object unit

Object unit Breif

Throughout the object unit, I have been asked to develop a concept, plan, and organise a photo. I will construct and photograph a still life of my own, using colour film and a large format view camera.

Throughout the project I will be taking inspiration form the history of art and using a visual approach. The photograph will be based upon a current social issue, whilst producing an individual comment or opinion through the objects in still life.

The synchronicity or Light, Exposure & Contrast

On the 22nd September, my group and I had an induction on aperture shutter speed and iso, concentrating and learning how they all balance out.

After our health and safety talk, we then learnt about studio practice and focussed on all equipment we would be using during the induction, e.g. how to set up lighting, polyboard, Lighting stands, Tables, tripods, backgrounds etc….

We then began the talk about synchronicity of light., and was later introduced to a

light metre. This type of equipment helped measure the amount of light, and determined the proper exposure in the photograph. When experimenting, the metre could decide which shutter speed and f-number should be selected for an optimum exposure. For my first time, I enjoyed using this piece of equipment and therefore am considering investing in one.

Once our setting was created, we then learnt about the 2 medium format cameras. The camera I used was the rz67. This style of camera could control a number of things, for instance the Shutter speed, was ISO sensitive and contained Shutter release etc.

After the talk and experimenting, we then was put into action and began shooting our object which was a candle. Myself and partner shot in b&w using ilford delta 100 iso.

When shooting out object we made sure we used the light metre to test different shadows, highlights, mid-tones and shutter speeds, From using this technique we could see if our images were looking over and or underexposed.

As I had never used any of the equipment that was introduced to me, I really enjoyed the induction, as I learnt how to use and set up equipment, and felt with further practice I could develop and learn more.

Object unit - research

I begin my research with the f64 group. This group was known fro beginning a new modernalist era in photography. There were several artists is the f64 Group that formed in 1932, but the most noticeable members were Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Their work, both in sill life and landscape photography, both use a similar technique of using high aperture to capture extreme detail.

The image “Nautilus” 1927 that Edward Weston produced is a black-and-white photograph. The photo shows a single nautilus shell standing on its end against a dark background. It has been called "one of the most famous photographs ever made" and "a benchmark of modernism in the history of photography. To show his love for detail and shape, Edward began photographing several different large chambered nautiluses, either whole or cut in half to reveal their inner structure. When researching, I began to love how even in the darkest shadows and brightest highlights of the subject, you still can identify the great detail, and shape.

Although Ansel Admas was best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West (landscape) his style of clarity, sharpness and depth characterized his photographs. Adams primarily used large-format cameras despite their size, weight, setup time, and film cost, as the camera contained high resolution, ensuring sharpness in all images.

Object unit - research

Furthering my research I began looking at the 16th century. Still life developed as a separate category in the Netherlands. Artists were commissioned to make paintings of flowers, which at the time were very expensive, and considered a mark of great wealth. These images were designed to look very real, often including insects and spiders to try and enhance the realism.

 

The reason why I researched the artist Keith Arnatt was because his imagery of food and waste could correspond to my object idea. His series 'Pictures from a Rubbish Tip' (1988-89) is a body of work devoted to images of decomposing food, some in their plastic wrappers, some naked. Arnatt uses the medium of photography with the style of a painter.

When researching you begin to notice colour is important to him, and this comes out in one image depicting a strip of bacon and a piece of eggshell against a backdrop of plastic partially obscuring a pink floral pattern behind. But it's not how the items are depicted, that makes the image interesting, it’s how the light falls on the objects, or how the plastic makes a composition of rubbish appear as a painting, this relates back to the artist Flemish.

Object unit - research

During the 5th century BC, still life became known. The art form was presented as a religious and allegorical symbol relating to the objects depicted.

The popular appreciation of the realism of still life painting is related in the ancient Greek legend of Zeuxis and Parrhasius, who are said to have once competed to create the most life-like objects.

