Introduction to photography - Liz Wells

Following is a very interesting book by Liz Wells that I have had a read through while producing my work. It is a must have for people that are doing photography. It has really interesting discussions about different medium in photography. It is an ideal source to stimulate discussions on critical use of photography.

Muzi Sufi.

For this next post, I went looking for amazing things from my ethnic roots and I stumbled upon "Muzi Sufi". She's an up and coming Pakistani talent who has done some pretty amazing stuff. Her work is very dreamy and leaves something and more the the imagination of the viewer. When asked about the style of photography her answer was even more creative:

"I like telling stories. I don’t have a name for my style, it exists but I don’t know what its called. Something between fine art photography and storytelling? … But I think this style evokes a sense of nostalgia, so maybe something to do with that. I want everyone to be able to relate. “Lyrical photography” I’ve genuinely thought about It and I came up with something that most describes it."

Portable flash - Workshop

Bounce the flashgun agains a wall while taking an image so it has more depth

Gels 

Scrim

Small soft box

Black wrap - to start to own where the light goes. If the flash is used without it it will light up the whole place instead of only the subject photographed.

Lighting stand

Tripod 

Radio triggers 

This is not art it is a technique. It is used to explore a subject and not a subject on its own.

Frank Hurley - a picture of a ship - he was about 22 years old when he took the image where the ship was stuck in pack ice. He used big glass plates with magnesium flash because there was no sunlight in that area for months. It is taken in Antarctic. 

Winston link - he came up with lots of natural and clever ways to photograph railways. He used a lot a small portable flashes to take his images.

Weegee - 1960 New York - an image of a girl and her drowned fiancé and she's crying and is in tears but when Weegee points his camera towards the girl she smiles. He has used a camera which can be seen through the background people that are slightly lid compared to the front which is quite harshly lid.

Richard Billingham - he used quite harsh flash lighting towards his family that he has photographed. 

Nan Goldin self portrait - the image that she has taken after being beaten up by someone.

Rinike dijkstra - she has made a series of images of people on a beach. She has lid the picture which makes the image quite odd in terms of lighting. The background is underexposed compared to the person/object photographed. 

Gerard Rancinan - picture of a rugby player - the background looks darker than the subject because of the fact that he has lid his subject from above. This picture would've been impossible if he hasn't used a speed light. 

Picture of the wheelchair - very thoughtful picture by him

Murdo Macleod - the picture in the tunnel. He has used a speed light at the back of the tunnel to light the subject up which can also be seen from her leg that shows the light.

The caste image with the girl holding something above her head - he has underexposed the background by about 2 or 3 stops which gives a very good atmosphere because usually when you take a picture and the clouds look very dark they come out really light in images. 

Gjon mili - picasso with the torch in his hand. One speed light on the top left side of the frame. The flash had lightened up the subject and he has drawn his image with the torch in his hand. 

Douglas Kirkland - shot with a car and people inside it - he has taken of youngsters having fun. The flash has lightened up the car and the people inside it and then has dropped off which is why the background has been blurred and made the king lined lighting effects made with lights on the background. The flash has focused the car and because it was a long shutter speed, the background is blurred. 

Nick Turpin - puddles of light

Logic for soundscapes - Workshop

Logic for soundscapes: Workshop 1

Sound design hints & tips

Radio one is a British movie

Substitute vision with sound – Sound is not there to enhance the vision but it is there to augment the storytelling.

Altered states:

After the viewers perception

Sound can bring an alternative meaning to a scene. Try ambient washes that evoke an atmosphere. Substitute naturalistic sound for sonic metaphors.

Dramatic events:

Sound techniques that sustain audience interest – sound of tension/release, intrigue/curiosity/resolve. Try drones, crescendos, fade in, fade out – music without resolution. Engaging an audience through ambiguity (sound as question). Listen to current dance music and the way it mashes up sound but creates a sense of progression.

Develop a sense of musicality:

Allow the sound to have a sense of musicality and allow the sound to flow. It can craft a scene, highlight a moment or dramatize progression. Balance the imagery against the sound as though in a conversation. Even small changes in the narrative can disrupt that flow to dramatic effect.

Let the vision speak:

Sometimes music creates an invisible mist between viewer and action. Use music at a subconscious level. Try images with and without music. How does it change the meaning of the image? Set a mood but allow the audience to enter a scene (drop music) and exit (re-introduce music) and try in transitions. Try music as a vehicle to describe time, place, and situation. Allow a balance between the visual action, dialogue and sound/music.

Less is more: the mix

Beware information overload. Music can carry too much information. Likewise overuse of SFX crates noise. A strong melody of rhythm, or lyrics in a song can create conflict with the dialogue, action or mood you are trying to portray. A large orchestra for might be a bit too overpowering for an intimate scene. Try different ‘weights’ of music. Use music as a respite.

