For my Level 3 BTEC Media photography assignment I produced three different types of photographic images taking three photos for each section, The types of images I took were Fine Art, Architecture, and Landscape. Before I began to produce my images I completed research and Pre-Production paperwork, The research I undertook consisted of learning various methods to capture the best possible images I was able to take this included experimenting with 'Rule Of Thirds' and different shot types. I also learnt how to shoot in lighting that could possibly be difficult to shoot in and how to create depth by changing and using the cameras Aperture, Shutter Speed, and Iso which allowed me to capture the images I took for this assignment. In addition to learning how to use a digital camera I looked at various different photographers, comparing their work so I was able to decide what types of images I would like to take for this assignment and allowing me to draw inspiration from these photographers.
After I finished my research I then completed my pre-production paperwork this included filling in proposals, production schedule, recces, and risk assessments. I completed three proposals, one for each of type of photography I would be undertaking for this assignment. Proposals allowed me to gather information on the purpose of taking the images, The locations I would be shooting at, fees I would incur when taking these photos such as travel cost and also how much I would charge clients if i were a professional photographer and the concept behind the images i will be taking. Another piece of pre-production paperwork I completed was a production schedule which provided me information on the dates when I was going to start and finish each stage of the production process and deadlines, allowing me to keep within deadlines and prevent any work going unfinished. Recces gave me information on each of the locations I would be shooting at such as the lighting and shooting equipment I would possibly need. Finally, I completed risk assessments gave me information on any potential dangers that occur when out taking my pictures and so I was able to asses and prevent hazards from happening.
Once I had completed my pre-production paperwork the next stage was producing my images. Architectural photography was the first piece of photography I focused on capturing. I felt I needed to create photos that were visually colossal and captivating through the shape and size of the buildings which I believe I achieved. All three of photos were taking at a low angle to really capture the vast nature of the buildings. The first image that was taken was in a church, The photo was taken from the bottom left hand corner of the church using a line to lead the audiences eye towards and focus on a statue of Jesus on the cross which I chose to take due how beautiful and powerful the mixture of Jesus and the churches architecture looked but also to create depth by having the pillars at the forefront of the image and the statue of Jesus towards the back of the photo. I also used lines for my other two architectural images to create a feeling of depth which can be seen in the image I took in Manchester. To capture size and depth of the structure i placed my camera at the base of the metal piping and pointed my lens up towards the top of the structure creating depth. The final image I took was of the Royal Liver building in Liverpool, using both the building and the statue I tried to capture how immense the buildings structure was by using a low angle. Once I had completed my architectural photography I then went on to landscape photography. Landscape photography was possibly the most difficult process I had to deal with due to natural lighting ether being dark or too bright therefore I had to keep changing the cameras ISO to capture the perfect image which was very time consuming. For my landscape images I wanted them to look as natural as possible without using a lot of editing just so the images corresponded with the theme and with how nature is formed. I also tried to keep each image different such as taking an image of green fields and trees, a sunset, and a rock surface the different aspects were just to showcase how different nature and landscapes can be but still have a surreal, entrancing hold on audiences. Finally I took my fine art photos, The first image I had taken was an image of my granddad stood behind pipes that emitted a red light. I chose to take the photo due to the image having a very daunting look through the light emphasising his face while darkening the rest of the image which I believed worked well as a fine art photograph as the image felt dark and slightly horrific. The other two images I had taken were of Christmas baubles and of a nutcracker, Christmas baubles had a very potent red colour that stood out from the rest of the image and I chose to use this photo due to the scale of the bauble covering the majority of the left side in the photo and having a very soft, festive feel to the image, the red also contrasted with the plain black and white colours in the back of the image. The last image I took was a close up of a nutcrackers face, I chose to focus the audiences attention towards the face due to the rain covering the nose and I felt the image looked majestic especially since the rain stood out through the colours on the nutcrackers face.
Finally once I had chosen the images I was going to exhibit I began to edit photos in Photoshop to remove any blemishes or marks the images may have picked up. I also experimented with various filters and colours on images I found to have needed minor improvements. Eventually I finally edited one photo from each section. The first image I edited was the photo that I took in the church, for this image I put the photo in black and white and decided to keep the golden colour on the walls and the light coming from the window surrounding the Jesus statue whilst still keeping the rest of the image in black and white. The reason I chose to do this was to create a religious metaphor that God is surrounding Jesus and watching over the church but also keep the theme religious through the use of the gold colouring, symbolising 'God' and also to entice and immerse audiences into the photo through the contrast between the different colours. The second image I edited in photoshop was a landscape image of the sunset in Liverpool. For this photo I wanted to bring out the oranges and red so I darkened the image and increased the contrast so the orange colours really stood out creating a riveting image, I also merged two images of the same sunset together to create the final image I used for my landscape photography due to one photo having limited amount of sea shown on the image and a lot of sky whereas the second image had no sky and a lot of sea therefore using photoshop I placed the prominent parts of the image together and created a more blinding image, (The process I used to achieve the final image can be seen in a post on my blog). The final image that i decided to edit was the fine art art photo of my granddad. For this fine art image I placed the image in black and white whilst keeping the red pipes in colour and the reflection from the pipes on the models face therefore creating a more harrowing image by having only the face in the orange colour and the body in black and white making the model look lifeless but to also imply danger and fear. Overall I believe the editing process was successful.
