Final Pieces

Below are the final pieces that I created in a 5 hour period. Time before this was spent on the shoot, taking the photographs, and planning the shoot and final images.

For this piece I combined three photographs. The first photograph is the top layer, a photograph of the model sitting on a stone wall while reading a book. The second photo is a silhouette of a forest, which I placed behind the front image to create the effect of the location being inside of a forest. The final layer is a pink and blue sky. To create a misty effect, I used 'multiply' on the forest layer, which made it interact with the cloud layer and give it a darker and more grainy effect.

Finally, after editing the layers and ensuring that I was happy with the overall detail and lighting, I desaturated the image. Through desaturation I made the colours of the image fade, but not quite reaching monochrome. this effect made the image all the more dramatic, and also draws attention to the colour of the sky. The overall image borders between surreal and realistic, and the colours give it a moody feeling.

To improve this piece, I could have taken more photographs of the forest background and sky, in order to have a wider choice of images to have used in the background. Another point I could have considered was the positioning of the model, the focal point. I could have considered the rule of thirds, and placed her further to the left and had a larger amount of the shot taken up with sky, as 'negative space'.

This photograph was taken using Ilford HP5 black and white film and Canon A1, and then I developed it myself. The scratches, dust, and watermarks add a really interesting effect to this piece. There was barely any post production editing done to this piece, only a little editing of levels and saturation.  

By placing the model on the top of a wall and angling the camera on a tripod so that it was tilting upwards, I gave the illusion of her being high up. This combined with the moody clouds give her a bit of a 'witchy' feel, and add a little mystery and surrealism to the piece.

I feel like this image was very successful, but may have been improved by using a wider angle lens, to increase the amount of negative space in the shot, creating a more 'isolated' feel to the piece. Also, because of the natural lighting on the model, she appears quite 'washed out', with her skin and clothes contrasting sharply with very little range of tone. This effect is quite hard to make work, and I am unsure if I like the lack of detail on the model or not. 

I also used Ilford HP5 black and white film with my Canon A1 for this piece. This shot is more of a simple portrait, rather than suggesting any surrealism. However, there is still interest in the shot. I used a low aperture, resulting in the slight blurring of the wall in the background, and keeping the area around the eyes and forehead sharply in focus. Because of the natural light hitting the model's eyes and her gaze upwards, she suggests there is something of interest to the right of the shot, leading the viewer to wonder what it is.

This shot was also successful, with only a few things I would like to improve on if I were to repeat this shot. If the left eye had been more in focus it would have resulted in a more dramatic effect, improving the shot slightly. The other thing I would have done is perhaps used another scanner, or rescanned the film, as there is an unsightly 'scan line' down the image, which detracts from the crispness of the image. 

For this piece I combined two photographs that I took on black and white film, on photoshop. This created a double exposure effect, without having the worry of wasting film on botched shots. After scanning in the images, first I removed the background from the model's profile, I then used an overlay layer mode to 'fade' the images together. This creates a very supernatural effect, where the branches of the trees could represent veins, or the model's link to nature.

I wanted to keep detail on the model's face, while also allowing the tree branches to be clear. This was difficult to balance out, and in hindsight, I would have made the model's 'silhouette' lighter, to make the hair blend in more with the tree branches. The use of negative space makes the image more interesting, and helps convey a sense of emptiness without the combination of nature and humans, suggesting a deeper meaning to the piece.

Process of creating Final Pieces

For my final piece I did some extremely rough sketches. This was to plan some poses and basic layouts of the final photographs, and very simple areas of where I want to photoshop the image.

A problem I encountered early on with my digital photos is that I had forgotten to change the ISO from a previous shoot, which was taken indoors, so the ISO was set quite high. This made my images slightly grainy.

Process: Piece 1

To start with, I removed the background of the original image of the model sitting  on the wall. This left me with an area to insert my own background and sky. I placed a photograph I had taken of a forest skyline below the model layer, and resized it to give the impression of the shoot being 'set' in a forest.

