work record 1 shadows

work record 1- working with shadows

for this shoot, i am going to aim for around 5 final images that i can edit and present as a response to my chosen artist. 

my research influence for this shoot is Tim Noble and sue Webster. they are two British artist that have been working together for over 17 years and have won many awards such as the honorary doctors of art degree. the exhibition i have been most interested is the series of sculptures they created that consisted of a pile of different materials such as rubbish or animal parts, that when you shone a light at the right angle, it would cast a shadow of images such as a man and a woman. they make you look more closely at the shadow rather that at the sculpture making it. 

this image shows the shadow of two people leaning against each other. one is holding what looks like a cigarette, and the other is holding a glass of wine. they both have their heads tilted back which suggests they are tired or fed up, or possibly just want to be touching. these two people could be in a relationship that inst working out but the don't want to let go. this is because they are both drinking and smoking which could be interpreted as a coping mechanism, they are also facing away from each other, suggesting there are some negative feelings between them, but they are still touching which could suggest they want to be close, even if they don't want to see each other.




this photo shows two peoples heads looking away from one another. one has their mouth open while the other looks like their brow is furrowed. the head on the right could be shouting or talking. the head on the left could be seen as angry or puzzled. the message behind this piece could show an argument has occurring between these people. the heads are joined which could suggest there is a relationship between them.

contact sheet


images that require improvement

the issue with the first photo was, i had the camera on bracketing which meant it took images at different exposures, one being very high and the other being very low. because of this there are many black shots where i was working in a dark room and the camera took a very low exposure, which meant it came out incredibly dark. if i was to take this photo again, i would make sure the camera is on the correct settings.

the first picture is very blurred and not level. this is because i didn't use a tripod and took the shot while standing. shooting in a dark room meant i had to use a longer shutter speed which also meant the camera needed to be complete;y still, which in this case it wasn't. if i were to take this shot again, i would use a tripod and possibly a remote release to make sure the camera doesn't move while the shutter is open.

best images

i think this photo was effective because the horse and cart is isolated against the background which means the viewer is solely focused on the shadow. it also shows the horses legs and how they're in a pose that indicates movement, which gives the impression of movement in the photo.















i chose these photos because they are sharp and clearly capture a shadow. these were all taken towards the second part of the shoot, which was after i realised the camera was on bracketing. i was able to edit these and sharpen the shadow more.

i also chose these because i really like the effect of the elongated shadow. it looks almost haunting and reminds me of a fairy tale scene.

refining my work



when editing these photos, i didn't want to manipulate them too much as i only needed to capture the shadow. for this photo, i used Photoshop to brighten the image and increase the contrast because i wanted to make the shadow stand out more. i also chose to convert all of my photos to black and white. this was because i wanted the main focus to be on the shadow and not the colourful card i was using.

























with this image in particular, i used the spot healing brush to get rid of the black spots from the dust inside the lens.


final images



overall, i am pleased with the results of the shoot. my original aim was to clearly capture the shadow of the carriage, which i feel i have achieved.  the best photos from the shoot are definitely the elongated shadows as they are the clearest and more eye catching compared to the rest of the shoot.

if i were to do this shoot again, i would use a tripod the whole time, make sure the camera is on the correct settings. the issues i had with the shoot were easily fixed but cost a lot of time to recognise and figure out how to correct.


progression

the next shoot i would like to complete is one where humans are interacting with shadows. these could either be from a comedic point of view or a more dark point of view.  some images that have inspired me for example are ones where someone may be pretending to fight a shadow or play a card game. i think these would be really interesting and fun to make.