Blackburn Museum-Objects

For the Objects brief we were asked to visit Blackburn museum, this is because for are finals we need one image of an historical object. When we got to the museum we met up with Steve Irwin a museum guide. He give us an insight to the museums collections and showed which things could be good to photograph, he also mentioned we could make appointments to book a session and photograph certain objects as the museum that interested us and objects that were kept behind glass.  Below are some of the images i took at the museum.

The pieces i would like to look at more in the museum were the religious books. I thought they were really well lit and make good photographs.  

CD Cover - Mumford & Sons Awake My Soul

We were given the task to go out and and take a photo suitable for  a CD cover for an Artist or song we like right now. I didn't really have a certain idea for a song that i really wanted to do as i like alot of music so i thought my best approach would be to just go out into Blackburn and photograph subjects which i thought would make good album art and interest me.


Over the course of the day i tried a few locations in Blackburn but was not happy with the Results i was getting. I decided to go and look at the cathedral in the centre as i thought some of the Religious Artwork and the general architecture of the building could provide some good inspiration for cover artwork.

Above are my two favorite images i got at that cathedral, i thought these would make good covers as alot of bands use religious references in their music and lyrics.

Here is my finished cover. The song i choose in the end was a track called Awake My Soul by a band called Mumford & Sons which you can listen to here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7DcySekLKY

I choose the track because throughout the song there is alot of references to god but in a subtle way. I also think the artwork suits the folky image of the band 

the lyrics in this song which work for with this image me are

"Awake my soul, awake my soul

        Awake my soul

  You were made to meet your

            maker

Awake my soul, awake my soul"

this is because 

in the photo there is a dove which represent free souls

As for editing the image a did a few things which i do to alot of my photos. For a start i wanted the image to be Black and White so i used a gradient map technique and i also sharpened the image and  used layering techniques to get the effects i wanted

Camera Basics

To get better and progress with my photography i will need to come to terms with Camera Basics. Not knowing these basics will prevent me from getting good photos. Once i know this well i will hopefully be able to use my camera better and take better photos.

Recently i have just moved from a very basic Pentax K100d to a more capable and better entry level camera which is a Canon EOS 550D. At the minute im still learning how to use this camera as it has lots more to offer than the Pentax. Below i will write about what i know about my Camera.

Above on the is the mode dial for my camera along with an ISO button and a Shutter Button.The mode dial is used to change the mode and settings i want to shoot with my camera . On the mode dial there are different selections for different types of scenes of photography Including Portrait, Landscapes, Close Up, Sports and night Portrait Photography. These are all helpful when needing to shoot  in these genres of photography.

All though these modes are helpful it is a must to understand My Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and my Manuel Exposure Mode. I also need to understand ISO. Along with Aperture and Shutter Priority,ISO is part of the "Exposure Triangle".


The Green Box on the dial is Full Auto , This is completely automatic photography and should be something i should avoid and try to move away from as it  puts the camera in charge of all the settings meaning it automatically analyzes the scene and tries to choose settings for the results it thinks is best.


Shutter Priority- Tv on the mode dial Shutter Priority allows you to choose a certain shutter speed and the camera selects the f-stop that will give a good exposure,apart from this the camera has full control over colour, flash and other advanced settings.


The main use of shutter speed is to make an effect on how movement can be captured on a photo. Its often used when shooting moving subjects. For example if you wanted to capture a fast moving object and what it to look frozen with no blur you would choose a fast shutter speed and the camera would set the correct aperture, however if you wanted to capture a fast moving object but have some motion blur you would want to choose a slower shutter speed and the camera should also choose the correct aperture for this.

Although not the most interesting of photos i felt like this photo was a good example of what a Fast shutter speed can achieve. The image was shot with a very fast shutter speed of 1/800 literally "Freezing" the action of the car whilst keeping everything else sharp and in focus.

The next image was shot completely the opposite to the one above, it was shot with a much lower shutter speed of half a second, this is a great example of what a low shutter speed can do, you can see that everything that is still on the photo is in focus such as the rocks and pebbles and yet the waves have a good motion blur on them giving them a sense of movement to the photo. I feel the technique can help add a dramatic more look to an image.

Aperture Priority-  Av in the mode dial. When on Aperture Priority the user chooses the f-stop and the camera chooses the shutter speed to produce the correct exposure, again the camera still has full control over colour, flash and other advanced settings. 

Aperture is the opening size of the lens when you take a picture, it determines how much light you are letting in to the camera. The Larger the hole the more light gets in, the smaller the hole the less light gets let in.

Aperture is measured in a system called f-stops or f/numbers for example f/2.8.

