Carol: Unit 57 Task 2

Unit 57 Task 2) Test Photos

 Here are 10 photographs I have recentley taken. I have taken some in Richards class and some in my own time. I feel that after having more practise with the camera taking test photos, I am a lot more confident at taking pictures with the DSLR cameras and using the manual functions.

 I took this image in Richards class. We had to look at a theme and take a couple of pictures to do with that theme. Our theme was heavy, so I wanted to show someone looking defeated trying to push/lean on something really heavy. I took this photo when I was just starting to use the cameras properly and I didn't really know what I was doing. I thought when taking the picture that it was all in focus, but I didn't really take much notice, until I got back to the classroom and downloaded my pictures and saw that it was out of focus. The focus is on the edge of the doorframe and not on katie like I wanted it to be. After using the camera a lot more, I now realise that I have to manually check the focus every time I take a picture, not just to set it for one image and presume it is still right. The picture is really badly framed too and there is a lot more I could've done with this image framing wise. I think if I crouched down and shot looking upwards, it would've given a better effect and got my intentions across better.
Exposure 1/50 sec;   f/4.5;   ISO 800

I also took this image in Richard's class. The task was to take 4 Abstract landscape images and 4 conventional landscape images on the themes time, heavy, space and time. This is one of the abstract images that represents the time theme, as you can clearly tell that someone is looking at the time, and there is an abstract model behind in the background. I think this photo achieved my intentions exactly how I wanted it to as I wanted to clearly show the time but also people could assume why someone was looking at the time, e.g. they might've been meeting up with someone or waiting for a text etc. I wanted to get the phone in a really sharp focus so it would stand out in the whole image and I think I have achieved this quite well. I think the framing could've been a little more squarer and not show as much white walls in the background. 

1/200 sec;   f/4.5;   ISO 200

For this image, I went to a park with my family when it was sunny on a Sunday and shot a lot of random photos. I became a lot more confident with using the camera towards the end of the trip and this is one of the shots from the end. This shot wasn't really planned, my sister was laughing at something I said so I quickly focused her face so I could get a shallow depth of focus and took the picture. I didn't think it would turn out as good as it actually did and this is probably one of my favourites I have taken so far. I like the tone of this image as she is smiley and the colours in the background are bright and very summery, and it reflects the whole mood of the day, as everyone was happy because the sun was out.
1/1600 sec;   f/5.0;   ISO 800

This image was also taken near my Dad's work and was some steps of an old mill. I thought that it reflected the theme time really well as the steps are corroding and rotting, so it shows that it has had to do this over a long period of time. I really like how this image has a vanishing point at the top of the steps. To improve, I think I could've made the angle more central and go closer to the step to exaggerate the vanishing point looking up the steps.

1/100 sec;   f/5.6;   ISO 400

This is the edited image. I used the tone curve tool in Adjustments in Adobe Photoshop to make the red colours more stronger on the steps. When I looked at the image on the computer, I knew that I wanted to edit it to make it look quite magazine like and bring the colours out because there are strong colours in the image but it didn't really come over across that way in the original. I really like the edited version.

To get this image, I stood in a muddy puddle to get the grass with the water in the background. I wanted to get the sun reflection on the water as I could see it really well with my eyes. I don't think it came across as well as it did in real life, but you can see a slight sun glisten at the end of the puddle near the mud. This photo didn't really look like how I wanted it to, but I had to take it quite fast, so I didn't look at the focus either. Even though it's out of focus, I think it does work quite well with the whole image as it gives a softer look.


1/6400 sec;   f/8;   ISO 800

 1/400 sec;   f/4.5;   ISO 200
I took this image in Richard's lesson when we did the Abstract and Conventional photos. We were taken near the university buildings at the back of the college and it was really picturesque, especially as it was really sunny. I liked the layout of the place and how the benches were lined up with the pathways. I wanted to take the photo so you could clearly see the lines to where the vanishing point is. I'm really pleased with this image as it has turned out just how I wanted it to. To a normal person, it would look boring but I knew that it would make a really good photo. To improve, I think I could've tried to get the blue sky in as it just turned out white, and I would do this by changing the white balance settings (e.g. tungsten, cloudy etc).

