Shoot 2 - All Day

All Day 

In this shoot I completed another camera obscura this time using myself as the subject and in my own bedroom. In this shoot I wanted to show the progression of the landscape throughout a whole day, hence why I titled it 'All Day'. Therefore, I decided to set the darkroom up and take images in the morning, midday and evening to record how the different times of day would effect the camera obscura. I continued to use a subject within this idea as it added a narrative to the timeline, continuing on from my style in the previous shoot. 

Influence 

In this shoot 'All Day' I was influenced by two photographers, Marja Pirila and Ethan Jackson. As I explained in the previous work record of 'A Bright Perspective', Marja's work inspires me to use a human subject alongside the camera obscura. The adds meaning and a story to the setting, I feel that it bridges the relationship between the interior and exterior shown by using the person who experiences that particular environment. Ethan Jackson was my main inspiration of this shoot however, as he sets up the darkrooms and photographs them across months, making all of his images different. I liked this idea and wanted to try it on a smaller scale, below are some examples of Ethan's work:

Both of these images were taken in the same location 'Mount Hope Meadow' between the months of April and May 2009.

As you can see from the images they have been taken at two different times. The first one shows dark and small clouds covering the sky and a soft hint of sun that may indicate cloudy weather. The next image has a bright blue sky with little cloud coverage which looks like a much brighter and sunnier day. I liked this idea of having a different between the projected landscape therefore I took photographs between 10am and 7pm.

Contact Sheets 

Straight Images 

Linking my work to research (AO1) - 

As shown above this shoot 'All day' uses the camera obscura technique throughout different points of the day. My work links to Marja Pirila's work as I have used a subject (in this case myself) to illustrate the concept I am trying to get across. For example, in the morning I am sitting on my bed in my pyjamas reading a book, then later on I am on my computer at my desk, then relaxing with my dog. I feel this shows a progressive story throughout the shoot that wouldn't otherwise be obvious without a subject. It also links to the work of Ethan Jackson and how he displays different times and months to show the change of the landscape. I have taken the concept but transformed it into a shorter scale so that its something achievable. 

Camera Settings and technique (AO2) - 

As I have used the camera obscura technique in this shoot, my technique has been similar to the last shoot. I used a tripod due to the long shutter speeds that I knew I would be using to avoid blur and also the fact that I had to set the camera timer to take the images of myself. For this shoot I made the lens hole a little bit bigger as it was quite a dull day therefore required more sunlight. 

Throughout this shoot I kept my ISO between 100 and 400, preferably 100 if I could get away with it. These ISO's seemed to work really well in this shoot and didn't give me an underexposed image despite not using a very long shutter speed. I kept my aperture at F20 throughout this shoot so that I had a wide depth of field allowing me to keep everything in focus. Although this size aperture doesn't allow much light it still worked really well in regards to exposure. Lastly there is the shutter speeds which varied between 30 seconds and 2 minutes depending on what I was photographing. When I was taking pictures of myself I used a 10 second timer and a 30 second shutter speed to ensure I could get into position and keep that position for a decent amount of time. As you can tell from the unedited images above, these camera settings worked really well with the environment I was in as they produced correctly exposed image that had little to no blur. 

Editing (AO2) - 

The editing process on the images in this shoot were kept simple as they didn't actually need much done. Therefore, I have mainly worked on the curves, contrast and photo filters that works with the image. Below is an example of the editing process:

Original image 

As you ca see this image is slightly underexposed, this is why I have chosen this one to work on. 

Step 1 - 

The first step I took was to adjust the exposure through curves. By doing this the image immediately had a lot more detail and was a lot clearer compared to when it was underexposed. 

Step 2 - 

Next I used the 'hue and saturation' tool to slightly increase the vibrancy of the colours. This worked really well, especially on the purple bedding and the slight green leafs you can see towards the ceiling. 

