Evaluation of Final 5 Images
My final images were all shot on a Canon EOS 1000D with a 18-55mm kit lens. I used Adobe Lightroom to edit the photographs.
Image 1: Documentary
Shutter Speed: 1/50
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 30mm
Shutter Speed: 1/50
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 30mm
Before
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After
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While on location I came across small memorial of flowers and poppies within the trees. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to take a documentary photograph. In the original image above I positioned my camera up against the tree, pointing down at the poppy pinned to the trunk and the flowers that had been left on the ground next to it. In the editing stage I didn't need to do much with this photo. However to draw some more attention to the centre of the image I began by cropping some of the excess space around the side and increasing the clarity. This really started to make the colour of the flowers stand out. From here I de-hazed the image and increased the exposure and contrast slightly to lighten the photo. Finally I used a small vignette just around the edges of the image to pull the viewers attention into the centre.
Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of this image. The shots composition and the mise-en-scene in the frame has really worked well to create a good looking, thought provoking image for the audience. Although this photo is slightly different in meaning to the other images it still fits well under the nature theme that I set out with. Eventhough this is a memorial photograph the flowers, grass and tree all come under the nature bracket. This image just adds a more documentary style to the theme which I think has worked well. In addition I think the colours in this image have stood out well especially with the roses and moss on the tree. This increase of saturation in the editing stage really finished off the images overall look nicely.
Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of this image. The shots composition and the mise-en-scene in the frame has really worked well to create a good looking, thought provoking image for the audience. Although this photo is slightly different in meaning to the other images it still fits well under the nature theme that I set out with. Eventhough this is a memorial photograph the flowers, grass and tree all come under the nature bracket. This image just adds a more documentary style to the theme which I think has worked well. In addition I think the colours in this image have stood out well especially with the roses and moss on the tree. This increase of saturation in the editing stage really finished off the images overall look nicely.
Image 2: Macro
Shutter Speed: 1/50
Aperture: f 8.0
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 34
Shutter Speed: 1/50
Aperture: f 8.0
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 34
Having gone out shooting on a frosty day I decided to make use of the weather conditions to take some macro photography of some leaves. Shooting low and through the grass I managed to get the photo above. Once in Lightroom I began by darkening the image by lowering the exposure. From here I sharpened and de-hazed the image and increased the clarity to really bring out the frost on the leaf and the grass. Finally to bring more attention to there leaf I added a small vignette around the edges of the image.
Macro photography was a technique that was still quite new to me but after some trial and error I eventually managed to get to grips with it. Zooming in with the kits lens and getting in very close to the subject seemed to work well and the frost on the day of shooting really added to the look of the final image above. However I do feel like I made the image slightly too dark in the editing stage, its would have looked better keeping the exposure slightly lighter and making the vignette slightly less visible at the top of the photo. Other than this I am pleased with the outcome of the image.
Macro photography was a technique that was still quite new to me but after some trial and error I eventually managed to get to grips with it. Zooming in with the kits lens and getting in very close to the subject seemed to work well and the frost on the day of shooting really added to the look of the final image above. However I do feel like I made the image slightly too dark in the editing stage, its would have looked better keeping the exposure slightly lighter and making the vignette slightly less visible at the top of the photo. Other than this I am pleased with the outcome of the image.
Image 3: Fine Art
Shutter Speed: 1/125
Aperture: f 4.0
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 18mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125
Aperture: f 4.0
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 18mm
Before and After
For my third image I wanted to take a simple photograph of a tree and take it to a Fine Art level in the post-production stage. In the image above I positioned a camera and tripod low on the ground and shot upwards at the widest focal length that I could with the kit lens. Shooting through the fence in front of me I captured the tree just off centre with the sky all around it. Pulling the image through into Adobe Lightroom I began by straightening and cropping the image to get the best looking frame that I could. I increased the clarity and de-hazed the image to really make the sky and tree stand out. To really bring out the colours of the sky in this image I increased the saturation in a mask around the tree which made the area behind the tree remain white while the sky around the tree shows deep colours of blue, purple and yellow. The contrast between these areas of colour, along with a small vignette around the edges of the image, really draw attention to the tree in the centre.
At first I wasn't particularly pleased with this image as the original shot didn't come out quite as well as I thought it would have. However for this image I used that as an opportunity to try and make the photo look as good as I could in the editing stage. Mainly my problem with the image was the lack of colour, it just seemed very dull. But the actual shot framing and composition was still reasonable. After adjusting the colours the image immediately started to take a bit more shape.
At first I wasn't particularly pleased with this image as the original shot didn't come out quite as well as I thought it would have. However for this image I used that as an opportunity to try and make the photo look as good as I could in the editing stage. Mainly my problem with the image was the lack of colour, it just seemed very dull. But the actual shot framing and composition was still reasonable. After adjusting the colours the image immediately started to take a bit more shape.
Image 4: Macro
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Aperture: f 10
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 27mm
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Aperture: f 10
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 27mm
Continuing my theme of macro photography of leaves I shot the image above. Once again I shot low, through the blades of grass keeping the leaves as central as I could in the frame. Just like the other leaf photograph I didn't want to over do the edit but wanted to make a few subtle changes. Once again I cropped and straightened the image and lightened the photo by increasing the exposure. To really bring out the frost on the leaves I increased the clarity and de-hazed the image.
Image 5: Fine Art
Shutter Speed: 1/800
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 55mm
Shutter Speed: 1/800
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 55mm
For my final photograph I wanted to take a Fine Art landscape image. While walking along the side of the road I came across a field with trees and sheep in the distance. Having noticed that the sun was close to setting behind this hill I quickly pulled out my camera and started shooting with the aim of creating silhouettes of the trees, birds, sheep and hill with the light from the sky behind them. Pulling the image into Lightroom I began by straightening the image out which immediately removed a huge amount of the dead space in the sky. Cropping the image in even further I was able to nicely frame the photograph from the sheep on the far left to the tree on the far right. From here I simply increased the clarity in the image to really make the silhouettes stand out.
This photo is my personal favourite and in my opinion it is the best out of the ten final images. The overall composition and framing of the image is something that really worked well with this one. I am particularly happy with the silhouette effect that was created in the photo. This really made it clear that this is a fine art image rather than just a standard landscape photograph. By keeping the shutter speed high when shooting I could also ensure that the birds remained still and un-blurred in the image.
This photo is my personal favourite and in my opinion it is the best out of the ten final images. The overall composition and framing of the image is something that really worked well with this one. I am particularly happy with the silhouette effect that was created in the photo. This really made it clear that this is a fine art image rather than just a standard landscape photograph. By keeping the shutter speed high when shooting I could also ensure that the birds remained still and un-blurred in the image.