Shoot 7-The shard

Shoot 7-The shard

Plans for shoot 

 For this shoot, as its my last preparatory shoot, i would like to take good quality photos that show that i have made progress throughout all of my preparatory shoots and show a clear cohesive body of work that works well with my previous shoots. I would also like to make sure i have a clear artist connection too.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

Photographers research-Alexander Rodchenko

I think that in this shoot it is clear that i have based my work upon the style of photography that Alexander Rodchenko used. This is because i have used the same perspectives that he had used within some of his photos and i have also tried to capture photos with a good tonal range in them. Alexander Rodchenko would often shoot in black and white which would make the tones in his photos more apparent and clear, so i think that if i had shot in black and white then i could have a clear connection to his work. However I'm nit trying to copy Alexander's work, i just used his influence to gave me greater contextual understanding of what perspectives would be unexpected and how to capture that using different angles.

Contact sheet 

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

For this shoot, my intentions were to try and keep a cohesive body of work so that this being the last shoot, summed up and included the same styles of photography that I used within my other previous preparatory shoots. So I ensured that my work was clearly linked to Alexander Rodchenko because then it allows me to take similar photos In this shoot to photos in my other shoots, meaning that I can clearly show the progress I have made throughout all seven preparatory shoots. In regards to the straight images from this shoot, again like my previous shoots the majority of the photos are taken from a low angle, showing the majority of the building. I think that taking photos from this type of angle allows me to frame my photos correctly, so that I can show the most important parts of the building that I want to include and so that I fill the frame as much as possible unless I'm trying to specifically leave enough empty space in the frame. For example with the second straight image I crammed the photo so that half of the building was visible and then the cranes near the building was in the frame too. Overall I think that this shoot includes some of the best straight images I have taken from all of the preparatory shoots and are very cohesive and flow well together as a set. 

Straight Images 

Images to improve

I think that this photo needs to be improved by either using Photoshop to edit it or re-take the photo. The photo is very over exposed in the top half of the photo because of the sky, which has made the right side of the photo where more of the glass is hardly visible due to so much white, so on Photoshop i would decrease the exposure and lower the white levels. Also because the overexposure, its hard to see if the top half of the photo is in focus or not, so i think the best thing to do for this image is re-take the photo.

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

On this shoot i used my Nikon D3100 camera that i used in all my previous shoots with a camera RAW file so that I could capture better quality images. For this shoot i used an aperture of f/22 and due to the day being overcast the lighting was bright this allowed me to use an iso of around 200 however when I when I was in certain areas near buildings the lighting would become dark due to shadows from buildings. I used shutter speed of around 1/30 or 1/40 because of the fact i did nit have a tripod with me i do think that some of the photos are quite dark however it does mean i was able to get a more varied tonal range. I do plan to go back at a less busy time so i can retake some images around this arear. Also, me not using an tripod has effected my work as a downside, as a tripod would have allowed me to keep the camera steady and used slower shutter speeds and still have a high aperture, it also would help with he framing of photos. .

AO4

I think that with this shoot I was able to get quite a few good quality images for this shoot which is what I wanted to achieve. And I also wanted to show how the photos that I took for this shoot link in with photos from all of my previous six shoots. I did this by using the same types of techniques, framing and angles that I would use for every other shoot. I also wanted to make sure that as my last shoot this shoot had a clear link to one of the main artists the has influenced my work so far. Within these photos I wasn't really able to get any proper reflections of buildings except from a couple of small reflections in some photos so I can't link my work to Ernst Haas, but because of the type of perspectives and angles that I used, I think that my work does link to Alexander Rodchenko. As this shoot is my last shoot for my preparatory work, I think that it works well as an ending shoot, because I do plan to come back and do one of my exam shoots here so that I can improve upon some photos that needed improving in this shoot.

Work record 5-Barbican

Work record 5-Barbican

Plans for shoot 

For this shoot I plan to capture more photos similar to the style of Ernst Haas so that my work can link to both the main photographers. So that would mean trying to capture more photos that consist of reflections of other buildings.

Photographers influence-Ernst Haas

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

I think that out of all of the artists that i have researched, Ernst Hass is the most relevant photographer for this shoot. I think this because i know that Ernst has taken numerous photos based on similar things to what I did with this shoot, so i thought that my intentions for my shoot were very similar Ernst's because .in his work he incorporates reflections and looking through windows, so I think that my work links closer to his as I have incorporated some elements of his work into mine, especially in this shoot. However I do think that I can improve upon using the influence of his work in my work as the reflections in my work at not as clear cut and don't fill the whole frame like the reflections in his work.

