6. Work Record 1

Work Record 1

Location - Much Hadham, Hertfordshire

Distortion method - Crystal ball

My Plan for Shoot 1 - 

My idea for shoot 1 is to experiment with the use of the Crystal ball. I want to experiment with the camera settings and decide what camera lenses work better whilst using the Ball. I plan to do my shoot in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, using the natural landscape including the river and the woods. I am also hoping to go into The Henry Moore Foundation to experiment with what different objects look like through the distortion of the Crystal ball. I hope to come out with some strong images however, since this will be my first time using the ball, I want to see what it brings to my images before I do any bigger shoots.

Research influence - 

My influence for this shoot in Stefan Lens. Stefan travels the world capturing different urban and rural areas with in the ball. I am truly influenced by his work and I hope to replicate that within my work. 

Image Bank - 

In this image, Bokeh has been used. I would like to incorporate this technique into my work as i think it really makes the sharp image from within the ball stand out. 

I think that this is a great image. I love the way that the image has been further edited in order to create a slight haze that complements the surrounding flowers perfectly. 

Contact sheets - 

My best images -

Images that require improvement - 

I think that this image is taken too high above the subject. I also think that the camera is too far away from the crystal ball, this means that the distorted image inside the ball is not clear.

I feel that the composition of this image is wrong. The eye naturally is drawn to look right to left. and with an empty space on the right, the ball is not in the best place. I feel that the overall look of the picture would be better if the ball was held to the right of the frame. Whilst editing, I would also be tempted to rotate the image 180 degrees and experiment with what the image would look like then.

Although I like this image, there is some sun flare coming through the ball. I think that the exposure needs to be changed and in Photoshop I could experiment with the overall sharpness of the image.

My idea in this image was to try and capture the frosty grass through the ball, however the ball actually clouded up do to the temperature and moisture in the grass. The focus is also slightly off in the image however I would like to experiment with this idea further if I were to re-shoot. 

AO3 - Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

I think that during this shoot, I completed what I had planned to do. I experimented with the camera settings and am starting to understand what works and what doesn't work whilst using the crystal ball. I discovered that using the crystal ball in my work is harder than I had originally thought however i do really like the final outcomes.

With reference to my selected best images:

The first image, I think that the image's composition is set up nicely. I think that there is a couple of areas that need to be edited like the curves, and sharpness.

For the second image, I would like to bring the colours out more, and change the contrast. But, I think that the overall image is good.

The third image, I really like even before editing. I like the composition of the image and the different textures surrounding the ball, which bring it to life. If I were to change anything, I would remove the leafs that are out of focus as they are too close to the camera lens.

For the fourth image, I think that the distortion of the rocks inside the crystal ball make the image look interesting when contrasted to the surrounding stones. I will edit the curves and use dodging and burning to edit this photo.

The final image, is very interesting to me. I like the way the crystal ball distorts the image and rotates the sculpture. 

AO2 - Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

To take my photos I used a Canon E10 1000D, with multiple lenses.

Photograph 1

Lens: EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter speed: 1/50 sec

F/: 5.6 

ISO: 800

Photograph 2

Lens: EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter speed: 1/400 sec

F/: 6.3 

ISO: 800

Photograph 3

Lens: EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter speed: 1/640 sec

F/: 6.3 

ISO: 800

Photograph 4

Lens: EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter speed: 1/800 sec

F/: 6.3 

ISO: 800

Photograph 5

Lens: EF-S18-55mm F/3.5-5.6

Shutter speed: 1/3200 sec

F/: 6.3 

ISO: 800

AO1 - Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

I feel that for this shoot the artist research was very useful. Not only did it give me ideas on what to photograph, but it also gave me an insight into using the crystal ball in photography. As I previously had not used the crystal ball, the research on Stephan Lenz gave me the confidence to include it in my work, and his work gave me something to compare mine to. I used some of his images to look at the different ways that I can use the ball in order to create decent images such as the composition in which he used, or the techniques such as Bokeh. Both of which inspired some of my best photographs from this shoot. 

AO4 - Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.

I believe that I have produced a series of images inspired by my research of Stefan Lenz. I feel that I have experimented with in my shoot and I hope to have learnt enough to improve my next shoot.

Progression - 

In the next shoot, I hope to use the knowledge that I learnt form this shoot, like the camera settings needed to get a stable and focused image. I also want to start shooting in RAW files. I think that this will give me more control when editing the Images and will give me a better final image.