Still Life

Still Life


Sam Kaplan

Sam Kaplan, New York City based still-life photographer.
Sam Kaplan was born and raised in Boston, MA. He received a B.A. from Wesleyan University, that most liberal of liberal arts colleges. Sam studied both conceptual sculpture and traditional photography.
Through photography Sam is able to exercise his two favorite skills – creative problem solving and conceptual thinking. He lives in New York City with his wife, Laura, and hundreds of heavy books.
Studio photographer Sam Kaplan pushes the limits of still life, one painstaking millimeter at a time.
The challenge for a product photographer like Sam Kaplan is to create an engaging image from objects that are seen almost every single day.

Here are two pictures of Sam Kaplan's.
The first picture is of a light bulb. If you look closely there are silver small spikes covering the whole bulb so you cant see the inside of the light bulb.
The second picture is of a cola bottle by the looks of it, as for this picture the bottle is covered in red little spikes which go all the way around the bottle.
I like how its been kept to one colour of spikes on the objects instead of more than one colour its very basic and simple which I like as it doesn't look too overdone.
The background of the image is the same colour as the gems on the bulb and bottle. I think having the gems on the bulb and bottle bring the object forward and stand out more.
There is a clear focal point to the pictures which is the objects as there is nothing else in the pictures its plain and all kept to one colour.
I like this picture as its different and I think it is creative.


Jenny van Sommers

Jenny Van Sommers is an award winning still life photographer. Van Sommers was awarded the Golden Lion at Cannes for her work with Stella Artois.

Jenny van Sommers lives and works in SE1 in London with frequent visits to the US and France. Editorial clients include Another Magazine, Dazed, and Vogue. Advertising clients include Apple, Audi, Hermes, and Nike. Her favourite artists include George Condo, Kurt Schwitters and Sarah Lucas.

This picture is from Jenny Van Sommers. The picture is of a perfume bottle with rope of some sort wrapped around the bottle which I think adds more to the picture and gives you something more to look at.

I think having a basic simple background makes the object stand out more making it the clear focal point.

I think taking pictures of a bottle with 2 different lighting variations will look nice because I can highlight and create shadows with the different variations.

I like the idea of doing perfume bottles as there are loads of different colours/shapes of perfume bottles.

This is my final image for still life. 

The picture is of a perfume bottle called little black dress.

 I decided to use a Little black dress bottle as it has minimal detail and its a plain simple bottle compared to the other bottle. For this image I placed it in a lighting cube tent as there had to be a white background so I thought this would work well. I placed the tent on a table and a soft box to the right and left of the tent and placed the perfume bottle in the middle before taking the picture the bottle was shaken and then placed in the tent then I took the picture this is why the liquid is slightly raised on the left side of the bottle compared to the right side and why there are bubbles showing at the top of the perfume. You cant see it clearly because there is a white background and the liquid in the bottle is transparent but it wasn't just a line of bubbles at the top of the bottle the bubbles went all down the bottle but it just isn't clear in the picture. I decided to shake the bottle up to add a bit more to the picture and so there's more to see as its just a plain perfume bottle.

The camera I used to do this was a Canon EOS 650D. The F-stop for this image was F/5.6, Exposure 1/400,  ISO - 1600, Focal length 46mm and there was no flash on the camera as the tent was lit up by the soft boxes surrounding the tent.

I did Photoshop this picture at first I cropped the photo down to get rid of the unnecessary parts which was just the white background as all I wanted was the bottle. I used the spot healing tool to get rid of some blue stain which was left in the tent and I then brightened the picture to make the background more white and make the bottle stand out more. I couldn't brighten the picture too much as the bottle is see through so I needed to make sure the bottle shape was clear as it almost blends in with the white background.

For my second still life image I used a bottle with more things on it and took the picture from a different angle as I didn't want the two photos to look the exact same as I think that'd look quite boring. So for this picture I think the main focal point would be the top of the bottle's there's a pump and lace which catches the eye. I think the pink pump really stands out as its the only burst of colour in the picture.With the background being white and the bottle being black this brings the bottle more forward and makes it stand out more.  I like how the top of the bottle has been nicely lit as the silver just really stands out as its that shiny.

If you look closely you can see the dust that's been building up on the top of the black bottle. I didn't shake this bottle up or anything as I think the bottle looked fine the way it was and I wanted to capture the beauty of the bottle. I'm happy with the way my shoot went for this bottle I got shots from loads of different angles and I like how two completely different bottles have been used.

