Task 2 initial experiments

1

Experimental Photography

Out of FocusTo create the out of focus technique I set the focus on my camera to manual meaning I could choose how out of focus the images were by turning the wheel on the front of the lens. I also set the aperture to a low aperture such as F4, this means it will let in a lot of light making some of the important features come through the picture such as a light or a large object.

Image 1- Here I took a picture of a light with someone's hand covering it. This lets in a lot of light because of the low aperture. I had seen existing photography using the out of focus technique and wanted to try the same. This image didn’t work as well because it did not spread the light out a lot, but this could be because of the hand over it or the type of light or the aperture. But overall this is a good effect for light to make it look like it has exploded. Image 2 and 3-By keeping the focus low you can distort the image, this is every effective with close up of objects. It leaves the image to the audiences interpretation as the shapes could be seen as anything due to the person. On these two pictures there was a lighter background making the main objects stand out more and even a slight tilt to the camera can distort the object to let the imagination flow.

I like this technique as it is easy to create and can lead to many interpretations of what it is and what it can mean which is important in fine art photography. This would not be seen in commercial use as it is too blurred to mean anything specific.

I really like this image, although it is blurry, it seems very calming due to the soft shapes in the photograph. The blurred red car gives a blast of colour to the image and the light that has been repeated, due to shake, I feel really gives something interesting to look at in the image. The transparent circles across the middle of the photograph looks interesting and gives something to contrast from the soft blurred background. Out of focus images take away the sense of knowing therefore different interpretations can be taken from one image. Originally this was a photograph of the car park at college but by adjusting the focus settings it could be something totally different to each different person. This is what makes this technique so great and successful because it can mean so much but show you nothing.

MovementWith this technique I set the camera to manual focus and set the ISO to 1600. This is to get the right exposure although it may leave you with some noise. Changing the shutter speed to at least 5 seconds creates movement that has past in them five seconds. There were two ways you can produce movement. The first one is by shooting something that is moving such as a car or people over a period of time. The second one is to focus in on a particular object and by moving the zoom barrel you can create some really nice and creative movement images.

Image 1 and 2- For these two images I used the barrel movement zoom technique to make a feeling of fast movement coming towards you. It focuses in to one particular object at the furthest point and with a long shutter speed you can create a long stretch of movement. The image in the back of the car makes it look like your moving away from the central point really fast. Image 3- This image could have been taken a lot better but it is the only example I could get of a moving object. By having a long shutter speed you can see where it was when I pressed the shutter and where it ended up when it was captured. If it was on a tripod the background would be clearer and the back of the car would not look so wavy. I find this was quite a hard technique to produce but it gives a lot of movement to a image which is successful for a fast car advert/rally.

This technique is hard to do and takes time to get it right. But when it is done right I feel the barrel zoom movement technique is very creative and it gives it a different kind of movement rather than a fast car movement. It could only be used for specific things such as a ecstasy feeling in movies or music videos.

I really like how the picture focus’ into the middle and the use of the barrel roll zoom creates this fast zoomed out effect. It looks like everything is going into the center of the image giving it a fast movement into the center of the photograph. This would be a good effect for making the center of the image to stand out or to make it look like you are going into the image itself. Again this effect can have a lot of interpretations to it making the subjects interesting to look at. With this image it creates a sense of movement from around the center of the motorbike rather than showing how fast the bike is going like people would usually connect with movement within a photograph. To improve this image I would focus in more and create a longer shutter speed to collect more movement within the final image.

Reflections The camera was simply on aperture priority settings so the focus could be set quickly onto the right object. The only thing you needed to make sure you didn’t do was not get yourself in the picture unless it is for a purpose. You may have to stand to the side to do this.

Image 1- This is a reflection from a window. Photographing a exciting object that has been reflected gives an interesting contrast. It also frames the picture with the window frame. This is easy to do and can be very effective.Image 2- Peoples eyes reflect light all the time and can make interesting shapes. Although in this image you cannot see it clearly you can see some reflection. Close up pictures of eyes are always effective because of the colours and reflections. Image 3- Mirrors are always a good way to show reflections as they show a clear picture that was been reflected. This image I was slightly in the wrong angle to get a clear reflection but it has clearly reflected the side of the car, just like what you would see if you needed to reverse.

As long as you get a good angle a reflection technique can be effective and make the photograph look clear. A good contrast between the scene and the reflection is always very effective and this would be why I would use a reflection in my photography.

I like how in this reflection photograph the camera has been featured in it. The camera is usually never focused and this is the only way to introduce the same camera that is take the photograph to the photograph. I like the effect the aperture has made in this picture. With keeping just the camera in focus and blurring the background and the photographer out it draws more attention to the camera keeping it the main focus of the image and this will be the first thing the viewer sees in the photograph. This is a great way to make something stand out in a photograph. I like the reflection technique as you can create a whole new scene or produce a photograph that shows you just what the photographer is looking at.

Photomontage Photomontage is done by taking multiple images of the same scene, but each image is of a different section within the scene to make one photograph. Once you have taken all the separate images of the scene they can be uploaded onto Photoshop and merged together to make one whole photograph. It creates a lot of layers and overlap but this creates interest to the image.

Image 1- With this image I photographed smaller sections and ended up with about 70 images. Although it takes longer it brings in more detail and a larger section of the scene is produced. It slightly looks tilted therefore I would need to tilt it straight next time. But the layers have been well put together. Image 2 and 3- Here I took a maximum of 15 images to create the one image. It did not take as long to upload them onto Photoshop so this made it easier. It still has the same great effect. I think this effect would be great for a landscape.

I like this technique as it gives an image layer and interest behind each layer. Although it takes longer than the others it is still quite simple to do, most of the work is done on Photoshop

This photomontage is made up of about 10 pictures. I like how it gives lots of different layers to the one photograph that was a piece of art. This could show the different layers the artist went through to create this one piece of art work. It also gives the photograph something different rather than photographing the whole piece of art in one shot. This technique can lead to some of the objects in the image being quite boring but the technique used gives it some depth making it a more interesting photograph to look at.