I converted the forest layer into a silhouette, and removed part of the building in the foreground to give a better view of the trees. I then placed a photograph of a dramatic sky on the back layer. After editing the levels a little, I made the sky unnaturally pink and blue, adding a surreal element to the image.

By changing the layer mode settings, I managed to make the trees and sky interact, creating a ghostly, misty effect. I also added a black to transparent gradient on a separate layer, then changed it to multiply layer mode. This made the image darker, and emphasised the shadows to the left of the image. I was happy with this effect, however the sky in the centre right became overly bright due to the layer mode settings. This would later be fixed, but currently detracts from the feel of the piece.

I added a desaturation mask to the image. This drained the colour, and helped create a darker, more moody atmosphere. This really helped 'complete' the image, making the colours flow more naturally from one aspect to another.

I moved the placement of the sky layer, to get rid of the bright patch that was on the right side. This finalised the piece.

Contact Sheet: I went to a local ruin with the intention of shooting my model in the location. I used a Canon 400D DSLR with a tripod, and a Canon A1.

My main focus was getting the model in a good pose, with nice, natural lighting. I intended to change the colour, contrast, and exposure, as well as possibly manipulating the scenery, post production.

Bokeh

Bokeh is the effect of the background of the image becoming 'blurred' into little balls. This can be used to bring focus to the main subject of the image, or used artistically to create a dream like effect to the image.

To make an image with bokeh, you need to use a low f stop, which will result in the focal point being in focus and the rest being blurred. If you have a point of light in the image, such as fairy lights, then the light will become blurred into balls. To create different shaped bokeh you need to cut a shaped pin hole into a cover on the lens.

Cyanotype

Cyanotype is a process used in both artistic and technical illustration. The material is coated in a mildly photosensitive chemical (potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate mixed together) and then left to dry in a darkroom. The material then has a semi-transparent object placed upon it, such as a bottle, leaf, or an image printed on acetate. The paper is left to expose for about 30 minutes, then the chemicals washed off with running water. 

Below are some examples of different types of Cyanotypes

Photograms and Chemigrams

Photograms

A photogram is made by exposing photographic paper, with an object placed on top of it. the resultant image will vary in tone, depending on how transparent the object is.

Here are some examples of Photograms.

Chemigrams

Chemigrams are similar to Photograms, but do not require a darkroom, and are made by painting fixer straight onto the paper. These images are more experimental than the Photogram, but are far easier.

We made a chemigram in class.

It was created by exposing photographic paper, then adding fixer by flicking the fixer onto the paper with fingers, or by printing it by pressing my hands onto it. After the fixer was added, I put it into the developer for around 5 minutes, and waited for the sheet to turn black, with the areas I added fixer to staying white. Then I left it in the fixer for 5 minutes in order to fix the image onto the page, then washed it off with the wash (water).

Here is my final chemigram.

Pinhole Camera

As an experiment I made a pinhole camera out of a beer can. This was a very simple and quick process, as well as very cheap.

To create the camera, I made a 'lid' for the top of the beer can out of duct tape and black card. After removing the top of the can with a tin opener, I pierced a hole in the front of the can to act as the 'lens'. After covering the hole with a piece of duct tape, I placed black and white photographic paper inside of the can.

With the camera now ready and loaded with paper, I looked for a suitable location to mount it. As I would be doing a three month exposure, attempting to track the sun's movement, I wanted to mount it in a location that would catch the rise or set of the sun.

This drain pipe was an ideal location for my camera to be mounted, but I also wanted it to be as high as possible in order to capture the sun in the sky. I used more of the duct tape to affix the camera, and then removed the piece of tape acting as the shutter.

This is the view from the point at which I mounted the camera, so I hope the final image appears similarly.

During early April, I took the can down, and scanned the paper in, without any development or processing, as the paper was already over exposed.

This is the original image as it was scanned into the computer.

I then inverted the image in photoshop, and got these very clear sun 'tracks'. The positioning of the can was crucial in achieving such a clear image, as if it did not face the 'crest' of the sun's path, then the image would not be as successful. 

The resultant photo could have been a little clearer, with the trees and buildings being crisper. However, as I riskily only left one can to be exposed, I am very happy with this image.