Man Ray- abstract

Man Ray born Emmanuel Radnitzky in 1890 was an american photographer, painter and film maker. He was the only american to play a major role in the Dada and surrealist movements. The son of an artist and photographer, he grew up in New York City, where he studied architecture, engineering and art. Man Ray was a regular visitor to Alfred Stieglitz's 291 gallery where he earned an early appreciation for photography. In 1915 he met the French artist Marcel Duchamp who he learnt a lot from and together they collaborated on many inventions and formed the New York City group of Dada artist.
In 1921 Man Ray moved to Paris and became associated with the Parisian Dada and Surrealist circles of artists and writers. Inspired by the liberation promoted by these groups, he experimented with many media. His experiments with photography included rediscovering how to make “cameraless” pictures, or photograms, which he called rayographs. He made them by placing objects directly on light-sensitive paper, which he exposed to light and developed. A book was published in 1922 of Man Ray's rayographs called Les Champs delicieux which means " The delightful Fields". The book was published with an introduction by the influential Dada artist Tristan Tzara, who admired Man Ray's work for the enigmatic quality of his images. In 1929 he started to experiment with a technique called solarization, which renders part of a photographic image negative and part positive by exposing a print or negative to a flash of light during development. He was one of the first artists to use the process, known since the 1840s, for aesthetic purposes.  He made a virtually complete photographic record of the celebrities of Parisian cultural life during the 1920s and ’30s. He also made films and in 1923 he used the rayograph technique for a motion picture film called Le Retour a la raison " Return to reason".  Man Ray became internationally famous as a fashion and portrait photographer. In 1961 he was awarded the Gold Medal at the photography Biennale, Venice, and he received the German Photographic Society Cultural award in 1966. He died on Nov. 18, 1976. I have been doing some research into Man Ray's photography to see what techniques he uses to create abstract images.

Depth of field - Kevin Horn

Kevin Horn

Kevin Horn is a photographer based in Marbella, Spain. He has been a professional photographer for over 20 years , working on location and studio photography. Speacialising in creative commercial images his work has been used extensively in brochures, editorials, advertising and websites. He has a reputation for creating the freshest images for his clients and using the best photographic equipment to achieve the quality required for high end print production. Kevin’s wide range of skills includes architecture, food, lifestyle, interiors and still life and with his professionalism, creativity, dedication and passion that he brings to his images, he is in high demand. . His extensive knowledge of photography from black and white to large format transparency to the latest digital mediums ensures that he never sacrifices quality for ease or lack of technical knowledge. I have been doing research on Kevin Horn and looking at how he demonstrates the use of short depth of field. The images below are examples of short depth of field and i think these images are colourful and vibrant. Although Kevin Horn is a successful photographer is images don't inspirer me and are not to my taste.

 

 

 

Depth of field- Sally Mann

 

I have been doing some reasearch into Sally Mann and her work and i have to say i have become an admirer of her work and not just because i love black and white photography. The more research i do into Sally Mann, the more she inspires and interests me.
Sally Mann is an American photographer born in 1951. She is best known for her black and white photographs. She used a very old 8 x 10 view camera for most of her works. In her early career  she began working as a photographer for Washington and Lee University after she graduated, and her photographs, taken in the 1970's, of the construction of the University’s library which where included in her first solo exhibition and her first book, Second Sight. At Twelve, published in 1988, is portraites of children on the edge of adulthood, she capturs the emotions that children of that age feels and i think mixed feelings and moods come out in her images and they give you an insight into what it was like growing into adulhood at them times. I think Sally illustrates short depth of field in alot of these images. In 1992 she published a very controversial collection of her children, Immediate Family, Which where photographs taken, at a remote cabin next to a river, of her young children playing and swiming in the lake nude. I don't think she thought her photographs were anything more than maternal photographs of her childrens childhoods and i think she is trying to show everyday life with her children, the good and the bad but when these images where published people thought they were far too itimate some even  saying it was child pornography but there were a great majority of people looked at the images the same way she did. Again i think she also uses short depth of field in these images to keep your concertration on the subjects expressions. I think she really captures the moods and emotions in her images and the images i have been looking at i think are shown through a mothers and childs eyes.

At Twelve

 

 

 

Immediate Family



 

 

I can see how some people would be mislead by Sally's images but i can also see what she wanted people to see. I think her images are full of mixed emotions good and that we feel in everyday life.

Assighnment 3 - Field of view

Field of view is that part of the world that is visible through the camera at a particular position or angle. A camera's field of view is determined by the focal length of the lens and the size of the image sensor capture area. It is also known in terms of "wide angle", "normal" and "telephoto" lenses. I am going to try and shown some examples of field of view using one lense which will be a macro canon zoom lens 18-135mm fitted onto a canon dslr EOS 550D. 

