Statement of Intent
What is your chosen theme?
My chosen theme for my GCSE project is going to be Landscapes Texture and I am going to look at different types of Landscapes such as trees, rivers, and more different themes. I have chosen to do this theme because it allows me a wide variety to be creative I’m in an area where there are a lot themes i can incorporate into my work. In order to deduce a successful creative and unique final main project I need to start by doing some in-depth research around my chosen theme. The way I’m going to do this is by researching photographers who have done the same things as me such as (Look Below). I will also extend my knowledge of the theme by creating mind maps. I hope to explore all options in terms of media so that I have filled up a diverse range of ideas for my project to ensure that my project is very successful. This will influence me to create a project that is very personal to me and to explore and develop my photography skills. I am going to use my weebly person photography website to record all of my ideas that I will set out professionally. I intend to capture a wide range of photo shoots one idea is going out to a local landscape to take pictures of textures for example bark, moss and stones etc. Another idea is mini worlds or fantasy landscapes with the help of Photoshop I could use my portrait skills and combine it with my landscape textures to create a more extravagant and amazing final image. I will take my work on a journey. I will explore all sorts of ideas and see which ones I want to go forward with. Throughout this project, I will use an assortment of techniques with the camera as possible to gain a high profile project. When I use my camera I will leave it on the manual setting to control my setting and change my white balance to make my images different. If I am taking photos outside I will have to constantly change my ISO, white balance and exposure because the light will change it could be dark or bright. With Photoshop it will refine and improve my photos by using lasso by going around the picture to separate the image and the part that I want to separate. With layers I could add my landscape texture image and use a portrait image with the help of layers I could merge them together. In doing this project, I hope to learn more about the camera and create a better understanding of the theme of landscapes i hope to take my work on a journey to show how much I have improved from last time I want to do more work on Photoshop as last time I did a basic final project this time I want to do a bit more of a complex final piece I will watch more videos to do with Photoshop to get the hang of it. I might make a magazine or an abstract piece.
My chosen theme for my GCSE project is going to be Landscapes Texture and I am going to look at different types of Landscapes such as trees, rivers, and more different themes. I have chosen to do this theme because it allows me a wide variety to be creative I’m in an area where there are a lot themes i can incorporate into my work. In order to deduce a successful creative and unique final main project I need to start by doing some in-depth research around my chosen theme. The way I’m going to do this is by researching photographers who have done the same things as me such as (Look Below). I will also extend my knowledge of the theme by creating mind maps. I hope to explore all options in terms of media so that I have filled up a diverse range of ideas for my project to ensure that my project is very successful. This will influence me to create a project that is very personal to me and to explore and develop my photography skills. I am going to use my weebly person photography website to record all of my ideas that I will set out professionally. I intend to capture a wide range of photo shoots one idea is going out to a local landscape to take pictures of textures for example bark, moss and stones etc. Another idea is mini worlds or fantasy landscapes with the help of Photoshop I could use my portrait skills and combine it with my landscape textures to create a more extravagant and amazing final image. I will take my work on a journey. I will explore all sorts of ideas and see which ones I want to go forward with. Throughout this project, I will use an assortment of techniques with the camera as possible to gain a high profile project. When I use my camera I will leave it on the manual setting to control my setting and change my white balance to make my images different. If I am taking photos outside I will have to constantly change my ISO, white balance and exposure because the light will change it could be dark or bright. With Photoshop it will refine and improve my photos by using lasso by going around the picture to separate the image and the part that I want to separate. With layers I could add my landscape texture image and use a portrait image with the help of layers I could merge them together. In doing this project, I hope to learn more about the camera and create a better understanding of the theme of landscapes i hope to take my work on a journey to show how much I have improved from last time I want to do more work on Photoshop as last time I did a basic final project this time I want to do a bit more of a complex final piece I will watch more videos to do with Photoshop to get the hang of it. I might make a magazine or an abstract piece.
