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Experimental Photography

(Bekki Asquith)

(Out of focus)

I used the camera to take out of focus pictures of certain objects and scenes. I had to change the automatic focus setting to manual focus to allow the focus to blur. I then used the focus ring at the end of the lens barrel to change how blurry the focus was and also the level of focus. The wider the aperture such as f4 gave the image more blur than smaller apertures such as f18. Different focal lengths also affected the image when I adjusted the focus ring.

The results of these photos were a range of images of different things. Some of the best images were of things like branchy trees, coca cola bottles, vending machine shelves, books, a glass ceiling, the floors and levels of college and also a light projected on a wall over a word. I tried to adjust the level of focus amongst the photos that I took so that they weren’t all the same kind of picture.

This is the image that I chose to be the best out of focus image that I took. I think this because you can still see what the objects in the image actually are, they are just blurred.

The tree branches are not as blurry and some of the other images. I like this because it is still obvious that the image is of trees.

The whole of the image is blurry and the light at the top of the image particularly makes a nice effect as it starts to blend in with the branches of the trees.

There are different levels in the image, it is not all one distance away from the camera. Some things like the metal bar are closer and some other things like the final tree in the line are far away. The focus looks the same on each level and I think that this makes the image look better than if the different distances from the camera were prominent and noticeable.

(Hockney photomontages/joiners)The photomontage way of taking photographs means that you have to get up close to the subject of the image and take multiple close photographs. After the photographs have been taken of close up parts of the scene that you want and are sure that you have covered everything then the images can be uploaded to Photoshop.

After I uploaded the photos onto Photoshop, I followed the sequence File-Automate-Photomerge to create my image. I chose the option of collage as to how the images would be arranged together. I am happy with how the photomontages turned out because they work well together and fit well. I made sure that every part of my subject was covered by the photos that I took.

The way that the photographs were merged together on Photoshop made the image on a whole look good. They did not fit together perfectly like a generic photograph; however this was okay because the style of this photography means that they do not always have to look perfect, in fact it’s better if they are not.

This image shows the photomontage technique well. It shows the scene that I chose to photograph in a collage-like way.

The smaller images that I took do not match up perfectly to create the overall scene in the photograph, however, this is the preferred style of the photomontage technique.

I chose a scene like this to photograph for my photomontage experiment because the stairs and the wall signs all looked very uniform and they lined and matched up perfectly. The photomontage effect makes them look more scruffy and more like a collage than a photograph which would counteract the plain photograph if it were to be compared.

(Movement)The way to capture movement in a photograph is to make the exposure long and the shutter speed slow. I made sure that the camera setting was on TV (shutter priority) mode which helped to control the time that the shutter was open for. The camera must be kept still during exposure; this will allow the stationary objects in the photograph to remain clear and in focus while the the moving aspects are caught and blurred. I could have introduced my own movement to the photograph by moving the camera whilst I was holding it. This is what I did on the image on the next slide.

It was difficult to find interesting movement to capture around the college grounds. I think that the results I got from takes these photographs were good but could have been better. The best image that I took that captured movement well was the one where I introduced the movement myself with camera shake.

I used camera shake to show this movement of the lights.

There is an out of focus scene behind the moving lights of people sat around tables. I think that the contrast with the moving lights and the stationary scene in the background looks good on the photograph.

I think that this image could have been made better if the background stationary image was more in focus.

I think that if I were to take the image again, I would try to get a blank background so that the camera shake does not affect the rest of the image and make it look poor quality. That way the only movement and the only subject in the photograph would be the light and nothing else would be distracting.

I really like the lines and shapes that the light in this photograph has made. I think they look interesting and unusual. I did not expect this to be the outcome of the image that I took because the lights look so different when they are stationary to when there is camera shake introduced.

(Reflection)There is not particular skill or technique to taking reflective photographs. The trick is to take an interesting image, because anyone can take a photograph of something reflected in something else and these images are not necessarily always interesting.

With this experiment, I went around the college to try and find objects that could provide me with reflections to take a photograph. I found multiple things to take photographs of including glass panels, computer screens and glazed signs.

These subjects and scenes resulted in some good photographs using the reflection technique. I tried to vary the photographs that I took so that they were not all just the same type of thing; an object shown in something shiny and reflective. For example, the image in the bottom right of this page was taken of a glazed/embossed sign that says ‘Please behave safely’. There is no image reflected in this sign because it is a block colour and is a totally opaque object. I have taken the photograph of a light that is shining onto the block colour rather than an object that can be seen clearly on the surface of the image such as the two images above.

I think that this image is the best out of each of the photographs I took using the technique of reflection. I think this because you can see the reflection but you can also see the thing that is being reflected, which in this case was this person’s legs.

The carpet is also reflected in the glass panel which shows something else that you can see as well as the reflection.

I like this photograph because the glass panel that shows the reflection is not the subject of the photograph. This is different to all of the other reflective photographs I took because there is something else going on in the photograph, rather than the photograph being of just the reflective object.

I think that the reflection in the glass panel is made more interesting by the pattern of the wood behind it. Because the panel is glass it is transparent so the effect of the wood gives an effect to the reflection which is interesting.

The metal bar that is just in front and connected to the glass panel makes a reflection in the glass also. This shows the person’s legs and the metal bar at the same kind of perspective even though in the real photograph side of the image, one is much further away from the glass than the other.