Blog 8: Friday 23rd April 2010

I have decided to focus my attention on the refinery for the next couple of weeks. I plan to explore the different effects of light and atmosphere. I have all ready decided I prefer my photographs taken in the late light of dusk because of the long shadows and strong contrast it causes. The problem I need to overcome is the effect of low light on colour in my images.

These images have strong lines and contrast. I strengthened the colours in Photoshop to make them warmer. I like the oldness and liner pattern of the fence. I feel both these images rely greatly on the dramatic heavy sky. I have photographed this scene many times and I have come to realise the sky is a very important element.
















These next two images are wide lens landscapes. both of these images were taken after the sun had set. The more purple image was taken one night when the sky was full of smoke from burning off. I couldn't resist going out and taking photographs that night because the sky was amazing. I have increased the contrast in both of these images to create a silhouette of the power station and to minimise the detail of the foreground.

Blog 7: Friday 16 April 2010

I wanted to find out how to make my images sharper and more vivid in colour. Some of my photos up till now have been a little dull. Stuart, my lecturer has told us that the smallest amount of photo shopping is best. So I looked into how to enhancing my images with my camera controls.
Maximum settings for sharpness, contrast and saturation


This is an example of high saturation in a photo. I also used the digital macro setting to get a very Sharp close-up photo. I liked the way it blurred the background.







Notes from class
When in Adobe Bridge open the selected images in camera raw.
When up loading images to the Internet the size of the photos should be:
Flickr: La Dolce Vita 2010
Flickr: p 1024 @75 p.p.i
Blog: 640 – 480 pixels
Save as a jpg for the internet.

Blog 6: Friday 2nd April 2010

I have been taking photos of my local area, Williamstown. The image with the car was by far the most artistically satisfying. I really like the effect of the afternoon sun, it's like it has been artificially light to look like a poster image. In the second image I have increased the contrast and put a warm filter on the lighter colours. The effect is a tropical, oldfashioned, magizine like image.

I have been taking a lot of photos lately, but I really don’t know what my camera settings are about. I have been struggling with the light in my photos, so I have sourced some help. I have borrowed a book called Digital Photography Quick Steps by Doug Sahlin to help me with my camera. The following is what I have learnt so far.

My camera is a new Canon digital IXUS 80IS 8.0 mega pixels.
I have now set my camera’s image size a quality to super fine and a large 8m 3264x2448. This is so my images have a high-resolution and pick up on subtle colour variations.
Focusing for my camera is achieved by pressing the shutter button halfway.

I have also learnt about the mattering mode tool which determines the exposure of the scene.
• Evaluative: for even lighting. Scene metered from multiple metering zones – good for back lit subjects.
• Centre-weighted average: when the background in brighter than the subject, so the scene is metered from a small area in the middle.
• Spot: when the subject is in the centre of the scene where it is metered and then averaged for the entire scene.



Blog 5: Friday 26th March 2010

ISO is the film speed. If you use an ISO setting higher than 400 then the image may have digital noise in the form of coloured specks. You can use a noise filter to dampen the noise.
• Low-speed film is used in bright light
• High-speed film is used in dim light


The first photo shoot I did of the power station I was working with very low light so I had a high ISO about 8oo. But this caused the images to have digital noise and I wasn't happy with the result. I decided to return to the sceen with a bean-bag to stableise the camera whilst I worked in a lower ISO of 80 because I was having trouble with blurring. The result was much better.

Blog 4: Friday 19th March 2010

I plan to keep an ideas diary of the themes I want to build on to create my own folio.
Ideas Diary:

• Australia – captured – new and old – old houses – bushfire – alone in the bush – picturesque – drought – concern – beauty – peace – landscape without humans
• Williamstown – historic buildings – beach life – boats – navy – cafes – oil refinery – night-time children – playing – grave yard – landscape humans have touched
• Urban – landscape – freeways – shape – colour – baron – smooth
  
  It seems my ideas are about my life and the landscape I live in. It’s funny because I am naturally drawn to landscape paintings. I am also at my most peaceful in the landscape – alone, an observer. I may as well tell you that I’m an Outdoor Education and Art major. So it is my two passions – art and the natural world. Knowing this, I will need to figure out what natural scene will make an interesting photo. I don’t want to take photos of the Australian landscape cliché, but what else is there? I love the decorative large landscape photos. They make me feel free and hopeful. Maybe I’ll try to point out the simple beauty of it instead. Not the awe inspiring large scale compositions but maybe the pure and simple we neglect to appreciate. A photograph is a mirror held up to the world!

Blog 3: Friday 12th of March 2010

Today in class I learnt for the first time about photography with digital SLR cameras. The two main points I learnt were about aperture (depth of field) and shutter speed.


Aperture: f-stop – controlling the depth of field:

• Lowest number of f-stop (f/2.8) lets the most amount of light to reach the image sensor and the depth of field is limited. Objects in the background and foreground of the subject will be blurry. Good for portraits to draw attention to the subject.


• A high number of f-stop (f/16) lets less light reach the image sensor and more of the picture will be in focus. Good for landscape photographs. The image will be sharp.

Shutter speed: determines how long the shutter remains open to record the scene:

• Slow shutter speed (1/15 of a second) is needed in dim conditions without a flash. You will need a tripod to keep the image steady and your subject must remain completely still. However, use this speed if you want to create artistic blurs like headlights of a car moving.
  
• High shutter speed (1/2000 of a second) is needed to freeze the action of your subject. It is also used when you have zoomed in on a subject to avoid the image blurring.

Blog 2: 12 words exercise from week 2

Today in class we took photos around campus to relate to 12 words. I have used photos from my own works as well.





Ugly

Beautiful

Portrait of a stranger

Semi




Self -portrait

Tasty - colours

Drab

Blurry

Mixed lighting

Surface

Wide angle


Extreme close up

Blog 1: Friday 5th of March 2010

I want to start my blog by looking at a range of famous photographs. I want to see which ones I like and ask the question “why do I like them?”


I have found out there are four main questions to ask when looking at a photograph:
• What is here?
• What is it about?
• Is it good?
• Is it art?


I plan to use these four questions when I look at the photographs I choose to write about on this blog. I also plan to write down what I have learnt from class and from my own research.
I have been looking at as many books as possible to get an idea of which photographs appeal to me. I have borrowed the most amazingly heavy book called The Photography Book, 1998, by Ian Jeffrey. I have spent many afternoons sitting in my lounge room, discussing the photographs with my Mum and Dad. It’s great getting someone else’s perspective on the photographs and we have had a lovely time talking together. I believe this is what art photography is about, sparking conversation, thoughts, feelings, memories and imagination.

I have also been watching a T.V. show on Sunday nights on the ABC called "Genius of Photography." Stuart, my lecturer showed one of the episodes in class. I have attached a couple of images from Henri Cartier-Bresson because I love the romance of his images. Bresson was an expert at "capturing the moment" in a pure aesthetic way. I admire his ability to perfectly balance shape and form to create an aesthetic composition. His photographs have dynamic movement within them which makes the everyday scene seem more dramatic.


Derriere la Gare St. Lazare, France, 1932, Henri Cartier-Bresson

Hyères, France, 1932, Henri Cartier-Bresson