The camera I used to do this was a Canon EOS 650D. The F-stop for this image was F/5.6, Exposure 1/320,  ISO - 1600, Focal length 34mm and there was no flash on the camera as the tent was lit up by the soft boxes surrounding the tent.  For this shoot I put a light to the left right and back of the tent so the whole tent was lit up more as the bottle was black and I thought it'd make the bottle stand out more.

At first I cropped the photo down to get rid of the unnecessary parts which was just the white background as all I wanted was the bottle. I used the spot healing tool to get rid of some blue stain which was left in the tent and I then brightened the picture to make the background more white and make the bottle stand out more. When I brightened the picture it made the top of the bottle really stand out with the pink pump being more brighter and you could see through the lace more than before the picture was photo shopped.

Portrait

Portrait

 Here's a picture I found on Google which is of a 50's styled photoshoot which did catch my eye I don't know who the photographer was for this picture. It is a formal head shot which was created using a soft box. I like how half of the models face is fully lit and the other not so much. For my picture I do want to have one in black and white as I do like black and white pictures. I think with a black and white picture you can see so much more detail and I think it just overall looks nicer. I like how the model fills the frame and the background is black which makes her the clear focal point and stand out more.










Irving Penn

Irving Penn (June 16, 1917 – October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still life's. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally and continues to inform the art of photography.

While perhaps best known for his fashion photography, Irving Penn’s repertoire also includes portraits of creative greats; ethnographic photographs from around the world; Modernist still life's of food, bones, bottles, metal, found objects, etc.; and stunning scenes from photographic travel essays. That said, his fashion photography is paramount to his career, and his creative eye helped to shape the post-World War II feminine chic and glamour photography of the mid-twentieth century.

Penn was among the first photographers to pose subjects against a simple grey or white backdrop and used this simplicity more effectively than other photographers. Expanding his austere studio surroundings, Penn constructed a set of upright angled backdrops, to form a stark, acute corner. Subjects photographed with this technique included Martha Graham, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, W. H. Auden, Igor Stravinsky.

Here is a picture taken by Irving Penn which is taken of Miles Davis. This is an extremely close up of miles which is of his face. This picture is in black and white pretty much like all of Irving's work.

I like this picture as its pretty simple its just his face with no facial expression. The light hits his forehead and middle section of his face which is the most lit up in this picture and then gradually gets darker as around his face its complete darkness. The focal point of the picture would be his face as its the only thing in the picture.

Here is another picture which was taken by Irving Penn or a shoot inspired by his work but either way I liked this picture. This was a fashion shoot picture that he had done. I like how the eyes are really dark with the makeup used making the models eyes really stand out compared to the rest of her face which is quite bright.

From looking at Irving Penn's photos I want my model to keep a straight face show no facial expression. I want the photos to be kept simple so no props or anything to be used.

As I said in one of the other photos I do want to have one of my final portrait photos in black and white.

This is one of the portrait pictures that I have taken. For this picture I wanted my model to show no facial expression just to keep a really straight face which I think I achieved.  I took loads of pictures which show a variety of facial expressions just in case I wanted to use them but for the end product I wanted a straight face which I think I achieved and im happy with.

I had the model sat slightly turned facing the soft box that I was using as I wanted to create a shadow on her face like the picture I found in my research.

I got the model to wear a strapless top as I wanted all of her tattoos to be on show and her hair to be down straight as I wanted all the focus to be on her face.

The main focal point of this picture is the models face as that's really clear and in focus and then my eyes get drawn to the massive tattoos across her chest.

For this picture I had the soft box to the right of my model which is why her right side of her face is more lit up than the other side.

I have photoshopped this picture to start of I cropped the picture down because there was so much of the background on show so I cropped it down after that I got the spot healing tool and removed any blemishes she had and I decided to remove her facial piercings apart from her nose ones. After that I changed the saturation and made the picture black and white. Once I had done that I played around with the brightness and contrast until I was happy with thee picture.

 The camera used to take this picture was a canon EOS 650D, the F - stop was F/ 4, exposure 1/20, ISO - 800, Focal length 27mm and there was no flash used when taking this picture.

This is another one of my portrait pictures. For this picture I wanted the model facing me and her body facing me to compared to the other picture her body is slightly turned as is her head.

I had the model once again keep the strapless top on which is black as I didn't want there to be any bright or splashes of colour I just wanted to keep it basic and as she has black hair I wanted the focus on her face and tattoos not a bright coloured top. The focal point of this picture is her face and chest.