Silence is golden:

Try the contrast between visual and sonic noise. As an experiment, select a moment within your own work that could benefit from a sequence of silence. Try muting out the music, dialogue, atmospheres or sound effects.

Final mix: Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize:

As yourself what do I need to hear?

Is it a key phrase in the dialogue?

Is it a dramatic moment in the music?

Has a sound effect a special significance?

Final mix:

A vertical and lateral landscape. Allow each of your sounds to ‘breathe’. Give each of your sounds to ‘breathe’. Give each sound a clarity and definition. Trim each sound to occupy its own space in the vertical frequency spectrum. Think, low subs, mid highs, hot and cold etc. imagine each sound to occupy a place in the landscape. Thinned out distant sounds on the horizon, fat punchy dry sounds close up. Let your sounds define the spatial dynamics.

Other:

Sonic punctuation – look at the relationshop between the editing and sound. Is there a sympathetic empathy in rhythm and dynamics. The Water Murch Emotive Arc – the person who invented sound. He is the godfather of sound design.

Logic Pro – How to add sound to an exported video.

Open Logic Pro

Templates page – empty project

New tracks – number 8 and stereo format

Plus bottom on right side to change the timeline to fire and time

File open movie (open the exported movie) and it will come up on a small screen

If you click on global tracks after clicking on the ‘I’ on the left side it shows the video on the timeline

Import track onto the timeline to start editing

Right hand side to the media tab

Click on lops to see all the different genres of sounds

Any of those sounds can be used but it is better to import your own recorded sounds

Drag the sound onto the timeline

Command R to duplicate the sound layer

To cut the sound go to tools on top right – select scissors and press command and click to cut

Select another sound and drag it onto the audio chosen and again edit it as required

Press A for all the automations for all the tracs used so you can lower or higher the sounds of the track

More sounds can be added to the video through the loops

File export audio to movie or bounce set the end time which is the actual end time on the timeline and begin is 1. This will combine all the audio. Good to mute the video on this point so it can be combines on the video editing software used.

Ganesh H. Shankar's Fine Art Nature Photography

This is another photographer that I have found and which I thought looked very similar to what I am trying to do. This photographer has focused more on Nature photography whereas I'm open with what I am photographing but I will experiment into nature as well.

Above is the Bokeh effect that I have trying to do in my images.

The thing that I like about all those photographs is that they are images with not too much detail, they look very simple but still have been very cleverly composed. They all have a mystery in them which is what makes them so interesting to look at. Another thing that I like is that he has made simple things that we possibly see everyday look quite interesting to look at.

My work - Experimenting

Following are two images that I have taken and edited. I have put both black & white and color version because I think some images do look better in color rather than black & white.

This is what I have taken to experiment to effect on Photoshop. I tried the method out and it seemed that the Bokeh effect worked better when I was using images with more lighting such as the one below. I think it would be better if I take the images outdoors or on a location where there is a lot of light sources because that is what will create the Bokeh effect.

The three photographs above are also of the same effect. I think that photograph looks best in the Sepia color and in its actual colors. I think what is missing in this photographs is that mystery effect that Tami Bone had in her images. In my images it is actually noticeable where it is taken and what it actually is. This is the aspect of my work that I still need to work on to make my images look more interesting.

Here above is another example of the same. The thing that was different in my photographs compared to the ones of Tami Bone's is that I have always left one aspect of the photograph in focus whereas she has blurred everything. But I think that what I did created a good effect in the last two photographs that I have taken. When I showed this image to a group of people they actually thought that the car on the bottom right side was a toy that I had placed in the frame which I obviously didn't. I think that is one of the things that I liked about that image. It does have that mystery effect that I have been speaking about in Tami Bone's images.

Final plan

Because of the fact that my previous plans didn't work out according to plan, I decided to change my plan. It is still the same as I have already mentioned before but I have decided to focus on one particular types of images. After my previous research that I did, I have noticed that most of the photographers have invested a lot of money in order to produce those photographs. The only possible achievable type of photographs that I found out of them was those of Tami Bone. I think I can easily achieve those types of photographs. In the following posts I will be posting some experimenting that I have been doing related to that type of photographs. I will also be adding how I can possibly improve those images and make them better. Following is again one of Tami Bone's photographs that I have taken as an inspiration.

I really liked this photograph because I think it is very cleverly composed. The editing is very interesting as well. Two types of blur's have been used in the photograph. the background is blurred with a Bokeh effect and the dog is a normal blur without the Bokeh effect. I have noticed this after I edited my own taken photographs. 

The other thing that I really like about the photograph is that there is a kind of mystery in it. I can not actually tell what is happening in the image or where the dog is or even what is happening to it. This is what atmosphere I want to create in my own images as well.