Macro Photography

Macro photography in short is basically, close-up photography.
Special lenses can help to improve the quality and how close you can get to the subject without loosing any detail and create very crisp beautiful images.

Macro photography is all about filling the frame or getting close enough to your subject so the texture and definition of the object or subject you are photographing can shine through and produce fantastic photographs.
Macro photography can be used within the photographic industry in a wide range of ways and most notably through advertising.
companies will hire photographers to take pictures of there image they want to advertise and the best way of doing this is by macro shooting, getting very close to the subject so that the product is the centre of attention and will draw people to it.
A great example of macro photography within advertising is the company 'Apple' who have a range of electronic equipment from MP3's to laptops, monitors tablets and smart phones.

these images that are used to market Apple's products are very clean, crisp clear but most of all, they are simple.
the lighting that has been used is a very soft light and the backgrounds that are found on most of Apples products are block white or block black keeping things very clinical and beautiful. this allows for the viewer to be drawn directly and only to the product as there is no distraction away
from the actual product.

images from:
http://www.apple.com/








After looking at these images i was inspired to try out my macro photography brief inspired by the marketing techniques of apple, keeping things simple and clean with no distraction is the background keeping focus on the item.

The images that i have taken here are very much inspired by the Apple marketing images shown above.

by placing my objects on a reflecting table.

i used a simple light set up of one soft box giving a clean wash over the objects to heighten the detail in both the objects and reflection but to also heighten the white/grey background.

A well know Photographer who specialises in still life and macro photography is Toby Mc'farlan Pond.
his images are very stylised and could also be seen as a merge between photography and graphic design.

All of Toby Mc'farlan Pond's work is carefully thought of, for example, it is clear he thinks about composition as a massive factor in photography and how they can make a shot stand out as composition can be used in numerous ways to draw the viewer into the said piece.
Colour has been used aswell in his shots to give an impact, as with the first set of images i have provided of the red phone, Pond has used a white background to emphasise the bold brash red colour and thus enhances the overall impact of the shot.
with the grey image of the necklace, here Pond has thought about the metal and the sharp edges and has clearly reflected that in his background choice. finally the perfume bottle has been given a black background to make the deep midnight blue of the bottle look truly beautiful and he has also given the image a moonlight-looking glow around the edges to frame the bottle.

-images from  http://www.brydgesmackinney.com/photography/mcfarlanpond/index.html

After exploring Macro ohotograhy through an advertising perspective i have also looked at macro through a more predictive path.

With these images i tried going into a more natural view of Macro photography. here you can see a huge amount of detail and texture.
these images are also a great example of bold colour from the bright pink to the emerald green in the images.

As shown, macro photography can be used in a wide range of ways, from fashion to documentary and advertising to natural.
macro can be interpreted in a number of ways and that is why it is the most diverse type of photography.

Weekly Picture Project 5

This week we were given the brief of;

"the Twilight hour"

this is the hour of the day were either the sun is just coming up in the morning or when the sun is just gong down in the evening.

for this week's project i decided to look at both times, the morning and evening and show what different effects they create.

one is very dramatic and the other is hidden but beautiful.

i shall start in order of day so the first image i submitted was of the morning twilight hour.

Morning Twilight gives a due to the environment

I decided with showing morning twilight because as you will see later it is a great contrast to evening twilight.

the above image was taken in my garden at around 7.20am just when the sun was rising and when the due has not been dried off yet after a cold evening.

i took this particular image because i think it has a great amount of detail, texture and tone but also has a beautiful fresh emerald green colour and this especially emphasised by the due at this particular "magical" time of day.

Next i decided to photograph the evening twilight hour:

Evening Twilight can be quite dramatic

This image was taken on a field next to my house at around 6.30pm.

i looked out my window and saw this beautiful bright orange and red sunset and decided this would be the perfect opportunity to show the evening twilight.

