Final Evaluation of Unit 2

For this unit I have looked at the relationship between gravity and objects/people. My intention was to try to be more creative, to try different techniques that I had found to relate to my theme. I think I have met my intention as I have used a range of techniques including; fast pace flour technique, fast and multiple exposure, I've also tried the effect of levitation of people. Through out these I have also tried to use my 3 artist as inspiration to help with my ideas for future shots and trying to incorporate their work ideas with mine to improve my work. I have also tried to show my influences through out the shoots that I was looking at their individuals pieces of work, I either tried to use a similar technique, or took an idea as inspiration from their photographs.
I found that my research has helped me when looking into further ideas for shoots, this especially helped me when I found a technique I wanted to use but didn't know how to, or when I was researching an artist on the technique they used.
I have tried to be more experimental with this unit, I did this by documenting more of the things I tried to do but maybe didnt' go as well as hoped, I also tried to be more creative in the shoots I did whether that was with the things I used, e.g. flour, or the technique used the try to improve the pictures. With this unit I found that I have used photoshop a bit more to improve the photos or to edit shots to make them look cleaner and clearer.
Over all I think this unit has worked well as I feel I have met my intentions of how the final edits and photos would look, I also think that I have been a lot more creative in my ideas and shoots.

1 of Final Pieces 

2nd Final Piece 

Final Piece Photos and Best Edits

After and Before, Best Edit 1

After and Before Best Edit 2

After and Before Best Edit 3

After and Before Best Edit 4

After and Before Best Edit 5

Before and After Best Edit 6

Final shoot Andy Goldsworthy Evaluation

Shoot 5
Final shoot Contact sheet

Andy Goldsworthy 'Dust'
2003

For my final shoot I have looked at the photographer Andy Goldworthy. For the final piece I have looked at goldworthys photograph 'Dust', and tried to incorporate the idea into the technique I used in my initial shots and first shoot, fast pace flour movement. The idea I took from Goldsworthys photo is to use natural substances from the environment around you, for instance sand if on a beach. I decided to do my shoot in the forest as there were less people and I was able to find more natural things to use as the substitute for the powder.
For the shoots I used flower petals, grass and leaves found around the forest, however the leaves and the flower petals are the only parts that are noticeable as the grass was to fine and small. I chose to use the fast pace flour technique again as it linked well to my theme of relationship with gravity.
For my shoot I used a Nikon D300 camera and a 15mm lens. For the lighting I used 3 lights, one either side of the model out of shot, and one behind her this helped highlight her and the objects in the air making them more visible. When I first set up the lights and took the tester shots the photos were coming out too bright, to improve this I increased the exposure to darken the background, I also increased the shutter speed to make sure that I would be able to capture the flower petals and leaves whilst  moving.
At first we tried to do the same actions as from the initial shots of the arms swooping down, however the petals and leaves were too light and the wind kept blowing them away, there were also too big to have too many on her arms at once. This meant we had to stick with the idea of getting the model to hold the flowers and throwing them up in the air to stop them blowing away before I was able to take the photo. Once we had a few shots of the model throwing the petals into the air and capturing them as they fell we tried to pose the model differently, we tried side on. From this we were just getting similar photos to having the model face on. So we then tried having the model twirling round in a circle then throwing the petrels in the air as she went, this did work well however most of the shots have her hands in front of her face as she threw them. I then thought about moving me to see if this would make a difference and improve the photos, I lied on the grass in front of the model with the camera pointing upwards so I could capture as the petals fell down towards me, this worked really well as it gave the photos a different perspective, this makes the photo look more interesting and as it shows in the best edit the blue of the sky really helps highlight the colours of the petals. I have used quite a large depth of field as the F number was quite high to balance out with the exposure I used, this has made the background more in focus and clearer as well as the model in the foreground.

