Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Exercise 45 - Rain
Pre-Shoot
I read this exercise a while ago so the next time I saw rain, I started taking some pictures. I decided not to use any of the rain pictures produced for the lighting section as I wanted to take pictures with the idea of a magazine cover focused in my mind.
Post-Shoot
After I took the photos I waited until I got the the exercise. I've done this in advance of exercises 43 and 44 but mainly because I want to mull over the symbols for a bit and frankly I was looking forward to this one so I skipped ahead!
I've never done any type-facing or layout before so this was really fun. The following covers were made in order shown with the last one being my favourite.
This is my first attempt. I didn't want to go with a weather themed magazine cover and I must admit, I was a bit stumped about what sort of magazine would have rain as a cover story. So I don't know if this is the wrong way round, but I took the photos first and came up with the idea second.
I like this cover and I think it works well. The image shows the possible perspective of someone looking out their window and considering the dismal prospect of not being able to hang their laundry!
This was my next attempt. I really liked the rain image, but I don't think it works as a cover shot as the branches are too prominent.
Also, I had to use colour backdrops with most of the text to make it readable.
This doesn't work, and doesn't look like a real cover.
So this was abandoned.
Then I used my last, and favourite photo.
I like the image because it's not immediately obvious what it is a picture of, and from a layout perspective the blurs caused by the rain on the window allow for easy to read text so...
After playing around with it, here is the final image.
I'm really pleased with this and think it fulfills the task requirements well.
I read this exercise a while ago so the next time I saw rain, I started taking some pictures. I decided not to use any of the rain pictures produced for the lighting section as I wanted to take pictures with the idea of a magazine cover focused in my mind.
Post-Shoot
After I took the photos I waited until I got the the exercise. I've done this in advance of exercises 43 and 44 but mainly because I want to mull over the symbols for a bit and frankly I was looking forward to this one so I skipped ahead!
I've never done any type-facing or layout before so this was really fun. The following covers were made in order shown with the last one being my favourite.
I like this cover and I think it works well. The image shows the possible perspective of someone looking out their window and considering the dismal prospect of not being able to hang their laundry!
Also, I had to use colour backdrops with most of the text to make it readable.
This doesn't work, and doesn't look like a real cover.
So this was abandoned.
I like the image because it's not immediately obvious what it is a picture of, and from a layout perspective the blurs caused by the rain on the window allow for easy to read text so...
I'm really pleased with this and think it fulfills the task requirements well.
Exercise 43 - Symbols
A thought exercise! I haven't done one of these since an Oxford Philosophy distance learning course I did years ago.
Anyway, thinking of symbols for a number of concepts. I need more than one symbol for each subject and a short note explaining how I could use it in a photograph.
Growth
seeds, saplings, vines.
Nature springs to mind immediately. You could have a series of marks on a door frame with a child's age written next to it. A certain mind set might verge towards some more adult symbolism!
I think if I was to take a single photograph to represent growth, I would probably lie flat on the ground, find a sprouting blub and use the fish eye lens - which I'm a bit obsessed with at the moment.
Excess
Food! Burger wrappers spilling out of a bin, Gregs bags which contribute to so much litter.
Symbols of excess should be immediate and in your face. I like the idea of taking a picture of a man with a load of gold jewellery and teeth or a woman wearing furs standing in a grand hallway with lots of gaudy chintz.
Being realistic, if I were to take this photo now, I'd go for food excess and get someone swigging a milkshake whilst they had food down their face and a burger in their hand. Food excess is the easiest to access to seems like a lazy choice, but because it is the easiest to access, it's one of our societies biggest problems.
Crime
Symbols of crime are often closely associated with symbols of punishment, a masked man, striped prison tops, multiple arrows, bars, locks, crowbars etc.
I'd like to take a picture that showed corporate crime where a man could be seen at a desk in a respectable shot, but there were small indicators around the scene that indicate his criminal nature. There could be some files marked confidential, a report of fraud, a variety of credit cards in different names, or passports with different names and the same man in each of them. There could be a small bag of concrete on the floor leaning on the desk with some rope and a pair of black leather gloves etc.
Silence
Symbols for silence, hmm, this is a more difficult one. A gagged man, one of those orange bills like the gimp in pulp fiction wore. Silence can be evoked by emptiness, a room with the door left open or a dark street at night. Anywhere where there should be, but arent people. An empty escalator. I'd take a picture of two people sat staring at each other with their mouths closed.
