Alice Meikle

Record of workings for HND1 Photography at City of Glasgow College.

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Lost and Found Evaluation

Lost and found was all about developing our Photoshop skills and knowing how to match lighting of objects to location.

At the time this brief was released, I was not enjoying college and also really struggling with doing briefs that were mainly studio and photoshop-based, as those are not my interests or strengths.

I think that doing the photoshop-based briefs like Illusion, Recycle and Lost and Found definitely helped with my photoshop skills. I absolutely understand more than I did before about how to put images together, use masks, use the pen tool, clone stamp, object selection etc.

My confidence with Photoshop has also improved and I feel more able to try something new or follow a tutorial online. I know that there are usually multiple different ways to do something on Photoshop and that it’s worth trying and seeing if you can find a way to do what you are aiming to. 

I did not complete Lost and Found at the time of the brief or the deadline and I put it off because it really didn’t appeal to me. 

I only just completed it right before the end of the year and I don’t think my image is very interesting or even technically good.

However, I do think the objective of understanding how to Photoshop an image into a scene was achieved and I do now know how to do that.

I chose to use a brass bell of a woman collecting flowers and Photoshop her into a woodland scene. I think this concept makes sense enough to work for the image. 

If I were to improve on my work for Lost and Found, I would take more time over softening the edges of the bell image after cutting it out. I think the object does look Photoshopped in and as though it has been cut out. I would also take the time to select the individual blades of grass and make sure they weren’t cut off in front of my object. 

The scale of the object is also not completely obvious as there aren’t any landmarks for reference. If I were to improve, I would choose to photograph a scene with more obvious landmarks like buildings or lamp posts which could indicate the scale. This would make it more interesting and obvious that the object has been enlarged, rather than that being ambiguous.

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Architecture Evaluation

The architecture brief was all about developing a new skill set and understanding how perspective can be warped when photographing buildings. 

We researched the history of Architecture photography and how special cameras and lenses have been used historically and in the present day to help control perspective. 

We were asked to think about interesting buildings we could focus on and I chose The Burrell Collection because it has recently been refurbished and I think it’s a beautiful building.

The architecture brief was released when we were in the middle of doing our graded unit. This led to me really struggling to have any headspace for this project. I think you can clearly see that in the work I produced.

I would usually like to give myself multiple opportunities to experiment on location and try different lighting, times of day, angles, lenses etc. However, I felt so unable to engage with this that I only went and shot once.

I did really enjoy looking at architecture photography and it’s something I’d like to get better at in the future.

Ways I could produce better images than I did for this brief would be taking photos at different times of day, choosing to shoot on days with dramatic lighting, nice sunsets or sunrises, mist, or at night. I shot on a sunny day in the afternoon and the lighting is fairly boring.

I could also improve by spending more time at the location. Taking the time to go back more than once, trying out different perspectives and angles. Thinking about what time of day would suit the building best depending on where the sun was hitting it.

I could also improve by spending more time practising using the warp tool, giving myself more room with my images for cropping after using the warp tool, and taking images which include the whole building.

Understanding that lines converge and bend in photography has been really helpful for me and a good take-away from this project.

However, on the whole, this was not a particularly successful brief for me.

This is due to the timing of the brief and the fact that I am not currently particularly interested in architectural photography. It’s not something I will pursue outside of college at the moment, and so I found it difficult to find the motivation to do it.

In the future, I would like to take more time to get better at photographing buildings, interior and exterior, so that it is something I am able to do if required professionally.

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Architecture, Warp Tool

In order to correct the perspective in a couple of my architecture shots, I used a method of warping the image in Photoshop.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I tried following a Photoshop tutorial online and found it really confusing. But then my classmates suggested this method, which worked much better for me.

I opened my image in Photoshop. I unlocked the layer. Command T for transform. Then I selected the warp mode icon. 

I also added in some ruler lines to help discern what a straight line would be on the image. I was then able to correct the curved lines in my images.

I then had to crop the images to account for the empty space on either side of the image.

This was a really good skill to learn and although I initially found it really overwhelming, it now feels like a simple task. 

My images for this brief are definitely not perfect and if I was interested in improving my architecture photography skills I would take much more time over this and practice the warp tool skill.