 1/1250 sec;   f/5.6;   ISO 800
I really like this image. My intentions were to try and get the sun coming through the leaves as it looked really good in real life and left a really good reflection on the ground. I wanted this photo to look quite mysterious and look like it would be inManchester. I think that this photo looks like it would be somewhere really hot and sunny in the woods and that was the look I wanted to go for.

Carol: Unit 57 Task 1

Self Portrait Unit 57 Carol Task 1

Kirsty Richardson

Original Photo

1) Adjust Exposure

For this photo, I used the exposure tool in photoshop. The settings I used were:

Exposure - +0.87

Offset - -0.0492

Gamma Correction - 0.91

In this photo, I wanted to have the picture a lot lighter than the original as the original was quite dark and musty. I wanted the focus point to be the face and using this exposure, it helped even out the skin tones more and make the face look more flawless as it was lighter.

2) Adjust Colour: Dark and Moody

For this image, I used the Vibrance and set it at -26. I wanted the picture to be dark but still have a little colour in. The typical thing to do when you think of an image that is moody is to typically make it straight to black and white, and that is why I wanted this image to have a little bit of colour. The facial expression doesn't really match the tone I was going for with the image, but the adjustments in photoshop were what I intended them to be.

Bright and Sunny

For this image, I used the tone curve to create a bright and sunny effect. I like how this image has highlighted the face a lot, like how it would if sun was directly shone at someone's face, the face would be the lightest part of the image. 

In this image, I also airbrushed the hair slightly. I wanted to make it look more shiny and also get rid of the fly away hairs on the right hand side of the image. Because of the tone curve, it made the fy away hairs really stand out and made it a focus part of the image so I wanted to get rid of them so the main focus point of the image would be the face.

Abstract

For this image, I just used the saturation filter to make the whole image purple. This is not as abstract as it could've been, however it is still abstract as no one has a purple face naturally.

3) Cropping: ECU

For this image, I use the cropping tool to create an extreme close up. I wanted to focus on the eyes as they aren't that visible on the original image so I wanted to focus on those more. 

Non Central

For this image, I also used the cropping tool to crop exactly half of the image. This is quite effective as the space next to the main focus of the image is equal to what it would be on the other side, and this was the effect I was trying to go for.

4) Cover Star

For this image, I airbrushed. The face, hair and also cropped it.

I wanted to make the face look flawless and have the teeth looking more white. I don't really like this image as it looks too fake and unreal. I also should have made the crop more equal so there was the same amount of space on the left than there is on the right. I tried to go for a cover girl portrait magazine look but it doesn't really look how I imagined it.

Photography Evaluation 57.4

Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practise

57.4 Evaluation

By Kirsty Richardson

The first lesson in Photography, we learnt how to switch on and use the camera. We set up the camera taking test shots to experiment with it. I have never used an SLR at a professional standard, using the manual focus and white balance settings, I have only used it on the automatic settings. I have learnt a lot about Photography and I have produced a final album cover, for Taylor Swift's album Sparks Fly.

At first, when we were using the cameras, I was unsure of how to confidently used it. However, I borrowed a family members camera and in between lessons, practised using it and getting more familiar with the settings and the best settings to use in different situations.

When thinking about ideas for my album cover, I thought of what I would want to see on an album cover and the easiest idea to shoot. I thought of two main ideas, the first idea consisted of taking 4 images of different coloured lips. This would be in a pop art style, as I have looked at different Pop art artists before and really like how they use colour. I thought that this idea would also be the simplest to shoot, and would not use a lot of knowledge about the camera to take the picture. However, I wasn't very keen on the idea and wanted more of a challenge technicality wise, so I could use different settings for different effects. i did like the idea of the colour as I like bright colours or colours that go well together on an album cover. i thought about my favourite album covers and how I could use inspiration from them to create my own idea. I really like Lawson's Chapman Square album cover, as they use the lighting cleverly and the colour used. It looks very naturalistic with the Autumn colours (browns and yellows) and I like the style of it. I liked how the leaves on the floor are hidden but still so you could see them, they work well with the trees in the background.