Although confusing a large Aperture is given a smaller f-stop number and smaller Apertures have a larger f-stop number

Below is an Example of Aperture Priority, i used this photo as it allows me to give a simple explanation of Aperture 

 

The top image uses a big aperture( big hole and a small number) what you can see is a shallow Depth of Field which means the blurred effect you can see in the photo. On the bottom photo you can see a smaller aperture (small hole and big number) this gives a deeper depth of field giving more focus to the image.

ISO- A basic description of ISO is how sensitive the image sensor in your camera is to light. On my 550d the sensor goes from ISO 100 to ISO 6400

The lower the ISO number the slower the speed, The higher the ISO number the faster the speed.

Some General basic rules for ISO are as follows

. Use a low ISO of 100-200 on bright days

. If it is the evening or the sky is overcast use a higher ISO of around 400-800

.In dark low light shoots you would probably want to set your ISO to around 1600 if this is not done you could risk your photos turning out to dark or not at all.

A photo taken with a lower ISO will be better quality than a photo taken with a higher ISO, this is because the higher ISO you use the more grainy a photo will be so it is usually better to use a lower ISO.

Studio Induction

Last week  we had a brief induction to the studio to refresh are minds of what equipment there was to use and how to use it.


Through this post im going to have a look back at what i was learnt and recap it briefly for future reference. 

1. A studio flash head is used to control lighting in photographs when natural light is not available. Studio flash heads with dials can alter the amount of light coming from a flash.








Attachments 
The light that comes from a flash head is very powerful but also very direct and harsh(strong shadows). You can use attachments to change the quality of light.

Snoot.

A snoot is used to make light into a narrow spot light.
Its good for long shadows and bringing out textures but its not usually to good for lighting large areas.


Umbrella
An umbrella creates a large, diffused light. The flash hits the silver side of the brolly and bounces back sending the light in a wide circle on the subject.
Its good for soft lighting and reducing shadows on large objects.
Its weak point is its hard to control and light can go everywhere.

Softbox
A soft box  directly softens light. Usually used for people it creates very soft shadows which means it can give a flattering effect on the skin, its good for very soft light, people and reflective objects. 
Its not to good for when you need to create textures

Barn Doors
Barn doors are an attachment used to help control and direct illumination.  By adjusting the barn doors in intensity and direction of the flash can be altered. 

Honeycomb Grid
A honey comb grid fits straight into a reflector. A honeycomb grid  is a light modifier which acts like a spotlight. The honeycomb pattern works to direct the light into a certain spot and diffuses light really nicely. A grid can make the light very soft and when you put it on something you get a focused soft light.

Beauty Dish
A beauty dish is a photographic studio reflector.A beauty dish can reflect more light than an umbrella or other indirect studio lighting. Its good for when your in a situation which needs intense light.

Induction Project-Objects.

An object can be photographed in a variety of different ways depending on what point the final image wants to make to its viewer. 

For this project we have been asked to look at two different images done by two different photographers and compare the different purposes and contexts of the photo's taken.

The first Photographer i decided to look at was Michael Jones who is known for his work in portrait, fashion and product photography. Over his years as a photographer he has worked for companies such as Nike, Microsoft and Adidas and has developed his own signature style known for pushing ideas and setting styles making him stand out as a well known photographer within his field.

The photo above is an example of work done by Michael Jones for Nike. One thing i  like about this is that although his work is kept simple Jones likes to emphasize the products he is photographing by enhancing them with simple twists such as the mud on the sports shoe.We all know this is a sports shoe and a good studio photo would get this point across but from my point of view this adds a slight narrative to the photo and helps project its message even more without going to far or into to much. To me the way the photo is shot makes it much more interesting than just in image of a shoe. I think the clever attention to detail is what makes this photograph a great commercial image. The image is shown for what it is and what it is about and the idea behind the photo although a simple one is helped through the way it is presented. 

For me this makes it a perfect example of how to photograph an object for commercial use as a viewer can view it and easily identify and understand what the product is about.

As we know objects are not just photographed for commercial use and the next photographer i looked at does both art based still-life and commercial photography and you can see that both styles are easily present within both types of work. To me Jamie Chung manages to turn simple everyday objects into photographic pieces of art, often chungs images are quirky and clearly thought out.

Alot of the work i have seen from Chung has a bizarre quality to it. It is very modern looking and very much studio based. From looking through the work of chung which you can see here (http://www.jamiechung.com/, I feel asif chungs images have an iconic feel to them and often are witty and quirky. To me the top photo of the turtle shows chungs sense of irony which we often see in the still life works chung has produced typically for humorous effects. Post production is used the enhance alot of chungs work such as the reflection done on the turtle image.

One of the main things ive picked up from by looking at both photographers is to keep the object your photographing the main focus as much as possible. Although both photographers add their twists to the images they still show what there shooting without taking away to much from it keeping it familiar to the viewer.