Macro Work Diary

During this lesson, we were given the technique of macro photography. To use this technique, I used a tripod, a macro lens, the college camera (because the lens didn't fit my camera), the studio lights and a light meter- to set my camera settings. The only type of macro photography I wanted to do was taking photos of eyes. I did experiment with other items- such as shoes and jumpers, however I do believe the eyes came out the best.

My favorite image from this shoot:

This is my favorite image from this shoot, this is because as my subject widened his eye, it gave it much more shape, I also like how this one differs from my other images in the way that all my other images were taken at a head on centered angle, whereas this one is titled, which I personally prefer. Furthermore I like this image due to the detailing within my subjects eye, you can almost see a pattern around his pupil. For some reason, the camera gave a natural vignette effect which I actually quite like, especially in this image because almost shapes around the eye.

My least favorite image from this shoot:

When researching this technique, I came across many of shoes which I really liked. I attempt to do this however as I didn't have a lot of time I am not happy with my final result on this. This is because the photo was taken really rushed as my subjects wanted to leave and also as it was taken so quickly, I forgot to move the light in the studio, which has had a negative impact on my final product. Furthermore, I think image would have been better if I had both shoes within the image. 

Using this technique?

When I come to doing my shoots for my independent project, I do not think I will be using this technique because I do not believe it will suit my project. Furthermore, I do not think many of these photos are as intriguing as I would want them to be. Finally, I hope to use as little studio shoots as I can because I do find that they can become too "fake" and "posed" which is not what I want for my project.

Macro Straight Images

For this shoot, My camera settings were...
1/250 Shutter Speed
F. 16
ISO: 200

Macro Image Bank

This is an image which displays macro technique. The object in this image is a cherry which appears to have been put in water so there is water bubbles all around it, this makes an intriguing image because of the angle of the cherry, how is it sat so perfectly? Additionally this image shows a variety of bubble sizes which wouldn't be clear if take on an ordinary lens such as the one I own. 

This is an image which is very similar to an image which I took last year of someones else. Macro photography is a really good way of capturing features such as eyes. Furthermore, this image clearly shows the distortion side of macro photography, the eye is in focus but as the photo pans out, it becomes more distorted, this is a good way of using macro photography because it gives the audience one clear object to pay attention to- in this case the eye.

This is a beautiful image which conveys the macro technique because it shows a perfectly shaped snowflake. Much like the image above, this photographer has used distortion to show the main object- the snowflake. The way this is taken is truly breathtaking because this photographer has captured very well the sharp detailing of a snowflake whilst positioning off center so we can see snow in the background, yet it is distorted/out of focus, so it appears very bright and shiny.

This is a good image which suits my independent project because I hope to be doing photographs on smoking and this shows a more glamorous side- the flames and sparks. This image would have been taken with a very fast shutter speed to capture this image the way the photographer has done.

A dragonfly with water on. I haven't actually seen an image like this because researching this technique and I think it's actually really beautiful because it shows the fine detailing of the water around the insects body. The photographer has also centered this subject which is very intriguing because it appears to be very still- to capture this image, the photographer again would have had to have a very fast shutter speed so no movement of the insect would have been picked up.

This is a final image which I have chosen to display the macro technique because again it is very similar to an image which I took last year. This technique as displayed by some of these images in this blog post, can be used to form a shallow/narrow depth of field because the foreground object/subject is very sharp and even though we can still work out the background, it isn't as dominate as the front standing item.

Macro Techniques

When using a Macro lens, it's very important to have a fast shutter speed. This is because the main idea for this technique of photography is to capture a sharp and detailed image, if there was a slow shutter speed, this would result in distortion and maybe blur, which if that isn't intended it can ruin an image.

Macro photography definition- A photography technique producing photographs of small items larger than life size.

The equipment needed for this technique is a tripod, even though there is a fast shutter speed so movement wouldn't be a problem, a tripod is very handy in order to create a "straight" and well positioned image. 

This is an example of a macro photo, you can see the sharp detail of the cats face, the main aspect of this image which makes it intriguing (the studium) is the cats eye, it's almost has a bubble like effect of it. Also this is a good example of macro photography because you can see the clear detail of the cats fur and whiskers which in real life you can't see as clear as this image. 

Wide Angle and Close Up Work Diary

For the wide angle images, I managed to produced these by zooming out to 18mm, and focusing on a main object to be in focus, causing some of the rest of the image is out of focus. As these images were taken at home, due to me not going to the transition lessons, I was unable to use a tripod, if I had I believe these images would have been significantly improved as it would mean I could focus on using leading lines to frame my photos, however I am still happy above the out come of this shoot.

