Work Record 3

In this work record, I want to explore the different crops and plants that are grown within the British countryside in summer time, as well as the insects and animals that it brings. I also would like to try to develop my editing techniques within Photoshop, so I will be looking at manipulating the colours and tones that are present

Research influences

This image, a macro shot, has only one small point of focus this makes the image interesting because of the closeness of the image distorts the plants true identity. Although it is not an amazing picture of something magnificent, this image has given me some influence on how to start my shoot and what to look for when shooting.

the image above i really like, not only because of the sharpness of the image but because of the colours that have been utilised in the editing process. this I fell is something that i haven’t really considered experimenting with however, this is proof that when you get the editing spot on, then the outcome is of great success.

The above image is one that I do hope to recreate in the style of this unknown photographer. I think that they have captured every detail within the butterfly’s wings without dropping the focus of the flower petals.

My photographs

Contact sheets

My best images

As I am shooting all of my photos in RAW format all of my images all needed editing and improvement. However, after the editing stage, the images that I preferred are highlighted in the contact sheets.

Images that require improvement

AO3

My idea for recording the changing of the seasons was to photograph the seasonal crops planted by farmers annually, whilst including the natural wildlife that is attracted to it. whilst doing this, I tried to create detailed images with a shallow depth of field.

In relation to my best images, the chosen shoot day had good weather, the sun was shining and there was a very small amount of cloud for the most part. I feel that within this shoot, I have produced a good standard of final images and have accomplished what i set out to do for this shoot.

One problem, like in shoot 1, that i encountered was the unpredictability of wildlife. the constantly moving bees and butterflies meant that if i did not get the exact camera settings correct as well as waiting for the decisive moment, then the image would not come out as i would have wanted, the insect would cause a blur on the photograph or it would cause the camera to drop out of focus.

One way which I over came this was to change my camera onto manual focus rather than automatic focus. this allowed me to focus on the exact object that I wanted to and allowed me to drop out unnecessary parts of the image.

AO2

In this shoot I worked with a digital SLR camera (Canon EOS 1000D) and a tripod. This equipment allowed me to work with higher aperture settings in order to achieve the desired depth of field and sharpness within the images. Once again, to develop my technique, I experimented by photographing my subject using different points of view, however, from shoot 1, I learnt that from eye level or from slightly above the object gives the best image for this sort of photography.

All camera settings that I used in order to take the photograph can be found below the best images at the bottom of the posts.

The camera techniques that I used within this shoot were virtually the same as within shoot 1 in regards to the short exposure times, depth of field in order to achieve sharpness and quality, and the white balance to give me more control over the colours present. However, the high ISO settings used within this shoot brought a level of grain and noise to my images. The high ISO, thus the higher setting sensitivities, made the images much “louder” amplifying the image signals. This noise could have also been produced by the heat levels that surprisingly can effect the final look of the image, however, this shoot did occur during the end of the heat wave in summer, making it a large possibility.

I think that the grain within my images is not, in my opinion, necessarily a problem as it brings more texture to an image that would otherwise be a smooth and plain image.

AO1

When editing these images, I wanted to convey a sense of warmth and peacefulness of the summer fields in the British countryside. I also wanted to show the beauty of the countryside when it is looked at closely.

In regards to my research, the colours in which they have used has influenced me particularly in this shoot. I wanted to edit my images to be quite bold so I increased the saturation of my photographs. However, within my portfolio, I think that I will reduce the saturation of all the images.

Refining my work

When refining my work, I used Photoshop, this allowed me to edit the colour and temperature of my images.

AO4

I think that by creating these images in this shoot, I have created a personal and meaningful response to the seasonal topic that I have chosen. I think they show detailed and clear images of some of the flowers and insects that can be found in the countryside fields during the summer time.

Progression

In my next shoot, I plan on heading to a fruit farm with the intention of capturing the seasonal fruits that are grown there. I would like to try and focus on the composition aspects of my images in order to make them different.