Currently Experimenting/Working On

Selection Process 2

These are some before and afters of some of the pictures in Lightroom

Selection Process

Contact Sheets from Photoshoot

Practising Ideas on Photoshop

I had the idea to have a close up portrait of me taken that I could then take into Photoshop and edit it. The concept was "What's inside my head" so I wanted my head open and to have my interests and personality coming out of it as a thought bubble or something similar.
I wanted to practise editing a photo in that style and hadn't had any portraits taken yet so I used a portrait of a model to do this.

This is the image I chose to experiment with

This is was my initial idea for the edit

Then I kept experimenting and playing around with different tools and having fun with it.

Finding Inspiration - Minutes to Midnight

I went into the library to look for some material that would inspire me. I was specifically looking for black and white images when I came across a book called Minutes to Midnight by Trent Parke.

Inside I found the following photographs that interest me 

Finding Inspiration - Jerry Uelsmann

I had to look for inspiration for the many ideas I had in mind. I was still unsure on what idea to develop on so I did research on surrealism in general. I found some photographers that use the style of surrealism in their work.

Jerry Uelsmann

portrait of Jerry Uelsmann

 Uelsmann is the founding member of the American Society for Photographic Education and a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain.

"Inspired by such budding Pop art icons as Robert Rauschenberg and Joseph Cornell, Uelsmann began experimenting with a variety of darkroom techniques that gave vent to his creative urges.  He developed techniques for combining multiple images into often stunning works of surrealist art.  By 1965, Uelsmann had gained a reputation as the leading figure in the new field of Pop-art photography."

Journey into Night

In this photo he has combine different images together. He combined the image of hands holding a birds nest and the tree trunk which looks interesting because it's not realistic. Also, the juxtaposition of the concrete with the tree and birds nest that are a part of nature is interesting. The composition works well because everything is centred.

Finding Inspiration - Phillip Schumacher

Phillip Schumacher

Phillip Schumacher

Philip Schumacher is a young photographer from Germany. I discovered his work through Flickr and liked the creative approach he took with his photographs. He got into photography back in 2009 after his dad bought a DSLR camera. He uses a lot of self-portraits for his work and portfolio because when he visualises an idea and wants his ideas to come alive so he can see it physically. He usually takes photographs for people around his hometown at birthday parties and weddings etc.

After that, his work was featured on a couple of blogs, online galleries and interviews in magazines.

He believes he found his style through experimenting and that he will never find a specific style because he will keep trying different things. I like this about his work because looking at his work you can tell that the style is always changing although it still stays to the theme of surrealism.

In an interview he said “I think there is probably nothing in the world that is not inspiring and if it is in the most abstract way. It can be a movie, a picture, a song, a poem, a place, a person, another artist, a certain situation, a smell, a noise, a taste, a feeling, a memory…anything! You just have to be willing to see them and the inspiration in them.”

This made me want to look at things in the world differently and to take time to just look around what surrounds you because the world around you might inspire you.

He has a series of photos where he incorporates space and the galaxy. This is one of my favourite of is series’. He got inspired by listening to a song called ‘Cosmic Love’ and imagined himself travelling through space. He then translated that feeling into a series of photographs.

He uses surreal props and settings because he wants to create dream worlds and combine them with reality. Making the impossible possible.

When People Try to Form You

Phillip Schumacher calls this photo ‘When people try to form you’. I think this photo represents that statement because the hands in the photo are pulling on different parts of his face/hair. The symbols in this are the hands that are trying to “fix” him. The hands represent other people who try to make you the way that they want you to be instead of the way you are or want to be. It can be associated with different aspects of people’s lives because there are always people trying to change you. I like the editing style of this photo because it will keep the viewer questioning it because the concept is very interesting. 