Although the image has obviously been edited and it was taken with the sunset setting on my camera which gives the images a golden glow, the dramatic effect and stunning detail and texture in the clouds is all real.

As i mentioned earlier, this image is a stark contrast to the morning twilight, whereas morning has only small effects on the environment like a mist or due, the evening has a huge effect such as this sunset which has altered the clouds and the colour of the landscape almost like an explosion.

Both times of twilight shown are obviously very different but they are both also very beautiful in there own way and i think i have been successful in showing what "The Twilight hour" is.

Blackburn Museum visit

To get a greater understanding of our object photography brief we went to visit Blackburn Museum and was able to take pictures of the many objects on display there.

Luckily, the museum creator allowed me and a couple of my friends to have a look at the storeroom were most of a museums collection is kept, he also revealed that only 15% of any museums collection is actually displayed while the other 85% is hidden away on dusty shelves and cramped cupboards.
while i was in the storeroom i managed to take a few shots of the rustic, vintage, old objects.

The above images provide great personality and atmosphere as i have managed to capture the old, forgotten state of the museums collection, using high contrasts and increasing the definition of the images to highlight the mass amount of detail within the storeroom.

After looking around the rest of the museum and its collection i asked the curator if it was possible to take pictures of some of the Egyptian collection but with a hands on approach.
luckily he was more than willing to let me physically hold some of the Egyptian artefacts that were more than 3,000 years old.

the museum visit has given me an insight into asking people and arranging visits as i build my persona as a photographer.
for example, for me to be able to take further pictures in the museum, if i chose to pursue this more, i would have to ring up the museum, speak to the curator and arrange a day were i would be able to come up and be able to do some shots. this is  what is going to be expected of me in my later years as i will have to speak to people and arrange visits to places to be able to get the images i desire.

Weekly Picture Project 4

this weeks project was to look at;

"October colour and light"

october light and colour for me meant bright orange sun and golden crispy leaves so for this brief i wanted to show just that.
before i chose my final image i had a few that i couldn't really decide on, all images shown a different type of "october light and colour".

forrest light 1

forrest light 2

with the above "forrest light 1 and 2" images i tried to reflect that "last moment of warmth" time just before the sun goes down and the winter chill sets in.
although the composition on these images is nothing new and quite safe, i think that i have captured that warm glowing feeling perfectly.

october can bring out beautiful colours

with the mushroom picture i wanted to show what detail and colour october/autumn can bring to the british landscape.
the deep red of the mushroom mixed with the emerald green of the grass is beautiful, complimented by a soft golden glow from the sunlight moments before it goes down.

all above images do show "october colour and light" although i wanted something a bit more, thoughtful and pleasing. something that truly reflects that orange theme we get from october.

final image.

the image that i chose to represent "october colour and light" for my Weekly picture project is the image above.
i chose this image because not only does it have a beautiful amber/orange to the background but it also shows the decaying leaves as it slowly turns into winter.
a perfect representation of what october is.
i edited this image by turning it into a HDR image. this is done in photoshop by choosing three of the same image, the original, a lighter version and a darker version and merging them together to get the background detail to really stand out, and as i wanted that orange to seap through and contrast with the dying brown leaves, making a HDR image was the best choice.

Two-faced

Our brief today was to take simple portrait images of our partner using any lighting setup and facial expressions wanted and then take the image chosen into photoshop and "face-mask" it.
a "face-mask" is when you cut half way down an image/face and then flip it over to either the right or left side.
this creates a symmetrical effect so that one side of the face becomes both sides of the face.
this particular technique is generally used in the model/fashion photography industry to create the "perfect" all symetrtical face. but obviosuly the model then becomes, false and people then start to admire a model that no one could achieve the look of because he/she was made digitally.

although the left and right face's don't look right, the overall experiment was helpful as my skills will expand in coming months.

the above image is my experiment with my model for the day.
although after a "face-mask" my model does not look right, from there, photographers and editors then go further by making sure the hair is in proportion and looks right with the face and then they re space the eyes so that the whole face is to a "normal" standard and is easily recognisable.
i was not able to go into that kind of editing, as this is as far as my "face-masking" skills go, but im sure as time goes on my skills and knowledge in "face-masking" and other types of advanced photoshop editing will grow and expand.

