Kate Watson AS Photography Exam - Circles and Curves

Final Evaluation

How has your research and preparatory shoots influenced the final series of images that you have created?

I feel that the research has influenced my final series of images that I have created by giving me ideas and teaching me new techniques to use in my photography. One technique that I learnt and used in almost all of my Crystal ball images is Bokeh. This technique has, in my opinion, made my images much better, as the image is not just of a glass ball, but is focused on the distortion that is made by it instead. I have learnt that this techniques works especially well when lines are involved. This is because the lines distorted inside the ball are sharp and clean, however the same lines that are in the background of the ball, are blurred and out of focus, this leads the eye to the ball and makes for a very eye catching image. I did find however, using this technique with the mirror was not so successful. The brightness of the mirror, in a good proportion of the images, was facing the sky, meaning that it was much brighter than the backdrop, this made it hard for me to get the camera to focus on the mirror in order to me to use this technique as many images, when loaded onto the computer, were not focused on the reflection on the mirror.

How has your work developed?

I feel that my work has developed throughout the preparatory shoots and into the final shoots. I feel a lot more confidant whilst using the camera and am not afraid to play around with the camera settings in order to capture the best image. I also feel that I am more equipped to cope with the changing of weather conditions and am coming back with more and more images that are suitable for editing.

Not only do I feel more confident whilst out on shoots, but I also feel that whilst editing I am experimenting with changing the exposures, saturation, highlights etc. and experimenting with different filters and tools to create my images. Because of this I feel that my final images are better than those from the first preparatory shoot I did.

What have you learnt as a result of this project?

I think that from completing this project I have learnt many things, one being the fact that I have become more equipped to dealing with different situations out on a shoot.

I personally think that between the two, the crystal ball or the mirror, my preference would be the crystal ball. This is because not only do I prefer the final outcomes of the crystal ball, but I also find the crystal ball more interesting to work with. I feel that I have become adapted to looking for different situations in which the ball would look good in, compared tot he mirror which I found difficult to incorporate into my work.

From this project I feel that I have developed my own style of using the crystal ball. The images that I like the most are the images where that ball is placed on top or next to something compared to those where the ball is being held. I think that this is because the images look more natural and it means that in my images I have a variation of how close to the ball I am when I take the images, I can be close up and focus on what is happening from inside the ball, or I can be further away, and look at what is surrounding the ball.

For this project I used to ball in natural places, looking at landscapes. I feel that, during this project, I have solidified my thoughts about what I prefer to photograph, and it is definitely the more natural side of the world compared to the more urban, rough side.

How successful were you in responding to the exam paper?

I think that I have responded well to the exam paper. My initial plan was to explore different ways of creating distortion through using Circles and Curves. I did this by using the Crystal ball, the Circular mirror and the Bendable mirror.

During my preparatory shoots and exam shoots I experimented with different ways whilst using these:

Whilst using the crystal ball, I experimented with different ways that I can add it into my photography, free standing or hand held.
Whilst using the circular mirror I experimented with whether the mirror would work, lent up against another object, such as a tree or rock, or laying flat on the floor. Whilst experimenting with these different methods, I had to adapt my way of thinking so that neither the camera nor I would be seen in the reflection.
However, when I used the bendable mirror, I found that it was very difficult to use. It was very big and thin. Sadly, when I did the shoot, it was very high winds. This caused the mirror to snap which then meant that the images in my preparatory shoot were definitely not how I wanted them to be. In the future, I would like to redo this shoot, to see the possible outcomes, as when this shoot took place, I could not exploit it to it's full potential.

I think that where I focused on the incorporating and showing circles and curves in all of my images, I have created some good images that are compositionally correct and pleasing to the eye.

Final Images

In my final images, I feel that they are strongly linked to my preparatory shoots in many ways. Throughout all of my preparatory work I have used either the crystal ball or the mirror. However, as it turns out, my best images all include the crystal ball. I think that this is becuase I found it easier to work with and to incorperate into my work.

