Magic Hour

Okay, so as i never got to take the reflection photographs that I wanted to when it was our weekly picture project, I decided to incorporated it in with my magic hour pictures, as it was going to bug me until I'd done it anyway. These images are all taken at Pine Lodge fishery in Clitheroe, just off the A59. I feel it is one of the most beautiful places around where I live, people may not agree but I've always loved wandering round there. So this was taken at dawn, not dusk, just before sunrise. These three I feel were the most effective:

This first image, I feel is quite effective, simply because it seems to break all the rules of composition and doesn't involve the rule of thirds, the golden ratio or any of those things, and is all central, although personally I still like it. This image isn't edited at all although if I were to shoot it again, there is some grass in the bottom left and just off center to the right, I would of tried not to get these in as they ruin the symmetry.

I chose to put this image in also, as there are a lot of oranges in the image rather than just the blues that are in the other two, this image isn't edited also, though if I were to shoot it again I would of liked it to be a little lighter. Also some of the sky detail is lost where the sun is rising (this was the first image taken so the sun wasn't quite above Pendle Hill yet) as the sun is very bright, this made it difficult for the rest of the image not to appear as a silhouette. Although I do like the image as I feel it has a very calm atmosphere about it.
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This is the final image from my magic hour shoot, and I think this is my favourite. I have increased the blue hue in this shot ever so slightly and increased the clarity, although only slightly so it isn't that edited. Again in this shot the grass on the bank ruins it as it stops the symmetry, although I am still pleased with the outcome. The fact that the main of the detail in the center draws your eye in to the shot.

Shutter Speed

Today it was quite a reasonable day out, first in a while so I took my camera down to the river to take some slow shutter speeds of the water. Although it was noon so there was a lot of light and I didn't have a cable release to make it easier, the images aren't as good as i wanted. I had to get in the river with my tripod, so the water made the images a little shakey as it was very deep aswell.


I then took one using zoom on a simple tree to create motion, the effects were quite interesting although I prefer the water images.

Fruit Lighting Techniques

For this task we worked in a group, me Sara and Jenna, we shared a table with lights and helped one another taking it in turns to take a picture of our fruit with each lighting technique. I chose to use a squash for my fruit, although back light wasn't too obvious with mine so I used Jenna's pomegranete to show the technique with this one.

This first image was taken with one light and a softbox, with a 45/45 degree lighting technique. The result of this lighting was:

Next we took images using a top light. This is one of the more flattering lighting techniques as there are some nice highlights on the fruit. Although the softbox was reflected a little too much in the table.

Next we used a back light, although with my fruit wasn't as obvious so this is Jenna's pomegranate. I feel this had the most interesting effect on the fruit as it cast an interesting shadow beneath it.

The next image taken was to create a high key shot of the fruit, to do this the background had to be slightly over exposed so it was very white yet the fruit had to be correctly exposed, the result was:


The final image we took was to create a low key shot, to do this we used the large light tent with a black backdrop to create an image with a black background that is underexposed yet the fruit correctly exposed, the result was:

Hunger

For my fourtnightly picture project this week, the theme was hunger. I wanted to base my theme on starving children as it is what springs to mind when people mention the word 'hunger'. Although it obviously wasn't possible for me to fly out and spend a week in Africa or another third world country so I chose to use symbolism. A teddy bear, to symbolise the starving child. And my main aim was to produce an image of a inanimate object have a human emotion of sadness, I do feel I managed to achieve a sadness in the following photograph. Although origionally I wanted the bear to have no stuffing in with a concaved stomach, but the bear was too small and didn't have as stronger feel as the image I finally chose to submit.

Bottle Lighting

This post is to demonstrate the use of different light heads in the studio.

This first image was taken using a softebox at a 45/45 degree angle, although quite evenly lit this isn't a very flattering image of the bottle as is doesn't give it any definition. The table is also quite a greyish colour, changing the light temperature settings on my camera could of helped make it a little more high key.

This next image is also taken using a softbox, only this time I used 'flagging' to add a little more definition. To do this I draped black cloth over the softbox so only a strip of light could shine onto the bottle. I feel this is the most effective image of all of the shots i have taken as it is the most flattering image and makes the bottle look a little more interesting than just the softbox flooding the image with light.

This third image is taken using a beauty dish, again at a 45/45 degree angle. This shot is very unflattering as there are a lot of unsightly shadows and reflections everywhere. There is one on the table that is very strong, and although it isn't so obvious on these small blog posts, one in the bottle front too. I feel this is one of the worse lighting sources to be used for this subject.

