Final Evaluation

My photographer research and preparatory shots played a vast role with my final series of images that I have created such as my research on Ferdinanad Choffrays photographs. His work consisted of symmetrically appearing photographs of various shapes such as pathways and staircases. So after finding and analysing his photography, I attempted to recreate the same style of symmetrical photography.

In terms of technical development, during the exam I have explored using a range of F stops to create various depths of field. This helped me decide what F stops to use when taking different styles of photography. I used high F stops such s F.16 to take landscape photographs since that F stop has a wide depth of field. However, when taking photographs of people, I used a lower F stop of F.8. This gave the photo a more narrow depth of field and the viewer a more of a focus point of the people photographed. 

In terms of aesthetic, I have developed a new way of presenting my photos as well as work. My photographs have developed in how they were taken. For example, from taking usual landscape photographs, they have developed into including symmetry into them. This is one of the new ways that my photos were presented.

My work overall was also presented in an orderly fashion including Contact Sheets, Straight Images, Computer Experiments, Work Records, Final Pieces and Final Evaluation in separate blog posts. In those blog posts, there is also a separation of individual photographs, their write ups and from which shoot they were from for organisation and easy understanding. 

I believe that there is a success in responding to the exam paper, but to a certain extent. I have included elements of computer experiments into my blog posts. I have also successfully taken and written up on my two photo shoots and what their purposes were. For my pre planning for taking the photos,  believe that I have made a good attempt on what photos I wanted to take and evaluate.

However, my execution when taking these photographs could have been greatly improved. For example, my first shoot had a very high camera ISO setting which resulted in the photographs to have a grainy appearance. But from another perspective, the photos could have been recognised as my own style and approach to taking photographs to bring about a gritty feel to them. This gritty approach was however not intentional. Another way my execution could have been improved would be to avoid taking photos with a unintentional motion blur to them. During both of my photo shoots, there were many photos with this unwanted motion blur. Therefore I should have used a tripod with both of these shoots so eliminate the chance of getting this motion blur.

There are also posts and techniques that I could have included to develop on my photographs. I could have included physical experiments when taking my photos. This would have included a deeper level of creativity with my final images and bring about by own style of photos. 

I could also have included a deeper analysis in other photographers photographs as well as my own. There is a relatively good description with my own in terms of connotation and denotation however none with research on other photographers. So I could have included more imaginative connotations to my photographs as well as include connotations and denotations to other researched photographs. 

Final Pieces

This photographer that influenced my to take this was Ferdinanad Choffray since his photographs consist of symmetrically appearing photographs such as this photograph: 

In comparison to my own and Ferdinands photograph, they take the same approach in creating a symmetrically appearing photograph. 

The photographer that influenced me to take this photograph was Martin Parr since he takes street photograph of people such as this photograph:

There is a similar approach to taking the photo with a low angle camera shot as well as conversing people. However, Martins photo conveys more messages in comparison to my photograph

Computer Experements

Shoot One

Image 1:

Original

This is the original image first taken before editing. I have made the decision to first crop the image so that the viewers focus would be more towards the two men in the photograph.

Cropped

After cropping the image, I made the decision to increase the saturation of the image. The reason why I made this choice is because the positive denotation the two men give would match up to an enhancement in colours.

Cropped and Saturated

Photoshop edit used

After saturating, I felt satisfied with the result of the final image since the two men do denote positivity as well as the enhancement of colours also promote this too.

Image 2:

Original

This is the original image of the town centre which had the intention to show its architecture from a low angle point of view. I think that saturating and cropping in the image would further bring about that low angle point of view as if it was looked upon by a person. 

Saturated and Cropped

Shoot Two

Image 1:

Original

This is the original image that I have taken during the photo shoot. This image could be improved in terms of composition and also by cropping out unnecessary ares of the image such as the bottom right corner. The bush brings an unsettling feeling to the photo since the whole of  it isn't shown. Only a fraction of it is shown and therefore should be cropped out. 

Cropped

This is the cropped version of the original image. I believe that this brought about a better aesthetic and composition since there are no unnecessary ares of the image. After cropping the image, I also made the choice to make a hue and saturation adjustment to the image to amplify the green colours in the image.

Hue and saturation adjustment

Image 2:

Original

This is the original photograph taken with the attempt of creating symmetry in the photograph. I think that cropping the image would bring about a better composition of the image and a more aesthetic appearance. 

Cropped

After cropping the image, the symmetry in the image is easily recognised with the two path ways going either side. After this, I believed that no further edits were required for the image. 

Work Record

First Shoot:

My initial plans for the first photo shoot are to take photographs off the Harlow town centre and identify it's characteristics including architecture and visitors.


