Feedback

I have mentioned some feedback on my actual evaluation but also if you look on my blog you will see some people have left comments on photographs and posts.

Thank you.

Evaluation of Unit

Evaluation Editt

Yellow flowers - CONCEPT

I cropped this photo and decided to make the flowers stand out because they seemed to be the main focus of the design. I also thought their colour stood out really well. I cropped it using the crop tool because I thought there was some unnecessary parts to the shot.

Sydney - EXHIBITION

I edited the exposure for this photo for my exhibition on nice scenes.

Singapore - EXHIBITION

This is a photo I took while walking through Singapore; it stood out as an interesting scene to add to my exhibition.

Using colour to shift focus- CONCEPT

 

I continued with my concept idea of incorporating black and white and leaving specific colours into my photos and as before I started by using just one  colour selected then I used two and now I decided to leave the foreground in colour and edit the background to black and white to see how it looks and I think it works really well to make the lantern in the front attract your attention first.

Double colour selection - CONCEPT

As I have been doing my concept pieces as ones I have edited on Photoshop so they are just black and white with one colour I decided to try another with two colours made to stand out instead of one to see what effect it gives off to the photo.

I really like it because the original photo has a lot going on and now it simplifies it.

Advanced Photoshop 2 - Change - CONCEPT

I decided to crop the photo in the post below and change the colour of the sky and exposure slightly to see what effect it made. Now it looks like some kind of apocalyptic abandoned town. I cropped the people out of this one so it could be interpreted by the audience as abandoned. I think it gives off a warm atmosphere and the increased amount of shadows and highlights make it look like the sky is on fire.
 

Advanced Photoshop 2 - CONCEPT

I found another photo that I decided to single a colour out because it stood out. I decided to make the blue stand out because it was a vivid colour and it highlighted the original photo well but I thought there were too many colours on the Spanish street below so I made it black and white; it also made it more dramatic and you really get to appreciate the good sky and the clouds.

Now the sky is the first thing your eye is drawn to, and then you start to see the busy Spanish life underneath going about it's average day in the market place and all the tourists and natives.

I think this will make the audience thing of somewhere abroad because of the sunny sky and it will make them happy.

Advanced Photoshop - CONCEPT

For this photo I edited it in Photoshop; firstly I duplicated the layer and then I hid the copy of the background layer so I could see the layer underneath and then I went on Image>Adjustments>Black and White and I clicked 'Auto'.

Then I went back onto the copied layer (making is visible again) and I went on Select>Colour range and with the selection tool I selected the green pigmentation on my photo and then to make it more specific I moved the 'fuzziness' up until I was satisfied.

After that I selected the magic wand tool and 'refine edges' and I adjusted the features until I was happy it would work well with the black and white when I put them both together.

I copied and pasted the selected colour and it automatically put it on a new layer for me and then I deleted the colour layer so you could see the black and white.

I thought the colour green didn't stand out enough so I simply went onto image>adjustments>exposure and changed the setting until I was happy with the amount of shadows (offset) and brightness. I was happy with my photo so I saved it.

I think that the photo is more dramatic with the black and white because the original photo seems pretty run-down and not the standard of living we are used to in Britain; it is a different country after all. I thought by making the green the only colour visible; on the plants and vegetation, I realised it showed people what was the same throughout different countries; that even if you go to different countries where the buildings and cultures are different, there is always greenery. Someway plants manage to survive; if only through weeds.

I also thought it showed the human necessity for food, these people are growing food in their garden, we are all linked by our need for food.

I think people can look at this photo and interpret it in different ways, but I think that it will make them think of nature and humanity.

Best Photo - EXHIBITION

I think this photo is my best because it appears to be naturally split into the rule of thirds because the buildings on either side are both in the sides of the photo and the middle third is made up of sky. I think the sky was just the right brightness and it made a really good contrast against the telephone wires running across the sky because they stand out really well and I didn't need to do any editing.

More Editing - ILLUSTRATE A STORY x5

I really liked this photo I took because it was naturally framed well by the buildings on either side and it had good angles and dimensions. In Photoshop I adjusted the brightness because as I said before, it was a pretty dull day so not good for photography but now it looks brighter and I made the enhanced the colours more to add depth to the photo. I made use of the 'frame' of the photo and made them darker so that the central focus on the buildings was increased.