I asked the model to wear fake eye lashes and eye liner just to make her eyes more darker so they eyes stand out more and with the highlighter in the tear duct it really makes the eyes pop and stand out which I wanted.

In this picture I wanted her to keep a straight face once again but this time to have her mouth slightly open. When photoshopping this picture I kept the facial piercings in where as the other portrait picture I had taken them all out apart from her nose ones. I decided to keep these ones in as I liked the look of all of her tattoos on full show and then the piercing I think it gives the picture an edgy rocky look. I like how all of her tattoos are on show I didn't want them covered up as I think they are nice and her tattoos are part of her so I wanted them on show.

When photoshopping this picture I didn't crop the picture as I was using rule of thirds and she is directly in the middle which I liked. I changed the brightness, contrast and saturation and played around with them until I got this picture and I was happy with it.

For this picture I had a light set up to the left of my model which created a shadow the right of the model which I liked.

 The camera used to take this picture was a canon EOS 650D, the F - stop was F/ 3.5, exposure 1/20, ISO - 800, Focal length 18mm and there was no flash used when taking this picture.

Metallic

Metallic

These are 2 pictures I found on googled after I googled metallic photography as I wanted to get some influence and ideas for my metallic shoot. 

For metallic at first I wanted to do metallic nails with jewellery on the persons hands, but then I came across these pictures and changed my mind. I liked the idea of doing bolts and screws and other objects like that because I wanted to get some rusty and dirty one and some clean ones so you could see the colour different and I thought the dirt and rust would show up really well against a white background and having the clean shiny nails there as well to show the colour difference.

This is my first picture I had taken for my metallic shoot the pictures found in my research really influenced my shoot so I wanted to incorporate both clean and dirty/rusty objects to really show off the different colours and to show how my findings had influenced me. In the picture there is silver and gold clean screws and then I put in rusty nails and other rusty objects that I could find. I thought this would look good as its something different as there's a lot to look at in the photo. I think having the white background really brought out the rusty objects and the clean screws. For this picture I used shallow depth of field as the front of the picture is more clear and in focus compared to the background of the picture its quite blurred. The focal point of the picture I think is the front of the picture as its more clear so that's where my eyes go right at the centre at the front of the picture.  When placing the objects down I didn't want them any specific way I just put the screws down first and them chucked the rusty objects on top as I just wanted to fill the frame.  I like how its different coloured nails and screws and how its not all one colour or the same object.

This picture was taken on a Canon EOS 650D the F-stop was F/5.6,  exposure 1/160, ISO 1600, Focal length 30mm and no flash was used when taking the picture.

I used Photoshop on the picture to brighten the picture as I wanted the screws and nails to stand out more and be more brighter. When brightening the picture the orange/brown rust on the nails became really clear and stood out more than it did before I brightened the picture. I like this because you cans see the clear difference between the clean screws and the dirty nails.

This is another one of my pictures that I have done for metallic. For this shoot I had the tent once again on the table with a soft box to the left and right of the tent. At first I put the box in flat and took some pictures like that but it just looked boring with all the screws in the box so I decided to turn the box on its side and to get some of the screws and drag them out so it would look like how it does in the picture. I was happy with it looking like this so I kept the box like that and continued to take my final pictures for metallic. Shallow depth of field has been used here as the screws at the front of the box are clear and in focus and as it goes further back they aren't as clear.  Using rule of thirds the box and screws are right in the centre of the picture with just the white background around it making it the clear focal point of the picture.

This picture was taken on a Canon EOS 650D the F-stop was F/5.6,  exposure 1/160, ISO 1600, Focal length 30mm and no flash was used when taking the picture as with using the tent and the soft boxes it was bright enough and flash wasn't needed.

For this picture I used Photoshop to brighten it and make the white more whiter so the gold screws would stand out even more. By brightening the picture the screws and even shinier  and the box that the screws came in almost blends in with the background as its that white.

Final 8 images

Final 8 images.

Night exposure

This is my final picture for night exposure. I decided to chose this one as I like how you can see the white and red lines clearly as they go up the road. Whilst taking these pictures experimented with changing the shutter speed so in my contact sheet I have long lines and quite short ones from where I had been changing the shutter speed.  To take this picture I had the camera balanced on the rails as you can see to the right of the picture. As it was quite late out not many cars was going up this road I would of liked more red and white lines in the picture but then I didn't want in to look too messy with all the lights.  I like how you can see the line of light going all the way up the picture. For this picture I used an editing app on my phone called 'fotor'.  while editing it I started off by enhancing the picture and then darkening the picture. After that I changed the brightness and contrast to make the picture darker to make the lights stand out more. I sharpened the picture too. I enhanced the red in he picture to make it stand out more and make it more noticeable as before it was a faint line as you can see from my contact sheet.

