Photography
Evaluation
Megan
Duffield
In this essay I am going to be explaining and
discussing the three different types of photographic applications that I have
used in this project; the categories I decided to follow are architectural,
autumnal and documentary photography pieces, I will be analysing all the images
I have taken and I will also be discussing the visual language, audience, and
the historical and cultural content. The first category I will be talking about
my autumnal photographs,
My inspiration for wanting to taken autumnal
images was because of the work of Adam Burton. He photographed wildlife, nature
and woodland grounds, and some images he took are similar to the ones I have
taken, as his photographs are so inspiring. The photographs have no historical
or cultural context, however the intended target audience for my images would
be other landscape photographers, or wildlife fanatics.
The first image I took I titled “Green Leaves”, which is what the
image’s main focus is. When taking
my autumnal photographs some of the detail needed to be added in, to do this I
used a software called Adobe Photoshop. On this on particular photograph, the
area that is clearest and is most effective is the two leaves that are in the
centre and mid right of the image. I decided to shade in the rest of the
picture in black and white to make these individual leaves stand out from the
rest. The focus is on these two leaves whereas the rest of the picture is out
of focus; this makes the colour on the image stand out a lot more. Colour is
the significant feature of the image which what makes the picture much more
realistic. The composition of the image I used was the rule of thirds; the left
leaf (bigger leaf) is in centre of the first line of the rule of thirds and the
second leaf is in centre of the third line. The lighting I have used is natural
daylight, I didn’t need to use any extra lights as it was a sunny day so the
sun was shining onto the location I wanted to take pictures so no studio
lights, flash or reflectors were needed.
The dimensions of the image are 1600 × 1066, with a canon camera
device EOS 1000D. When taking the image the Focal Length was 55 with an
exposure time of 1/250. To improve this image I would of put more determination
into editing the image on Photoshop, as I feel the image would have looked a
whole lot more greater if I would of tweaked simple things like the contrast or
brightness.
Tree Trunk
I took this image in the
autumn season but doesn’t like much of an autumnal picture, this is because no
autumnal themes or colours are in the picture, instead it looks like a
spring/summer picture. What I like most about this photograph is the fantasy
theme that comes through the image, it reminds me a little of where Alice In
Wonderland would be set or where some sort of fantasy film would take place;
however it took a while in Adobe Photoshop to get this image. In order to
capture this image I edited it in Photoshop, even though it took along to make
it, the end result was the worth the amount of time I spent on it. The picture
itself was left how it was; this meaning no added brightness or contrast was
needed in order to make the picture look better. I added a gradient effect at
the bottom of the picture to give it that fantasy feel, and also to construct
it much more effective. Taken accidently I didn’t focus into the tree trunk and
out focus the rest of the image, if I did I feel this image would have been
captured much more successfully (nether the less I was happy with the end
result). Another thing I added into the picture to give it that fantasy feel
was the rainbow in the top right corner, using tools that I wasn’t sure, I
created this image and give it a unique feel to it, the rainbow adds colour, a
theme and effectiveness to the image. The dimensions of this image is 1066 × 1600
taken with a canon camera device EOS 1000D.
Plums
This image is also one of my
favourite photographs in the autumnal category, this image is vibrant and has
lots of different autumnal colours, which is why it is my favourite autumnal
picture. The main focus is the small plums in the centre of the image; the left
side of the picture is more out of focus to make this more effective. As well
as certain parts of the photograph is out of focus, you can still see all the different
colours in the background, the main colours in this is yellow, green and a
red/purple colour which are the plums. My favourite detail are the leaves
surrounding the plums, there still green as if autumn isn’t ready for them yet,
however the autumnal theme comes through with the outlines of some leaves are
bright yellow. When I first took the image the image wasn’t as bright and the
contrast was much lower; in Photoshop I changed this so I changed the
brightness and contrast to a higher number. The dimensions of this image 1600 × 1066
taken with a canon camera device EOS 1000D. If I was to
improve this image I would perhaps blur out the rest of the yellow leaves and
just leave the green leaves and the plums in focus, apart from this I wouldn’t
change anything else about the image as I feel it is one of the strongest
pictures I have took.
