Macro Photography

A macro photograph is one in which the size of the subject on the negative or image sensor is life size or greater, although most of the time we will end up looking at a large size image of a really small insect or flower, for example.

Technique

•       Most camera manufactures sell Macro lens which allow photographers to expand the image to greater than 1:1… these lens’ are quite expensive, alternatively learners can use the camera in macro mode if available (this may not be as effective as a dedicated lens).
•         Use point of focus OR manual focus
•        Use A TRIPOD to frame the object and background, apply compositional rules where possible.
•         Experiment with depth of field, you will be very close to your subject which results in a sudden drop off on focus, to overcome this you might want to maximize your depth of field therefore shoot at f 16 f22.b In other circumstances you may like the drop off in focus in which case use a lower f stop e.g. 4.0
•         Work with a low/medium ISO from 100 to 400
•          Apply manual exposure and the exposure meter to ensure that the subject is adequately exposed.
•          In some case you may choose to use flash light

Task:

·         In the studio I used the Nikon camera with Macro lens to shoot the image below. The setting were 1/125, f/16 and ISO 200. With a focal length of 105.00 mm

     Contact sheet:

    Edit:

     To edit this picture i Burn and dodged with curves on the Iris. I also did this on the corner of the eye to add a highlight. I found that there was a loose eyelash on her cheek when editing so i used the clone stamp to copy her skin over it, to make the image look more appealing as shown below.

      Final Image:

    Evaluation:

   I liked this technique cause i found that the opportunity to edit the details in the eye his something I've never been able to achieve before. If i had my own Macro lens i would try to do this more often. If i was to do this again i would make sure I got more varied photos and would take more appealing photos of the necklace etc.

Wide-Angle & Telephoto Photography.

•      Definition of the technique:

Wide angle lenses (short focal length) capture more because they have a wider picture angle.

Telephoto lenses (long focal length) have a narrower picture angle.
In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens refers to a lens whose focal length is substantially smaller than the focal length of a normal lens for a given film plane

•      An image Bank which illustrates the technique

Typical focal lengths and their 35mm format designations:

<20mm =  Super wide angle
24mm-35mm = wide angle
50mm= normal
80mm-300mm = Tele
>300mm = super Tele

How the images were produced:

We set the location for the model to stand and then set the settings to:

zoom: 18mm 

shutter:1/1250

f stop: 3.5

ISO 200 

we then moved further and further back keeping the settings to show the wide angle/ fishbowl effect.

The images:

Evaluation:

If i was to do this technique again i would make sure the setting was better and the photos were more in focus as i only had two good pictures come out of it. I didn't like this technique as it distorts the real image.

Project Brief

Personal Investigation brief.

Year two of A Level AQA Art and design subjects require students to develop their work in a way that they can explore their own themes.  To enable you to do this we have devised a series of advanced techniques and approaches to prepare you to conduct their own personal project.    Please be aware that the project is an investigation (it means you are trying to find something out) as such your work and approach will develop over a period of time, you must be prepared to work in an experimental and evaluative manner to be successful.

In summary below is the two components you will be expected to complete for year 2.

Component details

Component 1 Personal investigation
This is a practical investigation supported by written material.
Students are required to conduct a practical investigation, into an idea, issue, concept or theme, supported by written material. The focus of the investigation must be identified independently by the student and must lead to a finished outcome or a series of related finished outcomes.
The investigation should be a coherent, in-depth study that demonstrates the student’s ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning from an initial starting point to a final realisation.
The investigation must show clear development from initial intentions to the final outcome or outcomes. It must include evidence of the student’s ability to research and develop ideas and relate their work in meaningful ways to relevant critical/contextual materials.
The investigation must be informed by an aspect of contemporary or past practice of artists, photographers, designers or craftspeople.
The written material must confirm understanding of creative decisions, providing evidence of all four assessment objectives by:

·         clarifying the focus of the investigation

·         demonstrating critical understanding of contextual and other sources

·         substantiating decisions leading to the development and refinement of ideas

·         recording ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions by reflecting critically on practical work

·         making meaningful connections between, visual, written and other elements.

The written material must:

·         be a coherent and logically structured extended response of between 2000 and 3000 words of continuous prose.

