Shoot 2- Clay hill

Shoot2-Clay hill

Plan for shoot

I chose to take my second shoot in the area of Clay hill which is in Enfield because i knew that it was a large area of woodland with some variation of landscape, as there are fields, a river ect. So because i needed to improve upon capturing a better variety of photos from my first shoot i thought this would be the best suited place to improve upon that factor. I also know that its quite a popular place for people to go so there would probably be some litter or vandalism e.g graffiti. I think that the place I'm going to will enable me to capture photos most liked to the style of Ansel Adams.

Contact sheet-Of 60 photos

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

With this shoot, i intended to improve on most of the things that i failed to aheieve in my first shoot, or things that i knew i could improve upon from that first shoot. So for example, in my first shoot i shot in an eara that was relitavly small so the shoot did become repatative and so thats why i decided that my second shoot needed to be in a bigegr place like Clay hill that has a vairity of different landscapes and areas for my photos. In my first shoot i also did not have a lot of influnce in my photos from the artists i had researched so i made such i came to a good area that would allow me to take photos in the style of those photographers. In my first shoot, i didnt really use alot of different techniques, only depth of field, so in this shoot i tried a vairty of techniques. A technique i sued was depth of field, this is shown by the image in my straight images of the tree trunk that has green sap, as i wanted to focus on the tree so i used a shallow depth of field so that the background would be out of focus, meaning that the tree would be more easily visible. Another example is macro photography, using the aperature and shutter speed to see how the amount of lighting would affect the outsome of the photo. An example of this macro technique would be the photo of the tree trunk in my improve photos, as i used a macro lens to take that photo. So in this shoot i do think that i have made progress from my first shoot, as i reflected the work of the artists i have researched, used a varity of photographic techniques, taken a wider varity of photos and i think that the photos that i ahve taken are of better quility compared to my previous shoot.

Straight images

Images to improve

This was one of the first photos that i took on this shoot, as this was the area for parking, so i though that it would be an interesting photo to take as it shows how people literally just dump their domestic waste anywhere, even though  there are dumps to use. So at the time of taking the photo i hadn't really gorton use to what camera settings i needed to use for this photo, as the place that i was standing in was covered by the shade of the trees so it was a lot darker to the background of where the light is, coursing that area of the photo to be over exposed. However i did take multiple photos of this from different angles but as we parker on the other side of the tree the car was in the majority of those photos and from this able i was able to capture all of the rubbish. So i decided that i wasn't going to able to get the best photo like i wanted to, however if i had used a tripod then i probably would have been able to get a better photo. So to improve this photo i would reshoot with a tripod to get better composure and framing  and ensure i have the right exposure.

I took this photo using my micro lens as i wanted to explore the theme of macro photography within the rural environment. So in my first shoot i took a few photos similar to this photo but i just used my standard 18-55mm lens. By taking this photo i wanted to show the detail in the tree and try to link it to abstract photography and artists like Imogen Cunningham, as she photographed plants close up and so her photos to me were quite abstract with the shapes of the plants. So with this photo i wanted to to that with the part of the trunk thats basically a hole/void, which i wanted to try and photograph it in more of a dark lighting so that theres a contrast between the void and the trunk on the outside, so then it would be hard to figure out what it was. However as i used my micro lens only the majority of the left side of the photo was in focus, so i didn't think that this photo was eligible to use because even though the photo is macro the focus should be more central. So to improve the photo i would try to fix the lighting so that the void was darker, creating more of an abstract photo.

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

(Heather Angle)

This photo is one of my favourites, because i love how the trees are shown in this photo. Even though the photo is just looking up at the trees like we do all the time, its from a lower height, almost at an ants eye view, but its also got quite a wide angle allowing quite a lot of trees to be visible. The effect of the tress leading up to the sky and the leafs at the top covering the sky is really good, and not all parts of the sky is covered there's cracks which has then brightened up the photo, if the whole canopy layer covered the sky then photo could have a completely different tone to it, it would be much darker. To me this photo reminds me of a race to the top, as all of the trees, due to natural reasons, are racing each other to the top to get the most light. So it reminds me of people trying to get the best things in life, as nearly everything is a competition e.g education. I do ant to try and mimic this style of image in the majority of my rural shoots, because I know that if I just position the camera looking up into the sky when I'm in an area surrounded by trees. To correctly reproduce this style of image, it would be best to use a tripod as low as possible so that I can capture the majority of the tree length.

