Movement and Aperture blur

Definition: 

Motion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.

Freeze Frame is an optical effect or technique in which a single frame of film is reprinted in a continuous series, which when shown gives the effect of a still photograph.   

Ernst Haas:

Ernst Haas was a photojournalist and a pioneering colour photographer. During his 40-year career, the Austrian-born artist bridged the gap between photojournalism and the use of photography as a medium for expression and creativity: Ernst Haas (1921–1986) is acclaimed as one of the most celebrated and influential photographers of the 20th century and considered one of the pioneers of color photography. Haas was born in Vienna in 1921, and took up photography after the war. 

His early work on Austrian returning prisoners of war brought him to the attention of LIFE magazine. He declined a job offer as staff photographer in order to keep his independence. At the invitation of Robert Capa, Haas joined Magnum in 1949, developing close associations with Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Werner Bishof.

Haas moved to the United States in 1951 and soon after, began experimenting with Kodachrome color film. He went on to become the premier color photographer of the 1950s. In 1953 LIFE magazine published his groundbreaking 24-page color photo essay on New York City. This was the first time such a large color photo feature was published by LIFE. In 1962 a retrospective of his work was the first color photography exhibition held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Motion Blur Images:

Freeze Frames:

Contact Sheet:

After my previous research I looked at some images focused on portrait:

After looking at these it inspired my to shift the focus of my own photography. 

I proceeded to shoot these 3 images: 

I selected the following as my best images:

Landscape

Definition: Landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes. Derived from The Dutch word landschap meaning "region, tract of land”. The first recorded use of landscape was in 1598, as a painters' term when Dutch artists were pioneering the landscape genre. It was used in the artistic sense by the English to describe "a picture depicting scenery on land." 

A photographer I have looked at is Stephen Shore. Most of his famous photography is based in Los Angeles, US. However he has travelled quite a bit and has photography from various places like Ukraine, Italy and other areas in the US. I have looked at some of his landscape photography and the following images are ones I will use to influence my own work.

Portraiture

Definition: Portrait photography or portraiture in photography is a photograph of a person or group of people that captures the personality of the subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait picture might be artistic, or it might be clinical, as part of a medical study.

What makes a good portrait?

• Lighting
• Subject
• Camera position
• Interaction with subject (to elicit certain reactions)
• Background
• Framing
• F11 Shutter speed: 1/125

A photographer I am inspired by is Annie Leibovitz, born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1970 she landed a job at Rolling Stone and went on to create a distinctive look for the publication as chief photographer. In 1983 she began working for the entertainment magazine Vanity Fair, continuing to produce images that would be deemed iconic and provocative. Having also worked on high-profile advertising campaigns, Leibovitz's images have been showcased in several books and major exhibitions around the world. 

However one of her shoots that I have paid particular attention to is her Pirelli Calendar shoot. The Pirelli Calendar is an annual limited edition “art item” released by the Italian tire company. In 2016 it's focus slightly shifted for the better. Usually filled with photographs of nude or barely clothed models, this year’s edition, shot by V.F. contributing photographer Annie Leibovitz, features 12 studio portraits of women renowned for their work in diverse fields—including comedy, sports, philanthropy, and art. Another notable departure from the Pirelli norm is that Leibovitz is the only woman—aside from husband-and-wife duo Inez and Vinoodh, in 2007—to have photographed the calendar in over 25 years. This shoot empowered women all over the world, by thankfully breaking traditions and stereotypes.

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

Contact Sheet:

I have selected the following as my best images:

Images that would require improvement:

I selected the first image because the subject is not completely centred and has a lot of negative space above her leaving half of the image empty. Besides this I like the position and pose of the subject and am happy with the lighting in the image. 

I selected the second image because the angle was not correct and the camera should have been zoomed in slightly to cut out most of the negative space. There are areas at the top and bottom of the image I did not want to be included but captured them in this image due to my faults.

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

My idea for recording portraiture was to use the inspiration of Annie Leibovitz's Pirelli calendar shoot. This includes her ideas of empowering women and breaking stereotypes. Also the style and poses in her images. I aimed to use a variety of individuals, and capture different emotions through each but consistently representing confidence. Despite Annie Leibovitz's idea of female empowerment I decided to include a male in my shoot to explore a variation of people and promote equality. The majority of my images came out as I hoped for them to, with soft lighting and a white backdrop. 

Referencing to my best images:  

The first image I have chosen is an image I took before involving any props. I like the simplicity of the image even though it still conveys a strong and confident female subject. Although she is positioned closer to the right of the image, I feel that there is an equal proportion of negative space surrounding her. However something I could have changed in this image to improve it would be having my subject stand slightly further back to avoid the bottom part of the image where there is a slight colour change in the white as the backdrop has gotten in the way by her shoes.

The second image is one of my favourite images of the shoot. I like the position, pose and props in this image. There is not too much negative space, and no distraction or noise in the image. I also like that there isn't dark shadows in the image and the lighting is soft.

As a raw image straight from a shoot without any editing I can understand why this wouldn't be such a good image. However I plan to crop the distractions in the image at the top and bottom. Despite these slight errors, I feel that the subject is in the centre nicely and there is not too much negative space or shadow.

The final image is another one of my favourites as there is nothing that I would change. There is a small amount of negative space at the top of the image however I don't think this has any real negative effects on the final image at all.

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

I used a Canon EOS 350d for all shots taken. I used a shutter speed of 1/125 and an aperture of f11. I positioned my camera on a tripod facing the centre of the backdrop and didn't need to adjust any camera settings during the shoot as all the lights on the set stayed the same throughout. 

When editing my images on photoshop, I converted them all to black and white and cropped images that needed to be cropped. Besides this I made no real changes other than adjusting the contrast a couple of times to make the final image softer.

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

The artist research that I did was very helpful as it strengthened my understanding of portraiture photography and the elements a photographer considers when shooting. Researching things about her career history such as working for The Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair enabled me to look at some of her older work and watch her images progress and change over time. This supported me to gather a stronger understanding of the context surrounding her photography. Looking at her Pirelli calendar images inspired me to use a variety of individuals posing in ways they feel represents their mood and confidence. Annie Leibovitz's pictures were shot in a studio using stools and seats, her images were also quite soft which which inspired me to use the same approach.

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

I believe that I have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of portraiture photography and Annie Leibovitz's images. The final images produced were refined by developing the contrast and saturation. Similar to Annie Leibovitz's images I have photographed a diverse range of people and aimed to capture confidence and individuality.