In the photos i have taken you can see that each photo has a shadow which shows more texture. By having shadow coming off of the plants gives us more form and you can see the lines and shape of the actual photo which i think brings more the the photo than it did before When taking these photos i used a DSRL camera which was on the black and white mode...when i was taking these photos not all are in line within the angle of me i had to bend down and turn my camera to get different view points of the object i was taking a photo of. When i took the shoot i felt confident as i am able to get the shadow to reflect of the Leafs and flowers, not only that but the advantage to all these photos are that they are in black and white. Taking the photos in black and white show that not everything needs to be in colour and the photos are as good as they are in colour. However, next time i wish to take more up close photos so the the camera can focus on one bit instead of the whole image. |
when i took this intention camera shoot you can see that not all of my pictures are blurry some of then are in focus unlike some of them...on most of my pictures the colour really stands out this has happened by the light of the room and the colour of the flowers i chose to use during this ICM shoot. whilst taking this shoot i used to macro lenses on a DSLR camera and this shoot was inside because the lighting was better that day... i had to move my camera around so i could get different angles of the image as they all would not look the same. However to improve these images next time i could've move my camera a bit more so i could get a better image as most of my pictures are focused but overall i am happy with the work i have done. |
In my opinion I believe this image is successful because the warmth of the picture really stands out and you can see different little bits of detail such as the different shapes and colour of the plant I took a picture of. The main focus of this picture is the very front of the plant it has an unusual shape which adds more texture. To improve this picture next time I will get closer to the object or plant I would be taking a picture of. When I was taking this photograph I was aiming for the texture and different shades of White, Black, and Grey. You can see at the edge of the camera the plant is a bit blurred out and as you get further away from the camera the plant stands out more as you can see different lines on the plant which brings out the rest of the colour around the plant. Out of all the photographs I have taken I like this one the best because there is a lot more detail around the camera.
Whilst taking this photo I got on my knees and took the picture from my eye line so I could relate the picture to what I see. In this picture you can really see the shadows of other leaves and the leave in front of the camera, you can also see that the main focus is in the middle then at the back of the picture it goes blurry as the main bit I want the camera to focus is the front of the picture. The darkest parts of the picture is at the back and the lightest is the closest is to the lens. I don't specifically like this photo as the lighting ruins the photo too much as on the leaf closest to the camera is too bright and you cant really see that much detail around the photo. To make this photo better next time i would move my camera into a different position and the angle so the sun reflects nicely on the object i am taking a photo of. Another thing i could do to improve this photo is to maybe hold the plant in a different position instead. |
“The camera sees more than the eye, so why not make use of it?” |
To begin my Abstract Nature Artist Investigations, I will initially study the work of Edward Weston because of his use of low key lighting situations on Abstract Forms. I am inspired by his close ups that he takes on Natural Forms such as sea shells, peppers and hard cabbages.
Edward Weston was born on the 24th March 1886 in America and was known for taking Abstract Nature images which were shot with low key lighting. He is also known for using a view camera which was before the digital camera was invented. I chose the inspirational quote because it sums up the work of Edward Weston because it really tells us there's so much more to a view in front of us and on camera. We cant change what's in front of us but we can change what's on a camera. |
The photographer of this image is Edward Weston. The title of this photograph is Pepper no.30 dating back to 1930 and is a black and white photograph and is one of the best-known photographs taken by Edward Weston. It depicts a solitary green pepper in rich black-and-white tones, with strong illumination from above. The photographer used the 7 visual elements of art in his art to create this photograph. In my opinion the strongest elements are texture , form and colour. You can really see texture of the picture as it looks like the pepper is almost like moving in a way. However, the colour is something else as it adds more feature to the image and the technique he has used to make the outline of the pepper the darkest part of the image and then the lightest near to top and front make the image look more intense and calming. The main focal point of the image is the texture. I can tell this because o the way the pepper is arranged and the way the way it has been placed. The pepper has been placed in the middle ground so that they can see every bit of detail they possibly can and see it close up instead of far away. I believe that this photo has been taken inside a dark room because you are unable to see the background behind the pepper and the room is extremely dark. I can see that the light comes from the top left and right as there is a bright reflection on the t op if the pepper. I feel the photo gives a message of dark humour and coldness, I think this way because the image of the pepper is very gloomy and dark which gives me a feeling that the person that took this photo is shy and in a way this photo gives me a hint of loneliness. When i take my own photographs i will try to re-create this feeling by making my photos darker and gloomier...... |
Pepper no.30
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In short, high-key images are those that have few shadows and have the subject set against a very bright background. High-key images are often set against over-exposed backdrops. In high-key photos, the average of all the pixels in the image is very bright. High-key is the opposite of low-key images that are defined by their darker tones.
