What is my chosen theme? My chosen theme for my GCSE main project is going to be around landscapes and I am going to look at different types of landscapes such as Lakes, Trees, urban landscapes and possibly even my own local landscapes. I have chosen to do this theme because it gives me a wide variety of creativity so I can think outside the box and maybe experiment outside of my comfort zone. I think the theme is very flexible as I really am passionate about photoshop and the theme will give me a lot of freedom for creativity whilst using photoshop.
What research do I intend to carry out? In order to produce a perfect final project I will start doing in depth research on the topic I am doing. To research I will look for inspiration across the internet that appeals to me and inspires me to create a high quality product and reference photographers that have inspired me such as Idris Khan, Stephanie Jung, Franceso Paler, Michael Kenna, Nicolas Godden. The reason I have chosen these photographers is because they maniplate and develop their work in photoshop which is how I aspire to be as a photographer. I hope to explore different ideas during this project which will allow me to venture to a wider spectrum of photography I might not have seen myself doing. I will also set up a pinterest account to visualise other photographers work and projects to further inspire my work and maybe extend the spectrum my work reaches.
What techniques with the camera and photoshop am I going to use to develop my theme Throughout my project I intend to use as many processes and techniques as possible to gain a high quality project. The camera techniques I will use to create an Effect image for this project are: Aperture, WB, Shutter speed, ISO, Exposure, Rule of thirds. When I use my camera I will use manual settings to change and correct the settings based on the light and area I am in.I will also use a wide variety of photoshop tools to refine my taken image and perfect any imperfections I had when I took the image. I hope to explore lots of different options so that I build up intricate understanding of my chosen themeI need to have a wide range of research using a variety of different media, to ensure that my project is well informed and in-depth. This will allow me to create a successful project and will help inspire me/ influence me My main aim is create a project that is very personal to me and one where I can explore and develop my photography techniques and skills I am going to use my weebly personal photography website to record all of my ideas.
What photoshoots do you intend to complete during the project to help explore the chosen topic? I intend to capture a wide range of different shoots for this project. In year 10 we went to the Lake District and focused on capturing the natural landscape, focusing on the autumn colours and soft light Studio shoots that explores texture in the landscape (bark, moss, litchen, Go to my local area and document the landscape around me
What I hope to learn from doing this project From this project I hope to learn the theme of landscape but also how to take my work on a journey and create a personal and meaningful project. In order to do this im going to have to learn to work independently and get the right shots in the right locations and right techniques to create a clean and effective final gallery and I will focus on learning higher and more advanced skills on photoshop to create a very high quality professional images. I want my final gallery to show my journey from the start of my photography to the end of my GCSE path and how my work ethic and mentality to the projects has come along with me as well as my skill.
Photography Research: Martin Lawrence
Context Martin Lawrence is one of the UK's biggest photographers. He specialises In landscape and wildlife/nature photography from places in the UK like England and Scotland. He has worked as a professional photographer since 2005 and is well known for his images appearing in UK magazines, online, in books and in calendars. Composition In the image Martin has used a very effective composition to create such a stunning and amazing photo. First he has used rule of thirds at a ratio of one-third to two-thirds to give the image depth by giving the foreground more space on the image. This skill was used to make background of the image (The trees and mountains) appear smaller in size which also draws the viewer towards the reflection and creates a vanishing point towards the back of the image which the viewer is drawn to by the bold leading lines that connect at a sweet-spot to create the vanishing point. Martin has also used colour contrast with the house to also draw the reader away from the big mountains using the white and red door from the soft browns greens and blues situated in the background of the image, the contrast of the house helps the background blend into the foreground. Content In the photo their is a multitude of different features that create an effective image. These features are the house, different trees, the reflection, the mountains, the sky, the water the stones on land and in the water and the clouds. These help the image because they are situated in positions that stand out and help blend and make other features stand out and be effective. Connection This picture will link with my work because I will travel to the lake district and use similar ideas of composition and content to create just as effective images by using similar methods to produce nice and professional images. I will use rule of thirds and colour contrast to draw the viewer into certain features in the image and I will also edit the photo in photoshop to draw out colour and effects in my image.
