Learning Outcomes.
On completion of this unit a learner should;
1) Know about the characteristics of location photography
2) Be able to use photographic technology, techniques and media that are used to make photographs on location
3) Be able to make photographs on location
4) Understand location photography
1) Know about the characteristics of location photography
2) Be able to use photographic technology, techniques and media that are used to make photographs on location
3) Be able to make photographs on location
4) Understand location photography
Location Photography Breif.
You need to plan what 3 photos you will take and if need be you need to edit them in Photoshop. Your choices are to either film or photograph are;
1) Your neighbourhood
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2) The College
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3) Identity
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Whatever you choose to film you must choose a different project to photograph. Remember to Research and plan what you are doing. Also remember that this work can be as creative and as fictionalised as you want it to be. This is your chance to really show us what you can do!
Photographers Research. |
Rich Stapleton. |
About The Photographer
Rich Stapleton is a photographer who was born in the city of Bath, England. Due to his father having a place within the forces, he was moved around a lot as a child, living in other places such as Scotland, Belgium, Germany and Italy for an average of two years each, before coming back to Bath. He has a somewhat deep background in engineering and product design, earning placements at companies such as Adidas and Aston Martin. He graduated with a masters in engineering in 2009 before moving to Bath to pursue design and photography. Since, he has become the co-founder of a biannual travel/travel photography magazine named ‘Cereal’, which mainly focuses on minimalistic, aesthetic images. Overall, there is not much information that can be found about Stapleton with it looking like he mostly tries to keep out of the spotlight, linking back to the minimalist properties that he follows in his own life. His own photographs fall under the banner of travel photography, which is backed up by the fact that they are included in a travel/travel photography magazine. However, it could also be suggested that they are somewhat of a scenic photography nature
Why I Like The Photographers Work
I personally like Rick Stapletons work for two main reasons. The first is his use of negative space. A good portion of the photographs in the modern day are framed so that the subject(s) fill up the whole of the frame, with not much space around them/it. However, Stapleton includes a decent portion of space around the subject(s) in each image, thus utilising the negative space photography technique. Using negative space can make an image seem much more calming to the viewer, and it is obvious that this is the feeling he is aiming to achieve when linking it to the aesthetic, which is the second reason of why I like his work so much. The images that he takes are either black and white or of a slight saturation, and the negative space included is more often than not just one colour that links to the subject(s). Both of these help create the aforementioned calming feeling within the viewer, with their opposites, (colour, bright saturated colour, and crowded negative space), all making the viewer much more on edge, as they cannot relax as much when looking at the photograph as the have to take in and register everything that is present.
Types Of Photography.
Aerial - From the sky, and could be taken from a plane or helicopter, for example.
Architectural - Focused around buildings and the way they look. Can include whole buildings, panoramic shots of multiple buildings, or just a corner of a room. Artistic - Where creative composition appears to be the goal as a pose the subject or anything else. Telephotography - Photography revolving around space, mainly done through a telescope. Black & White - Not just any photographs that are black and white, but ones that explore shapes, tones, and textures also. Candid - Where people are the main subject of an image but they don't know that the photograph is being taken. Commercial - Images of products, often used for advertising. Documentary - Documentary photography basically tells a story, one that could relate to current events or have and historical or political tone among other things. Fashion - The modelling of clothes by a model, and can either be inside in a studio space or outside. Infrared - Photography where the camera sensor is sensitive to infrared light rather than the normal, visible light spectrum. |
Macro - Close-up photography on items such as plants.
Nature - Anything based in the natural world that isn't man made, including landscapes, animals, and plants. Night - Photographs taken at night and the techniques used to take them - infrared technology often links into this. Panoramic - A type of photography where the image has an elongated field of view, allowing the viewer to see more of the landscape - what this technique is normally used for, be it natural or urban. Can go up to the full 360°. Self-Portrait - Photographs of the photographer themselves. 'Selfies' or use of the timer are two techniques. Sport - Any images specifically revolving around sport, where the reaction times of the photographer will have to be sharper. Street - Photographs taken in the street of a settlement, often used in neighbourhood photography. Time-Lapse - Photographs that have a very long exposure with the shutter open for a long time in order to show some form of movement. Travel - Images taken to showcase locations far away from the photographers general area, mainly other countries. Ultraviolet - Photography where the camera sensor is sensitive to ultraviolet light rather than the normal, visible light spectrum. |
Camera Definitions.
Aperture
Aperture is the hole within the lens of a camera that lets in light in order to take a photograph. The size of the aperture can be controlled by the user of the camera, and is measured in f-stops. The relation of the size of the aperture compared to the f-stop number seems to go the opposite way to common sense, with a higher number meaning a smaller hole, while on the contrary a smaller number provides a bigger hole.
