Evaluation

Most of my photographs are bleak and dark and could be seen as horror pictures. They would be at home as an advert for a film being displayed in a backstreet bus stop.

Furthermore, i also believe it relates to class, especially the one of the large tower, as it connotes poverty among the working class and single women. The other pictures also show a bleak rural suburbian town immensely overshadowed.

The pictures will appeal to people who choose to read deeper into the meanings of such images and those that are miserable enough to purchase such bleak images.joking aside however, i believe the pictures provide a poignant story of modern life today in Britain and how depressing it can really be, not just for the poor or the single parent, but for the wider population.

I believe my images could also tell the story of how the rural landscape is slowly transforming into a mechanical beast, which is why a picture of a ghastly grey building is included. Also the inclusion of an aeroplane in a reasonably natural looking area further shows the push towards an age of machines and general greyness.

plane building pic

This picture is further evidence of landscapial destruction. There is a bleak look to the image and there is feeling the plane could crash at any time.

I have continued the eerie look of Harlow by creating a black and white effect, yet the plan is still in colour to make it stand out from the rest of the image.

Terror in Harlow

Photos

Above is a superb example of how different writing can give the same picture different meanings.

The one on the left side is a scary picture, giving an ominous feel to it with the harsh black and white look. ‘Terror in Harlow’ is also a headline which connotes an eerie feel.

On the other hand, when the headline ‘Harlow-The war of single parenting’ gives a total change of meaning for the photo with just a simple change of words. It now suggests its a place where single parents live rather than being an evil building. This conforms to the stereotype that all single mums live in high rise tower blocks.

Furthermore, changing the opacity gives a different feeling to the photo as well, brightening the sky making the building look less conspicuous. With the text still saying ‘terror in harlow’ it gives the impression that the building itself is the focus of terror rather than all the surrounding area.

The place these images could be found could be a movie poster on a bus stop, or perhaps on the front of a book. The book/film in question would be a scary film and would need to create an eerie feeling of intrigue to make sure people actually want to see it.

Digital cameras: the technical aspect

An aperture is a hole which light travels through and is used to control the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor.

Typically a fast shutter speed will require a larger aperture while a slow shutter speed will require a smaller aperture to avoid excessive exposure.

A device called a diaphragm usually serves as the aperture stop, controlling the aperture. Its main job is to control the effective diameter of the lens opening. Reducing the aperture size increases the depth of field and vice-versa which describes the extent to which subject matter lying closer than or farther from the actual plane of focus appears to be in focus.

A technical aspect strongly linked with aperture is shutter speed. The term shutter speed refers to the time a shutter is open. The amount of time of this exposure is critical to taking a good picture and having the right aperture with the correct shutter speed is equally important.

Following the adoption of a standardized way of representing aperture so that each major step exactly doubled or halved the amount of light entering the camera (f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, etc.), a standardized 2:1 scale was adopted for shutter speed so that opening one aperture stop and reducing the shutter speed by one step resulted in the identical exposure. The agreed standards for shutter speeds are:

• 1/1000 s
• 1/500 s
• 1/250 s
• 1/125 s
• 1/60 s
• 1/30 s
• 1/15 s
• 1/8 s
• 1/4 s
• 1/2 s
• 1 s

Focus Point

n geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge. Although the focus is conceptually a point, physically the focus has a spatial extent, called the blur circle. This non-ideal focusing may be caused by aberrations of the imaging optics. In the absence of significant aberrations, the smallest possible blur circle is the Airy disc, which is caused by diffraction from the optical system’s aperture. Aberrations tend to get worse as the aperture diameter increases, while the Airy circle is smallest for large apertures.

For a lens, or a spherical or parabolic mirror, it is a point onto which collimated light parallel to the axis is focused. Since light can pass through a lens in either direction, a lens has two focal points—one on each side. The distance in air from the lens or mirror’s principal plane to the focus is called the focal length.

Focal Length

The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly it converges (focuses) or diverges (defocuses) light.

In telescopy and most photography, longer focal length or lower optical power is associated with larger magnification of distant objects, and a narrower angle of view. Conversely, shorter focal length or higher optical power is associated with a wider angle of view.

ISO

ISO (I.S.O.) is the abbreviation for the International organisation for standardisation, a governing body based in Europe that provides the standards for a wide variety of subjects. For photographers the key standard is Film Speed ratings.

Digital Manipulation

Digital manipulation involves editing photos using tools such as photoshop to improve and change images for the better and give them a better effect.

It can be used to create an illusion or deception to create a new effect on the picture, possibly changing the original use or meaning of the image.

Difference between film and digital

There are many differences between film and digital photography. To most amateur photographers they do not matter much. They prefer the convenience, ease of use and lower cost of digital cameras and are not going to revert to the film age. However understanding the differences can help taking even better photos and can also help when debating with friends about the future of film.

The most obvious difference between film and digital is the sensor used to take the photo. With film cameras a film sensitive to light is placed behind the lens. When a photo is taken the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film. The result is a photo “printed” on the film. To take a new photo the film has to be rolled and a fresh “clean” film is place behind the lens. With digital cameras a fixed electronic sensor (sometimes known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The sensor is built from tiny light sensitive sensors each representing a pixel. When the shutter opens light hits the sensor and each pixel gets its “value”. Put together all the pixels comprise one photo. To take a new photo the photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.

These 2 images show the difference between how a digital photo is taken and also how a film operates.

Katy Perry-music photography

For my second picture for music photography i have chosen a picture of the lovely Katy Perry, again performing at this summers V festival. Her performance on the day was poor, however her ability to look amazing in front of the cameras  remains undoubtedly impressive.

The picture in my opinion is an excellent one, really establishing the surroundings around Katy Perry. The picture is set up not focusing completely on Perry as most photographs do. She rather adds to the photo rather than actually being the main focus of it, an unusual style to use when picturing major stars.

Again the contrast of colours, the black of Katy Perry’s outfit agains the pink backdrop again emphasises well and creates an excellent effect. The distance of the camera is perfect at achieving its goals of displaying the detail of the person and also the backdrop.

Katy Perry live at V festival

The Enemy-music photography

For my second topic i have decided to focus on music photography as again this is one of my passions.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00873/enemy380_873331a.jpg

The picture i have chosen to display my affections for this type of photography is of ‘The Enemy’ frontman Tom Clarke. I decided to opt for this picture for many reasons as the enemy are my favourite band, but mostly because i saw them at this years V festival which is where this picture is from.

The picture is a mid range shot of Tom Clarke showing pure emotion in his face as he delivers his much loved music to the masses. The smoke around creates the effect that he is actually rising up from the depths of it, thus really bringing the photo to life.

I think the photo shows tom clarke in an alpha male-like pose, invoking emotion and passion, much like the enemy themselves did at v festival for thousands of drunken fans, myself included.

The colours in the photo are mostly dark, while the guitar is white, thus emphasising it. I doubt this is done purposely, but it creates a good effect showing that a rock star is nothing without their instrument.

Tom Clarke of the enemy, performing live at v fest

formula 1 crash photo

http://blog.autoworld.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/f1-crash-sauber.jpg

The above picture showsa shocking crash involving a formula 1 car. It is a mid range shot of the whole car detailing how smashed up it has become.

The various debris and smoke add to the effect of immense disaster and also the tyres rolling off add to the disbelief of the accident. You can almost sense the fear and the uncertainty of the upcoming events.

Will the oncoming cars also crash?