Six of the Best

SIX OF THE BEST Continuing Digital Photography – Assessment Item 2 Due Date: Friday, 11th of September 2015

By Sarah Ramirez Line 2 Photography - Mark Will

Image 1: Freeze the Moment Image Title: Crystal Water

METADATA Shutter Speed: 1/2500th second Aperture: 4, 0 ISO: 2000

Description: This image was taken in the kitchen of my home. It consists of water being poured from high above, into a clear glass. The glass has been placed on the right hand side on a table, facing a white wall. The image was heavily cropped in order to accentuate the detail of the water flow, and to remove the second cup of water with a few fingers in the top right hand side of the image.

Recognise: This image was shot lying on the kitchen table to try and view every moment possible that was able to be captured in this shot. From the water flowing from high above, to it hitting the glass and existing water in the glass already. The image was toned, sharpened and adjusted in Photoshop to emphasize the detail of the water flow.

Understand: This shot was taken indoors in, using the rule of thirds to try and achieve an eye capturing image. The ISO was placed at 2000 to try and compensate for the fast shutter speed of 1/2500th seconds. The image was sharpened to provide even greater detail in for the water flow to create the illusion of the image being somewhat moody.

Motivation: The overall intention of this shot was to produce a fast shutter speed image which froze the moment. The images’ intention is for the viewer to focus on the water hitting the glass, and water being poured from high above.

Evaluation: The positive of this image was the rule of thirds that was used, as well as the focal point being quite visible. This negatives of this image was that it would have looked a lot better close up to really see the motion being frozen. To improve the overall image, I could have focused more on the water been a lot closer up to the action, and bumped up the ISO to not have so much noise in the image.

Image 2: Show the Motion Image Title: Windy Time

METADATA Shutter Speed: 1/30 Aperture: 3, 5 ISO: 400

Description: This shot was taken indoors in a bedroom with white walls. I’ve cropped the image to remove unwanted distractions such as the corner of the wall and to zoom in a bit onto the fan’s actual movement.

Recognise: The image has been shot from a sitting position, but looking up towards the fan, in order to capture the movement. The image was adjusted in Levels in Photoshop in attempts to make the image stand out more and give a bit of detail on the colour of the image to show the fans outline more.

Understand: The image was captured indoors in low light, so the camera's ISO was increased to 400, and the Shutter Speed as well as Aperture adjusted to accommodate for the image.

Motivation: The overall intention of this image was to produce something with motion blur to exploit a slow shutter speed image. The viewer's eyes would go straight to the fan and observe movement as it is in the centre slightly so the right.

Evaluation: The positives of this image is that it contains a lot of motion blur from the fan, and a bit of shadow detail. The negatives of this shot are almost everything. From the position of the shot, to the little to no detail in the image, and the colour. To improve the shot, I would need to have taken a different angle, possibly added a light to the image and really try to focus in on the fan, possibly added some coloured paper to really be able to see the fans movement.

Image 3: High Key Image Image Title: Brighter than Time

METADATA Shutter Speed: 1/60th seconds Aperture: 5, 0 ISO: 100

Description: This image was taken inside of a white studio at Lake Tuggeranong College.

The image contains a watch made from Pulsar in the original box, with the box being placed to the right hand side.

Recognise: The image was shot from a crouched position to ensure that the back box was also included in the details of the image. The image was adjusted in levels to fully exploit the High Key intention.

Understand: The shot was taken in a brightly lit room so the aperture needed to be bumped to 5,0 to allow a lot of light into the image, which meant the ISO needed to be reduced to be able to properly produce the image without any noise. The levels were adjusted to create a lighter, brighter image to achieve High Key. The image was then made to feel a lot happier, a silly sort of feeling.

Motivation: The intention of this shoot was to produce a High Key image that is filled with a positive mood with the bright colours. The main focus of this image was the watch on the pillow that was inside of the box or any surroundings in that area.

Evaluation: The positives of the image was that there was a lot of detail produced in this image, with not much blur. The rule of thirds, also was great to attract the viewers eyes straight to the watch, another is that the small amount of shadows in the image go greatly with the light. Some negatives of the image is that it may have been a little bit too far away, maybe closer would have been good, but was I too low? What would the image have looked like from higher up? Without the use of the tripod, there are slight hints of camera shake in the image. To improve this image, I should have cropped it a little more, to have not seen the slight paint mark near the watches box, and to have possibly adjusted the Curves in Photoshop to give a little bit more shadows.

Image 4: Low Key Image Image Title: Dead Flame

METADATA Shutter Speed: 1/4000th Aperture: 4, 0 ISO: 400

Description: This image was taken during the night in a dark room inside of my house.

