Photographers Research

Researching the Photographers Given

Sarah Jones:

Born in 1959 in London, United Kingdom, Jones is a visual artist working mostly with photography. Her practice is deeply rooted in art history, and she draws influence from topics such as Psychoanalysis, adolescence, and the Victorian period. Psychoanalysis is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques, related to the study of the unconscious mind, which together form a method of treatment for mental-health disorders. These ideas were explored in her series of photos of psychoanalyst’s couches. She wanted to explore the spaces that allowed for people to re-live experiences and loosen the grip that their past has on them. “Through talking with the head of the British Institute of Psychoanalysis, she learned that patients often acted as if there were a third party in the session, this was interesting to her in the sense of the camera being the third presence. Creating the idea of an audience.”

The photo above by Jones is a simple photo, the black background with minimal lighting makes the colours of the flowers stand out. You can also see more details in the structure of the plant and the sharpness of the twigs due to all the focus being on the flower- this makes the audience look more deeply into the image.

 One thing i like about this image is that the snoot lighting in the background makes it look like their is a sun shining over, yet they are in a studio. It makes the image interesting as the lighting highlights one plants and creates a shadow on those further back in the picture.

This photo is unique as it combines photos of plants with models. It is calming but yet presents a unknown the audience. This photo make the audience think of their own story of what it happening and who these people are. The shadows across the face of the girl kneeling creates a sense of darkness as you cannot see her features.

Karl Blossfeldt:

Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer, sculptor, teacher, and artist who worked in Berlin, Germany. He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things.
Blossfeldt had no formal training as a photographer and used homemade cameras that he outfitted with lenses capable of magnifying his subjects up to 30 times their natural size. The use of magnification resulted in images of extreme detail and clarity. 

Blossfeldt's work portrays an olden, drawing effect of the plants- making the photo unique and sharp looking.

This photo is interesting as it highlights many details in the sharpness of the lines on the leaves.

Paul Strand:

Paul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century.

Imogen Cunningham:

Imogen Cunningham, (born April 12, 1883—died June 24, 1976),  is an American photographer who is best known for her portraits and her images of plant life. Cunningham uses black and white photography to convey the tones of flowers and nature. I like this idea as photography of nature is one of my strong points. Cunningham also uses a side light in photos like the last photo above. This helps as it shows natural tones and shading. 

Work Record 2

Preparation:

In this shoot, i will be leaving the flowers i used in my shoot 1 to die for 2-3 weeks and then re-shooting them, using and all black background instead on the sparkly grey 

Artist Research: Imogen Cunningham:

Imogen Cunningham, (born April 12, 1883—died June 24, 1976),  is an American photographer who is best known for her portraits and her images of plant life. Cunningham uses black and white photography to convey the tones of flowers and nature. I like this idea as photography of nature is one of my strong points. Cunningham also uses a side light in photos like the last photo above. This helps as it shows natural tones and shading. 

Contact Sheet:

My Best Images:

Images that need improving:

I struggled to adapt my camera settings as I was unfamiliar with the dark set up so, some images lacked focus, whilst in the case of others I struggled to use the cameras exposure meter.

Editing &A02:

   I shot with my Nikon D3500 with a snoot light, a black backdrop and a piece of silver glitter wallpaper over the table to make it look more attractive. The settings for my best images are as follows, The focal length is 55mm, the shutter speed, 1/125, aperture f.25 and ISO 200

    I then went on to edit my photos by converting the images to black and white and then adding curves to add contrast between the tones. The difference in the editing in this shoot and my last shoot shows how the flowers are further on in their lifetime and are dying.

A03:Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

    My intentions towards this shoot was too present the timeline of dying flowers from the shadows and softness in the flowers from shoot 1 and the more broken look in this shoot. I was inspired from my research of Imogen Cunningham and my research of Sarah Jones in my initial response and their use of editing and darkness of black backgrounds. Both of these photographers used a single lighting the highlight certain part of the image and created shadows, which is what i used. The images came out as I expected, however I had to pay particular attention to getting the right exposure settings and angles to make sure i wasn't blocking the light.

