Project 2 - Research

I was looking for examples of portrait photographs on the net, just to see different ways of capturing the human form:

The rule of thirds works well in this picture. Although the background is quite simple, it gives a clearer indication of setting (compared to just having a white screen in a studio). The colours link nicely; the red cress seems to act as the focal point in the image but it still does not look totally out-of-place from the background.

A good close up; the intricate details of her eyes and the fabric texture makes up for the lack of the feature her torso. The mood of the picture is conveyed through colours on low-saturation. Reducing the colour saturation in images is a risky move as it diminishes the sense of depth in the image with the lack of colour contrasts, but in this image, it works extremely well due to the contrast with the model's light-coloured face and the solid black fabrics around. The flat black colour and the symmetrical positioning of the face produces an abstract sense of aesthetics.

The mood of the picture and the strong shadowing is similar to that of my previous precedent in Project 1 (Marcin Stawiarz). The essence of setting and portraiture are both incorporated very well in this photo. Although majority of the image is dominated by components of the background, the models in the image still stand out as they seem to interrupt the 'rhythm' of the cold stone surface in the area. The almost-sepia colour quality gives the image a sense of timelessness, appropriate for its purpose as a wedding photoshoot.

Components in the image here has been distributed well based on the rule of thirds; it gives a good sense of setting as well as featuring the concept of portraiture. The superimposition creates a dream-like mood of serene disorientation and the model further expresses this through her facial expression and posture. The colours are almost monochrome and this makes the picture look flat, however, this effect is suitable for the apparent surrealistic theme.

Just something a little extra...

Portraits are extremely common in show business and they can be seen everywhere for celebrity endorsements, celebrity résumés, magazines, advertisements, and many other form of media for the entertainment world; so much so that in this era it is considered to be the defining aspect of celebrities.
Therefore, I'm going to finish off this post with portrait photographs of my favourite actor, Edward Norton. =]

Project 2 - Primary Objectives

For Project 2, I am planning to explore the theme of the manifest of urbanisation in our everyday lives...
It's quite a simple subject but I wanted to explore a totally different concept from my previous project.

In this day and age, with technology advancing each second that passes, spiritual perceptions are slowly diminishing and making way for the revolution of science and electronics. The pace of a conventional lifestyle quickens, disallowing the individual to stop and take a look around. The implications of these manifestations are evident everywhere in the world, every day.

Through my series of photos, I am hoping to convey these implications on neutral grounding; leaving to the viewers to form their own interpretation of this world's staggering transformation.

Project 2 - Tutorial (Superimposing Faces)

Here are the pictures I have edited from today's tutorial. When superimposing the pictures, i was aiming to produce a more realistic outcome (i.e. looks like someone you'd see everyday hahah) instead of having totally random eyes and noses etc.

original pictures are:

Original pictures are :

original pictures are :

Project 1 - Sequence Development (Sky)

.SKY.

For this picture, I made a point not to include the ground level in the images because I wanted to create a floating or flying experience similar to that of airplanes in the sky by capturing the carillon tower against only the sky as the background.I wanted to get a picture of the carillon tower along with the cabbage trees or the pohutakawa trees for a deeper meaning to the photo. The idea of a New Zealand native tree in the scene would definitely be suitable for reaching across the patriotic ideology held by the soldiers who have sacrificed themselves for the country. It is also an effective reference to the theme and intention of the entire sequence; the duties and effort of those whom New Zealanders should never forget.
1st Shot - I like how the lion head is included, but there's absolutely no reason it should be there haha. The area of the sky in the picture is too small, I wanted the theme to be more obvious...

