Work Record 3

Plans for shoot:

In this shoot I will be shooting a subtle sunset with a gradient sky. In these I will be adding a horizon line of trees etc. I also hope to get a detailed picture of the moon. 

Research Influence:

Paul Reiffer is a multi-award winning British photographer. He has travelled around the world capturing images of people, landscape and commercial images for many years. Paul Reiffer has lived in 5 different countries, but he will always consider “home” as the South Coast of England where he was born and raised. Paul's ultra-high resolution, large format images are used by some of the best-known brands in the world and appreciated by collectors across every continent. His work has featured in exhibitions all over the world, from Times Square in New York to the Royal Albert Hall and Houses of Parliament in London, with gallery installations in Europe and Asia. Reiffer personally finds that in some situations, for example where there is a high contrast between a bright (sunset/sunrise) sky and dark landscape below, filters are invaluable and a neutral density is a must.

What inspired me about reiffers photos are the way he captures the time lapse of the clouds moving and the high saturated colours in the sunsets.

Image Bank:

Contact Sheet:

My Best Images:

Images that need improving:

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for this shoot was to photograph a subtle sunset was cool non-highly saturated colours. In this shoot I would like to capture the different colours of sunsets and the timeline of the colours de-saturating as the sun moves. To make the camera focus I used trees or an object in the horizon. I was inspired by my research of Paul Reiffer. This photographer inspired me to edit my best images to have more colour and saturation. I also tried to show different patches of colour in the sky like Paul does. The images came out as expected, however my tripod was not tall enough to reach out of the window. I wanted my photos to show a calm sky, which I think I have portrayed in many ways. 

Best selected images...

My best images were selected because they were the ones that show my initial process for this shoot. This is because they show the different colours blending together. I like this look at it shows contrast and different tones within one photo.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used my Nikon D3500 camera to take these photos. I tried to adjust the camera setting, like shutter speed, aperture and ISO to make the photos look their best. However, I can’t remember what every photo was taken in.

The first photo:

Shutter speed= 1/200
Aperture=f/5.6

Zoom=185mm

the second:

Shutter speed= 1/320
Aperture=f/5.6

Zoom=185mm

Third photo:

Shutter speed= 1/160
Aperture=f/5.6
Zoom=160mm

The fourth:

Shutter speed= 1/320
Aperture=f/5.6

Zoom=195mm

fifth:

Shutter speed= 1/250
Aperture=f/5.0

Zoom=100mm

sixth:

Shutter speed= 1/250
Aperture=f/5.6

Zoom=300mm

seventh:

Shutter speed= 1/30
Aperture=f/5.6

Zoom=195mm

editing:

To get my photos more like Reiffer’s i used Photoshop to change the exposure, curves and even add a photo filter to add a certain colour tinge to each photo. I also burned and dodged a few images to make the images more gradient. As shown by the screenshots on each side. I also wanted to experiment more on my editing so I decided to try using strips to change different parts of my image. As shown by the screenshot below, I used 20 strips and then changed different ones to be black and white, have the curves increased or decreased. Although the photo came out okay, I didn’t prefer this final image compared to my other work records which I dodged and burned. 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

        The artist research was helpful as I liked the fact that Reiffer composes the photo so that the sky isn’t the main point of focus. There is another object in front of it that makes it interesting but the colourful sky drags the attention to itself. This connotes a powerful sky that can distract the audience. It also helped when I edited my photos as I used burning and dodging to create patches of different colours like Paul did but more subtle.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

I believe that I have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of the sky and my research of Paul Reiffer's work. I wanted my photos to look calm and light. I feel my best images have presented this well.

final edits:

Progression:

In my next shoot i want to to look into the different type of night sky, a dark cloudy one. To do this i will use the same window i used to take these picture.