My favorite image of this shoot:

The reason I really like this image is because I believe the focus is really strong and sharp in this image, alongside this, I like how the window framed 3 of the side of the photo. Another aspect of this image which I really like is how the background it blurred but you can still see that it is a garden. Even though this isn't a landscape example of a wide angle photo, I still think this is a good example of wide angle because there is a slight fish eye effect around the plant. The Shutter Speed I used for this image was 1/200 because these types of photos result much better when its a faster shutter speed rather than a slower shutter speed because it results in a more sharper photo- a section of the image wouldn't be distorted from movement of either me from holding the camera of something in the garden from the wind. The F.stop I used was 3.6. As this image was inside and not a landscape, there was no need for a high f.stop so I chose to do one of the lowest f.stops because I thought this out come would be much better due to helping the lighting not dull the colours or make them too saturated/bright.

My image is very similar to the famous work of Rob Moses. AS you can see the key element which is resembled in both these images is the depth of field. This is because the wide angle technique captures the surroundings, however it is blurred and all the focus is on the punctum- the main object in my case the plant, in Moses case, the Chinatown's loin. The reason Rob Moses captured this image was because he wanted to show how common you can find the loin statues, he was walking around London and found so many, this was the favourite image that he capture due to the technique he captured with it.

My least favorite image of this shoot:

Even though I believe this is a good example of a wide angle image, the reason this is my least favorite image is because I don't think it is that interesting to look at. Another reason why this is my least favorite image of this shoot is because I believe this image is "messy", as the subject is of centered it doesn't look neat and the background is very messy. The Shutter Speed which I used for this image was 1/4000. The reason this shutter speed was so fast was because when this image was taken, it was a very bright day and a lot of the photos were becoming unclear due to the sun. With an F.stop of 5.6 it help give the element of texture to this image, if I would have used different camera setting my image may have been much softer- which isn't what I wanted as I hoped to show the bumpiness of the trees. 

Progression:

If I were to re-shoot wide angle photos, I would make sure I definitely use a tripod to make my images much straighter to ensure the final outcome being much "neater".  As shown from examples found on google, a way I could improve my forest image would be to make it so there wasn't something in the foreground which is a subject to take away focus from the rest of the landscape- for example to 2nd image shown above. Or I could extend my photography from taking images eye level, to above our heads, this could improve this photo because it makes it much more interesting to look at. When taking photos of landscapes, I think this would definitively be a good technique to use as it can take more of the landscape into account with a really nice out come.  

Much like the Wide angle shoot, I took the close up series of images in my own time- outside of college, therefore not being able to use a tripod as I do not currently own one. Therefore the out come of these images are different to how they would have been if I had used a tripod- Objects/subjects could have been positioned better. To get these images I relied mainly on manual focus, this made it easier for me to make sure my chose objects were the things in focus and not the background- otherwise it wouldn't be a close up.

My favorite image of this shoot:

 

The reason this is my favorite image of this shoot is because I like how the close up of the ball is not the only aspect of this photo- the out of focus background reveals a dog- one that probably uses this ball as a toy. Even though this image doesn't complete the photos I used at research in my image bank, I still really like this image and believe it is a good example of how close ups can be used for not just a close up of one object- the background can show something else. The Shutter Speed I used for this image was 1/1250. My reason behind having such a fast shutter speed is because the way I wanted my image to be-with the dog laying int he background, would have had to of been taken quickly because as shown on other attempts of this image, my dog doesn't tend to sit still for very long when someone is near one of his toys as he thinks I would be playing. The f.stop I used for 5.6 because I didn't want a high f.stop with the sun being as bright as it was at this moment- it would have ruined the concept of the image.

My image shown above is very similar to this photographers work. It shows a close up of an object- in this case the cupcake, but in my case the tennis ball, but reveals through narrow depth of field a story behind it. In my case, I have a dog with his toy in focus in the foreground, and in this case, the photographer has captured the cupcake in the foreground in focus and the girl subject looking like she really wants to eat the cake in the background but is blurred so she isn't the main focus of this image.

My least favorite image of this shoot:

I got my inspiration for this image from an image shown from my image bank. I really like this image, however the reason I has put it as my least favorite image is because to achieve this final product, I cropped an image, which isn't a successful way of making a close-up image. The reason I done this was due to the lighting, my camera was focusing on the kiwis when I tried to taken them on their own, so I tried it further away and zoom into the image and thought it worked ok. If I hadn't had to crop a big photo down to this and down the close up properly, I was like this image much more. The Shutter Speed I used for this image was 1/60 because I didn't particularly need a fast shutter speed and I was using object which wouldn't move, however a faster shutter speed may have helped make this image sharper. The f.stop I used for this image was 3.5 because I didn't want to create a "fish eye" effect used in wide angle photography as this would have changed the technique which I intended to use. 

