Statement of Intent
My chosen theme for this project is 'Landscapes'. I will be specifically focusing on this particular theme to explore the beauty within different Landscapes and to specialize the skills that I have learnt throughout the photography course so far.In order to produce a successful , creative and unique final piece I intend to carry out a variety of research on my chosen theme 'Landscapes'. By researching the theme it will inspire me from other artists to create such an exquisite piece of work to meet the standards of my chosen artist , Glyn Davies. His work represents the creativity and unique aspects of a landscape such as 'Unfamiliar Familiarity' , 'Red flash White Flash' , 'Golden Illusion' all of these images capture the true meaning of beauty in it's own way. By viewing this photography its has inspired me to go to Anglesey to take my own images of the sea , the lighthouse and the sunrise between the rocks. I hope to explore all options in terms of 'Landscapes' to build up an intricate understanding of my chosen theme , which will successfully project my influences and ideas into my work. I intend to capture a variety of photo-shoots to explore my chosen theme of 'Landscapes'. I will take a number of photo-shoots , both inside and outside of the school environment to progress my ideas , capturing specific photo-shoots influenced by certain artists but to also take extensive photo-shoots to indulge in originality & also hope to include a variety of photographic genres into my work. I aspire to visit places such as around Manchester ( to express the buildings and country sides near to me) , Anglesey (West , South stack) & to Beaches ( to take a image of sunset and sunrise). I will also research photographers and artists ; Charlie Waite , Ansel Adams , Thomas Heaton , David Noton , Colin Prior , Peter Lik , Hans Strand and many more. The reason as to why I am researching a variety of Photographers is to capture different aspects of each Artists to make my pictures look different and to stand out from others. Each of these artists/photographers will influence my ideas and help to extend and build upon my knowledge of the theme 'Landscapes'.Through out this project , I will use a variety of techniques with a camera and the outside areas and Photoshop to help develop my chosen theme. I will explore both manual and automatic techniques on the camera -helping me to portray the theme of 'Landscapes'. I will also use a variety of ISO , apertures and shutter speeds to emphasize certain features within the photographers. In doing this project , I hope to learn more about the theme 'Landscapes' and carry out extensive research on a variety of particular artists and photographers. I hope to specialize and finalize the skills I have learnt throughout the course and successfully implement them into my final piece. I see my final format as being a book which will be a physical representation of my photo shopped and completed images. I will aim to corporate the theme 'Landscapes' not only into each photograph portrayed in my final piece but also in the appearance and presentation of my physical piece of work.
Photography Research: Simon Kitchin
Context
The photographer Simon Kitchin has inspired me with this particular image of South Stack lighthouse in Anglesey Wales. Kitchin is a professional landscape photographer who takes images based on beautiful scenery , he has a website of his own to present his pictures publicly and proudly.Simon Kitchin is an award-winning landscape photographer based in North Wales. Whilst he has always had a camera close to hand it was his relocation to North Wales in 1997 that saw him begin to take photography seriously. This allowed him to spend much of his time wandering amongst the stunning mountains of Snowdonia and along the coastline of Anglesey. His photographs have been published in numerous magazines, books and calendars with some success in photography competitions. His landscape photography is on permanent exhibition in several locations around North Wales and he guides fellow photographers around the area on his landscape photography workshops. His main focus is photographing North Wales and capturing its natural beauty.
Compositon
As the picture was taken in winter evening the colours of the background and the sunlight highlight the lighthouse causing it to look realistic. The rule of thirds was used quite evidently as we can tell the lighthouse is positioned in the centre of the picture. A slow shutter speed is used so we can clearly see that everything is set in its place because there is no effect on the image as it is all natural. The vanishing point leads to the sun and its rays , using this makes it eye catching for the viewer because of its luminosity. A tripod gives the image a still effect so that everything is captured with a wide angle within the image. The pink/golden clouds presents the colours with warm within the sky making the sunlight light up the sky.
Content
In my opinion the most eye-catching aspect of the picture is the sunlight peeping through the clouds its brings our attention the how it highlights the lighthouse but makes everything else look duller than main features of the image. This picture was taken from a high angle so that all of the beauty captured , the sea , the lighthouse, the sunlight and the clouds . All the variety of colours could also set a relaxing , calm , natural mood and atmosphere by just taking a look at the picture.The image is layered out equally throughout the whole picture. This relates to my project because I would like to recreate thebtype of picture. It looks as if this picture was taken recently taken in colour in Anglesey.It is a building whuch has been sectioned off to focus on the lighthouse.
Connection
We will also be visiting Anglesey as part of our landscape project. This image of South Stack Lighthouse has given me inspiration to try and capture most of the elements from this picture & also how to interpret the image to create my own version as we will be going to the same lighthouse. I mainly would like to incorporate the triangle composition so that the feature that stands out the most is in the centre so it is will be clearer to point out. The colours of the sky (pink/ golden yellow) and from the sun rays are the thing I like most about the image so the colours in my replication will have similar colours. Kitchin took the opportunity of the winter sunset and has included most of the natural portion of the area to really bring in the rural side.
