Portraiture: |
Identity: |
Conceal & Reveal: |
Why did I choose this artist?
Emma-Leone Palmer is a painter who uses photography as a base for her work, similar to Dennis Wojtkiewicz in the last project. She has released several series of paintings over the years including through the pandemic, including the 'Afterglow' series, which is what I will be focusing on, which she describes as an "exploration of the human mind". This artist inspires me because I like how she manipulates light, and how it is more interactive than it was last project, where the extent of my experimentation with light was slightly modifying it to photograph a pinecone or a slice of fruit. If I were to emulate her work, my options would be vast in terms of how I use light drawing to create a portrait, including highlighting to conceal and reveal parts of the subject. This artist links with this project because she often conceals the model's face to perhaps hide their identity, and uses the light drawing to reveal these rope like lines (the meaning of these lines depends on the intent of that artist for the image- feeling trapped or scared). Technical Processes: Emma-Leone Palmer uses light drawing, which is the process of moving a light source whilst taking a long exposure photograph, where the shutter speed can range from 10-30 seconds. She also uses colour gels, which are "transparent coloured pieces of material placed over light sources to create colourful effects in photography". Emulation: If I were going to emulate this artist's work I would do it in a dark room with a plain, black background. I would probably use a faint light with a colour filter over it, and I would use a glow stick or a light wand to make a swirl of light around the subject. "If my art makes someone stop and think for a minute, or makes them feel alive in their reality, |
Here is an about page on Emma-Leone Palmer:
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Why did I choose this artist?
"Lindsay Adler is an American portrait and fashion photographer based out of Manhattan, New York. Her editorials have appeared in Bullett Magazine, Zink Magazine and Fault." She is also present on social media, including her own YouTube channel where she posts behind the scenes content from her work. I chose this artist because I liked how lively and non-traditional her portraiture is, and I think it would be fun to emulate because I get to interact with the composition more than I could in the abstract nature project. I like how she uses a mix of harmonious and contrasting colours when she layers, as well as using a contrasting background to make the subject stand out more. For this project, her 'Editorial Beauty' collection is the most relevant, and also contains my favourite selection of outcomes from her. Technical Processes: Lindsay Adler uses colour gels in her work. To use this technique in your photography, you could use a camera filter, coloured light, a projected image, or a transparent coloured material. Using this technique can allow the creator control over the parts of the subject that are key. Emulation: If I were to emulate this photographer's work, I would probably use coloured cellophane over my camera lens or use a torch with a coloured filter to light from another angle. I would use a dark background and use two harmonious colours to create a cross across the subject's face. "As a photographer I consider myself a visual problem solver" |
Here is an about page on Lindsay Adler:
Her YouTube account (copy and paste link): https://www.youtube.com/user/AdlerPhotoWorkshops/videos
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Emma-Leone Palmer and Lindsay Adler are two artists who manipulate light to create vibrant, interesting compositions for the viewer. They both use colour gels in their work. They both have block backgrounds which feature no detail, so their subjects stand out.