Mind Map
Mood Bored
Sunrise over Haystacks, Buttermere by Martin Lawrence
When I’m looking at this photograph by Martin Lawrence, I can see that he uses the rule of thirds. This is because the water is in the bottom ⅔ and the mountains fill the rest of the image. The impact from using this composition technique is that it makes the water stand out.
I think the photographer has done this in a very still day as there are no ripples in the water. He has captured the reflection perfectly, the reflection is a mirror image of the landscape. The impact is that it’s almost like a pattern.
When I look at the image I think the colours are quite soft and there is no harsh lighting. That makes me think that the photographer took this image really early in the morning, maybe when the sunrise just went up as there is a slight golden tint to the image. The time of year is summer as the tree leaves are not on the ground but still on the trees. The impact is that he can capture a beautiful landscape in soft full colour with the greens contrasting against the blues.
There is another vanishing point in the photograph which is behind the tree and goes between the mountains and gives the image some sense of depth
The photographer might have used a tripod and a very good lens as the whole picture is in sharp focus, possibly a telescopic lens the f stop must have been f36. I also think that he must have stepped into the water to get a perfect shot of the white house, trees and mountains along with the clouds.
From looking at the trees it looks as if it is Summer.
In my opinion the photographer would have stood up right at eye level and was standing in the lake to take this photograph. This makes it feel like we're in the water with him and so it makes us feel involved with the image.
There is a very very clear foreground the water and pebbles in the water which is really clear, middle ground the white house which stands out on it’s own as it is white where as everything else is a soft colour the white just makes you look at it first and distance where you can see the sky that is a pale blue along with the mountains that are mostly focused as it is faintly blurry. The compositional technique also adds scale and depth to the photograph
Not only does he use the rule of thirds, once he does it again with the trees this is important because the trees also as it helps to frame the picture by balancing it out.
To me this image is absolutely stunning as it makes me feel peaceful and it has this calming effect I find it nice to look at images like this especially right now where there is a lot of worrisome and terrible things happening
I think the photographer has done this in a very still day as there are no ripples in the water. He has captured the reflection perfectly, the reflection is a mirror image of the landscape. The impact is that it’s almost like a pattern.
When I look at the image I think the colours are quite soft and there is no harsh lighting. That makes me think that the photographer took this image really early in the morning, maybe when the sunrise just went up as there is a slight golden tint to the image. The time of year is summer as the tree leaves are not on the ground but still on the trees. The impact is that he can capture a beautiful landscape in soft full colour with the greens contrasting against the blues.
There is another vanishing point in the photograph which is behind the tree and goes between the mountains and gives the image some sense of depth
The photographer might have used a tripod and a very good lens as the whole picture is in sharp focus, possibly a telescopic lens the f stop must have been f36. I also think that he must have stepped into the water to get a perfect shot of the white house, trees and mountains along with the clouds.
From looking at the trees it looks as if it is Summer.
In my opinion the photographer would have stood up right at eye level and was standing in the lake to take this photograph. This makes it feel like we're in the water with him and so it makes us feel involved with the image.
There is a very very clear foreground the water and pebbles in the water which is really clear, middle ground the white house which stands out on it’s own as it is white where as everything else is a soft colour the white just makes you look at it first and distance where you can see the sky that is a pale blue along with the mountains that are mostly focused as it is faintly blurry. The compositional technique also adds scale and depth to the photograph
Not only does he use the rule of thirds, once he does it again with the trees this is important because the trees also as it helps to frame the picture by balancing it out.
To me this image is absolutely stunning as it makes me feel peaceful and it has this calming effect I find it nice to look at images like this especially right now where there is a lot of worrisome and terrible things happening
MARTIN LAWRENCE LAKE DISTRICT AND LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
“Since I was in my teens, I have been obsessed with wildlife and the countryside. Realising this, my parents bought me my first camera, a Pentax Program ‘A’, which I still have today. What can I say? I was hooked and my photography journey began. Once you take up photography, you start to see the world through different eyes and for many years I spent all my free time away from my job in IT wandering the spectacular Scottish and Lake land mountains with my camera in hand. It was such a privilege to be able to capture the scenery and wildlife that I loved so much.
