Snow Photos

In the recent snowfall, I decided it would be a great photographic opportunity. I tried to take relevant photos which are in-keeping with my theme of Life Cycles. The majority are of trees, which have a life cycle in the same way something living would. I also shot image of plants and leaves too.

I then took some photos of plants during the snow.

After this, I decided to see how animals cope during the cold temperatures.

I will experiment on Adobe Photoshop with layering the different tree photos, as they are rather similar but could create an effect which would show lots of trees in different positions.

Once the majority of the snow had melted, I took a picture of a tree which I shoot a lot. I think this tree can show many different seasons and lights, and because of the bare-branches, the light in background is ever-changing. It looks spooky at night, then bright and beautiful in the day.

Andy Goldsworthy Research

Andy Goldsworthy is a British photographer, sculptor and environmentalist. All of his creations are made from natural materials that he finds in the outdoors. Mostly including wood (twigs and branches), leaves, coloured produce (petals, flowers and red berries), mud & dust and ice & snow.

In the past, Goldsworthy has said "I think it's incredibly brave to be working with flowers and leaves and petals. But I have to: I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole." However, he has often added detailing and patterns to some aspects of his work, such as his sculpture of stones in a spiral shape. He has cut the stones in half (probably using a larger rock) and added pattern to each side of the stone to create a tone of continuity. 

I really like Goldsworthy's work and have many favourites. One of which is called 'Gold Rowan leaves with hole'. It is leaves placed in a circular way, with the darker colours out on the outside of the circle and the colours gradually get lighter until the middle, which is a black hole. I think this piece represent the sun, the colours have obviously been chosen to look like this, and also has a typical autumn-like colour palette.

Another favourite of mine is an icicle made into a large star shape. It is very striking, and seems very difficult to create using just natural materials; it is reported that Goldsworthy actually used his own saliva to hold the icicles together in the shapes formation. Also, in the photograph of the piece, it seems to be holding itself up, as it is not being propped up by anything, as the background has a vast landscape behind. 

I think Goldsworthy shows definite themes in his work. Spirals, sharp edges and intricate pattern are shown throughout. A similar image to the icicle above, is spiralled ice wrapped around a thin tree. I think this would have also been very hard to create because, again, it doesn't seem to be obviously attached to the tree. Also, the spiralling shape of the ice would be hard to execute.

Life Cycle Mood Board

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1. Eugene Richards
2. Eugene Richards
3. Bill Viola
4. Bill Viola
5. Bill Viola Google Images
6. Bill Viola
7. Chrystel Lebas
8. Chrystel Lebas
9. Chrystel Lebas
10. Damien Hirst

Evaluation

For my Light Painting images, we set the shutter speed on the camera to slow. We then shone different torches and laser pens onto the subject. After this effect worked, we thought it would be interesting to add physical movement to our photos. We started to walk and slide to the other side of the room. The camera was able to show our journey, with our movements being shown behind us. 

Photoshop Experiments

This photo is of a tree in black and white, layered over the top of my view of the sky from a plane.  This looks good as it looks like there is a sunset behind the tree. I did this by opening both images in Photoshop in separate windows then dragging one on top of the other. 

This was originally in colour, but I decided to desaturate (make black and white) to create a more ghostly feel. I also darkened the background and lightened the main image.

I added white lines to the sun beams to make them stand out more and make a brighter tone. I achieved this by using the brush tool with a large brush and drew the lines on 'Screen' mode. After doing this, I added a photo of me looking like a ghostly spirit, by dragging in, which completely changes the whole tone of the picture, and makes it more scary.

I layered a tree on top of the image of the sky, which contrasts because the tree is dark and spiky, whereas the sky is light and wispy. I don't think this photo is the most effective because of the different contrasts, and it doesn't really resemble a real scene, which I think the others do. To achieve this, I simply dragged the tree over the top of the sky, then changed the settings from 'Screen' to 'Overlay'.

The original photo of just the added white lines to the sunbeams. With these lines, I think the sun itself looks brighter and the beams appear longer. I think this photo could have been better if it was in colour, because it makes the photo seem more upbeat, whereas in black and white, it looks solumn and sad. I created this by drawing white lines with the brush tool on 'Screen' mode.