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Architecture Contact Sheets

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Lost and Found

I used the object select tool to put these two images together and create my final lost and found image. The object is a brass bell from my grandpa of a woman collecting flowers. And the location is from the woods in Pollock Park. I thought the two went nicely together as it looks like the bell would belong in that setting.

I used a mask to blur the bottom of her dress to make it look more natural as she is standing on the tree stump and also tilted the image of her to match the angle of the tree stump.

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Moving Image, Looking at Films, Rain Man

Since we started the moving image block and went through different techniques and shots in class, I have been thinking about the films I’ve been watching a little bit more and analysing the shots more than I would normally. I have enjoyed learning more about film techniques actually as I would like to make a film at some point in the future. 

I’ve watched a couple of Tom Cruise movies in the last few days, one of which being Rain Man. I thought it had some really beautiful road trip scenes, which I think is a whole genre with a lot probably written about it. The shots of really wide expanses of American landscape and road, sunsets, dusty sides of the road, electricity pylons etc etc. I really like the road trip genre in film and photography and would like to make something perhaps in that genre in the future. 

I also like how the film included a classic American diner shot with the open expanse of landscape in the background. 

I also noticed this shot with Tom Cruise looking out from the house at the rain from the doorway in a way which I probably might not have noticed before. I think it’s great framing and use of lines and I like how the exposure is set to outside, leaving the inside really dark.

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Personal Project, Research, China Photobook. China. Through the lens of John Thomson. 1868 - 1872 and Street Level Photoworks

I went to Street Level Photoworks to do a cyanotype workshop a while ago, which I really enjoyed.

While I was there, I had a look at this big photobook of photos taken by photographer John Thomson in China in the 1800′s. I thought the photos were extremely beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing women from that period, what they were wearing, how their hair was styled and the cultural significance of their dress. I find it so interesting seeing these pictures. It’s incredible being able to see people from a different time and culture in such detail. I think fabric and how we put it on our bodies has been significant and important since the beginning of time. I love seeing pictures about this and find it interesting that I am just continuing to do the same thing which has been done for a long time before me.

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Personal Project, Experimenting with Text for Branding/Marketing

I think finding an appropriate font is really hard!! It’s something I’d like to spend more time on. I don’t think any of these are right.

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Architecture, The Burrell Collection

I am planning on going to The Burrell Collection on Sunday to shoot my architecture images. I went recently after it re-opened and I thought it was such a beautiful space. 

It is also in the southside so quite easy for me to get to. I loved how the gallery space had these big glass windows so that the backdrop to the art was the greenery in Pollock Park.

It is open to the public so I won’t have any problems taking interior shots which is great.

There seem to be a lot of people who really hate the new renovation and think the building has been butchered. I never saw it before the renovation so have no benchmark! But I really enjoyed being there, I thought it was beautiful.

The weather in Glasgow this May really hasn’t been that good!! A lot of cloud and rain. However, the last time I went to The Burrell Collection, it was a rainy day and I thought it looked great from the inside. So it won’t be a problem for the interior shots. Only for not getting my camera wet outside.

For these photos, I will shoot digitally on my digital camera. I don’t think that film would add anything to the shots and architecture is one of the genres of photography that I actually quite like shot digitally.

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Personal Project, Planning Shots with Illustrations

For this shoot, I was feeling nervous about whether I would get all the shots that I wanted. I tried doing some quick sketches before we went out to help visualise my shot list.

It was the first time I had ever done this and I think it really helped! As you can see below, I did follow through with these ideas and they became some of my final images. This is a new style of working for me. Usually I leave the particular shots much more up to chance. I liked doing some more planning and trying to help myself as much as possible before the shoot.

There are some shots which I didn’t achieve, like the one where my model would be holding a silk scarf in the wind. When I brought the scarf out on the shoot, I didn’t feel that the colours were working so I abandoned this idea.

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Personal Project, Editing and Sending Photos to Print

Below are two before and after shots. The first one is straight from the scanned negative. The second one I have edited in Bridge and then Photoshop. 

I wanted to remove that little flick of hair because I like the clean lines in this image created by the shoulder pads and I wanted to remove that little distraction.

I did this by using the clone stamp tool in Photoshop. I took the stamp from the white in the sky and used it like a layer mask to erase the hair.

I also increased the contrast slightly as well as the vibrancy.