I decided to turn professional in 2005. It's a great life when you can get out and 'smell the roses' and get paid for it as well. The beauty of my job is that you see the world in all its seasons from winter snows and frosts with crisp clear light to spring’s early fresh colours and from summer’s warmth and early morning reflections to autumn's rich red colours. How can you not love being a landscape and wildlife photographer!!
I currently exhibit my work at several galleries in the Lake District and in Lancashire, supply images for calendars, websites and brochures and contribute to stock libraries. I also write photographic tutorials for magazines and photographic websites including my own. My work has been published in several prestigious magazines including Lonely Planet, Country file, Cumbria, Cumbria Life and Photography Monthly and also appeared on many websites both at home and abroad. One of my images was used for a Virgin Rail campaign and appeared in tube stations throughout London and in many daily newspapers. I undertake Commercial work and find this to be a very interesting and rewarding part of my job as it allows me to get around to other parts of the country that I would not normally visit.
In 2008, I introduced One to One and Small Group Digital Landscape Photography Workshops. These have proved to be extremely popular with photographers looking for more individual attention that focuses solely on their needs rather than those of a large group. I have had some great feedback from photographers of all levels of experience looking to improve their technique, learn a new skill or get to grips with a new camera.
I live in leafy Broughton on the outskirts of Preston with my wife Sheila who helps me to run our business. We also own a pine lodge at Bassenthwaiter near Keswick where we spend much of our free time and which I use as a base for my photography workshops. My two daughters, Debbie and Rebecca, both live and work in London but take every opportunity they can to return ‘up north’ to their roots and enjoy a day out in the Lakes followed by a meal in a great Lakeland pub.
I love to take road trips to the USA, spending time in the spectacular national and state parks of Utah, Arizona, California, Wyoming and Colorado. The Grand Teton National Park is a particular favorite of mine. I have also traveled extensively throughout Europe, Iceland and the Far East. South America, in particular Patagonia and a Safari in Africa also beckon.
Task 2: Connection
What connections do we have with this image?
The project I am doing is based on researching different landscapes and textures and so I am going to look at a range of photographers. The reason why I have chosen to look at Martin Lawrence’s work is because he has taken photographs of the Lake District which is an area I am planning to go to and so I will use his work to inspire my own photographs. Martin focuses on capturing the beauty of nature and also looks at composition to frame his work. I hope to do something similar when I go out on location. He seemed to try and capture different times of day, different seasons and different lights, this is something I hope to do with my own work. I am also looking at landscapes and texture and think that I will focus on capturing ‘Texture’ first. I am going to use his work to inspire mine. He uses composition when he takes photos. This is something that I am going to use to inspire my own photos. I am going to go to a location to get images. Therefore I need to research photographers who also do this. I will go in the autumn time so that I can capture the light and colours. This is something that Martin also does when taking photographs.
School trip to the Lake District
Same location
I am going to start my photography with looking at a landscape in Autumn to capture golden light and the beautiful colours and so I am using Martin’s work to help inspire me to frame my shots. Having to use the camera on manual settings so I have to keep checking or changing the lighting and aperture to make sure I get a really good shots to frame my image. This is something that Martin will have had to do when he was taking his photographs.
I decided to turn professional in 2005. It's a great life when you can get out and 'smell the roses' and get paid for it as well. The beauty of my job is that you see the world in all its seasons from winter snows and frosts with crisp clear light to spring’s early fresh colours and from summer’s warmth and early morning reflections to autumn's rich red colours. How can you not love being a landscape and wildlife photographer!!