Shutter Speed
The Shutter Speed, (also known as 'exposure time'), is basically the length of time that a cameras shutter is open when taking a photograph, exposing the sensor within the camera to light. Shutter Speed is measured in fractions of a second - 1/4000 means that the shutter is open for 4000's of a second, while 2" means that the shutter is open for two seconds. Having a quick shutter speed means that whatever you are photographing is captured in still, pristine quality. Meanwhile, a slow shutter speed means that it takes longer for the picture to be taken, and if the subject or another part of the image moves within the frame it will become blurred. This means that a slow shutter speed is good for capturing movement.
ISO
Basically, ISO is the sensitivity level of the camera to light. Unlike other some other camera settings, ISO isn't measured in a specific number and instead is a general, rounded number.The lower the number that the ISO is set to, the less sensitive the camera is to light. Meanwhile, the higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the camera to light. The component of the camera that is sensitive to light and thus affected by the ISO is the 'image sensor', often just known as the 'sensor'. It is the most expensive part of a camera, and is responsible for bringing together the light into a photograph. When you increase the ISO, the camera sensor can take images in low-light situations without having to use flash. However, if the ISO is set too high, noise, (grain), can become present within the image(s).
Relationship Between Aperture & Shutter Speed
There is a simple relationship between the aperture and the shutter speed - the aperture is the hole in the lens that allows light in to take a photograph, while the shutter speed determines how long that hole is open for.
Long Exposure
Long exposure photography, (known in some cases as time exposure or slow shutter photography), involves using a slow, long shutter speed in order to make moving objects appear blurred while still keep the crisp, pristine quality of the stationary ones. When using long exposure photography, it is notable that dark moving objects disappear while bright moving objects are shown. An example of this is cars at night - the car itself cannot be seen in the image, but the path of its light through the image can. In order to take long exposure images, you will need a slow, long shutter speed and probably a tripod to steady the camera.
Depth of Field
Depth of field is the name given to the photography technique revolving around focus. There are two types of depth of field - wide and shallow. If an image has a wide depth of field, everything is in focus. The opposite is in play with a shallow depth of field, where only what is in the foreground or the background is in focus. In order to achieve a depth of field effect in your images, you need to change the f-stops, thus changing the size of the aperture. Increasing the f-stops makes the aperture smaller, in turn creating a wide depth of field - but also making the image darker. On the contrary, decreasing the f-stops makes the aperture bigger and allows for a shallow depth of field where only a certain thing is in focus, but makes the photograph lighter.
Camera Settings Experimentation.
Long Exposure
The photograph below is a good example of the use of shutter speed. Within this image, the shutter speed was brought down to 1/4, which means that the shutter was open for a quarter of a second. Having this slower shutter speed means that the subject is likely to move while the photograph is being taken. In this instance the car did, and thus its movement was captured by the camera as a blur. With the shutter being open for longer with a slow shutter speed, it means that the camera sensor is exposed to light for longer, meaning that the picture will be brighter and maybe even over-exposed. To counter this I decreased the size of the aperture by increasing the f-stops, meaning that the amount of light let into the camera is a lot smaller, even though the shutter was still open for the same time. I also decreased the ISO, which means that the sensor within the camera was less sensitive to light.
Shutter Speed - 1/4
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ISO - 100
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F-Stop - 22
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Depth of Field
The three images below are very good examples of a shallow depth of field. A shallow depth of field is where you only focus on one point/thing in the image, (usually something in the foreground), while blurring the rest so attention isn't brought to it. In order to create a shallow depth of field a low f-stop number is needed, which means that the aperture is very wide. A small f-stop number and wide aperture also means that the photograph will be brighter with more light let into the camera. To counter this, I kept the ISO at the lowest possible setting in all of the images, and then used a moderately high shutter speed in most of the images - the middle one below being one of the few to break this with a much higher shutter speed due to the amount of sun in the area when the image was being taken.
Location Photography Concept.
My concept for the location photography project is going to be based on the subject of my local neighbourhood. The photographs that I am going to take will mainly be in landscape and have a wide framing, as a pose to be tight on the subject, in order to get more of the neighbourhood into the shot, helping the viewer get a greater understanding of the location. I hope for the images that I capture to be in black and white due to the fact that it is not a stereotype of neighbourhood photography, (which is 99.9% in colour), thus meaning that my pictures will be unique. As well being unique, it will also give the pictures a gritty and darker tone, helped by the regular occurrence of black and white in many documentary and war photographs. This aspect will again give my images a unique tone which, in part, will make them more effective. Despite mostly looking towards black and white, there might be a few of my images that are in colour. In order to access the same tone that is emitted from the black and white images mentioned, I could shoot and night and use post-production tools in Photoshop such as contrast, levels, and curves. In terms of what I am photographing, it is going to be various different places within my village - there is no set location. At each location I am looking to differ from the norm in terms of angles and composition, again adding to the uniqueness. The angles and compositions that I use may include things such as a tilt. While this is my general concept for this project from the brief, I still will be experimenting in my own free time with slightly different variations in order to end up with the best photographs possible. This thus means that this concept may slightly change. The photograph below is an image that I have taken in the past that is a good example of the kind of darker tone and feeling I am trying to express through the image, and is one thing that I am going to be using as inspiration.
Location Photography Plan.