2nd Shot- I got an idea for this shot while snapping ones like the previous shot above. I liked the low-angle shot of the carillon tower and the way the tower extends towards the sky reminds me of a kind of ladder, which then let me get the inspiration of creating a kind of prelude to the next picture of the sky theme. I thought perhaps I could get a shot of the carillon tower from an angle that totally distorts the building facade and played around with perspectives to make it seem like the runway of an airplane. I am very happy with the result as it turned out to be quite a peculiar angle that made the tower seem like a long road. It is a reference to war planes taking off from the runway, similar to what the pilot might see. This would be the initial stage of their air travels.
3rd Shot - I am really fond of the subtle silhouette of the cabbage tree and how the sky dominates the entire picture. I snapped this photo during sunset and therefore the moon can be seen as well. Composition-wise, I personally really like this picture because of the apparent symbolism with the NZ native tree as well as the glow of the moon in the background that suggests extreme height and celestial-like travels; most appropriate for soldiers flying airplanes high in the sky. The gradient of the sky is perfect for a dramatic effect on the concept of height.
4th Shot - This shot is exactly the same as the one above but I much prefer this angle as it expresses the lop-sidedness and difficulty of control when one flies in the air; a bit like the feeling of turbulence on an airplane. The dynamic quality it gives is a portrayal of the aggresive way of battle flying past soldiers must have been using.

5th Shot - Composition-wise, this is my favourite one of all as it features the New Zealand flag along with it. I find the symbolism here much more powerful than all the rest of the images from before because the appearance of the flag gives a kind of patriotic and emotive quality just by itself. Combined with the NZ native pohutakawa tree that idea is reached across very easily. However, the angle just doesn't suit the theme of 'sky' because the sky does not dominate the picture enough to portray that theme. Although this is a good image by itself, it does not fit in under what I intended to explore; the idea of a soldier's experience in the sky.

I chose these two images as my final for the theme of 'sky' as they work well together as a series:

Project 1 - Sequence Development (Land)

.LAND.

I found this the hardest theme to capture because I wanted to get a shot from a very low angle (resting on floor surface) but finding the right background aesthetically was difficult. I initially wanted to use only some grassy area and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior as the subject of this theme because I felt the tomb is a very significant part of the landscape as well as a meaningful symbol of hope and recognition for soldiers. However, after looking around I found the lion's head fountain to be such a significant object with strong emotive qualities that are most probably associated with the pride and strength of a soldier. From there, I took some pictures of the lion fountain as well.

1st Shot - Similar to one of my finals for the 'sea' theme, as it has a certain 'disorientation' quality to it due to the lack of setting in the background. It also portrays the land as wide and infinite. I thought about snapping only the grassy area, but the stone tiles I saw there reminded me a lot of a chess board; a parallel concept of war, and so I took a picture of it. I like how it turned out, because the angle at which I took this at makes the stone tiles look like the carillon building itself. This was not intentional, but it is an interesting idea to look at.

2nd Shot - I really like the symbolism in this picture and I think I have communicated the association of war and death clearly. The symmetry works well with the lines and portrays an image of walking down the path to a likely death; a common notion of war and fighting. I photographed it in a symmetrical way because the lines on the ground reflect the lines of military formations during war. The uniformity is also associated with the life and discipline of a soldier. I wanted to incorporate the low-angle (on the floor surface) shot because I thought that would be a nice link to a soldier's view when crawling on the ground. However, compared to the ideas from the 'sea' themed picture, I find the portrayal of the soldier's experience here much more towards the emotive side and not a literal representation.

3rd Shot - Similar to the previous shot of the tomb...I like the featuring of the lion's head fountain and the fountain wall reminds me of soldier's foxholes. I was not very happy with this angle eventhough the stone tiles show up very nicely and the symmetrical lines are evident. However, I think a lower angle would've been much nicer as it would create a more dynamic picture.

4th Shot - I took another shot after the previous one, and I am much happier with this extreme low angle...I was hoping the lines from the stone tiles could show up more clearly but I don't think it would have been possible from this angle. This low angle all the more portrays the view of a soldier from a foxhole, perhaps ducking from overhead fire. I like the drama created from the depth of field (blur in front but clear at the back).
Although I find this picture a lot more interesting to look at compared to the 2nd shot (the tomb) it portrays the soldier's experience in a more literal way and I would much prefer variations between the style of theme explorations within my pictures.

I decided to choose these two images for my final photographs for the theme of 'land' as they work well together to portray the experience of the soldier in a both literal and emotive way:

Project 1 - Sequence Development (Sea)

.SEA.

[First Image] I compiled photos that I think might be good for depicting the theme of 'sea'. I wanted pictures that communicated the ominous quality of the vast oceans these past soldiers have braved. To achieve this, I wanted to choose shots that feature a large portion of water so that the idea is reached across easily.The water fountain at the war memorial was chosen to be the subject for this theme.