I like this image of a tree layered over a picture of the mountains in South Africa. I changed the colours to make them appear darker to resemble a sunset. The tree branches could look like lightening, which means the photo could have two different moods; a dark storm or a pretty sunset. The clouds could also be used to interpret either of these scenes. This picture was made by dragging the tree on top of the mountain scene from separate windows and making it really dark on 'Vivid light' mode. 

I really like this image of a scene in Cape Town. The foreground includes a Wheel, palm trees and cars. The background is a photo of the mountains, which makes it seem that they are lingering behind. The photo of the scene was taken in black and white, and the mountains in colour. I think this adds effect because the palm trees are dark and you can only see there outline, and the wheel is illuminated by the sun in the mountains photo. I made this picture by simply dragging the wheel photo on top of the mountain image. Before doing this, I darkened the palm trees and the cars using 'Desaturate', then lightened it from complete black and white. I then changed the settings from 'Screen' to 'Overlay'.

I edited these images using Adobe Photoshop. They are mostly photos layered on top of each other to create an effect of different background scenery.

The photographs of the mountains and the wheel were taken in South Africa, with background images of my view of the sky from an aeroplane and a tree in my garden. I think these work effectively because they show more depth with the background than without, and makes the pictures more interesting to look at. 

The image of the sun beams streaming through the window was taken in my hall way. I added more white tones to the sun beams to create a brighter tone. 

I also edited a picture of me and put it in the same photo to create the idea that there was a ghost and the added blurred lines make this effective.

Experimenting with Photoshop

Original image.

I think all these different edits show different moods and tones. This one is quite abstract and looks sketchy.

This edit looks quite similar to the original, but is slightly darker. The commuters look gloomy and dark, the stereotypical view of commuting in London.  Everyone looks to be in a hurry and with their heads down.

This image looks similar to the one above, but with the illusion that its raining.

SLR Light Paintings

Not all of the photos we took were light related. Some were to show the slow shutter speed setting.

This is to show that the camera will capture every movement you make when its shutter speed setting is slow.

This image is effective in showing the objective. Movement and light are both captured well.

Patrick Rochon Light Painter Analysis

Patrick Rochon creates images using a human figure and 'paints' around them using a light source. These works are made by having the camera set to a slow shutter speed which can range from, in Rochon's case, 1 second to 30 minutes.

                                     

Trendland Website

I really like the image above because of the way Rochon has used colour so effectively. For the photograph on the left of the group of people, I think he would have set the camera to a long shutter speed to assure he was able to capture everything he painted. 

The colours used are from the same family with blues, greens and yellows and the figures stance's are positioned similarly. There is such a lot of detail in each photo, which shows that the camera shutter speed would have been set to a long setting; Rochon himself has stated how he has used minutes to create the images, rather than the standard amount of a few seconds at a time.

The different dimensions of the light on the four figures is really effective because it just highlights the shape of the body, without completely covering it all with light.

Image from http://www.patrickrochon.com/

Rochon does not just create light paintings of human figures. The photo above looks like a computer edited image, which really shows his skill in making such imaginitive and inventive pieces. He may have made this image by using his light source sort of randomly, by drawing a unsystematic illustration, or he could have done a series of similar looking pieces, perhaps in different colours, sizes or shapes.

http://www.patrickrochon.com/archives/469

In 2007, Rochon took part in creating a television advert for car company Honda in Japan. It took 3 days to make, using photography and video to capture the special effects made by the light paintings. I really like how all the different colours reflect on the car and make it look like it's moving.

More of Rochon's work on the Honda advert: http://www.patrickrochon.com/archives/469

Full Honda advert here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8-daGvcwJc

More Developmental Ideas

The following photos of the trees just before darkness are inspired by the Starn Brothers. Many of their works are concentrated on light streaming through the branches of the trees that are dark black with the light background.

http://www.speakforthetreesbook.com/images/interface/starn-big.jpg

I also realised that many of our Christmas decorations have a huge link to Light: