Distorted Reflections

Final Pieces

Electronic Portfolio

Overall Project Evaluation

During my topic, I chose the starting point of Evidence. Initially, I chose to look at weather. The reason I thought of doing weather was because I figured there would be endless possibilities as to what I could do in my project. I thought that I could associate anything with weather. Then, with careful consideration, I figured that actually the weather starting point would not have been the best idea for me. This is because; weather is the only starting point out of the 5 which I was not able to control. Reflecting on the topic as a whole now, I understand that I made the right choice in not doing weather as through most of the project, we were faced with gloomy grey days. Although it can be seen as ironic that on the day of the exam, we had one of the nicest days weather of the year. Next, I looked at starting on creative use of light. I thought that this would have been the best topic for me to start on as I feel like I am a creative person and I could've done a lot with light. As I have my own camera and tripod, I wouldn't have been restricted on doing work at college and I could've shot at home at different times of the day. Again, I rethought about my ideas and felt like I didn't want to do enough with light for it to be my starting point. I did want to include light in my project, along with the weather, and figured the only way I could choose a range of topics was by choosing Evidence. Now, after completing my projects and doing over 10 shoots from the Evidence starting point, I know that this was definitely the right choice for me. I was not ever restricted as to where I could go and I incorporated a lot of different themes in my work. 

Following on from the practice shoots that I did, I had already taken pictures of weather and nature. Therefore, I had the knowledge and the reflection on what I could do. I then had chosen Evidence, and decided to look at evidence of light. This involved me going out to a wooded area on a sunny day and capturing the effect that light had on buildings, reflections and nature. I took several images from the shoot that I like including one in which there are a number of shadows from the trees over a classmate. I like this image as the shadows are clearly from the trees. I already had the knowledge from the first unit and I was able to apply different techniques in Photoshop, which I had learned, from the first topic. I also took another image from that shoot which involved a strong reflection being present on one of the buildings around my college. This brought me on to my next shot where I decided to move on and look at the different buildings and manmade objects. This shoot involved me focusing more on the reflections of different buildings and looked at buildings and architecture. 

In the third shoot, I decided to base my work on the formal element of reflection. I chose to do this as I had looked partly at reflections from the other images that I had previously taken. This was a formal element that I had enjoyed from unit 1 and therefore I wanted to explore it in further detail. Reflection was one of my favourite parts of photography as you can do so much with them. Reflections are found on nearly anything, and can be easily manipulated. In this shoot, I decided to look at natural reflections to widen my understanding before I made my own. This shoot also went well as one of my favourite images from the units was where the reflection showed more than the real version did. In the fourth shoot, I looked at manipulating and distorting my own reflections. I feel as though this was one of my most creative images, as I placed my model in front of the mirror and altered the reflection. For example, in the mirror, we can see her pushing up her hair and posing. However, in the real image she is applying lipstick. I did this with several people, however it did not always go to plan as sometimes the model would cover the mirror and therefore it was near on impossible for me to alter the reflection in it. 

After doing my shoot with Megan, I wanted to adapt reflection to try and get it to fit into light. I looked at the different ways in which I could make this possible, and one was by looking at reflections in a different way, and placing it into a different context. I looked at how reflections could be associated with the reflection in eyes, and researched how other photographers had embarked on eyes in their work. As I also wanted to look at light, I decided to take pictures of glow sticks. Initially, I wasn't sure if it was going to work. Then, I came up with the idea of placing them in the centre of people’s eyes. I took several images of eyes, controlling the light each time to ensure it was visible and there was no shadows. Initially, it was hard as I didn't follow the shape of the eye and just took pictures of glow sticks. Then, I realised that to make it fit it would be best for me to make these glow sticks circular to follow the layout of the eye. Now that I had included light into my topic, I thought that I would have some fun with it. I had already studied a photographer who focused on light writing, and wanted to make my work look like herself. Therefore in the next shoot, it was easy for me to include this into my work. In this shoot, I took images of people and then slowed down the shutter speed so that I could go behind them and write their name. 

