Shoot Seven - Work Record

For my final preparatory shoot, I have decided to move back to the setting of the household for a final development of my focus on household objects. Since we have just bought shopping, my plan for the shoot is to capture this in macro style while it's still left out in the kitchen, in hope to create a snapshot of what my kitchen feels like when it's full of bags of shopping. I am shooting handheld, as there are a large variation of angles I want to get and I feel a tripod would restrict me in getting these angles.





 

 I shot this image on 1/60, with an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 640. I needed this image to be shot on over 1/60 due to the prevention of camera shake, therefore I needed to increase the ISO of 640, and as a result this is some image noise visible. This image makes strong use of colour, with the subject of the image being an ibuprofen box, on which there are three distinct sections of white, grey and a lighter grey. The use of such shades link to the the uses of ibuprofen, as these colours are very dull and reflect how you feel when you need to use Ibuprofen. There are mostly dark tones in the composition of this image, with the only light tones being on the tube of toothpaste to the right of the image; the hard shadow that's cast over the ibuprofen box connotes that it's the object in the photo that has the darkest context to it, in that it's used in times of pain. The yellow that's visible behind the ibuprofen box is out of focus, and yellow can represent happiness, therefore it could be seen as a representation of happiness not being the focus of your mind when you are in physical pain; the ibuprofen is as that's the thing that will relieve the pain.



This was shot using the same settings as the previous image (1/60, f5.6 and an ISO of 640); the majority of the shoot was shot on the same settings as the lighting used was evenly spread, meaning most of my location was lit the same amount. I wanted to emphasise depth in this image, therefore I tried to get a narrow aperture and shot through the hole in the bag where the handle is, focusing on the tin of peas that's inside the bag, which leaves the bag handle out of focus. The tin mostly consists of shades of green and brown, both of which are colours that represent nature, which creates contrast to the plastic bag, which comes from entirely man made materials. The use of focusing on the tin could present that nature will always eventually overcome the creations of people, as it is always present and will be still when we're not. Because the bag is translucent, there is some muted yellow that seeps through it around the tin of peas. This could represent the small amount of hope there is that nature can still survive in a world dominated by human-made constructions.

For my exam shoots, I plan to focus on my topic of everyday objects in the household, as this is the topic that I feel I've refined the most. Since I have focused on the kitchen, I plan to expand this by capturing every room within my household, photographing the various objects positioned around the rooms. I also would like to make use of framing by moving my objects before I shoot, rather than leaving them as they naturally are.

Shoot Six - Work Record

For this shoot, I hope to continue with capturing more industrial everyday objects, such as tools, in a macro photography style. I have decided to move to a similar location from my shed, opting to shoot in my Father's garage, as it had similar objects but offered a larger amount as well as a larger range of objects to capture.







 

 I shot this image at 1/10, with an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 400. Since the lighting was dim in my shoot location, I needed a long shutter speed in order to expose the image correctly, and due to not having a tripod, I leant my camera on the back of our car to steady my shot. This image was underexposed, therefore I greatly increased the brightness in editing, as well as increasing the contrast in order to widen the image's tonal range. The image had a slight blue cast to it, which I fixed by opening the hue/saturation adjustment and slightly moving the hue towards green. The image still had some blue tones, which I felt in, as I felt they created a very cold and cynical atmosphere, which I felt linked well to the presence of lots of mechanical objects. There is a clear leading line in this image, shown through the edge of the motorbike's seat, which leads the viewer towards the shock absorber, which is the focus point of the image.






 

 Shot on 1/60, with an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 400. This image has a very sharp focus on the brake pedal of the motorbike, with all of that being in focus and the background being completely out of focus. This removes a lot of distraction from the main part of the image, and allows viewers to properly observe the brake pedal. Texture has been effectively used in the composition of this image; the pedal mostly consists of rough and bumpy textures, suggesting that it has been heavily used, as compared to the metal rod that connects the pedal to the bike, which has maintained a mostly shiny and smooth texture. Overall, this creates a narrative, in that the pedal has constantly had a foot on it, whereas the metal rod clearly hasn't. There is a clear blue cast in the light over the pedal on this image, which helps create a cynical and mechanical atmosphere, which links well to the subject of the image.

For next shoot, which will be my final preparatory shoot, I want to make a final expanse on my shoots surrounding the household. It shall be documentary focused, and I hope to try and find the balance between close-ups with very little background shown and large amounts of background being shown to create a narrative driven scene.

Shoot Five - Work Record

For this shoot, I plan to move to a different home location that has been more heavily used, as well as having been used in a way in which things get worn out and show more rough and gritty textures. I have decided to shoot in my shed, as there is a large workbench in there on which there are various tools and industrial objects. I hope to still create macro style images, however I would like to incorporate flash in order to create more vibrant and clearly defined colours.