Step 3 - 

After adjusting the saturation I decided to increase the contrast of the image as some of the shadows were looking washed out. I didn't increase it by much because I didn't want to make the photograph look unrealistic, therefore I kept it subtle and brought back some of the dark areas. 

Step 4 - 

Lastly, I decided to do something a little bit different to what I usually do and that is add a photo filter. I chose to do this because one of my computer experiments for this shoot is going to be comparing the different toes of day, therefore the photo filters really extenuate this effect. 

Final image 

Computer experiments (AO2) 

Below are the computer experiments I done for this shoot using Photoshop. My main ideas were to create a triptych (selection of three linking images) and silhouettes, I feel I have done both creatively and I am proud of the results. I will be explaining how these were created in the post 'computer experiments'. 

This first image is my triptych using just the regular edited images. I wanted to create this to show a progression throughout the day the first image starts off with a yellow tint from the morning sun, the second is neutral as it shows midday and the last has a blue tint to it to show the night approaching. I like the contrast between the three photographs as they have different hues but are tied together by the same setting and subject. 

These next three images are my 'silhouette' edits. I decided to mask the subject in the photographs to remove identity, this takes the image back to the original setting whereby the viewers attention is primarily on the room. I feel this provides a contrast between the work I created to show a meaning and narrative to reversing that and blurring the subject out altogether. 

Lastly, I decided to experiment putting the two separate parts together. I really like how this silhouette triptych has turned out as it is creative and original. I feel that this is one of the best pieces I have created. 

Final edits 

I decided to put this image as one of my final edits because I feel it reflects the work of Abelardo Morell, who is the photographer I based my original idea around. I feel like this image is really powerful as it feels still and quiet without a subject. The clouds seem to drift towards the pillow and everything looks undisturbed. I feel that it accurately portrays the feeling of stillness in the air in the early morning. I like the composition of this photograph as it is looking directly into the corner of the room, showing two walls coming away from each other but linked by the landscape. 

This photograph shows me sitting on my bed reading a book in the morning. As mentioned before I would like to put these images as a collage to show the changes throughout the day therefore I have shown myself doing activities corresponding to this. In this photo I am wearing my pyjamas whilst reading, something I do in the morning. I feel that the peacefulness of this act reflects the peacefulness of the morning that was previously comment on. what I particularly like about this photo is that I look quite small in the setting, therefore I am not consuming the landscape and the room looks bigger.  

I really like this image that I took later on in the evening. It is an image of me sitting at my desk on my laptop. The reason the landscape isn't as obvious as the others is because of the time of day, less sunlight was coming into the room therefore the landscape was more dull. However there is still a hint of it there and it reflects the vision we loose when darkness is approaching, how the landscape disappears or fades. One aspect I really like about this photograph is the light coming in though the door frame, it appears so bright compared to the rest of the room, as though it is shining. This is an interesting aspect of the darkroom as it compares the whats on the other side of the door to what I have photographed.  

I wanted to include my dog within this shoot as he is part of my daily routine. Again this image has been taken in the evening so it isn't as bright as some of the others. This is along with the fact that I had to use a 30 second shutter speed in order for my dog to stay still for the correct amount of time and not produce blur. I like the calm nature of the photograph, showing how pets fit into our life this further shows the lifestyle of the person within the camera obscura. 

Lastly, there is this image which is similar to the second one in this section. It is me reading book in the morning but I wanted to try it in a different position. At the time I took this photograph it was quite cloudy and overcast outside, therefore there isn't much detail in the buildings. However, this has created dark grey stripes across the wall where there are dark clouds outside, I like how this looks as it has altered the appearance of the sky, allowing me to contrast this to other images. Another aspect I like about this image is the way the light hits the end of my bed, it is brighter towards the end showing how the light would naturally hit without the camera obscura.  

Progress & critical evaluation (AO3) 

I feel that this shoot went better than the last one, mainly due to the fact that I managed to control the blur of the subject. The images were more sharp and better exposed due to an alteration with my camera settings. The only aspect I would change about this shoot is the saturation and detail of the landscape itself, it is much more dull than in the previous shoot. However I think this is due to the fact that it was a cloudy day therefore not as much light was coming into the room.

