Art Evaluation 4 Title: The Reflection of the Lantern on the Water Date: February 7, 2011 Dimensions: Big piece: 41 x 27. 4 cm Collection: (21 cm x 14 cm) x 2 19 cm x 29 cm The cultural influences for this project are the same as the previous project ‘Hana Toronagare’. The Japanese let go of the lanterns on the lake is to guide the spirits that departed. The materials that I have used in this project is the camera from Nikon, the lanterns that I have made, LED candles, aluminum foil, clear folder cut into square pieces, water, bath tub and a dark room. First, I went to the fountain in the park where I was going to take the photos. However when I experimented the camera I had borrowed from Genki, I realized that I couldn’t create satisfactory photos since in the photographs, you can see through the water. You can see all the green algae in it and the reflection of the lantern didn't seem to work that well on the water. I decided to go back home and thought of another idea, filling the bathtub with water. I tried using two materials: a cut out of plastic folder and a thicker plastic lining. The thicker plastic lining did not work, but the plastic folder allowed the lanterns to float. I turned the lights off and tried taking photos of the lantern in different settings. I tried setting the camera on fast take such as in the fast mode where people use it to take photos of fireworks. I experimented with other settings but it did not work. I tried taking pictures of lanterns that were laid on the floor and the reflection of the lanterns was shown. It was good till I realized the lines of the wood were visible. I thought of using black paper but then it wouldn't show the reflection of lantern. I then thought of using aluminum foil and plastic wrap underneath the lanterns and it worked. I scrunched the aluminum foil a bit and tried creating the water effect. I tried from different angles but my favorite angle is from the bottom while tipping the camera upward to take a photo. Another favorite angle I have is to lay the camera on the same level as the lantern and just press the button to take the photos so basically, it doesn't show all the lanterns, but from the bottom (the water reflection) to the middle part of the lantern. Through this project, I also experimented with putting effects on the photographs in either Photoshop or iPhoto. In Photoshop I tried doing gradients, and adding different colors on different lanterns. In iPhoto, it was more basic, where I tried experimenting with types such as sepia and changed the saturation and so on. I think that in this project, I should have gone to Mr. McCrory to get some advice since when I went to him for the printing, he asked me stuff about the photograph size itself which I have never considered. For example, why did you decide to do this photo in this size? As well as if I would also include a small collection of photographs. In addition, I think that even if I get suggestion from people, I should think about what I want and follow my own instincts.
For the next project, with the flowers and plants I have drawn on the screen of the lanterns, I am going to create various patterns.