 

 This was taken at 1/50, with an aperture of f5.6 and ISO of 200. Because my shed was a dark setting, I decided to turn on my camera's flash to properly light this image. There is a very narrow depth of field, in which a small section of the wire present in the image is in focus; there are several wires of red and black shown in the image, which present curved lines. These curved lines could represent comfort and familiarity, as this is often the workplace of my father, who is used to how the workbench is laid out and where everything is positioned. The colours are saturated throughtout the image, portraying that there is some joy that is attained from this room, as it has been the housing for many projects. This is contrasted by the use of texture; the majority portrays dirty and grungy textures, which could represent overuse and poor management.

 Like the previous image, this was taken with a shutterspeed of 1/50, with an aperture f5.6 and ISO200. I chose the focus point carefully, opting to focus on the tops of the screws that reach the tops of the pot the screws are in, as this gives the image a drop-focus aesthetic. I edited this image to saturated the colours, as I wanted to create a positive outlook on mechanical work, portraying it as fun and creative. The use of green in the box could create the connotation that constructing useful objects keeps your mind active, as green is a colour that represents activity. Texture is also significantly present in this image, with a range of textures being shown; some of the screws show some smooth and shiny textures being present on some of the screws, representing the creation of brand new objects in which they involved , which is then contrasted by the scratched and worn textures shown on the top of the box, representing the wear and tear that involves with making things.

For my next shoot, I hope to continue with the theme of capturing more industrial everyday objects, however, I would hope to expand on it by creating more wide angle images that create a larger scene of work than just focusing on a single object.

Shoot Four - Work Record

For this shoot, I decided that I wanted to return to the concept of creating narrative through post it notes, however, refining my use of composition and framing from my previous attempt. While I am planning to stick to the macro photography style, I intend to capture some images which display more of the surroundings of the post it note, as I feel it will help create some context to what was written there and therefore help to create narrative. I plan to shoot in my kitchen again, incorporating new post it notes that vary from the previous post it note shoot. 

This was taken at a shutter speed of 1/20, with an aperture of f5.6, and the result is an incredibly narrow depth of field. As the lighting in my kitchen was dim, I had to increase the ISO to 400, resulting in some noise. Once I had taken the image, I edited it by increasing the contrast and saturation to the image, creating a brighter and more vibrant colour pallete. The image depicts a card that reads "Healthy Minds", with a card reading "Tropicana book park inn" behind it. This shows a contrast in moods between the person who is writing the post it notes in the kitchen, as healthy minds is a mental health service, which represents that they may have been struggling with their mental health, which is immediately contradicted by the other note which is a reminder to book tickets to a club night, which is a leisure activity. Together, they create a portrait of the post it note user's varying moods and how they can switch between them. Colour has also been used effectively in this shoot, with lots of shades of blue shown through the text on the card and the handwriting on the post it note. While blue can represent sadness, the blue on the card is saturated, therefore it could be a representation of the writer acknowledging they are sad but realising there is hope to feel better.



This was taken at 1/30, with an aperture of f4.3 and an ISO of 400. This has been taken from an eye level view, and as a result, very little of the post it note that's laid out of the table is in focus. The section that's readable says "sometimes I wonder why. but i'll be ok now", and is written in jet black ink. The use of black ink is significant, as black can represent power, and this theme links to the positive message of self assurance that is written on the note. Overall, this represents the writer being in a positive mood, as it contrasts to the blue biro that can be seen in the background of the image. However, I have edited a slight blue cast over the image, creating contrasting moods between the writing on the post it note that creates a positive atmosphere, and the blue tones of the image that represent sadness.

For my next shoot, I plan to keep to the macro style, however, I feel that I should expand my theme of everyday objects in the household to include a location that is less clean and protected, in hope of creating a grittier depiction of everyday objects. I hope to capture some objects that are old or have been worn out to create some contrast between the clean and new looking objects of the kitchen.

Shoot Three - Work Record

For this shoot, I moved back to the setting of the household, deciding to shoot in my kitchen, similarly to my first shoot. While my previous two shoots had some element of text to help create a narrative, I wanted to remove this element from my shoot and create narrative through a purely visual method. I decided I wanted to capture the remainders of a family dinner that has been left on plates in the kitchen, as well as the washing up that builds up by the end of the day, creating a real depiction of what happens in the kitchen through the average day. I am keeping to a similar style of shooting to my previous shoots, being close up to my subjects with a narrow depth of field, linking to macro photography.



This was taken with a shutter speed of 1/60, an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of ISO 800. I moved the ISO sensitivity to be high because the lighting in the room wasn't particularly bright, but had the tone I wanted therefore I didn't want to rely on the flash to create more light in my images as it would change the lighting tone. This image has a very narrow depth of field, with the camera being focused on the spoon that's on top of the other one. There are some corroded and scratched textures shown on the cutlery in these images, from which you could suggest that they are used regularly and have been owned for a long time. This creates contrast in themes between this and the presence of the remainders of food, as the food represents waste in the household, whereas the rust on the spoons portrays everyday objects being reused for long periods of time without being thrown out.