During the ancient Greek, Zeuxis a very talented painter, challenged the artists Parrhasius to a contest, of who could paint the most realistic painting. Zeuxis’ still-life painting was so realistic that birds came down from the sky to peck at the grapes on the canvas. Satisfied with his triumph, Zeuxis told Parrhasius to pull aside a pair of tattered curtains so that Zeuxis could see his rival’s painting behind them. But Parrhasius’ painting wasn’t behind the curtains, it was the curtains.

Paintings of this style peaked during the Renaissance (14th-17th century). Painters then started to pain in a similar style as Zeuxis and Parrhasius to try and give the illusion that their paintings were real.
SPIDER DIAGRAMS FOR INSPIRATION

Why I chose to focus on obesity

In our looks-obsessed society, lots of people think that being overweight is an appearance issue. But being overweight is actually a medical concern because it can seriously affect a person's health. I wanted to focus on this theme and research/learn more on how people get over weight and how this problem can effect our society.

The health problems that stem from being overweight go way beyond the ones we usually hear about, like diabetes and heart disease. Being overweight can also affect a person's joints, breathing, sleep, mood, and energy levels. So being overweight can impact a person's entire quality of life.

Through lots of research I learnt more people are overweight today than ever before. Experts are calling this an "obesity epidemic." This health problem affects young people as well as adults — one third of all kids between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight or obese. So younger people are now developing health problems that used to affect only adults, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and 2 types of diabetes.

I was interested more into the children weight gain, and therefore explored more into this concept.

Obesity tends to run in families. Some people have a genetic tendency to gain weight more easily than others because they burn calories more slowly. During times when food was scarce, this was an advantage. But now that food is available 24/7 in most industrialized countries, an efficient metabolism that once ensured our survival now works to our disadvantage.

Although genes strongly influence body type and size, the environment also plays a role. People today may be gaining weight because of unhealthy food choices (like fast food) and family habits (like eating in front of the television instead of around a table). High-calorie, low-nutrient snacks and beverages, bigger portions of food, and less-active lifestyles are all contributing to the obesity epidemic.

Teenagers struggle with the concept that exercise gives them a healthier lifestyle. Today's society, unfortunately has created a lazy attitude towards dietary requirements.

Sometimes people also turn to food for emotional reasons, such as when they feel upset, anxious, sad, stressed out, or even bored. When this happens, they often eat more than they need.

I think these issues are a massive problem in our society today, and have to be thought, and recognised quickly, in order to help and save thousands of lives. I would like to explore further, and find out the cause of this serious problem.

Why people become overweight?

When researching into my chosen theme I wanted to know how people become over weight?

Some people become over weight because of a hormonal imbalance. Others become obese because of an unhealthy diet. Most people become overweight by eating too many high carbohydrate foods, such as refined (processed) carbohydrates, and not getting enough exercise. If you eat healthy foods and do cardio exercise you can lose fat. Fruits such berries, and non starchy vegetables, are much better snack options than refined (processed) carbohydrates. As you become older, your metabolism slows down. Then you have no alternative but to boost your metabolism by avoiding refined (processed) carbohydrates, limiting even natural carbohydrates, and exercising more.

Refined (processed) carbohydrates are the major cause of obesity

After researching that question I realized processed carbohydrates are the major cause of obesity as your body takes in more carbohydrate than it needs. Consuming fewer refined (processed) carbohydrates and burning off more calories through exercise is the way to avoid weight gain, obesity, and other diet related diseases. It is also the way to reverse weight gain, obesity and some diet related diseases.

After realizing that fact I thought I could start my idea pics based on processed carbohydrates, as this was the main focus point for obesity.

Obesity teenagers

Obesity teenagers

Headlines such as, "Obese teens face a health time bomb," have graced the pages of UK newspapers over the last few years. With increasing numbers of adults and teens facing growing waistlines, it brings with it worrying health issues.

According to statistics, nearly one in five 15 year olds is obese and one in five 13 to 16 year olds are overweight. Obesity seems to be a growing problem in today's society, with the main causes considered to be a poor diet, eating too many fatty, sugary and calorie-laden foods and a lack of exercise.