• 1st Shot- The refracted light on the floor of the fountain and the light reflection on the walls create a beautiful effect between light and water. However, this is not the intended 'ominous' or mysterious effect so it would not be suitable to be part of the final sequence. The lack of symmetry would be out of place because I was hoping for a neat, uniformed coherency between the images.
• 2nd Shot - Compared to the left image, this one communicates the intended objectives better, and the angle provides a good view towards to the bottom of the fountain; this creates a sense of depth much like an ocean's. The lack of clarity in position (the whole image is filled up with water and nothing else) is very effective as it portrays the feeling of disorientation and intimidation that soldiers must feel when travelling the ocean. The light refraction further enhances the repetition and endlessness of the ocean (very much different from the effects of lighting from previous image; image layout changes very significant things).
• 3rd Shot - The right-angled format (compared to the lop-sidedness of the left shot) is more suitable for the theme of war and soldiers as they are associated with uniformity and propriety. The rule of thirds is evident here, with the stone wall> lion's head> opening. The ratio of water surface to the other elements in the picture is moderate, not as much as I had hoped. The surface of the water seems a bit too calm to be able to express the qualities that I wanted to show, however. It also seems like the wall is out of place in an image that is supposed to portray 'sea'.
  

[Second Image] I wanted a different angle of the water fountain for the second image of the sequence that also had a good ratio of water in order to represent 'sea'. I also wanted this to link to one of the other elements I was exploring; land would be most suitable because the association between land and sea have existed long before the sky has been used by men as a battefield. This reference is effective because it is the initial part of the sequence and would also make the chronology of the sequence more coherent.

• 1st Shot - The angle and depth of field is interesting and creates a sense of movement as well as drama. However, the solid wall surface dominates the picture and this would make the image fail to represent the theme of 'sea'. The link between land and sea was overdone.
• 2nd Shot - The symmetry is effective as it portrays the uniformity of a soldier's life. However, the harsh lighting created an obvious shadow over the fountain floor and this destroyed any sense of symmetry and the intended symbolisms.
  
• 3rd Shot - Shadows are a lot weaker here, which gives a clear view of the layering of the fountain floor (which was the reason why I snapped a picture from plan view). This was the intended effect because I wanted to communicate the concept of 'layers' in the soldiers' formation (front line, rear, etc). As for the stone floor at the top of the image, I had another picture that did not feature that but I wanted to have it appear in the photo because the drastic difference between the water and the stone floor reflects the difference between the opposing powers in war. Along with the formation idea, this picture effectively reflects the idea of a battle.
  

For my final images for the theme of 'sea', I decided to choose:

Project 1 - Third Shoot

I went to the war memorial again today during the later afternoon and I found the lighting much more to my taste...
Basically the same shots all over again but under a softer light. I have a bridge camera and I couldn't adjust the aperture and stuff as much as I hoped so I tried my best to achieve any dramatic effects with focus...I couldn't adjust white balance as much either so I'm going to use photoshop to play around with the contrast.

Project 1 - Updated Primary Objectives

I was not very comfortable with my previous theme of the sea>land>air>'heaven' as I thought the air and heaven idea would produce photographs that are a bit too similar to each other.

So, instead of having four themes I think I will revert it back to the three original themes (sea, land, air) and have two images for each theme. This seems to make a more coherent sequence.

Also, because I had an idea of what theme I wanted to achieve during my initial shoot, I took a few photographs of each element all the time keeping in mind the symbolism as well as the kind of spirituality and emotive quality I wanted to achieve. Therefore, I ended up with a few effective photographs for each element and I think it would be a bit of a waste to decide on only one photo.

Project 1 - Second Shoot

I was planning to get my final photographs from the shoot I did today but I went in the early afternoon and therefore the lighting was a bit too harsh for my liking. I plan to go back tomorrow during the later afternoon...
I experimented with different angles today anyway:

I like how this turned out because it seems to communicate the idea of frontiers and borders between two very different lands (the stone floor and the water) which is a reference to war ideologies. But the shadowing on the floor of the fountain was a bit too much...maybe tomorrow I can have a less strong lighting: