LP Task 2- Record covers

1960's :

Francoise Hardy 

 I chose the top image as inspiration because I fell in love with the light hitting the side of Françoise Hardy's body. It makes her look angelic and sweet. However, because the task given was to take inspiration from the image and not to re-create it, I decided to focus on the light. Of course, to have the same effect of the cover, I'd pretty much have to copy the image but change the background however, I didn't want to do that as I wanted my image to really contrast. So, sticking with the lighting, I decided to capture the light of the candles. The cover is light and has a background however, my image is dark with the main and only focus on the candles. I also changed the genre of my cover. Françoise Hardy is known for her soft indie voice so I decided to make this cover gospel. Again, linking in with the candles as they were in a cathedral. 

1970's :

Sex Pistols

I decided to chose sex pistols as they're British. This cover in particular because of the amount of British there is in it. Not only the very obvious Union Jack but the Queen and 'God save the queen.' Obviously this caused some attention on the band as they were basically mocking the queen for where the typography is placed however, it created an opportunity for me. Of course, The Big Ben is located in the capital, London and I wasn't prepared to pay the costs of travelling down for one one picture so, I used Town Hall instead as it has a similar resemblance. Instead of just using the Town Hall, I added a model in as the sex pistols were in the majority of other covers, so by incorporating both, it represents them better.

1980's :

Aretha Franklin

When we was given this brief, I knew that I wanted to do just a plain portrait image in black and white. I like the combination of black and white with natural light as it gives a very angelic look. So, when researching covers I came across 'Aritha Franklin The Greatest Hits' I knew I could take inspiration from this image and I could create what I wanted. The main thing I took from this image was the black and white tonal colours, even though the image is in colour, there was no other colour besides in the background and writing. The other factor I chose to use was the hair. I asked my model to come with curly hair as it ties in with the 80's perfectly.

Contact prints;

Landscape / Half Term Task

Two rural images;

My main focus for these images were simplicity. I didn't want my rural images to have too much detail as I wanted to capture the difference between the quit countryside and the busy city. Although I personally think I achieved this in this particular image, there is still enough detail to attract a viewer. The main and only source light was the sun, located  slightly to the right. With the combination of the cloud and fog covering the sun, it created a soft shadow of the trees on the grass. Another factor of this image that I enjoy is the light clouds, as they look fluffy and again, not to harsh. Tying in with the simplicity aspect. Going into another smaller detail of the image is the people. Although I did want the image to look calm, I didn't want it to look empty. Everything ties in with everything else and overall I like this image. However, the one thing I wish I could change but can't due to hills, is the quality. As I didn't want to shoot this image as a low angle image, I had to place myself on an even hill. Because of this, I had to zoom in and then crop with causes the image to be slightly more pixelated.

As the first rural image was mainly just flat, I wanted my other to have more depth. To do this, I went to the widest part of the lake and shot down through the lake. By doing this, I captured the varied sized trees but also the different sized birds. The larger ones being closer to the lens and the smaller ones being in the background. Again, I didn't want the image to look too full which is why I decided to shoot down lake as it got the bare water as well as the birds. The flying bird in the top right hand side was completely accidental however, I really liked the extra detail in the sky. As well as the first image, the main and only light source was the sun however, the image overall is a lot darker than the last as it was completely hod by fog and cloud. 

Two City Images;

With this shot, I wanted the clock to be in the shot but I also wanted the full body of my model in. Because I wanted both in, I needed to get low to the ground, creating a low angle shot. Like the last two, the main light source is the sun, but was hidden in the cloud. The day I shot this image was rainy and cold which is why the floor is puddled and the reflections appear however, it wasn't till I came back and looked over my images properly, did I realise how well the reflections looked. I wish I would've shot some more images focusing on the reflections as I think it would've given a really nice effect and I more than likely would've used one as my final prints. Besides this, I like really like this image.  

