Recording Movement

Recording movement 

Definition

Motion blur photography - the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.

Freeze frame photography - an optical effect or technique in which a single frame of film is reprinted in a continuous series, which when shown gives the effect of a still photograph

Artist research - Shin.T

Shin Noguchi is an award winning street photographer based in Kamakura and Tokyo, Japan.  He uses his photography to capture moments of excitement, beauty and humanism whilst looking at the flow of everyday life.

Shin T takes photos of light trails of cars. I really like his images because they have an implication of movement however due to the long exposure within his images you cannot see the vehicles, you can only see the light trails. This creates a sense of mystery because some people may wonder where the the light is coming from. I also like the fact that in all of his photos the surroundings of the road is clearly visible because it makes each photo unique. Most of his images are taken at night which makes all of the light trails stand out. Also the contrast of the saturated red colour and the white gives the images the idea that there is more than one direction of movement. Also I like the fact that Shin T has made sure to capture the lines  moving in multiple directions because this allows for different connotations of each of the images. I really like the last image that I have looked at because the lines look as if they are everlasting and do not end. 

Practice Shoot

I do not feel as though this shoot was very successful purely because I wanted to try and use the camera settings and practice trying to capture movement. From this shoot I have learnt that I need to use a large f-stop to capture a wide depth of field. I also need a long shutter speed to allow me to capture all of the movement in the frame of the image. I want to use either the fully manual setting on my camera or the Tv setting which allows me to set the shutter speed and automatically sets the other settings. Below is an example of two images that I captured using incorrect camera setting therefore I would like to go out again and take photos that are more like the photographers photos that I have looked at.

Contact Sheet

My best images 

In reference to my best images...

Although my images are not ver varied because they are all of light trails using vehicles I tried to make them all different by looking at taking photos from different angles and poisons in reference to where the vehicles were. The first image that I chose as one of my best images was taken standing beside the road. I was standing at the same level that the cars were moving. I liked this because it is almost like the camera is a part of the light trails because it is shot next to them. The only disadvantage of this location was that there was not as many cars as I would have liked. Also there were very big street lights which, when using a long shutter speed, made some of the images look slightly over exposed. 

The rest of my images that I have chosen were taken on a bridge looking down onto the motorway. The second photo specifically was taken looking directly forward into the distance of the motorway. This allowed me to capture both red and white lights which I feel is very effective because this is what Shin T has within his images. This photo was inspired by Shin T's photo that includes raised roads and two bridges*. I really liked the way that he was almost looking down onto the vehicles as if the camera was able to capture something that the people driving cannot see. This makes the entire image look slightly surreal because it is not something that people come into contact with in their daily lives. 

*

The next image two images that I have selected were taken focusing on one side of the motorway. I angles my camera to the left and physically moved the tripod to this side of the road. I really liked these images because they include some of the environment that is beside the road. This is effective because it has connotations of how the cars and vehicles are in close proximity to nature and how people drive past and do not even realise that the nature is there. I also liked these images because the red light trails have created a slight undertone of red within the trees which gives them a majestic and surreal feeling. 

Images that require improvement 

The images above are images that I have chosen as needing improvement. I feel as though the first image is over exposed. I used the Tv setting on my camera which automatically sets the aperture but allows me to set the shutter speed. I used a 30 second shutter speed because I wanted to capture motion however I think that because the lights of the cars were white it over exposed the rest of the image. During my shoot I tried to change this issue by using a slower shutter speed which meant I captured slightly less light. 

The second image needs improving due to something that I did not have much control over. I do not feel as though there is enough light that has been captured. This could have been because of my shutter speed being on 20 seconds when it could have been slightly longer however I also think that there was not enough cars that went past during the time that I took the image. I took these photos on a Sunday night which meant that the roads weren't that busy so to improve I would probably choose a different day to capture this image.

A03 - Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

This shoot was directly inspired by the photographer that I analysed named Shin.T. I have completed a shoot like this in a previous project, colour, however it was not as successful as this. This was because when shooting this I used a tripod which made the light trails a lot smoother and easier to capture. I chose this photographer so that I could re do a shoot similar to one that I had completed before but improve it in many different ways. I also shouted in multiple locations, unlike the previous shoot that I completed on light trails of vehicles. I feel as though this gave the photos a wider range of independence. When completing my practice shoot I did not use a tripod and found it quite challenging to use a long shutter speed because I could not hold the camera still for that length of time. This is the main reason why I decided to use a tripod. 