This next image is taken using an umbrella. Again as in the beauty dish image, there are a lot of unsightly reflections, both on the table and in the bottle. I feel this image is as ineffective as the one above, and not a light source that would be used for a serious shoot of this bottle.

This final image was taken, again at 45/45 degree, but this time with a softbox. I feel this is a better image as the light isn't as unflattering on the table used and on the box and bottle, it adds nicer detail and definition to the bottle. Although the direct reflection of the honeycomb that is a splash of light reflected in the bottle ruins it. This confirms to me that the best image taken out of these was that using flagging. Although if I were to produce a serious image of this bottle I would of again used flagging only this time added a second light to add a bit more light to the background.

Cold, warm + grey balanced

To demonstrate that I understand basic lightroom i've taken a few screen shots of selecting a photograph and changing the colour balance. The first screen shot is simply of the imported images into lightroom.

The next step was simply to click on the photograph that I wanted to edit. The higlighted image selected at the end is this image.

The next step was then to click develop on the top right of lightroom, with the selected image to begin editing. No edits have yet been done here.

I first decided to make the image coolwith the temperature slider on the right, which looks like this:

To make the image cooler you slide the first slider to the left and you will get a very blue result:

Then I reset the image so it was in its origional form to then create a warm image, to do this you slide the same first slider to the right. The results of this were very orange:

Then I grey balanced the origional image and chose the grey I wanted to create the colour balanced image. The dropper tool is what you use to choose the grey you want:

I have shown both of the images in light room so you can see this effect as it is less obvious than the other images. The image on the right is the edited one.

I then though I would add a image in black and white, I also changed the contrast of the image to make it a little stronger, The results were:

These were my final images:

Cool

Warm

Grey Balanced

Grey Scale

'From capture to print'

Today we were set a task to get into groups of three and be given a brief at 10AM and have a print on the wall by 3PM. So in a group with Sara and Neil, we were given a choice of films and the one we chose was 'The Clockwork Orange'. We looked into a few of the film stills and posters etc on google, and of other peoples interpretations on flickr, but we decided to take the image base on one of the posters:

We then set off and bought a painting overall from the Dulux shop in Blackburn. Then borrowed Sara's bowler hat and doc martens and dressed her up. We also got a glass of milk as it is one of the main symbols of the film. We wanted to take some images in the studio, but on the way back stopped off to take some on location.

This was one of the first images that we were quite impressed with as the composition and colours all worked really well. The use of the wall behind was quite effective, although this image, we felt wouldn't have looked good in the triangle as on the poster.

This was the second image out of the location set that we felt was one of the stronger ones. The fact that you can see all 5 symbols from the film in it really make you think 'clockwork orange' when you look at it. With the Hat, shoes, milk, ove

ralls and make-up. The posture of Sara and gritty surroundings make this image strong, but with a different twist on the film as it is in a run down area.

We then went int

o the studio at Uni and started off producing some photo-

graphs with a black background. We felt these were the weakest images, although of all of them this is the best. The close up shot is effective and draws a lot of attention to the milk rather than it just blending into the shot.

This was our 'final' image, as we felt it really was the strongest of all the images we had taken, and had our own interpretation of the film incorporated in it. We then sent this image into photoshop and made the curve a little whiter so the image appeared a little more high key, and edited the dirt out next to her foot. Then to make it look like the original poster we were influenced by, we edited a triangle into the shot and added depth as though she was coming out of the frame. we made the background orange, instead of white, to again add our own twist onto the chosen theme. If we had had a little more time we would of made the triangle a little more precise and added text and another colour to the 'poster' to break the orange up and really make it advertise the film. This was the image we ended up printing and that was put on the wall:

The image was taken on a Canon 400D with a 28-135mm focal length. The F stop was 11, with a shutter speed of 125 and ISO of 400. The focal lenght was at 28 when the photograph was taken.

Lighting Techniques, Macro photography

In todays lesson with Andy, we learnt

about Macro photog-

raphy, and the use of extension tubes and macro lenses. We got into groups of four and in our group we used a Macro lense to take our images.

This is the first image we took, simple to work out the correct F stops and shutter speeds we would be using.

This is the second photograph we too

k, with depth of field created as the pearls in the background aren't in focus. The composition of the image doesn't work too well as I feel the center piece of the necklace should be placed a little more to the left of the frame to make it more effective.