 If I was to take this picture I would definitely take a tripod as its quite hard finding something for the camera to place on where its steady and wont get knocked of moved which happened quite a lot in the pictures as you can see with the contact sheet. For this picture I like how you can see shadows of the lights on the road I think it adds to the picture.

 HRD

This is one of my HDR pictures this picture is of some posters piled on top of each other by he custard factory the posters are ripped and covered in graffiti which I like as theres a nice variety of colours and different tones. I found this graffiti stuck all over some cabinet left on the side of the road

 for this picture I zoomed into the graffiti as I didn't want to get the cabinet in the photo as I feel it would of looked too messy. I took this picture as I thought it looked colourful and interesting reading everything everyone had stuck on it.  I like how everything is piled and written on top of everything nothing is placed neatly or in order.

The focal point for this picture would be the star in the middle of the picture slightly to the left as when I look at the picture my eyes go directly to that.

I took these pictures on a canon EOS 650D when taking the picture the settings on the camera where all changed so when I was trying to change the aperture it just wasn't turning out right so instead I changed the ISO as well as the aperture for the 3 pictures I took and it worked out better.

For the first picture to get it under exposed I had the ISO on 100, Shutter speed at 1/30 and aperture at f/25 for the second picture to have it at a normal exposure I took it with the ISO at 800 the shutter speed at 1/30 and the  aperture at f/2.5 and then for the last picture I had the ISO at 12800 for a high exposure the shutter speed at 1/30 and the aperture at f/14 which turned out right. The focal length for all these pictures were 27mm.

To get the picture like this opened it up in photomatix  and opened all 3 of my picture up. Once all three pictures opened they all opened as one which for some of my photos there was some blur from where I have slightly changed position from changing the ISO and aperture so them pictures didn't make it into my final 4 HRD pictures. After that I had a selection of different effects to choose from for the photo I cant remember what effect I put on the picture but I used this effect on the photo as it really brought out the colours they look brighter and more in your face then they was when there was no effect on the picture. After that I clicked proceed and it then gave me the option to change the contrast and other things like that but with the effect that I had put on the picture I liked it the way it was so instead I clicked file and save as and I saved the picture.

This is my second HDR picture. I took this picture from outside of a pub I think it was the picture is of a light. I wanted to take a picture of the light as I thought it looked night and looked quite old which caught my eye.  I took the photo from a slight angle and looking up towards it I took this picture at this angle as I like how you can clearly see all the other side to the light well the writing on the glass which goes all the way round showing it is 3d.

With the wall being white I think it brings the light more forward and stand out more than it would against a dark or bright coloured background.  I think the picture could of been more clear but that's one of the problems with doing HDR. I think it would of worked out better if I had taken a tripod just so all the 3 pictures would most definitely been in the exact position.

I used the exact same ISO, shutter speed and aperture for every picture so for the first picture to get it under exposed I had the ISO on 100, Shutter speed at 1/30 and aperture at f/25 for the second picture to have it at a normal exposure I took it with the ISO at 800 the shutter speed at 1/30 and the  aperture at f/2.5 and then for the last picture I had the ISO at 12800 for a high exposure the shutter speed at 1/30 and the aperture at f/14 which turned out right. The focal length for all these pictures were 27mm.

To get the picture like this I opened  up photomatix  and opened all 3 of my picture up. Once all three pictures opened they all opened as one. From this picture you can see where I slightly changed position and theres a faint part of the wood goes over the light but over all the focal point of the picture is the light which you can clearly see and I didn't want the picture to look perfect it clearly shows I experimented and it didn't work out as well as some of my other HRD pictures.

Then once again I chose an effect for it which I thought looked nice. The effect I chose really brought out the chips and discolouring on the metal part of the light which you can see from the picture. After this I clicked proceed and then changed the contrast to make it a tad darker to make certain things stand out more like the frame of the light. Once that was done I saved the picture as I was happy with it.

