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Experimental Photography

Hannah Mizen

Out of focusExplain the experiments you did and your findings. With this experiment, I experimented out of focus photography, here I went around college and found regular everyday items and making them into abstract photographs that are difficult to tell what they are. The out of focus effect gives the photos a soft, milky effect, which is obviously intentional. I found that when you experiment with different subject matters you get different outcomes. I found that some lights that are out of focus can look very effective, but some other lights may not look as good and won’t be as successful. The other subject matter I found to be successful is something where the colours can blend into each other, like on the second photo where the colours, the white black and cream all run into each making it look like a watercolour paint, this also makes the the subject more abstract and unidentifiable, which I think adds to the style and successfulness of the photos. Messing about with the shutter speed and f stop really change the sharpness of the focus, on some photos where the f stop is smaller, the focus becomes a lot sharper and not as soft, where as when the f stop is larger the focus is a lot softer and milky, in my opinion I have found that a larger f-stop makes for the pictures come out more successful and aesthetically pleasing.

Talk about the results you got.With this experiment I found I did get a mixture of successful and unsuccessful images, but when experimenting and taking lots of photos I figured out which compositions and subject matters worked and looked aesthetically pleasing. I first went into looking at blurring lights which I found out that this works well when paired with the right composition, and with the right exposure. On my photo the exposure was a lot lower as the room was actually well lit, but I made it look more like a moon in a night sky rather than a light, making the picture abstract and more interesting than originally. I then continued to take more pictures using the highest blur I could, and I started to work with colours and seeing how the blur worked on them, on the second photo this shows how the colours start to look milky and mix together, making it very difficult to work out what the actual picture is of. I like this effect as I think it gives you a lot to work with in photoshop, this kind of picture could be used as a background picture for some piece of work, especially when it is edited. I think the blurry photos are pleasant to look at and show potential to be worked with.

This image out of the 3 is my favourite. It is my favourite firstly because of the colour, the red on it is bright but has depth, but the way I set the f-stops and shutter speed the colour has been made duller and darker, which I think gives the photo depth and makes it more interesting. The blur on it is on the highest it could, so the photo looks soft and billowy, it also makes it abstract, like you can make a guess at what the subject matter is, but there is no conformation of this, which makes the photo interesting, because you are questioning what the subject matter is. The things that could be improved in this photo is the accuracy of the lining up of the angles of the squares in the photo, so the white walls at either side of the red square would be equal. Because of the fast shutter speed, the light and exposure is low, but the ISO is high which has given the photo grains and grit, which gives it a low quality, low-fi kind of feel, which I actually quite like but some people may want the photo to be clear of grain and grit.

Out of the 3 photos I took, I felt this one was the most successful and the most aesthetically pleasing. On this I used the zoom movement technique, which gives and moving feeling. I chose this photo because I liked how the zoom is just focusing on one person and then the sides of the photo are moving into the middle into the focal point. The exposure on this is a bit higher than usual, the photo is a bit lighter but I think this adds to the zoom of the photo, letting the white blend all the colours into it, making the photo look more effective. The shutter speed on this photo has been opened for around 1 to 2 seconds, giving me time to move the zoom on the lens , to make it look as effective as possible. The ISO on this is I accidently had it low, but this meant that there would be no chance of the photo being grainy, which I think would have ruined it.

MovementExplain the experiments you did and your findings.With this experimentation, I focused on movement in my photos. I went around college and went two ways about this experiment with two different techniques. The first technique I used was the zoom, this is where I set the shutter speed for a long period, about 2 seconds, then when the shutter was open I twisted the zoom on the lens, this gave a zoom effect, going down the sides and focusing on the middle of the photo, I found this was effective and looked successful, especially with the right subject matter it could look even better. I think colours could make these photos more successful, because this would increase the abstractness of the photo. The subject matter of my photos didn’t vary a lot because I found it difficult to find a specific focal point. I found out during my shoot that I would need to lower the ISO so the slower shutter speed wouldn’t make the exposure on the photos too high. I found out I could take these successfully on a tri-pod or without. The other technique I used was where I kept the camera still and captured the movement around me. I used a tri-pod and tried to capture things moving, usually people walk around the college. For this I also had to have a low ISO, because of the long shutter speed, which I set at at 1 second. I found out that I needed to use a tri-pod because the long shutter speed allows for camera shake, which will ruin the photo.

Talk about the results you got.In my results I found that the images I got were successful but, but limited and repetitive, I think that the zoom movement is quite boring and I feel it has no scope or potential to be improved. But the outside movement technique I think has a lot more potential, but I couldn’t show this as my photos were not as successful as they could have been, for example the last photo on this slide is one of the best movement photos I could take, because of the situation I was in the subject matter couldn’t be good, but I feel the photo shows I got the camera settings right with the shutter speed and exposure which I am happy about.