I currently exhibit my work at several galleries in the Lake District and in Lancashire, supply images for calendars, websites and brochures and contribute to stock libraries. I also write photographic tutorials for magazines and photographic websites including my own. My work has been published in several prestigious magazines including Lonely Planet, Country file, Cumbria, Cumbria Life and Photography Monthly and also appeared on many websites both at home and abroad. One of my images was used for a Virgin Rail campaign and appeared in tube stations throughout London and in many daily newspapers. I undertake Commercial work and find this to be a very interesting and rewarding part of my job as it allows me to get around to other parts of the country that I would not normally visit.
In 2008, I introduced One to One and Small Group Digital Landscape Photography Workshops. These have proved to be extremely popular with photographers looking for more individual attention that focuses solely on their needs rather than those of a large group. I have had some great feedback from photographers of all levels of experience looking to improve their technique, learn a new skill or get to grips with a new camera.
I live in leafy Broughton on the outskirts of Preston with my wife Sheila who helps me to run our business. We also own a pine lodge at Bassenthwaiter near Keswick where we spend much of our free time and which I use as a base for my photography workshops. My two daughters, Debbie and Rebecca, both live and work in London but take every opportunity they can to return ‘up north’ to their roots and enjoy a day out in the Lakes followed by a meal in a great Lakeland pub.
I love to take road trips to the USA, spending time in the spectacular national and state parks of Utah, Arizona, California, Wyoming and Colorado. The Grand Teton National Park is a particular favorite of mine. I have also traveled extensively throughout Europe, Iceland and the Far East. South America, in particular Patagonia and a Safari in Africa also beckon.
Task 2: Connection
What connections do we have with this image?
The project I am doing is based on researching different landscapes and textures and so I am going to look at a range of photographers. The reason why I have chosen to look at Martin Lawrence’s work is because he has taken photographs of the Lake District which is an area I am planning to go to and so I will use his work to inspire my own photographs. Martin focuses on capturing the beauty of nature and also looks at composition to frame his work. I hope to do something similar when I go out on location. He seemed to try and capture different times of day, different seasons and different lights, this is something I hope to do with my own work. I am also looking at landscapes and texture and think that I will focus on capturing ‘Texture’ first. I am going to use his work to inspire mine. He uses composition when he takes photos. This is something that I am going to use to inspire my own photos. I am going to go to a location to get images. Therefore I need to research photographers who also do this. I will go in the autumn time so that I can capture the light and colours. This is something that Martin also does when taking photographs.
School trip to the Lake District
Same location
I am going to start my photography with looking at a landscape in Autumn to capture golden light and the beautiful colours and so I am using Martin’s work to help inspire me to frame my shots. Having to use the camera on manual settings so I have to keep checking or changing the lighting and aperture to make sure I get a really good shots to frame my image. This is something that Martin will have had to do when he was taking his photographs.
PHOTOGRAPHY MOCK EXAM 4CS
Context
Couldn't find the photographer
Composition There is a foreground middle and distance in the image. The bridge is close to the camera whereas the sunlight is further away from the camera. When I look at the image I can see very strong leading lines in the image it makes you look in the direction of leading lines. I think has used the rule of third however there is no sweet spot, the sweet spot is where your eye first looks at. Some photographers use this to make there work look even better and the one impact is to make it more professional. The view point is eye level if it was birds eye view we would see it from the sky facing downwards. In my opinion I think they might have used a f stop as you do see the mountain but as you look above the bottom part of the mountain you see that it is a bit blurry. In my opinion I think the photographer has used white balance I think he has used fluorescent. I also think The image is not over exposed, it is a photo that has been talking correctly. He might have used a tripod to get a steady picture
He must have put the bridge in the middle. The main colors are purple whit, and the wood colour and pink the impact is that it makes the bridge and the setting look more beautiful.
Connections
I like the work because of the colors and their use of depth of field by using depth of field it made it look fascinating to look at it was almost like an optical illusion the way the light from behind the mountain shows up contrasting to the mountain. There work links to me as I am also doing landscapes. The strengths is that they use white balance and depth of field to there advantage.
