HND2 Blog @chloemacleodhnd2a-blog - Tumblr Blog

Paper movies Task

Stock Image Research

Fashion Photographer Comparison Powerpoint

End of year show evaluation

Black and White Conversion Brief :

I chose to use Nicsoft for my black and white conversion, this is the top image and for the more manual conversion I used a black and white gradient map with burning and dodging;bottom image. I feel that the first image which I used Nicsoft to create shows more detail in the shadows which show more of the image, I feel that the highlights focus the eye on the more important features however compared to the bottom is more subtle the bottom of the image the highlights are more blown out and harsher giving the image a harsh tone. The nicsoft give the images s silver film effect and I feel this really compliments the image well. The bottom image was too dark, the shadows hide too much of the image ruining the details that make the image softer I feel that the Nicsoft is a much better edit.

Decided I wanted to make a personal project blog so I plan of putting all of the research and work on this.

cmpersonalproject is the name

#cmpersonalproject

Social Photographer Research... (portraiture)

Arnold Newman :

Born 1918 in Manhattan; grew up in Atlantic then moved to Miami beach. Newman studied painting and drawing at Miami University however after two years he wasn't able to afford to continue with his studies so moved to Philadelphia were he worked in a studio making 49 cent portraits. After four years Newman returned to Florida and managed his own portrait studio and four years after this he relocated to New York , started working as a Freelance photographer for Fortune,Life and Newsweek.

Newmans work as an environmental portrait photographer became very successful photographing some very well known personalities in their most frequently visited places. The reason behind this was to have a controlled setting where that the surroundings of the individual being photographed would be influentially to the image, giving the viewer a insight to what that persons work and life is like which really produced some amazing work.

Interestingly one of Newmans most famous images (as seen above) with Igor Stravinsky and his grand piano was rejected by Harpers Bazaar magazine who gave the job to Newman originally. Also Newman was one of the few photographers allowed to create a portrait of the famously shy Henri Cartier-Bresson.

What I find very interesting about Newmans work the composition, many photographers the composition is the subject is to the left to the right or centre and this isn't a bad thing, however Newman thought outside the box some of his images you wouldn't really think that the image was about the person rather that is was about the objects or surrounding in the image however the surrounding and objects are telling a storey about the person. Newman found a way to tell the viewer about an aspect of the subjects life in a very special way and this is what I find very interesting about him, he breaks the rules of composition and rules of thirds an creates something extremely visually interesting and insightful. I feel that when creating a portrait the main point of it is to share with the viewer something about the subject, whether it be how they feel, what they do, their passions, opinions on something and Newman achieves this in a very clever way.

#Social photograpy #Research brief #bitlate #Portraits #Arnold Newman

Face Portraiture Research :

Steve McCurry

McCurry, an American photographer origanlly studied a degree in theatre Arts showed interesting in photography when he began working for a pen state newspaper the “daily Collegian”. After two years of working for newspapers McCurry left america and started freelancing in India.

Steve McCurry’s career was launched when he traveled to the Pakistani Boarder just before the Soviet Invasion, he had rolls upon rolls of film sewn into his clothes and were then shown around the world. These images were some of the first to show the conflict and after this these images won the ‘Robert Capa Gold Medal’ For best photographic reporting from abroad.

After this McCurry continued to report armed conflicts from abroad including ; ‘Iran-Iraq War, Lebanon Civil War, the Cambodian Civil War, the Islamic insurgency in the Philippines, the Gulf War and the Afghan Civil War’. His work had been featured world wide and recognisable my many, his work has been a frequent feature in ‘National Geographic’ and McCurry had been a member of magnum photos since 1986.

McCurry had been a recipient of many awards, which is not a shock as his work is something very special, McCurry focuses on the human consequences of war and not what it is like on a landscape, many photographer tend to show battlefields of many who have been injured lying there or dead however McCurry show the effect that war has on a human, a face, a person. This is what makes his work so special and this is what sucks you in to their world. When l look at one of Steve McCurry’s images I can't take my eyes away from the expression he captures within the eyes of the subject;the person, because he truly captures the thoughts and feeling of a person through their eyes, and that is one of the most important things a portrait photographer can do, it is the biggest achievement I feel being able to do something so powerful as without capturing the beauty or the sadness in someones eye then it is only a picture. It is almost a faulsness, because anyone can take a portrait it is not a difficult task; make sure the eyes are focused, make sure your happy with the compositions and press the button but what McCurry and a few other special photographers do is capture those emotions in image and that is truly something magical.