Overall, I am proud of the work I have produced in this shoot as it will work well with my idea for the computer experiment.

Computer experiments

Computer experiments 

In this blog post I will be showing how I created my computer experiments in Photoshop. To do this I will explain the steps I took to achieve these edits and screenshots to illustrate. 

Computer experiment 1 - Time changing triptych

Above is a triptych I have made in Photoshop, it shows three images taken at different times of day. I made this to illustrate the changes of colour and landscape at different points of the day. 

The first step I took in creating this was editing the images individually so that they had the correct exposure, tint and saturation etc. Secondly I reviewed the sizes of all the images and made them the same as the smallest one, this way when I put them together they would mirror each others size. Once this was complete, on the image I wanted to be in the middle I went onto Image, Canvas size and opened a canvas that was 150cm by 50cm (this large size was used primarily to fit the images on at the beginning). Next, I copied and pasted the other two photographs onto the one with the canvas and positioned them side by side. The last step I had to take was to change the image size back down to 50cm so the file was a man gable size. 

Computer experiment 2 - Silhouettes 

This was the second experiment I completed by turning the subject of the images into a silhouette or 'shape'. 

The first step I took in this process was to select the area I wanted to change using the 'quick selection' tool. In this case it was the subject of the image. 

Secondly, I changed the foreground colour which can be seen a the side of the photoshop screen. I decided to select grey as this would suit all of my images in different tones. I then went  onto the edit section and selected fill, foreground colour which resulted in what you can see above. 

Lastly, I used the 'smudge tool' to blend the subject into the setting. I had to do this as before it appeared to be withdrawn from the image with a line around it. 

Extra experimentation 

The last thing I done with these images was create a triptych again but with the silhouettes. I really like how this turned out as I feel it is quite original compared to other work. To do this I used the image I had just created and followed the steps that I did before to create my first triptych. Below is a screenshot showing how the layers were put together and edited.

 

Computer experiment 3 - Double landscape 

Below are two images I made in Photoshop using a picture from shoot 1 and a picture I took of my street to edit into these images. I wanted to do this to show how the landscape looks normally compared to how it was with the camera obscura. I tried two different techniques which will be explained below. 

Technique 1 - 

This was my first attempt at creating a 'double landscape' image. As you can see the part at the bottom isn't the full street, it is parts that I have selected individually to construct something similar. I decided to try it this way because it looked more simple against the camera obscura and didn't overcrowd the photograph. I done this by using the quick select tool and picking out the bits that I wanted. Once I had done this I was able to paste the parts and position them where I wanted. I decided to duplicate the bush to fill the space and make the landscape look seamless. Lastly I changed the opacity of the street so that it blended into the wall the same way the camera obscura does. 

Technique 2 -

This was the second technique I tried whereby I selected the whole street all at once and placed it into the image. I prefer the outcome of this edit as it looks more seamless and more realistic than the previous one. I feel that the crowded nature of the photograph adds to the feeling of a 'busy street' and adds a lot of interesting detail. I done this similar to the image above by selecting the area I wanted to copy, however this time I only had to make one selection and paste once. This was a lot easier than selecting individual parts. This shows how I have developed my technique between the two images consequently improving the outcome. 

This is a screenshot showing the exact area I selected for the second photograph and the small bits of detail, especially in the trees that I had o be careful about when selecting. It also shows how I edited this photograph slightly before copying it. I adjusted the curves as this made it stand out against the background more, making it easier to select. 

Computer experiment 4 - Mirrored image 

Computer experiment 4 uses one image from shoot 1. I decided I wanted to use this image and transform the look of it, linking in with my exam title of 'transformations'. Therefore I decided to experiment with mirroring it as it is something I don't usually do in my work. I like the outcome as the extended look of the house roof is very interesting and almost looks like it is coming from two different angles. 