Weekly Picture Project 3

For this weeks project we were given the brief;

"Patterns in the built environment"

this meant we were to go out and look for any natural pattern created by something built and emphasise the desired pattern through the use of angle if needed.
i decided to show two different perspectives on the brief.

Patterns can be found on a large scale...

this first image (above) is a very obvious choice for "patterns in the built environment" as it is a manufactured building and clearly would be easy to find patterns amongst its architecture.
What i like about this image though is not only the patterns in the actual bulling but the patterns that the cloud makes when it is reflected almost symmetrical, in the glass building, all elements work really well in this image and to accompany that, i have used an overpowering angle to give that sense of power.

...or on a small scale

The second image i chose to reflect "patterns in a built environment" is a subject that once shown, is an obvious choice but at the same time, something that you would not necessarily think of straight away.
the spiders cobweb is a small yet beautiful example of both a built environment and pattern as they both are one and the same.
the spider has built this web for catching flies but at the same time, they create these beautiful patterns and i have been able to emphasise this even more as i managed to catch this in my garden at the right time of day, with the right light and a with a stunning morning due to it. un-touched and un-disturbed.
editing the image, i chose to de-saturate the colour so that the focus is drawn completely on the web and i have also added a grain filter in photoshop to add that atmospheric film noir tone to the image.

Both images are completely different examples of what could be achieved when looking for "patterns in a built environment" but it is important to fully explore areas like this in the way i have, looking at subjects at far sides of the spectrum. exploring all possibilities.

Album Cover Brief

for this weeks brief we were tasked with choosing a song of our choice and making an album cover for the chosen song.
this was to be taken as a photograph then edited with added text layers in either Photoshop, Light room or Aperture.
this brief was to give an insight in to what we would be expected to accomplish on a normal day, which is a single day for a single brief and to have it completed at the end of the day the brief was set.

The song of my choice was "lil freak" by the artist "Usher"
the title said it all to me and i wanted a model who i would be able to turn into this weird, distorted figure but still remain as a woman that was recognisable.

to give the image of this "freak" i decided to put make-up on my model that would reflect this, i only put facial make-up on and on slightly around the eyes and the mouth to emphasise someone who is messy, crazy and strange.
after choosing which image to use as my base cover i began editing in aperture then finally adding light adjustments and text in photoshop. this is my first attempt.

First attempt

the first attempt for the album cover just seemed a bit too over-the-top for what i wanted and very busy and actually quite uneasy to look at, also the cover didn't really suit the tone and style of the artist and the actual song. so i decided to start again and use different editing techniques, this time only using aperture slightly and trying different filters on photoshop to see what results i would get.

The final cover

The above image is what i finally chose to use as my album cover.
there are a number of improvements over the first image that i was going to submit.
firstly the text looks a lot more professional and isn't too fancy, just right for an album cover
next, the sepia/brass over all colour gives a minimalistic feeling to the image and isn't too dark or bright to focus on and i have done away with the brushes and toned down the overall bustle of the image so that its easier to concentrate on, something that is very important within that industry so that potential buyers are not put off.
finally my model is a lot easier to look at, her hair seems a lot softer and her face is not as unsettling as was before and i have managed to keep a feminine feel but also keep to the true nature of the "freak" within the title. i have also made her eyes completely white and almost seem hollow, i decided this as it draws people right to the centre of the image.
Although the make-up cant actually be seen, the outlines of it are still there and without it, the image would not be as striking.

overall i am pleased with this experimental brief and what i have managed to accomplish within a day, going from receiving the brief, choosing a song, photographing a suitable cover and then finally fine tuning and editing it before submitting.