PLACES - A FAMILIAR PLACE THAT IS SIGNIFICANT OR IMPORTANT TO YOU

This is one of my favourite places. It might look like chaos to anyone else, but to me its my own organised chaos. I took this on a Nikon D700 SLR with a 24 - 70mm lens, focal length was 24mm, f.10/ 0.6 second on ISO 800, using a 200 watt Tungsten light.

PLACES - A familiar Place that is significant or important to you

CONTACT SHEETS

Here are the contact sheets of my photo shoot of the above brief title.

Contact sheets are a good idea so that you can look and pick the best photographs to use from one place.

PLACES - THE ALIEN OR FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT

Here are a selection of my images for the alien or foreign environment which I took at Manchester airport , very early in the morning whilst it was still dark, to give the impression that you are on a spaceship, since it struck me that this was not unlike a spaceship that you see in the movies. The light interested me, because it gives you a sense of calmness because of the blue, cool tones. Because of the curve, IE; leading the eye, you can't wait to see whats around the next corner. I used a Nikon D80 SLR here, ISO 1600 to capture any light trails and give a grainy effect because it is more sensitive to light capture. I used an 18 - 55mm short telephoto lens to allow me to alter my focal length depending on the image I wanted to create, and also this gave me a wider angle in some instances. The shutter speed throughout was 1/25th of a second, at f/5.6.

PLACES - THE ALIEN OR FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT

Contact sheets are really useful as a tool to be able to see all your images at once, to be able to choose your best image for your final portfolio.
I made this contact sheet using Photoshop CS4 Bridge, then selected the images I wanted in the sheet. From this I can now choose my best images.

PLACES - INTRODUCTION

In this brief I intend to show the character of various places through the medium of photography. The photographer has to show what he sees to the viewer, and project his thoughts which might not neccessarily be the truth, for example, the Alien landscape images I took do not actually show that you are on a spaceship, or an alien planet, but merely put across the sense of what I saw as an alien environment.

For example; this image, "Dust Breeding", by Man Ray shows an "alien" landscape as Man Ray wanted us to see it, but in fact it is a macro shot of dust.

You can view more of Man Ray's work at the following web link:

http://www.manray-photo.com/catalog/index.php

To capture the character of a place as you see it, and want to portray it may not always be true, but is dependant on the way you take your picture, and how you use the lighting, be it natural or added, the different lenses you use IE; wide angle will give you a sense of space, depth of field to give you perspective.

Environmental Portraiture

I took this image on a Nikon D700 55mm focal lens 1/160 sec at f/10 ISO 400, I used twin lighting set up the Bowen soft box and the brolley the brolley being the key light. I like this photograph as i feel that the manager looks inviting with the use of the props.

Environmental Portraiture

I took this photograph on a Nikon D700 48mm lens 1/125 sec

at f/10 i used the twin lighting set up which was the Bowen soft

box and the brolley the brolley being the key lighting. I like this image for how it lights up helen as the subject being served and steam coming of the dish makes it authentic, the waiter is able to serve Helen without blocking her out of the shot, the props add to the final image.

Environmental Portraiture

I used a Nikon D700 focal lens 85mm 1/160sec at f/8.0 ISO 400

i used twin lighting set for this image the Bowen soft box and the brolley the brolley being the key light on the left hand side. I like this image as it captures the chef in part of his role.

Environmental Portraiture

I took this image on a Nikon D700 focal lens 40mm 1/160 sec at f/10 ISO 400, i used twin set lighting for this image this being the Bowen soft box and the brolley the brolley being the key light. I like this this group shot as i feel it creates a sense of ambience with all staff members, again i feel that the props used create a sense of awareness for the viewer of their roles.

Environmental Portraiture

I took this image on a Nikon D700 70mm focal lens ISO 400 at 1/160 sec at f /10 i used twin light set which was the bowen soft box and the brolley, the brolley being the key light. I like this image because the colours are contrasting and the reflection in the table adds to the final image. I feel that this image captures his vocation, i feel that the props of the glasses etc... work really well for the perception of the photograph as he's a waiter who is there to help you and serve you food and drinks .

Environmental potraiture

This is an image that i scanned i like it as it is like it has captured a homeless person in his environment, if the man is not homeless then the image is leading that train of thought.

Environmental Portrait Research

Arnold Newman studied art in 1936

at the University of Miami, he develpoed his photography when he started as an apprentice photographer. He was influenced by The Farm Security Administration and magazines such as Vanity Fair, his images reflect the subjects vocation and portray realism.