To achieve this edit I firstly edited the image to the way you see above by altering the saturation and curves just to make the colour and detail stand out. Secondly I selected Image, Canvas size so that I could create a canvas that would hold both of the images, when selecting the size I changed the width to 200% of the original. I then selected the image that was on the right, copied and pasted it and positioned it to the left. When I had done this I selected the left image and flipped it horizontally, creating what you can see above. the last stage was to decrease the overall image size down to 50cm as otherwise the image would be too large to put into blogger. 

 

Physical Experimentation

Physical experimentation 

Throughout my project I have been using physical experimentation to achieve the photographs I have. The whole technique of camera obscura is a physical experimentation as I have had to try lots of different set-ups to get the right one. I have experimented with the size of lens hole as this alters the sharpness of the images until I found the one that worked the best which happened to be the size of a 2 pence coin. I have also experimented with different materials covering the window to see which one was the most effective at blocking out light. I found that black, thick paper worked the best as it made the room the darkest out of everything I tried. 

Other than the experimentation that I carried out whilst taking my actual photographs I have tried one concept that I thought would fit into my project. This can be seen below. 

I decided that for my physical experimentation I would add a window frame to an image I took during my camera obscura technique. I feel that this is a clever way of bringing the rooms real perspective of the landscape into the image. This is exactly what can be seen tom the inside of the bedroom apart from the fact its upside down. I thought I would keep the landscape upside down as this reminds the viewer that this is a camera obscura. The way I done this was by printing the image and then measuring so that I cut out a frame from white paper. I then designed the inside of the window according to the image behind. I like the outcome of this as it is quite original and fits into my concept well. It also links to the exam title, showing a transformation of an image that already is of a room transformation. 

I have only completed one psychical experiment as I feel this is the only one that fits into my idea and exam brief without going off topic. However, as I mentioned before the whole of my project demonstrates a physical experimentation. 

Shoot 1 - A Bright Perspective

A Bright Perspective 

This is my first shoot within the exam and I have titled it 'A Bright Perspective'. The shoot shows 'camera obscura', a technique I have been using to illustrate my exam criteria of 'transformations'. The reason I have called this shoot 'A Bright Perspective' is because when carrying out the technique it was a very sunny day, leading to the result of my camera obscura being extremely detailed and saturated. Alongside the projected landscape I decided to have a human subject that I used to show a narrative. 

Inspiration 

Throughout this shoot I have been inspired by the work of Abelardo Morell and Marja Pirila due to their work involving camera obscura. 

Abelardo Morell 

Abelardo Morell concentrates on the projected landscape as his images don't include people. I have been influenced by the composition of his work as he carefully chooses where in the room the landscape would work best. I have kept this in consideration during my shoots as I have looked at using furniture to show the 3D effect of the projection and the corners of rooms, showing how the landscape moulds. Below are some examples of his work: 

View of Central Park looking North - Fall 2008 

Clearly shown above, Abelardo Morell uses the corners of the room, showing the landscape engulfing every wall. I feel this is much more powerful than photographing a small section of one wall. 

Landscape where Galileo died in exile - 2009 

This photograph shows how the landscape outside works with the furniture in the room. The very tip of the tree's reach the bed as though they are reaching for the pillows. I feel by using the landscape in this way it makes the image interesting and thought-provoking. 

Marja Pirila 

This shoot was also inspired by the photographer Marja Pirila. Her work is different to Abelardo Morell's as it includes a subject, usually a person within the image showing a narrative. This has inspired me in my own work because I have decided to start using a subject doing activities to further develop my photographs. Below are some examples of her work: 

Reilika and Reno - 2002 

This is an example of subjects used in Marja's work and I believe it works very well as the viewers attention is split between the landscape and the subjects. I like the realistic feeling of Pirila's work, nothing in the setting is perfectly placed, it seems very natural. There is even slight blur on the ladies hand where the long exposure setting needed for camera obscura more often than not produces blur. 