Poverty
Poverty can be shown through symbols of waste, dereliction and most importantly through people. Where clothes are torn or dirty and people look malnourished or diseased.
this is a difficult one to plan a photo for. I wouldn't want to take a photo of real poverty under these circumstances and faking it seems brutal. An empty purse would be a good work around. Or a bank statement with a hefty minus figure.
Anyway, thinking of symbols for a number of concepts. I need more than one symbol for each subject and a short note explaining how I could use it in a photograph.
Growth
seeds, saplings, vines.
Nature springs to mind immediately. You could have a series of marks on a door frame with a child's age written next to it. A certain mind set might verge towards some more adult symbolism!
I think if I was to take a single photograph to represent growth, I would probably lie flat on the ground, find a sprouting blub and use the fish eye lens - which I'm a bit obsessed with at the moment.
Excess
Food! Burger wrappers spilling out of a bin, Gregs bags which contribute to so much litter.
Symbols of excess should be immediate and in your face. I like the idea of taking a picture of a man with a load of gold jewellery and teeth or a woman wearing furs standing in a grand hallway with lots of gaudy chintz.
Being realistic, if I were to take this photo now, I'd go for food excess and get someone swigging a milkshake whilst they had food down their face and a burger in their hand. Food excess is the easiest to access to seems like a lazy choice, but because it is the easiest to access, it's one of our societies biggest problems.
Crime
Symbols of crime are often closely associated with symbols of punishment, a masked man, striped prison tops, multiple arrows, bars, locks, crowbars etc.
I'd like to take a picture that showed corporate crime where a man could be seen at a desk in a respectable shot, but there were small indicators around the scene that indicate his criminal nature. There could be some files marked confidential, a report of fraud, a variety of credit cards in different names, or passports with different names and the same man in each of them. There could be a small bag of concrete on the floor leaning on the desk with some rope and a pair of black leather gloves etc.
Silence
Symbols for silence, hmm, this is a more difficult one. A gagged man, one of those orange bills like the gimp in pulp fiction wore. Silence can be evoked by emptiness, a room with the door left open or a dark street at night. Anywhere where there should be, but arent people. An empty escalator. I'd take a picture of two people sat staring at each other with their mouths closed.
Poverty
Poverty can be shown through symbols of waste, dereliction and most importantly through people. Where clothes are torn or dirty and people look malnourished or diseased.
this is a difficult one to plan a photo for. I wouldn't want to take a photo of real poverty under these circumstances and faking it seems brutal. An empty purse would be a good work around. Or a bank statement with a hefty minus figure.
Exercise 44 - Juxtaposition
I wanted to do The Lion The Witch And The Wardobe for this but despite having a very lion-like cat called Aslan I couldn't find a witch or mini wardrobe!
So a quick glance at the bookshelf and I saw Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of short stories.
And I came up with this. What I like about it is that the name of the book is also the same as a common phrase so the juxtaposition between the candle, smoke and mirror creates and obvious meaning.
So a quick glance at the bookshelf and I saw Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of short stories.
And I came up with this. What I like about it is that the name of the book is also the same as a common phrase so the juxtaposition between the candle, smoke and mirror creates and obvious meaning.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Exercise 42 - Evidence of Action
This image shows evidence of an event. There are 2 main props, the empty wallet, the bloody knife and the obscured body.
I used my fish eye so that the edges of the scene were warped and the eye would be drawn to the centre of the image which is where all of the evidence is.
Looking at it now, I should have moved the objects around a bit to make the eye search the image, but it works ok as it is.
I decided to do the image as an HDR because I haven't done one for ages. I took nine exposures, three using auto-exposure bracketing and six using white balance bracketing. I then merged them in photoshop.
I used the self timer and posed in the shot myself.
I used my fish eye so that the edges of the scene were warped and the eye would be drawn to the centre of the image which is where all of the evidence is.
Looking at it now, I should have moved the objects around a bit to make the eye search the image, but it works ok as it is.
I decided to do the image as an HDR because I haven't done one for ages. I took nine exposures, three using auto-exposure bracketing and six using white balance bracketing. I then merged them in photoshop.
I used the self timer and posed in the shot myself.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Trust me, I'm a picture
Hi,
I saw this and thought you should see it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/mar/09/picture-manipulated-images
Sent via the Guardian's iPhone application.
Get it Here
I saw this and thought you should see it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2011/mar/09/picture-manipulated-images
Sent via the Guardian's iPhone application.
Get it Here
Sent from my iPhone
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