Here is another HRD picture of mine. This picture is of some shingles it looks like which are broken up into big and smaller bits. I found this on the pathway right against the wall opposite south an city college. For this picture there is no blur as it was the last photo I had taken so I was kind of use to holding the camera still whilst changing the aperture an the ISO. I decided to take this picture as I liked the colour of shingles on the floor and I like how they started off in big broken pieces and then got smaller as they went along. I also liked the pattern on the bricks on the wall and it shows of the different textures. You can see some shadows on some of the shingles especially on the left hand side with the second shingle you can see the shadow made by the shingle on top of it. I think this is one of the better HDR pictures I have taken.

Once again I used the exact same ISO, shutter speed and aperture for every picture so for the first picture to get it under exposed I had the ISO on 100, Shutter speed at 1/30 and aperture at f/25 for the second picture to have it at a normal exposure I took it with the ISO at 800 the shutter speed at 1/30 and the  aperture at f/2.5 and then for the last picture I had the ISO at 12800 for a high exposure the shutter speed at 1/30 and the aperture at f/14 which turned out right. The focal length for all these pictures were 27mm.

To do this HDR  I opened up photoshop and opened all 3 of my picture up. Once all three pictures opened they all opened as one. I then picked my effect for the picture which once again I cant remember which one. But the effect I picked had like a blue tint to it which is why its quite blue and purple looking. I used this effect as I thought it brought the pink and orange out on the shingles. I think it brings out more detail on the shingles like you can see its different shades of colours on some of the broken pieces you can see blue, purple, orange and pink which I like. After this I clicked on proceed and changed the contrast and made it darker to bring out the shapes of the shingles and the bricks i thought it made the colours a lot more deeper and you can see some shadows. I then saved the picture as I liked it the way it was.

This is a HDR picture I had taken a while back when first experimenting doing HDR. I decided to have this picture as one of my final pictures as for my first time doing HDR I did like it and I thought it turned out pretty well. Instead of doing this on photoshop like last time I went on photomatix like all of my other HDR pictures. I decided to do it on this photoshop rather than the other one as I used an effect and  put on it as I wanted to improve it more and make it look better which I think I did using this photoshop. For this picture I did only have 2 photos instead of the 3 but it till worked out pretty well I though. I had an over exposed picture and I had a normal exposed picture.

The green on the building Is so bright compared to the other photo I done it stands out even more and is just more noticeable. The sky looks more greyer and darker which I like it looks like its going to rain in the picture. The roof of the building is so dark compared to the rest of the picture when i look at the picture I look directly at the roof because its that dark. In the first picture of this the roof was just so dark you couldn't really see anything where as this one has turned out even better. The focal point of the picture would be the roof for me I feel like its nice and dark and the green just makes you look at it.

 For this picture opened the 2 up in photoshop and put an effect on it which I cant remember which one, But this effect brought out the green even more and darkened the picture up too. I was then happy with this effect so I moved on and proceeded which I then changed the contrast to make it that tad more darker to bring out more detail I the building and to make the green stand out more.

   I like this picture as you can see the moss on the building where it has gone green but it also looks really old which I like. The picture is of the top of a building in the city centre. I like how the building looks abandoned and with the weather being crappy and dark and gloomy it makes the picture look that tad creepy which I like.

Double exposure 

This is my final picture for double exposure. I have done this before as you can see in my sketchbook but it didn't turn out the way that I wanted it to so I done the picture again. For this picture I decided to have a side on view of someone rather than having a statue. I did try putting flowers inside the of the figure but I didn't work as well as the building so I decided to carry on with doing the building instead of the flowers. For this I decided to not fade out Brittany's face completely as I wanted to see her and the building too so when you look at it you look a both the whole figure of the person and then the building. To do this photo I opened up photoshop and I opened both of the pictures in photoshop. I changed the brightness in the picture of Brittany as it was quite dark so I brightened the picture a bit and then with a bit of help I created a new layer and dragged the photo of Brittany on top of the building and faded and blended the pictures together until I liked it. I then cropped the picture and used the erase tool so I would just get the figure of Brittany and got rid of all the unnecessary parts from around her. Then from looking at my picture In the research the picture with the building and the person but at the top of the picture it was the top of the building rather than her round head so I though id try that out and liked how it looked so I left it. I got rid of the top of Brittany's head so it would just be the top of the building.

 I like this picture as I think it works well together but if I was to do this again I would tell Brittany to have her hair down as I think with it being In a pony it looks quite stupid I would rather it was down and straight but over al I do like the end result. I found the photo shopping quite hard to do so I definitely wont be doing it again any time soon.