It's not healthy for anyone to be obese, not least teenagers. Obesity can cause problems, both in the present and future, including a risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes (which used to only affect people in their middle ages, but now affects youngsters too), heart disease and cancer.

Even something as simple as drinking one can of sugary drink each day can have a profound effect on teens weight. A study published in the International Journal of Paediatric Obesity, which looked at the weight of 103 teens, found that drinking a single 330ml can of sugary drink could lead teens to put on 1lb in weight every three to four weeks. This equates to up to a stone in extra weight over a whole year. I'm concerned by this matter and want to explore further into how teens can be influenced into drinking this product.

To tackle obesity, teens should be helped to be aware of their diet and exercise habits. Eating healthily and making simple changes, such as eating grilled food instead of fried or cutting out cakes and biscuits, can make all the difference.

Unfortunately advertising can lead to this obesity problem, as many kids are influenced by the marketing campaigns and therefore are persuaded to eat fast food.

articles for inspiration and ideas....

Advertising/ Health groups warn: World's children at risk from junk food marketing :

Advertising/ Health groups warn: World's children at risk from junk food marketing :

This report comes at a time when international investment banks, and the international shares have warned some of the top-spending food advertisers (including Hershey, McDonald's, Tate & Lyle, Cadbury's, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Heinz and Nestlé) that they may be contributing to an obesity-promoting environment. The companies were told that their share prices may be at risk because their profits rely on selling fatty and sugary foods, which are likely to be the subject of future regulation.

"Junk foods and sugary drinks are supported by enormous advertising budgets that dwarf any attempt to educate children about healthy diets," said research officer Kath Dalmeny. "Junk food advertisers know that children are especially susceptible to marketing messages. They target children as young as two years old with free toys, cartoon characters, gimmicky packaging and interactive websites to ensure that children pester their parents for the products."

Food photography beginning of advertisement

In the latter half of the 20th century, with the growing popularity of colour photography, food photography jumped out the field of art and into the fire of the commercial fields of advertising and cookbooks. Unfortunately, the most simplistic concept of food – that it is edible and we like to eat it – also got caught up in the flames. In the ’60s and ’70s toxic products such as glycerine were used to add a tantalizing shine, hairspray to keep tasty morsels in place and cigarette smoke to simulate that straight from the oven goodness.

The lighting techniques used were very different from what they are today. Shooting with 4×5 film cameras with long exposures, the cookbook photographers needed to be more in control of the light so as to create a consistent look. Flash and tungsten were used regularly. The style of the food changed according to the era but top shots were favoured and everything in the photograph was in focus. These day’s natural is in. People want to make food that looks just like the picture, a comment that is considered utmost praise for the amateur cook. People can’t believe that often it is just light from a window, carefully placed reflectors and a little splash of water or olive oil that makes the food of the photograph look so appetizing. Although this fact is an advantage towards the marketing companies, it is a disadvantage towards the public eye, especially when advertising fast food. If critics have said companies want the advertisement to look appealing and appetizing, then more people will be drawn to the food, in which case for example, McDonalds will be in favour as they will earn more profit.

Obesity advertising

Humans have an inborn genetic evolutionary propensity to like sweets and fat. This was useful in the stone-age savanna and forest in order to pick the sweetest ripest fruits and to enjoy the fat of occasional lean game meat.

Nowadays, in the age of the supermarket with unlimited butter, oil, lard, and sugar, this maladaptive evolutionary heritage has to be countered by education and formation of good habits.

In a review that I researched I found that cereals marketed directly to children have 85 per cent extra sugar, 65 per cent much less fibre and sixty per cent far more sodium than cereals marketed to adults. This is a great storm of nutritional badness assured to result in health and fitness problems in anybody who consumes this sort of a combination regularly.

Cereal companies spend nearly £156 million annually marketing to children just on television. They also market extensively using the internet, social media, packaging and in-store promotions.

I still believe due to advertising, children can be sucked in through appearance opposed to the healthier option.


Forty-two percent of child-targeted cereals contain artificial food dyes, compared with 26 per cent of family cereals and five per cent of adult cereals.