I prefer the work of Emma-Leone Palmer, because the ability to draw whatever you want to change the interpretation of the portrait seems interesting. I also think it links more with the Conceal & Reveal aspect of our project. To combine these two artists, I would use colour gels to colour over my subjects face, and then use a light drawing to conceal certain facial features. |
Subject:
The photographer of this image is Lindsay Adler, an artist who specialises in portraiture, specifically colour gels. The title of this photograph is not given, because it is taken directly from her website, in her 'Editorial Beauty' series. The genre of this photo is portraiture, which is why I am using it in this project. Elements: There is only one subject in this photo; positioned in the middle foreground taking up most of the frame. There are no props and a simplistic composition, something I will be replicating in my emulation. The rule of thirds highlights the cheekbone, chin, nose & hair for this particular image. The viewer's eye is lead around the photo because of the composition & perspective Lindsay Adler has used. This photo has been taken from a level view, as is most portraiture because it is the most sensical perspective to shoot from, but it is still effective. Adler employs a range of visual elements in her work. The most striking elements are colour & space. The colours in this image are harmonious, and the purples and pinks work in a gradient for a clean & steady flow. The model has dark hair, makeup, and clothes, which I think was done intentionally because it eliminates distraction from the coloured skin. The background is a solid colour that matches, but only involves one colour for simplicity. the hues on the face outline the prominent facial features like the cheek bones and the eyes because of their high saturation. Personally, the colours on the cheek bones and how they are arranged, remind me of the contour lines you would find on a map in geography. The most distinguished colour used in this photo is a vibrant pink, that enhances the composition. Media: The photo has been taken from a short distance to conceal the background and have the model's face in the main field of view, which is the main focal point for the reader as they explore the image. For this image, there isn't necessarily a distinguished middle ground, and there's little negative space (background) around the subject. The model is in the foreground, and I think the coloured lines contouring her face as previously mentioned, |
This is my chosen photograph; which has no given name:
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"Photography is an international language. No matter who you are ,where you are, or what language you speak,
I can connect with you"
This is my chosen photograph from the 'Afterglow' series:
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Subject:
The photographer is this image is Emma-Leone Palmer, and the name of this oil painting is VoodooRay, and it was made during the pandemic period. The genre of this painting is portraiture. Elements: The composition shows the subject placed in the middle ground using rule of thirds, the main four coal points highlighting the light rope as it coils around the model. She is positioned with her arm concealing her eyes and her body entangled in a rope-like light source, which is the central theme of the painting. The viewer's eye is lead around the painting because of the composition and perspective Palmer used when taking her reference photo. She has taken this form a level perspective, this angle is commonly used in portraiture. The most striking elements in this piece are colour and space. The subject is completely surrounded in negative space, even the background isn't coloured. This is effective because for me, it seems like the subject is trapped in the darkness, or perhaps, trying to concealing herself from the exposure of the light cords revealing her to the prying eyes of the viewer, and doesn't want to be stared at and interpreted (which links to our project). Unlike other prices from this artist, this image only contains only colour, |
A link to a brochure Palmer published regarding her work:
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Media:
The original photo was taken from a short distance, so you can only see the model's top half, and the main focal points highlight the light rope as it coils around the model. The viewer's eyes are inclined to follow the light cord around the piece (the leading lines), because they are bold and vibrant. I think the background has been deliberately excluded from detail as to not draw attention away from the main part of the image being the model. Maybe she is frightened of the dark, and is using the light to protect herself, because the way she is positioned, she looks weak and timid, like she's cowering. To create her hypnotic pieces, Palmer uses "pliable lighting strips and neon wires" to create her light drawing effect. There is no other lighting involved, and the lighting looks lazily thrown about the model, The atmosphere composed in this piece is of distress and lack of control, and the viewer is left contemplating what the sensible observation is to the message of the piece. To emulate this photo myself, I would use a dark room (probably the closet in the art room), wrap a person in some neon strip/ LED light, and photograph with an ISO of about 400 and a slower shutter speed. I would also use manual focus. Intent: Emma-Leone Palmer said that she uses light to portray "connections, feelings, or thoughts of the human mind". I like the ambiguity in this piece, but yo improve it, I would perhaps add further colour in the light drawing aspect to complexity. |
"If you're passionate about something, you become an expert, because your curiosity will take you there"
I went on a trip to UCLan, where I experienced a campus tour, an exclusive view of the degree show, and took part in two workshops surrounding photography and animation. In the morning session, we planned a storyboard and made a short animated sequence about university life using fruit props and background photos. In the afternoon session, we interpreted several images of teenagers wearing prom outfits they were unable to use due to the pandemic, which I thoroughly enjoyed participating in. We then took some of our own portraits, with no specific plan using a basic iPad camera and editing software. I am however, impressed with the results from the miniature shoot. After each workshop, we shared out outcomes with the rest of the groups, and then saw some real student examples of different animations and original photographs. On the right, you can see the photo I took for my improvised portrait.