He was quoted as saying " we don't take photographs with our cameras, we take them with our hearts and minds. They are a reflection of ourselves, what we are, and what we think" (cited http://www.artgallery.com/) He printed his images in Black and White silver gelatin and used a 4*5 view camera on a tri-pod he later started use a srl 35mm , Newman used natural light for his images. http://www.agallery.com/pages/photgraphers/newman.html

Environmental Research Images

This is an environmental portrait that Newman took of Picasso in his natural working surroundings. I really like this photograph as i think that it is an excellent example of Arnolds work capturing both the true vocation and it definatley exhibits realism of the artists work. The colours of the art work really add to the composure of the image, the deatil on the background walls add to the grandity of the image.

Environmental portraiture

This is another photograph by Arnold Newman of Jackson Pollok I wanted to include this image as it really reflects Polloks environment of all his tins of paint that he used to splash around from, when i seen this photograph i could just imagine him doing his work.

Corporate portraiture

I took this image on a Nikon D700 85mm 1/125 sec f.10 using a twin light set up both the soft box and brolley the brolley was the key light on the left.

I like this image they look well together and the trees/plants again make a good prop for the set up. Again i feel that the colours are contrasting.

Corporate protraiture

I took this image on a Nikon D700 with 85mm lens 1/125 sec f.10, i used a twin light set up using a soft box and the brolley on the Bowen set up, the key light was the brolley on the left hand side. It was all mixed lighting as it was day light and flash, i moved the background plants/trees and used them as props.

I like this image as it makes him look suave and sophisticated trying to capture his percieved personality and i feel that the image contrasts really well.

Corporate portraiture research

This is a corporate shot by Annie Leibovitz

, she is a famous corporate photgrapher and has worked for many magazines such as: Vanity fair Rolling Stones, her portraits have included famous people such as the band the rolling stones, John Lennon and Yoko and also not forgeting the famous 2007 queen portrait where Annie asked the queen if she would remove her crown and the queen refused

Annie Leibovitz uses strong bold

colours in her portraits that make her work that little bit different.

http://www.npg.org.uk:8080/annieleibovitz/index.htm

Corporate portraiture

I took this image on a Nikon d700 with 85mm lense on 1/125 sec at f10 ISO/400 i used single light with a brolly and Bowens flash unit. I think that this image captures his traditional dress (culture) Bangladeshi, I like how the blue colour of his dress has showed up really clear and bold. The image appears to have captured his natural look.

Corporate Portaraiture

I took this image on a Nikon D700 85 mm lens 1/125 sec

at f.10 i have changed it to black and white using photoshop CS4 as the client wanted a black and white image for his portfolio, the image was also cropped to take out any background images that would distract the viewers eye from the subject.
The man wore stripey tie, a stripey shirt and a stripey suit jacket non of the stripes were the same in colour width or texture, the image being in black and white definitley helped the outcome of the image in terms of contrast.

Corporate Portraiture

I took this image on Nikon d700 with an 85mm f1.4

lense at 1/160 sec at f8 and ISO 400, i used a single light set up with a brolly, with a bowens flash unit head. I like this finished image because it catches the person's ambience as he has paused for the camera.

Candid Research

Martin Parr lives in Bristol his family were ornithologists this developed Parrs observational methods. He was inspired in the 60's by Bill Brandt and Henri Cartier- Bresson. He started his career at the sea-side and developed his prints in black and white, in the 80's he changed to colour and documtented the social hardship that the working class people experienced under the reign of Margerat Thatcher. He now focuses on the perception of everyday day living and is his work is social documentation of this. He has held a number of exhibitions including the Barbican Art Galleery 2002 his work is stated as grotesque, laughable and moving.http://www.pwcinculture.lu/32.0html

PEOPLE - Candid Photography

Both of these images were taken from a distance, but they work because they are in context with the surroundings, in other words they are not just about the people, but about where they are as well, which is sometimes important to place people and tell a story.

This photograph on the right waswas taken using

fuji fine pix, focal length 35mm,

lens35-80mm, f/6.7 ISO 800 1/180 sec. The image on the left was taken using a fuji finepix 35-80 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/750 SEC at f/13.

PEOPLE - Candid Photography

This image works in black and white because it adds a sadness to what you are looking at, which is a confused old man wandering the streets.
He was talking to the lamppost. The photograph was taken using
a fuji fine pix 66mm focal length, ISO 800 at f/11, 1/500 sec.