Purple and green leaves
The next image I will be
evaluating is the most effective image in this category; this image to me is
the most of effective in terms of tone and colour. There is a range of tones in
the background of the image, the darkest parts are where there are no leaves or
any type of plant, this is where the image is most dark and is almost black.
The camera I used was a canon camera device EOS
1000D, with this camera I focused on the
centre plant that made the rest of the image out of focus, when editing this
picture in Photoshop, I took the colour out of the background it made this
stand out a lot more than it did at first. When editing the plant this to make
the centre plant stand out; I altered the brightness and the contrast in order
to brighten the colours up. The end
result was successful as the image was effective, colourful and autumnal, which
what the aim was when taking this image. (The dimensions for this image is 1600 × 1066.)
The following category is Documentary,
showcasing Manchester city centre from different places, angles and peoples
perspectives. All the images are different in terms of variety and advertise
Manchester in distinctive ways, from everyday tourist attractions to what it is
like during a Festive period.
Manchester
Night
In my opinion this is my favourite image out of
all the pictures i took, this is because the image has so much going on and the
use of colour that is used makes this particular image very unique. When I took
this image I took it several times as the colour was changing quite frequently.
Colour is a significant feature of the image, I chose this one because I like
the colour in the image and the fireworks look outstanding. Without realising
it the picture automatically uses the rule of thirds; the old British styled
lamp is in centre of the image using the middle line in the rule of thirds, the
clock tower is on the right which the third line of the rule of thirds have
been used an finally the tree branch in the far left corner of the image, using
the edge of the image as guide. My favourite detail about this image is the
lighting on the tree branches, although not an eye catching bit of detail i
feel this really gives the image uniqueness, this is also used on the trees in
the bottom right corner, which i feel also gives the image that festive feel.
In my view I think that this image would be perfect for a magazine
illustration, or an advertisement to promote the festive period across
Manchester on a bill bored or in a Newspaper. The photograph has no specific
target audience, I would use it for advertising purposes or I would use this
image to write an article about Christmas in Manchester to promote it and advertise
it to readers. The dimensions of the image are 1920x1080 with a smart phone
(Apple iPhone 5s). Although this image wasn’t taken on a professional camera,
the image turned out to be one of the best images. When taking the image
the Focal Length was 4.12 with an Exposure time of 1/50.
Albert Square (Night)
This image is also one of my
favourite pictures; the time this was taken at precisely 13:45pm in the
afternoon, around an hour before the sun went down fully. At this point with
the sun opposite the camera I captured the image as a silhouette; a silhouette
is where the object in an image is pitch black and looks almost like a shadow.
There are several points to look at in this image, on the far left is the
Manchester town hall, in the centre at the bottom of the image is the
silhouette of the tree and the far right is the statue (main object in the
image). Taken purposely, this image is effective and I feel the silhouettes
have been successfully captured. To improve this image I feel like I should of
organised what I was taking a picture of rather than just thinking about how
the picture would turn out. Nether the less I think this image is effective in
terms of lighting and I am really impressed with the result. In this image
there is more history to, rather than some others that I took, all three main
objects has historical value, especially the statue. When looking at this
image, the majority of people will know instantly where this is, and that this
image was taken in Manchester. The dimensions of this image is 1600 × 1066
and took the image with a canon camera device EOS
1000D.
