Research Log

Alexander Khokhlov

http://www.alexanderkhokhlov.com/categories/art-of-face

Alexander Khokhlov works with Veronica Ershova and are a photographing duo world renowned for it’s creative projects. Unconventional ideas and daring approach to common shootings are their calling card. They use makeup of the face of the subject to illustrate a specific theme, colour is very dominant.

Mario Testino

http://www.mariotestino.com

 Many aspects of Mario Testino's work heavily relate to the topic of colour. He mainly focusses on the human body and he is a very prestigious fashion photographer. He includes many vibrant and bright colours by adding specific make up and effects which make the photos stands out significantly.

Annie leibovitz

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/annie-leibovitz/photo-gallery/19/

Annie Leibovitz is a nationwide establish photographer renowned for her portrait work with famous people. Her work contains elements of elegance and class through the use of lighting, angle and different tones. Annie's work is usually quite simplistic but very effective. If I considered attempting to create my on portraits in the future I would make a further, in depth portfolio and analyse her work in order to give me something/someone to aspire to.

Steeve McCurry

http://stevemccurry.com/

The majority of Steven McCurry's photography revolves heavily around colour and ethnicity as most of his work has been taken in the Indian region through travelling, therefore focussing on the formal element of colour. Also most of his work is portraits, which I would like to experiment with in the future. Steve McCurry has been one of the most iconic voices in contemporary photography for more than thirty years, with scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name.

Robert Mapplethorpe

http://www.mapplethorpe.org/

Robert Maplethorpe's work focusses heavily on portraiture and his compositions are extremely effective, he always manages to fill the frame effectively. Also the majority of his work is created in black and white and is very tonal. Also many, if not all, of his work is very simplistic and he uses very plain light or dark backgrounds to allow the figures to stand out. His work are very iconic as they explore the society in which he spent his childhood in.

Andrew Mcgibbon

http://www.andrewmcgibbon.co/Portfolios/People/thumbs

Andrew Mcgibbon works in a range of styles and techniques but colour always is presented in a dominant way. He is a photographer and conservationist based in London. He is currently an artist in residence at the Hornsey Town Hall Arts Centre, working on a project called 'Animal Lectures' as well as taking on commercial commissions. He specialises in photographing animals with flash, human and non-human.

Rankin

http://rankin.co.uk/home/#

John Rankin Waddell, also known under his working name Rankin, is a British portrait and fashion photographer. Due to him being a fashion photographer colour is one of his main focusses displayed through the makeup, pros and costumes used. He uses relevant colours in order to create a specific theme, for example the image below is dominated by the colour green and provides a natural/nature effect. This is enhanced by the clothing looking like grass.

Chuck Close

http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/80/chuck-close

Charles Thomas "Chuck" Close is an American painter and photographer who works from his own photographs in order to create his art. Chuck's photography is very interesting to me as he focusses on portraiture in black and white. This is very effective in showing the detail in the face of the subject along side with the formal elements of line, form and shape. The absence of colour in his photography is very intriguing to me as I feel that it is very effective in creating a particular mood. The subjects in the photographs tend to appear very serious and emotionless., enhanced by the black and white effect. Also I like his technique of blurring the whole image apart from the face of the subject. The edges of the model's head is blurred which enhances the detail of the eyes, nose, mouth and in some cases hair.

David LaChapelle

http://www.lachapellestudio.com/portraits/

David LaChapelle is an American commercial photographer, fine-art photographer, music video director, film director, and artist. He is best known for his photography, which often references art history and sometimes conveys social messages. David's colourful demeanour is truly inspiring through his use of costume and props and even backgrounds. His makes his subject appear vibrant and elegant through his colour choice, creating a particular theme. This is something in which i would like to replicate in my own work.

Brian Smith

http://briansmith.com

Brian Smith is an American portrait photographer and photojournalist. He may be known best for portraits of actors, business leaders, politicians, and athletes that are at once stylish and telling. The facial expressions that are used in his work are very influential in terms of the atmosphere created. When photographing in black and white he tends my acquired a more serious facial expression to the subject. Along with the poses and clothes worn a rather smart, clean and formal theme is produced. However, Brian also photographs in colour where the models are usually much more elaborate, expressive and happy where the overall atmosphere is enhanced by the fact that the photo is hot in colour. I feel That Brian's choice of colour/black and white along side with the poses and facial expressions are very inspiring and I would like to attempt to use this technique in my own work.

Gregory Prescott

http://www.gregoryprescott.net/home

Gregory Prescott is a self-taught photographer . His work consists of an array of photographs of portraits, humans adorned and the human form. I find it interesting to create art using live figures. With my work, he allows everyone to see the true and outstanding beauty of a woman’s curves, the fullness of her lips, the textures of her hair and the grace in the extensions of her arms. He also display the broadness in the man’s back, the signs of struggle in his shoulders and the determination in his eyes. In his photographs the essence, sensuality, strong structure and power of the body with the use of passion is used but without the use of excessive sexuality.

Steve Fitch
http://www.stevefitch.com/western-landmarks/
Steve Fitch's work is very effective with colour. Colour is displayed most obviously at nighttime where who shoots and captures photographs of landmarks. These tend to be motels which have neon signs, advertising there service. Due to the fact that he photographs at night, most of the composition is dark, if not black, which enhances the bright colours of the neon lights.

Will Slater

http://www.willslaterphotography.com

Will slater is a Bristol-based photographer but takes on work all over the UK and has his first international commission in Italy in the coming years. His subject of matter is very diverse as it ranges from travelling in cuba to a wedding in England  However, despite this colour is still shown to be dominant. When shooting in urban locations he choses to place colourful objects in front colourless backgrounds and backdrops which further enhances the colour in the photograph. Also he forms very feminine work due to the colours used, shown through the second picture below.  This technique is very effective and I could attempt to replicate this style in my own work but maybe not with the same subjects in which he uses.

Timothy hogan

http://www.timothy-hogan.com/#!/about

Timothy's work is very influential when it comes to colour as it very dominant in his work. He works worldwide for an array of international luxury brands and advertising agencies in the beauty, fashion, beverage and design industries. He illustrates movement very well in his photography due to the bright colours which form streaks of light through long exposures. Also I feel that he shows depth of field very well, blurring out the background and even sometimes the foreground in order to focus on one specific area of subject in the frame.

Christian Aslund

http://www.christian.se

 Christians photography is very unique as he captures his photographs through travelling. He takes his photos through travelling, illustrating different cultures and the way they live. He also implies issues with society. I feel that the way he shows colour is very effective. He focusses on portraits and also real life situations.

Kait Robinson

http://www.kaitrobinsonphoto.com/book-i

Kait tends to focus on portraiture in his work and uses colour very effectively. For women she photographs in colour and uses very feminine colour schemes with colours such as reds,pinks and also pastels. I like the way that she uses a certain colour scheme throughout the whole image rather just having one colour stand out. However, when she photographs men she tends to photograph them in black and white making them look much more masculine.

Alex lake

http://twoshortdays.com

UK-based photographer Alex Lake shoots internationally and is sought after worldwide for his intimate and iconic photography. I really like the way he uses very low key lighting where a lot of contrast can be seen. Due to the black background and lots of shadows, the colour is enhanced through the contrast and looks more vibrant. 

Iain Crawford

http://www.iaincrawford.com

Iain loves to capture images that have a strong graphic and textural quality, often searching out the graphical symmetry in chaos, while still maintaining the personality and emotion of the subject. His career has lead him to shoot campaigns for many of the world's top brands and receive commissions from a host of top international magazines. He loves the fusion between paint and model. The resulting shapes are as opulent as any piece of bespoke couture. The excitement and anticipation as we waited to see the next piece of unpredictable chaos was electric. There was something magical about how random chance materialised into beautiful images in front of our eyes.

Elizabeth Hoff

http://www.elisabethhoff.com

Elisabeth is a London based fashion, celebrity and beauty photographer working for major advertising and editorial clients in both the UK and abroad. She creates specific moods and schemes through the colours in which she uses. She uses the same colour background, makeup and props and costumes.

Cristina Otero

http://www.cristinaotero.com

Cristina Otero is a Spanish photographer currently living in Madrid. Known for her self-portraits. Being self-taught, Cristina started taking pictures at thirteen, and at fifteen she had her first solo exhibition in the Kir Royal Gallery (Valencia), becoming the youngest Spanish artist to exhibit individiually in a gallery. She collaborates her photography and art very well creating very colourful pieces. However, I feel that her black and white work is equally effective as it enhances the deep, serious and emotional mood.

Nadav Kander
http://www.nadavkander.com/#

Nadav Kander (born December 1, 1961) is a London-based photographer, artist and director, known for his portraiture and landscapes. I would like to research Nadav's work because i feel that he uses colour very effectively in ways that my other photographer do not. Nadav uses lighting very effectively order to introduce colour, assumably he uses gels over his lights in order to project colour instead of plain light. Also I like his style of composition and also would like to attempt the way in which he darkens the areas around the outline of the subject. Allowing them to stand out and also provide a sense of 3D.

Minimum Depth Of Field - Image Bank

A camera can only focus its lens at a single point, but there will be an area that stretches in front of and behind this focus point that still appears sharp. This zone is known as the depth of field. It’s not a fixed distance, it changes in size and can be described as either ‘shallow’ (where only a narrow zone appears sharp) or deep (where more of the picture appears sharp). A classic example is when you’re photographing a landscape, where generally the most desirable outcome is to capture detail from the fore ground to the horizon. Other times, a shallow depth of field will be preferable. It enables you to blur background and foreground details, causing distractions to melt away and allowing you to direct viewers to the focal point in a picture. There’s a range of ways to control the depth of field – the choice of aperture, focus distance and the type of camera. In a nutshell, wider apertures and closer focusing distances lead to a shallower depth of field.

In this image the background of the composition is blurred. Blurring the subject who is placed in the background. The person in the background is performing a action, being a throw. The in the foreground, the ball is not blurred and is in fact focussed. The positioning off the ball matches the pose of the subject, therefore illustrating one particular movement/action. Even the way in which the subject is leaning to the right of the composition, where the ball is, implies movement. A sense of depth is furthered through the size of the ball in comparison to the subjects head. The ball is similar size to his head which it isn't normally in reality, therefore implying distance between the ball and the subject as the ball seems bigger in size.

The background of this image is completely blurred in contrast to the subject in the foreground of the composition. The subject is placed to the right of the composition, looking towards the left. The subject remains the focal point despite being placed to the right of the frame. The contrast between the blur and focus enhances the tones and colour of the subject, intensifying their from and shape. Also the reflection in the mans glasses is very effective due to it being in focus.

Narrow depth of field is used in this photograph very effectively, the camera is focussed on the blue pencil. All the rest of the composition contrasts to this as both the foreground and background is blurred. This therefore allows the blue pencil to stand out from the others. Also there is a horizontal strip just below the centre of the composition which the pencil debris on the surface is in focus.

The two images above imply depth of field very similarly. The blurring that takes place in both cases enhances the detail of the objects in the foreground but also forms new shapes in the background. Where the background is blurred in both cases, circles are produced where light is present and exaggerated. In the first image the coloured lights are blurred in the background and also in the foreground and focusses on the second light. Due to this as the lights get further away, the more the shape of the light is enhanced and exaggerated. In this second photograph the plants in focus acts as a silhouette effect and intensifies the detail and shape of the plant.

In this piece a close up of a flower is created using a narrow depth of field approach. Despite this being a closeup, the edges of the petals are blurred, in contrast with the centre of the flower which is placed in the centre of the composition which is in focus. Also slightly towards the left of the composition is a bee is feeding off the flower. The fact that the majority of the composite  is blurred and the centre isn't, produces the focal point here and makes the viewers first notice the bee feeding off the flower. Also the background of the piece is seemingly dark in comparison to the much brighter colour centre area. Therefore contributing to the fact that this is the focal point as there are many reasons to why it stands out.

Slow Sync - Work Diary

In this shoot I experimented with slow sync photography where I preferably needed to be using a dark background and a soft box to be able to see the object. There was to different components in the soft box which contributed to the final outcome. The modelling light in the soft box recorded the movement of the subjects which produced the blurred/unclear areas in the photos. Then a flash was used in order to freeze the image, capturing the still sharp version of the subject. The slower I had the shutter speed, the more blurring would be produced as there was more time for the movement to take place.

For this photograph I got a main subject to stand in the centre of the frame which another  subject placed behind him. I got the model in the foreground to move minimally, whereas I got the subject in the background to move her arms up and down, therefore creating the blurs either side of the frozen image. In this outcome I applied a black and white filter in order to show how the different tones represented the different parts of the image. The much more lighter grey tones illustrates the blurring and movement whereas the darker tones tended to show the frozen image. These darker tones illustrates shadows and shows the form and shape of the subject. There are also several darker lines to the left of the composition which also implies movement.

In this photograph, I wanted to capture the movement of dance which the simple move of a pirouette. Colour is the key element which suggests movement as there are orange glows which illustrate the movement taking place; these glows wouldn't be as visible if I used a lighter background, showing the importance of having a black background. This contrasts with the normality of the colours of the frozen images. As in this attempt I used a shorter shutter speed, the image appears much clearer than the first.

High Key lighting work diary

In this shoot I attempted the high key lighting technique. The image above illustrates how I set up my shoot in order to put this technique into practise. I had to use white background and also used two back lights behind the subject which pointed at the reflectors which project the light onto the background further, ensuring that there are no shadows visible. I then had two soft boxes at the front of the set which enlightened the subject and then I set my camera to F16 to make sure that there were minimal shadows on the model also. When shooting I mostly shot in a portrait orientation, making the subject pull a range of poses, most of the time looking directly at the camera.

I feel that this attempt at high key lighting is quite successful as I have effectively used the high key lighting set up in order to make the background pure white. I set my camera to F16 which was the correct aperture level. Also I shot in the portrait orientation, capturing the subject from their chest upwards. I ensured that the model was looking directly at the camera as do most of the models do in the photos I found in my image bank. In order to improve this image more I feel that I could make sure that the model is topless, allowing the collar bones and body frame to be seen. Also I feel that I could use a female as the subject and then expose her a little more, making her skin look much lighter and perhaps introduce makeup order to introduce colour and femininity.

When taking this second image the camera was set to F11 which meant that more light was let into the camera, meaning that the image would be more exposed to the light. However, in this case I feel that the outcome is slightly too over exposed as the outline of the t shirt can hardly be seen. To improve this I could lower the aperture level and also lower the saturation levels to eliminate the orange glow of the subjects skin. On the plus side I feel that the way in which the composition is used is very effective.

Progression

I feel that the technique of high key lighting would be very useful for my product as it very effective in intensifying colour in a photo. I would use this technique and apply colourful make up or paint to the subject which would stand out from the light skin and background. Also I could create specific colour schemes with costumes, makeup and props and even could alter the colour of the subjects eyes, ultimately creating a certain connotation,