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.

Photography experiments

I've been looking through some of the photographs I've taken over the last week and tried to fuse them together. Finding 2 photographs that blend together is tough. I'm not necessarily looking for two images with similar subject matter - but images that compositionally work together. 

Here is an example:

Because of the empty space on the left hand side of the photograph, this makes it perfect to combine with an image with perhaps an empty space on it's right hand side. 

Much like this one underneath:

As I said I'm not bothered about the two photographs being explicitly related. All I'm looking for are two images that would blend together and become connected like 2 pieces of a jigsaw (kind of).

In this case I felt there was enough free space to work with in both photographs. So I got to work bringing them together and manipulating things like colour, brightness, contrast etc. 

In the end I came out with 2 final images. Here they are below:

At this point I can't decide which one I prefer! But pleased at the result. I think the black and white version has more fuzz and blur ('noise' I think they call it?) in the background, which make the colour image more appealing.

For the black and white image I chose to crop out the wall on the right hand side. I feel it took away from the main subjects of the image. Saying that I don't mind it being in the colour version.

I guess if I was pushing to relate the two images I've combined, I could maybe make the point of saying the photograph of the person (Alice) pointing the camera towards the ground, is opposing the perspective in which the other image was taken (pointing upwards, from the ground). 

Nonetheless I enjoy fusing images together and will continue playing around with my photographs and posting the results!

Un-edited Photographs from College

Niall gave us each a camera on Wednesday and asked us to take a few photographs in and around the college and it's grounds. I enjoyed wandering about, constantly observing and on the look out for things I could capture. Here are a few of the images I took.

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.

Cya First Year

First off - MASSIVE thanks to Siobhan and Niall for teaching, guiding and helping us through our first year on the course. It's safe to say I can speak for the whole of the Level 3 first year class in saying that their guidance has proved very important to our progress.

Secondly, I miss college. Having the resources so close to hand (Macs, paper, printing press etc..) was such a vital part of the creative process. Nonetheless I have been making the most of my sketchbooks and spare time! Staying productive is important to me, slipping into a lazy routine of what I like to call 'easy' activities like listening to music, watching TV and playing my PS4 isn't what I want to do all summer..

I've found that my Kindle has came into good use regarding my productivity. After recently downloading and reading 'A Game of Thrones' I have found that my attention and energy are being focused on more important activities.

My A2 sketchbook is my main outlet for these occasional bouts of creativity. I am lucky enough to have a garden in which I can sit in and admire a view that on a sunny day makes me feel very positive about creating some work. I am able to take that sketchbook outside, sit, and draw away at my surroundings.

As of late, my artistic interests have moved onto the more design, and idea based areas. Sketching and drawing when I can is essential to my progress even if it isn't my favourite thing to do, and so perseverance also becomes very important.

Separately, as my desire for an Apple Mac grows and grows with every day, annoyingly, my bank balance doesn't... Though this hasn't altered my aim in saving money for one! Having access to them daily during first year was a blessing and I grew to love using Photoshop and learning how to create and alter pieces of work. Having such a device at my disposable would be a valuable tool when it came to progressing with my own stuff.

Lastly, I feel at somewhat of a loss on what 'theme' or possible 'area' to pursue in my second year on the course. Going down the personal route and exploring possible issues or problems I have with myself or the world around me - is definitely not what I want to do. Dissecting my secrets and laying bare my every thought and feeling doesn't feel right to me. I love how others are able to do this with themselves though. Plus who knows you better than yourself, right? I don't want to rule out any personal references in my future work altogether, but I do want to address that going down that road just isn't for me. Actually reading over that last part it kind of paints me as some sort of machine like, heartless sod - I assure you this isn't the case! I have feelings too...

I guess I just want to keep things a little more subtle and less obvious - and if that means either myself or my work coming under fire for being too mysterious...then so be it!

'Fragment'

I recently discovered an app on my iPhone that is able to let you edit your photos in a unique and creative way that I have never seen before! I was excited at first because I knew it meant I was going to be able to adjust my personal photos if I wanted to share them on Facebook or whatever, but today I realised I could put it to the test with some of my artwork.

Below is a photograph I took a while back of a screen print I completed near the end of last year.

This wasn't the final stage in this particular screen printing series, I decided to test it on 'Fragment' it because of it's 3 colours. After glancing at the different tools available on the app I figured, the simpler the better for my first try!

Above, is what I came up with. I found the choices of shapes interesting, you are able to include different patterns on top of your photograph. As well as being able to adjust the contrast, colour, brightness etc., it allows you to decide the position in which the squares - or any other shape you want - are placed in relation with angles and lines. I, by no means wish to display this edited photograph as my original work. I admit some creativity on my part went into the adjustment of colour and composition, but overall - it's an app! If anything, the experimenting I have been doing has so far influenced me into thinking about straight lines and angles, especially how they effect the composition of images.

I felt it was necessary to post this because it has played a part in my important and expanding learning process, plus I needed to get it out there before anyone wrongly praised me for my digital talents...I've not mastered Photoshop yet!!

Artist Rooms: Louise Bourgeois, A Woman Without Secrets

We recently took a trip to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art with the college. The exhibition we were visiting was a collection of works by the late French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. Her subject matter involved topics including childbirth, adolescence, mothering and various emotions.
I had no previous knowledge of Bourgeois or her work upon attending the exhibition, and so was intrigued and interested in what I was going to see.

After spending around an hour and a half slowly taking in the paintings and sculptures I had chosen one piece that specifically stuck out for me.

Ode a la Bievre, 2002

This was made by Bourgeois as a material book, based upon her memories and melancholic relationship with her childhood environment. These individual pieces reflect upon what her home town was once like, and how she remembers it. It was triggered by a visit she took with her own children to Bievre, on arrival she began to notice differences in certain surroundings, she has managed to convey her very sentimental reaction to this change through 25 archival dyed and lithographed images. They were completed using old clothing and combining text with an interesting collection of colours and images, Bourgeois has achieved an inventive piece of art very personal to herself. "witnessing the past through the present moment" Is how she put it.

I very much enjoyed the exhibition and will be returning before it's end as I feel I can learn a lot from this particular artist.