P&P-Assignment Two; Learning Log; People and activity

Learning log – P&P assignment 2; People and activity

 My Thoughts

When doing this assignment, strangely I felt relatively at ease, I thought that on doing this theme for this assignment, I would run in to a big problem of people looking directly at me or asking me to delete the photos I had taken of them, but instead, people kept asking me to take photos of them!, with their camera of course but at least I was not accosted with confrontation. Oddly enough, by doing what I was doing, people were not concerned, perhaps they thought I was taking photographs of someone I knew.

“You are a big part of your picture. Even when you are trying to blend in and be invisible on the scene, you are still behind that lens. You own that frame, that fragment of reality, so claim it.”

 

(Rena Effendi – from the interview by ENTER – World Press Magazine)

So true, I really try to do this every time but sometimes feel disappointed that I missed an opportunity, as I should have had my camera at my eye more, or I should have as Rena says “claim it”, I will try and take charge (mainly with myself) in the future. Just reading through my tutor’s feedback again and realised that he mentioned Rena in a handy tip on how to sharpen an image, I will try it for my next exercises and assignment.

Here is one of her images where I thought she “owed/claimed it”.

(Rena Effendi – Boy running with self-made toy. Balakhani oil village. Azerbaijan. 2002 - From “Pipe Dreams-A chronicle of lives along the pipe line”)

 

I think this is such a great image, the way she has framed it and used the shadows to her advantage, it also relates well to this assignment, due to the boy playing with his toy. I think it is an active yet oddly peaceful photograph.

 

 

I found a photographer online who I thought was extremely interesting her name is Alexa Meade and she paints her models, so they them self’s look like actual paints, on looking at these images (website below) I was blown away by her talent, these people do 100% look like a painting, here is an example;

She has to be one of the most talented photographers/painters out there and she apparently taught herself how to paint. I thought I would include this as it is something completely different in portraiture photography.

 

Strengths on my assignment

Observing;- Is the depth of field, I like how I have the little girl pointing and the father looking in to the distance

Round and around;- I like the fun portrayed in this image and that they are all linked

Nearly!;- As I previously said, her expression is priceless and I am pleased I managed to get this shot

Couples;- I love the sharpness of the woman, I think it is the clearest shot I managed to get out of the whole series

Speeding;- I like the way it looks like a round tunnel, focusing on the guy in orange in the middle

Professional;- I like the depth of field with this one and the reflection in the blue Perspex to the side of her where there is another person skating behind her

Whoops;- I love the stance of the girl in this image and that it brings an essence to this series of images

Family;-  I like the way I have cropped this, originally, I left the other people’s faces in the background frame, but I think the decision to cut them out was the correct one

Say cheese!;- I like the side profile of this and the little girls face, it always makes me smile looking at it

Blades;- I think this is my favourite image of the whole series of photographs, I defiantly think it’s a telling moment, the reflections look great, as well as the depth of field
 

Weaknesses on my assignment

Observing;- I would have liked to have gotten behind them to view what they were viewing ,as it were. I feel it would have made a more powerful image if I had

Round and around;- The girls are not as sharp as I would have liked, I should have panned better for this shot and used a larger F-stop

Nearly!;- Again, this image is not that sharp, I wanted to include it as her expression was great, but it would have been better with a faster shutter speed to capture her facial expressions in a better way.

Couples;- I should have focused in on the both of them and used a smaller F-stop for this image

Speeding;- I wanted to get an image where there was no one in front, however, it was difficult to do, so the girl in the pink being in front was the best I could create under the circumstances 

Professional;- Another one where I would have liked it to have been sharper on her face and maybe more of a front on/semi to the side shot would have worked better

Whoops;- I regret just focusing in on her feet and hands rather than the whole image, it would have been stronger if I had used a different F-stop 

Family;- I mainly focused in on the little girl, but I should have focus on the whole family

Say cheese!;- Maybe a different angle would have worked better with this one, where I was taking a photo of the person taking the photo

Blades;- Again, I am disappointed with the sharpness of this image, this was the best panning I could get and I was shooting through dirty Perspex, which didn’t help

 

Some of my research sources-Books, websites and documents

The Elements Of Photography; By Angela Faris Belt; (I focused mainly on one photographer in this book;- Adam Jahiel, he did a series of photographs called “The Last Cowboy” which produced beautifully powerful images of working on a ranch in the USA and he works with black and white because “it allows me to boil elements down to their very essence-shape, lines and light” (Adam Jahiel-The Elements Of Photography; By Angela Faris Belt) 

Light Science & Magic, An Introduction to Photographic Lighting; By Fil Hunter, Steven Biver and Paul Fuqua; (This book always helps me understand lighting, I haven’t read it all yet, however, I used sections from it to help me with this assignment.)

http://www.floydphotography.co.uk/ - (To research Paul and examine his photography)

http://www.refendi.com/ - (To research Rena and examine her photography)

http://www.visuramagazine.com/pipe-dreams-rena-effendi - (To research Rena and examine her photography)

http://photos.uk.msn.com/slideshow/photos/your-body-is-my-canvas/2xqugab4#10 – (To examine a photographer I found which I are mentioned on this learning log)