PEOPLE - Candid Photography

I like the composition of this image. Its as if the black bag is keeping her company!? Its definitely part of the scene but I don't think it's hers. This photograph was taken using a fuji fine pix 35mm focal length, 35-80 mm lens, 1/750 sec at f/13 ISO 800.

PEOPLE - Candid Photography

This will be one of my final images for this unit. I like the composition, but I also think it works better in black and white because there is something about the blindness element, also with The black and white pelican crossing which brings the image together. The shadows are also part of this image because he is pointing at them like he's being led by himself. Once again taken using the Fuji Fine Pix S2 Pro and on Shutter priority using a telephoto lens and auto focus.1/750 sec at f/13, ISO 800 79mm focal lenghth, 35-80 mm short tele photo lens.

PEOPLE - Candid Photography

This will be one of my final images for this unit. I used my Fuji FinePix S2Pro once again on Shutter priority, 35-80 mm lens, 72mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/750 sec at f/13. I think it works best in colour because it shows these two as colourful characters, whereas in black and white it adds to their age and takes the humour away from the shot.

PEOPLE - Candid Photography

These images form part of a series which I took around the town using my Fuji Fine Pix S2 ProSLR 35mm lens, combining a range of focal lengths and ISO's were kept as a standard 800 . When taking Candid shots of people, you have to be quite speedy and covert, otherwise they tend to either pose, or walk away if they object to having their photo taken. In order to do this it was necessary to set the camera to Shutter priority since you can never tell when your subject will move, then you may want to capture the action rather than get blurred images.

PEOPLE

I have this as a Fine Art style of Portrait, using a black low key backdrop, and 1/20th second at f1.6 using a 50mm portrait lens. This was a self portrait, which was quite successful because it brings out some of the elements of my character which are not normally visible.

PEOPLE - CONTACT SHEETS

Here is the contact sheet I made using Photoshop CS3, Automate, Contact sheet II, which is the older version for this task, than CS4 which uses bridge. This allowed me to see which image was the best for my final portfolio, considering contrast, exposure and composition.

PEOPLE - FINE ART

This is take on the previous image of Bill Brandt taken by David Bailey. I have tried to recreate the lighting set up to reflect the very low key effect, using a single tungsten light and a silver reflector in front of the subject. Nikon D700 85mm focal length 85mm Nikon portraiture lens, 1.3 sec at f/3.3 SIO 200.

PEOPLE - CONTACT SHEETS

I have used Lightroom to organise my images, and them made a contact sheet in order to be able to review what I have taken, and select the images I want to work with.

PEOPLE - THE HUMAN CONDITION

I am starting a new section in my Blog today, entitled People, with a look at the work of David Bailey, which inspires me by the way he gets up close to his subjects. I've added a link to his website, where there are many fantastic portraits to view.http://www.davidbaileyphotography.com/
This portrait of Bill Brandt by David Bailey , taken in 1982, is a Bromide print, which fascinates me because it is a side portrait with a huge amount of contrast, and very up close and personal.
A Bromide print is one which uses paper containing Silver Bromide that is sensitive to light.

Fine Art Contact Sheets

Fine Art Contact Sheets

Fine Art Contact Sheets

These are my contact sheets i took alot of photographs and chose what i felt were the best images to show emotions of the human condition.

Fine Art Self Portrait

This image was taken using a Nikon D700, 50mm focal lense, ISO 125, 1/125 sec at f/8.0 using the butterfly lighting method. I like this image as it works really well at showing the human emotion of anger and aggression, the mid field focus adds interest to the image as you have the foreground that is blurred.
The final image being finished in black and white adds to the dark mood that i am trying to portray.

Fine Art Self Portrait

This photograph was taken using Nikon D700, 50 mm

focal lens , ISO 125, 1/125 sec at f/8.0 using the butterfly

lighting method. I like this image as it shows that we

as part of our human condition use our hands alot in

order to express ourselves and what we are feeling

for example i feel that this image is saying something

like 'how much' disbelief of what i am hearing!!!!

This image worked just as well in colour as it did in black

and white but i have kept the fininsh in black and white

so it is in the same contrast as the other images.

Fine Art Self Portarit

This image was taken on a Nikon D700, 50mm focal lens , ISO 125 1/125 sec at f/8.0 using the butterfly lighting method. I like this image as i feel that it shows an emotion of so what it wasn't me, i don't care.

I feel that it has finished well due to the lighting method as it is working well for the exaggerated features of my face to portray this human emotion and the use of black and white makes the subject look a bit more insensitive.