http://i1.cdnds.net/12/38/618x618/lawson-chapman-square.jpg

http://www.wallsave.com/wallpaper/1600x1000/rocking-with-guitar-taylor-swift-standing-by-the-water-her-212907.html

I have also taken inspiration from this image of Taylor swift. I liked the idea for her holding the guitar and that it is central, so it is the main point of the image. Like the Lawson album cover, i like the natural Autumn themed background. This photo has more of a wide angle aspect as it is not for an album cover, just a promotion shot, so the photographer could show off the background more. I like how the guitar has been held at an angle, so it looks like a posed shot, but natural at the same time.

http://www.taylorswiftalbums.net/Pictures/images/photos/Taylor_Swift_10617048.jpg

I have taken inspiration from this image as i really liked the background. I think it has more of an interesting aspect as the background is looking parallel, and there is a strong depth of field that makes Taylor a lot clearer and she stands out more. I took inspiration from how the colour of the trees was slightly brighter than how it would've looked in the original image. I like how the path is clear which makes the greenery in the background stand out more, it tells more of a story and brings the image together.


After looking at different images of my favourite album covers/images, I decided that it would be a good idea to use some sort of greenery that look natural and looked like it was in autumn. I decided that I wanted to use a guitar to give it a bit of a country feel, but a pop genre too as I like Pop music. Taylor Swift would be classed in this genre as she is a country singer but in the Pop genre too, and this is why I wanted to create an album cover for this type of genre. i used my sister as the model as I wanted a girl at the back that looked like a typical 'country' girl. Looking back, she does look a bit like Taylor Swift but that wasn't my intention.

I addressed the audience that likes Pop and country music as I like that genre, so I thought of what things I would like to see on an album cover. I was going for an audience that like artists that write and perform their own songs using their own instruments, like Taylor Swift.











I used the cloudy white balance setting

• shutterspeed - 1/8 sec
• iSO 400
• Ap 5.6
• Depth of field 
• Inspiration behind idea
• Audience - 

§

Album Cover Shoot Pictures - Explanation Of Shoot and Edited Pictures

Album Cover Shoot Pictures - Explanation Of Shoot and Edited Pictures

Explanation Of Shoot

On 25th September 2013, I went to the back of Houldsworth Mill, Reddish to the park and took pictures. I shot in RAW as it is a professional standard image format and is the best for print and on screen to edit. It was a blank sky so I had to make sure that the ISO, shutter speed and aperture were at the correct settings for the lack of natural light. I had the ISO on 400, the f stop on 5.6 and the shutter speed on 1/8 second for the final image (see below). The lighting was quite low so I had the shutter speed on a slow setting so it would be open for longer and let in more light. I did not use a tripod but managed to make it look quite smooth, but a little blurry at the same time as that was the look I was going for. I also set the White balance on cloudy as it was a dark day and lots of clouds in the sky. 

Original Chosen Image

This is the image I chose out of the images I took as the lighting was better on this one and also the framing.

Edited Images

For this edit of my image, I used the vibrance and saturation adjustments to make the image look almost black and white but with a hint of colour, as you can tell with the trees.

I used the saturation and brightness adjustments to brighten the leaves and trees.

I used the main black and white filter on this image.

I copied the original coloured image underneath the black and white image and used the polygonal lasso tool to draw around the original guitar shape, and then deleted the black and white guitar so the leaves guitar showed underneath.

I did the same as I did with the leaf image above, but used the original image of the coloured guitar, put highlights on top so the colour would look stronger against the black and white image.

Final Image

This is my final image as I liked the colour I used in this edit as it made the leaves on the floor and the trees stand out more. The 'Sparks Fly' text is in white with a slight black drop shadow to make it stand out from the background of the image. The font is Zapfino and this is the font I was looking for as I wanted it to match the image and look naturistic and a Serif font created this look that I wanted.
The 'Taylor Swift' is in a plain font, Lucidia Bright and black as I wanted the Sparks Fly to stand out more than the artists' name. I used Bevel & Emboss and stroke to create a slight yellow tone as it would stand out better when it would be printed but also blends in with the leaves on the floor.

Final Idea and Shoot Notes - 25th September 2013

Album Cover Ideas 1 and 2

White Balance and Focal Length Exercise