Camera Setting: Manual (M)
Quality Setting: RAW
Colour Balance: Adobe RGB
ISO: 100 if shooting outside in bright light, 400-800 if shooting inside
White Balance: Auto
Focus: Auto
1. Low Angle Portraits with Wide DOF:
High Angle Portraits with Narrow DOF:
My garden at the moment has just had a huge amount of growth over the summer and the colours of the leaves are very prominent shades of green that stand out against out plain, grey, dividing walls. I really wanted to capture the detail of the leaves, which I was I kept them as the subjects and used these plants as the subjects for the narrow depth of field shoot. I like how the texture of the grey wall behind the leaves varies in blur. In some photographs, you can see a bit of the texture of the wall but I like how that adds to the image and it's not just a plain grey blur. The f-stop was set on 5.6 (the lowest my camera would allow) creating a very narrow depth of field.
2. Mid Ground - Large F-stop:
3. Fore Ground - Small F-stop:
4. Architecture
5. Landscape/Streetscape images.
I researched two practitioners named Brassai and Andre Kertesz in whose work shows excellent use of Vantage Points and Ground Placement (Fore/Mid/Background)
Brassai: 9 September 1899 – 8 July 1984, was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.org
Some of his work is below:
I find his work to be a fantastic example of having multiple layers to a photograph (subjects in the fore/mid/back-ground) and both to be carefully thought out images. The lighting and subject placement are key examples of this. I admire Brassai's use of lighting, how it falls ominously behind the subjects, presenting the viewer with a definite feeling of discomfort but at the same time, wonder. The light casts shadows over the subjects, delineating that they are the main focus. I also love how the photographs' colouring, lighting, setting, depth of field and camera set-up all pull the viewers focus towards the people and their immediate surroundings. This shows that Brassai wanted our eye to be completely set on the main subject and not distracted by much else so that his story can be told clearly through the image. Everything Brassai wants us to see in the photographs is there, and nothing else.
Andre Kertesz: 2 July 1894 – 28 September 1985, born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his then-unorthodox camera angles and style prevented his work from gaining wider recognition. Kertész never felt that he had gained the worldwide recognition he deserved. Today he is considered one of the seminal figures of photojournalism.
Courtesy: Wikipedia.org
Some of his work is below:
How I perceive his work:
I don't get the same ominous feeling from Brassai's work as I do Kertesz's. I feel Kermess's work is more elegantly lit than Brassai's. In the first photograph of the stairs, Kertesz's use of a wide Depth of Field really helps to draw attention to the entire images contents rather than just one subject. On the other hand, the second photo of the man and woman depicts a greater use of Depth of Field then the stairs photograph. I like how the surrounding people in the background are blurred nicely to draw attention to the foreground where the main subjects reside. I also like Brassai's use of lighting in this image (how the man and woman are lit very well and the background is rather dark in comparison), it really helps draw my attention towards the fore-ground rather than the background. I've also noticed throughout a further examination of his work that he doesn't restrict himself to one particular subject or focus in his images; he is competent in photographing the variety of beauty that the world provides him with.
Cropping and Composition Artist Models:
For this section of week 3's tasks - I chose the artists Robert Mapplethorpe and Diane Arbus to research.
Robert Mapplethorpe: November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989, was an American photographer, known for his sensitive yet blunt treatment of controversial subject-matter in the large-scale, highly stylized black and white medium of photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York. The homoeroticism of this work fuelled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artwork.
Books: Mapplethorpe has many books featuring and dedicated to his work. The main themes of the photographs in his books are often flowers or portraits. His latest book released a year before his passing is titled "Mapplethorpe Portraits" - it includes a collection of some of his portraits of people.
Below is some of his work:
How I perceive his work:
The first photograph, I feel, is so simple and is cropped accordingly. There are no distractions in the background, in colour or content, to take away the detail of the mans face. The image is symmetrical - in the 1:1 ratio cropping, the face, the lighting and the overall placement of the subject / the photographs composition. It is clear that what is in the foreground is the main subject of the image and is very pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, the second photograph is rather different. The background of the image isn't so much a distraction to the foreground and the subjects, but more so adds to the overall activity of the photograph. As for it's composition - clearly the subject of the photograph is the man and woman. As a pair, they are placed just off centre and I think this is to bring some detail in from the background, as we see in the back right corner. I like how this is composed and cropped, bringing the attention of the viewer not only to the subject but making sure they don't reject the backgrounds content as easily as they did in the first image.
Diane Arbus: March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer and writer noted for photographs of marginalized people—dwarfs, giants, transgender people, nudists, circus performers—and others whose normality was perceived by the general populace as ugly or surreal. In 1972, a year after she took her own life, Arbus became the first American photographer to have photographs displayed at the Venice Biennale. Millions viewed traveling exhibitions of her work in 1972–1979. Between 2003 and 2006, Arbus and her work were the subjects of another major traveling exhibition, Diane Arbus Revelations. In 2006, the motion picture Fur, starring Nicole Kidman as Arbus, presented a fictional version of her life story.
Courtesy: Wikipedia.org
Books: Arbus has many books ranging from ones dedicated to her family, her photography, her poetry, magazine work and even several biographies. One of her books titled "Revelations" feature previously unpublished work by the photographer.
Below is some of her work:
How I perceive her work:
In the above photographs, I believe Arbus is being very clear with what the main focus of each photograph is; the girls and their clothes. Not only are they composed in the centre of the image, but the cropping of both photographs makes it obvious they are there to catch your attention and tell the story of the image. Also, having the bright white clothing on the girls in contrast with the shades of grey the rest of the photographs are made up of, really draws my eye to the detail of the fabric. Arbus once said that "I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." I doubt I would have taken much notice of the clothing let alone its detail if I hadn't been drawn to it right away. I definitely think that Arbus likes to portray the main subject of her photographs using centred composition and cropping. Because of this; her work comes across (to me) as very simple and aesthetically pleasing.
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