While I was Sleeping

Phillip titled this photo ‘While I was sleeping’. The symbols in this photo are the bedding he’s laying on upside down with the world above him. It represents a dream state because he’s  floating and that only happens in dreams. The simplicity of the black background may mean that he’s not dreaming of anything in particular but the whole world instead. It could also mean he’s lost in space and can’t feel or hear anything which can be an escape from real life where a lot of things could be happening at once. It could be associated with being peaceful and having no worries. The world/planet above him is the only thing that’s bright. It has a glow effect around it which juxtaposes the plain black background below it.

Image Factory Language of the Lens

Citizen Kane – Orson Welles 

 Citizen Kane is a 1941 Drama Film by Orson Welles. It was his first full length film and he had full control of the film even down to the people who he cast for the roles. The cinematographer is Gregg Toland who used techniques like deep focus (= having everything in the frame even the background in focus at the same time) and deep space (= the spacing of characters in a scene and how they occupy the space in frame). He used these techniques in films that he worked on before Citizen Kane but this one is where it was used the most effectively.

The use of deep focus in this scene (see image below) shows the power struggle between the characters in the scene. The woman holds the power because she is permanently in the foreground whereas the father is in the middle ground. He doesn't hold as much power as the woman because he doesn't seem to have much say in the situation. Young Kane is in the centre background of the frame still in focus without a clue about what is happening, the window around him is kind of foreshadowing imprisonment because he is being sent away from his family home.

Another example of deep focus

This scene also uses deep focus and deep space. With Kane in the centre background again we can compare it to the scene I mentioned above. In comparison to the windows behind him, his position in the room makes him look intimidated by the financial difficulties he was facing. The people in power are once again in the foreground of the frame and Kane is in the background once again.

 Quotes from ‘Orson Welles talks about Citizen Kane in 11 minute 1960 interview’

"I must admit that it was intended consciously as a social document, as an attack on the acquisitive society and on acquisition in general"

“I thought you could do anything with a camera that the eye could do or that the imagination could do”

“Anything I could think of in my dreams I attempted to photograph” because he didn't think there wasn't anything that you couldn't do with a camera and his cameraman attempted anything without fear of ridicule. His cameraman told him 

“There was nothing about camera work that I couldn't learn in half a day” it doesn't require twenty years to learn how to use a camera and I think that’s what made the cinematography so great. It’s because he wasn't afraid to take risks.

Do the Right Thing- Ernest Dickinson

This film shows the hate and bigotry in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn and how it violently comes to the surface on the hottest day of the year.

The opening credits reflect this by using warm colours, mainly a red glare, to light the opening scene. This emphasised the heat of the location that the characters are living in as well as the hostility and racial tension between each characters, which the viewer will soon notice throughout the films progression. Within the opening credits there is a woman, Tina, dancing and boxing, emphasising even more the aggression and tension that is being held underneath the surface of each of the characters. The dance moves of Tina are unlike those of other dance opening scenes in other films; her moves and expressions are raw, setting the real undertones of the meaning behind the film. The wide shots within this opening scene allow the audience to observe all of this very well, the location, the dancer and all the details mentioned above.

Camera angles are very important in Do the Right Things, they are used to emphasise the tension and rising anger felt throughout the film. Exaggerated angles such as the close-up above help the audience to empathise with the intimidatory body language and stances that are used between the characters. By having extreme close ups such as this one where the characters look directly at the camera the audience feel part of the argument itself as well as noticing details which may be missed by other shots, such as the beads of sweat on people's faces as well as their threatening expressions. These close-up shots tend to have quicker edits between each shot as the tension within the scene builds to emphasise the anger bubbling to the surface. The exaggeration of these close-ups also adds to the comic value of the film.

Another camera technique that Ernest Dickinson uses quite a lot of in Do the Right Thing is a zoom into or from an extreme close up. This is used to emphasised moments in the film that could be missed by the viewer, such as when a man steps on another's foot. Even though this does not seem like a significant event the extreme heat in the film makes the characters behaviour irrational and emotions heightened, so when events like this occur it sparks off aggression within the characters. These heightened reactions are shown to viewers within these exaggerated zooms.

Six Favourite Images Assignment

6 Favourite Images Assignment from rufaromaumbe

Role Model Assignment