Shoot 9
Inspiration for my shoot
AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.
My reasoning for completing this shoot was not based on any particular photographer however I have decided to focus on the symbolism of flowers as an overall topic for my final portfolio and I wanted to include a shoot that focused on poppies due to the strong symbolic meaning of the flowers themselves. Poppies have been a symbol of remembrance and hope since the end of the First World War. In Western Europe the countryside became a battlefield that was fought over however thousands of poppies still continued to grow throughout the destruction. Poppies are now worn by many people as a symbol of respect for the soldiers that fought for our country and lost their lives as a result of their bravery.
Images that have inspired me
The two photos above have inspired me because when researching some ideas for this shoot I found that may of the remembrance wreaths that are layer during remembrance day are used with fake flowers so that they won't be destroyed when left outside. Due to this I decided to look at some ideas of photography that uses fake poppies. I found the two images above and I liked the way in which the first photo includes someones hand because I feel as though the small amount of a person in this photo could represent the thousands of people who wear poppies each year. I also liked the second image because the small crosses are used to thank or remember individual people. I liked the fact that this added a personal and emotive element to the image which is something I feel I want to portray within my photos due to the strong connotative meaning behind poppies.
Contact Sheet
I feel as though this shoot was successful in many different ways. I believe that the photos I have taken have a very strong symbolic meaning which is something that I now want to focus my project on. I feel as though something that was slightly less successful about the shoot was that the photos do not fit with the pattern of my photos so far due to the fact that the images have been taken in a natural environment rather than in a studio. I think that due to the symbolic meaning of poppies I would like to try and incorporate these in my final portfolio.
My Best Images
AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.
f/5.6 1/60 ISO 400
I have chosen this as one of my best images because when capturing this image I used manual focus in order to make the poppies the focal point of the image. I decided that by having the images of loved ones and the rose slightly out of focus it could have connotations of soldiers lives fading away during the war. I also like the way in which you can see the lost soldier in the photo because I believe this is effective when focusing on the connotative meanings of poppies.
f/5.6 1/60 ISO 400
I have chosen this as one of my best images because I liked the fact that the poppy is in the centre of the frame and fills almost the entire image. I feel as though the hand that is holding the poppy represents the millions of people who wear poppies in remembrance of he soldiers that fought in the war. I also like the way in which the background is out of focus because this draws even more attention onto the poppy itself.
F/5.6 1/100 ISO 400
The image above shows many small crosses that are used on remembrance day to remember individual people. Loved ones can write messages onto each of the crosses and place them into the ground. I specifically like the depth within this photo and the way in which you can see some more crosses which are out of the frame of the image. This could represent that there are so many more people that have lost their lives than just a single image can show. I also like the way in which the cross at the centre of the image is so in focus because this draws your attention to this when looking at the image.
F/8 1/125 ISO 400
This image is slightly different to the other photos I have taken however this sculpture was used in many different places in England as a symbol of each and every soldier in the war. I like this image because I think this can be edited in a slightly more creative way than some of the other images I have taken and I would like to experiment with some different editing ideas when looking at this image. It took me a while to get this image because it was hard to get an angle where the outline of the soldier was very clear and visible. I do not like the background of the image therefore I would like to do something about that when editing the image.
F/6.3 1/80 ISO 400
The image above is one of my best because it symbolises remembrance day as it shows a person laying down a poppy to remember the soldiers. I think that this image is effective in telling a story and I think that the strong connotations towards this image are very important. I also like the composition of this image because it is has been taken from a lower angle in order to catch the model placing the poppy onto the wreaths and I feel as though with the camera being at the same level as the poppies it gives the image a sense of intimacy and makes it slightly more personal.
Images that Require Improvement
AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.
1/200 f/5.6 ISO 400
This photo requires improvement due to it being out of focus. My aim for this image was to capture the poppy whilst it was placed in the ground however due to the size of the poppy it was very hard to take the photo from the correct angle. I was not able to focus the camera in the place I wanted to and therefore the image was very blurry.
