Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Darkroom printing, Timeline and History

Image result for facts about ansel adamsTimeline

This task I completed on a piece of A3 paper.

History

An example of a well known artist who has worked in a darkroom and produced many inspiring pieces is Ansel Adams. Ansel was born on February 201th 1902 and died on the 20th April 1984. Ansel was an American artist who did many of his pieces of landscapes in Western America  as this inspired him most and this is what he enjoyed taking photos of. He created many pieces of work in the darkroom , one being a piece called Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico. I think that Ansel used the darkroom as it creates a very different look on your photos as they come out black and white. I think the photos being in black and white create good contrast in the photo where as if it was in colour, this wouldn't be as effective as it wouldn't really stand out and would look similar to other artists work. 
                                      

 
I like this piece of work because of the 2 different colours which are in the picture which contrast well with each other. I like the way the white lines stand out in the picture from the road which makes your eyes follow tit and then the clouds in the distance have a white glow around them making them also stand out from the gloomy grey sky. I would think that this photo was taken on a sunny day because of this glow which is around the clouds which could be the sun shining behind them but on this photo the sky looks moody like there is going to be a storm. In this photo, I would maybe add a car of some sort of transport moving along the road into the distance but not make it really stand out from the white lines.



I also like this image as it has lots of white in the picture which creates an atmosphere. I like the way the white on the tree makes each branch stand out really clear and the ground also looks like snow has set onto it ,which stands out from the sky and the cliff in the background as these are a dark grey colour.

I don't  like this piece of work as it is too busy which distracts you. I think that nothing in this photo stands out so doesn't draw my attention straight away to a particular area. I think instead of having lots of sheep with a landscape in the background, taking a picture of just one sheep would work better because then you can see the background more clearly and the camera could focus on the sheep which would draw your attention straight away as the camera would be focusing on one thing.




Image result for man ray facts 
Another example of an artist who worked with darkroom is Man Ray. in August 1980 and died November 1976. He was born  Man Ray was also an American artist who was interested in obtaining unusual effects when taking his photos. Ray experimented with many of his photos by over exposing and under exposing his negatives which created a different look, these looking like they were 'bleached' .
I think that Ray decided to use the darkroom as he was very interested in experimenting new things and coming up with new ideas.  think he wanted to create a different perspective into using the darkroom a bit differently which he went ahead and did.

I quite like this piece of work however I also find it a bit scary. I like the way the photo is split up into 3 different sections and the way they work well with each other. I think it is clever that the 3 sections work so well when the artist has used different eyes head and nose and mouth to create an unusual and interesting picture.

This is my favourite piece of Man Rays work. I like the way it is a photo of a basic object in this case being a film strip which is related to the darkroom. The film strip contrasts differently with the background in different areas which makes it stand out more and also because it is white looks more effective as it is bold compared to the plain black background. I think that it is good that he didn't put anything behind the filmstrip or in the background because otherwise your eyes wouldn't be drawn straightaway to the filmstrip and you wouldn't really see the main purpose of the photo.

I don't really like this piece as it isn't of anything interesting just part of a persons face. To make this better, it needs more contrast because its all just one colour really and the areas that are a tiny bit black, don't stand out. I think that the tear drop aren't emphasised enough. The face could be a darker shade which would help them stand out and be seen straight away.


Evaluation

Task 1A 

In this task i researched photography in books and on the internet which captured movement in them.I then chose 4 of these which i thought had the most effective movement in and had to write about these including what the photo was called, when it was created,if it was historical or contemporary, and my opinion. When i was doing this task,i think that i could of made my work better as i think i could of gone into more detail in certain areas as they weren't in much depth. For example,i could of written more about the technical aspects of the photo, for example, explaining more about how the shot was taken and more detail about the exposure explaining my reason why i thought it was a certain exposure and shot. 

When i was doing my research for the photos, i found it easier using books as i found more of a variety of photos which i then could choose from to evaluate.In the books however, i found a lot more historical images than contemporary. I think using books is an easier resource because on the internet the information isn't always reliable or doesn't always give you enough information. 