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I selected this image, because out of the whole shoot I thought that this photo best reflected the style of Heathers work. I took this photo because I realised  that it would be a very similar setting to Heathers image above, even though the trees in my photo are not similar to the trees in the image above I still too the photo from the same ants eye view and the trees are circling similar  to above. However, even though I managed to take a photo similar and in the same style as Heather, I don't think that this photo is one of my best and does have room for improvement. This is because the top level in this photo is over exposed and the bottom left area in the frame seems to be a little out of focus. So to improve it I could try to darken the top areas by using levels or curves. Or I could re-take the image with a tripod so the photo is not affected by blur.

(Ansel Adams-Oak tree)

This photo is of an alone oak tree, taken during sunset as the sky is very misty and hazy and looks like its quite dark from the sun setting or rising, this adds to the general tone of the photo, which is dark because of the black and white filter and how the whole tree just appears black, almost molding in the smaller tree on the left side of the main one. For me the sun really sticks out to me, because of how the whole general tone of the photo is dark, but in the distance the sun just appears bright and is un-misable seen though its a very small feature within this photo. Even though the sun does stand out because of its brightness against the dark tones, it still isn't eye-catching and doesn't take any of the attention away from the main tree in the photo. To me this photo represents isolation, as in what looks like a field, only this tree at first look is visible, however after looking at the photo closely the tree behind the main one becomes visible. So to me the fact that theres two trees visible but the bigger tree in the front takes most of the attention represents how even though someone might look looney, they've probably still got someone else there with them. As it is quite rare that you would come across a person who is completed isolated, they may think they are but they're not. So to me thats the same as this big tree, because where i live its a bit rare that in a big field to see one large tree completely isolated.

On this shoot i did intend to use Ansel Adams as my influence because of the type of landscape that clay hill is. So whilst i was on my shoot i saw this tree and immediately thought of the photo above, even though the tree in the foreground of the photo is not isolated like in Ansel Adams photo, still think that the composition is similar and intention as even tough this tree is not completed isolated, it is compared to the other trees behind that are in the background, whereas this tree is alone in the foreground. When i took this photo i knew that for obvious reasons i had to edit it so that i could make it black and white as Ansel Adams didn't shoot in colour, but i also had to try and fix the over exposure in the sky. So first i used the black and white filter, then i used curves to try and balance out the top half of the photo, however i was only able to decrees the whiteness slightly as the curve was staring to affect the darkness of the mid and lower section. Lastly i burned the lower section of the photo, so the grass, because in Ansel Adams photo the lower section is darker than the majority of the photo.

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

This  shoot was taken with a Nikon 3100, for this shoot i used manual mode with a shutter speed most of the time at 1/125 as it was still day time so i could have quite a fast shutter speed but because id dint use a tripod i was not free to have a faster shutter speed as my pictures would be affected by my hand shaking so the photos could have come out blurry. I also shoot in ISO 100 as it was a bright day so i was free to use the lowest ISO my camera had, meaning i would nit be affected by grain. However even though i knew i was shooting in landscapes i used as f/5.6, which should have been shooting with an aperture of f/22. When i started shooting in a slightly darker area when i was walking through the trees, i had to higher my ISO to 400 as the lighting was too dark for a lower ISO.

I edited this photo by using levels so that I could improve the photo and prepare it for a black and white filter, I then added a black and white filter and adjusted the colour settings to the most appropriate for the contrast in the colours of the trees. So I tried  to make the majority of the trees darker by decreasing the green level, so it contrasts with the whiteness of the clouds in the background. I wanted to edit this image black and white because I thought that it was best suiting for the image as its of a dead tree that stands out compared to all of the live green trees. So I thought that black and white was best fitting because it conveys the seriousness of a dead tree.

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

I think that this shoot was highly relevant to subject that my project is on and the research that i have conducted. I think this because i was able to capture a couple of photos in the style of the photographs that i have researched e.g Heather Angle and Ansel Adams. The area that i have photographed also met my intentions that i had of being able to take a variety of photos that clearly link to the purpose of my project, showing the negative effects of people on the environment. I showed this by photographing litter, graffiti on trees, house waste dumped ect. I also think that this set of images are strong have a clear link to my previous shoot, but i have just developed my general composure and the use of aperture and shutter speed to explore different tones. I think to imrpove upon this shoot i could have used a tripod and take photos in camera raw file, so that i could achieve greater detail in my photos.