Connect
Couldn't find the photographer
Composition There is a foreground middle and distance in the image. The bridge is close to the camera whereas the sunlight is further away from the camera. When I look at the image I can see very strong leading lines in the image it makes you look in the direction of leading lines. I think has used the rule of third however there is no sweet spot, the sweet spot is where your eye first looks at. Some photographers use this to make there work look even better and the one impact is to make it more professional. The view point is eye level if it was birds eye view we would see it from the sky facing downwards. In my opinion I think they might have used a f stop as you do see the mountain but as you look above the bottom part of the mountain you see that it is a bit blurry. In my opinion I think the photographer has used white balance I think he has used fluorescent. I also think The image is not over exposed, it is a photo that has been talking correctly. He might have used a tripod to get a steady picture
He must have put the bridge in the middle. The main colors are purple whit, and the wood colour and pink the impact is that it makes the bridge and the setting look more beautiful.
Connections
I like the work because of the colors and their use of depth of field by using depth of field it made it look fascinating to look at it was almost like an optical illusion the way the light from behind the mountain shows up contrasting to the mountain. There work links to me as I am also doing landscapes. The strengths is that they use white balance and depth of field to there advantage.
Connect
Natural
Wood
Best & Worst
The one on the right had to much exposure and I believe it ruined the photo to make it better like the one on the left I would have to lower the exposure.
Leaves
Best & Worst
The one on the left is better as it doesn't have any of the white of the bag and there are a variety of textures however the one on the right has a lot of white and a blur spot to the image making you focus on the white places instead of the leaves and texture
Shells
Best & Worst
The one on the right has a blur to it and doesn't show the detail on it properly where as the other on is clear this means that the depth of field is to low and I needed to focus the lenses.
Pinecones
Best & Worst
The one on the left is my best one as it shows texture closely nut I should have taken a closer image to improve it and show the texture more however the other one does show texture but not as closely and uses the rule of thirds but it is also blurry.
Leaves
Best & Worst
I prefer the one on the left as it has a large depth of field and it is also in focus it also uses a worms eye view which goes bottom then upwards on the other hand the one on the right is out of focus and the depth of field is low to but I do like the rule of third used and how there are other leaves in the backgroud.
Close Ups
Feathers
Best & Worst
To me the left one is better as it shows more detail and is more zoomed in so that you can see the texture however on the other one is very blurry it doesn't show any of the texture, it isn't zoomed in. The camera should be refined to get texture and small details in focus it would make for an interesting picture it should also have been zoomed in as mentioned before.
Tomatillo
Best & Worst
In the left image you can see the detail of the tomatillo you can see the mini holes and how the effect it gives off where it focuses on one part then the rest is blurred out on the on right it is not in focus it isn't positioned properly either.
Berries
Best & Worst
Ivy
Best & Worst
The one on the left look aesthetically pleasing to look at as it low depth of field making the Ivy stand out more where as the one on the right doesn't look good as it's depth of field hasn't been set.
Bark
Water
Exploring Man Made texture
Working with a professional Photographer
Over the half term I worked with a professional photographer and we had taken a lot of photos we used a scope background which was charcoal grey to take the photo we had a tripod along with this LED light that we changed the brightness of the colours you could also change the white balance. We used two different objects to take pictures with some of the images we would do from a distance then we would zoom into it. To brighten and to gets some unique images we used a reflector.
A Doming Block
Best & Worst
The left one is better as you can still see the texture on the left side but it also gives a contrast to the right side making it look brighter. The right doesn't show much of a contrast the lighting should be fixed to improve it.
Doming Tools
Best & Worst
On the left one you can clearly see the texture on the doming tool and I like how it has a low depth of field that blurs out the background and how it just fades off. On the right one the ISO was exposed for two long causing the image to have a brightness
A Shovel
Refine and developing my ideas
Development
What photos do we need to take to develop our work?
In order to develop our work we need to take more relevant photoshoots that link in with the chosen theme for example nature and man-made.
Nature
Man-Made
What will be our next photoshoot?
The next shoot will be man-made
Such as: glass, brick, wood, light bulbs, coloured pencils and buildings.
