Blog Entry #10 - Silk Screening

For this alternative process, it was much more time consuming and complicated then the acrylic lift, but I was happy with the result. I had to get the silk screen, paint on the special ink in the darkroom, and then expose it to light while a negative was overtop. I then washed off the paint so that it was a see through image on the canvas. I can now use it to paint that image onto whatever I choose.

I chose this photo for the silk screen because I thought the landscape looked like a painting and would be effective as a print to transfer to other mediums, like a T-shirt or canvas. The image breaks the composition rules because the path through the forest is in the middle of the picture rather than following the rule of thirds. But this works well in this case to give depth to the landscape and pull the viewer’s eyes into the picture to explore the forest in the distance. I was attracted by the ghostly figures created by the tall pines and the leafless birch trees with their silver bark. Together with the other features such as the rocks, moss and fog, this scene reminds me of a prehistoric setting where you wonder what strange creatures lurk in the forest.

Blog Entry #9 - Acrylic Lift

One of the two alternative processes i chose was an acrylic lift, which is when you paint a substance onto paper and get the image onto that substance so that it is an easily manipulated piece of acrylic paper. For the use of the picture i decided to make a CD case, as this paper easily folded and unfolded. I used 12 layers of the substance to get the optimum consistency.

I knew straight away which photograph I wanted to use for this process. The funky colourful graffiti image lends itself perfectly to the acrylic because it gives a modern, cool look to the image that suits the graffiti and makes it into a hi tech material with a texture that makes the graffiti look three dimensional. I folded the acrylic to make a CD holder because the image reminded me of the kind of photo you would find on CD cover and I liked the way you could see the outline of the silver CD inside the cover. I love the way that you can unfold the acrylic and it goes flat again and you can recycle it into a different form.


The image itself works really well even though the subject is in the centre of the picture and there are mergers, which you normally try to avoid, between the black paint strokes of the graffiti and the subject’s head and back pack strap. But breaking the rules have the effect of making Max look more like he is part of the grafitti but with the opposite colour balance since he is mostly in black with a small splash of colour and pattern on his shirt.

Blog Entry #8 - Breaking The Rules

The scene of the lake breaks a normal rule of composition because it is taken at an angle. I think this makes it a much more active scenery picture than if it was taken straight on because it creates a lot of diagonal lines. The perspective that the image gives the viewer is that they are sitting amongst the fallen leaves at the bottom right of the picture in a canoe at dusk, looking across to the furthest point on the other side of the lake, where the two triangles, which are formed by the tree line and its reflection, merge together. The triangle shapes are repeated in the foreground by the fallen branches and their reflections and contrast with the lighter larger triangles formed by the sky and its reflection.

The stairs photograph breaks the “Rule of Thirds” because the subject, which is the stairs, goes right up the centre of the picture. In this case it works well because of the symmetry it creates which has the effect of pulling the viewer into the scene and up the stairs. This effect is helped by the fact that the image is framed by the doorway and the open door which invites the viewer to look up the stairs. There is also interest and texture provided by the climbing plant on the right hand wall at the bottom of the stairs which is echoed by the tree branches higher up the stairs on the left side. 

This portrait doesn’t follow the normal rules of composition that would place the subject further back so that there is some space around them and wouldn’t cut of part of their head. Breaking the rules works in this photo because the subject’s expression shows that he seems to be observing the photographer rather than the other way round and so having the subject leaning in very close to the lens and cropping the top of the head emphasises this idea. The flick on his hair helps to soften the cropping and the merger of his hair with the poster on the wall, which is normally against the rules, helps to give humour to the image.  The perspective of the hallway in the background gives a feeling of depth that helps the close-up work.

Blog Entry #7 - Three Different Lighting Techniques

Allie

To take this picture I used a canon rebel, and I adjusted the lighting so that there was only one light on, and it shone on the right side of the subject's face. By using this lighting technique, it created a shadow on the entire left side of her face, which in my opinion makes the picture more mysterious. The mysterious effect is also achieved by the facial expression she has (unsmiling). This lighting angle also works well because it accents her blonde hair that hangs on the right side of her body.

Sam

For the picture of Sam I also shot with the Canon Rebel, but this time I adjusted the lighting so that there was a light on either side of his face, meaning there were no big shadows on his face. The difference between this picture and the next is that I did not use a diffuser from the front, so the light is more ambient and yellow rather than soft white light. I told sam to pose his own way to make the picture reflect more of his personality.

Awkward Family Photo

For this picture I tried to stage an awkward family portrait, where one of the subjects (Sam) was looking in another direction with a cheeky smile to add a comic edge to the picture. I then photoshopped a common backdrop into the picture to make the "awkward family photo" look more realistic. For this I used 3-point lighting with two lights on either side of the subjects and a third light with a diffuser so that there was a soft light on the front of the subjects' faces.

Blog Entry #6 - Wine of Glory (Painting With Light)

In this post I was told to do a painting with light picture, and I chose to shoot a picture of a wine bottle pouring blue liquid into a wine glass. The camera I used to take this was a Canon Rebel with a wide angle lens, and I shot at a shutter speed of 15 seconds. I tried to make my picture more unorthodox by putting the bananas and a red light behind them, rather than the typical fruit that goes with wine which is grapes. The fruit in the picture adds balance  to the picture and I also thought it looked too bare with just the wine glass and bottle. I changed the angle if the camera to make it look as if the light was in fact going into the wine glass and filling it with liquid, and made sure the hand and bottle were in good focus and exposure. In conclusion, I really like the picture I took, and prefer it to the other painting with light pictures in the class, because it is unique.