During the seventh shoot, I took glow sticks and placed them into bottles of water. The reason I did this was because I wanted to explore more of the light topic and I had seen images on the Internet. One thing that differed for me was the way that I had to use smaller glow sticks as appose to the larger ones, which were commonly used on the Internet. However, to combat this I used a lot smaller ones, which emitted the same amount of light. I like this shoot as I used a black background and I feel like my images came out well. After this, to progress, I looked at other things that I could do with water. One of these was by dropping ink or food colouring into them; I captured these on a high-speed camera in which I held down the shutter to get these images of the impact they had on the water. This shoot was by far my favourite out of the unit because it was the most fun and I feel like the images I got out of it were the best. 

Finally, in my last two shoots I decided to go back to the reflection aspect of my unit and went to two different cities. In the first, I went to London at night and looked at the way that the city lit up. I thought this shoot was successful, and I got some great photographs from it. However, I feel like I didn't explore the architecture as much as I could have and therefore decided to return in my exam. My 5-hour exam was also successful for me, as I took over 200 images and had enough time to edit my favourites. I made a photo joiner with the experience I had from the first unit for the Gherkin, which I also think was successful. I was also lucky enough to go to Paris in the Easter holidays, and therefore used this experience to take a number of different images of iconic landmarks and experience a new culture. Overall, I feel as though my unit was a success as all of my shoots followed on from one another and I learned a lot of new techniques, including how to transform buildings and follow the inspiration of other photographers I have studied. 

Connecting Essay 5

The first image is one that I found from the internet when looking at ways I could show reflection in my photography. I bought a range of different ideas I had together and found images after that were similar to mine. Selective colour in the eye stands out to me as the rest of the image is in black and white. They have brightened the outside of the eye, while the top corner is nearly in complete darkness. This draws the audiences attention to the pupil of the eye. The reflection in the pupil has been edited so that ita ppears as though there is a person crawling inside and trying to escape. This may convey many different meanings and emotions to the audience. Each viewer may interpret the inside of the eye differently, and leads them to ask there own questions as to what it means. The way that they have performed it makes it appear as if they are inside the eye and are pressed against it trying to escape. There is a lot of tone and texture in the image, although it is also clear that the other parts of the eye have been softened so that the pupil is the main focus. Although everything is still in focus, the hairs of the eyelashes stand out. The colour in the pupil is also not very strong, conforming to the dark emotions that are emitted from the image.

Internet Image

In my own image, I merged two different pictures together on photoshop. I took one image from my light shoot, in which the sun is seen shining through the trees. Then, when in the studio I came up with the idea of putting different scenes into pupils of peoples eyes. Initially, it took along time until I got the right image as many didn't look realistic and took the effect of the eye away. In the below image, I think it stands out to me as the sun inside the eye shines through directly in the centre, reenacting a pupil. I chose not to put the rest of the image in black and white as although I feel it would make the pupil stand out, I like the use of colour as I am not trying to convey a negative emotion. The image would have a different feeling should it be in black and white, however, I wish I did put one image in black and white to see how they contrasted from one another. I also didn't use soft focus in my image, I felt like the eye was beautiful and therefore it wouldn't have been as sharp should it have been in soft focus. I chose to zoom in and make the eye close up, from straight on, as it meant that it was looking directly into the audience who was looking at it. 

Own Image 

In both the internet image and my image, the main connection is the theme explored. I came up with this idea with no inspiration from the internet, I took two different ideas and placed them together. Both of my image and the internet image also contrast in different ways. The internet image has kept its colour in the eye, placing the hands over the top and blurring out the background. I chose not to do this, but to get rid of all the colour in the eye and replace it with the setting. The use of placing the image in black and white means that there is a deeper tone and makes the image suit the hand crawling outside of the eye. If the image was in colour, it would not have made the pupil of the eye stand out as much. There is a selective colour in the Internet image, to enhance it. However, I didn't choose to do this in my image and now looking at it, I wish I edited it so that the pupil stood out more as a result of this.