The image consists of a match being lit, with a small flame surrounded by light trails of smoke. In the bottom right hand corner, the match is being held, and with the other hand a box is held.

Recognise: The image was shot from a close up, levelled position in attempts to really capture the match being lit. The image was then edited in Photoshop, with the Levels being adjusted to adjust contrast and being turned into a black and white photograph to create a Low Key image.

Understand: The shot was taken indoors, with no light so the camera's ISO was bumped up to 400 so that the camera could create an image that would also fit together with the shutter speed and aperture but also creating a little bit of noise in the image. The levels were adjusted to achieve the Low Key image, also creating a dark and moody feel towards the image was well.

Motivation: The original intention for this image was a fast shutter speed image, to try and capture the spark as the match was lit, it was proven quite difficult and a low key image ended up being a better suit for it which was good as it turned out to be quite a good image. The techniques that have be used was the rule of thirds, to get the viewer's eye going straight towards the bright flame.

Evaluation: The positives of this image are definitely the detail of the flame with the surrounding smoke, and the fact that it just stands out so well. The image also works quite well in black and white giving it a good contrast to make the image quite moody and suspicious. The negatives of this image are the small camera shake this is visible with the hand that is holding the match, as well as the slight hint of noise in the image.

To improve the image, I would have continued to try and get that split moment of the match being lit rather than a few milliseconds after and definitely would have tried to make the finger under the box less visible, so possibly take the shot at a different angle.

Image 5: Close Up (Shallow Depth of Field) Image Title: Blooming

METADATA Shutter Speed: 1/60th Aperture: 5, 0 ISO: 400

Description: This image consists of wilting flowers, a few tree branches and bushes in a natural environment. There are four flowers dying, and one in the middle of the three grouped together that appears to be blooming, but isn’t quite there yet. It was taken in a natural outdoors light.

Recognise: The image was shot at a close up, crouched position to really capture the close up, and add blur to the background. The image was then edited in Photoshop by adjusting the Levels and adding Contrast to the image to try and bring out the colour in the image.

Understand: The image has a shallow depth of field, with some branches and bushes being blurred out in the background. The image has been darkened, and saturated to bring out the colour of the flowers, blemishes on some of the flowers were also removed to give it a moody, but light image. The average ISO of 400 gives the image some noise, but isn’t too sensitive. The slow shutter speed of 1/60th made the original image dark, not allowing a lot of light into the photograph. The aperture of 5, 0 allowed the background to be blurry as it didn’t allow much light to enter or for much of the photograph to be visible.

Motivation: The intention of this image was to capture a Close Up, but as well it turned out to be a Shallow Depth of Field as well. The technique that was used was the Rule of Thirds which helped out the image to really bring out the detail of the flowers with the eye going straight to the colour.

Evaluation: The positives of this image is the detail of the flowers, having the rule of thirds leading our eye to the bright flowers giving us a focal point. The negatives is the amount of visible noise in the images background. What I would improve for this photograph would have been to take the shot a little more zoomed in to get more of the flowers, or drop the ISO level down a bit to reduce some of the noise in the background.

Image 6: Wide Angle (Deep Depth of Field) Image Title: Leading from the Rail

METADATA Shutter Speed: 1/125th Aperture: 16, 0 ISO: 1600

Description: This image was taken outdoors beside a railway station in Melbourne. It consists of a railway, trains, the city buildings and lots of side bushes. The image has been heavily cropped to remove unwanted little distractions.

Recognise: The image has been shot from a bridge above the railway station, standing up with the camera resting on the edge to prevent camera shake. The railway lines, and footpaths are a repeated leading line element. The image was then adjusted in Levels in Photoshop to enhance the image and bring out the detail of the night art.

Understand: The shot was taken outdoors and in low light, so the camera's ISO was increased to ensure that the shutter speed and aperture were a good combination for a clear image. The image has been darkened a lot to make the image feel cinematic, and somewhat exhilarating for a night-time city shot.

Motivation: The overall intention was to capture the beauty of the City of Melbourne.

The image has many leading lines, drawing the viewer's eye straight to the railway, and from the railway to the city buildings behind it.

Evaluation: The positives of this image are the foreground, middle ground and background of the image, there is a clear space between them all and all play a great part in bringing the image life, and excitement. The image works well darkened as it really sets the night-time of a Melbourne night. The negatives of the image are a few distracting lines, such as the one across the two trains, and a few trees in the background blocking a great deal of the buildings. Perhaps the image would have looked better from a higher point of view, or possibly a different angle? To improve the image, I would try to reduce the ISO and play around with the Shutter Speed and Aperture to reduce the amount of noise in the image, as well to try and get more detail on the buildings in the background.