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A video explaining how to create a Bokeh outcome:
Set-up for our own Bokeh shoot (front bokeh):
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Name of technique: Bokeh
Bokeh is intentionally blurring the background of image (a soft focus background) and having a shallow depth of field. The subject is the main focal point of the image, and is usually the only clear object in the photo. The camera lens renders out-of-focus points of light. Re-creating this technique: Bokeh You will need some small LED lights that you can get from any crafts shop, a basic tripod, and a camera lens with a wide aperture (like a prime lens). The camera is on a tripod because the shallow depth of field makes the camera prone to camera. You can also use a shutter release cable to avoid unintentional blur. By putting your lights in front of the subject, you add depth to the image. The shutter speed should be fast (about 1/90), and the ISO low (100-40 depending on setting). Hold the lights in front of the model and adjust to taste. Make sure you use manual focus to focus on the subject and not the lights. One of the final images from the video:
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This photo didn't include bokeh - we used a light wand, swayed up and down across the frame, which we had to slow the shutter speed to capture. When editing, I changed the hue, saturation, brightness, contrast and vibrancy. I also changed the exposure and used a filter to change the sharpness around the eyes, and slightly blurred the body, because when cropping I couldn't land the eye on a focal point without cutting out too much of my original image. To me, the orange swipe across the middle looks like the sun ring you sometimes get on a photo, which is why I changed the colours to orange instead of pink.
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For this photo, I had the lights in the foreground (dangled over the lens) instead of in the background (surrounding the subject). This way all the lights would have a big, transparent look, which looks like an overlay. When cropping, I again found it difficult using the rule of thirds to effectively lead the viewer's eye around the image without cropping too much of the image. I also found it hard to make the lights more saturated than the background without over exposing them - as a solution I selected each light individually to change their hue & saturation. I experimented with levels and colour balance along with the usual adjustments.
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This is the only image where I cropped a lot of the image away. I used the usual exposure, brightness & contrast, hue & saturation, and levels tool, as well as the blur and sharpen filters and brush. I used the blur and sharpen effect so frequently because it added to the soft blur technique that I saw Brandon Woelful in previous research. use For this image in particular, I colourised each of the lights, and used the liquify tool to expand the lights in the background and middle ground, which made the image look a lot more successful. For this image I was bale to lessen the saturation more without effecting the coloured lights.
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Name of technique: Colour Gels/Motion Blur
Colour gels are coloured pieces of cellophane that can be layered. They are also done by RGB lights. Motion blur is all about shutter speed and how t interacts with light. Capturing camera movement blur in shoots add more room for interpretation by the viewer. It also links to our 'Conceal & Reveal' topic. Re-creating this technique: RGB Colour Gels/Motion Blur It helps to have a lens that you can move easily around for extra movement. When including motion blur, slow the shutter speed to about 1/5" to 1/6", or for a longer movement 1"-2". The person in the video shot between f4 and f5.6. Use simple movements like shaking head or moving hands to intentionally blur the image, without it looking messy. The key is to have movement without the face of the subject becoming blurred so it looks messy. You could also use a clear plastic bag or a prism too add a blur to your images when placed in front of the lens. When shooting with cellophane, keep in kind the more powerful the light, the closer the colours will be to white because they will be overpowered. One of the final images from the video:
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A video explaining how to create a blurred outcome:
Set-up from the shoot:
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For this edit, we slowed down the shutter speed and slowly had the subject move her hands from in front of her face to behind her head. although you cannot see the hands as much in motion, the shot turned out really successful because of how the hands are transparent in front of the face. This would have been more effective if the subject had been pulling a more emotional expression, but that was my fault because I didn't expect the hands to turn out like this. When editing, I changed the exposure, the highlights & shadows, and used the sharpen tool to add the strange grain effect.
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This image was executed perfectly. I had the subject move her head slowly from side to side, then quickly at the end. This image would have been more successful if we had dimmed the lighting, but I like how the colours contrast each other. Before editing, there was a bit too much white so you couldn't see all of the blur, so I adjusted the exposure, the hue & saturation, and I added some extra blur just to embellish. I adjusted the colour balance, and added some filters like bloom and glamour. As an extra, I copied the layer, moved it to the right, and adjusted the opacity. It reminds me of the distort technique studied earlier on.