Work Record - Shoot 2

Plan for shoot

For my second shoot, I am using photographs taken in and around the Newforest and the Isle of Wight. For this shoot, my plan was to capture the beaches and waves through the crystal ball, using both the mirror and the crystal ball.

Research influences

For this shoot, I used two photographers, Stefan Lens and Sebastian Magnani. Stefan lens incorporates the use of a Crystal ball into his work. Stefan has been a big influence through all of my preparatory shoots in Component 2.

Sebastian Magnani uses mirrors in his photography. His work was also a big influence during the preparatory shoots.

Contact sheet

Straight images

Images that require editing

In the above photograph, the shutter speed was too slow, and the ISO was too high. Due to the reflection of the mirror, I found that doing my shoots, you have to give extra attention to the camera settings used when using the mirror.

I think that this photo is very plain and boring. The reflection of the pure white, cloudy sky made the mirror to bright, meaning that any detail was lost.

This photo would need to be put into Photoshop and straightened. The image is massively leaning to the right causing the image to be spoilt.

AO1:

I believe that my work is linked to that of Stefan Lens and Sebastian Magnani.

Stefan uses the crystal ball in similar ways to mine, however, he prefers to do urban shoots, where as I prefer the more natural approach.

My photos which are influenced by Sebastian did not come out exactly how I would have liked, however, I like the outcome of the final images, as i feel that they are similar to his style of work.

AO2: (including Computer experiments)

All images were taken with a Canon E10 1000D, with multiple lenses. For my final images, the camera settings were:

Photograph 1

Lens : Tameron 70-300mm F/4-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 2

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/80 sec

F/ : 22

ISO : 400

Photograph 3

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/500 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 4

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/50 sec

F/ : 14

ISO : 400

Photograph 5

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/50 sec

F/ : 14

ISO : 400

Photograph 6

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/1000 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 7

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/640 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 8

Lens : Tameron 70-300mm F/4-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/320 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 9

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/1000 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 10

Lens : Tameron 70-300mm F/4-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/320 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 11

Lens : Tameron 70-300mm F/4-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/320 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

Photograph 12

Lens : EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter Speed : 1/500 sec

F/ : 7.1

ISO : 400

In the photo above, I have moved around the levels of Exposure, Highlights, and the clarity in order to get a clearer and a more stand-out image.

In the image below, there is a comparison between the original, unedited image, and the final outcome. I chose to rotate the image 180 degrees as I think that the distortion through the ball creates a better look for the image in general. I also used the selective colour tool in order to bring out the yellow Algae and Liechan on the rocks as well as the deep blue sea and light, cloudy sky.

In this image, above, there is a comparison between the unedited image and the edit before it goes into Photoshop. Although only subtle, I think that the 'before' side is darker and not as sharp.

Once again, a comparison between the before and after. Here I brought the over exposed image and turned it into something that it much nicer to look at.

Here, above, is a comparison between the before and after editing. I corrected marks on the hand as well as correcting the colour of the hand which was changed when i used dodging and burning. This makes the photo look more natural instead of edited.

As you can see in the images above, The final image is a lot clearer, and brighter. the photo was shot with a very low exposure so I corrected that in Camera raw. I have also rotated the image.

In this image, I edited it in order to have a much darker final image. I blurred out the reflection in the mirror, and I think that I like the out come of this.

AO3:

In conclusion, I think that this shoot has been successful. I think that as always, there is some images that I'm not happy with, either before or after editing them, but I feel as if I have some strong outcomes that relate to both Stefan Lens' images as well as Sebastian Magnani. I think that my main issue during this shoot was adapting to the brightness of the sun. As you can see in all of these images, all of which were shot on the same day, there is a massive difference in light in every single image. Some of the time, whilst on the shoot, the sun was shining very bright, however at other times, the cloud cover was thick and light was very low. this made taking my images difficult as it was hard to tell from the camera's small screen what the images had taken like, and my only way of checking this was at the end of the shoot where I placed my SD card into my computer. However, by shooting Raw, even if the original image wasn't shot perfectly correct, the computer software made it easy for me to correct this, making some of those images some of my best.