Blog Entry #5 - Alliespeare

For this picture I used a Canon Rebel, and shot at a shutter speed of 500 because the studio lighting made sure the shot had lots of light. I chose to Photoshop the face of Allison Clement into this famous picture because I liked how her face was similar to the original painting and I found that it was a good example of how lighting effects a photo-shopped image. I used 3-point studio lighting to gain the same effect of the original, by making sure the light was brighter on the left side of their faces to replicate the original lighting. I found this image off of the internet, and i was inspired by the popularity of the image, which I had seen many times before. Though the colours are for the most part dull, his face looked more on the yellow side so I adjusted the saturation. For this Photoshop to look more realistic, I made Allison's neck almost non-existent like the original, and used a "canvas" filter, to make the faces look as if they were painted on rather than photo-shopped in. The painting I chose for this project is called the Chandos Portrait and it isof shakespeare, who is the most famous playwright from the British Renaissance. What I like about the painting is that the author is unknown, so it is a mystery as to if it was a man or woman who painted it.

Blog Entry #4 - Use of Outside Lighting With Other Light Sources

PLAYING WITH LIGHT

This Project we were given involved Inside and Outside lighting. I took this picture in the English hallway, and to create the inside lighting on the top of her forhead, I asked her to stand under a light. I then used the light from behind her coming from outside. I used the silver part of the reflector to refelect the white light coming from outside onto her face. The light used from the sun also lights up the back of his head. Although you cannot see the sun, you can see a bit of light coming over her shoulder or off of the side of his face or his head. Using the inside and outside light I was able to mix light colours and contrasts to creat a nicer light. I think I used the light well, because there are no shadows on her forehead or the rest of her face. I then angled the reflector up to create less shadow under his eyes. Overall, using both types of light made the picture look and feel more real.

Blog Entry #3 - American Gothic

Grant Wood - American Gothic (Original)

For this picture I used a Canon Rebel, and shot at a shutter speed of 500 because the studio lighting made sure the shot had lots of light. I chose to Photoshop the faces of Allison Clement and Sam Fuller into this famous picture because I liked how they were both similar to the original people in the portrait and I found that it was a good example of how lighting effects a photo-shopped image. I used 3-point studio lighting for both of the faces, and made sure the light was brighter on the left side of their faces to replicate the original image. I found this image in a book, and i was inspired by the long neck of the woman and the grumpy and disgusted look on the mans face, which brought emotion in the entire image. Though the colours are for the most part dull, the background with the yellow house and red barn shows a nice contrast to the clothing worn by the couple. For this Photoshop to look more realistic, I made Allison's neck a bit longer like the original, and used a "canvas" filter, to make the faces look as if they were painted on rather then photo-shopped in. The painting I chose for this project is a Gothic painting by Grant Wood, who was an American painter, born four miles east of Anomosa, Iowa. He is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest.

(Ms. Zanini, I know this isn't from the renaissance era but the reason I chose it was because I thought it would work better for my Photoshop and you mentioned that a Gothic painting would be okay so I took the chance)

Blog Entry #2 - Name Banner

For this project it was our job to find letters in the natural environment and take pictures of them to spell out our entire first and last names. This is my favorite project so far because it gave me lots of ideas to take other pictures, and now when I look at some objects I think of them as letters instead of real objects. I am now more aware of the different letters objects can make, such as the simple "T" from a brick. As I was shooting outside in my neighbors yard looking for letters, I noticed many letters such as the ladder to make an "A" and the side of her bench to make an "R".  For the pictures in my neighbors garden, there was lots of natural light available, which allowed me to make the shutter speed faster and I didn't require the use of a tripod. From there, I started noticing the amazing pictures I could get in my neighbor's garden, and started taking pictures of everything I saw. For each of my other letters, I tried to use unique combinations of line and color to make them different from everybody else's. For instance, when I had sushi for dinner, I noticed that the two pieces of salon roll together made a pretty nice "B" shape. I used the ambient light in my house to brighten my picture. My favourite picture I took was the piano pedals, because you would not expect to find an "E" there of all places. This project really showed me how to respect all of the things in the natural environment, and taught me better how to look outside of the box to find a letter in everyday life.

Blog Entry #1 - Inspirational Picture

ART WOLFE

This is a photograph that really inspires me because it made me think about all of the different beautiful places our earth is made up of. I would classify this picture as a mysterious landscape. The picture really drew my eye to the mountains because of the intense contrast between the wildflowers and the clouds. I also like the use of balance in this picture, because it is mostly symmetrical and then when you see the clouds, you can see that there is a white cloud on the left that is opposite of the dark mountains on the right side of the image. If you split the picture to show rule of thirds, you would see the horizon line is just above the top line, meaning the wildflowers are the primary subject of the picture, and give it texture. Overall, this picture is really one that makes you look at it in awe.

Vast fields of wildflowers carpet a spartan landscape, 

Eastern Taurus Mountains, Turkey