Artist Research: Daniel Coyle:
Content Daniel Coyle Photography was founded by leading head photographer Daniel Coyle over 8 years ago. Within that time Daniel Coyle Photography has become one of the most talked about wedding photographers by brides in New York City, the tri-state area and at destinations all over the world. Setting itself apart from other New York City wedding photographers, Daniel Coyle Photography has pioneered and developed its own style of wedding photography combining all the best aspects of photojournalism, editorial, and lifestyle photography. Daniel Coyle Photography will capture all the emotions, feelings, actions, details and events that make up your day in a very non-obtrusive, relaxed, creative and candid way. Sourced from https://www.photoreflect.com/store/StoreAbout.aspx?p=34090
Composition In the first image the photographer has used a great composition that makes the image clearly stand out and catch the viewers eyes. He has used a good balance of foreground to background using the dock to blend the features nicely together. The main features of the image are the dock the water the mountains and the sunrise which he has used techniques that connect all of the features in the image. The photographer uses strong leading lines in the dock, the horizon and the mountains to draw the viewer to the top third of the image which also creates a blind spot in the image which creates the illusion the mountains and horizon line are much further away then they are in reality. The photographer also uses an outstanding composition for rule of thirds using the first two thirds for the dock and water which the water slowly faded into the background mountains and wildlife at he bottom of them whilst the dock stays big and bold all the way to the mid ground. Daniel Coyle took this image from the low point of view to get the right bold leading lines to get a good effect like how the horizon levels the posts that are on the dock. I also believe Daniel has used a very high F-stop setting from 22 and higher to make the image background sharp and crisp to make the big leading lines bolder however he has used the blurry reflection in the water to give the image a softer tone, this make the image look more heavenly and angelic another feature that grabs the eyes of the viewer. The contrast of the purple tone in the water and clouds to the warm red and orange rays of sunlight. On the camera Daniel has used an ISO level of around 3200 but a Low shutter speed so the image has a darkened hue and has used a Daylight or tungsten white balance setting to bring out the purples and bright oranges and reds. I think Daniel has used a little bit of Photoshop to improve the quality of the image and has used saturation to brighten the colours and contrast of them in the image But not changed the saturation of the dock to make it stand out all the way through the image.
Connection This image fits in with my work as the base images I have taken use similar features like strong leading lines and vanishing points in the landscape and other features like rule of thirds, colour and contrast that make effective images without any or very little editing required. I will use this picture as a main inspiration for my work and will try and get the pictures I will take to a standard just as good or higher level then this one by using and incorporating techniques and skills like rule of thirds, sweet spots and vanishing points and taking into account time of year and time of day. Using these skills and techniques should produce me outstanding outcomes and pictures which I can further edit in photoshop to become much more effective and high level read for my final gallery.
Comment I like this image because of the good use of rule of thirds and effective strong leading lines the us of a vanishing point and the way Daniel Coyle has use the different colours in the sky and water and positioned the camera correctly to make the perfect reflection in the water which fills the image with colour. I think the image is very good as it is very eye catching with the bright colours, bold features and nice clear foreground, midground and background in the image.
Artist Research: Legan Rooster
Context Composition This picture is effective because of the colours and different skills and techinques to create an effective image. In this image the the subjects are spilt half thirds sky, half third ground and a cloud formation going through the middle of the image which spilts the distribution of the rule of thirds effectively. I predict the image was taken early morning because of the level of light in the image and how the sun comes just over the hill to light up the foreground of the image and the cloud. Legan rooster positioned the camera so that the hill creates a strong leading line in the image and photoshopped the image correctly so the geometry lines up perfectly to create a focal point in the image. The point where the hill meets the smoke also creates a focal point in the image. The image had a blue hue to it which either was added by using a tungsten light balance correction or a blue hue added in photoshop which adds boldness to the sky and foreground contrasting the cloud in the middle ground. The picture was clearly taken outdoors but I predict the camera was on a tripod to help position the camera to get a perfect strong leading lines. The picture was taken at what I predict to be around F-stop 11 to 20 to make the middle ground and foreground focused. In photoshop Legan Rooster has used the polygon tool to create the shapes in the picture and the magic wand, layer mask and free transform to take the different aspects of the image into the shapes making that the focal point of the image. Connection This image is my main inspiration for my landscape project as it will match with the final outcomes that I want to produce being geometry in landscape. The Base image used will link as I will take images of landscape including hills/mountains and other elements of nature to create effective images which will link with this artist research. The edit will link with my final outcomes as I will use photoshop to create the shapes and geometry and tools to swap specific elements in the image to create very effective final outcomes with focal points and sweet spots which will improve my final gallery and further help my final grade. Comment I like this image because of the colours and effects Legan Rooster has used to create this image. I don't believe the image has a meaning however the image uses perfect composition which make the main objects in the image stand out followed by a blue hue which helps draw out and makes the subjects bold. This really draws attention to the images focal points and was clearly done purposefully.
The start to my editing and journey of this project.
