Photo Skills A

Monday, 29 October 2012

self evaluation

SELF EVALUATION

Since I can remember, I wanted to become a photographer like my father. Now that I am studying photography I know that this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life and feel glad for studding in UK.

Photo skills A is the base of what I will be doing for the rest of my studies and for me it was an experiment to learn how to work as a university student and how to apply principle in my photographs.

Even if the most of the time felt lost about what I should be doing for the module, I now have learned to work by myself but also with groups and especially to work methodically and having a schedule for my studying and responsibilities for the module.

Depth of Field, was a very interesting and at the same time difficult. The reason was because I had a new camera and I never had to work manually. Even though, after practice and research I am now able to photograph pictures of each of the categories of the Depth of Field.

Shutter Speed was also something new and for me it was the most creative assignment. Drawing with the glow sticks and capturing the light of the cars was very fascinating even if I had no tripod which it was necessary.

The studio assignment was also very creative. I had the chance to share my point of view about portraits and with my research and with the help of the lighting workshop with my group, I manage to prepare my on subject based on portraits. It was not easy because until now I have not a character in my photography and I am still experimenting in order to capture qualitative and aesthetically beautiful photographs.

The Assignment was the best way to start my studies. I have learned principles and tips, I had the chance to experiment, show my ideas and develop my own subject. Even thought I was feeling lost for the first two weeks and this might be because I am from Cyprus and it is still my first year in the UK. I know that I have to try harder but still I am willing to do so as this is what I will do for life.

Portaits

Studio Assignment - Portraits

Proposal

Portrait photography is one of the most important and popular subject for photographers. Many photographers, as it will be mentioned below, have presented series of portrait photographs.
A portrait could be defined as the likeness of a person and especially the face. According to that statement, a portrait photograph will be unique based on what or who it is showing. Moreover, for me this kind of photography may be divided into two categories. The first are portraits that will have character, it will show an emotion or it will capture the mood of the person photographed. Such a photograph would be more “dramatic” and is often use for commercials. In greek “drama” means “drasi” which is action. So photographs defined as dramatic, should be a photograph showing any act of a person whether it is an emotion or a physical act. A person, who will see such a photograph, should be able to see the emotion and will have the ability to feel the emotion that the person of the photography is feeling. The difficult part for the photographer is to capture the emotion indented by both the person photographed and the subject required. The second category will be portraits with no intention to show anything but just a face or a human figure. This kind of photography would be more like capturing a statue. Even if could be said that there is nothing beyond the surface of the skin, watching a portrait could make person feel close to the person of the photograph and to create the feeling of intimacy. A world known photographer that has created a series of portrait photographs is Martin Schoeller. It could be said that his photographs of the “Close-up” series shows the real close-up character of each of the celebrities, making you feel like you are right in front of them. He stated that “A photographic close-up is perhaps the purest form of portraiture, creating a confrontation between the viewer and the subject that daily interaction makes impossible or at least impolite” . Moreover, another photographer is Steve Paxton where I was inspired. In the Urban Portraits project he captured homeless people in the streets. He stated that he wanted a break from the sometimes routine nature of regular portrait photography and that the stories of those people gave his images life. As I can see from his work, the portraits are not showing the beauty or a specific emotion of a person. His is capturing the real life and the person as it is based on what they have been through. For me the beauty of photography is not about a nice pose or a beautiful model. You can see the beauty in the most “ugliest” subjects, in the most casual and simple people and in everything that is not fake. Accordingly the beauty is the reality.My work for this assignment will be portraits of strangers as well as people close to me. With my photographs I will try to capture portraits of people that will give the ability to the viewer to create the story behind the person of the photograph. As Steve Paxton I will try to photograph some homeless people. Yet, those photographs will be just an experiment for me as the most difficult part would be the communication between me and the homeless as I have never done it before. Finally, I will also prepare a series of portrait photographs where each of them, will show different emotions of a person.

For my Studio Assignment I choose Portraits. My aim is to photograph people that are showing emotions and to capture what is beyond the skin.

Martin Schoeller: "A photographic close-up is perhaps the purest form of portraiture, creating a confrontation between the viewer and the subject that daily interaction makes impossible, or at least impolite"

The “Close-up” series shows the real close-up character of each of the celebrities, making you feel like you are right in front of them.

Staring in a person's face is more likely to described as impolite. A portrait photograph gives you the opportunity to stare and explore someone. The question is whether or not you can see beyond the surface of the skin and "read" the person.

Here is a close up photograph that i took. The model was just standing and simply i took a close up photograph of her. By staring in this photograph i know that there was no indention for showing to the viewers something beyond the face. Even though any person could create its own story for her.
As a viewer and not the photographer i could say that she is a person who cares about her appearance. Moreover it could be said by her eyes that she is tired and by her skin and hair color you might say that she is Italian or Greek. I feel that she is a person with strong personality and that she has expectations for herself.

Every photograph could be beyond he surface of the skin the matter or not is how easy can the viewer read the person.

Here are some of me Studio photography.

The light is the most important element to photography. Big difference between light and shadow could result to a more dramatic photograph. Dramatic Portraits would often have a more theatrical character.

Deferent emotions of a person.

As mentioned above the emotion of each photograph is expressed by each viewer differently. However the models in each photograph with my instructions intended to show emotions where it would be easier for the viewer to understand.

Steve Paxton has prepared a series of portraits. In the Urban Portraits project he captured homeless people in the streets.

He stated that he wanted a break from the sometimes routine nature of regular portrait photography and that the stories of those people gave his images life. As I can see from his work, the portraits are not showing the beauty or a specific emotion of a person. His is capturing the real life and the person as it is based on what they have been through.

Inspired by his work i went to the outside in order to photograph portraits of strangers.

In this photograph the worker is having a break for a cigarette. In my opinion this photograph is one of my best as i can see what this worker felt at that time. He is tired and skeptical and his is spending his break to rest.

Sunday, 28 October 2012

Studio

Studio Lighting

For this assignment we have learned the basic properties of studio lighting and techniques. After separating in groups we were asked to produce photographs by using different techniques of lighting in different objects and surfaces.

The equipment needed were a continuous point light source a white reflector a black absorber and a diffuser.

For the first exercise we were ask to prepare photograph of a solid object.

Direct light: Light shining directly on the solid subject and producing strong highlights and deep shadows.

F/5.6 S 1/5 ISO 100

Direct light with reflector: The reflectors come in a variety of surfaces, white, silver and gold are the most usual to see. The idea is to bounce some light into the shadow areas Thereby reducing the overall contrast of the shot.

F/ 5 S 1/40 ISO 100

Diffused light: Diffused light is softer than direct light, with shadows that are less sharply-defined. The diffuser is something put over light source to decrease its contrast.