I decided to edit this photograph in Photograph and put it into monotones because I thought it looked more dramatic and the old buildings seem to work well with this old-looking effect and it draws your attention more. I also made the shadows greater and edited the exposure.

I thought this picture was pretty good as it was because of all the textures and how you could tell it was from a foreign country, Spain and this worked with my topic of 'Travel'. In Photoshop all I did was adjust the exposure and colour slightly.

I edited this photo to make it look brighter and more colorful but not too much because I wanted to show how run-down this alley is in contrast to the bright colour of yellow on the tiles.

I thought this photo was better in black and white because there was a lot going on in it and their were a lot of colours so now you can just focus on the photo and the content of the photo and the man walking away from the camera.

All of these photos illustrate a story of my holiday in Spain.

First Comparison - EXHIBITION

Here are my two photographs; the first one is unedited. In Photoshop I made colou adjustments by changing the hue/saturation to enhance the colour and I also adjusted the levels and exposure to make the quality appear better though it was already taken with a good camera so didn't need too much done to it.

I prefer the second image because the colours are brighter and more sunny because on that day it was slightly overcast and it didn't produce the best lighting but I have adjusted this in Photoshop.

My Slide-show photos

As you can see I have added a slide show widget to my sidebar so you can see some pictures that I have uploaded to flickr.

They are photo's which I took in Spain and I think they reflect my chosen theme of TRAVEL because they show a different country. I have changed some aspects of the photo by editing; changing the exposure and the hue/saturation of some of them. Of one I made it slightly sepia because it enhanced the tones of Spain.

I made the shadows bigger or the adjusted the brightness where I saw it would improve the quality of the photographs I have taken. I tried to take interesting angles for my photographs.

Soon I will upload some other photos.

Photographic Portfolio

Photographic Portfolio BECKY

My own close up shots

Research clip

Close up photography

I like this picture because I like writing and the angle and colors work really well; especially the curve of the position of the keys with the roundness of the actual switches.

This picture has lots of color in it and it focuses really well and you can see every strand of hair on the brush and the texture of the paints. 

This follows the rule of 'thirds' because the main paint blob on the end of the paintbrush is in between the left and middle third.

I like this picture of a taxi because of the contrast from the light to the black of the taxi and how it doesn't allow the background to detract away from the main focus of the image.

Symmetrical Photography

I like this picture because the bike appears to make it very symmetrical and realistic because people do leave bikes against lamp posts. The windows enhance the symmetry and so do the bricks. I like the red hue of the bricks against the grey of the stones and bike.

This picture of the city caught my eye because of the way the light has landed on the left hand street but left the right hand one in shadow. This looks really artistic and instantly you see the symmetry of the two streets going of into vanishing points which appear to be situated by following the 'thirds' rule.

 

I think this picture is really good because of the minimalistic interior of the corridor and how everything has an opposite on the other side except for the color of the walls which are different.

Rule of Thirds

We took our good photo that we took during lesson and made sure to follow the rule of thirds, but 

because we had done this vertically already our teacher told us to do the horizontal as well and crop the top.

Can you make a photo look interesting?

Can You Make a Photo Look Interesting

How to set-up a camera - A simple guide for beginners

This is a simple guide for beginners explaining how to set up a camera, my group decided to go for a visual comic-style lay-out so that it would look entertaining and included light humor to make it an enjoyable process.

The first step is to insert the battery card or average batteries into the camera. Normally you have to push at the the lid for the cap to come of for you to insert the batteries.

Next you have to insert the SD card that will store all your photos, this usually is placed into the place as the batteries, if you look their should be a slot next to them where you place the SD card in; making sure it clicks securely into position. You might have to try it different ways before you get it right, but the click with verify when it is the correct way up.

Including any accessories you want; for example an tri-pod so that your camera will be level and secure, and point it at your chosen subject. You need to click the button first lightly, so that it will focus, and then fully so that it takes the photo.

For you to view your picture, click the play back button and their you can view your photo.

Manipulated Images

I made this picture monochrome and added an overplayed blackness on another layer around

the words 'Hi There' so that it stood out more. I thought the black and white made the writing clearer so you wouldn't get distracted by the colours.

