End of Project Evaluation.

Throughout this 'Light' project, I have discovered interesting photographers during my research behind the theme. I have really enjoyed experimenting with light, especially light painting. I like the fact that this project really gave me a chance to properly experiment with both film and digital SLRs. This project also gave me a chance to make my photographs even better on photoshop, and I think that I created some really great effects on it, such as this piece :

I also learnt how to perfect light painting, working out which shutter speeds work best on my two cameras : Olympus OM 10 Film SLR camera, as well as my Canon EOS 600D digital SLR camera. When working with both, I found that the B setting worked best on my Olympus camera, which meant that I could keep the shutter open for as long as possible, although sometimes I kept it open for too long and the picture became over-exposed and not as detailed. With the Canon, I found that using the shutter speed of 10/1 second worked the best for that camera, and what I wanted to do with the shot. I used a red laser pen for my shots, and one of my favourites was this one :

However, I found that it didn't give me enough time to perfect my writing in the shot! I think that it gave a great effect, especially as I shot it in pitch black light. 

Throughout the project, the artists that I looked at various artists that inspired me; Janne Parviainen, Pablo Picasso and Patrick Rochon. I found there work interesting to research and helped me to experiment more in my own photographs. My favourite artist that I looked at this project was probably Janne Parvianinen, as I found the light paintings of the skeletons among a 'family gathering' really inspirational. 

Some things during this project didn't work, I sometimes found that my pictures weren't focused properly, so they came out blurry when developing them. I also found that working out the shutter speed for my light paintings was tricky - trying them at 5 seconds, 10 seconds and 20 seconds to see which worked best. I found that a different time worked best for each separate photograph, so it was difficult to work out which time worked with which photograph, and this took time, but for quite a few of my photographs, the timings worked well. For example, these ones didn't turn out quite right:

Using GlowDoodle

Using the digital SLRs. 

For the next project, I think that I will try and experiment a bit more with my work, and try and improve on the things that don't go so well, instead of just focusing on the photographs that have worked. I will also try and take a variety of different photos, including different locations, and light settings etc...

Photoshop Editing. Film to Digital.

These photos were taken using an Olympus OM 10 SLR film camera. I then scanned them in and edited them on photoshop, adding layers of pictures of Christmas trees that I took recently. The Christmas tree photographs were taken out of focus so that they created the 'twinkle' effect. I like how it looks over the top of these photographs. I chose the layer 'screen' to create this effect. Without the effects, the pictures weren't as interesting or defined. For example, in the top picture, it came out quite out of focus, but I did like the lighting in it, so I wanted to keep the photograph to use in my project. By adding the texture on top, it made the photograph more unique, and you don't focus as much on the blurriness of the picture. In the bottom photograph, the lighting doesn't appear very good. I thought that by adding the texture on top, it would make the lighting of it more interesting. The lines are from the windows that were lit up by the Christmas tree, and I think that they create an unusual yet interesting effect. I am happy with how the photographs came out in photoshop.

Get photoshop here!

Light Painting : Digital

The following pictures were taken on a Nikon D3000. The Shutter speed used was 8/1 second. The Aperture was set to F/3.8 and the Focal Length was 22mm. The ISO speed was 400.

This picture was taken on a Canon EOS 600D. The Shutter Speed was 10/1 seconds and the Aperture was F/4.5. The Focal Length was 30mm and the ISO speed was 320. I used a EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II lens.

I really enjoyed taking these photographs as I liked having the freedom to experiment. All of them except the last one were taken at College, but the last one was taken at home. I liked trying the different effects and I found that writing with a laser pen on the wall worked really well. I found out that on a film SLR camera, you don't want to keep the shutter speed open too long as it could over-expose the film, however on a digital SLR camera you can keep it open as long as you want, as there is no film to over-expose. I also liked how on the last one, the red laser pen appeared pink, which was due to changing some of the settings on the camera, which happened by me experimenting. I found, however, that sometimes I should have made the shutter speed longer as I rushed to get all of the writing in, so that could be an area to improve. 

This one above, for example, didn't work particularly well. I think the reason that it didn't work as well is because there was too much light source, therefore not showing the full effect of the laser pen drawing. I think that if it had been darker, the effect would have been much better. I do however like the effect of how the face has been blanked out which makes her seem emotionless, which I think is interesting.

2012 Targets.

Here are my New Year Resolutions to help me with my course :

1. Spend more of my free time dedicated to taking pictures and working on my blog and in my sketchbook. 
2. Be more experimental in my photographs and try out different effects.
3. Learn how to use my cameras better so that I can change the settings on them and create better photographs.