~Statement Of Intent~
I aim to produce a website of work demonstrating my ideas. My current theme for photography is texture. I am exploring the two different types of textures, such as man-made and natural textures. Man-made textures include different metals, glass, paint and wood. Natural textures include plants, trees, leaves, fruits and water. Each texture creative as both options have different ways to explore the textures, my personal favorite is natural, this is because there is so many different ways to explore the theme, also having to stay in a studio and stick with man-made objects can get a little tiering and doesn't test my creative side to its full potential as there is a large range of different details to explore and capture. As shown in the few galleries I have uploaded I've focused on mostly natural textures. A thing I would like to explore is rusted paint and rusted metal, although they don't look amazing in person with the right angle and camera settings it would look a lot more interesting and unusual. To present my work I'm show casing my work on my weebly web page and organizing them into the correct galleries. The class is planning on going out on location to perhaps the country side, which is the perfect place to capture photographs of the natural textures out there. At the end of my project I intend to have all my galleries organized into the accurate places, also including my best and worst photographs. Having my best and worst galleries shows my improvement throughout the project.
For my initial research I will start to look into 'texture' photographers. At the moment I have three photographers I intend to look at, these are Edward Weston, Richard Wong and Sandra Bartocha. I am looking at Edward Weston's work first. I am intrigued by his work as it is different from other images I've seen, his images stand out because they're black and white. Although I haven't captured any black and white images he also focuses on fruit and vegetables which do link with my images. Having images in black and white is a great way to highlight texture. The second photographer, Richard Wong has explored the 'rule of thirds' which I am yet to do, but as he has a clear representation of this method it will help me explore on my own images. The photograph I'm focusing he has used colour to show his use of 'rule of thirds'. Lastly Sandra Bartocha, although I'm not the biggest fan of the image I'm focusing on I can definitely appreciate her work and techniques.
To take my work next level I will complete a Coggle mind map and a mood board presenting my initial ideas. I will collect images that link with my theme. This will help me keep up with my work and allow mw to keep all of my work relevant. After completed I will then be able to move on and take a series of photos matching my theme.
Moving towards the end of my project I will build all my work up and edit them by using photoshop, whether this is simply improving them or working them into something completely different this will show my different areas of work. For my photoshoots I am not going to focus on just one area, as I will go out on both location and also stay doing studio shots, this will give me a range of different outcomes. My photography equipment will include a Camera-Canon DSLR, lighting-Natural Light, Led Panels, Flash, Phone Light. Towards the end of my project, I will write up an evaluation to sum up all of my work this year. I hope to overcome my weaknesses when this project is completed.
~Natural Texture Coggle Mind Map~
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~Man-Made Texture Coggle Mind Map~
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~Man-Made Mood-Board~
~Natural Mood-Board~
~Edward Weston~
~Context~
"Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his 40-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of subjects, including landscapes, still-lifes, nudes, portraits, genre scenes and even whimsical parodies. It is said that he developed a "quintessentially American, and especially Californian, approach to modern photography" because of his focus on the people and places of the American West. In 1937 Weston was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and over the next two years he produced nearly 1,400 negatives using his 8 × 10 view camera. Some of his most famous photographs were taken of the trees and rocks at Point Lobos, California, near where he lived for many years."
I have gathered this information from:https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-weston-2720.
~Composition~
In this image I can see it is black and white, so the impact of this is that it makes the texture of the cabbage stand out. This is also achieved by the way the image is lit as I can see the light is coming from the bottom hand side which creates dark shadows between the veins. There is also a strong contrast between the black and the white which makes the cabbage leaf seem clean and bold. The background is very black and so I think they may have used an infinity curve as I can't see any lines in the background.
The composition of this photo does use the rule of thirds as the stalk is in the top right sweet spot which draws your eye to this point. This is further enhanced because the cabbage shape is a triangle, this makes the top of it quite eye grabbing. There is also strong leading lines created by the veins of the leaf that enhance the triangular shape as they're all leading towards the bottom.
The image has been tightly cropped taking up most of the picture plane which makes it seem as if the cabbage is quite close to us and also makes the cabbage itself look quite special. In my opinion I think this is a studio shot and as it's quite dark I think the ISO would be 400, F-stop may be quite low and the shutter speed low to allow the light to come through the lens. Therefore I think the camera would have been set up on a tripod. I really like this technique and think it is something I would use in my own work.
~Connection~
Edward Weston's work connects with my texture theme as I am hoping to photograph fruits and vegetables in a way like he does. His work will inspire me to take my work to my fullest potential similar to his work. What he has done is taken simple objects like a cabbage leaf and turned it into something special, bringing out the texture, shape and form. This connects with my work as I will also look at single fruit and vegetables and try to bring out the texture.
~Comment~
I like Weston's work because he has taken plain objects and made them look unique. I also like the fact that they're in black and white as it makes the images bold and stand out. I think this will be a good starting point to inspire my first set of photos.
~Richard Wong~
~Context~
"A California native, I was born and raised in Southern California. My eventual photographic interests were shaped at an early age by family trips along the California Coast and to the Canadian Rockies. Though I had always enjoyed looking at landscape photography I didn’t take an interest in photography until in college. Prior to then I had always thought of photography as “boring” studio portrait sessions and wedding photography. A few years later, I discovered the works of Galen Rowell through a copy of Outdoor Photographer magazine that my cousin had brought along on a road trip. That inspired me to pursue photography as a lifestyle. Things came full circle several years later when Outdoor Photographer asked me to write and illustrate an article for their magazine. I've since spent a significant portion of my adult life pursuing the art of photography. Though I started off shooting with print and slide film, I purchased my first digital camera in 2001 (much earlier than most current photographers) and now work exclusively in that medium. The amount of detail that can be reproduced from digital files is unrivaled. In 2021, I added a drone to my toolbox for aerial photography and am FAA certified. I currently live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife and two young children."