Connecting Essay 4

In this first image that I found online, we can see a clear distorted reflection. The first thing that the viewers eyes are drawn too is the eaten apple core. We see this through the use of composition and lighting. There was a strong light presence on the apple core, and it is much brighter than the other parts of the frame. The lighting is shown through the lightest parts on the mahogany and on the light apple. In contrast to this, the audience is then drawn to the reflection in the mirror. As we can see from this image, there is a huge contrast between the eaten apple in the image, and the full apple in the mirror. I feel like this image was extremely creative and I have looked at other images like this, but that featured a range of different ideas. One of the reasons I like this image so much is through the juxtaposition between the two images, which perfectly display a distorted reflection. There is a big light source, which creates shadows and highlights the two main objects in the image. 

Internet Image

In my own image, I had the previous knowledge of distorted reflections which were natural. However, it was then time for me to create my own distorted reflections which were manmade. I did this by placing Megan in front of a mirror, I then got her too pull a variety of different poses. Some of them were very similar and therefore it was much harder for me to make it clear to the viewer that the pose she is pulling differs from real life to the reflection. In the final set of images, I had Megan applying makeup such as putting on mascara and pushing up her hair. However, the hardest challenge for me was ensuring that the mirror was never covered by Megan's body. The image below in which Megan is looking into the mirror, took a lot of thought and consideration as I needed to make it clear that there was a juxtaposition. I chose two poses, which were not at all the same. The first, you can clearly see her applying lipstick, with both of her hands down. Secondly, when in the mirror, she is pushing up her hair and not applying anything to her face. The lighting and composition in the room was also a big part of the image as we needed to make sure that she was positioned enough to see her both fully and see a clear juxtaposition.

Own Image

 The key connection in both of my image and the internet image is the difference in the real life state and the reflection. Although the composition of the images is different and the subject, they are both based on the same topic, which is to show how a reflection can be altered. Both of the images were done through editing software, which involves placing an altered reflection in the mirror while keeping the real image the same. I chose to do my image differently to the one involving the apple which placed the real image on the image. I think this worked better in mine due to the layout of the room that I was shooting in and the angles in which my model was posing. In the first image, there is also more directional light which encourages the viewer to look directly at the apple and highlights through the image in the reflection. To conclude, the main connection between the images is that the theme is the same which explores the idea that reflections can be manipulated and each person has there own idea as to what they see in the mirror. 

Connecting Essay 3

In this image, the photographer used a technique to show the movement formal element. The technique the photographer used is called motion blur, in which the streaking of fast moving objects is shown in the image. This is done through putting the camera on a tripod so it is completely still, then, when an object moves, you can capture the streaks of light. In this image, the photographer used two iconic landmarks to exhibit the location of the photograph. By using a telephone box and a London bus, it is clear that the photograph was taken in London. This is key as it allows the audience to relate to the picture as they can see where it is set. The strongest formal element used is movement, as we can see the bus moving quickly along the road through the blurred image and opacity. The composition and angle of this image is strong in this image, as the telephone box is situated in front of the bus therefore it can be seen in its entirety. This is helpful as if it was taken on the other side of the road then you wouldn't have got the telephone box in the side of the photograph. I also think that the lighting and the time in which this photograph was taken plays a big part in the impact it has. It would not have been the same effect if it was light outside, as it wouldn't have had the bright coloured lights. 

Internet Image

In contrast, the following image is one that I took when I went to London. In this image, it is clear that I also used the technique of motion blurring, in order to capture the formal element movement. The use of the London Bus was a lot clearer in this image than in other ones which I took. I thought it would be better if I used a larger object, as appose to light streaks from cars. The reason I like this image so much is because I left it on a much longer timer than in others, therefore you still get the streaks of light from other cars that went past. I took this image at night, however, there was a lot of light pollution around where I took this image therefore it doesn't appear as dark. This is because I took the image outside Piccadilly Circus, in which the lights are so powerful that the sky doesn't appear black. The composition of this image was done so that we could see the background was still, this ensured that there was a clear contrast as to what the movement was.