Progression:

If I were to re-shoot close up images, I would hope to use the colleges macro lens and also take the photos in the studio because I think this way, I would be able to control the lighting which my image would be exposed to and thus helping with the sharpness. Above are two more images of kiwis I found on google, I think these two photos are a good idea of how to progress my photo of a kiwi because these two close up photos are so clear and I hope to take a photo in this way for a close up. 

Wide Angle and Close Up- Straight Images

Wide Angle...

Shutter Speed: 1/200
F.stop: 3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/4000
F.stop: 5.6

Shutter Speed: 1/125
F.stop: 7.1

Shutter Speed: 1/1000
F.stop: 5.6

Close Up...

Shutter Speed: 1/250
F.stop: 5.6

Shutter Speed: 1/60
F.stop: 3.5

Shutter speed: 1/1250
F.stop: 5.6

Wide Angle and Close Up- Image Bank

This image is linked to the technique of a wide angle because as you can see the entire side of the house of parliament, the photographer would have used a wide angle to achieve this final product. As there is a small fish eye affect, I would predict this photographer had a much bigger lens that 55mm, thus making the smaller mm even more significant, I really like this image as it shows how you can use a wide angle to show more to the audience, I hope to take an image with relates to this- of a building and showing the whole part of it.

This is another example of a wide angle. Even though it isn't a landscape, you can still tell that the wide angle effect has been used here, this is because the fish eye type effect shown from the dogs snout shows the wide angle. As the dogs snout appears to have been extended and the photograph shows lost around the dog, it is clear a wide angle has been used. If this was a close up, the surroundings wouldn't be there- it would be mainly the dog. 

This is another example of a wide angle used in a landscape. I really like this image because it creates a sense of serenity and tranquility. You can tell this is a wide angle because the whole image is stretched out so the viewer can see more. I really like how the photo there is a use of leading lines- firstly the foot path on the bridge and then the rails, leading into the island of trees.  

This is an example of a close up. I really like this image and believe it is beautiful. I love how the sharp blue from the eye contrasts with the dull colours of the fur and nose. I also like how the cat is the main focus of the image and nothing in the background it taking away the focus. As the background is blurred, you can tell this is intended to be a close up.

This is another example of a close up. I also like this image because of the focus of the raindrops on the flower. Alongside this, the photographer has had a strong focus on the middle of the flower creating this to be the sharpest part of the image. 

This is a final example of a close up which i really hope to take a similar photo to. The reason for this is because the photographer has focused on the front kiwi and the one in the background is blurred out, be enough to know it is still the other half of a kiwi. I also like this image because I like how the green of the kiwi is sharpened through the black colour from the pips, alongside the darker green lines coming out from the center.

Wide Angle and Close up- Techniques

Wide angle- A wide angle is having a short focal length and hence a field covering a wide angle.

The camera settings you would use to create a wide angle image... You would use the lowest possible length on your camera lens- for example 18mm, then using manual focus you adjust it so the majority is in focus, most importantly the foreground in focus creating a wide depth of field effect.

This image is an image which illustrates this technique- it can sometimes create a distorted effect also called a "fish eye" effect, such as the image above displays, this helps the photo include as much over the scenery as it can- this technique is therefore useful for landscapes. The positives of forming the distorted effect of fish eye is that the photographer can capture a lot more of the surroundings- for example in the image above, the photographer has captured the market square, without this wide angle technique, the frame would be limited and may not display as much.

Close up- This is an image which is taken very close to an object- an example of this is macro photography. 

Camera settings- for close up photography, manual focus is key, for most close up, the idea is for the entire image to be in focus and very clear, a way of getting this would be to stand back (if you have a small lens) then zoom is and use the focus, if you were to stand close to it, the objects wouldn't be able to go in focus as the camera may not pick it up (if it isn't a macro lens).

This image is an example of a close up because the majority of the objects used are in focus- in the main thirds, and the rest is out of focus, this can be what certain photographers use close ups for because there is a clear use of the element colour displayed in this image and even though we cannot see the whole object, just from the ends we know they are pencils.

For both these techniques other than a camera the main equipment needed for these images would be a tripod. This is because for a wide angle image, you may wish for there to be leading line (as shown in the example above) therefore needing them to be straight and the best way for this would to have your camera on a tripod. You would also need a tripod for a close up because you would then be able to focus purely on the manual focus, instead of whether or not the photo is straight.