Hand Colouring 

This is my final picture for hand colouring. This picture was taken in the centre and is a display with poppy's and an airplane so im guessing its a war display or a tribute.

I think the red really brings the poppy's forward. When I look at the picture it kind of reminds me of an old looking picture or a painting which I like.

To do hand colouring I went into photoshop and opened the picture up I then clicked to duplicate the image then clicked on the duplicate layer so all my work would be done on the layer instead of the original. I then went to image- adjustments- hue and saturation- change saturation- layer mask. I then went to the paint brush tool and painted into the layered mask. The black box was for the colour and the white box was for black and white. While doing this I had to zoom into the picture to make sure I brought back the colour in just the poppy's and the plane which was quite hard as theres plants that go over the poppy's so some green parts may be showing a tad but they aren't really noticeable as the red stand out more.  After using the college photoshop I used my own editing app called 'fotor' just to improve the picture even more I started off by putting an effect on it called theatre which brightened up the building in the back darkened the plants and made the red even brighter to stand out more then I enhanced the picture. After that I darkened the picture a tad more using contrast just to make the detail in the building darker and stand out more than looking over exposed from the effect that I had put on.

 I decided to take this picture and to use it as it has poppy's in it which is a powerful symbol as its worn to commemorate the sacrifices of our armed forces and to show support to those serving today and their loved ones plus my dad served in the army for many years so when I saw this I just had to take a picture and hand colouring was the perfect time to use it and just have the most important things in colour which would be the poppy's and the plane. I do like this picture I think its my favourite from all my final pictures.

Abstract

This is my picture for abstract photography. The picture was taken on a canon EOS 700D. The ISO for this picture was 800, the exposure 1/100 and the f-stop- f/5.

This picture was taken in the back of my garden I think its a part of the lawn mower im not quite sure.  I thought this would be something good to take a picture of because you wouldn't expect it to be a lawn mower part looking at it you'd think it was a bench or something else.

I took quite a few shots like this trying to make sure I got it right as I wanted to take a picture of something with both pattern and shape which it has. I picked this picture over the other ones I had taken because I didn't like the pavement and grass showing in the other pictures background I just wanted the circles and nothing else in the picture. I new if I cropped the unnecessary parts out and just have the circles the picture just wouldn't look the same so I decided to pick this picture which I like as much as the other photos I had taken.

When looking at this picture it makes you think that the circles are continues and go on and on like its never ending. I like how the picture is grey and black its simple and doesn't hurt your eyes where as if it was colourful your eyes would be all over the place. When looking to the right of the pictures the circles look 2d where as looking to the front left of the picture you can see the circles are 3d and actually look like holes which they are. Through the holes theres nothing but blackness so you cant see what's past the holes which I like.

 I decided to pick this picture over the other ones I had taken which you can see in my contact sheet because I liked how it starts of completely in focus on the left and then as it moves to the right it goes more and more out f focus which I liked.

For this picture I didn't use photoshop as everything I was doing on it I just didn't like. It just never looked better it just looked worse so I decided to keep the picture the same.

The focal point of the picture would be the part of the picture which is clear and in focus my eyes go straight to that part of the picture and then I look at the rest of the picture.

I had fun taking abstract photos and using depth of field as I think the two just work well together.

Abstract People

Abstract People 

FINAL TWO PICTURES -

This picture is one of my final pictures.

I have chosen it as its one  of my favourite pictures out of all of the other perfume bottles I took pictures off.

This picture is of Aabidahs hands holding some Victoria's secret perfume called Tease and it smells amaze-balls. For this picture I used a cannon and had flash on when taking the picture because it wouldn't auto focus. I like this picture as the perfume and Aabidahs hands are sharp and in focus where as the background is blurred and quite dull compared to the perfume. The focal point of the picture would be the perfume bottle as its right in the middle of the picture and the light from the flash went directly onto the perfume bottle. I like how you can see directly through the bottle and the bottle looks nice with the lace and the pink pump on the bottle. I like the perfume bottle as its got little details added to it with the lace. I haven't used photoshop on this picture as I like it the way it is.

This is one of my final pictures.

I have chosen this as its one of my favourite pictures plus it won a competition and is on the front of the sketchbook.  I like this picture because its not just lain old boring cacti these ones have little flowers on them which is eye catching and makes them look pretty.