The target audience vary from the different types of photography I captured. For my Landscape images I feel the majority of people who would be interested in this form of photography and my photos will be people who are interested in landscape photography such as for a hobby or potential clients who want to use the imagery for commercial purposes to entice tourism due to the images capturing Beautiful landscapes that people would possibly visit therefore showing images in brochures, magazines etc. will ensure travellers become interested in visiting the location captured in the image, or possibly just for audiences who just want to display an image of a landscape as piece of art in their house. My intended audience will also be people that have a love for beautiful scenery, have a passion for travelling and can be male or female, which I believe through looking at my work my images will appeal to my intended audience. My intended audience for my architectural photography are people who are interested in architecture and formations of buildings with interesting structures such as architects or people involved in construction, for example project managers which I believed I have achieved through my images. In addition to having audiences interested in architecture an image that I took in a church will possibly appeal more to audiences with a religious background or are interested in religious semiotics such as the cross. Audiences male and female aged 30 plus who are middle to upper class will also be interested in my architectural images. Finally for my fine art images I feel my target audience will be more specialist as the images I took being a lot less specific such as not just using one theme as i have done with my architectural and landscape photography and are targeted towards audiences that are interested in unusual pieces of art. Audiences aged between 20-40 would be most interested in my fine art images as the photographs use subjects such as death and horror which would possibly not appeal to an audience who is under the age of 20 and older than the age of 40. The images would appeal to audiences of every class as the photos vary in style appealing to mostly everyone.
So I was able to acquire information on whether my images would potentially appeal to my intended audience or if there was any improvements I should apply to my images I interviewed three of my peers in a focus group asking several questions about my work. Overall the response I received about my work was positive and the themes I was portraying through my images were recognised by the three students I interviewed. The group of photos that were most popular and considered most favourite were my architectural images. Some of the feedback I received were comments such as James's comment saying the images and buildings looking " Very colossal, you have really emphasised the size of the buildings" therefore showing that I have achieved what I set out to do with my architectural images. In addition to the positive feedback about my architectural images, my fine art and landscape images received great feedback mostly commenting on the colours and depth of the images. Other comments that I received from the focus group were constructive suggestions about what I can do to improve my photos, The majority of comments concerning improvements on my work were comments such as "Increasing the saturation" on some of the images to make the images that much more powerful. Overall I feel I have gained a variety of new and different skills through producing and editing my images such as how to shoot under different lighting and settings to produce the best possible image and feel I have created images that I am truly proud of and believe I have been successful in producing my images.
After I finished my research I then completed my pre-production paperwork this included filling in proposals, production schedule, recces, and risk assessments. I completed three proposals, one for each of type of photography I would be undertaking for this assignment. Proposals allowed me to gather information on the purpose of taking the images, The locations I would be shooting at, fees I would incur when taking these photos such as travel cost and also how much I would charge clients if i were a professional photographer and the concept behind the images i will be taking. Another piece of pre-production paperwork I completed was a production schedule which provided me information on the dates when I was going to start and finish each stage of the production process and deadlines, allowing me to keep within deadlines and prevent any work going unfinished. Recces gave me information on each of the locations I would be shooting at such as the lighting and shooting equipment I would possibly need. Finally, I completed risk assessments gave me information on any potential dangers that occur when out taking my pictures and so I was able to asses and prevent hazards from happening.
Once I had completed my pre-production paperwork the next stage was producing my images. Architectural photography was the first piece of photography I focused on capturing. I felt I needed to create photos that were visually colossal and captivating through the shape and size of the buildings which I believe I achieved. All three of photos were taking at a low angle to really capture the vast nature of the buildings. The first image that was taken was in a church, The photo was taken from the bottom left hand corner of the church using a line to lead the audiences eye towards and focus on a statue of Jesus on the cross which I chose to take due how beautiful and powerful the mixture of Jesus and the churches architecture looked but also to create depth by having the pillars at the forefront of the image and the statue of Jesus towards the back of the photo. I also used lines for my other two architectural images to create a feeling of depth which can be seen in the image I took in Manchester. To capture size and depth of the structure i placed my camera at the base of the metal piping and pointed my lens up towards the top of the structure creating depth. The final image I took was of the Royal Liver building in Liverpool, using both the building and the statue I tried to capture how immense the buildings structure was by using a low angle. Once I had completed my architectural photography I then went on to landscape photography. Landscape photography was possibly the most difficult process I had to deal with due to natural lighting ether being dark or too bright therefore I had to keep changing the cameras ISO to capture the perfect image which was very time consuming. For my landscape images I wanted them to look as natural as possible without using a lot of editing just so the images corresponded with the theme and with how nature is formed. I also tried to keep each image different such as taking an image of green fields and trees, a sunset, and a rock surface the different aspects were just to showcase how different nature and landscapes can be but still have a surreal, entrancing hold on audiences. Finally I took my fine art photos, The first image I had taken was an image of my granddad stood behind pipes that emitted a red light. I chose to take the photo due to the image having a very daunting look through the light emphasising his face while darkening the rest of the image which I believed worked well as a fine art photograph as the image felt dark and slightly horrific. The other two images I had taken were of Christmas baubles and of a nutcracker, Christmas baubles had a very potent red colour that stood out from the rest of the image and I chose to use this photo due to the scale of the bauble covering the majority of the left side in the photo and having a very soft, festive feel to the image, the red also contrasted with the plain black and white colours in the back of the image. The last image I took was a close up of a nutcrackers face, I chose to focus the audiences attention towards the face due to the rain covering the nose and I felt the image looked majestic especially since the rain stood out through the colours on the nutcrackers face.
