Idea for a Sense of Place - Castle Gardens
My idea was to portray nature without human interference, focusing on tree's, flowers and all plants in general. I wanted to do this as I live in an area that doesn't have much plant life or colour. This motivated me to show the natural world even more as I love flora and natural surroundings and I enjoy being in nature!
Shoot #1
In my first shoot I went to Castle Gardens and took pictures of nature, mainly flowers and trees. I tried to contrast colours to the negative space in the photos. Looking back at my photos, the structure of them was not consistent and they were all over the place, angled from awkward positions. Therefore, in order to improve on this, I tried to make most of my photos look like they were taken from the same perspective. This created consistency and structure in my work, giving it a sense of elegance and professionalism.
Shoot #2
In this session I focused on flowers and I looked at all the colour I could capture on the camera. Also that week I asked my Tutor if there was any ways I could take more close up and detailed pictures of flowers as from my research on photographers such as Imogen Cunningham, I admired that style of work. My tutor responded to me by suggesting that I should use a "Macro Lens". Therefore, that week I tried the macro lens. At first it was very hard to get the photo in focus as I had to move myself instead of the lens. But after much practice I got the hang of it. During that shoot I looked for florists in my area that I could ask to take pictures of their flowers for my course. I found a nearby flower shop in Lisburn town, relatively close to tech. I went in and asked the owner if I could use her flowers in my pictures, she thankfully said YES!!
Research done for shoot #2
I looked for inspiration for my pictures, looking for photographers that focus on nature or landscape photography. I found two photographers in particular, that I admired their work, Imogen Cunningham and Carl Blossfeldt. They both took up close and detailed pictures of flowers in black and white. This encouraged me to experiment with the black and white filter on photoshop and light room and this resulted in me getting to use a macro lens to take more up close and detailed pictures for my course.
Shoot #3
During this shoot, I practiced more with the macro lens and experimenting with the black and white filter on photoshop and lightroom. It was spring and I was able to take advantage of this by taking pictures of the pollen in blooming flowers amongst other various foliage.
Research for shoot #3
That week I did research and developed ideas for my pictures on lightroom and photoshop. I took inspiration from both Imogen Cunningham and Carl Blossfeldt and I made some of my pictures black and white. Doing this added dimension and depth to my work. I also did research on Youtube on how to edit macro photo's, I believe that this greatly benefited me as I learned how to add sun rays, use gradients , and make the colour on the photo's pop though adjustment on contrast.
Shoot #4
This shoot I refined taking close up pictures of flowers with a macro lens and turning the photo's black and white on Photoshop. I got this idea from photographers such as Carl Blosseldt.
Experimentation on Photoshop from shoot #4
I experimented with the photo's on Photoshop by changing the contrast, brightness, exposure, vibrancy, colour balance, hue and saturation. I learned a lot from this as I accomplished changing the picture to the way I like. I also tinkered with the layer styles on Photoshop, trying to create unique and beautiful pictures, in both general and advanced settings.