ReflectionsExplain the experiments you did and your findings.With this experiment, I experimented with reflections, and how a reflection can make the compositions and subject matter more interesting, adding a different dimension to the photo. I went around the college and looked for reflections, at first I found it quite difficult as I couldn’t find any obvious reflections in any objects that were around college, but the more I looked the more I found the more subtle reflections, first I found these outside on cars and in windows where the light was strong enough to show an obvious reflection of contrast of trees on the sky. I then ventured back inside and went looking for more reflections I might have missed and the more I looked, the more reflections I found, some in signs, in windows, on floors, on handrails and places that I wouldn’t usually notice. I had to mess around and experiment with the camera settings, making sure there was enough light for the subject matter was shown well in the photo, but making sure there wasn’t too much exposure that the reflection wouldn’t show up and there wasn’t enough contrast. I also experimented with the depth of field on photos, you can see this on the first image. I had to have a medium exposure so that the light wasn’t too much, but so that I could get a decent depth of field.

Talk about the results you got.With reflections I found that is was difficult to actually get a successful picture that looked aesthetically pleasing. I found that the subject matter that the reflections had to offer were not very interesting, and to get a good contrasted reflection, the composition of the photo was awful and I don’t think they’re very good pictures. The only thing I really like abut the photos is the depth of field on the top photo. I found that the final image I got an few reoccurring things happening in each photo with the reflections, I found that each reflection was abstract in their own right, how could could tell what they were, but you couldn’t be sure, and because the reflection is usually in a frame, it cuts of most off the reflection, cropping the outside of the photo, making it slightly abstract.

The subject matter of this photo is of three people being shown in the reflection of a sign that is on the wall in college, the shininess of it means there is a good and clear reflection on it, it is not abstract, because you can tell exactly what is in the photo. The colours in these photo are fairly dull because of the lighting, but editing would improve this. The composition of this photo is fairly interesting, there are a few lines that give the photo movement, that lead your eye around the photo, but there is also a clear focal point where your eye is attract to straight away, which is the people in the reflection. The depth of field in this photo is a very noticeable aspect of the photo, as you can see the back wall in the reflection is in sharp focus, where the sign in the foreground is out of focus, I think this works very effectively because this takes your attention away from the writing on the sign and draws attention to the reflection, which is the most important thing.

JoinersExplain the experiments you did and your findings. The experiment on this shoot was to take pictures, so I could re-create the technique that David Hockney mastered. The experiment was to create a picture of a scene, from pictures. So I would find a subject matter, zoom in on my lens, then start picking out sections of the subject matter, and photographing them in into smaller sections. Then these photos are pieced together like a puzzle, so that they make the whole subject matter you wanted to capture in the first place. The piecing of joiners can be done two ways, either digitally on photoshop, like I did, or to print off all of the photos and place them all together. For this experiment the exposure didn’t actually matter, when placed in different places the exposure changed, so when the pictures were pieced together, the photo looks patchy, but this adds the effect of the puzzle look. In my montages all of the photos were in focus, but I think it would be interesting to see what the final image looked like if some of the photos were not actually in focus on purpose. I did experiment with my subject matter, on two of the joiners shown here, the top and bottom ones, they actually had corners, but when I have taken the photos then added them altogether, the subject matter in the photos look flat, almost like a panorama.

Talk about the results you got.As the experiment went on and I started to piece together the smaller images to create the larger joiner, I found that they actually look very successful. I like the effect the joiner gives to subject matters with corners, how it makes it look like a flat, panorama scene, taking away the 3D from the subject matter makes the photo look interesting. I kept the exposure on automatic, so it would change from each perspective I took the photo from, I think this is especially noticeable and effective on the bottom joiner. This is my favourite because of all of the photos that have been layered, getting lots of different shades of the sky, and photos that are repeating.

The subject matter of this photo is of the car park at college, this photo is taken in the photomontage style of a joiner. The photo is made from lots of little photos which are pictures of each different section of the scene, it is then constructed, this one has been constructed digitally by photoshop. There is no main focal point, because of all the different sections, there is so much movement it would be difficult to decide on where the eye falls first. The perspective of this photo is different because even thought the photo makes out like the scene is a flat panorama, this in fact is taken around a corner. The joiner makes the photo fall flat, which I think gives an interesting effect. The exposure in this photo all depends on how the light was at the time of taking the photo, because I kept the camera on auto, so it would change. You can see how some parts are lighter than others. I think this makes the photo look really effective, and gives it a puzzle/mis-match feel, adding to the repeated pictures/squares. I feel like this is a successful joiner.