Own Image

There is a connection between my image and the internet image through the use of the technique 'motion blur'. This technique occurs when the photographers places the camera on a tripod or any other steady fixture, and placing the camera into a longer shutter speed. This means that the moving objects are able to blur, cause light streaks if they're cars, and pursue the impression of it moving. The best way to do this, is to show the background which will remain still and in focus. I feel like both our images differ in a number of ways too, for example. The first image in which I found online shows off the London Telephone Box which is an iconic association that people would make with the city. This then sets off the location of the photograph and will allow people to relate it to the city. In my image, there is a strong presence of the colour red as it takes up most of the frame. However, other than the red bus, there is nothing which instigates that this is set in London. This is an approach which I would hope to make more clear if I was to go back and reenact this photograph. 

Connecting Essay 2

Following on from my previous shoot, I decided to look at light writing and how I could be creative but follow the same style in other photographers I have researched. The following photograph from Lani Young, is one in a portfolio she took where she would use torches, lighters and glowsticks outside to show off the creativity of light. I feel as though in this image she did that well, she simply got her model to sit on a bench in the middle of a dark location and kept a long exposure on the image. After pressing the shutter, she then went and wrote his name behind him. There is a number of reasons why I like this image and why it stood out for me than the others. Firstly, this image features a model. Many of the images that I have looked for in light writing is just the writing in an unimaginable location. Although this is only a park bench, I feel like it makes the photo more intriguing by simply placing someone in the centre. I also like the composition, the model doesn't take up too much of the frame and therefore there is enough space for his name to be wrote. Finally, I also like the idea as a whole. Many of the other images was just writing, or drawing with a number of illuminable products. However, this photograph has meaning, and is so simple, yet effective.

Internet - Lani Young

The following image I took comes from a range of different images of my classmates. When I was researching different ideas from light writing and what I could do with my images, I saw a photograph in which there was a variety of buildings and locations. On these images, the photographer had wrote using a torch the name of the location summarised. In my image, I decided to get my class mates to sit on a stall in the studio. By using my camera on a tripod, I did a long exposure. To begin with, the flash went off and I then had the image of my person. I then had 15 seconds to go round the back of the model and write there name back to front. The reason I decided to do it all in one image as appose to taking the image of my model and then placing the text over the top was too improve my camera skills. Before researching, I didn't know I could previously do this on my camera. It also means that I can see on the spot whether it would work, instead of going back onto photoshop and trying to place the text behind the model. I made sure that all of my images looked similar, while making my model duck down so that it looked like the text was appearing over their face.

Own Image

There is a strong connection between my image and the internet image that I have found. The biggest one, is the layout, in which we both feature a model and then text above it highlighting their name. The composition is similar in both of the images, however, my image is closer up to the model and the writing was smaller. There is also a big difference between both of our images, the first is that the internet image by Lani Young was taken on location. This meant that the on location image had more going on in it as the background contrasted the model and the writing. The lighting in my image was also more focused on the model, whereas in the location image it has been focused on both the light and the background to show where they are. I chose to make my image in the studio as I didn't have access to many resources should I have done it on location. I would have had to perform it at night which would have been a lot harder, whereas the studio was dark enough anyways. 

Connecting Essay 1

This photograph is one that I collected when researching how to perform food colouring in water on the internet. In this image, the photographer used ink as appose to food colouring as it is stronger and they were able to create the illusion that it was separated from the water. The photographer used three glasses, and placed them in a row on white backgrounds, they also used a white stand to place the cups on which allowed him to use shadows. There are several shadows around each glass, all from different angles to suggest there was several light sources. This is also displayed through the light reflections on each side of the glass. I like this image for many reasons; firstly, I feel like the choice of colours was key in making the ink stand out. The use of the strong green, in juxtaposition to the calm blue and the bright yellow stands out to me. I also feel like if he had used weaker colours which were not as strong, such as light colours, it would not stand out as much. Secondly, the photographer captured the glass in its entirety, which is what most photographs do not do. Finally, I like how the ink in particularly the yellow, appears to be coming out of the bottom of the glass. 