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This image worked really well because you can see multiple clear faces at once, and there is a slight expression change across the shot which can be interpreted by the viewer. I was unsure what to when editing, so I just worked on deepening the layers of the blur. I used the sharpen tool, the blur tool, and the hue, saturation, vibrancy, levels, and contrast tools. Next time I would add varied facial expressions and contrasting colours,
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For this image we didn't do any motion blur whilst shooting, so we had to quicken the shutter speed. I decided to add some blur in to the eyes whilst editing, because I thought it would leave some room for interpretation by the viewer. Next time I would probably blur the mouth as well to add mystery. and I made some simple adjustments like vibrancy, exposure, highlights & shadows and saturation. I also added a vignette just as an extra.
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A strength of this shoot is that we were able to capture a variation of motion blurs. A limitation was that we only had access to one colour that could not be changed (green). There as also a lot of shadow in the background of this shoot, but that was hard to avoid. If I did this again I would add more lights and more colours. This image was the most successful because the motion blur didn't disrupt the focus on the eyes behind. When editing, I copied the layer and turned it a desaturated blue, and then used it as an overlay to represent multiple emotions (sad for blue happy for yellow). The idea was that the hands are concealing the true emotions of the model so they appear to be joyful.
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A video explaining how to create an RGB outcome:
Set-up from the shoot:
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Name of technique: RGB Colour Gels/Motion Blur
Colour gels are thin pieces of coloured cellophane placed over a light source to project coloured light. RGB lighting allows the photographer to customise the colour of the light without using cellophane, which unlocks many possibilities. Using tube lights in photography can be seen as a form of light drawing. Re-creating this technique: RGB Colour Gels To emulate this shoot, you will need a large RGB light. By adjusting the height and distance of the light, you can erase shadows from the face and background. When using two colours, find your chosen colour on the colour wheel and choose the colour opposite it, because these are the most complementary. If you want, add a 3rd light to cut the subject away from the background. An example of three colours to use would be blue, yellow and dark green. The shutter speed should be about 1/60, ISO 200, and aperture f2.8-8. Drape the tube lights around the subject in any pattern, and make sure to change the colour to something different to the other colours. One of the final images from the video:
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This image reminds me a lot of Emma-Leone Palmer's work. We experimented wrapping the tube lights around various limbs. If I were to reshoot this image, I would add some lights in the background, or lessen the amount in the midground, because I think they are taking the attention away from the model. I would also practice focusing the camera on the model more. When editing, I selected parts if the background and increased their vibrancy and the contrast. Next time I would add some more contrasting colours to this image.
I loved the composition of this shot, it had a mix of lights in the back, mid and foreground. The colours weren't overpowered by the lights. The eyes are the main focal point in this image, and the wires act as leading lines. When editing, I used the sharpen brush to carefully go along the tube lights, sharpened the eyes, and blurred out a circular border around the image and the model's body that wasn't included in the central loop. I used the adjustment tools and tweaked the background to add vibrancy.
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For this image, we tried to wrap the tube lights around the model and then drape them off the camera. I like how there aren't any lights in the background, so the viewer can pay more attention to the colour gels in the background. When taking the photo, I unintentionally blurred the tube lights, but I managed to fox this mistake in editing by blurring the lights more in the foreground, so you can't tell the mistake as much. I also think this technique had a 3 dimensional effect on the image, The tube lights act as leading lines as you look into the image.
We used less lights in this image, but I think it was still successful. I lowered the exposure, darkened the shadows, and then went in and brightened the lights individually, expanded them, and made the split of colours down the middle of the face sharper. I added more details and highlights to the face, and cropped the photo down. This reminded me of Lindsey Adler's work. Next time I will adjust the lighting strength and colour. I will link more to the 'Conceal & Reveal' topic in the future.