Before editing 

I think this shoot worked well as I was able to get the finished shots I was aiming for and achieve the technique well, I also think the finished shots relate well to Goldworthys photo due to the natural environment and similar technique.
For my best edit I used photoshop to increase the brightness slightly, I also used the select colours this helped brighten certain colours too help them stand out against the background, I used this on the pink of the petals. I chose this as the best edit as I think it was the one I was most happy with after I had finished editing as it helped lighten and highlight certain points especially the pink petals against the blue sky. Also the composition and the perspective of the viewpoint I found interesting.

Best Edit after Editing 

Planning for Final Shoot

I have looked at the photographer and sculptor Andy Goldsworthy and his photograph 'Dust'. For my final shoot I wanted to go back to the technique of fast pace flour movement, but this time I'm going to variate it slightly by incorporating the idea from Goldswrothys piece by using natural substances to the environment.
First I tried to think of different locations to do the shoot where I could use the natural substances from that environment, I thought about; the beach, using the sand as a substitute for the powder, or the forest and using flower petals and, grass and leaves. From this I decided to use the forest as it would be easier to find an area where nobody would be, but also it would be less windy, which could effect the movement of the objects. For the natural objects I have decided to use flower petals, leaves from around the forest and grass. I did think about using dry soil and mud crumbled up as this would create a powder, however this would get very messy and dirty, it would also be a harder substance for the camera to pick up against the back ground as against the dark greens of the trees its harder to see.
I have also tried to come with some movements for the model to do to create the pattern as the objects are in the air, I have come up with; trying to get the model to twirl with the objects in her hand and she slowly lets them go as she goes around, or throwing them up in the air and capturing the shot as they fall down. I could also do similar to the first shoot of the arms swooping down.

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Golsdworthy
Dust
2003

The third artist I am looking at is the english photographer and sculptor, Andy Goldsworthy. Goldworthy is well known for his sculptures he makes out of natural objects to the environment he lives in, in Scotland, his work is mainly done in fields and forests, land art. Goldsworthy is a modern environmentalist, this is why his work is all based around natural products of the environments.
 From my previous shoots using the different techniques, I have found that I liked to work with the fast pace flour movement. I choose this as I found it linked well with my theme of relationship with gravity, and when doing the shoot it worked well and I enjoyed it.
This is why I have started to look at Goldsworthy as he has done photos using a similar technique with powder. For his shots he has used the natural powders from the environment he is in, for instance in the photo 'Dust' on the left, he was in a forest when he found a stream which had red/orange coloured rock . After finding this substance he ground it up to make the powder, he then threw it up in the air and capturing this shot as its being carried away by the wind. As the photo is set in the forest it makes me feel calm, peaceful, especially the colours of the trees and the meadow he is standing in. However the red/orange of the powder adds some sort of danger, like its not supposed to be there. I chose to look at this photo it linked well to what I did in my first shoot, using the wind/ movement to create patterns with the powder. I also particularly like the colours in this photos as it has the natural colours of the forest in the background, greens and light yellows, adding the red of the powdered rock creates a colour scheme of nature, red, green and yellow.
This is why for my final shoot I have decided to use a similar idea to Goldswrthys work by using substances/things natural to the environment I will be in.

Shoot 4 Levitation David Nemcsik Evaluation

Contact sheet 

For this shoot I looked at the photographer David Nemcsik, I looked at Nemcsik as my theme is the relationship of gravity so I have now moved onto looking at the relationship with gravity and people.

Untitled
David Nemcsik
2012

Nemcsik took pictures of people in I kind of dream environment so this is why I used fairy wings to use the idea of dreams, however I was mainly looking to be able to do a shoot using the technique of levitation. To do the shoot I used two lights at either side of the of the room just intron of the black screen, this meant the models were highlighted clearly. I also used a Nikon D300 camera and a 15mm lens. At first I just got one model to jump in different stances to test how the shoot will work out, once I found that worked I then wanted to make it look less like they were jumping and more like their were flying this is another reason why I added the wings as a prop. The depth of field I this shoot is large as shown in the contact sheet the camera focused on the model in the foreground and further away in the background.
I think the shoot worked well as I did achieve how I would have liked it to have gone, however I don't think I will use this technique in future shoots as I would like to mainly focus the gravitational relationship with objects. For the final edit I used photoshop, I used the painting tool to cover the edges with out having to crop parts of the picture of as you could still see the edges of the black background.