This was achieved by walking to the town centre from Harlow College to take photographs. The camera settings used throughout taking photos were 1200 ISO, high and low aperture settings ranging from F.8 to F.16. The photographs came out with various depths of field. The photographs that represented the architecture of the town centre had a high depth of field while photographs of people had a lower depth of field to bring about the viewers focus onto the photograph. The majority of the photographs were taken with a good composition. I also used the decisive moment to take the photographs of other people so that It would bring about the true representation of the visitors of Harlow.

However for future photo shoots, I would have changed the ISO settings since some of the photographs have a grainy outcome that cannot be fully edited out by image editing software. I should have also used a tripod when taking photographs. This is because a tripod allows a camera to take steady shots. This would have brought about better composition and compositional techniques such as the rule of thirds or the golden rule in my photographs. Using these would have had the photograph have a much more aesthetic and satisfactory appearance to the viewer.
However the grainy photographs could be viewed as my own personalised approach to the photographs.

Second Shoot:

The initial plans for this shoot was to take photographs that include journeys weather it includes walking, driving or cycling and to take photographs of the landscapes that can be seen during this.

This has been achieved by walking to places such as roads and cycle tracks to explore these landscapes. I have used a consistent F.16 camera setting to bring about a wide depth of field . The shutter speed used was a fast shutter speed since the weather at the time was bright. The ISO was reduced to 100 and no tripod was used when taking the photographs. In terms of composition, the photographs were taken relatively well even without a tripod, mainly including the rule of thirds in the photos.

However there were some photographs that resulted in unwanted motion blurs since a tripod wasn't used during the shoot. So in future, I will use a tripod to ensure that there is no blur in the photographs.

Straight Images

Shoot 1:



This photo denotes the view from a carpark area onto the road with a field behind with horses. The photo also denotes the connotes the diagonal view of the road, and trees far behind.
The connotations of the photograph would be the unusual feeling of horses being near to a road. This could bring about a feeling of astonishment since it is not usual to see horses kept on a field next to a shopping centres car park.

This photograph denotes the architecture of this town centre, showing how man made structures and nature can come together to bring about an aesthetic appearance.
I believe that the connotations of this photograph are the appealing view of how the architecture and how the structures are arranged along with the nature included.

This photograph has the denotations of both man made structure and buildings as well as natural elements such as trees and plants. These two both harmonise together to bring about an aesthetic appearance in architecture.
This photo connotes the feelings of comfort and practicality. The reason why I say comfort is because this harmonisation of man made structure and nature could bring about a feeling of satisfaction to many people that enjoy the beauty of nature as well as be able to do daily activities such as shopping. And thats also the reason why I say practicality, because there can be a fast change from enjoying the natural appearance to doing daily activities.

This photograph denotes two men in a conversation being happy with one anothers presence as well as the same mix of man made structures and nature.
This photograph connotes the positivity that can be created by two people by simply talking to each other. The enhanced colours also also promote the feeling of friendship and positivity between the two men taking.

Shoot 2:



The photograph denotes two different pathways split by a patch of grass, trees and a lamp post. Towards the right side includes a more natural pathway including the trees and an old overgrown pathway while the left side is more modernised including a very well built path and housing beside it.
This photo connotes the difference between how nature could overgrow into man made structure if it is not maintained compared to the other side, while nature does not overgrow into the pathway if it is maintained.



This photograph denotes the point of view if somebody were to be in the middle of the road and its surrounding landscape including the mix of the blue sky and green grass and trees. Cars, houses and lamp posts are ale included included in the photograph as man made structure.
This photo connotes the appreciation of everyday life, including the nature and well modernised environment that we live in.



This photograph denotes the appearance of mixed plants and different tones of green. It also has a pathway leading out from the surrounding of plants as well as the bright sky above.
The connotations in this photograph could be a reflection of the aesthetic appearance of nature and how it appears in different ways. This would include the dark, gloomy appearances of nature as well as the brightly lit areas and how they harmonise together to create the landscapes that they do.



This photograph denotes the structure of a curved cycle track surrounded by nature such as grass, trees, bushes and the blue sky above. It also shows the damage done to the cycle track which may have been created by the overgrowth of nature. The colours involved cons is of brightly lit greens and blues from the sky.
The connotations of this photograph could be the journey down this cycle track to see a continuous appearance of nature. The damage done to the cycle track could also connote the dominance of nature if certain areas are not maintained. The colours also suggest that nature will always have a more aesthetic appearance than man made pathways since the cycle track appears as very dull, while the plants nearby have a bright appearance.

Contact Sheet

First Shoot



Second Shoot