Contact sheet

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

In this shoot I indented to try and capture more reflections and different angles. I have also tried  to achieve some wide angles towards the end of the shoot. That's why i went to the area around barbican because I knew there was a variation of buildings that I would be able to do this with. I think that with this shoot I did improve upon certain aspects that I had lacking in other shoots or I hadn't done as well as could of, for example with the second straight image, I have used that angle in previous shoots but I haven't been able to achieve and image as well framed or exposed as that one. I also think that compared to other shoots this shoot I was able to work well with the exposure and used it to my benefit, for example with the first straight image, even though the bottom left corner is over exposed, I was able to create an ombre effect through the image, which I think helps with the unexpected perspective. With the third image was able to capture a photo of a reflection of a building, which I have tried to capture before, but I have not been able to successfully take a photo of a reflection. The photo also links best to Ernst Hass' work as I captured a reflection of another building in the window of one building, similar to what he did in new York. I think that in terms with progress, I have shown progression with trying to link my work to more than one photographer, and I have been able to successfully take photos that of certain angles that I have tried to in past shoots.

Straight images

Improve

As I did not use a tripod, I was not able to capture this photo  in the best quality because movement has viably affected this photo, also the exposure isn't even throughout the photo, even though it wouldn't be due to the shadows in the area of where I took the photo, but the exposure could still be better because it is over exposed more to the left. So to improve this photo I would need to re-take the photo with a tripod to ensure that the camera is still and I could use a faster shutter speed which would help with the over exposure.

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

On this shoot i used my Nikon D3100 camera that i used in all my previous shoots with a camera RAW file so that I could capture better quality images. As this day was very clear the lighting was bright this allowed me to use an iso of around 200 however when I when I was in certain areas near buildings the lighting would become dark due to shadows from buildings, so I would however my iso to 400 or 800 to help. I used shutter speed of around 1/125 or 1/250 because of the time of day and i couldn't have a shutter speed and lower as the trembling of my hands from me holding the camera would have effected the photos with blur. I brought my tripod with me but due to the busy nature of the area i was in and time of day I could not use it, however I do plan to go back at a less busy time so i can retake some images of the barbican tower, Also, me not using an tripod has effected my work as a downside, as a tripod would have allowed me to keep the camera steady and used slower shutter speeds if i needed to. And with a tripod I would be able to have a higher aperture all the time at around f 22 which would allow the whole photo to be in focus but decreases the shutter speed time.

Edits 

AO4

Overall I do think I achieved what I planned and set out to achieve, as I was able to capture a couple of photos similar to the style of Ernst Haas by taking some photos of reflections in buildings. However I don't think that I captured as many images of reflections as I would have liked. So, I think further on in my work I would like to have a shoot that consisted of more reflections, because I think that the ideas of using reflective buildings to take reflections of buildings is a really interesting and experimental concept. I think that the photos that I have taken in this shoot is consistent with the work in my previous shoots and the photos are all relevant to unexpected perspectives.

Work record 6-Kings cross

Work record 6-Kings Cross

Plans for shoot

I think for this shoot being my second to last shoot, I would like to try and work on tones within my photos, I think that Kings Cross would b a good place to do that because the buildings are quite close together meaning that there will be shadows, so I can get darker tones in my photos .

Contact sheet

 

 

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

For this shoot i wasn't able to capture that many photos that i could include in my straight photos due to the quality of them, however the photos that i have included are the same style as the photos from all my previous shoots, for example the last two straight images are similar to many straight images from my previous shoots, due to the angle and position i took them from. However i do think that by taking those images i have shown progression in the way of taking photos of similar angles because i have framed them well and the exposure of the photos are good. The first two straight images are similar to previous photos taken, however in these photos i have captured multiple buildings in the shot instead of just one. I have tried to take photos similar to the first two straight images before, but i haven't been able to take as good as i have in this shoot. So i do think that i have made progress within this shoot, even though some photos may not be as good as previous shoots due to the high ISO.

Straight images

Improve

This photo has been greatly effected by the high ISO that I had to use to accommodate  for the low lighting. The grain in the photo is highly visible in this photo, especially in the darkest sections of the photo. S to improve this photo I would need to re-take the photo at a lighter time, which would allow me to use a lower ISO of maybe around 200.