Best edit

David Nemcsik

Untitled
David Nemcisk
2012

Nemcsik is my second artist I am looking at, as I am looking at gravity I looked for an artist that has used levitation in their work. Nemscik has done a project called 'The levitation project', the project was done for a university exam, in this he would ask his friends "Where were you in your last dream?", with this he would take the setting for their dream and use it as the back ground for the photo. He would then have to find the surrounding that were the closest to the dreams, the aim of the pictures is to create a dream like perspective. Through research I wasn't able to find out how he did these particular shots but I did think about using photoshop, taking a picture of someone lying down, and a picture of chosen background then photo shopping the sleeping person onto it. Or having some lying on a table or something in the location then later photos shopping the table out of the picture.
This is what the photographer himself said about his collection;

“I’d like to show that people can levitate. It’s magical and mysterious. They are levitating in a lying position just as if you’d be if you were lying in your bed while you were sleeping.” 

The photo I looked at in particular was the photo shown above, the main reason I choose to look at this photo was because of the relation to gravity and levitation of people. An idea I had at the begging when coming up with initial ideas was to play around with levitation and people jumping in the air to capture the relationship with people and gravity.  This Nemcisk photo is based on the location of peoples dreams, I would like to take this idea of dreams and people mid air into a future shoot. The photo I have looked at for inspiration, above, does make me think of sleeping, dreaming, in a state of imagination, freedom.

Shoot 3 Fast Exposure Evaluation

For this shoot I have used fast exposure on water falling of an umbrella. As in previous shoots I used multiple exposure, I came up with another variation to capture rain falling and flowing down an umbrella.
For the lighting, I placed a light underneath the umbrella covered by a plastic bag so it wouldn't get wet. The umbrella was being held up by a black stand, for the water falling I had someone pour water out of a watering can from  hight so they wouldn't be shown in the photos but to also to replicate rain. In this shoot I wanted to capture the relationship of gravity and water as it falls onto an object.
The photo below is an example of fast exposure that I have found on Flikr.

'Biking in the rain' Fast exposure
Found on Flickr
By Araleya

I think tho shoot worked well as I was able to achieve the technique and finished edit I was hoping for. I also like the way the camera was able to capture the water falling in great detail due to the light below helping to highlight the water, this was also helped by the white umbrella on the black background. To create the dark back ground I had to increase the exposure and shutter speed so the camera would be able to capture as the rain fell of the umbrella. The depth of field is quite sharp as there was nothing else in the background for the camera to focus on as it is dark due to the exposure.

If I were to redo this shoot, I could use different objects to pour the water onto, even just pour straight onto the floor to capture the different patterns created by the water when splashing of different objects. This technique could be used in future shoots as it worked well and could be adapted if I were to incorporate it into another idea.
For the best edit, using photoshop I was able to use the painting tool to cover the stand holding the umbrella and the light seen below in the contact sheet photos.

Best edit 

Contact sheet

Shoot 2 Multiple Exposure Evaluation

For shoot number 2 I have used the technique multiple exposure. I chose to use this as it is able to show the stages of an object falling through the air, this relates well with my theme of relationship of gravity with objects. 

This shoot was done in a studio using a black background, as this helped highlight the object being dropped especially as I used a orange and yellow bouncy ball, making the bright colours stand out better compared to a white back ground. To be able to capture the pictures from my contact sheet below, I used a Nikon D3200 camera, for the lighting I used one soft box from the left hand side of the photo. This lighting also helped highlight the objects. For the shoot I tried to use a sharp depth of field so the camera would focus malignly on the ball that was closest to the lens as it bounced, however this did not work as well as I hoped it would as I did find it difficult to keep to focus as clear as possible.
The photo I have added below is an example of multiple exposure that I have found on Flikr.

