Shoot 5

Shoot 5

Artist Influence- Nick Knight

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

Nick Knight has inspired me during this shoot because I like the way he has used colour to create something that is very interesting. I like the way he has taken a photo and incorporated artistic elements to the image. When Nick Knight created these images he did this in a laboratory which means that the exact method he used is not accessible to me however I want to experiment with different ways in which I can re create this technique. Nick Knight tends to photograph flower arrangements rather than individual flowers however I would like to explore the idea of photographing individual flowers. 

Images that have inspired me 

The two images above have inspired me during my shoot because the drips of paint on the flower are created using real paint. I feel as though this has inspired me to make my computer edits look as real as possible. Although I like the solid block colour as the background these images have inspired me to do the opposite and use a textured surface as the background for some of my images. The images above have also inspired me because I like the way they have used one flower in the image rather than an arrangement of different flowers. I would like to look at photographing one flower in my images and manipulating it.  

Contact Sheet

I created this shoot in response to Nick Knights work. I do feel as though the actual photos differ slightly from the work that Nick Knight produced because he photographed flower arrangements rather than individual flowers. This is something I would like to look at doing in addition to the shoot I have completed. An unsuccessful element of my shoot is that some of the photos that I took are slightly unevenly exposed and I believe this was due to taking the photos using natural daylight. I have circled in red photos I feel initially were unsuccessful however I have also circled photos in green which I feel have potential to be successful images. 

My Best Images 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

F/9    1/125    SO 400

I have chosen the image above as one of my best because I like the composition of this image. I feel as though the way the flower has been placed makes it look as though it has fallen which could represent the life cycle of flowers. This could also portray the idea that flowers get weaker as they increase in age. I also like the way the flower looks very fragile. I do feel as though the photo is slightly darker than I would like it to be however this is something that can be altered in photoshop. 

F/8     1/100    ISO 400

I have chosen the image above as one of my best images because I like the way that the two flowers are both the focal point of the image. I also like the fact that everything in the foreground is in focus and the entire background is slightly out of focus. To create this effect I used a shutter speed of 1/100 and an aperture of f/8.

F/8     1/100     ISO 400

The image above is one of my best images due to the composition. I like the fact that each flower is dying and they are both the same flower but they are completely different shapes. This represents individuality and although things may initially appear the same, they are not. I do feel that the focal point of this image is slightly incorrect and I would have liked the entries of the two flowers to be extremely crisp and in focus however when shooting I was only viewing the photos on the camera screen and it looked as though the image was completely in focus. When uploading my images to a computer I did see that the flower on the left is slightly out of focus. If I were to shoot this again I would take many more photos of the same thing to ensure that some of them were in focus. 

F/4.5    1/125   ISO 200

F/5.6     1/125    ISO 200

The two images above are selected as my best images because I liked the way the shadows of trees reflected on the background of the image. I like the contrast between the harsh black shadows and the brighter areas. I  also like these two images as a pair because I like the way I have captured a beautiful, fresh rose and a dying rose. I feel as thought this could represent the way in which love can die or that people can fall out of love. I also like the use of narrow depth of field because I feel as though having an out of focus background allows the flower to be the focal point of the image. 

F/8   1/125   ISO 200

I have chosen the image above as one of my best because I like the individuality of the flower I have photographed. This flower was a white rose however when it died it turned into a slightly burnt orange colour. I liked the connotations this had because it lost its white colour which could represent the flower losing its purity and the colour white has connotations of peace and purity. This may show that as the flower dies it is not as aesthetic anymore however I wanted to capture the beauty that was left within the flower. 

Images that require improvement 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

F/8    1/125    ISO 200

This photo is over exposed because the camera settings that I used were not correct. This photo was taken in the direct sunlight and I used a shutter speed of 1/250. Although this froze motion which is something that I wanted to capture, the shutter was open for slightly too long and therefore let too much light into the photo. This meant that the image was slightly over exposed in comparison to other photos in my shoot.  

F/8   1/100   ISO 200

I did not like the image above because the focal point is the rose to the right of the photo. I don't like the way that the flower beside it is so out of focus. The camera was set on manual focus and when taking the photo I did not spend long enough aiming to get the focal point that I desired. If I were to complete this again I would keep the camera in manual focus however I would spend a longer period of time aiming to get both of the flowers in the foreground in focus. I also feel as though the photo is slightly underexposed. This is because I used an ISO of 100 however the weather was slightly cloudy and I feel as though an ISO of 200 would have been more appropriate for the weather conditions I was shooting in. 