My main aim for this image was to get the people moving enough to see the effect without it looking blurred but not so much so you can't see them. The first few times of shooting this image the shutter speed was too long, causing the people to completely disappear. It took a while for me to get the shutter speed right with the aperture as I wanted it dark so 'The Broadway' stood out. I like this effect because it looks 'alive' and busy. Personally, I think it represents a typical city well. 

One Night Image;

At first, I had my shutter speed on 1/125 and my apature round about f/8 however, on live preview to warm of the oranges in the Windows complimented well with the fountain without taking the attention away from it. With this in mind, I changed my shutter speed to 2 seconds to get the movement of the water in. I also liked the reflection of the lights in the water. Also, I liked how you can still see the light breaking through the clouds at the top of the picture. It gives a bit of natural light without spoiling the darkness and the silhouette of the buildings. 

Contact Prints;

Tast 1: research

1960's : Garry Winogrand

Garry Winogrand was born on January 14th 1928, in New York, United States. Both of Winogrand's parents emigrated from Budapest and Warsaw to a mainly Jewish area of the Bronx at the time, in which he grew up with his sister. His Father worked as a leather worker and his mother made neckties for piecemeal work.

In 1946, Winogrand graduated The New School and went on to join the US Army Air force. When he returned to the US, he studied painting and photography at Colombia Unversity.

Winogrand supported himself financially by working as a freelance photojournalist during the 1950's and 1960's in Manhattan for The Pix Photo Agency. In 1955, two images appeared in The Family Man exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art.

 Winogrand went onto win The Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, three times. In 1964, 1969 and again in 1979. He also won The Fellowship from the National Endowment for The Arts in 1975.

Carrying on with his success, he published numerous book including a biography and 'Woman are beautiful.' Garry Winogrand then died on March 19th 1984, in Tijuana, Mexico.

1970's : Robert Mapplethope

Robert Mapplethorpe was born in 1946 in Floral Park. Queens. In 1963, he enrolled at Pratt Institute in which he studied drawing, painting and sculpture. influenced by artists such as Joseph Cornell, he experiment with mixed-media. He invested in a polaroid camera in 1970 and began photographing his own images.

Although Robert Mapplethorpe found joy in taking polaroid's, non actually made them into his mixed-media. However, in 1973, The Light Gallery in New York City mounted these images in which was Mapplethorpe's first solo exhibition called 'polaroids'.  1975 was the year that Mapplethorpe invested in a Hasselblad medium-format camera and began to shoot photographs of his friends and family and some pornographic films stars.

In the late 1970's, Mapplethorpe became more interested in the S&M scene and began to photograph the scene in New York. He shot images of men and woman nude including homosexual interaction, which pushed the boundaries of photography in the 1970's.

In 1986, Mapplethorpe was diagnosed with AIDS however, despite his illness, he continued with creating creative images which led The Whitney Museum of American Art mounting his first major American museum exhibition just one year before his death in 1989.

1980's : Guy Bourdin

Guy Bourdin was born 2 December 1928 in Paris, France. When he was still a baby, he was sent to live with his grandparents as his parents separated from each other. However, when his father re-married, he was again, living with his father and new wife. 

Like Garry Winogrand, Guy Bourdin was first introduced to photography whilst serving in the Air Force as an areal photographer. When he returned home to Paris he continued drawing and painting however supported himself with jobs, such as a salesman of camera lenses. He also exhibited some of his drawings. He also tried to seek a mentor ship with Man Ray but was turned down six times by his wife however, on the seventh try, Man Ray agreed who later wrote the catalogue for Guy's first exhibition in 1952. 

Guy Bourdin's first photography exhibition was in 1953 but, his first published fashion photography shots were published in 1955 issue of Vogue Paris. After this, Guy worked with Vogue and helped them create what is known as 'contemporary photography.'

Guy Bourdin turned down The Grand Prix National de la Photographie award however, his name is still on the list of winners.

Although Guy Bourdin did work before the 80's, it wasn't until the 80's that the media showed a real interest in himself and his work. Also, throughout the 80's, people where admiring his work and trying to almost recreate and take inspiration from his photography. 

Guy Bourdin died on March 29th, 1991 in Paris, France.

Task 1:moodboards

Final evaluation

For the first task, we had to research historical and contemporary food photographers. I enjoyed the researching of contemporary photographers as a lot more variety was there. This including the way the food was presented, how it was shot and the various foods. However, when researching historical photographers, I couldn't find a lot, if not one. So, I had to research artists instead, which I had a lot more luck with. But, I realised quickly that historical food artists focus more on the fruit and vegetables and there isn't much varied food. Understandably, after a while of researching and looking at the same type of images, it got boring.

The second part of the task was primary research where we got to more hands on and actually experiment with the images we wanted to capture. This part I really enjoyed as it allowed me to be creative however, I wish the places I visited were a lot more thought out as I would've gotten better quality images. 

For the second task, we had to bring biscuits in and photograph them with/without props. I decided to bring party rings in as they were colourful and pretty to look at. Intentionally, I just brought a white plate on as I thought that they would stand out however, when we got into the kitchen studio, I found a side plate with different compartments in with a small wooden chopping plate. I decided to use this instead because then I would be able to photography the biscuits standing up.

Using natural light, we learned how to use a light reader. We then moved into the studio. That was the first time going into the studio song really enjoyed played with different techniques and angles. I also really liked the professionalism of it. 

The third task was a task that had to be shot at home. I had vision of what I hoped my images would look like and I was very excited to shoot them. However, when it came to shooting, I realised that the images I hopef I would get, I wouldn't. Because I was shooting at roughly 5pm and my kitchen is located at the back of my house, the sun was by this time at the front of my house. Although I did shoot close to the window, my images just weren't as well light as I intentionally hoped. Overall, I didn't enjoy shooting and I didn't enjoy my end images. 

Task four was a Wednesday which again, had to be done at home however, it was a planning task. I've always disliked planning but because I actually wanted a good end result I tried and I actually really liked the feeling of knowing what I was going to shoot and where I was going to shoot. It motivated me to get everything done and edited. 

Task 5 was the photo shoot that we planned for. This by far was my favourite task out of all of them. It allowed us to choose what food we wanted to shoot, what proper we wanted, and we had a lot of freedom and let us be as creative as we want. I loved styling the foods and just the hands on feel to it. So much so, I decided to do two shoots of the complete opposite. 

The next task was a Wednesday task again so that meant doing it in our spare time. The task was to photograph posters advertising food. This task was pretty easy and was done within a few hours. There wasn't much else to the task besides a detailed analysis of each poster. 

Finally, the last task was to create a poster of your own choice. I choose to stick with my Halloween themed for one of the posters. I liked experimenting with the different use of images. I also liked the designing element to it. Again, so much I decided to make three. All contrasting with one an other so I had a varied selection of posters.

Overall, I really enjoyed this Unit. I loved working with other people and working with others opinions and ideas. I particularly enjoyed the practical side of shooting, especially experimenting with the studio lighting (artificial) and natural.

My favourite task was definitely the indipendant task where we got to choose a food to photograph. The freedom of that task really let me be as create as I wanted to be and I really enjoyed organising and setting up with the food and equipment.

The task I liked the least was probably the task where we had to go out and take pictures of the 6 posters. It didn't allow me to be creative however, I understand that it had to be done.

One thing I've learnt is how to use a light reader and I know I'll be using this piece of equipment again in the future.

Poster Power

To start off, I opened Photoshop. I then created a new paper by hovering over 'file' then clicking new. I set the preset to international paper and the size to A3. I then opened the image that I wanted the poster to be based on. I did this by again, hovering over 'file', selecting 'open' and then choosing the folder the image is in and then double clicking the image. 

Of course, because the first poster is Halloween themed, I wanted to add extra Halloween themed things. I went onto Google images and selected the image I wanted. For example, the witch. I then saved it into my pictures and then opened it in Photoshop. I then clicked and dragged the image over onto my poster and adjusted the size by hovering over 'edit' and then selecting 'free transform.' To keep the image looking the same when shrinking the image, I held down shift. This stops any dis-figuration to the image. I then repeated the same steps with the bats and the spider. 

To create my logo I simply added text and chose my font. To create the little cupcake, again, I went into Google images and searched for cupcakes outline. I then repeated the steps to add it to my poster. I then chose the knife tool to delete the white outline. To add a little more to the text, I lined the spiderweb of the spider to the 'R' in bakery. 

I did the same for all of my posters however, the last two have different themes. 

The second poster I chose to use my image of my model because it has the friendly appearance of customers. Also, because her face looks angelic, emphasised by the soft lighting, it is really welcoming to customers. 

Of course, I wanted to keep the soft feeling throughout the poster so I decided to use baby pink as a pop of colour. Obviously, I didn't want the colour to be too bright as it would've taken away from the main focus which was my product being modelled. 

I loved the outcome of the second poster so I decided to do something similar however, all in colour. I wanted to carry on with the light airy feel to my posters so I chose a close up of a pink cupcake with a white background. By having no noise in the background, the focus is strictly on the product.

 As the cupcake case was red, I wanted to choose a similar colour that complimented the red without contrasting with it. If I chose a contrasting colour, it would make them harsh and that was something I wanted to avoid so, because of that I chose a light grey. 

Social media is probably one of the main factors for advertising so for each poster, I added a social media tag so 'Buttons Bakery' can be easily found.

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Wednesdays task- October 7th

Contact Prints;

6 Posters; (primary)

I liked this poster mainly because of the typography. The bold simple text is eye catching in itself but the bright red against the white draws your eye even more. The bun of the burger looks fluffy and smooth which is attractive to the eye therefore looks appetising. Also, the brightness of the yellow pulls everything together. It also has the classic mcdonalds logo in the top left hand corner which everyone knows so they know where it is sold. 

The familiar face of Kimberley Walsh gets the attention initionally, hence why she is the main focus in this poster. However, it's still advertising the product of 'slimfast.' The words 'slim' and 'fast' appeal to woman and men which is the second reason why it's eye catching. However, I don't like the fact the main focus is of the celebrity, rather than the product it self. Using celebrities is a good selling point bun for me, the more important thing is the product. 

The muted colours of the light wood and the White is complimented well the the specks of bright blue and red. Both in the main label of 'greggs' and the price. Although the attention is drawn to the bright colours due to the rest of the colours being natural, the main focus is still the product. The main selling point of this poster is how cheap it is as the rice is so much bigger than the rest of the text and its in a red box which is the only red on the poster. Overall, I enjoy this poster. 

This Costa poster dos have the logo in however, it was awkwardly placed within the wool frame so I decided not to include it in the image. Overall, this image is advertising that Costa wants its customers to be as happy as possible. Although the text is upfront and the first you look at, the golden tones of the coffee looks outstanding against the black. Especially with the art. Also, it's showing the customers that the coffee is freshly made in front of them with is appealing. 

The neutral colours throw out this poster makes nothing really stand out as much as the other parts. Although the freshly baked everyday is a little lighter, the packeted butter is brighter so it takes the focus away from the corner. The bread looks as though it's fresh, especially as it's placed in what looks like a kitchen instead of a studio. It gives a homely feed to the image which is appealing. 

Although this one isn't of a poster as such, it's still advertising food. I chose to write about this one because it's obviously welcoming but it's obvious that it's a food store as the food is placed within the wording. The words stand out because of the blue against the brown which are contrasting colours, but also the food is white, therefore standing out against the blue. 

(secondary)