'Swinging little zebra'  Multiple exposure
Found on flikr
By Alberto J

I think the shoot worked well as I was able to achieve the shoot I was aiming for using the technique. However it did take a while to get to this aim as it took many attempts to achieve the finished shots. This involved a lot of adjusting of the f number and shots per second. I also think that using the brightly coloured balls as the objects worked well as they were able to stand out and become more noticeable, in the last shots from the contact sheet I also used a yellow ball to see if I could get them both in shot however this did not work as well as the colour was not a noticeable, this could have been down to the lighting not being bright enough, or the focus not being as sharp as it could have been. Perhaps using a bigger object would improve the quality and make the object that bit more noticeable.

If I were to use this technique in future shoots I would use different objects, I thought about food. Using food would be interesting as you would be ale to capture the product falling, then as the food smashes on the floor with some pieces flying everywhere. When doing this I could also play around with the heights in which they are dropped to see if this effects the food as it drops to the ground.

The best edit I chose is used as out of the shoot it was the clearest, best quality and the closest to my intention.

Contact sheet 

Best edit

Shoot 1 Fast Pace Powder and Lissy Laricchia Evaluation

For this shoot I looked at the artist Lissy Laricchia and her photo 'Dust in the wind'. I choose to look at this photo as it uses the technique I have been looking at and experiment with called 'Fast pace flour movement'. As my theme is gravity I thought this photo above linked to it well, powder and gravity.

Contact sheet for shoot 1

Lissy Laricchia 'Dust in the wind'

I tried to recreate this technique used in Laricchias' photo, but using a different movement of model creating a new pattern of the powder in the air. For the shoot I used talcum powder as the powder, the camera was a Nikon D3200, the lighting I used was called 'mixed lighting levels' as this was able to highlight the models body well, but also helped camera pick up the detail of the powered in a good contorts to the back ground.
I think this shoot worked well as I was able to reach what I had hoped to photos would look like, and was able to use the technique successfully. I also thought the blue t-shirt worn by the model stood out well against the black of the back ground, and the white of the powder.
If I were to do this again or in future shoot i would use a different back ground/setting, for instance the beach, or the forest as this could add an interesting element to the photos. I could also change the substance used as the powder to see if this would effect the photo, or change the pattern when in the air. For this shoot I have used a small depth of field as I just wanted to have the model and the powder clear on the photo, I also did this by lowering the F number and increasing the exposure and shutter speed to darken the back ground and use a fast shutter speed so the camera was able to capture the flour in the air.

Best edit

I think in future shoot I would use this technique and artist as it links well to my theme of the relationship with gravity and objects, but also the outcome can be varied as to the movement of the model, and can be manipulated to be able to achieve what you aimed for.

Lissy Laricchia

Dust in the wind
Lissy Laricchia
Not dated

Lissy Laricchia is the first artist i am looking at. Laricchia is a Canadian photographer, in 2011 and 2012 she took part in the project called '365'. in this, the photographer had to take a picture everyday for a year the represented that day. at first try she did not complete the full 365 days, however when attempting again succeeded and finished.
after the project she then went travelling documenting her adventures using her camera and uses Facebook as a platform for her followers to view her work. Laricchia has had work published and appeared on CD and book covers, photography and fashion magazines.

I've learned to sleep with one eye open
Lissy Laricchia
Not dated

Laricchia work ranges in themes and ideas used, for example she did a series of photographs using eyes and placing them on different places on the human body, this collection was called ' I've learned to sleep with one eye open (Especially if you're near)', she used the series to express her feelings about trust issues and venerability in relation to herself. I think the photo is trying to reflect the feeling of being watched, I find the picture quite creepy and unsetteling having the eyes photoshopped onto the hands, its unusual. I also find it very creative in the way that as well as the picture, the name gives it a outline of a story or more information into the meaning of it and why she did it.  This collection was released on Facebook over a long amount of time.