Comment
All together , Kitchin's work has inspired me a lot with the creativity of the ideas he has. From this picture I can tell that he doesn't like to take a simple image and then manipulate it on photoshop. He'd rather take the most unique pictures so that it standout from everyone else's as so it becomes a wow factor compared to other pictures of South Stack Light house. It shows the beauty that we don't get to see everyday and that's what makes it so appealing to admire.The image has a strong focus everything in the picture is visible the different colours contrast.However he could improve on his composition to show more content in his picture.This specific image has inspired me with how the scenery is presented with the sunset and how the sun is presented to show the season and time of day.
Photography research: Peter Watson
Anglesey Mind Maps
Inspiration
Beach Landscapes
This is my best image because it captures the beach but also with nature from the forest. It is clear so that you can seen the features of the image within the scenery.
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This is my worst image because the exposure is too high which makes the image too bleached out therefore makes it difficult to see what's within the picture.
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Beach With Rocks
Best
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Worst
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This is my best image because its shows a clear sighting of the beach and has a good composition by using the rule of thirds.
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This is worst image because once again the exposure is too high and bright because of the sun. For example the sand is visible but the stuff on the sand isn't very clear.
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Close Up Of Grass
Close Up Of Pebbles
Flowers
Trees
Best
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Worst
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Water Ripples
Best
Personally this picture evokes a intricate sweet spot on the right side of the picture which then leads to a clear image of ripples forming in the water.
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Worst
In this image you can't see the ripples forming and it doesn't capture the theme.It is slightly unclear to see what is within the image.
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Waves
Woods
Link In Paragraph
To view the different contrasts between seasons, we visited Anglesey in Winter to capture various types of lights and shades in a picture. During the Winter period, we had discovered that the light was quite dismal compared to Summertime. However, as is it was near to Springtime there was a subtle hint of light from the sun to make the images look enhancing. This had given my work a unique focus and sensation which gave a good starting point. On our trip to Anglesey, we visited many places like beaches, lighthouses, cliff tops, woods and much more. This gave us an opportunity to have a wide variety to include in our portfolio. The outcome of the work produced for this project has come out significantly well.
Alternatively, our trip to Manchester and Salford during summer was quite a contrast. The weather changed massively as the temperatures increased this caused the lighting to be much more vibrant and clearer. Due to this an extensive difference was formed between both projects as on the one hand we had a bank of images from a rural and natural environment whereas on the other project we had a set of urban photos of touristic views. Some of the places in Manchester and Salford such as Cloud 23 in the Hilton Hotel captured the chaotic side that occurs in the city, unlike Anglesey which we discovered the raw elements and natural beauty in Wales.
Some similarities between both projects included the camera settings that were used throughout. My camera was mainly on manual allowing me to have more control over my pictures and to be able to adapt my setting for each individual image rather than automatic as it would have restricted my use of my camera. I also constantly had to keep checking and changing my aperture and white balance in both locations. Most importantly I needed to make sure that the exposure was correct otherwise my pictures would appear either too dark or bleached out.
Overall I preferred my Anglesey project better this is because I felt like there was more to choose from whilst taking pictures as there was more variety than Manchester and Salford. In my opinion, I think that Anglesey was less hectic than Manchester and Salford which there was a lot more commotion.T he rural areas and the countryside’s nature was brought to my attention as there was a better choice of what to take pictures of however most urban areas look the same, crowded and eventful. Furthermore, I hope to make more progress with my images to manipulate them with the use of photoshop.
Alternatively, our trip to Manchester and Salford during summer was quite a contrast. The weather changed massively as the temperatures increased this caused the lighting to be much more vibrant and clearer. Due to this an extensive difference was formed between both projects as on the one hand we had a bank of images from a rural and natural environment whereas on the other project we had a set of urban photos of touristic views. Some of the places in Manchester and Salford such as Cloud 23 in the Hilton Hotel captured the chaotic side that occurs in the city, unlike Anglesey which we discovered the raw elements and natural beauty in Wales.
Some similarities between both projects included the camera settings that were used throughout. My camera was mainly on manual allowing me to have more control over my pictures and to be able to adapt my setting for each individual image rather than automatic as it would have restricted my use of my camera. I also constantly had to keep checking and changing my aperture and white balance in both locations. Most importantly I needed to make sure that the exposure was correct otherwise my pictures would appear either too dark or bleached out.
Overall I preferred my Anglesey project better this is because I felt like there was more to choose from whilst taking pictures as there was more variety than Manchester and Salford. In my opinion, I think that Anglesey was less hectic than Manchester and Salford which there was a lot more commotion.T he rural areas and the countryside’s nature was brought to my attention as there was a better choice of what to take pictures of however most urban areas look the same, crowded and eventful. Furthermore, I hope to make more progress with my images to manipulate them with the use of photoshop.
Manchester & Salford
Bridges
Canal
Cloud 23
Best
Being a panoramic view of the whole landscape, I personally like how you can see further in but also up close. The composition is something that really attracts my eyes because you have the enormous buildings on one side and the miniature aspects of the landscape on the other side.