For landscape photography, snowy scenes are some of the best ways to take high-key photos. High-key images also work well in foggy conditions. There will only be a few shadow details in such a photo, while the rest can be bright or even completely white. |
"My botanical documents should contribute to restoring the link with nature. They should reawaken a sense of nature, point to its teeming richness of form, and prompt the viewer to observe for himself the surrounding plant world." |
This artist was chosen as his work features natural forms which links to my project of abstract nature. Not only is his work natural forms, these are also slightly abstracted as some of these images have been enlarged many times. This artist is called Karl Blossfeldt and his work is mainly known from his first publication Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature) which was published in 1929. Blossfeldt experimented with home-made cameras which gives his work the effect it has.
This quote was chosen because I thought it was quite powerful as Germany reached industrial maturity around 1895-1907 which means Blossfeldt was alive to see this. This means that Blossfeldt is trying to "reawaken that sense of nature" which was partly lost due to industrialisation. This video was chosen as this book featured in this video shows Blossfeldt's complete works and the various plants he photographed. This also shows the unique style of his photography cased by his home-made cameras |
My chosen photographer is called Karl Blossfeldt who produced many works until his death in 1932. The title of the photograph on the right is 'Saxifrage Wilkommiana' (1898-1928) The genre of photo is almost still life and abstracted slightly. The props in this photo feature a rosette of leaves enlarged 10 times. This is a traditional Blossfeldt Photograph as all of his work is botanicals and enlarged plants.
The composition of the photo shows a rosette of leaves in the direct centre/foreground of the image as the only component to this photograph. Using the rule of thirds, we can see that the subject has been equally distributed and the viewer's eyes have been lead around the image effectively. The perspective of this photo that Blossfeldt has used is debatable however, I think that it is more of a birds eye as this image seems to be taken from above the subject. On the other hand, some could argue that it falls under the insect/ant level as the image has been enlarged 10 times. Blossfeldt employs a range of visual elements in his work. The most striking elements include texture. Texture is effective in his work as this image shows an almost leathery look which indicates the Blossfeldt paid attention to detail, texture also helps us to understand the leaves in a biology and knowledge aspect. Line is also quite effective in this image as the leaves extend to every direction, this makes it seem that the subject is completely central and also frames the image in a very professional way. This photo has been taken from what looks to be a short distance as the detail of this subject is so fine and focused however, it is possible that any shadows and imperfections have been edited out post-shoot. This is so the leaves are the only focus and subject. These leaves have been placed central in this frame as rule of thirds and framing is effective in this image, by doing this, the subject is the only thing in view and the viewer's eyes are lead around the centre upon first glance. This photo has been taken most likely on a table with an aerial view, this has been done to create minimal shadows/highlights and to make sure the (seemingly natural) light is spread equally around the image. This is most likely due to the educational purposes of this photo. This creates a very professional atmosphere as this image shows clarity, focus and educational tones due to the framing and texture. To emulate this photograph, I would need to use natural light and a colourless background to create the professional energy which is evident in all of Blossfeldt's works. As earlier voiced, this image doesn't have a clear mood/atmosphere other than professional (due to the framing and texture) as its a very neat and biologically accurate image. This photograph is relevant to our project as this image falls under the genre of 'nature' which is also part of our project 'abstract nature', to understand abstracted nature, one must study nature as the abstraction will become more fluent with an understanding of the natural form's original composition. |
Saxifraga Wilkommiana (1898-1928)
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