1/200 f/9 ISO 400
I have chosen this photo as one that needs improvement because the entire image is under exposed. When taking this photo I used the wrong camera settings. When taking this photo I used an ISO of 400. This was done by mistake and this resulted in the photo being underexposed because the camera was not sensitive enough to the lighting surrounding the camera. I should have used an ISO of 200. This would have given me a much better exposure to my image.
Camera Settings and Equipment
AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.
When completing this shoot I used a canon eos 400d. I decided not to use a tripod because I wanted to get very close to the objects I was photographing and I was constantly moving around and photographing things from multiple angles and I felt as though a tripod would have restricted me when taking many of my photos. Throughout the shoot I used an ISO of 400. This was because the weather was very dull and there was not a lot of lighting. I used this ISO because I needed the camera to be quite sensitive to the light in order for the photos to be bright enough. My aperture varied throughout the shoot from f/5.6 to f/9. I used a slightly higher aperture when I wanted a wide depth of field and I wanted everything to be in focus. I then used f/5.6 when I wanted to capture the foreground in focus and the background out of focus. I did this quite a lot during this shoot because I felt as though this was the most effective way of expressing the symbolism of the poppy. My shutter speed altered throughout the shoot depending on what aperture I was using. This meant that I was altering the shutter speed in order to gain an even exposure throughout my images. The shutter speeds that I used ranged from 1/60 to 1/200. For some of the images that I took I used a slightly longer shutter speed because I wanted more light to be able to flood into the lens. This was done in order to slightly brighten up the images if I felt that they were too dark. Due to this shoot being taken in a natural environment it was slightly harder to control my camera settings than working in a studio, which is what I have been doing recently within my project, however I feel as though the images that I have produced are well exposed and have interesting compositions.
AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.
The main inspiration for my shoot was the strong symbolic meaning of poppies. As a result of deciding to focus on the symbolism of flowers I felt as though poppies were necessary as a part of my portfolio. Also during the time that I was taking these photos remembrance day was happening. This provided me with a lot of inspiration as I was seeing photos of poppies on social media and the news. There are a lot of stereotypical images of poppies which I explored and I do feel as though I took some inspiration from google images. The two main images that I found interesting are below. Many of the images on google and pinterest focus on isolating the primary colour red. I liked this idea however I am not sure whether I will isolate the colour but a lot of my images focus on the colour red being the focal point of the image and this is something that research into remembrance day photography has helped me to do.
I also read an article which was called 'photograph artificial poppies on and around remembrance day'. Whilst reading this article I came across this image. I liked the way that the photographer had not tried to make the photo look as aesthetically pleasing as possible but instead he had simply captured the moment. The article suggests different ways in which photographs of poppy memorials can be taken, for example focusing in on one poppy and isolating it from the rest of the scene. Another example is to take a step back and contrast the brightly coloured poppies with the towns scenery. I feel as though these ideas have heavily influenced the way in which I completed this shoot.
Edits
AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.String Edits
1. Firstly I printed off each of the images that I wanted to use for each of my edits.2. I then mounted each image onto card because I felt as though this made the photo a lot easier to work with.
3. Next I drew small dots onto the photo where I wanted to place the string. This ensured that I did not thread the string into the wrong place.
4. I then measured the string and threaded it through the needle. Once this was done I then began to embroider the photo, following the dots that I had previously drawn in order to make the thread even.
5. Finally once I was finished I tied a knot on the end of the string so it did not become loose.
Tracing Paper Edit
1. Firslty I printed off the photo I wanted to use on regular paper. I then repeated this but printed the image on tracing paper.2. I then drew out the different squares that I wanted to be cut out on the tracing paper image. Once the squares were cut out I screwed them up and once they looked slightly distressed I stuck them onto the original image.
My Final Images
AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.
I like the edit using tracng paper because I feel a though the added texture of the tracing paper reflects the different textures that would be found in nature and specifically in flowers. I feel as though this reflects the environment.
Progression
I would like to explore the idea of embroidery in slightly more detail howver I feel as though I would like to look as this wit studio photography because although poppies have a very strong connotations I feel as though the studio phootgraphy works a lot better for my project.