I have gathered this information from https://www.rwongphoto.com/gallery/richard-wong/
~Composition~
I can see the focal point in this image the tree. The image has leading lines, the large branches on the tree are leading up to the colourful leaves creating leading lines. The photographer has used leading lines so the viewer of the image has their attention brought to the whole image, but as the lines are leading up to the leaves it makes the leaves become a main focus point on the photo. The photograph is split into two, the bottom half of the image is covered with green leaves whereas the upper half is surrounded with warm orange leaves. The photograph looks as if it is taken at mid day as the photo is quite bright and there is no shadows. I think this image has been put in photoshop to enhanced the bright colours of the leaves. The photograph is an outdoor shoot which means it most likely has natural lighting. Its clear that Wong has used a tripod because the photo is in focus and balanced. The white balance for this image is set to natural day light. The photo has a large depth of field, I can see this because all of the photo is is in clear focus, Richard uses this as he wants attention drawn to the entire image, I think that he has used an F32. I think Wong has used a low ISO, the image is very clear and isn't visually noisy which makes me believe he has used ISO 50. It seems like he has also used a quick shutter speed the image is very clear which means it is most probably set at 1/000. The camera angle in this image is a worms eye view as we're looking upwards rather than straight at it. The image is cropped, the very top of the tree is cut off which has been used so the attention is drawn to the tree, if the image wasn't cropped the background would be distracting.
~Connection~
This work of Richard Wongs links to my work because this image is taken outside in nature, which links with my page as my trip to Padley Gorge captured a variety of images from the same theme. Whilst I was on my trip I was able to take images of images in nature, also I have a selection of colourful trees and leaves on my page like his work.
~Comment~
I am quite fond of this image, this is due to the pretty warm colours being in the mix with the bright cool colours. I also like how this image is quite like my own, this will inspire me to upgrade my images and improve from the photos I have already taken.
Shoot 1:
This is my first shoot and I will take photos of texture based on my research. I will start to develop my photography skills, as I will be using a DL Canon camera, set on manual so that I use different ISO, white balance and exposure settings
~Shells~
~Best and Worst~
This is my best image as there is a short depth of field as it captures the shells in the foreground only. The image also has leading lines coming from the bench from across the image going from left to right which leads your eyes across the image.
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This is my worst image because it is out of focus and my assistants hand is in the frame. However I believe this would have been a good image the camera is at a great angle and there are leading lines.
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~Best and worst~
This is my best image because the shells are the central focus point of the image, I have also used a short depth of field so the shells become the main focus of the image. There are also leading lines, coming from the green lines in the background as well as the lines from the bench.
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This is my worst image because the whole image is out of focus and the shells aren't in the center of the page which means the shells wont be the main focus of the image.
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~Purple Cabbage~
~Best and Worst~
This is my best picture out of this shoot as I like the composition and placement of the cabbage I feel it creates a strong leading line to the middle of the picture.
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This is my worst image as is is too dark. The exposure is too low meaning the texture is hardly being shown.
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~Orange Pepper~
~Best and Worst~
This is the best image out of this shoot, this is due to the image being focused on texture father than just the pepper, I have propped the pepper in an appropriate way for the image.
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This is my worst image as I have not laid the pepper in a professional way, the photograph isn't focused on any texture like my best image.
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Work inspired by Edward Weston
Developing my ideas on Photoshop
Man made texture
Shoot 2:
Location shoot to Padley Gorge
I am going on a location shoot to Padley Gorge so that I can capture images similar to research. I will have to constantly change my camera settings and exposure and focus on compositional techniques.
~Green Brick~
~Best and Worst~
This is my best image as I have used the rule of thirds, the image is split between two rocks. The rock in the foreground is out of focus, however the sticks in the middle ground are in focus which brings the attention to them. Also the rock in the background is in focus which brings the brightness of the moss into the picture.
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This is my worst image because the image is out of focus which means you cant see the textures of the image, this is awful because the aim for my project is to photograph texture.
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~Moss~
~Best and Worst~
This is my best image because I have used the correct ISO and white balance which makes the green colour of the moss seem more vibrant and stand out against the grey rocks. I have also used a large depth of field which means all the image is in focus, bringing out a variety of different textures.
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This is my worst image because the white balance on the image is set too high which washes all the colour out of the image which hides all the textures on the rocks.
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~Design ideas~
~Mini Waterfall~
~Best and Worst~
This is my best photo as I have actually used the shutter speed to capture the movement of the waterfall without causing any blurriness.
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This is my worst image, this is the first photograph I had taken of the water and I had not though to use shutter speed and just used the manual setting, therefore the photograph is now unfocused.
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Trees
~Colourful Leaves~
~Best and Worst~
~Autumn Leaves~
~Best and Worst~
~Metal Bar~
~Best and Worst~
This is my best image a the photograph focuses clearly on the texture of the metal, the rust and the metal wearing away, the background of the image has been blurred out due to the wide aperture, this makes the texture the focal point of the image.
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This is my worst image due it it being severely unfocused and very bleached out.
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~Green Plant~
~Best and Worst~
~Water~
~Tree Bark~
~Best and Worst~
~Metal Cog~
~Best and Worst~
~Tree Moss~
~Wall~
~Pink Flowers~
This is a separate shoot that I did out on location in Manchester. I wanted to capture close-up flowers as a contrast to the Autumn wood.
Developing my ideas on Photoshop,
Here I have used photoshop to create a kaleidoscope design. I had to select an area that would work and look good as a final design. The skills I used were to copy and flip my design to create the effect achieved.
~Design ideas~
~Design ideas~
Design ideas