Project Plan | |
File Size: | 2128 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Location Photography Proposal.
Jake Hughes Location Photography Proposal | |
File Size: | 756 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Stereotypes.
Stereotypes are one of the main features of any photograph. The stereotypes within the image help set the tone that the photographer wants to set, help tell the story that the photographer wants to tell, and help conjure the feeling that the photographer wants the viewer to feel. The main stereotypes are based around age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexuality.
Negative Stereotype
In my opinion, the photograph below conforms to the stereotype that some people have about Crawley, that it's not the nicest place. This is shown through the pitch black of the leaves which make it look like the tree is rotting, the tiny grassy space and the small pathway juxtapositioned against the long, wide road and the abundance of cars, and also the tall metal gates that restrict access to various places. The stereotype that is shown in this image may be slightly offensive to some people as it displays a gritty and bleak stereotype of the place where they live and/or work while only focusing on the town center, which is obviously going to be the busiest.
Positive Stereotype
Meanwhile, the image below here displays a completely different stereotype of Crawley. The image is in colour instead of black and white, which instantly gives it a much brighter, happier tone. The weather helps this, with the sun being generically linked with happiness while rain, for example, is known for being saddening and depressing. The increased levels of foliage compared to the industrial elements display a more natural and calm side to Crawley as a pose to the hectic and polluting side seen in the above image. On the subject of differences, the framing here is a lot wider compared to the tightness seen above, which lets the viewer relax when looking at the image, which thus gives it more of a positive vibe and a positive stereotype. Obviously showing the good side of something, this stereotype will not be offensive. However, it may be slightly annoying to some who may personally view Crawley in a certain way or have had a negative experience in the town.
Light Painting.
Light Painting is the name given to the photography technique where the photographer slows down the shutter speed of the camera in order to capture the movement of light. The light source can be anything that admits light, including sparklers and torches. With the movement of light being captured, you can draw or write anything you want.
Inspiration.
Alketa Misja
The first photographer that I have looked at for inspiration within this project is Alketa Misja. Alketa is a Albanian photographer and architect & urban planner. In 1995 she graduated as an architect & urban planner from the Polytechnic University of Tirana. Until 2007 she worked as a lecturer in various different facilities before mainly settling on photography in 2008.
Location Photography Final Images.
Location Photography Evaluation.
Jake Hughes Location Photography Evaluation | |
File Size: | 6 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Aurora Hotel Images Evaluation.
The four images below are some of the images that I took during the fashion shoot that we conducted at the Aurora hotel on Monday 14th November 2016. The shoot was in order to promote the clothes offered by Scope, a disability charity, in order to help them raise money. With our next shoot being based around fashion photography, it is good to look back on them to see what worked and what didn't in order to make my work the best it can be.
These two images are two of the first images that I took during the aforementioned shoot. They both feature the same model, in what is relatively the same pose, with the same framing. Most of the settings were similar also - they both had an ISO of 800, (which is mid-range, thus meaning that the camera had a normal sensitivity to light), while the left has a shutter speed of 1/10 and the other 1/20. This means that a tripod had to be used in order to make sure that
Studio Lighting Equipment.
Flash Lighting
Flash lighting is a type of lighting within the studio that is wirelessly connected to the camera. When the camera flashes, so does the light, illuminating the subject even more, from a different angle to the actual camera flash.
Umbrella
The umbrella is simply an umbrella that is designed specifically for photography use as a pose to general use. It is used in order to illuminate the whole of the image, mostly removing shadows. This gives the effect of a dramatic occassion with the brightness, and also helps the viewer feel more uncofotable when looking at the image as it is a lot more in your face.
Softbox
A softbox is a piece of equipment that can be fitted to a light in the studio in order to soften the light on the subject. It diffuses the light, helping to decrease the harshness of the lighting in the produced image. It also allows there to be more shadows, with a smooth gradient between said shadows and the light.
Reflector
The reflector in a photography studio is [normally] a large circular object covered in shiny reflective foil - silver on one side, gold on the other. It can be used to reflect excess light back onto the subject to remove shadows.
Backdrop
A backdrop is simply what's behind the subject. This can be anything, for example ranging from the white walls of a studio to the trees and houses outside.
Studio Photography Examples
Fashion Photography Inspiration. |
Andrew Kearns. |
About The Photographer
Andrew Kearns is a professional freelance photographer and videographer who is based out of the state of Washington, USA. Kearns spends his career behind the lens of the camera, whether that's taking photographs or filming videos, and he often spends his free time in the same way, thus meaning that he has plenty of skills and experience that he can carry on into his work.
Consideration
•Who is the client?
•What is the product and brand being sold?
•Who is the target audience? (be as specific as possible)
•How can you tell this? What are the visual clues?
•What is the the concept of the photograph / shoot?
•Visual communication methods – HOW is this message communicated?
•What is the product and brand being sold?
•Who is the target audience? (be as specific as possible)
•How can you tell this? What are the visual clues?
•What is the the concept of the photograph / shoot?
•Visual communication methods – HOW is this message communicated?