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This is the final image chosen from this shoot. I liked how the tube lights were placed, and the composition was very successful. You can see the blur in the background lights, and the clear lights in the front (shallow depth of field). If I were to do this shoot again, I would perhaps change the colours to some contrasting colours. I would also strengthen the lights, because I found myself having to edit the lights in editing because they looked washed out. I will try and become more comfortable using manual and auto focus, so I don't need to edit as much.
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Rule of thirds grid and leading lines:
Original colour palette:
Updated colour palette:
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Why did I choose this artist?
Laura Williams is a photographer who specialises in "fine art portraits and natural, creative style wedding photography". She creates abnormal portraits: a person being cloned over and over in the same scene; the subject being pasted onto an unusual background; or the size of the subject or objects around them being changed to look unusual. I will be focusing on her work when she takes mirrors, and creates an optical illusion. I have chosen this artist because she links with the remove technique in our topic. Her mirror images link heavily with the identity theme in this project, because the removed part of the subject could be interpreted that they are missing a part of their identity, or perhaps they feel worthless or invisible. I also want to experiment with this new technique, because the editing process appears complex and I want to experiment with tools. Technical Processes: Laura Williams explains how to create her unique illusion in an interview, saying she too a photo of an empty background, and then without moving the camera, took another photo of someone sat holding a mirror over part of their body. She then masked the first image over the second, so that the background was in the frame and filled in the gap, giving the appearance the model was invisible. She gives no information on specialised camera settings, and I assume they were standard settings for any normal photograph, however she mentions she uses a 50mm 1.8 lens. Emulation: To emulate her work, I will follow the brief instructions she gave for editing, and experiment holding the mirror in different places. I will use normal camera settings (not deliberately changing the lighting from normal). |
Here is an about page on Laura Williams
"Photography is magic, it allows us to freeze moments that would otherwise be lost. We get to keep those precious moments safe and can relive them again and again" "Photography is quite simply a medium in which you can tell a story in a visual manner" |
When working on these images, I used grass, took a photo without the model in and then with the model in just like Laura Williams described. When editing, I cut my subject away from the background and cut out the centre of the mirror. I then put this layer on top of my plain background to create the same illusion. Editing was a strength, because after already having taken and edited some other emulations, I found to be fairly easy. A limitation for me was certainly matching up the layers, the plain image was overexposed and I had to adjust the colour, shadows and brightness to blend the two. I also found it hard to carry on the shallow depth of field I had in the first image. If I were to do this again, I would limit camera movement between shots and improve adapting camera settings to lighting changes.
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Lasoo tool to select the inside of the mirror (more specifically the polygon version of the tool:
Layering the plain background onto the image and matching it up:
Emulation:
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Deleting the inside of the mirror to make room for the background layer:
Exposure, blur, vignette, brightness & contrast, saturation so it doesn't look so obviously edited:
Original photo:
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What is the aim of this Physical Composition?
At this point in the project, I am going to further develop some images I have already taken using my physical editing skills. For me, I am capturing a moment in time, and fragmenting it to erase, distort, and subvert the identity of the subject, to add another layer of confusion to the interpretation of whoever sees it. My original images are from my mirror work, where I used editing adjustments to cut out the centre of a mirror to create a puzzling feeling for the viewer. I also did this to feel like a part of the subject's identity had been removed, because I am keeping up with the 'Conceal & Reveal' theme in the project, and this is an idea I'll be further developing during the physical editing process. I want to experiment cutting into my images, and combining monochromatic and colourful layers to show perhaps dark aspects of the subject's personality they may wish to conceal, or blank them out completely by using white paper. |
Portraiture: |
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What physical photographer(s)/techniques are furthering your ideas for Physical Composition 1?
For my work I have been inspired by Laura Williams, who uses digital editing to remove areas of the image to create confusion for the viewer. I will be adding onto this physically by removing parts of the photo and moving them about. I will be focusing on space and colour, because I am using a mix of colour and monochromatic. I will be removing, moving, and remaking my photos by collaging. |
What is the aim of this Physical Composition?