Finally once I had chosen the images I was going to exhibit I began to edit photos in Photoshop to remove any blemishes or marks the images may have picked up. I also experimented with various filters and colours on images I found to have needed minor improvements. Eventually I finally edited one photo from each section. The first image I edited was the photo that I took in the church, for this image I put the photo in black and white and decided to keep the golden colour on the walls and the light coming from the window surrounding the Jesus statue whilst still keeping the rest of the image in black and white. The reason I chose to do this was to create a religious metaphor that God is surrounding Jesus and watching over the church but also keep the theme religious through the use of the gold colouring, symbolising 'God' and also to entice and immerse audiences into the photo through the contrast between the different colours. The second image I edited in photoshop was a landscape image of the sunset in Liverpool. For this photo I wanted to bring out the oranges and red so I darkened the image and increased the contrast so the orange colours really stood out creating a riveting image, I also merged two images of the same sunset together to create the final image I used for my landscape photography due to one photo having limited amount of sea shown on the image and a lot of sky whereas the second image had no sky and a lot of sea therefore using photoshop I placed the prominent parts of the image together and created a more blinding image, (The process I used to achieve the final image can be seen in a post on my blog). The final image that i decided to edit was the fine art art photo of my granddad. For this fine art image I placed the image in black and white whilst keeping the red pipes in colour and the reflection from the pipes on the models face therefore creating a more harrowing image by having only the face in the orange colour and the body in black and white making the model look lifeless but to also imply danger and fear. Overall I believe the editing process was successful.
The target audience vary from the different types of photography I captured. For my Landscape images I feel the majority of people who would be interested in this form of photography and my photos will be people who are interested in landscape photography such as for a hobby or potential clients who want to use the imagery for commercial purposes to entice tourism due to the images capturing Beautiful landscapes that people would possibly visit therefore showing images in brochures, magazines etc. will ensure travellers become interested in visiting the location captured in the image, or possibly just for audiences who just want to display an image of a landscape as piece of art in their house. My intended audience will also be people that have a love for beautiful scenery, have a passion for travelling and can be male or female, which I believe through looking at my work my images will appeal to my intended audience. My intended audience for my architectural photography are people who are interested in architecture and formations of buildings with interesting structures such as architects or people involved in construction, for example project managers which I believed I have achieved through my images. In addition to having audiences interested in architecture an image that I took in a church will possibly appeal more to audiences with a religious background or are interested in religious semiotics such as the cross. Audiences male and female aged 30 plus who are middle to upper class will also be interested in my architectural images. Finally for my fine art images I feel my target audience will be more specialist as the images I took being a lot less specific such as not just using one theme as i have done with my architectural and landscape photography and are targeted towards audiences that are interested in unusual pieces of art. Audiences aged between 20-40 would be most interested in my fine art images as the photographs use subjects such as death and horror which would possibly not appeal to an audience who is under the age of 20 and older than the age of 40. The images would appeal to audiences of every class as the photos vary in style appealing to mostly everyone.
So I was able to acquire information on whether my images would potentially appeal to my intended audience or if there was any improvements I should apply to my images I interviewed three of my peers in a focus group asking several questions about my work. Overall the response I received about my work was positive and the themes I was portraying through my images were recognised by the three students I interviewed. The group of photos that were most popular and considered most favourite were my architectural images. Some of the feedback I received were comments such as James's comment saying the images and buildings looking " Very colossal, you have really emphasised the size of the buildings" therefore showing that I have achieved what I set out to do with my architectural images. In addition to the positive feedback about my architectural images, my fine art and landscape images received great feedback mostly commenting on the colours and depth of the images. Other comments that I received from the focus group were constructive suggestions about what I can do to improve my photos, The majority of comments concerning improvements on my work were comments such as "Increasing the saturation" on some of the images to make the images that much more powerful. Overall I feel I have gained a variety of new and different skills through producing and editing my images such as how to shoot under different lighting and settings to produce the best possible image and feel I have created images that I am truly proud of and believe I have been successful in producing my images.