly taking the images in monochrome so the colours don't take attention away from the lights and so the white of the light trails contrasts better with the background. These images show the theme of 'Force' by presenting the force of light in darkness. Furthermore, the light is used to lead and guide the viewer around the image, which exhibits the force the light has over the viewer in choosing what they see.
My attempt
These images were created by holding a large bundle of Christmas lights and moving them in front of the camera on a long exposure.
I believe these images can relate to the task as the force of light. In the images the light illuminates and reveals the image to the viewer showing the image to be dependent on the light and emphasise the power it has over the image.
I think these images successfully captured the style of Tokihiro Sato while there's still a difference separating me from the artist. I think next time I should try to take the colours in colour and experiment with that, and if it doesn't work I can always convert it into monochrome later. It could also improve by changing location to something more interesting, but for that I would need a portable light (the one I used had to be connected by plug). I used a tripod to make sure the images are sharp and I also used a raw image format with an ISO of 100 to get a high quality image and the lowest amount of noise possible. Also, the low ISO was important for the long shutter speed to create the light trails without it being over-exposed.
I believe these images can relate to the task as the force of light. In the images the light illuminates and reveals the image to the viewer showing the image to be dependent on the light and emphasise the power it has over the image.
I think these images successfully captured the style of Tokihiro Sato while there's still a difference separating me from the artist. I think next time I should try to take the colours in colour and experiment with that, and if it doesn't work I can always convert it into monochrome later. It could also improve by changing location to something more interesting, but for that I would need a portable light (the one I used had to be connected by plug). I used a tripod to make sure the images are sharp and I also used a raw image format with an ISO of 100 to get a high quality image and the lowest amount of noise possible. Also, the low ISO was important for the long shutter speed to create the light trails without it being over-exposed.
final piece
Copy and paste these sentence starters as and when you need them
Subject matter
ebi:
Subject matter
What’s next
Subject matter
- The subject I chose to photograph suited the theme as it……
- My composition helped to support my response to the theme by….
- I managed the exposure very well. My ISO / shutter speed / aperture settings were…..
- I prioritised my shutter speed to… (capture movement / blur/ frozen moment)
- I prioritised aperture to manipulate depth of field.
- I used a tripod to avoid camera shake.
- My images express my intentions which were…
ebi:
Subject matter
- The subject I chose to photograph did not necessarily fit the brief as it was not interesting enough / appropriate / adequately lit…..
- Next time I should go to (a different location), photograph at a different time of day, organise people in advance, think more about my composition so that….. ect
- I did not create enough depth of field / sense of movement. The image is over exposed / underexposed / too blurred.
- Next time I should use a tripod / use a different type of lens (be specific) / experiment with film…
- My images do not show my intentions which were…
What’s next
- Next time I will consider the work of (a photographer) to inspire a more accurate depiction of what I want to achieve.
- I will experiment further with… (blur / shutter speed / composition)