Facts - obesity advertising

TV commercials for food are heavily skewed towards products that are high in fat and sugar but low in vitamins.

Commercials have long been criticized for pushing people toward unhealthy foods Advertisements have a big impact on the typical diet. The cereals that are most heavily marketed to kids are the ones that are highest in sugar and sodium and lowest in fibre.

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When researching into fast food advertisement, i found this image interesting, and wanted to explore more. I recently came across the article Fast-Food Ads vs. Reality on the AOL Finance & Money site and thought I would share since it provides great examples of fast food advertisement. I find it amusing that even though we know fast-food companies are sucking us in with these “false” ads of inedible food, most of us are willing to consume the “real” version without a second thought. No one ever says, “Hey, this is not what the picture looks like. I want a refund.” We eat the fast food anyway, and forget about it, until we see that mouth watering commercial again.

Whilst temptation is appealing, we should not be drawn to glossy advertisements. Resisting temptation unfortunately is the main reason, due to the hectic lifestyle we all live in today's society. But we are aware, convenience sometimes controls are diet.

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This advertisement really surprised me because although the advert explains real food offers a healthy diet, unfortunately on this occasion not all food is necessarily healthy.

 artists - ideas

Todd McLellan

Todd McLellan’s interest in photography began at an early age with the encouragement of his father. After graduating in 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alberta’s College of Art & Design, McLellan’s passion for photography brought him to Toronto where he is a member of the Sugino Studio team and specializes in automotive, commercial and conceptual work.

His interest in the creative field all stated from a kindergarten finger painting class, which his father encouraging him into the field of photography at an early age.

 The work of Todd McLellan is very clean, precise, bold in colour and clear to the point. His images do have an impressionistic feel to them but due to the plain single colour backgrounds, the focus is purposely only on the objects and so has a very clear meaning of what he wishes the audience to be looking at.  His images are so vivid in colour with flat perfectly formed shadows that they initially appear cartoony or digitally created. As his photographs usually end up in advertising they have a certain values to obtain in order for the intended audience to take interest. McClellan has managed to make if food look quite appealing as all his items are perfectly formed and the right colours they are expected to be. This is something i want to draw upon when photographing my own food items and create a comparison based on this. I really like the amount of detail he is able to bring out through his use of lighting. 

 

Todd McLellan's latest series "Disassembly" captures relics of our past in a unique, dismantled and exposed form. Disassembled items include a typewriter, a push lawn mower and a rotary phone. Each image has had every part meticulously re-arranged - by type, size and function - on a beige surface in an almost OCD-like manner, resulting in a portrait of an era now left behind.

I thought for my ideas, I could experiment with a similar style, by investigating quantity of meat that the average person consumes a year, which astounded me to be on average of 67lbs. Which is the equivalent us eating approximately 5 cows in a life time. I wanted to show this calculation through 5 modelled cows.

In one of Todd's newest projects, he disassembles various items such as a penax camera and a Suffolk lawnmower (among plenty of other things), rearranges the pieces into a neat presentation and then photographs them.

At the same time I came across Kleiner’s images, I also found the work of Marina Aurora. Her work is quite similar to Kleiner’s however Aurora’s was created a few years before hand. She uses the same technique of photographing from directly above using even lighting, however her images tell more of a story through the way there are actual meals laid out on the table, with floral table cloths, depicting the sort of people about to tuck into that meal.

When looking at The Guardians online colour supplement I came across the work of Austin Radcliffe who has created a series entitled 'Things organised neatly' in which he has taken photographs of objects which he has arranged very formally and neatly and which depict his daily life and activities. This idea of setting things out in order to achieve perfection in appearance has been linked to the obsessive compulsive disorder in which sufferers have to do certain things in a particular way to achieve personal satisfaction and piece of mind.