Gifted

#Portrait photographers #research #Bitlate #SteveMcCurry

Personal Project Research - Stances : Zenkutsu dachi Diagram I sourced from http://www.intermartialarts.com/article/zenkutsu-dachi which shows the weight distribution and explains reasoning about this. This stance is taught throughout katas, important stance that can be used to make a powerful strike. It can be used to block an attack such as a punch or a kick, using this stance with a closed hand strike like the image above; hitting from the knee or below can have a powerful impact on the attacker can cause then to loose balance and fall over. To relate this to the example of blocking a kick with a strike, the power doesn't come completely from the upper body as with a complete grounded stance gives the body balance this can basically lock the body is one place. Doing the stance properly with correct distance between legs and angling the feet, this distributes the weight in a way to give a great balance. In the stance it is harder to fall over, shoving the upper body in this stance may make the person wobble however less likely to fall. Also trying to swipe the leg still might not make this person fall over could just move the position but after this the automatic reaction after being push over from this stance could be to make the next attack. Also when in Zenkutsu dachi as your bottom half of your body is in perfect stance keeping your back straight, can give you a very powerful punch. Without moving your legs and only using your hips to move gives you a mighty punch.

Personal project Research : Stances - One of the images shows the different feet positions for stances that are used throughout karate. The stances are the core to correct techniques, with the correct weight distribution and balance in your stance effects how effective your next move will be. Positioning your feet is the first step, the distance between your feet adds to your balance. Difference stances proved different thing to different movements. Theses are taught by themselves and practice within kata. Cat stance (Neko Ashi) : This stance referred to as cat stance is used within many katas such as the first one we learn as a white belt Shiho Sanshiki. This stance is a good fighting stance as it gives you the ability to move quickly for kicks, front legs are ready to spring forward releasing a powerful front/ side kick. The position of the back foot at a 45 degree angle gives variety of kick styles. Another benefit of using cat stance having the front position on the ball of the foot, pushing forward into a punch by sliding the front foot and then placing the foot flat on the ground builds up the power through the stance for a stronger punch. However there are downsides to this stance as the idea of keeping your next move a secret to your Opposition is key to winning a spar, but by using cat stance your next move can be predictable and can give the other person the next move without meaning to. Expecting a kick can prepare the other person for a kick giving them the chance to plan how to block the move. Doing the stance correctly takes practice, it can be uncomfortable and slighting painful at first but once you understand how to centre the weight on both legs can be a challenge. Most people put too much weight on their back leg making the stance become uncomfortable also gives less balances which is crucial in the position. Pushing too much weight on the front leg also gives balance issues, on the front leg a swipe with frontal or rear based weight can make the stance weaker and the swipe will floor the person. A straightened back helps centre the weight throughout your back, bending or arching your back will effect the position and can injury the back.

Personal project mind map

Final Book layout

Documentary - Portraits

These images I tried to carry on the idea of the still life, I wanted to treat them the same as my still life but when shooting I decided that the whole idea of these people was they made an impact, they were important to me; strong, proud and most importantly amazing people so I decided to stick with the sports lighting. When most sporting people get photographed the lighting make them strong and proud and this is what I wanted to show In my images.

When editing my images I released my background in the shots were very messy and distracting. I decided to try a few things at first I tried to to use the Iris blur to focus on the person at take away from the background however it made the image more distracting so I decided to blur the background slightly and add fake light to the image by using a white gradient and making it fade till it touches the person and lowered the opacity to 70%. I done this on all the images with the same settings on all the images.

I feel this worked well as theres less focus on the background and added something to the image.

Documentary Still Life Shoot

When shooting this project I decided to use the brown fabric, using this fabric because it is such a beautiful colour and shine makes the fabric complimentary to my concept using the finest material to house the previous items. Keeping everything the same throughout the shoot so not to distract the viewer with what is going on in the background was important because this way all the focus was on the objects.

Because I didn't change the lighting or move it to suit specific objects some have more shadows, and darker in areas this makes people look at the images more, think more about what they are.

Documentary:

Concept - Ageing out, Childhood.

Recently I aged out of cadets, this happens when a cadet turns 20 years old. The main idea for my documentary project is based on cadets however its really about “the end of childhood”, turing 20 normally isn't a massive deal for people however due to being a cadet your childhood last till your 20. This being a major change I wanted to use photography to document it.

What I planned to do is to shoot a series of still life to show the physical memories to show what was important to me. I plan to shoot and present them like they were in a presentation cabinet, like awards/crown jewels because to me they are so precious. I plan on shooting things that would mean nothing to people when they look at them, making people look and think not only what it is but why I have photographed it like a crown.

Another aspect of childhood is people; people make impressions on how you grow as a person they effect how you develop. This is why I feel that photographing the people that made an impact is an important impact on my project. keeping with the main theme (cadets) I plan to photograph people from cadets that have made an this development with me. I want to keep the images similar by the way I shoot them, so for the portraits I plan to use ‘sports lighting’ treating them like my still life.

The still life will be lit with snoot to make a spot light effect giving it a more dramatic atmosphere and sticking with my trophy cabinet effect, by using the ‘sports’ lighting on the portraits gives a similar effect trying to show importance to everything I'm shooting.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

HND2 Blog