For this composition I am really going to be focusing on the identity of the subject. In the last composition I was building on a feeling of confusion, and if I was showing a person's identity I had it spread out and revealing everything (which is why I incorporated the whole process into the final image). However for this time I want to develop the idea of someone hiding their true identity from the person seeing. The initial image I am working with already shows that, because you can only clearly see the eyes and you can see the subject holding the cover of wire over their face, and not having an explicit emotion makes the person seeing this image search around the photo (like the colour of the lights) to find an interpretation of the subject's thoughts or feelings. On the other hand the picture on the right has the lights positioned to frame the face, and the fact that the lights (leading lines) are starting in the foreground and going to the back shows the person wants to be seen. |
Identity: |
A video about how to embroider on a photo:
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A gallery website feauturing Maurizio Anzeri:
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What physical photographer(s)/techniques are furthering your ideas for Physical Composition 1?
For my physical editing work I have been inspired by artist Maurizio Anzeri, who sews with colour onto black and white or sepia. He works in a variety of media including sculpture, photography, drawing and traditional craft techniques. Although I probably won't use as much thread as he does, I am going to sew over my image to enhance it, and combine the sewing technique with the collaging technique from my last composition. I think layering different edits will help me reinforce the barriers the person is leaving to protect their identity form being explicit. In terms of elements of photography, I will be focusing on colour, line and space. |
Andrea Costantin:
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Antonia Mora:
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Using the lasso tool and the cut-out tool (more specifically the draw mask brush tool) to erase the background and any distorted areas:
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Adding in the paper background I made and adjusting its hue, saturation, brightness and shadows to match the exposure of my portrait:
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Changing my portrait image, deleting the background and adding in chosen Liverpool image. Adjusting position to suit:
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Making Liverpool layer transparent (a basic overlay) so I can see portrait and changing position so parts align with the face:
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Using the draw mask tool in a large size, softness, and low opacity, and fading the harsh edges into the background and into the face:
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Using the filter setting in 'Too Old' and 'Tom to make all layers the same colour (so it looks cohesive)/heavily desaturating the portrait:
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Wedding photos:
In my exploration of portraiture, I found myself as the main photographer for an actual, not staged wedding. This experience was challenging because I found myself without a tripod or lighting that I was able to control, and capturing moments as they happened was hard, as opposed to creating a freeze frame. I had to adapt to moving around my subjects, instead of positioning them around me. Working outside of a studio, with no shoot plan proved to be difficult, and I had to improvise my camera settings depending on location, lighting, and time of day. This experience made me appreciate the thought process of all the shoots I have done so far, where you carefully plan out the composition to create a certain emotion. However, I would say this shoot was a huge success, and I am going to highlight my most successful images below. I have actually been asked to photograph another wedding since this. |
Daniel Egnéus is a 51 year old artist who focuses his work on the architecture of Athens. Aside from his dreamlike, vibrant landscapes, he also does children book illustrations, but I will be focusing on his landscape work, from his series 'Drawings from an everyday walk in Athens'. He observes that black and white pictures of cities showing hardship doesn't appeal to him, and he finds inspiration in drawing out the bright colours to make his building images look more lively. He is an illustrative artist, and he was voted best illustrator in March 2005 by the Association of Illustrators in the UK. His artwork is multi-layered, and he appears to after taking a photo of a street or building, illustrate over it in solid colours and eliminates textures (for example colouring a whole brick wall white) however reintroduces dimension into his work by layering these solid colours on top of each other, and using a fine pen to illustrate finer details like railings and door frames, which makes his work look more developed and adds realism. He tends to create quite busy outcomes, for example he photographs multiple buildings with lots of objects and people, which is mellowed nicely by the use of simplistic illustration and artistic equipment. I have been inspired by his work and am looking to further develop some of my own building/architecture photography by emulating and interpreting his style of photography for my own work. In a way, he is similar to Emma-Leone Palmer or Dennis Wojtkiewicz, who also photograph and then illustrate (paint) over their work. Photography in this way is great as it allows painters to create realistic or high quality pieces by using photos as a stencil for painting or drawing on.
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