This picture is of some cacti. I took this picture at the markets in town. I only took this picture because they looked pretty with the flowers on them otherwise I probably wouldn't of taken the picture. This picture I do really like as some cacti are sharp and in focus the ones at the front where as the others aren't in focus. The cactus in the middle of the picture with the yellow flower isn't as sharp and in focus as the two next to it but isn't as blurry as the ones behind it. For this picture I don't think there's a focal point as there's cacti everywhere. I haven't used photoshop in this picture.

These pictures are of a perfume bottle displayed on a stand with huge paper leafs surrounding it. The first picture I took was to show off the whole display and the second one I wanted to get a close up of the bottle on the stand. If I was to do this picture again I would move the perfume bottle to the left as its annoying me that its not dead centre on the stand. I do like the stand its on as it makes the perfume bottle stand out more as there's a light on top of the stand lighting up the bottom of the bottle. The focal point of these pictures would be the perfume and the leaf display as the green leafs catch your eye straight away.

 This picture is of Aabidah holding a bottle of perfume. The perfume bottle it quite plain unlike the other two bottles of perfume this bottle isn't as clear and see through as them. What I do like about the bottle is the black glittery pump on the bottle so the bottle doesn't look that boring. The bottle and Aabidahs hands are sharp and in focus and the background is blurred and not in focus. The focal point of this picture would be the perfume bottle as that's all that's in the picture as its in the centre of the picture. I haven't used photoshop on this picture but if I wasn't so lazy I would probably crop the photo down a bit to cut out Aabidahs head scarf as its a bright pink colour.

 This picture is of some cacti. This picture is different then the one I took before as it's taken from more of an angle and more closer to the cacti. This picture has sharp and none sharp parts in the picture the cacti with green flower on top to the left of the picture is the only cacti which is sharp and in focus so is the cacti which you can only see a bit of in the left corner with the pink flower on it where as the rest of the cacti aren't that much in focus. I like this picture because the cacti have little flowers on them. The focal point of the picture for me would be the cactus with the green flower on top as its the only one in focus and clear. I haven't used photoshop on this picture.

This picture was taken at the markets of a flower stall. If I was to take this picture again id go to a flower stall that is full of flowers so there's no gaps in between the flowers as it looks horrible with the gaps in it. The picture is of bouquets of all different flowers which is why I took the picture as there all different kind of flowers and not the same otherwise that would of looked quite boring. The focal point of the picture to me would be the flowers directly in the middle with the £10 sign in them as they are directly in the middle of the picture. I haven't used photoshop but if I was I would probably crop the photo down so you would just have the flowers in the middle so I would cut out the gaps.

This picture is of a bouquet of flowers. I choose to take a picture of these flowers as I liked how there just white/creamy coloured flowers. If I was to take this picture again I would get a birds eye view of the flowers as I didn't take any all I took was pictures from an angle. I haven't used photoshop on this picture but if I did I would probably crop the photo down but I haven't because I didn't to ruin the picture so I left it like that. The focal point of the picture would be the flowers as there isn't anything else really in the picture.

Natural Landscapes

Natural Landscapes 

Adam Burton is one of the UKs leading landscape photographers and author of five books. Since 2008 he has been working as a full time professional landscape photographer, regularly supplying imagery and undertaking commissions for a wide range of clients.
He has photographed five of the seven continents and now specialises in the landscapes of the UK, particularly Southwest England.

This picture was taken by Adam Burton its on a natural landscape. In the picture is a stream down the middle of the picture which big rocks in it. The water looks misty as its white. To the left and right side of the picture are trees, grass and rocks. The focal point of the picture would be the front middle part of the picture. I do like this picture as it looks calming.

This picture is one of my final two pictures for natural landscapes I have chosen this as I find the other pictures quite boring as its just of logs and wood when I find plants more better and interesting.

This picture is a birds eye view of loads of three leaf clovers. This picture was taken in lickey hills country park. When I took this picture it had been raining not long before I took the picture which is why  you can see raindrops on some of the three leaf clovers which is why I like this picture so much.

I like the range of colours of greens on the three leaf clovers.

 There isn't really a focal point in this picture as its all just based on one thing the tree leaf clovers. I haven't photoshopped this picture because there isn't anything I would want to do to it I like it the way it is.
I have chosen this as one of my final images as out of all of the pictures i really like this on. I like how the raindrops are perfectly on the three leafed clovers so it gives more to the picture.

This picture is of logs, branches and bushes. The front of the picture Is bury and out of focus where as the rest of the picture is sharp and in focus. You can see the moss and different layers on the first log at the front which is blurred. When I took this picture I didn't intend for it to turn out like this but im glad it did as I like it like this.