Anu - 2004 

The power of colour is something I have also picked up from Marja Pirila's work. She often uses complimentary and saturated colours to set the image off. This can be seen above with the subtle use of complimentary colours from the girls ginger hair and the trees on the wall. I have tried to pay close attention to colour in my images however most of mine are quite subtle. 

Contact Sheets 

The images in red boxes are the ones I will be using as my straight images. 

Straight Images 

Below are my straight images from the shoot 'A Bright Perspective'. Straight images are un-edited therefore they don't show any development I would like to do on them. The photographs are underexposed, which was my goal for these images, because by having them underexposed I can work with them in Photoshop without loosing much detail. I have discovered this after much experimentation, it is best to have a sharp image and brighten it than extend the shutter speed and have a blurred image. 

Linking my work to research (AO1) - 

As you can see above the 'straight images' I have chosen from this shoot display the technique, camera obscura. In two of the images I have my subject (my sister in this case) who is showing how she belongs in the room. This is influenced by the work of Marja Pirila who photographs people in their own homes, usually their bedroom, to show their natural setting which is the concept I have adopted above. In terms of Abelardo Morell, the other two straight images are of the room and one of an easel, further displaying the way the subject lives within this setting. 

Camera Settings & Technique (AO2) - 

In this shoot I was using the technique camera obscura, whereby I covered every source of light in a room and created a lens on the window around the size of a 2 pence coin. This acts as a pinhole camera and the light that is let in is shown in the form of the landscape outside. This technique requires a long exposure time for the camera to absorb the light therefore I used a tripod to ensure that my images weren't blurred. This is crucial in this technique as it is impossible to keep the camera perfectly still for a prolonged period of time. 

In terms of my camera settings the only aspect that stayed the same was the aperture which I tried to keep at F20 or F22 to ensure that the images weren't noisy. My ISO varied between 100 and 400 depending on the amount of light coming through the lens at that particular moment and whether the photograph was going to be of a subject. If it did include the subject then I would put the ISO higher allowing me to have a shorter shutter speed, preventing the subject getting uncomfortable and moving. Lastly, there is the shutter speed used, the most important aspect of this technique as without a long exposure it wouldn't be possible to produce the image. All of the speeds used were over 1 minute going up to 2 minutes 30 seconds in some cases. 

Editing (AO2) - 

I have edited three of my four straight images, as upon closer inspection I felt that the last image was to blurred and lacked detail. Below I will demonstrate the stages I took with one image, however all of my editing processes were similar. 

Original image 

Step 1 - 

The first thing I did in Photoshop is open the image into the section where NEF files can be edited in closer detail. The main aspects I changed in this section were the exposure, contrast and the highlights. All of these are brightening factors expect contrast which was used to bring detail back. I needed to do this because the original photograph was extremely underexposed. 

Step 2 - 

The second thing I done was crop the image as there were things at the bottom of the photograph that I didn't want to keep in and a shadow at the side. I cropped the image as much as I could without loosing my subjects feet, to erase the rest I used the patch tool to alter the colour and then the dodge and burn tools to make it appear smoother. 

 Step 3 - 

The next ting I did was only a small alteration where I increased the saturation. I did this because I feel that the camera didn't pick up the brightness of the camera obscura like it was displayed in the room. Therefore I brought this effect back. 

Step 4 -

Lastly, I done another small alteration by using the 'colour balance' tool. With this I moved the bottom bar more towards yellow from blue as during the editing process I felt the tint had been changed. 

Edited image 

Computer experiments (AO2) - 

Below are the two computer experiments I done using the images taken in shoot 1. I decided to bring a direct image of the landscape into the camera obscure photograph and use mirroring to transform one of my subject photographs. I have explained how I achieved this along with screenshots in the post 'computer experiments'. 