Internet

The following image is one that I took from a shoot in which I dropped food colouring into a wine glass. In the following image, I edited it heavily in photoshop to make it appear as though the image was taken at once. I cropped three different parts of where the food colouring fell into the water and mixed, I then placed the three in a triptych and edited the curves to get rid of the corners of the glass. I made the background bright white, in which it was not in the unedited photographs. I didn't enhance the colours of the food colouring in these images, which is why I like the choice of colours so much. I found inspiration for these images when I was online looking at different photographers. Many of them took images in which they captured high speed images of water hitting an object and the impact that it had on them. I chose not use any borders on the image to make it appear as though it was all one image and was occurring simultaneously. I chose to flip the blue and red image, so that they were directing towards the image, I feel like this helped me as it meant that the viewer was drawn towards the centre which was the yellow image.

Own Image

There is a strong connection between my image and the image I found online when I was looking at internet images of different liquids being dropped into water. One of the strongest, is the context of the image in which they both feature different coloured liquids being dropped into water. In the first image, they chose to capture the entire glass. In the image I have chosen to compare, I chose to zoom directly into the food colouring. I had taken other images in which I shot using a wine glass, however, I struggled to show the entire glass as a lot of my set meant that there was a back lighting to stop the reflection on the glass being too strong. The colours are also very similar, although I chose not to use green as it didn't come up strong in my images and was too runny, therefore it didn't have the same effect that the other thicker liquids did.

Steve Mayes

Why I chose Steve:

By scrolling through my research log, it was clear that I had chosen many photographers who focused their images on the same topics. Many of these included a range of different portrait shots including people. Therefore, it was refreshing to see that I had chosen a photographer who I had liked, that didn't manipulate or change his images, but enhanced them to allow the audience to feel the atmosphere as though you were there. Many photographers that I had chosen changed several parts of there images to make them more futuristic or modern, however, I don't feel like this is a true representation of architecture and the beauty of it. Therefore, I chose Steve Maye's work to explore architectural photography which is new to me, but in hope that I can aspire to take pictures similar to his. 

Bio:

"I’m an architectural photographer. That is the core of my business and my passion. The end product varies depending on your requirements as a client: a portfolio of digital files, a single multi-image panorama, a framed print. What you are investing in doesn’t. My photography is about capturing that sense of place, and whatever format they are viewed in by you, and your own customers, they will demonstrate great pride in the imagery you incorporate within your business."

Steve Mayes explores many formal elements when looking at architecture in this image. He uses depth, as we are able to see the different lines and amount of chairs in each. He also explores colour, as we can see the different shades from each part of the chair. The strongest formal element used in this photograph is pattern, as we can see patterns and repetition of the same chair throughout. This is shown as they are all facing the same way. I will try to make my photograph similar to Maye's, by going to a stadium or a host to a lot of seats and try to reenact the symmetry in the same way that he does. 

This photo strikes me through the use of black and white.  When looking at several of his portfolios, Steve Maye's doesn't really use any filters over his images. Instead he feels he wants to reenact the feeling of a place by trying to make it as realistic as possible. However, I feel as though the use of black and white in this image is key to ensuring that it stands out from the rest. The use of the formal element pattern shows off and highlights the beauty of the image. I also like the composition, where the stair case elegantly stands out from with its dominance in the centre of the image. 

A lot of Steve Mayes work reflections on traditional architecture and the different values that we would associate with that. Therefore, when choosing this image, I looked at how modern it was in contrast to his other pieces of work. I like the angle of this image, as he is looking at the building, which we can see is modern through the large panes of glass and the white walls. The composition of the image stands out to me. 

In this image, Steve Mayes has edited it by taking two images. One in which the background  is still and there is no people in the image. Then he has placed a different image with numerous people over the top, and has turned the opacity down so it shows how they are not fixed like the architecture is in the background. This image is much more creative than his other work which makes it stand out to me. 

Influences

The work of Steve Mayes had a massive impact on my city shoots in London and Paris. When I went to these cities, I already had previous knowledge and the work from photographs such as Steve Mayes. In my exam, I looked at the different architecture and the ways in which I can explore it in my own work. I was influenced by Steve Mayes, due to his different techniques he explores when showing off architecture. In the image below, I used selective colour on my second image and turned the background into black and white. I wouldn't have done this without the work of Steve Mayes. 