 

idea - shoot

When thinking of ideas for my shoot, I thought I could display something similar to this image. I thought this image reflected my idea and compared well towards my research. The image illustrates how an unbalanced diet can lead to lack of mobility, due to eating unhealthy foods.

artist annatation

When analysing this photo, I wanted to treat the subject like a classical still life painting, and focus on the objects. I chose to focus on fast food because it is so ubiquitous and not something that would normally be treated to a still life, plus I loved all of the hidden extras that fast food comes with (globalization, marketing, obesity, over farming, immigrants, science, genetics, capitalism, etc...)

When researching this image the photographer wanted to relate back o the program "Super Size Me," and accepted anything extra they threw his way (like sauces, and ketchup, and salt and pepper) and I got a ton.

Even though Michael Rousseau intention was (and still is) to show the horror of the food, and to display it exactly as it is served - no glamour or fancy product photography, he became more fascinated by the colour and textures in this "food", and quickly became more interested in painting exactly what he saw. It became an American Landscape. The colour of McDonald's french fries were golden and Burger King's were more translucent, chicken mcnuggets were golden green. burger buns were orange - but the cheese was even more orange - the wax paper was a visual treat of reflected blues, oranges, greens, purples and reds. The entire picture was an exercise in texture and colour relationships. The food/packaging was remarkably reflective and the colours were found everywhere.

In an age of Fast/Immediate/Now, Michael wanted to slow down and look at what we as a society are doing, what we target at children, and what passes for food?

colour printing workshop

Really enjoyed the colour printing induction on the 7th of October. The procedure was exciting and enjoyable but at the same time challenging as the task involved a great amount of attention to detail. Throughout the process I enjoyed and was intrigued learning about the subtractive system. The subtractive system allows us to work with the colours named Yellow Magenta and Cyan. the two systems are known as the combing of colours. When applying this procedure there is the combination of three basic colours. for instance if I was to add red and blue together in equal amounts I will get Magenta a purple colour. By varying the amounts of red and blue I would get all the colours that exist in in the spectrum between red and blue. The same with the combination of blue and green and green and red. I found this task hard at first as I had to apply several amount of test strips to achieve a well balanced coloured image. At first I test striped:

1                                                                

Y:80

M:50

B:0

0.5 seconds 

2

Y:80

M:50

B:0

1.7 seconds 

3

Y:80

M:60

B:0

17 seconds

4

Y:75

M:55

B:0

17 seconds

5

Y:75

M:57

B: 0

17 seconds

6

Y: 75

M:53

B:0

17 seconds

I hope to apply some more test strips throughout my project, as I can gain more confidenceand skills intitled for this area of work .

This picture shows the enlarger. When having our induction I learnt that this type of enlarger is a bit different than the black and white enlarger. On the colour enlarger there is a colour head above the negative carrier. This colour head has three filters in it, which were known as the subtractive system.

This shows the colour guide which was placed above the printing machine. I found this guide very helpful as I could guide my prints towards my final outcome.

This is my final print,  I was pleased with the outcome, as I felt I had achieved a new skill, learning information in all areas. Although the process took a long time, I think the colours are well balanced.

Perspective workshop

Perspective workshop was interesting. I preferred this workshop than the others, as I felt I had learnt valuable information form previous workshops etc: setting up studio equipment, setting up lighting equipment.

When taking my shots I took 2 photographs on 5x4 with the horeman, 1 colour & 1 black & white - Portra 160.

First we concentrated on using 2 objects, we had to photograph one behind the other twice, with 2 different lenses. At first everything was set to 0, but then we had to shift the perspective. we then experimented with all the different adjustments on the camera. First we played with the `belo`, this made the object look straight. then we used the `tilt`, this made the part of the image in sharp  focus. The shift allowed us to move the front of the camera left or right, the movement is similar to rise and fall but moves the image horizontally rather than vertically. The rise and fall were a very important feature as the rise helped change the portion of the image that was captured on the film.

I learnt from our induction talk, if we had any form of distortion, a wide angle lens would be useful to have, as this would get more of the subject in the photo.