    

    With regards to some of the images that did not come out as I expected, I struggled to adapt my camera settings as I was unfamiliar with the dark set up so, some images lacked focus, whilst in the case of others I struggled to use the cameras exposure meter.   I believe I can overcome these issues through more practise for my next shoot.

A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The artist research was helpful as I realised that there are many ways I could take the topic of plants but how my focus on flowers would highlight my full potential.  My research of Imogen Cunningham has helped me with the editing as i turned my images Black and White.

However, my photographers research blog was also helpful as i looked into Sarah Jones gave me the inspiration for the snoot lighting.

A04:Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

The final images produced were refined by developing the contrast and converting them to black and white.

Final Images:

Progression:

In my next shoot, i would like to photograph plants and flowers in their natural habitat.

Work Record 1

Preparation:

Studio shoot with dead or dying plants with a dark background and minimal snoot lighting.

Artist Research: Imogen Cunningham:

Imogen Cunningham, (born April 12, 1883—died June 24, 1976),  is an American photographer who is best known for her portraits and her images of plant life. Cunningham uses black and white photography to convey the tones of flowers and nature. I like this idea as photography of nature is one of my strong points. Cunningham also uses a side light in photos like the last photo above. This helps as it shows natural tones and shading. 

Cunningham use of a side light has influenced me to use a snoot light in my shoot, at the side, to create shadows and tones.

Contact Sheet:

My Best Images:

Images that need improving:

Finding the right settings for this shoot was quite difficult as different angles needing slight adjustment to the settings. The two photos above are examples of images that need improving due to the exposure not being correct, creating a fuzzy and graining filter on the image.

Editing &A02:Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops. 

I   I shot with my Nikon D3500 with a snoot light, a black backdrop and a piece of silver glitter wallpaper over the table to make it look more attractive. The settings for my best images are as follows.

Best Images Settings:

DSC_0107

Focal length 52mm

Shutter speed 1/125

Aperture f/11

ISO 200

DSC_0089

Focal length 55mm

Shutter speed 1/125

Aperture f/11

ISO 200

DSC_0083

Focal length 55mm

Shutter speed 1/125

Aperture f/11

ISO 200

DSC_0066

Focal length 55mm

Shutter speed 1/125

Aperture f/11

ISO 200

DSC_0063

Focal length 55mm

Shutter speed 1/125

Aperture f/11

ISO 200

    I then went on to edit my photos by lowering the saturation, as shown below and then Burned and dodged certain parts of the flower to look for saturated then others. It was a simple edit but i believe it turned out well and looks effective.

 

A03:Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

    My intentions towards this shoot was too highlight the shadows and softness in the flowers. I was inspired from my research of Imogen Cunningham and my research of Sarah Jones in my initial response and their use of editing and darkness of black backgrounds. Both of these photographers used a single lighting the highlight certain part of the image and created shadows, which is what i used. The images came out as I expected, however I had to pay particular attention to getting the right exposure settings and angles to make sure i wasn't blocking the light.

    

    Best selected images...

      I have 5 images in my Best Images that I then went on to edit. 

      The first image of vase of flowers was shot at a mid-shot with the composition slightly to the left so that the flowers are not directly in the middle of the image. The next image is a close up that I will edit my image later by de-saturating

With regards to some of the images that did not come out as I expected, I struggled to adapt my camera settings as I was unfamiliar with the dark set up so, some images lacked focus, whilst in the case of others I struggled to use the cameras exposure meter.   I believe I can overcome these issues through more practise for my next shoot.

A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

The artist research was helpful as I realised that there are many ways I could take the topic of plants but how my focus on flowers would highlight my full potential.  My research of Imogen Cunningham has helped me with the editing as i de-saturated my photos and in my next shoot i will make the photos more black and white with contrast like the images above in my research.   

However, my photographers research blog was also helpful as i looked into Sarah Jones gave me the inspiration for the snoot lighting.

A04:Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

The final images produced were refined by developing the contrast and de-saturating them.

Progression:

To progress in my project i will be leaving my flowers to die for 2 weeks and then redoing the shoot, to create a timeline go plants lives.

Final Images: