camera settings

iPhone 8

iPhone SE

Fujifilm FinePix s9500 

composite image making

Composite Image Making

Definition

Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print. This can be done by manipulating one or multiple images using both digital editing and physical editing.

Hannah Hoch 

Raoul Hausmann

Task One.

List the ways in which conventional photographic techniques are used to manipulate images.

Photoshop:

• digital edits
• layers
• levels
• saturation
• contrast
• colour balance
• highlights and shadows
• hue
• vibrancy
• curves
• clone stamp
• healing brushes
• brightness
• blur 
• sharpen
• smudge
• red eye tool

Task Two; practicing image manipulations

image one

image two

Artist research - Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson was an English graphic designer and music video director. He created work for artists including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Phish,Black Sabbath, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Yes, Muse, and Ween and was born in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire in 1944, and studied both a BA in English at Leicester University and a MA in Film and TV at The Royal College of Art. He is best known for his inspired artwork and designs that have featured on four decades of Pink Floyd album covers which shows surrealism through image manipulation. He is considered to be part of the modern Surrealism movement, and has named René Magritte as one of his biggest influences. In 2003, Thorgerson suffered a stroke, from which he was partially paralysed. He was later diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, which he battled for several years, but which eventually led to his death in London on 18 April 2013, at the age of 69. Throughput his life he was described as a "graphic genius" and "tireless worker right up to the end".

i feel that Thorgersons idea for this image could relate to breaking away from the 'norms' and almost looking past the frame of an image 

i feel that this image could relate to becoming 'one with nature' and how humanity is created by nature as the tree is an outline of a side profile

i feel this image could relate to the childhood memory of imaging clouds of representing shapes or objects as the image is manipulated to have the cloud formations represents butterflies

Image bank, these images feature ones from my chosen artist and google searches of composite images.

Image manipulation images

image one;

To edit these images i altered the curves, brightness, contrast and the levels of the images, i felt by doing this i made the two images match in terms of exposure and brightness, after i had done this i altered the saturation and vibrance of the images to highlight their features, i then cut out the whole cat from its original image, i then copied and pasted the cut out layer on top of the cropped image of the church, once i had done this i created a layer mask and carefully cut away the intricate sections of the church so that the cat was sitting behind them. To complete my image, i did a final alter to the shadows and highlights of the flattened image.

Image two;

 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

(Here you will discuss how you developed your work based on your research of e.g. artists/photographers, etc).

(It is important that you show a progression of your work… which may mean revisiting a subject area and adding additional images showing a development of your ideas or refinement of the final images through).

The artist research was very useful during these shoots as I had some inspiration on how to tackle the method of creating and manipulating images. My research of Storm Thorgerson helped me to focus on the details of the surrealistic side of the images and to also manipulate my images to create new images. I found this helpful because I have a lot of opportunities to photograph different subjects that could be manipulated and also find places where i could photograph and further create manipulations using editing on photoshop. 

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for image manipulations was to create surrealistic images using normal subjects. I was inspired by Storm Thorgersons work, in the way that he created his images by manipulating objects.  With reference to my final images, I feel that although I could not create photographs exactly like Thorgersons, I did create a set that was in the style of their work. I am happy with the overall outcome of my images and feel that they all show the many ways that an image can be manipulated.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

All images were taken while on a day out and by an iPhone SE

Image of cat:

shutter speed- 1/480sec

aperture- f/2.2

ISO- 25

flash- didn't fire

image of church:

shutter speed-1/1500sec

aperture-f/2.2

ISO-25

flash- didn't fire

image of tall feature and cloudy sky:

shutter speed-1/1050sec

aperture- f/2.2

ISO-25

flash- didn't fire

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

(At the end of the entry you will discuss whether you have produced a personal and meaningful response, this means  (are my images creative/relevant to the subject area studied/connected and influenced by any research undertaken).

     i believe that I have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of composite images and the artist Storm Thorgerson. The final images were refined by altering the curves, brightness, contrast and the levels of the images, as they are more complex edits i have described how i got the final images in my 'edited images' section. With the majority of my images i created my own take on Storm Thorgerson's style of photography.

independent shoot one

independent shoot one

This shoot was inspired by the work of Eric Lafforgue with hints of Cal Redback, but without the surrealist element of Redbacks work.

Cal Redback is a french photographer and artist who brings new meaning to the term, "organic portraits", his images are a form of composite images, merging plants and nature with portraiture.

 Richard Avedon was an American fashion and portrait photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century".

Image bank

Contact sheets

Best images and edited images

images that i dislike/ require improvement

>i felt this images didnt look good because you cantsee the bottom of the jug and it is off centre.

< i felt this image was also off centre and slightly unfocused, to improve it i would take it again and re-centre the camera and the focus.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

(Here you will discuss how you developed your work based on your research of e.g. artists/photographers, etc).

The artist research was very useful during these shoots as I had some inspiration on how to tackle the method of creating and capturing flowers and people. My research of Eric Lafforgue and Cal Redback helped me to focus on the details of the flowers aswell as the people. I found this helpful because I have a lot of opportunities to photograph both the flowers and the person in the images.

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(It is important that you show a progression of your work… which may mean revisiting a subject area and adding additional images showing a development of your ideas or refinement of the final images through).

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

     My idea for recording colour and nature was to photograph the different situations with people and flowers, like Eric Lafforgue and Cal Redback, and to focus on creating my own patterns within my images. I was inspired by the work of Eric Lafforgue and Cal Redback by their method of taking photos, and by what they captured within some of  his photos by artificially creating the backgrounds of the images. 

      With reference to my best images, I feel that although I could not create photographs exactly like Eric Lafforgue and Cal Redback photos, I did create a set that was in the style of both of their work but with flowers and people that i photographed together. I am happy with the overall outcome of my images and feel that they all show the many ways that flowers can be captured within a photograph both with and without editing.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

to edit these images, i first altered the curves, brightness, contrast and the levels of the images, i then created another layer of the image and changed it to black and white, i then further altered the curves, brightness, contrast and the levels of black and white copy of the original images, i then used the opacity tool to make the background look darkened but in colour, 

i used the eraser tool to delete the  area of the selected images which was in focus once i had done this, it revealed the colour underneath, i then flattened the images by merging all the layers and further altering the curves, brightness, contrast and the levels of the final images.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

(At the end of the entry you will discuss whether you have produced a personal and meaningful response, this means  (are my images creative/relevant to the subject area studied/connected and influenced by any research undertaken). 

I believe that I have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of nature and the artists Eric Lafforgue and Cal Redback, yet with my own style The final images were refined by developing the contrast and changing the brightness.