In the start I thought this photo had an industrial mysterious feel to it so I adjusted

contrast, colour and shadows/highlights and then I inverted it to made this

almost sci-fi feel to it. It looks like something you would find in a movie I think.

I adjusted the contest and colours again in this before I used the artistic effect

of 'Fresco' to make it look even more cartoony and add texture to it.

Classroom photos

Extreme Close up

I wanted to focus this photo in on the casual conversing graffiti on the science desktops because it was simple yet quite amusing.

Close up

I liked this photo and decided to take it at this angle to show the buttons and so you could read the 'Low Voltage' at the top, it shows that our classroom used to be used for science and that is has many switches and devices inside it. I think it looks interesting and mysterious and also industrial.

Medium Close up

Another shot showing the previous subject taught in this room; science. In this typical warning sign.

Ideas for Initial Photos

We are about to take some photographs, though unfortunately we have been limited to our classroom. We are going to take some different shot's using this location restriction.

For an extreme close up I might take some of of the piping or wiring in the room, maybe some of the engraved writings in the old science work tops,  for a close up I could do one of the many switches or electrical boxed in the room, maybe some of the science weights on the floor or something interesting.

I will try a variation of shot lengths and look around the classroom to find inspiration, but above are some ideas. Something that perhaps shows a purpose of the classroom, the people who have been in it, what makes it work as a classroom.

My Progress

So far on my blog; I have made an introduction, posted my analysis work, posted my notes on different camera angles and included my notes on The history of Photography video, also embedding the video itself in case I need future reference to it.

I have enjoyed and been up-to-date will all work so far in this Photography course in media, and have enjoyed it a lot. I feel we have worked very well on my analysis with my group, including Francesca and Megan and think I have also done well in my recordings of The history of Photography video.

We have already understood as a group a lot about the purpose and needs of a good photograph and I will hope to continue into this next time.

Over and out.

Happy Birthday Daguerre

Thought I would just make this to say Happy Birthday to Louis today.

Born 18-November-1787

Died 63 years of age, 10-July-1851

Notes on History of Photography

This post is concerning the previous post below.

To me, this is a great informative video showing the development (not meant as a pun, but could be taken as one) of the subject photography and how much a revelation it was to the public; a frozen section in time, frozen forever for them to take out and remember, to look into the past.

As announced in the video, we've had photography round for over 170 years, this ingenious invention provoke thought, love and outrage from us over the years, playing to journalists and specific members of society, uniting and dividing us for that many years.

Invented in 1839, Photography has been able to show us secret strangers behind appearances, that things are not always as they seem. You can force the viewers eye onto a certain section, make them witness things and out off other things.

Photography was used to capture life in London, everyone was in disbelieve when it was first invented and shown to the public, they just though photographs were brilliant paintings; unable to comprehend this ability to, in a manner of speaking, literally freeze a moment in time, capturing everything in the view of the finder and trapping it in place.

Before a proper camera developed, people were only able to experience momentary photographs, this was in 1802. It work from chemicals effected by light, but eventually the image faded into black and scientists had to adjust the chemicals.

They experimented with paper and shoe box sized cameras, called 'mousetraps'. It was Talbert who was able to save images onto paper, they were in negative, but the concept was still a major break-through and deemed successful; he had managed to save a photo and make it last on paper.

It was a french rival, Louis Daguerre who discovered his own solution to the shadows, instead of paper though he instead used mirrored metal plates (silver grains) but if you didn't use a blow torch the image would be easily wiped off, so there were still issues.

Of course, already, these simplistic cameras are majorly advanced in comparison to the first ever camera, a pin-hole camera which showed you an upside down image of the world.

The people of London were amazed at how quickly, cheaply and accurately they were able to photograph the world, but they were still deciding whose process was better, Talberts or his french rivals. This was a pivoting point for photography, the world was changing, there was the industrial revolution coinciding with the growth of photography and cameras, which changed how people understood the world, illuminating the story behind the images, and provoking curiosity into what they would usually bypass in everyday routine.

The world was becoming modern.

Factories, lots of paper and chemicals; it was a busy time in our past. And a time we were able to capture and record forever; through photography.