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

 

On this shoot i used my Nikon D3100 camera that i used in all my previous shoots with a camera RAW file so that I could capture better quality images. The time of day for this shoot was relatively late at around 3pm because I had completed a previous shoot just before this however I had not expected the lighting to darken so quickly, also because of the shadows from all the buildings surrounding each other it made it worse. So because of this my ISO was 800 to help as much as I could with the light, however this caused some photos to become grainy. I used slow shutter speed of around 1/60 because of the time of day and i couldn't have a shutter speed and faster as I needed to keep my aperture at round f/22 for the depth of field in the photos. I think that if I had used a tripod I would have been able to achieve better quality photos than I had. I didn't have much of a problem with blur or movement, it was more so the lighting of the photos.

Edits

Photographers influence-AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding

Evan though the lighting being dark is mostly a bad thing for the quality of my photos, because of the low lighting I was able to capture darker tonal ranges in my photos due to the shadows, which I have struggled with a bit to achieve as varied tonal ranges are common in Alexander Rodchenkos work. I have used the same low angles as well in this shoot too, meaning that my photos have similar perspectives to Alexander Rodchenkos work.

AO4

I think that of all of my shoots this one is the worst in terms of photo quality, even though I was able to capture a couple of good straight photos, I didn't take as many photos as would normally do for my shoots, meaning that I have less straight photos. However i was able to improve upon an aspect of my work that i have been trying to improving upon constantly throughout my work, tones. Which then links my work more strongly to my artists research so i am glad that i could progress on that aspect. I think that fr my next shoot i would like to take a larger shoot with a greater amount of better quality images due it being my last preparatory shoot.

Photographers research-Joel Meyerowitz

uses 8×10 versus and Leica

http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2014/01/22/12-lessons-joel-meyerowitz-has-taught-me-about-street-photography/

Influence- For my exam i plan to use Joel Meyerowitz style of photography in order to further develop my work experimentally. By using Joel's style i will be able to bring together the concept of people in urban cites and the buildings within the urban cities like London. To achieve this i will use the editing technique of double exposure and ultimately join the photos i take of people in London and the photos of buildings in London. I want to do this because i think that it would be interesting to see the outcomes of combining two photos that consist of people and buildings taken from an unexpected perspective, as I would be a bel to further the unexpected perspective of the photo by changing the perspective of the people, for example if I brought together a photo of a building and a photo of people by inserting the photo of people on top of the building, then flipped the photo of people horizontally, the people will then be viewed as upside down whilst the building is upright, ultimately creating an unexpected perspective. 

Photographers research-Alexander Rochenko

Alexander Rodchenko 

movement- constructivism (russia)
Influence-

Photographers research-Ernst Haas

Ernst Haas

Ernst is considered as one of the pioneers of colour photography, which has lead him to be acclaimed as one of the most influential photographers and celebrated of the 20th century. When Ernst was  photographing in black and white in New Mexico he wanted to experience colour photography, however at the time there was no colour photography only coloured photographs. Before experimenting with colour photography Ernst was more active in photojournalism, so his photography was more situated around war. However with the emergence of colour photography, Ernst became more interested in the super-reality of dreams. To achieve photographs in this sense he gave commonplace objects and silhouettes a new meaning. For example a photo of a  reflection, brought out the hidden depths that underly in a urban storefront window. (Like the last there photos below). The reason why i decided to research Ernst Haas' work was because i had previously studied his work of photojournalism in English, so i thought his work in urban areas that featured reflections would be relevant to what i am capturing in my photography. After looking at Ernst's work i have become influenced  with the idea of using the reflections in building windows to capture other buildings, or to just add more layers o the photos. I think that Ernst has along with Alexander Rodchenko will be my main photographers for influence due to their photographic techniques, like Alexanders angles and perspectives and the idea of reflections from Ernst.

Influence-Ernst Haas has had great influence on my work, especially photographic techniques. I think that after researching Ernst i was informed mostly on the best way to frame a photo for an unexpected perspective and i discovered using the reflections of other buildings to make to the photo to more unique and unexpected. Due to Ernst shooting a lot in New York, i think that was why i was able to achieve photos of similar styles because i shot in London. So due to the buildings being similar, tall, i was able to take photos with the same perspectives for example low angles looking up towards the buildings. After researching Ernsts' work i realised that reflections were a common occurrence within my work due to the majority of the buildings in London having a lot of glass. So i have tried to incorporate reflections of buildings into my photos as much as possible, at least once a shoot.