Aperture and Shutter speed quiz


After been shown a presentation about different techniques you can use on a camera by changing different settings,we were then quized on the aperture and the shutter speed whilst using a camera. I found the aperture quiz easier as i scored 5/8 compared to the shutter speed only scoring 2/6. Doing this quiz helped me learn more about the different techniques on a camera to make your photos a lot better. 

Task 1B


In this task i learnt more about apertures and shutter speeds as i had the chance to experiment with them using a camera by taking a number of shots changing the aperture and shutter speed for each shot to try and capture movement. Looking at my shots which i took, some of them worked out better than others because of the setting i set the camera to. For example, one of my shots which worked well was one which was a shot of me moving my head side to side which had an exposure of 2.0 seconds and ISO was 100 (F9). I found that these settings worked well as you could see the movement in the shot as there are shadows of my head which you can see clearly however dont stand out as much as the origional object making this the focus of the shot.

Another shot which i thinked worked well was one of me using a prop which was a scarf, and waving it above my head then letting it drop to the ground. The settings for this shot i used was; an exposure of 0.6,which was less than quite a few of my other shots, and the ISO setting was 200. I found these setting really effective as you can see the different lines above my heard and the different points where the scarf has been which is quite blury because of how fast the shot was and how fast i moved, but this still worked well. 

A shot which i didnt think worked too well was one of me where i faced 2 different ways by spinning around on the spot. The exposure for this shot was the same settings i used for my first shot which i have written about, however i dont think this shot worked out as well maybe because i wasn't spinning fast enough or the camera wasn't on the right setting.

I enjoyed this task as i was able to experiment with different settings on the camera whilst learning about them at the same time as i didnt really have any idea about them until this task. If i was to change anything, i would maybe experiment more with the settings i was told to change as i only stuck to a few and also i would take more shots so i could see more clearly which settings work best depending what the shot is taking a photo of. 

Painting with light 


This task was in a studio which was dark. We had to use an object these could of been eg candles, glow sticks, torches etc. Then we had to change the camera to a long exposure which would capture the light in an effective way . This task was really fun and easy i thought, and the shots afterwards which i had taken looked really clever as i had never seen anything like it . I was learning throught this task as i had never heard of painting with light and i wouldnt of really thought it would of been to do with photography because of the process you have to do and the set up before hand. I took shots of colourful light and just one colour which meant i had a variety of images to work from. I think if i was to do this task again, i would take more shots using colour .

Task 2 

For this task i went on a trip to Harrogate and knaresborough where i was given a film camera to take a total of 18 images in each place, these being images of; people, transport and nature. This task was difficult as you just had to set your camera to a setting which you think would work when you saw movement then take the shot however you couldn't view your image afterwards. When my negatives were developed, a lot of my shots were too dark which meant it had been over exposed, quite a few had turned out okay as you could see them clearly . If i was to do this this task again, i would make sure i checked my settings carefully before i took the shot, especially the exposure as a lot of my images were too dark. 

Task 3 


This task was all about flipbooks which i had to research into how they were made, what made an effective flipbook etc as i needed to know more about them in order to make one. I had a total of 4 ideas which i thought would work well as a flipbook. One of my ideas which i chose to shoot for was my board game idea as i thought it was something different and interesting.I had to set my camera to continuous shots which meant that my camera would take shot after shot and capture the movement so when i put the flipbook together, you would be able to see the movement as if it was actually happening in front of you. My second idea which i actually decided to use for my final piece was an animation which i used little figures for. This plan was different as i had to change my camera settings to single shots for it to work because i had to keep moving the figures slightly in each shot. If i was to change anything, i would maybe take more shots. I think that my flipbook was successful as i took 47 shots for it, however if i had a few more it would make it better so when you flip through it it would last longer. 

This task was my favourite task because i enjoyed taking shots which were easy to take which i then put together into a flipbook which was creative and fun and worked really well when you flipped through it. 


Media Museum Kodak gallery quiz


I went to the Museum in Bradford to do this task which was research but different to my other research tasks as there were questions on paper which i just had to fill in when i was walking around the museum. I found this an easier way of learning because i had to read through information which might not of been aplicable to what i had to research, but the way the information way lay out, it was easy to read and also because there were pictures and sometimes objects to go with it made it more interesting.Some of the answers i found were quite difficult to find but the majority was easy enough to find and i filled in nearly all the answers which i had to fill in on the sheet. 