The focal point of this picture for me would be the log at the front even though it blurry it catches my eye straight away because its at the front of the picture and like right in your face. I wouldnt change anything about this picture. I haven't used photoshop either.

This picture is of a pathway which is right I the middle of the picture is was a dirt path. Theres a log at the front of the picture going from the bottom left the right. There are bushed and trees to the left and right of the pathway in the middle of the picture. I like how the picture is light and lit up at the front of the picture and the goes darker as theres no sunlight hitting certain parts of the picture.

I don't think they'd be a focal point to the picture as theres nothing really that catches my eye straight away.

I haven't used photoshop on this picture but if I was to take this photo again I would probably try it at different angles to see how the lighting would change.

I took this picture whilst I was looking up as I wanted to get one of me looking up at the top of the trees. If I was to take this again Id try and get it as the sun is breaking through the trees as theres just loads of green in the picture. The picture is of me looking up really theres 2 trees and a hell load of leafs. The focal point of this picture would be the two trees or all the leafs.

This photo hasn't been photoshopped. 

 I like this picture as you can see the details in the trees especially the one to the right.

This picture is of a bunch of white flowers. The flowers are directly in the middle of the photo which would also be the focal point of the picture as white stands out more than the green does.

There are 4 sets of leafs that come out behind the flower in like a plus sign.

 I like this picture because the flowers and the 4 sets of leaves surrounding it are all sharp and in focus and as you look on into the background its less sharp and more out of focus. I haven't used photoshop on this picture.

This is another one of my final pictures for natural landscapes. I like this picture as theres quite a lot going on in the picture compared to the other pictures I have taken. Theres the steps, rocks, bushes and trees in the background.

This picture I took whilst walking up some steps. In the picture you can see two of the steps. Theres a bush to the right side of the picture and to the back of the picture there are rocks sticking up through the ground and then trees to the further back that you can see. I like this picture as it has a rough look to it with the rocks sticking up everywhere.

Im glad I went on a day where the weather was nice because I like the shadows I think it gives more to the picture an it doesn't look that plain.

 I haven't used photoshop as I didn't want to change the picture. The focal point of the picture would be the middle of the picture.

event photography

Event Photography

When taking a picture indoor I would need to consider:

• The lighting ( a high ISO)
• white balance
• Fast shutter speed. 
• Have a high aperture 

This is one of my final pictures for event photography. I have chosen this because I like how she is sat around the table talking to everyone and I like how I have photoshopped it with her being in colour and everyone else being in black and white.

This photo is of the workshop the woman who is in colour is a rapper and is sat around a table full of other people. I used photo shop to make her in colour and everyone else in black and white to make her stand out more. when in photo shop I opened up the image and:

- I then duplicated the image.

-I then clicked on the duplicated layer, so all my work would be done on the layer instead of the ordinal.

- I then went to Image > Adjustments

Hue + Saturation

Change Saturation

Layer Mask.

- I then went to the paint brush tool 

Paint into layer mask.

The black box = Colour The white box = Black and white

- I then had to zoom in to the image because I coloured outside of the lines. 

This is one of my final pictures for event photography. In my sketchbook I have a picture of kanye west I got because it reminded me of this picture which makes me like this picture more.  I have chosen this picture as he is dancing and holding the microphone so theres a lot going on in the picture and I just really like it.

This picture I took is of someone who is rapping.

He is stood with one leg slightly bent which is slightly blurred. He is holding the mic up to his mouth and looking down. There is a table to the left side of the picture which is annoying as the picture would of looked better without it there. If I was to take this picture again I would of stood in a different place so the table wouldn't of got in the picture. The focal point of the picture would be the lad.

 I like this picture because he is rapping and he is dancing as well and theres no blur in the image. I used photoshop to crop the photo an did nothing else as I like the picture the way it is.

 This picture is of someone rapping. This picture was hard to take as he kept moving around which is why his feet are slightly blurred. If I was to do it again I would make the shutter speed higher so I don't get any blurs.

This picture is of a woman talking to a group of people sat around the desk. The lighting was bad which is why there left side of the picture is darker then the right side of picture. I haven't used photoshop on this picture because theres not much else I can do with it. It was hard to take pictures as non of the students wanted to have their picture taken.

These two pictures is of someone rapping. I used photoshop to crop the picture as all I wanted was him in the picture. while I was taking these pictures the ISO had to be high as the lighting was bad in there. If I was to take this picture again I would try at a different angle as the desk in the picture ruins it.