This is the first edit I made, as you can see it is a 'double landscape' whereby an image of the street directly and the camera obscura have been put together. I decided to do this as I thought it would be an interesting idea to show what the landscape outside the window actually looks like in comparison to what is produced in the dark room. Although the image looks slightly complicated I think it forms a very interesting and detailed show of a landscape in a very original way. What I like about this edit is the fact that the bottom landscape blends into the background therefore reflecting the way a camera obscura works. This in one of my favourite edits that I have produced so far. 

This is my second experiment using images from shoot 1. I feel that this image is very intriguing and looks almost like an illusion. I decided to mirror this image because where the houses touch in the middle they appear to be coming out at different angles making the room look much longer than it actually is. I feel that this experiments with the use of mirrors that some photographers use in their camera obscura work. It expands on the idea of using interestingly shaped objects or rooms to see how the landscape wraps around them. I feel that I have created this concept through the use of photoshop however still keeping my subject as a focus of my work. 

Physical experimentation (AO2) 

I have completed a physical experiment for this shoot by adding a window frame to the image of choice. I done this by measuring how big I needed it to be, then cut it out of white paper and stuck it onto the image. The image below is the result: 

I decided to do this as I feel it brought the actual view from the window in with the view from inside the darkroom. I like this idea as I have centred most of my project around bringing a person and their interior and exterior environment together through the use of camera obscura. Therefore, by bringing the window frame into it too, it adds anew dimension to the meaning by showing what they see when looking out of their room. I like the outcome of this image as it is interesting and takes a close look to figure out what it is actually showing. 

I have slightly edited this image in Photoshop by smudging the frame to make it appear smoother. I have also increased the saturation of the photograph in order to bring back the colour that was lost through scanning the image on the computer. 

Final edits 

This is one of my final images from this shoot because I think it's original, it shows the camera obscura landscape quite close-up. I like the fact that the roof of the house is close to my subjects head and the point comes down past her shoulders, this makes the composition of the image very aesthetically pleasing. I feel that the contrast between the blue sky and the red brick house are crucial to it being seen beside my subject. In regards to the person, I recognise that they are slightly blurred, this is due to the long exposure time. However, that being said the blur doesn't ruin the image it fits in, the slight distortion of my subjects face makes them blend in with the hazy background. I feel that this image perfectly displays the title 'A Bright Perspective' as it is just that, an extremely bright and clear day that can be seen in the bright blue sky. 

This image encompasses everything I have learned from researching Abelardo Morell and it is definitely one of my favourites. The landscape that has been projected in this image is so sharp, bright and detailed, everything that I have been aiming to achieve. I feel that this photograph shows how I have refined my technique throughout the preparatory shoots and have been able to achieve some of the best work so far. The landscape seamlessly wraps itself around the room, curving around the wardrobe and not missing a spot, this really puts into perspective the bringing together of interior and exterior living environments. This image will be perfect to work with in physical and computer experiments. 

Lastly, there is his image which again I recognise there is blur in my subject. In this case it works because the rooftops are covering the subjects face, making it unclear whether movement is causing this or the landscape. This image is similar to the one above in terms of composition however I felt it was important to show the person that lives in this environment, in the style of Marja Pirila. I feel that by having my sister in the room it brings character, it doesn't just appear empty there is a personality that lives there. I also think the height of my subject relevant to the landscape is important because it follows in a line, whereby the two overlap in the middle, a good composition. 

Critical evaluation (AO3) - 

I feel that this shoot went well and is definitely an improvement on my preparatory ones. I have managed to refine my technique and create a more detailed and saturated landscape than I have before. To do this I have decreased the size of the lens I use so the landscape comes out sharper. I have also altered my camera settings especially in terms of ISO (light sensitivity) to ensure there isn't any noise in the photographs. However, there are some criticisms I have of this shoot, one being the blur in some of the photographs where my subject has moved, I feel that images with a subject require a higher ISO and shorter shutter speed to avoid this problem. Another aspect I need to work on is the exposure of the images as all of them were underexposed, although I can fix this in Photoshop it would be good to have the detail and correct exposure when opening the photographs.