Untitled
Lissy Laricchia
Not dated

The photo above 'Dust in the wind' is from her portfolio collection on her Facebook page, I chose it as it relates to my intention of using the flour technique. The photo makes me think of sleeping as if the model is dreaming, the white of the powder makes it feel pure. However through research I was unable to find out if the photo 'Dust in the wind' was part of a project she took part in, how she did it, or the meaning behind the photo. Also shown in her portfolio collection are some photographs using levitation, which also relates to my theme of gravity and I could use as inspiration in future shoots.

Initial shots - Fast Pace Flour Technique and Multiple Exposure

Using the techniques and artists I have found, I have done some initial shots to get some ideas for future shoots.
First I have done some initial shots using the fast pace flour technique. I chose to do these shots first as I wanted to test to see if it would be viable for future shoots, as I had never used a technique similar to this I wanted to test the difficulty.

Fast pace flour technique

For this shoot I used a Nikon D3200 camera with a test button connected to the top to control the flashes, the lighting used is called mixed light levels, this is where the model has two lights either side, opposite each other both at a 90 degree angle.

Multiple exposure 

This worked well as I was able to achieve the shots I was aiming for, I also found that this technique is achievable for future shoots.

Another technique I found that related to the theme of gravity, is multiple exposure. To be able to capture the shot above I used a Nikon D3200 camera, for the lighting I used one soft box from the left hand side of the photo. For the back ground I just used a plain black material. I used this technique as I found the idea of capturing the object as it gradually falls in stages very interesting, and relatable to my theme of gravity.
In future shoots I think I will use this technique, however using different objects. I though about using food as then the camera would be able to capture the falling staged, but then also as it hits the floor.

Unit 2 Relationships initial ideas

For unit 2 the theme is relationships.

Over a week I came up with some initial ideas that I put onto a spider diagram. After this I picked the three best ideas and made a further spider diagram looking into the three ideas in more detail. Finally I choose my best idea, then found three artists to use as inspiration.

The first spider diagram looks
at initial ideas for the theme of relationships.

The second spider diagram looks at the three ideas I chose to refine, and think about in more detail for the use of as my final idea.

For my final idea I have chosen the relationship of gravity with objects. I chose this as it was the idea that I found the most interresting and creative when thinking about future shoots that I could do, basing on the idea of gravity.

When looking at artists and techniques relating to my chosen idea, these are what I found;

Untitled 

Before hearing about our theme I had seen the technique of fast pass flour / powder photography, on seeing this I decided that this technique would be something that I would like to experiment further on, and use in future shoots. When we were told our theme for Unit 2, I did some research into the technique as it relates to my theme of the relationship with gravity and objects. I chose this technique to look at as it can be used in many different ways to create a range of formations with the powder, but also I think it relates well to my intention.

Untiltled
Lissy Laricchia

365 Year 2
Lissy Laricchia

Lissy Laricchia

An artist the I have found is called Lissy Laricchia. I looked at Larchchia because she uses gravity to add an interesting element to her photographs.
The photograph bellow is from her collection '365', a project she attempted referring to how many days there are in a year. I choose to look at this photo as she is sing the flour technique which I have also looked at.





David Nemcsik

When looking at other ways of showing gravity as a main element of a photograph, I came across levitation. This is when I found the photographer David Nemcsik, Nemcsik uses the peoples dream and recreates them, levitating the person as if asleep at the centre to create the dream like image.

The Levitation Project
David Nemcsik

The last artist I have looked at is the photographer Andy Goldsworthy I have looked at him as some of his work relates to the technique I would like to use, fast pace flour movement. Goldsworthy uses the natural substances around him in the environment in his pieces of work, for example in his photograph 'Dust' the powder he is using is ground up rock found by a stream inside a forest. I could use this idea in a future shoot and incorporate it into the technique of the fast pace movement.

Andy Goldsworthy 'Dust'