Summary

Overall, I still appreciate the work of Steve Mayes just as much as I did when I chose him to be in my research log.  The reason I like his work so much is because it stands out to me as not only capturing architecture, but allowing the audience the chance to feel like they're at the place. He captures an atmosphere in his images, which is different to the other photographers I have looked at. I also like the 

way that he centres his work around the city of London, which is extremely close to where I live and where I also take the majority of my city pictures.

10 - Paris - Work Diary

Evaluation

Expanding on my previous shoot, in which I took night shots in London. I then went to Paris over the Easter holidays and spent a week touring around the sites and exploring the french culture. When I was in Paris, I took a number of different shoots which focused on different aspects. One which was of the sights, where I went round museums and other cultural parts of the city. Another which was Paris in the day, this was a contrast to the London shoot which I did at night. Following on from this, each night I took images of the iconic locations and streets of Paris with the lights which links in to the shoot which I had done in London. One of my favourite images from the shoot is the one below which shows the Galleries Lafayette stain glass roof. I think this image is good due to the composition of it, plus I feel like the beauty of the roof and the interior of the building is expressed in a positive way through this image. When editing this image, all I did was change the levels and curves to ensure it was bright but that the colours in the roof did not lose their quality. 

The following image from the shoot was a collection of about 30 images that I had taken by continuously pressing the shutter speed. In these images, we see the light that shone from the top of the Eiffel Tower and in each image we complete its full circle over Paris. I did this twice as when I went up the Montparnasse, I was not allowed to bring my tripod and therefore I had to rest my camera on the glass barrier on the top. I then decided to put the best images which were sharpened and edited into a column of the 4 best images. These displayed the different points in which the light shone from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Below is the unedited first shoot, and after that is the collage of images that I had put together of the better, sharpened images. 

Progression

Following on from this shoot, I am going to complete my 5 hour exam in London. On Monday, I aim to take pictures of architecture and go around Canary Wharf to look at the different skyscrapers and the vast amount of different buildings I can find in the city. This will link to my previous shoots as they both are set in the city, however my previous London shoot was set at night and therefore featured mostly night photographs. This one will be during the day and will hopefully include good weather, which will enhance the quality of my photographs and allow me to take different images of shadows and reflections. 

10 - Paris - Straight Images

9 - London - Work Diary

Evaluation

After college on Wednesday, I decided to travel up to London with Frankie to take some pictures of night photography and extend from the work that I had previously done which contained light. Such as the glow sticks in bottle shoot and the light writing shoot. From these, my aim was to take pictures of the vibrant city and get some light streaks from cars. This included taking my camera to some of the most iconic landmarks and putting the camera on a longer exposure to see the fast paced cars. I changed this time to make just streaks of light or get the subject in it. One of my favourite photos from the shoot was this one which was taken outside Piccadilly Circus. I like this image as it clearly displays the colours from the London Bus and you still get the streaks from other cars that have gone past. One of the reasons I like this image is how the background and the floor has stayed the same due to it being on a tripod and not moving.

Another one of my favourite images from this shoot was the one below of Big Ben. It took several attempts to take an image like this and eventually it resulted in being heavily edited in order for it to stand out. One of the reasons this occurred was due to how soft the colours of the clock were in comparison to the bright frame. Many of my images were blurred or from an angle which did not suit the image. Eventually, I edited this image and like it, but also, the angle means that it appears 3D when in an triptych. Some of my images were of good angles but were not focused as they were too close to the lights which lit up the clock tower. In the future, if I was to go back to London I would look at it in the day and try and get some images of the way these landmarks look without looking at light photography. 

Progression

In the next shoot, I am going to be in Paris as I have already booked it as a holiday. From this, I will be continuing on from my London shoot and taking other images of cities other than those in the UK. I feel like the trip will be a great experience for me as it will enable me to see a completely different culture and interpret them in my photos. I am looking forward to taking day and night images during the week that I am there, by using the knowledge I already have from London at night. There will also be a chance for me to take a range of landscape shots as I will be going up a number of different skyscrapers which will enable me to see the city as a whole.