Lens research

 

As I was unsure about different sizes of lens I did some research to learn mor einformation. The image below shows a relatively wide focal length of a 28mm lens. The following image shows 4 trees with an equal distance between them. At the wide setting it seemed that the distance increased dramatically towards the foreground. In other words: the tree to the left seems to be separated from the rest of the trees. Therefore the background seems to be far in the distance.

The next picture has a more natural view at using a 50mm lens. The perspective is much less extreme. Due to our real life experience, we can guess the distance between the trees is roughly the same, though the separation is still visible.

This image shows a 100mm lens. The trees are quite close together, showing a small distance between one another. Compared to the previous sample, you notice the enlarged background moves towards the main object. The scene now looks compressed.

Using a 200mm lens,  the effect increases even more. The group of trees seem to appear on the same distance plane. The background is blurred, due to the small depth-of-field but the image seems to look a few meters away. This is called a "flat" perspective.

perspective helpful information 

 

Depth of field workshop

5x4 Workshop was really fun, but found the task a challenge as I had never worked with a Horseman 5x4 large format camera. We also used black and white and  colour film. To start our induction we started off by observing some photographers.

I really enjoyed researching this image. The photo emphasizes a shallow depth of field and was shot with a 10x8 deardorff wooden plate camera. I found this hard to believe, as we were using a 5x4 large format camera, which I thought was big enough. The deardorff camera, is a large format, and produces polirad prints. When looking at the Photo you can see how the edge of the image is diffused and only the eyes are in focus.

Furthering our research we were introduced to the photographer Peter Fraser. The image we looked at was created using a  plaubel makina camera. This medium format camera was first released in 1931, and was the first model with the shutter speed ring placed around the lens. during the middle of the 1970's, the unique strut camera was succeeded by a Japanese New Makina 6x7, first was first  shown on an exhibition in 1977 and appeared in 1982 . As I hadn't heard of this camera, I researched into the model, and found the background history very interesting and helpful for future references.

Philip Lorca Dicorcia, the American photographer was another artist we observed . I enjoyed researching him, as I loved how he used frames to draw the attention towards the subject. His style involved informal snapshots and iconic quality staged compositions, making awareness of the psychology and emotion contained in real-life situations. He would capture everyday occurrences beyond the realm of banality, and his work is described as documentary photography mixed with the fictional world of cinema and advertising, which creates a powerful link between reality, fantasy and desire. I think his photographs give a sense of heightened drama and enjoy how he creates accidental poses, unintended movements and insignificant facial expressions. When focussing on the body unit, I will defiantly research this artist further, and experiment with a similar style.

Other photographers we explored where David Bate, Gregory Crewdson and Thomas Struth. When researching these photographers you realise noting looks distorted in their photographs.

Gregory Crewdson

 When looking at Gregory Crewdson`s pictures, I noticed a lot of his work is featured as disturbing, and captures surreal events. Some of his little stories were not even about the photographs, instead they were about the people, places and processes.

My favourite series of work he has produced is `beneath the roses` as I love the cinematic lighting. I also admire how he uses long shots, and how instead of focusing on the people themselves, he emphasizes the importance of the ambience around the people. His style is seen as dramatic and cinematic, and his photographs are shot using a large crew, and are elaborately staged and lighted.

Crewdson’s work is controversial in the photo community; his photos are each elaborately staged, the complexity and scale of which can rival small-budget films.

I see a lot of Edward Hopper in Crewdson’s work.  I think many, many photographers are influenced by Hopper simply for the fact that the man understood light, and light is the most influencing element in any photograph.  Crewdson’s images are constructed with meticulous attention to how light affects the scene: which objects it illuminates at what angle, how it can back-light fog or mist, how it reflects off of wet or shiny surfaces- not to mention which areas in the frame are not lit- as well as numerous other aspects.

David Bate is a London based visual artist and critical theorist, known particularly for his work on photography. He photographs domestic objects accidentally broken by him, Bate elevates these things from the humble still life to extravagant dramas of lost memories and enjoyment of the emotions involved in a broken object.

Thomas Struth is a German photographer whose wide-ranging work includes depictions of detailed cityscapes, Asian jungles and family portraits. He is one of Germany's most widely exhibited and collected fine art photographers.