A02 - Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

To ensure that I was able to capture movement I had to use a long shutter speed. To ensure that I had the right balance of settings I used the Tv setting on my camera. I used this because when completing my practice shoot this camera setting proved to work very well for me and it ensures that my photos were balanced in relation to the settings. This allowed me to specifically set the shutter speed and the camera automatically set the aperture. I used an ISO of 1600 because I completed this shoot at night which meant that there was not enough natural light for me to lower the ISO. When setting the shutter speed I altered it from 15 seconds to 30 seconds. I took my photos in two different locations and there were different numbers of cars in each of these places. When there was a lot of cars I usually used a shutter speed of 20 seconds. This is because there were enough vehicles driving by for me to capture the light trails. As you can see on the images that I felt needed improving there were not as many vehicles. Due to this I used a shutter speed of 30 seconds. 

To improve these photos I have edited them using photo shop. I have not heavily edited these images partly because Shin T's images are lightly edited and also because I feel like the images are high quality already and I did not want to over edit them and take away from the beauty of the image. I used the brightness and contrast tool to slightly enhance the colours. I also used the curves tool to slightly edit the contrast but not too much to make the image look unrealistic. Finally I used the colour balance tool to adjust the tones slightly.  

Final images 

Portfolio formal elements

Portfolios

Portfolio - Derived from the french, a porte folio, in meaning a page carrier.

• Can be used to show the results of specific photographic endeavours. 
• They will contain the best images from a series which will be assembled to create meaning.
• They will contain fully edited images with a high level of quality.

Resolution

Screen resolution - 72 dpi

Print resolution - 300 dpi

Form

Form

Definitions

Form - a three dimensional shape, such as a cube, sphere or cone. Sculpture and 3D design are about creating forms. In 2D artworks, tone and perspective can be used to create an illusion of form. 

Theory

Below is an example of how shapes are turned into form. 

This is an image of a pepper taken by Edward Weston. The use of tone and form makes the pepper seem almost human like. The negative space that surrounds the object makes the harsh bends and lines within the pepper stand out and in my opinion it gives the impression of muscles and strength. This image creates a sculptural form of muscularity. Weston has used this pepper to create different connotations. He wants people to be able to come up with different impressions of what this photo could represent. 

This is an image that has been taken by Jonathan Knowles. It is of flowers that have been arranged in a pyramid structure. I believe that this image could represent nature coming together and growing as one. This is because the flowers are all closely joined. This could also imply that nature needs different elements to grow. The flowers are a natural form but they have been put into a geometric structure. The photographer has almost made the flowers slightly manmade. This could show that flowers need humans to grow and adapt. The colours are he has used are analogous. The background is reflecting the subject of the photo. 

Image bank 

Artist Research - Imogen Cunningham

I have looked at Imogen Cunningham's photography. She is an American photographer who is known for her botanical photography, portraits and industrial landscapes

The photographer that I have looked at is Imogen Cunningham. Cunningham takes photos of different flowers and uses a lot of negative space to make the form of the object more visible.  The first image that I am going to look at is a photo of two flowers side by side. I really like this photo because the photographer has used a lot of negative space to make the flowers the central focus point of the photo. There are also leading lines that almost take you around the flower and then back to the centre of the photo. This is very effective because I feel as though this could imply that there is not end to nature and is it a contestant life cycle of regrowth. This idea is very soothing and soft which I feel is also reflected in the photo. Cunningham uses very soft lines and curves but makes sure they are very visible by the use of negative space. The final photo almost all has very pale colours except the middle of the flower. The colour white has connotations of tranquility and peace. This could imply that people may appear peaceful but in the centre they are irritated and frustrated. This is because the colour grey could have connotations of being distressed or unhappy. The ideas that I would like to take from this work is using the colours of the object to portray different meanings. I would also like to contrast light and dark. These images make me feel very calming and elegant because they have very soft lines and structures within the photos. 

Contact Sheets 

The intentions for my shoot were to capture some different photos of flowers or nature related objects. I tried to find different shaped flowers and leaves to make each photo unique and different. The shoot was very successful because I managed to capture a range of different coloured flowers which means that even when I change these photos to black and white they will all have different tones in them. I have annotated my contact sheet by ticking the images I feel initially look successful and I have crossed the images I feel were not as successful. I also made small labels on some of the photos as to why I crossed or ticked them.

My best images 

In reference to my best images...

The first image that I have chosen as one of my best is an image of an orange flower. For all of my photos that I took I used manual mode so that I was able to use a large f-stop.  For this image I used an f-stop of f/10. This was done because by having the object in the foreground crisp and clear and then having a blurred background it immediately draws your eyes to the centre. This was also inspired by the photographer that I looked at because she has the flower as the only object in the photo.  