Work record 4-Canary Wharf

Work record 4-Canary Wharf

Plans for shoot

During my previous shoots i realised that i didn't not have as much artist influence incorporated as I would have liked to, so even though the artists that i have researched like Alexander Rochenko are evident in my work in terms of photographic techniques that they have used like angle, for example i use a lot of low tones that are taken from the ground up, similar to Alexanders work. I still haven't taken an image that is similar to there, so i think that for this shoot i would like to try and capture a photograph that i could show to resemble an original photo of theirs, so the tones, angle and general composition like the framing would need to be similar. To have my work link closer to Alexander Rodchenko's i have thought about taking my images in black and white for this shoot so that I can achieve similar images to his, especially in terms of the tones that Alexander was able to convey in his photographs. However Alexander would normally use a Lecia film camera, a 9 by 2-cm plate camera or 13 by 18 cm view camera. However, because i only use a normal nikon DSLR camera i am not able to use apertures as low as a film, view or plate camera would be able to, thus meaning i am not able achieve the same tones in black and white photography that Alexander would. So i think i will stick to capturing photos in colour and if i need to have them in a black and white format then i will edit the photo black and white.

A01- Photographers influence:Alexander Rodchenko

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

I think that out of all of the artists that i have researched so far, Alexander Rodchenko is the most relevant photographer for this shoot because he was my original influence for angles that look up towards the buildings from below and as this shoot is working on angels and tones I think Alexander is the most suitable. In his work he incorporates a lot of tonal ranges, however I do think that I can improve upon using the influence of tones his work in my work as the tones in my work at not as dark and varied. For example the photos below are slightly similar due to the angle of the photo taken, however with my photo I don't have any of the tones that are present within Alexander's work, so I would like to improve upon tones if I can.

Contact sheets 

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

For this shoot my intent was experiment more tones different angles and try to get more unexpected perspectives that I had in previous shoot, I have also been trying achieve lower angles which I think I did with the last straight image. That's why i went to Canary Wharf because I knew there was a variation of tall and large buildings that I would be able to do this with. I think that with this shoot I did improve upon certain aspects that I had lacking in other shoots or I hadn't done as well as could of, for example with the last three straight images are looking uptowards the sky and have the whole length of the building in it, but I was also able to keep the whole photo in focus and at the right exposure which I have failed to do in previous shoots.. I also think that compared to other shoots this shoot I was able to work well with the exposure which was kept well balance throughout the image, which I think helps with the unexpected perspective. 

Straight images 

Images that need improvement 

This photo is not the best that it could be because the framing is not what I was trying to achieve and there is a slight over exposure in certain areas due to the sun beginning to set. What I had planned for this photo was to try and capture the building at the lower section of the frame and have it more square instead of slightly tilted like I have captured. So to improve this photo I could try to edit it in Photoshop and try to correct the lens settings, or tilt the photo and for the over exposure I could decrease the white levels or decrease the exposure so that the exposure is more level throughout the photo.

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

For this shoot i used my Nikon D3100 camera that i used in all my previous shoots in London and shot with a camera RAW file. For this shoot I went to London at around mid day to shoot which allowed me to use a low ISO of 200 which means that my photos are not effect by graininess that much.. However towards the end of the shoot it became overcast meaning the lighting was getting darker and which didn't help when I was taking photos of the buildings but from an area that was in shadows because I had to raise my ISO higher and my shutter speed had get lower around 1/60 to compensate for the aperture. Because of the area I was taking photos in, Canary Wharf I as not allowed to use a tripod and also take photos of certain buildings which did affect my work as I was planning on experimenting with this shoot by taking  photos of the people who were walking around the area, mostly the workers from the buildings, then using double exposure to place images of people and buildings ontop of each other, which was an experimental idea that was influenced by .

Edits 



AO4

I think that in terms of quality of photos, so far this has been my best shoot because I was able to get more good quality photos of different buildings with a variation of angles. I think that the general composure, framing and exposure of my photos from this shoot are better than my previous shoots but I think that because I'm learning and developing from my previous shoots and mistakes I had made. For this shoot I wanted to improve upon the use of tones in my work, because its of importance for the link to Alexander Rodchenkos work, however I don't think that the tones in my photos are of any different to my previous shoots. I don't really have that many shadows present in my work.. However I still think that this shoot works well with my previous shoot as a cohesive body of work.