Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts

21 October 2014

Holiday Photographs!

For the October break we visited Nairn, up past the Scottish Highlands. I figured I should take my camera along and see what I can come back with. I had ample opportunity to photograph my surroundings during our week there and came home with a total of around 500 images in total. I then proceeded to give a select few a quick look over in iPhoto, which led to me choosing these 6 photographs below.

I was aware during my time roaming around with my camera, that I was certain to end up with groups of images that looked very similar and had the same subject matter. So, during my cull of the original 500 I discovered this to be true. These 6 images below aren't my favourites or anything, I picked them because each one is different - whether referring to colour, composition, shape, light, colour etc.





This is the view from outside Primark in Inverness city centre. The sun was in my eyes and I wasn't exactly sure at the time what I was photographing...but I think it turned out okay.




This one was from a rest stop alongside Loch Ness. We stopped the car and continued down the small set of stairs that led us to a rocky patch of ground, and this was the view! The reflection astounded me and I like how you can just make out the misty fog lying on top of the loch in the background.




I quite like this image. The log you see in the foreground was about 6 foot tall and stood in the sand as if originally planted there. I took the photograph in black and white and made sure that my mum and sister had just about moved out of sight - this way the space on the left of the upright tree is left empty. Personally it gives me the feeling that the figures are going to disappear behind that log. I of course know that they won't completely disappear behind the log (they didn't) but, I can't help but feel that way when I look at the photograph. Strange!




This photograph was taken as a tester to see if the timer worked well. It seems 10secs was long enough for me to dart back across to the shore and pose so gracefully, unlike my sister and mum. I blurred our faces out on iPhoto to create an anonymity of sorts - I know everyone who will see these already know who we are but sometimes I feel faces distract too much and give away too much.




I genuinely can't remember where I was when I looked up at the sky and took this one, but I remember capturing the glare and light and thinking "I won't delete that one!". Composition was always on my mind whilst taking these photographs, I regularly remember that certain things in a photograph may look great aesthetically and pleasing to look at, but at the same time aren't technically in the right place. I hope that makes sense!




This one may not look like much at first, and you may notice that I took this from a moving car... But I guess the reason, or at least the main reason I kept this one was the juxtaposition of the trolley pushing couple in the foreground, and the fictional Specsavers customers in the background. Although not completely in shot, I think this little contrast is the main subject of the image. I struggled deciding how much of the left side to crop, I wasn't sure how much I should bring it in.

30 September 2014

Victorian Style Photographs

After showing us a little piece on the BBC website about Victorian era photographs that are a little less traditional than usual - Niall asked us to take a few ourselves and pull faces like the people in said photographs.

Victorian faces


It was fun and I thought I'd go ahead and edit my pictures slightly. Credit again goes to the amazing app 'Afterlight' providing the subtle filters that give each photograph a retro look.











30 August 2014

Experimenting with my printer/scanner/copier


I looked to my side and saw a photo of my Dad and I form when I was 1 (I think). Then I started to draw lines and I began writing random sentences along them. Anything that came into my head. I then used the word that Niall gave us on a bit of scrap paper for our group exercise on Thursday and scanned it into the copier. This led to a number of different outcomes. I messed about with magnification and scale whilst scanning and copying. There was no particular logic or plan - I just made it up as I went along. Whatever I thought looked 'good' or 'right' was included in the print out. Although this process was completely random and created partly out of boredom... I enjoyed myself! I can imagine people looking at it and taking away deep, emotional messages, interpreting outlandish symbolism etcetera, etcetera. Maybe that's how some historic, famous pieces were once created... who knows! 




Anyway, I loved playing about with the printer/scanner/copier - moving paper around, moving from colour to black and white, enlarging images and magnifying certain parts of images. It has proved an enjoyable and creative outlet and I will most likely continue experimenting with the process.









16 July 2014

Testing the app 'Cinamatic'

Two weeks ago a man had an incident whilst out on his bicycle. He suffered a fall because of a bad heart. This meant that the local ambulance team were forced to close off the road and call in the air ambulance.

I decided to capitalise on this tragic event and take a walk down the road across from my street and take some videos of the helicopter. Of course I felt a little bad for the guy getting stretchered into the helicopter and all but - I had to try this app out right? He was fine any way, plus they were in no rush whatsoever! I was waiting for the damn thing to take off for more than half an hour... Eventually he made it to Edinburgh where I'm sure he made a full recovery!

The audio on this tester video cuts out after each individual clip but in the future I'll edit the sound out, or at least make it less obvious to people watching.

The filter choice irritated me and I settled for the default, grainy, cheesy retro look. It worked okay, but as I said I'm gonna keep my eye out for opportunities regarding subjects to film.




14 November 2013

Shiant Garbh Eilean

Shiant Garbh Eilean by Norman Ackroyd, 2011 (print)

I really enjoyed studying this particular print when I discovered it. The sheer detail of the rock faces astound me, and after my first experience with printing I can only imagine how much time and effort Ackroyd put into this himself. This piece is from his collection of prints from the North of Scotland and I personally love the Highlands and the views they have to offer, so naturally I was attracted to this specific print.