Planning
Shoot Ideas
In a new yet familiar turn, I've researched an artist under the name Henry Yau. An Asian turned British, he photographs a variety of dark photos based on dystopian-esque architecture. So in regard of that, I've decided it would be fitting to find some darker areas to photograph, with a lot more of a "modern industrial" feel. I've decided I could also twist it in my own way to follow on the previous topic of grunge, as well as implementing the previously discussed areas. In summary, I think I should go for a contemporary feel.
Image Bank
Inspiring Images
Contact Sheet
All Photos Taken
5 Best Photos
The Top 5 for Final Piece
2 Photos to Improve
The 2 that Failed to Reach the Requirements
When it comes to each of the photos chosen for the best and worst, there's quite a vast difference between each. My best five aren't really reaching my best potential, as seen with the grainy photos and dark lighting. However, they are great in comparison to the two worst ones. These were both taken without consideration of the final photo, and as spontaneous ones. The latter would've been interesting if taken with more consideration, as the circle could've been used as a sort of frame for the eye to look through, but the only issue is that there isn't anything to look at. If, say, it was one of those tourist telescopes you'd pay to look through at an attraction, it'd be a better photo. The background is just a bunch of shops, which isn't an interesting thing to look at. Furthermore, it was very hard to get an accurate angle which places the pole at a 90 degree angle downward, even if I was to have used a tripod the angle it was coming from the floor with wouldn't have helped at all. On the other photo, it's a simple issue of composition. It's not really a good thing to photograph, no real angle to take it from via the ground either. If it was a drone shot at night, with other lights, it might be improved (I don't own a drone, though).
Although I have my criticisms, I'm not without praise for the potential in my better photos. These images were taken with an idea in my head of what I wanted it to look like, as well as how and where different pieces of the photo should be. In the first photo, I took a photo of the pillar and wall to mix in the brief with some other additional parts. Furthermore, the reason I took it from that angle was to create a view through the main foreground for the eye to explore, as if it's a frame which shows what is on the other side of the building. The second photo is probably the one with the least linking to the main exam brief. I thought I could get away with it because of the cylinders atop the ventilation (and still do, or I wouldn't have put it in the record!). It has a great variety of different distances - the wall in the closest piece at the bottom, and in the middle third the main focus of the photo. Then another building in the background to give some extra texture to the photo. In the third and fourth photo i used a similar idea, with the idea of pattern and repetition in mind. Both follow diagonal, strong lines which connote to powerful ideas. Both also are good for if I want to try any higher contrasting photos, which is great for the final images. The final photo is probably my favourite of the contact sheet. It follows a great curving line, with a perfect difference in contrast of each area of the photo.
Potential Ideas & Experiments
Exploring new Ideas
I'm thinking I could try experimenting with the saturation in the photos, as I've previously only been using B/W photos. Things that maybe relate to the hyper-saturated age of the 80s might work.
References
Photos to Link to Ideas & Experiments
Camera Settings
How I Took the Photos
I used my normal camera and lens to take the photos, with an ISO between 400 and 1600, and aperture between F7.1 and F11. The shutter speed wasn't particularly consistent, though. Each photo was taken with daylight in mind, making sure to take them around 11am to midday, getting a nice lighting without too much shadows that peek into the photos, when unneeded.
Edits
How I Edited them in Post
To edit my photos for use, I first started by delving into Camera RAW. This tool allows one to access photos before they're converted into the smaller bitrate of Photoshop, giving you more access to different editing tools, like clarity, hazing, highlights and shadows. For the photo I'm editing, I want a high contrasted image which brings out the texture of the ground. Furthermore, I want a single curve to be brighter than the rest of the photo. These finished slider bars were done by experimenting on the photo raising and lowering them. Usually highlights wouldn't be that high, but there are no highlights in the photo other than the curve.
After improving the quality in that aspect, there is also the option to edit the clarity, hazing and saturation. Because I want a black and white image, vibrance and saturation are both pulled back entirely. With the clarity I edited it accordingly to bring out the texture a lot more, while keeping the smoothness of some areas. I used dehaze to get rid of some of the hazing that occured from the camera being used on a sunny day. Dehazing also works well for roughly increasing contrast and then fine tuning in the tools above these ones.
Once I finished, I pressed open image along with selecting all other photos I'd finished with. Do not press done if you want to open it in Photoshop.
Opening the image in photoshop I open the curves adjustment, and lower it by a moderate amount and, while selecting it, press CTRL+I. I do the same again, except making it a bit brighter. This makes them "invisible" and only visible via the white brush tool. I take said tool and use the darker one to bring out the curve below the kerb, giving it a much higher contrast. I then take the lighter one and selectively add it to the road line. This gives a really good contrast between different parts of the photo.Final Piece
Final Photos and Future Improvement
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