When I went to take the photos it was autumn and the trees where full of colour and the sunset and sunrise where at ideal times of the day so I had plenty of time to get outstanding images. I went to the Lake District and to a small town and a Tarn Howes to take many photos similar to those of the photographer, Martin Lawrence .I aimed to capture pictures similar to Martin Lawrence and Carr Clifton which I was successful with as I took outstanding images that related to them. The photographers I am gonna use for inspiration are Legan Rooster, Martin Lawrence and Carr Clifton. I chose these 3 photographers because they use similar aspects to the pictures I will take and use good composition of landscape. These photographers will make a good hybrid as they have features that go together really well and will help improve the quality of my final outcome. They use colour and composition to create effective images that I find appealing and like to take inspiration from. For tutorials I will use youtube videos and help from peers to help improve the quality of my work and make a really outstanding final gallery the tutorials will teach me how to use geometric shapes and take areas of our work to make the image effective. I will develop my images from going from adding simple filters to big complicated tools blending, clipping masks and more, This will ensure my final outcomes are very effective . To develop images further we will include harder and more advanced aspects of photoshop. In photoshop I was use shapes and clipping masks to make similar galleries to my inspiration, Legan Rooster. For my next photoshoot I will go into Manchester City Centre and take images to extend the variety of images in my galleries like urban landscapes which I can pair with Legan Rooster's work to add more effect to my final gallery.
Glow first attempt using the tutorial (https://youtu.be/mQSKseBlA4c)
Exposure Change
Exposure (geometry edit)
Texture Development outcome
What I have chosen as the path to my final gallery.
I have chosen the path of geometry edits for my final gallery as I believe I can really show how skilled I can be by incorporating different high level and effective photoshop skills into my work and make it slightly different but unique in every outcome I create by experimenting with different shapes and colors or very slight and subtle effects in the image that keep it clean and simple but very effective.
To improve my outcomes I am going to use shapes from the same image to create a better effect and some what of an illusion in the image I could also use this to make the use of rule of thirds more effective by putting key features and strong leading lines from the same image this would give me higher marks show more understanding of photoshop and also use composition to my advantage to make my images more effective. If I succeed in the ideas I have thought of my next few outcomes should look a lot more effective and raise the bar for my overall standards and final outcomes. I then further took inspiration from the pictures below. I also used the tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBrasiyRkY&t=423s to gain a basic understanding of how to create the images and just by learning how to use a layer mask and the polygon tool and create the images.
Outcome 3
Outcome 4
Outcome 1
Outcome 2
Outcome 5
Outcome 6
Outcome 7
Developing my outcomes further and refining the outcomes for my final gallery
So far in my project I have used photoshop to edit all of my photos. I have experimented and developed techniques such as Geometry and the glow effect however I have chosen to go with the theme of geometry for my final series and gallery. I have chosen the theme of geometry because it requires a tremendous level of skill which highlights my professional and expert level of understanding for the all the tools, layers, filters and options available in photoshop. I will also create a 3D recreation of my images to show a further level of skill. For the 3D creations I will try my best to replicate the physics of light in clear 3D objects like Refraction and reflections of light in the 3D object and will try and vary my shapes using a sphere or pyramid. I will also use my landscape images as base photos which will improve my grade for this project. I will use the tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBZTx3nWwBM to help me with my first outcome and then try on my own to learn and demonstrate my understanding of photoshop and true skill.
3D Outcome 1
3D Outcome 2
3D Outcome 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXHzanm9pdU
My final gallery
Evaluation!
My theme for the landscapes project was geometry and graphics in landscape. I chose this because out of the 2 I had to chose from (glowing effects and geometry) geometry fitted best with the pictures I had taken due to lighting in the pictures, time of year and area the pictures where taken. I was determined to proceed with this project because i get to show my skills in photoshop by taking such a generic project and take the most beautiful pictures and edit them in ways one could not imagine.
my favorite part of the project was being adventurous with in pictures id taken and the editing and how I use my imagination in photoshop to create such masterpieces and pictures using two completely contrasting elements of photography and combining them to create the pictures in my final gallery.
during my journey through the landscape project I got to learn brand new techniques and show my actual talent in my imagination and use of photoshop tools. I also purchased my own photoshop package at home to carry on and produce more stuff and edit at home and start my own potential freelance career. I would like to develop further in photoshop by learning many more advanced techniques and processes which will bring my work even further and more advanced.
the main drawback of my work is how I was impacted by COVID-19 because I lost out on a lot of opportunities and work I could have gotten because of the restrictions I was penalized by and how I struggle working from home which stopped my flow of work.