·         include specialist vocabulary appropriate to the subject matter

·         include a bibliography that, identifies contextual references from sources such as: books, journals, websites, through studies of others’ work made during a residency, or on a site, museum or gallery visit

·         be legible with accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar so that meaning is clear. Annotation must not be included in the word count for the written material.

Students can present the written material in the form of an ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY..

The personal investigation will be assessed as a whole. Evidence of meeting the requirements of all four assessment objectives must be provided in both the practical and written material in the form of a Blogger.

4.2 Assessment objectives

Assessment objectives (AOs) are set by Ofqual and are the same across all AS and A-level Art and Design specifications and all exam boards.

The assessments will measure how students have achieved the following assessment objectives:

• AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.
• AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.
• AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.
• AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

Transition week homework.

 Students are required to have completed the following: -

Techniques posts for

·         Sequencing

·         Animated Gif

·         Wide angle close up Photography

·         4 Portraits 4 ways

·         An Illustrated Project Proposal.

Sequencing

 Definition of Sequencing:

By definition, a sequence is a serial arrangement in which things follow in logical order or a recurrent pattern. Photo sequencing is actually stitching multiple images together and it is a form of time-lapse photography. A change in an object’s position over time is being displayed and it only works when the object moves across a static background.

•     Image Bank:

•      Equipment& settings:

Tripod
Fast shutter speed
Manual camera settings (to fix the exposure)- ISO 200-400 if outside
Manual focus
No Camera shake (be careful when pressing the button).
Direct the shoot (composition/framing and where the moving elements will move from and to
are important.
Photo-editing software 

o   Straight Images 

My Attempt At Sequencing: 

· Equipment used:
    To take my photos I used a Nikon D3100, a tripod and a model. I\ then edited my pictures on photoshop, by layering the pictures and masking them. By masking them, i was able to hide certain parts of each image to make the sequence not overlap. Below is screenshots of my editing.

·    Camera Settings:
     shutter speed: 1/125    f/4.5      ISO: 100      Zoom: 30mm
   
    Evaluation:
    When going to edit my photos i found that it would be hard to create a sequence that was good, as the photos overlapped and the model was in one position throughout the pictures. Due to not having any other good photos from my shoot, i decided to go ahead with it and try to make it look good. If i was to do this again, I would change the action and make it landscape. 

Illustrated Project Proposal

Illustrated Project Proposal:

My Personal investigation is: to create a visual record of “A Destructive World”. The investigation will explore the destruction of nature and how conflict can cause a destructive world. This can be shown through plastic and rubbish or the effects of war leaving a place run down and looking ugly. I will record this from urban areas in the Uk, the seaside and from the third world country of Northern Cyprus, which is a ‘run down’ urban area.

Background

I've decided that I would like to focus on street photography within different places. I decided on this idea of photo-journalism as wanted to do nature photography, which is my strong point but to venture from my normal of taking photos of flowers etc. I also found that i could take photos whilst on holiday in Northern Cyprus this summer.

I'd like to begin this subject with shooting ‘How humans destroy the environment and ruin the beauty of nature’, such as, abandoned houses left broken down, rubbish in streets and more. This is also a good starting point because it means I can shoot in Harlow during lessons as well, as I can shoot up the town where there is urban places and graffiti.

Photographers research:

Photographer Nick Brandt’s epic panoramas in Inherit The Dust highlight man’s destructive presence in places animals used to roam.

I took a liking to Brandt’s work as he uses editing to show the before and after of nature and how humans evolving create less space for animals, hence extinction. 

I plan to try Brandt’s technique of the ripped, overlay of the photos within my own work, using either photoshop or printing my photos and hand overlying them.

Another photographer i took interest in is German photographer Christian Richter who has been breaking into abandoned buildings across Europe to capture their "swan song" for his Abandoned series.

Illustrations

  This photo is by Christian Richter. I liked this photo because the composition and the off straight lines show the rough atmosphere of the photo. I also like how dark the building is but how it still has light shining through in the to right corner as the sun is shining through a gap in the building.

This photo is by Brandt, I like how the photo presents many photos from the zone system. I also like the extraggeration as the man walking is 'ignoring' the elephant, although it isn't actually there.