Work Record - Shoot 1

Work Record - Shoot 1

    Plan for shoot

For this shoot I went to Gibberd Gardens in Old Harlow. I want to experiment with using the crystal ball in and around flowers as well as trees and wood.

    Research influences

For this shoot, my research influence was Stefan Lens. 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.

    Contact sheet

Straight images 

Images that require editing

This image's composition requires attention. I also feel like there is too much arm showing, it ruins the photograph.

   
The level in which this photograph was taken is too high, if I were to re-shoot, I would get a lower position, and I may even get close to the ball, so that it is the main focus of this image instead of the plants.

   
For this image, the shutter speed was too slow. This caused the image to be quite bright and very blurry.

    

 Although this image is compositionally set up well and the focus is nice, the crystal ball is dirty which spoils the image completely. 

AO1:

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

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

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

Photograph 2

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

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

Photograph 3

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

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

Photograph 4

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

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

Photograph 5

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

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

Photograph 6

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

Shutter Speed : 1/200 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

Photograph 7

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

Shutter Speed : 1/80 sec

F/ : 13

ISO : 400

As all of my photographs are shot in Raw it gives me more control over my editing process. In the 'After' the photograph looks to bright, however, I did this on purpose in order to use dodging and burning in specific areas.

After I have completed the first edit, I rotated the image 180 degrees and straightened the image. I then used dodging and burning in order to bring the distorted image from the crystal ball out more. I also wanted to edit the reflection on the outside of the ball, which I think adds to the image. Another tool that I used was the spot healing tool. This is because there was some dust and dirt on the crystal ball that drew negative attention to the image, so it was removed.

In the original image, due to overhanging trees, the photograph was to dark. Because of this, whilst editing the image in Raw, I increased the Exposure and Contrast, as well as increasing the Shadows in order to make the leaves and crystal ball stand out.

Below is a comparison of the original Raw image, before it was edited, compared to the final image, after I had used Dodging and Burning, and changed some colours in order to make them stand out more.

 Below is another comparison of before and after the editing process. The final image looks a lot clearer, sharper and more in focus.

In the above photograph, I edited in Raw, then in Photoshop I played around with making it Black and white. However, this image was only made to show the difference between the two, but I like the way that the image looks, half colour and half black and white, so I might experiment using this method.

In this image below, I experimented with using the slice tool to create sections on the photograph which are either colour or Black and white. I like the idea that I used however, I personally do not think that it makes the best image.

In the photograph below, I used the Liquefy tool to create a whirlwind type look on the crystal ball. Again, I think that if it were on the right photograph this could look good, but for this image I'm not sure that it works.

AO3:

I think that in general this shoot has been very successful. I feel that some of these images are a few of my best images in this component. I do believe that there is still room for improvement however. A few of my images in the contact sheet where blurry and out of focus. This is because I was rushing myself. I need to slow down and look at each detail and think of composition, depth of field needed at all times when photographing. 

My images link to my research, in different ways. The photographers research, I used Stefan Lens, Josef Sudek and Sebastian Magnani was all very inspirational and I took small pieces of their work and incorporated it into mine. Although Sebastian Magnani photographed mirrors, the idea of laying it on the floor and looking at the distortions created was one of the main influences in my work along with Stefan Lens' different ways of placing the ball, including holding the ball in the hand or finding natural holds for the ball to sit in, which each create a very different looking picture. 

    Final Pieces