 

Quote

"has a clear language, one that speaks openly not only about its subjects ... but also very much about the attitude of the photographer toward these things. In this regard, a photograph is always objective."

 

from researching all photographers, if you use a pale background the subject will be emphasized. I will keep this in mind when making some test shots.

 

Depth of field useful information

 

what we used in depth of field workshop

 Before we started the workshop, I learnt depending on the chosen aperture (f-stop), the focal length and the focus distance have a certain depth-of-field. The depth of filed defines a zone around the chosen focus point where objects appear to be sharp. Beyond the this zone objects appear to be blurred.

 Before we used the cameras we had to set up our lighting equipment. Today we used a studio flash and a soft box.  When using, I learnt studio flash is a much stronger light then using studio light. the shadows appeared darker creating lighter highlights on the subject.  From experimenting, I enjoyed learning about this light and was ambitions to try again.

 

Using the soft box helped create our final outcome as the equipment created even and diffused light. When setting up the equipment I noticed the sides and back of the box were displayed with a bright surface – this could either have been a fabric surface or aluminium foil. This allowed the equipment to act as an efficient reflector. The soft box could be used either with flash or continuous light, for instance today we used studio flash.

As we learnt form out first induction, that the camera's aperture controls the amount of light that reaches the film. we wanted to experiment with different types of aperture, to emphasize depth of field. One of the apertures we used was f2 wide aperture, as this created a shallow depth-of-field. We wanted to emphasize the sharp focused area as small, as this was useful when we wanted to isolate the subject of our picture, while capturing other elements as out of focus. We also experimented with a small aperture, of f16. This increased the depth-of-field which meant more elements in the picture, from foreground to background, where in sharp focus. By using this type of aperture the image created more depth drawing the viewer into the picture.

 

As we were using a horseman camera, we had ground class screen, which allowed us to see the picture as up side down. I found this aspect interesting and enjoyable, and was intrigued to learn more. After our black and white test shots, we then processed them to see if we had created depth of field. Unfortunately I was unable to process them, so need further practice in that area. After viewing our negatives, we then shot our colour dark slides.

 

To gain perfect focus we also used a loop tool. This helped emphasize the correct amount of depth, contrast and focus. Before taking our colour shoot we also used `quick disk`. This enabled us to determine the correct amount of exposure. The use of the QuickDisk involved no calculation, it was light weight, easy to replace and free for personal use. Not only could we emphasize the exposure but we also could measure the largest visible diameter. The set consisted of pieces of cardboard, the disk and the measuring tape. This tool was particular useful especially when photographing small objects on a large format camera.

useful information

more depth of field

less depth of field

 

object-obicity ideas

Before making my final decision for my object project, I experimented with ideas that I thought would correspond well towards my theme. The idea I had was to combine all junk food into one photoshot. This would illustrate the different foods associated with obesity. After processing and viewing the final image, I didn’t think the photo looked strong enough for a final piece. I therefore researched and thought of other ideas and began to experiment with my other thought.

 

From all research, I gained much knowledge of how obesity can cause a huge impact into human society and  wanted to show this throughout my final development of ideas.

For my final idea, I wanted to create a bigger than normal burger filled with a high calorie content. When observing this image I wanted the object to have the advert of the reversal effect. The food that we generally associate as being mouth watering, combined in one burger gives the opposite effect. 

For my final piece I used a 5x4 horseman camera. Before using this camera I knew the bigger the camera, more was  required for smaller aperture, as this gained more depth of field and hence more light.  I felt more comfortable using this style of camera as I had previous workshops to assist with my knowledge and ability of how to use the equipment. Before shooting I made sure all controls were set at zero, the camera was level and experimented with the `belo`, as this made the object look straight

When thinking about my depth of filed and focus I wanted to use a 240mm standard lens. This type of lens would help increase my focus and depth of field allowing the viewer to notice all detail of the subject. Unfortunately this lens was not available and therefore had to use a 210mm lens. This type was just as good.