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Worst
The whole picture is blurred therefore not allowing you to see the background and anything specific. Although there was no direction to the picture , the composition was correct.
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Flowers
Girders
Group Buildings
Best
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Worst
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This building has detailed features creating a form of pattern throughout with the sunlight bringing them out.
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This buildings detail wasn't projected as well as the others because there was another picture overlapping it so it was blocking out the source of light.
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Objects
Old Buildings
Shadows On Buildings
Sky
TramStop
Waterfall
Layering Up in Photoshop With Colour
Stephanie Jung. Alessio Trerotoil. Nicolas Goodden. They have inspired me to manipulate my photos with their passion of themes as they have quite alot of detail and interesting elements within the picture. The layering of the picture shown below has similar pictures merged into one to create an overall picture. This caught my attention because of the color also , the rest of the colors looked quite bleached out and the colors of the taxis were vibrant yellow which made the image stand out to all the other ones like the layers of the image had all these types of commotion and chaos to represent urban areas which links into my Manchester and Salford themes and in the color inspiration photo shown below the color change of the sky makes me want to do the same to my landscape project so that it catches the attention of the viewer. These particular themes made me want to do a similar type to my images because they relate in some way to my project.
Colour - Nicolas Goodden
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Layers - Stephanie Jung
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Tutorial video:
My Final Outcome
Experimenting On Photoshop
My Final Outcome
To complete this experiment I used the Marquee Tool to select certain areas of the flower and to collage it together to make it into one. In my opinion I really liked this experiment because I envisioned to do something like this and it worked at the start I found it difficult but as I practiced more the easier it because. I will consider this for my final project.
Photoshop Practice
My Final Outcomes
I choose to attempt this style of Photoshop to create a post card of Manchester and Salford by implying my theme of layering.
Photoshop Practice
My Final Outcome:
Photoshop Practice
My Final Outcome:
I have been experimenting my layer themes to see which one is best.
My Final Outcomes:
Photoshop Practice
My Final Outcome:
In my journey of editing I have developed many skills whilst experimenting on photoshop. I have played around with many tools such as Selection Tools (selection tools are one of the most basic functions of Photoshop) , The Brush Tool (Photoshop edits photos in layers based on depth) , Spot Brush (this is a great tool for brushing out spots from your photograph) , The Clone Tool (the Clone Tool is used to "clone" an area of the image) . These basic skills have built up a range of different themes I could possibly use in my GCSE exam to create a unique theme. At the start of using photoshop I found it very difficult to use and hard to work out how to use each tool but as I watched recommended YouTube video tutorial I understood how to edit my work in a more complex way to refine my images to the best of my ability. I have attempted a few different techniques that was brought to my attention such as layering , colour change on specific elements etc. However my favourite and chosen theme is to take circular shape extracts from various images to create one as a whole just like the picture above. I will be continuing to produce more images / final outcomes for my project.
Photoshop Practice
My Final Outcomes:
Photoshop Practice
Photoshop Practice
My Outcome Final
Final Gallery (10-15 images)
2nd Final Gallery
Mock Exam Evaluation 12/12/19
For this project we have been looking at the theme Landscape. To expand my knowledge about the content of landscape I have research about both urban and rural areas to get an idea of what elements my journey of photography needs to consists of. In order to gain my understanding and the depth of this project I did an analysis of the photographer Simon Kitchin's work , I had a similar intention of how he captured the beauty of Anglesey (West , South stack) during the sunset.He also made sure that knew what type set of images he wanted to take and explored rural areas. It was a great opportunity to see the differences and similarities of both places.The best part of this project was to visit 2 completely opposite landscapes and to experience the contrasting sights.The pictures were also the best because by playing around with the camera settings I learnt new skills such as how to set my exposure correctly , how this images look with the different white balances and finally set my aperture right as I had previously struggled with it. As we were on our journey I had thought that I would want to focus more on the Lighthouse however whilst passing by beaches and forests I also was intrigued by how it would look to illustrate these components with in my images.As well as my rural landscape pictures I was also attached on getting a birds eye view shot of the city from Cloud 23 Hilton Hotel : buildings and architecture, they have a significant part of the modern areas .The most difficult thing was to make sure that none of pictures were alike so that would have a portfolio of a wide range of images.To refine my images I had started off using the theme of layering to see if it made my final outcomes unique.However I wanted my images to look more abstract so I started to experiment of Photoshop and used the Elliptical Marquee Tool , Free Transform , Posterize , Invert and sometimes Vibrance or Black and White. By using all these tools has brought my to life and highlighted the beauty of the image.In the end I wanted to create a representation to show the images significance physically but my pictures of final outcomes speaks for its self showing the symbolism of man-made and natural materials in a combination of picture.As a result I feel like I have explored the theme of landscape but not thoroughly because when we went away to both places I took pictures of the basic environment and now to dig deeper and find things you don't see everyday.My photographers work focused on situating their main component of the images so that it is perfected and I will continue on editing so that my picture are as perfect as a professionals.