Darkroom printing and timeline 

This was also one of my favourite tasks as i got the chance to experience the darkroom. The first time i went into the darkroom i learnt all about how you set up your easel, focuser,paper etc then learnt about each tray and how long you had to keep your print in them for. When i did my first prints in the darkroom, i found that they came out toodark which meant they were under exposed, so i had to change the amount of yellow and magenta and also the amount of light reaching my print. In the end , my print was too light so it was over exposed. This made me learn from the settings which i had to change, so next time i would know what to do if it was to happen again. The second time i went into the darkroom, my prints worked out slightly better the first prints which i did. For my first print i kept the gradient the same which i was to start of with, and the exposure. I then for my second print, changed my exposure which made my image too dark.By changing the gradient and the exposure back to the origional number i started with, i found this made a big difference. 

When i had got the gradient and exposure right, i decided to change the timing to see what difference this would make, and i found that this made a diference. For my final piece,i had to clean the film first because as i looked at my previous test prints, i had dust on it and this was showing up a lot. The gradient on the print was 6 yellow and 102 magenta, exposure to 11, and the timing on 8 seconds which made my image come out clearly without any lines down it and different contrasts on it.

On my second final piece i chose it as i just thought the shot was taken at an effective angle. I took the photo on a bridge over looking water which was the movement in my photo. The setting for this photo was 23 yellow and 56 magenta which was the gradient i set it to. The exposure was set to 56 and the timing on it was 18 seconds. This photo turned out clear with no lines as it was all the same gradient throughout. To improve this shot, i would of taken the shoot of maybe just the movement which was the ducks in the water in the shoot, so then it was focused on just the movement rather than on the buildings which werent really necessary on the left hand side. 

To improve on this task, i would re take a lot of my shoots as a lot of them were too dark and the images which i used for my final piece wereb the clearest so i used them, however i would shoot again because the shoots which i chose, you cant really tell the movement which was happening in them at the time.




Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Painting with light

 Research 

Light painting was invented just less than 100 years after photography was invented for the first time in 1889 .It was invented by 3 people, these being; Etienne- Jules , Marey, and Georges Demeny .In 1935, a new artist called Man Ray began experimenting with light painting photography. 

When experimenting with light painting, it is important your camera setting are correct. You have to make sure to check the; Aperture, shutter speed ,ISO and the focussing is on the correct settings .




This photo was taken without the flash. The exposure i used was 32.0 seconds. The ISO setting was F8 100. The focal length was 18.0mm.

This photo was taken without the flash. The exposure i used was 32.0 seconds. The ISO setting was F8 100. The focal length was 23.omm.

This photo was taken without the flash. The exposure i used was 32.0 seconds. The ISO setting was F8 100. The focal length was 23.0mm.

This photo was taken without the flash. The exposure i used was 32.0 seconds. The ISO setting was F8100. The focal length was 23.0mm. 

Task 2



This part of the task was completed on the trip when i went to Knaresbrough  and Harrogate.Below is a table which i completed, i had to take a total of 16 photos in each place,4 of transport,nature and people.  




The second part of this task is in my technical folder about darkroom with my test prints in.

Task 1b

In this task, i practised using different shutter speeds when taking shots of moving things. Below are my photos which i took;



This photo was taken without the flash on as i was experimenting the difference by using the flash. When taking this shot, i used an exposure of 2.0 seconds.The ISO setting for this shot was F9 -100. The focal lense was set to 26.0mm. 

This photo was also taken without the flash as this shot was taken outside in the daylight so didn't need it.When taking this shot i used an exposure of 2.0 second.The ISO setting was also 100. The focal lense was set to 35.0mm.

This photo was taken without the flash. When taking this shot i used an exposure of 0.5secs which was a quick shutter speed. The ISO setting was 100. The focal lense was set to 26.0mm. 


This photo was taken without the flash. When taking this shot i used an exposure of 0.6. The ISO setting was 200. The focal lense was set to 20.0mm.