Whilst keeping the lens to subject distance, I increased the focal length as this increased the magnification but decreased the angle of view.

For my lighting i wanted to use a  bron studio power pack. This type of equipment offers a power range from 10 J to 6100 J of flash energy, and found the pack easy to use and uniquely convenient. I also used studio flash as this was a much stronger light. the shadows appeared darker creating lighter highlights on the burger perfect when emphasising the texture of food. I also decided to attach a honeycomb. The equipment looked like a honeycomb mesh. The honeycomb technique created a the look of a spot rather than a flood. It was to obtain a hard lighting effect embracing distinct shadows.

IDEAS....

Final Print

When getting my object in perfect focus I used a loop. I felt this tool helped emphasize the correct amount of depth, contrast and focus. Once happy, with my focus I then closed the lens, cocked the shutter and loaded a sheet of film. Before taking my colour shoot I also used `quick disk`. This enabled me to determine the correct amount of exposure. The use of the QuickDisk involved no calculation, it was light weight, easy to replace and free for personal use. Not only could i emphasize the exposure but also could measure the largest visible diameter.

I did experiment with a small apertures, and decided to use an aperture of f32. This increased the depth-of-field which meant more elements in the picture, from foreground to background, where in sharp focus. By using this type of aperture, the image created more depth drawing the viewer into the picture, great when emphasizing the high calorie intake.

A shutter realise cable was also used which I attached to the lens. this was used to realise the shutter. The light metre helped a lot when capturing my final image, as this helped take my exposure reading which was f32. During my films I had to increase the power pack to allow more light onto the subject. The more light placed on the subject, the higher the light reading.

When using my light metre I set the iso to 160 and set my shutter to 1/500th of second. I also used a  plain white backdrop as this emphasized the subject in more detail.

This negative shows my final outcome of my shoot. At first I thought some of my negatives were a little out of focus, or needed more depth of field therefore reshot and took those thoughts into consideration. After experimenting and loads of test shots I was really pleased, and couldn’t wait to start the printing process.

Critical appraisal /object

Originally I wanted to document the effect of obesity and how it creates a massive impact towards our everyday life.

I have always been intrigued on how obesity can change peoples lives, and was influenced by outside media e.g. Newspapers, TV, radio etc…. and photographers such as Susan Findlay, Gary Bryan …… and the painter Michael Rousseau.

For the shoot I wanted to create a composition that was reminiscent of an advertising campaign.

Shooting my object was quite frustrating as I could not quite get the right amount of depth of filed. For lighting I placed the source to the side of the object, in order to create definition in the object as well as creating highlights and lowlights in the composition. I also used an off- set white as the backdrop as I wanted the colour and definition to come from the object and not be overpowered by a dark background.  I think I could improve this shoot, by adding more colour, thinking about re-organising my objects, and maybe researching into different surfaces that the object can be placed on e.g. taking pictures of café tables for inspiration. But overall I am pleased with the concept and the object I used, and thought the textures worked well together and whilst perhaps the colour and surface could have been better, I felt the highlight of this photo had to be the burger.

object / final print

After consultation, I felt I had room for improvement. However the photo to me portrayed everything that I wanted to capture.

This was one of my earlier projects, and since then I have learnt enormously the tasks required to take a photo shoot. Regarding one of the questions suggested about the cigarette butts, people could wonder why I have added this? Is the work now dealing with more general theme of over eating and lack of exercise? If so, the concept and visual language strategy could be further defined, perhaps adding physical weight and a sense of sloth to the image. But the reason why I included the cigarettes, was so I could highlight, everything contained in the burger was seen as unhealthy, and whilst not being politically correct I felt the shoot went well.

Adding  brighter colours was one of my other improvements, but in high sight maybe my investigation could of fulfied my portrait better. I know I looked into advertisement and throughout the advertisement industry, bright colours are used to capture the mouth watering image. However I wanted to achieve the complete opposite by not making the public eat the burger, I also felt by adding brighter colours to the background, the public would be drawn more to the colours instead of the main focus point `the burger`.