In reference to my second image I picked a photo of a purple coloured rose. I liked this image because it is slightly oddly shaped. It is not the perfectly shaped flower that I feel my photographer has used in her images. I used this because I feel as though it brings in my own interpretation on her images and it gives the flowers more of a natural feel because nature is never perfect. This photo was also taken with a large f-stop because I wanted to background to be slightly blurry and out of focus. 

The third image I chose as one of my best is a photo of a small purple flower. I specifically like this photo because of the veiny details that are created within the petals. I feel as though because the fine details are very clear and crisp it draws your eyes directly to the centre of the flower. This is a photo that I feel also portrays delicacy, just like my photographer wants to portray.

I decided to use an image of a leaf as one of my best images. This is because I really liked the speckled detail that is on the leaf and also I wanted to make my series slightly different to my photographers. She only focuses on flowers however I feel that there are interesting elements in leaves swell as flowers. I like the way this fits into my series because it stands out as being unique and different to the rest of the photos I have used.  

Images that require improvement 

The images above are images that I feel needs improvement. I feel as though the first image has too much in the background of the photo for it to relate to the photographer I have looked at. Because there is so much in the background of the photo it is not clear what items I intended to be in the foreground. My photographer has a very clear focal object in the centre of the frame of the photo. I do not feel as though this image has a clearly visible focal point. 

The second image was taken with a lot of excess background, for example you can see a house in the background of the photo. I do like the way that I used a large f-number which makes the background out of focus and the flower very sharp. This does give the photo an immediate focal point however I do not feel as though the unnecessary background is needed and therefore I am not happy with the overall image. 

A03: AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

I gathered my ideas for my shoot mainly from my photographer,  Imogen Cunningham. I wanted to incorporate a range of different flowers and leaves because Cunningham uses many different types of flowers to complete her series of images. I also felt inspired by this photographer to take photos from a range of different angles. Some of her images are looking straight onto the object but some were looking down. This naturally changes the composition of the image and makes each photo more interesting to look at. I was also inspired by some of the photos that are on my image bank. I really like the photos having dark backgrounds with a main object in the centre. This is what I want to try and portray within my edits. Within my photographers photos I also like the way that the delicacy of the flowers is obtained and expressed in a very calming and gentle way. I focused on one specific element of ideas that I could have photographed and I did this because I feel as though at the end I am able to come up with a strong series of images that strongly reflect my photographer. 

A02: AO2:Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a canon dos 400d to take these photos. I ensures to use the camera on manual mode so that I could set the focal point of the image myself. When using a camera on auto mode the camera will find the focal point it believes you want however this is not always correct. For each photo I used a slightly different aperture because due to how far I was away from the object I was photographing. For example for the image of the orange flower I used an aperture of f/10 but for the image of the small purple flower I used an aperture of f/8. In regards to the shutter speed I mainly use a shutter speed of 1/200. This is because I didn't really need to let any excess light into the camera because I shot all of my photos in natural day light. All the photos were taken on iso 400 and this did not need to be altered because there were so situations where I did not have enough lighting surrounding me whilst I was photographing the images. 

I have used photoshop to enhance and edit the photos that I have taken. I wanted to edit my photos to resemble the work of my photographer. Firstly I turned all of the images to black and white. I then altered the black and white filter to make certain parts of the photo darker and lighter depending on the colour of the original photo. If necessary, I also cropped the image. I then used the curves tool. This allowed me to change the contrast of the photo and look at altering the different tones specifically. I also wanted to make the background of a particular photo darker so I selected the gradient tool on the side panel of photoshop. I will explain the rest of this technique below using screenshots to show what I have done. 

Firstly I selected the gradient tool on the tool bar on the left hand side of photoshop. 

I then selected the radial gradient tool which I have circled at the top of my page. After doing this I placed my mouse on the centre of the flower and then dragged it out to one side of the image. This then darkened the background and meant that you could only see some of the bricks and even so, they were not very visible.

A04: AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

My final series of images represent the different forms of nature that surround us. Due to the photos being taken in such a small area in comparison to the country or the world my series shows how vast nature is. I also feel as though the detail within my photos has been focused on in a  lot of depth because by changing photos to black and white your eyes cannot be drawn to colour they are just drawn to detail. I also feel as thought by making the background of my images darker it reflects my photographer, Imogen Cunningham because she ensures that the background is darker, allowing the object to be the only focal point of the photo. When using my camera I tried to zoom in as much as possible without making the image blurry. This was because I wanted to show as much fine detail in the objects as I could. This also made them a lot better to look at when I edited them to black and white.  

My series of final images