Textures and Surfaces
TEXTURES
On this page I have shown a variety of textures. I like the idea of showing great detail and using aperture in my photographs as I feel that by using aperture I can make the image look much more effective. With this photograph on the left, I have shown a pile of CDs using aperture. I have focused in on the corner of the CD and blurred the rest of the CDs slightly. This allows more focus and detail on the centre of the image which is what I was aiming for. It helps me to show more detail of the texture of the CDs and to capture even slight details, such as dust. I really liked this image as we can easily see the different textures of the CD, but we can also see different colours that have been shown and that all contrast together to make one piece. All of the textures and colours work together to create a detailed photograph which helps to show the different types of textures that we can get out of a photograph.
When trying to capture images showing texture, i was keen to make sure that i was able to show extreme detail. to do this i took extreme close ups, as this allowed me to focus better. i felt that to make a better photograph, it was best to make it difficult to tell what the original photograph was of. i liked this idea as it adds more question to the composition and makes people think about it more. to help do this i have editided my photographs by inverting, increasing the clarity and cropping them. these techniques all allow me to make it more difficult to tell what the original photograph was.
When looking at surfaces, I have decided to study the different effects I can make from them. I have looked at doing extreme close ups and editing them in a way so that you cannot tell what the original photograph was actually of. I have used effects such as inverting and a high increase of clarity. I wanted to show this as I felt that it makes the whole composition much more interesting to look at. By making extreme close ups, it is easier to get different interpretations of the photograph and then the audience will think more about what the photo actually is.
I have also looked at different shapes I can make from the photograph. I have shown a variety between small, large, long and thin photographs. I felt that by changing the shape of the photograph more often, it is easier to make a definite interpretation of my work. I also would like to be able to link my work to the textures, and so have focused on surfaces that show a deal of texture. For example, the photograph above has been edited so that the surface of the photograph is very clear, but also so that the texture of the surface is very clear. I have done this because it makes the composition much more interesting and can give more meaning to the photograph. To make the texture more visible, I have increased the clarity of the photograph and increased the shadow shown. This makes the texture more visible to the audience and makes it easier to see what the photograph is.
SURFACES
In this image I have tried to show surface. I have shown a variety of bright colours that have all merged together on a wall painting, as I am interested in urban photography. I did an extreme close up of this so that it is difficult to work out what the image is actually of. I felt that this adds more question to the photograph and makes the audience think about it more. To edit this photograph I used the invert effect on Photoshop. This made the colours much more vibrant and allowed me to express a good use of colour in my work. I like how the different colours contrast, and I am hoping to show a range of colours with surfaces throughout my work. In this photograph I have shown a close up image of the surface of the floor outside. I liked this as the black pattern stands out greatly on the sandy coloured dust floor. I was intrigued by this surface and felt that it showed both surface and texture. I wanted to capture the repetitive surface and show a great deal of detail in the photograph, by using a 100% clarity increase and a decrease of exposure. From the image we can see that the surface has different levels, materials and textures. I liked this as it has helped me to show a variety in my work and allowed me to learn more about photographing surfaces.
This photograph shows the close up of a man hole cover. In this photograph I have been able to show the different layers of surface and edit it in order to highlight certain areas of the image. By increasing the clarity of the photograph I am able to show the shadows of the photograph much clearer, which will then highlight the lighter areas of the photograph. I have inverted this photograph so that the colours make the photograph more interesting. By creating more colour in a photograph, I am able to make it more aesthetically pleasing and it is easier to show the different shapes and layers of the surface, as the whole image is much clearer to see.
In this photograph I have shown the textures of a tyre wheel. I was interested in this as it showed the different shapes of the texture and allowed me to show different textures in my photograph. I was really attracted by the curves that happen in the photograph. How the two tyres link together and how each of them show a different texture. I wanted to increase the texture visibility and so I increased the clarity on the photograph. I did this using camera raw. This allowed me to make the texture of the photograph the main focus and also allowed me to highlight the different textures by showing the shadows and any added surface on the object, for example, the dust from the ground. I kept this image in colour, although there is only little colour to be seen. This is because I liked how the subtle colour can make such a difference and help to stand out much more for the audience. The texture of the ground becomes easier to see when we see the colour and the whole composition becomes easier to understand.
In this image I was interested in the focus of the texture of our skin and how it varies. I decided to take a picture of someone’s finger and again, increase the clarity of the photograph so that the textures are really clear and visible to the audience. I was really interested in how you can see the different shades of the skin on different areas of the finger. I also cropped this photograph so that there was not as much focus on anything else. I want the audience to focus on the texture of the skin and how it varies, and so cropped the photograph so that nothing else could be seen. I decided to make this image black and white because I felt that this helped to make the texture more visible. When the image was in colour, it was more difficult to see the different textures.
This image also shows a hand, but I have used a different model. I was interested in showing the different types of skin and how they all show different textures. This hand is covered in freckles and so we can see different textures through the different shades in the skin. I also chose to put this image into black and white as I felt it made it harder to see what it is and also made the image more powerful. By also cropping the photograph, I was able to show the image I a slightly different perspective. I created a contrast in the two photos showing skin by cropping them in different ways to show different perspectives and to highlight different textures.
I have decided to research into magazine layouts in order to get more knowledge and a better idea of how to layout my work. I typed into pinterest ‘magazine layouts’ in order to find some different ideas. I like the use of colour in my work and so also searched in graphical magazine layouts as I thought that they were more likely to be more colourful and more likely to link to my work. On the right I have shown my favourite magazine layout that I have found. I like this layout as it is simple and edgy. It stands out to and audience and shows more colour, which makes the magazine seem less tedious. The layout of my magazine is important as I would like my photographs to be portrayed as I think of them in my mind. I would like them to be seen as their tone, either bright and well designed or black and white and emotional. I like how in this layout the use of colour determines where the audience look on the page. This is important as it drags the audience to be looking at what the author wants them to be looking at. The layout is very aesthetically pleasing as all the corners are placed well and everything works well together, especially the colours. I was intrigued as to how the bright colours stand out against the black and white photographs. I felt that this made a strong layout as it showed more enthusiasm towards the work and created a stronger composition as when we look at it, we are instantly drawn in by the colour.
MAGAZINE LAYOUTS
This particular design on the right shows a layout that shows different shapes. I like this idea as it gives the magazine more interesting aspects and makes it much more aesthetically pleasing to the audience. It is a very simple idea but works very well.
The image above shows the page as if it has ripped. This is a very good technique as it draws the audiences attention to the writing, so the audience are not distracted by anything else on the page, as the distraction used is just a very simple pattern. This makes a very strong effect and is a very simple idea. This could work well in some of my black and white pages.
All of these pages that I have found on pinterest have proven to be very good techniques. All with different ideas and showing different ways in which I can portray my work in a way that will show my work very well. These different layouts have given more of an insight into what layout would work best for my work.
Photograms
With photogrtams, I have used the dark room to create an old fashioned aspect to my photographs. I have also used the dark room for experimentation as I wanted to see how this technique would work in textures and surfaces. I was eager to find out if by using the dark room to create photograms, if I was then able to show more depth into any textures and surfaces as with the dark room process, certain aspects of a photograph become much clearer than when shown as a normal photograph. In this particular photogram that I have shown a person resisting the photograph being taken. I liked how the texture in the front of his hair became much more visible as the shadows created different effects. We can also see more texture shown in the eyelashes and eyebrows as they stand out against the black effect that has been made onto the skin.