In the end, I didn’t actually select this image as one of my five to print. I am wishing that I did because I really like it and it has become one of my favourites.

Below are the final five images I selected to get printed at Deadly Digital. I chose the Hahnemüle Studio Lustre paper and printed all images to A3 size. I think that the above image would have been a good addition to this set and I would have done that if I could have afforded it.

I put the images in A3 archival plastic sleeves to protect them before I hand them in to college for the submission on Thursday. 

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Behind the Scenes, Aviemore Shoot

For this shoot, sadly I only have one picture of the behind the scenes. But thought I’d upload it anyway.

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Personal Project, Behind the Scenes of Shooting Nature Images, Eaglesham

During lockdown, I got really into photographing flowers and grass next to the road or in parks or graveyards or wherever I could find a little bit of nature in the city. But also sometimes I really crave seeing an open field and feeling like I am somewhere more rural.

I found that from my flat in Glasgow, the closest place for me via bus where I could connect with nature and see some open fields was Eaglesham. Eaglesham is a small village just south of Glasgow and can be reached using the number 4A bus route. 

I find it quite emotional sometimes spending time in quiet places like this which are much closer to nature and feel rural. I really miss a more rural life and crave time away from the city.

For my project, I wanted to bring in some images of flowers and grasses. I am really inspired by the colour palette I see in Scotland and use that inspiration when choosing colours for my knitwear.

I really like how when you slow down and start looking, you begin to see more. If you look for long enough, you start to see little insects, flowers, water drops, colours, textures that you didn’t notice before.

I have also started working in the Isle of Skye Candle Company recently and some of their scents are inspired by the Scottish landscape. They have candles which smell like gorse and bluebells and I noticed the bluebells much more this year because of that.

I wonder if I was subconsciously choosing the bluebell colours when styling Sara for the shoot at Arthurs Seat.

For these photos I used my Canon AE-1 Program and Kodak Gold 200ISO film.

I had to edit the ones of the bluebells because the colours came out much more purple than the actual blue they were in real life. I’m not sure if it was the film or the lighting or what. But I am happy with the final result.

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Personal Project, 10 Images

The below images are my final selection for the graded unit.

They are a mix of photos I took at Arthur’s seat with a model, nature photos I took at Eaglesham and shots of my little sister I took in Aviemore.

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Personal Project, Laying Out Prints in the Library

I found it really helpful today to print out my images. I was struggling to work out how to put them together and find a good rhythm, but seeing them on paper instead of a screen really helped.

I like having the ones of the flowers and think it helps break things up visually, giving the images some breathing space. I wish I had more of these photos I like actually. However, I also have a lot of the portraits which I like and want to include, so maybe two nature ones is enough.

As you can see, I tried a lot of different combinations. I think it helped a lot and I am closer to choosing my final 10 for selection and print.

I’m really happy with how the three shoots I did have come together. I think they work together and feel cohesive.

This was a good spot to do this in! Would recommend. Having a white table was really good to be able to see the prints clearly and think about them as a group.

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RGB, Colour Management Report

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Architecture Research, VINCENZO PAGLIUCA

“Vincenzo Pagliuca developed his project sifting through the entire Italian Southern Apennines, from Lazio to the Aspromonte. He searched for precise light conditions, photographing during the winter months and at sunrise. The framing is reduced to its essentials; at the centre, solitary houses immersed in the natural environment, acting as metaphysical pulls. These houses at the margins, often built with no ambition, with the exception of being present or occupying the space of nature at the edges, accidental architecture, where the photographic act inscribes relations, dimensions, balance. Here visual exploration is serial and systematic, sketching a rigorous and compositionally controlled geography of the South which evokes the style of the German School in its design. Sculptures of the common man collect signs and geometries, open up to subjectivity and mental amplification, a panoramic condition which reflects an inner topographical landscape. Cement dialogues with the earth, bricks and metal sheets interact with the trees and grass, roof tiles and windows talk to the washed out skies, the geometry of the houses blends in with the natural lines, difficult to control. These houses, in the prolonged and dialectical gaze, one after the other, one with the other, constitute the place of dream and meditation, the set for a b-movie that kindles the possibility of understanding space and defining, thinking, exploring the complexity of humanity and of its appropriate territory. “[Text by Giovanni Fiorentino from the catalog Epifanie 02, Peliti Associati]