This next image is very similar to the one above although with a little change of composition and angle. The use of drop focus in this image makes it stronger as both the foreground and background are blurred, and only the center line is in focus, a useful technique in macro photography.

After takin-

g photo-

graphs of the first neckla

ce, we moved on to another with different materials, colours and textures. The metals have a nice effect and are lit well with both highlights and shadows enhancing the photograph. Although, this necklace is handmade, and you can see all the bits of glue, I feel the image would be stronger if you couldn't see this.

Again, you can see the drop focus technique in this photograph, although only faint as their isn't much in the foreground, but the chain is actually blurred and only the flower jewels are in focus. Although the textures of the materials make the image quite appealing.

We then changed object again, this time to a small decorative hat, with many different materials and textures to capture. The materials all have a different look to each of them, although the depth of field and drop focus isn't very apparent in this image and I feel it is the weakest.

This next image, again of the hat has a shallow depth of field that makes this image one of the strongest I feel, as also the composition works really well using the rule of thirds. with only the chain in focus, you cannot really tell what is in the background and I quite like this effect.

This final image, is of the feathers off the decor

ative hat. I feel the small amount of green on one of them is really effective in this image and i feel without it the image wouldn't be as strong. I also feel that the composition works really well in this image though to make it better I think more of the top feather should of been in focus.

Studio Lighting Techniques, Glass.

The first image was taken using one single light, with a softbox on. The lighting isn't very flattering for a reflective surface.

The second image taken was using the same equipment, with one light and softbox, only the light was placed above the bottle, again not very flattening and you can see the light reflected in the lid of the bottle.

This next image was taken with two lights

and two softboxes, one placed behind the table and one beneath it. I have taken this image at the wrong angle, so apologies as you cannot see the full effect of the lighting, but you can see it is beginning to get a little more flattering to the glass.

This image was taken using just one light and softbox placed underneath the table. It is quite flattering to the glass as it emphasizes the shapes well.

This next image is taken with two lights, both with softboxes, one from above and one from beneath. A little detail is lost in the

writing on the lid hence not so flattering.

In this image, the same equipment as above was used, although this time a piece of black card was placed infront of the softbox so that it blocked the light from the lid of the bottle. Therefore you can see some of the detail coming back, the card should of been a little bigger as it didn't quite cover it, although you can still see the effect.

Those above were all images taken using studio lighting, the next images are done using different light sources to see the different effects it has on the image.

This image is taken simply using natural light coming through the window. The effect it has is quite interesting as you see all the shapes and curves of the glass reflected really well.

This next image is taken in the darkroom under the red lighting, it is a little grainy as the ISO had to be so high to capture the light, and a little unfocused as I didn't have a tripod present, but you can still see the effect and it has turned out quite interesting.

This next image is taken in a light tent, with just the ceiling fluorescent lighting, this isn't very interesting and isn't a very interesting light source, not one that would be used for a serious photograph. The image has a very warm feel to it.

This next image is again taken in the light tent, although this time with natural light coming in from the right to light up the image, producing quite a cold feel, although more evenly lit and more flattering than the fluorescent.

This image is taken with the same light tent and the same natural light coming through the window although this time turned around so that th

e light is being cast through the back of the tent, behind the bottle, changing the effect. This isn't a very good image as there are a lot of creases in the tent making it look a little unprofessional but you can still see the effect. It makes the metal on the bottle look quite interesting although doesn't offer much to the glass.

This image, again is using natural lighting through a window only this time using a bottle with frosted glass, therefore has a different effect but again, the light is quite flattering.

This next image is taken with two computer screens facing the bottle with the light coming from them. This image is slightly underexposed, but although computer screens appear quite bright not a lot of light seemed to be cast on to the bottle. The lighting has quite a boring feel to it, but I feel this is also because the bottle is again frosted rather than clear.

This next image is taken the exact way the image above was taken, only this time with a clear bottle, I feel with using the clear bottle it has a little more texture to the image as there are more shapes shown in the glass and appears a little more interesting than the image with the frosted glass bottle.

These next images were taken on the same task, although we got a little carried away, and took a tripod and small torch into the darkroom, turned all the lights off and took some long exposure creating different shapes with the light to draw behind the bottle. The effects were quite interesting and we had a little fun playing around.

I feel the first image is the most effective as the light looks the most interesting on it, although I feel if that the third image would have been the most interesting with the rings around the bottle if the light was a little brighter, as it is a little dull in that shot, as the light was being pointed downwards rather than towards the camera lense.