Camera Settings and Equipment 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

The shoot that I completed was taken using a canon eos 400d. The shoot was taken outside using natural lighting which resulted in me having to alter the camera settings depending on the photos that I was taking. My shutter speed ranged from 1/100 to 1/125. This was used because I wanted to freeze motion rather than capture any motion that may have been caused by the wind in a natural environment. I used shutter speeds ranging from f/5.6 to f/9. I used shutter speeds of f/5.6 when I wanted to capture a narrow depth of field within my images because this resulted in the background being slightly out of focus. I wanted to capture this whilst taking photos in a natural environment because in some of my previous shoots I have completed in a studio there is nothing in the background and therefore cannot use these settings to capture a narrow depth of field. I then used an aperture of f/8-f/9 when I wanted a wide depth of field within my photos. This resulted in the background being in focus whilst the foreground is crisp and in focus as well. I used these camera settings when I placed my flowers on a piece of wood which created a textured back ground which I believe added some interesting pattern to the photos. When photographing I used an ISO of 200 and 400. I had to alter this as I was shooting in order to capture images with the correct exposure. Due to using natural light I was unable to control the lighting therefore when it was slightly cloudier I had to use an ISO of 400 in order to ensure the photos were not too underexposed.



AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.
I gathered my ideas from this shoot from a range of sources. Firstly, my main inspiration was from Nick Knights photography of flowers. I was very inspired by the way in which Nick Knight used his creativity from fashion photography and incorporated this within his still life photography. I like the way in which Knight used colour to create a surreal look of the flowers dripping. Colour is something that I chose to experiment with during this shoot however rather than looking at saturated colour I wanted to focus on slightly more de saturated colours by letting the flowers die before photographing them. I also gathered inspiration from images that I have looked at on pinterest which allowed me to take inspiration from a number of different images rather than just one photographers work. I feel as though I have also taken elements of inspiration from Patty Hatkins because I have taken photos of flowers in their natural environment rather than capturing photos in a studio. I have also explored the use of colour within this shoot which is something that Patty Hatkins looks at very closely however rather than looking at saturated colour I feel as though the majority of this shoot looks at muted colours due to the fact that I am using dying flowers.

Edits

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

Throughout my edits I have attempted to edit my photos in relation to Nick Knight's dripping flower photos.

Firstly to edit my images I opened the image I wanted to use in photoshop. I then selected 'filter' then 'liquify'. 

I then selected the icon at the top which allows me to drag areas of the photo downwards. 

To make this look as realistic as possible I altered the size and pressure of the brush. I discovered that using a smaller brush size made the lines of colour look more realistic and look as if they were done with real paint. 

I then just altered the brightness and contrast for each photo and used the curves tool to enhance darker areas of the image. 

The image above is the first image that I have created. I do not like this image because I feel as though it is not creating the effect that I want. I do not feel as though this looks like the colour within the flowers is running, this looks as though the photo has been stretched or dragged downwards. After completing this image I decided to re try using the same technique but with some slightly extra steps to try and make the images look more realistic. 

The steps that I added in to create my final designs are located below.

Firstly I duplicated the background layer. This enabled me to alter any mistakes that I made because I had the original image there. 

I then created a mask. This enabled me to bring back parts of the original layer when using the 'liquify' filter.  

To duplicate the layer I right clicked on the original layer and selected duplicate layer. I then clicked ok. 

To create a mask I selected the button at the bottom of the screenshot, the square with a circle in the centre. I made sure that I created the layer on the background copy rather than the original background. 

I then ensured that the two settings circled in red were selected. I was then able to use the liquify filter but remove the parts that made the colour drag in places that were not on the flower. Below is an example of an area in the original edit that I was able to get rid of when using the steps above.

My Final Images

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

I have created a meaningful response to Nick Knights work during this shoot. I feel as though this technique has been challenging because Nick Knight uses the actual pigments within his image and makes them run down the page however doing this electronically meant that it was hard to make the drops of colour look as realistic and I wanted them to. I do feel that the final images I produced were better than what I initially created because I took the time to try and improve my work. The technique was very challenging and I do not feel as though the photos were as successful as I hoped they would be.

Progression

To progress onto my next shoots I would like to focus on the beauty of flowers and look at the shape and aesthetic of flowers. In relation to Nick Knight I feel as though the technique has not worked for me and I would not like to progress with this any further. I would like to now move onto looking at studio photography in more depth in order to gain more photos that will be suitable for my final portfolio.