Equipment: tripods, microscopic lens, reflectors, light box, infinity curve backdrop and phone camera.
How are we going to do this?
Locations
Man-made shoots should be done indoors under artificial lighting and natural shoots should be done outdoors in natural lighting such as golden hour.
What do we need to plan for...
We would need to plan around the weather for the natural environment shoot and the lighting if it's going to be a clear or cloudy day.
Photographs I have already taken
They went to the Coniston lake district in autumn. They took pictures according to a schedule. They took images of landscapes, lakes, animals, trees, ponds, roads, flowers, hills and mountains. They also went on a boat ride to capture water and mist. They captured the autumn colours and lighting in natural landscapes. This helps to build up their websites with loads of interesting and eye-catching images.
Next steps
We are looking at the photographer Martin Lawrence. This is because they use similar aspects to the pictures we have taken and the composition of landscapes. This photographer uses colour and composition that is visually pleasing so we will take inspiration from it. We will use youtube photoshop tutorials to inspire our outcomes. We will use tools such as levels, contrast, opacity, saturation and exposure that will make our work unique and meaningful.
What photos do we need to take to develop our work?
In order to develop our work we need to take more relevant photoshoots that link in with the chosen theme for example nature and man-made.
Nature
- Nature is the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.
Man-Made
- Man-Made is made or caused by human beings (as opposed to occurring or being made naturally).
What will be our next photoshoot?
The next shoot will be man-made
Such as: glass, brick, wood, light bulbs, coloured pencils and buildings.
Equipment: tripods, microscopic lens, reflectors, light box, infinity curve backdrop and phone camera.
How are we going to do this?
Locations
Man-made shoots should be done indoors under artificial lighting and natural shoots should be done outdoors in natural lighting such as golden hour.
What do we need to plan for...
We would need to plan around the weather for the natural environment shoot and the lighting if it's going to be a clear or cloudy day.
Photographs I have already taken
They went to the Coniston lake district in autumn. They took pictures according to a schedule. They took images of landscapes, lakes, animals, trees, ponds, roads, flowers, hills and mountains. They also went on a boat ride to capture water and mist. They captured the autumn colours and lighting in natural landscapes. This helps to build up their websites with loads of interesting and eye-catching images.
Next steps
We are looking at the photographer Martin Lawrence. This is because they use similar aspects to the pictures we have taken and the composition of landscapes. This photographer uses colour and composition that is visually pleasing so we will take inspiration from it. We will use youtube photoshop tutorials to inspire our outcomes. We will use tools such as levels, contrast, opacity, saturation and exposure that will make our work unique and meaningful.
Photography Mock
Close Ups
Developing further in Photopea
So far in my project I have been using 2 different pieces of software, Photoshop and Photopea. I have been developing/refining my own photographs so that I enhance the final outcomes. The tools I have been using are lens flare, magic cut, selection tool, layers, image/adjustments and this has helped me to develop my techniques/skills. The more I practice and look at tutorials, the better my outcomes will be next time the next outcome I will be trying is patterns but first I have to finish off my work by adding more outcomes.
Final Outcomes
Final gallery
Evaluation
My chosen theme was textures I really enjoyed the theme I looked at many texture and took a lot of picture of textures. Some of the pictures I toke where mostly nature ones with a few man made ones. My favorite part of the project was taking pictures and doing research for example mood boards I liked looking at what others people have done so I could take inspiration that I could incorporate in my final pieces. A new technique I experienced was how to make geometric photos in photoshop. A technique I would like to develop would be geometric I would like to make my photos more advanced. Martin Lawrence was one of the photographers that I researched about I used nature in my final image some of the photos he has done included nature. I used nature textures in my final piece. The most successful part of my project is my final outcomes I like how they turned out. I went abroad for a few month because of that I missed out on a lot of work another problem I encountered was lockdown which made it hard for me. The problems that I had the amount of time I had to do my final project and make my page better. Next time I want to produce more outcomes and try new things with photoshop.