Big
Wheel
The image of the Big Wheel in Manchester to me
failed massively, as I wasn’t too impressed with the final result. This picture
is my least favourite as it lacks detail however lighting is important in
pictures and the lighting in this particular picture is amazingly lit. The
image is simple and in some ways effective, however I took this image twice one
in the daytime and this nighttime image, and I feel the daytime image was a lot
more effective. In this image the composition rule of thirds is used and I took
this making sure the Big Wheel was captured in the far right of the image. The
Big Wheel is repetitive with its shapes, the tourist attraction uses lines and shapes
that are the same all the way round and is perfectly symmetrical on each side
(meaning if you was to get a knife and chop it in half, both sides would be
exactly same). The dimensions of the image are 3888x2592, with a canon camera
device EOS 1000D. When taking the image the Focal Length was 18 with an
Exposure time of 1/15.
The following category is Architechtual,
showcasing Manchester city centre in the day light; taken from Albert Square to
The Big Wheel. Both images are different in terms of variety and advertise
Manchester in distinctive ways, for example, The clock tower showcases
Manchester’s rich history and cultural content, where as The big Wheel is a
tourist attraction for the people to use and see Manchester from a different
perspective.
The second image I have chosen to use in my
final piece is a photograph that captures a Clock Tower with an autumnal approach. The colour’s used in this
image were really tedious and all were the same colour; I changed this using
Photoshop to brighten up the leaves and change the colour of them, as well as
keeping it as realistic as possible. The clock tower is out of focus where as
the leaves in each corner of the image are in focus; one reason being that one
of the themes that I have chosen for my photography unit is autumnal, and
without out focusing the clock tower it would just make it an ordinary image of
a building. (Also by out focusing the tower and keeping it the leaves in focus
makes the image to look a whole lot more effective.) This image contains
features of historical and cultural context if you look deep enough into the
image. For example, the clock tower shows repetition within the image; the
shapes that are built onto the tower are repeated numerous times, the building
is also symmetrical and the spherical extras on the tower construct the image
look three-dimensional. From this image I have learnt that history can come
into an image at anytime; in this case it would be the tower, which is based in
Albert Square. As well as this the autumnal themes comes into this image from
the colours of the leaves which is why I have chosen to place this image in
this particular category. When analysing the image at first the colours were
dismal so I brightened the colours up to give the picture more of an autumnal
effect. The dimensions of the image are 3888x2592, with a canon camera device
EOS 1000D. When taking the image it had an Exposure time of 1/500.
Big Wheel (daytime)
Out of the two pictures of
the Big Wheel this one was my favourite as the daylight in the background
captured the image effectively; even though no additional lightning was used.
To me the best feature of this image is the different shades of blue in the
sky, it changes from dark to light from left to right. It begins from the far the
leftm and changes dramatically across the sky as if it was edited or taken at
two completely different times. This to me shows the sunlight is coming from
the right side in which case it is lighter, and captures the photograph in a
distinctive way. Another feature in this image is the silhouette of the tree
captured in the far right corner of the image, this is the only object in the
image that has a silhouette effect as the rest of the image is normal. Like the
other images there are many lines and shapes within in the Big Wheel and there
are more dominant and straight lines that are visible. The straight lines make
up the circle making the “The Big Wheel” and the majority of this image is made
up with different lines that make up the shape. One other thing that is visible
when you look closely is the bird that is captured flying in the bottom centre
of the image, when taking this image I accidently caught this image of the bird
and it turned out a be a significant feature of the image. I feel the cable wire for the tramline
spoiled this picture and If I were to improve this photograph, I would take
this image differently avoiding the cable wire. The camera I used was canon camera device EOS 1000D with a dimension of 1600 × 1066.
In conclusion, I feel that the strongest
category is the nature/wildlife category. I think this due to the fact that all
the images that were taken were all successful, every image had a purpose and
was captured in a way I didn’t expect; even though some images in other
categories were either as or even more successfully captured, every photograph
in this category was captured well. The weakest category in my opinion is the
documentary photographs taken at nighttime; this is because there were only two
images taken and one of which was the poorest image out of all my images.
Overall, I feel my photographs were successful, and I think I chose the right
themes for my photographs, if I was to re-create this unit, I would perhaps
choose the categories, portraiture and fashion.
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