This was taken with the same camera settings as the previous image, as these settings worked throughout the room because the lighting was consistent and covered everything equally. A similar narrow depth of field was used in this image, with the camera being focussed on the head of the fork on the plate. Colour has been used effectively in this image, with muted shades of red being featured heavy in the composition of the image throughout, which could represent the fading joy that the eater of this meal experienced as they got towards the end of the meal, resulting in some food being left. The use of red is contrasted by the muted shades of green that appear on the plate behind the remainders of sauce. Green represents nature, therefore this could be a reminder to the viewer of the image as to where the food has come from, making you think of the impact food waste has on the environment.

For my next shoot, I want to return to the post it notes concept that I explored in my first shoot, refining the techniques I used. While I was very close up to the notes in my first shoot, which does create a strong sense of depth, I feel that it removes some context to the what's going on in the scene, therefore I would like to repeat it in a less close up manner to increase the series' documentary quality

Shoot Two - Work Record

For my second shoot, I am wanted to capture similar images to in my first image, with a very close up macro shooting style, however, I felt that the documentary quality of my first shoot need to be expanded on. I decided to capture the photos over a period of a day while I was in college, in an attempt to create a photo narrative of what I did throughout my day. Similar to my previous shoot, I shot with my lens as wide as possible, using a narrow aperture to create a narrow depth of field.

This Photo was taken using a shutter speed of 1/100, with an aperture of f5.6 and the ISO set to 500. I chose this setting as I wanted a very narrow depth of field and needed the shutter speed to be above 1/60 to avoid camera shake. Because the room I shot this in was fairly dull in lighting, the ISO had to be moved up to 500 in order for the camera to be sensitive enough to the light that was there. This image also had some white balance issues, which I corrected in Photoshop using this method. This image makes use of texture, displaying some rough textures in the foreground on the wood of the table, which contrast to the shiny and smooth textures shown on the earphone pods. This can represent the fact that some everyday objects can appear to be unused despite being heavily used. The earphones themselves create a juxtaposition of moods, as the pod of the headphones is smooth and shiny, whereas there is a broken piece of plastic along the wire, representing the item's heavy use.

 I shot this image on a shutter speed of 1/125, with an aperture of f3.5 and an ISO of 200. I chose that aperture as I wanted to create a sense of depth in this image through having a narrow depth of field. I focussed on the sheets of paper on the table, as I wanted to create a snapshot of what I was doing while in college at the time. It also creates a narrative of me being focussed on my work, with the drink being out focus, suggesting that it's the less important object in my situation. The framing of the image helps create the narrative of the image, as it captures all aspects of what was on my desk at the time. You can see the keyboard, which represents the digital aspect of my work, as well as the storyboards, which represent the physical aspects of my work, and my phone being present as a representation of leisure periods between my work.

For my next shoot, I want to return to the setting of the household, capturing a similar style macro photography that I used throughout my first shoot, however, I would like to carry the documentary influences that I used throughout this shoot to create narratives throughout household objects without the use of words being featured in the images.

Shoot One - Work Record

For my first shoot, I plan to shoot in the style of macro photography. I will be taking photos of post it notes around my households, and I plan to get close up to my subject and shoot with my lens on a wide angle setting in hope of achieving a wide angle closeup macro style shoot. From this shoot, I hope to achieve a linking series of macro photographs that document the things that people forget to do in the household.



Here is one of my straight images from my shoot. I wanted to capture a macro style image with a very narrow depth of field, therefore I shot on f5.3, setting my shutter speed to 1/60 to avoid camera shake as I was shooting handheld rather than on a tripod. This image presents a very strong tonal contrast, with the post it note being visible but the surface it is positioned on being too dark to view details, meaning you get a low key lighting effect. The image captures a sticky note that has been left out on a kitchen work surface that reads "you know you're right". I liked this because the message is open to interpretation; you can create your own meanings to what it could mean. You could suggest that as this is around the household, it could be a message left from one person in the house to another, perhaps as confirmation to them regarding a discussion they were having. The fact the camera has a very narrow depth of field, and that it focuses on the "you're right' line portrays that who the note was directed at being right was more important than whether they knew it or not. The use of a very cold colour palette, which almost entirely consists of black and white, could reflect the writer's bitter mood when writing the message.



This is another one of my straight images from my shoot. I shot this image on 1/60, with an aperture of f5.6 and an ISO of 640, therefore the result was a very narrow depth of field, in which the bottom text is in focus. The sticky note reads "Book Theory" at the top, which has been underlined, and underneath is written "sort out uni fees", with a second line of writing being cut off so you can't read it. The entire post it note is obscured the shadow, meaning the tones of the image are mostly dark; this could be presenting daily life as dull and monotonous, with there being little hope for breaking the repetitive daily activities that make it so dull. However, the shadow ends just before the top of the post it note, meaning there is a small section in which there is light tones. The light tones could represent that there still is a glimmer of hope that everyday life could be interesting. The use of a red pen is also significant, as the rest of the image is monotone, being shades of black, white or grey, therefore the red could reflect the writer's attempt to make such a dull task as writing down reminders on post it notes more interesting through the use of colour.

For my next shoot, I want to mostly keep to the close up macro style, however, at certain points it became restrictive as I couldn't capture a wider scene of what is happening around the post it notes. I plan to move the camera further away in some of my shots for this reason, as it will help create context to my shots.