Experimental Photography

Henry Paul

1

Shutter speedThis experiment was to do with shutter speed. We adjusted

the shutter speed to 1.3 seconds. I figured out how to adjust

the shutter speed and feel more comfortable when using an

SLR camera. I also thought about things that would be good

to photograph when changing the shutter speed.

I personally think that this could have gone a lot better. I did

get one decent image. The bottom two images were a bit out

of focus and I should have mounted the camera on something so that just the people moving in the image were blurred. I got one image that seemed to be an ok example but it wasn’t perfect. If I were to do this again I think I would be able to come up with three images that would be better examples of shutter speed. They don’t look at all professional but they hit the requirements that I needed. With that being said I did manage to get the ghosting effect that I wanted.

If I were to do the shutter speed experiment again I would try and get some more images in different places. All the places I took photographs for this experiment had similar lighting meaning that they suffered from similar things such as being slightly over exposed. I could have tried taking some images outside or the opposite side of things in a darker room.

This image I think does have some strong elements. The background is in a slightly more clear focus than the other two examples that I had. I held the camera against the railing for the stairs to steady it, as I didn’t have a tripod. I did manage to create the ghosting effect that I wanted to but I only managed to competently do it with this image. With that said the background is still slightly out of focus. If I had been using a tripod I could have come up with a much clear background whilst still creating the ghosting effect that I wanted.

I quite like the way that the lights look in the background of this image. They both seem to have a nice glow about them which ads a bit more to the image in terms of colour variation.

Out of Focus

Within this experiment I was focusing on trying to create some out of focus images. I went out around college using my own camera to try and capture the things that I required. It wasn’t too difficult to gain a couple of reasonable images.

The image in the centre is probably the weakest of the images. I took the photograph whilst I was zoomed in quite far and I didn’t let the camera focus, this created the out of focus effect. The strongest of the images would be the one of the camera. It has the most authentic out of focus feels and looks although that is what the image is supposed to look like. This is appose to just looking like a poorly taken photograph.

The image on the bottom right is of a phone, this is quite a simple image but hits the criteria for being classed as an out of focus image and that was my intention. In the end I think I gained a couple of solid images that hit the criteria required for the topic. . If I were to do this experiment again I would try some more experimental things. Although I have got a couple of decent images it would have been good to have some that includes some more things within the image than say just the outline of a phone.

This is definitely the strongest image of the three. It looks the most intentional of the three images and is the one that I am most happy with. There is quite a good variation of colours considering it is a close up of someone holding a camera. I quite like the slight lens flare that is in the centre of the lens of the camera.

I also like how you can almost imagine how the person in the image is holding the camera even though you cant really make them out. I personally think this is quite a good example of an out of an out of focus image. It is interesting to look at and I think if I were to do this again it would be hard to create a better example. With that said I don’t think this was the case with the other two out of focus images that I took. I could have definitely improved them to get a better collection of examples.

Reflections

With this experiment I will create some images using reflections. I think that this experiment went quite well as the images I gathered are definitely examples reflections. In the centre image you can see one of my college colleagues in the notice board quite subtly. I think this creates quite a nice effect and is a simple example of what you can do with reflections.

The image at the top right is definitely the strongest of the three. It shows a very clear reflection and the people in the background create quite a nice effect. It doubles the reflection in the centre of the smaller circle on the chewing gum bin.

I think the image at the bottom right is the weakest of the three. It does show a reflection but it’s not that distinguishable. It does look slightly interesting if you take a closer look as you can see the lights and corridor in the background. If I was to do this again I think I could come up with some stronger images. I could look outside and see if there are any puddles to reflect light from, as this can be a good way to gain a reflected image. I could also look into reflecting the light off glass.

This is quite an interesting image as it shows two reflections within the one image. In the centre there is a less distorted duplication of the reflection, which creates quite a nice effect. I think that the people in the background ad to the photo even though they are slightly out of focus. It is a clear representation of reflection.

I think that this was definitely the best of the three images because of how clear the reflection is. If I were to do this again I could have become more creative with where I was taking the photograph. I could have asked a couple of college colleagues to stand behind me when I took the photo so that I had some subjects that weren’t moving and I would have had definite consent.

Photo Montage

This last experiment is called photomontage. I will have to take a series of images and then combine them using Photo-shop. I chose to photograph a painting that was on a piece of cardboard in the art section of college. I also chose to photograph a notice board, which was in another place around college.

I found this experiment to be a little tricky but with that said I did manage to come out with at least one solid image. This is quite obviously the one of the car. I took the images from straight on but after I had combined the 10 images it looked although it was one image taken from a bottom left angle.

The final image of the notice board looks quite distorted. This might have created a nice effect on an image that was initially more interesting. It has worked reasonably competently as everything on the notice board is encompassed into the final image. If I was to do this again I think I could definitely come up with some better examples. I could have taken a picture of a friend from around college. I could also have left the college building and taken some images from outside, giving a bit more depth and scope to the image. I think that if I had better starting images I would have got better final images.

I did a couple of photomontages and this was definitely the stronger of the two. It has worked quite well considering it was 10 separate images. The angle from where the photographs look although it has changed based on the where I originally took the photographs from. The edges aren’t too bad and could have turned out a lot worse if the images hadn’t fitted together properly. The background seems to of fitted together well and you cant see any signs of distortion.

I still don’t think this was the best example I could have come up with though. It does show the technique but you can do some much more interesting things with it. To make this better and to come up with better examples I would have simply had to take better images initially. I could have done something that makes it look more distinguishable as a photomontage. I could of use the outside of the college building as an example. This would have had a wider range of colours and tones.