      TV 1/5  F5.6  ISO 400     

                   TV 1/5 F3.5 ISO 400

         TV 1/8  F5.6 ISO 400

                       TV 1/4 F4 ISO 400

 

 

.

Camera Types

There are a range of camara types with diffrent purposes.


Pinhole - A pinhole camera is a simply made light-proof box with a small hole (aperture) on one side of the camera that lets a small amount of focused light through. It has no lens and only one aperture size. Light from a scene passes through the hole and projects an upside down image on the opposite side of the box onto the film. Pinhole photography is a low expense camera as it can be made at home with household materials. I think the pinhole camera is very interesting to learn about, You don't have as much control over your image with pinhole cameras and they are made the simplest way but they can still make sharp beautiful images.

Point and shoot camera -  A point and shoot camera is also known as a compact camera. It is designed for simple projects. These sort of cameras are for people who want an easy and simple camera to record holidays or photos for your family albums. It is small and light weight, and could fit into your pocket, although the images aren't neccessarily bad images there picture quality is not to the best standards and the settings on the camera are limited i have been having alook at some point and shoot photography and i have to say i think it is really good, his name is Darwin Wiggett http://darwinwiggett.wordpress.com.

Bridge Camera - A bridge camera is inbetween a compact camera and SLR. Bridge cameras have alot more functions and settings than a point and shoot such as being able to channge the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and other settings maually on most of these cameras although the sensors on them are usually the same as point and shoot cameras. I think these camera are good for people who are again taking pictures on holiday or just to record you families life but i also think you could take creative photos with these cameras you are just limited and you can't change the lenses on a Bridge camera but i do thing this camera is ideal for a large range of people.

SLR - . A SLR camera is a popular choice for serious photography. It is a sophisticated camara that offer interchangeable lenses and allow photographers to have complete control of shutter speed, lens aperture, focusing, and exposure. They have a wide range of diffrent settings and fuctions and they give you the option to add on flashes, motor drives and other accessories and i think they are brilliant to get creatice with although you can be creative with other types of cameras these cameras give you alot more control of your images and are mostly used by professionals/

Depth of field - Madame Yevonde

While i have been researching into photographers you use depth of field, i have come accross Madame Yevonde, she was born Yevonde Cumbers Middleton in 1893 into a wealthy family was an English  Fine art, Fashion and Portrait photographer in the early 20th century.
She apprenticed herself to Lallie Charles, the leading society portrait photographer of the day, from whom she learned the rudiments of her chosen profession, and how to run a studio and before she had completed her apprenticeship, with the finacial help of her father, she set up her own photographic studio in 1914 at the age at 21. By 1921 Madame Yevonde had established her self as a well-known portrait photographer taking photographs of leading personalities such as A.A.Milne and Diana Mitford. In the early 1930s, Yevonde began experimenting with colour photography, using the new Vivex colour processand became one of the first photographers to exibit in colour.
Madame Yevonde was a great supporter of women rights throughout her life and i think that is what inspired the ideas for society women as mythical goddesses.It was in the 1930's when she started to take photos of society women as mythical goddesses. Her subjects where dressed in appropriate costumes such as roman and greek gods and goddesses which i think she uses short depth of field so that the subject is in focus and the background is blurry so your concerntration is on the women and there beauty.
                                                              The Goddesses

                                      Arethusa

 

Penthesilea - Queen of the amazon

 

Still Images

 

Madame Yevondas uses short depth of field with her still live images aswell.

 

                                      Lilies 

                                    Crisis

 

 

I think all the images i have put up all show short depth of field. Madame Yevonde liked to experiment alot with her work and is one of the great photographers of the 20th century. I like her playfullness towards her photographs and her use of colour. Her images for her times are modern.  

 

 

 

Assignmeny 4 - White balance 1

White balance is a color adjustment that ensures that white things appear white and it is able to tell your camara what colour light you are working in. There are diffrent kinds of light and they affect the way colours are shown on an image. Unlike the human eye, digital camaras can't automatically adjust to compensate for variations in the colour of light, potentially causing unnaturally coloured images but by changing the white balance settings to the appropriate setting you will get a natural coloured image. A cameras white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Colour temperature is measured in kelvin.
I have taken some images using diffrent white balance settings to see how white balance can change the mood of an image and make it feel diffrent. I used a Canon EOS 550D on TV setting  with a stutter speed 1/8.

    Daylight(Approx, 5200K):  This image looks natural because i have taken the shot using the daylight setting in daylight. It looks like it is a sunny morning in the image. 

Shade(Approx, 7000K):  The colours in this image look warmer and inviting and i think this image gives the bench a bright and happy feeling. 

 Cloudy(Approx, 6000K):  The colours in this image are still warm but i think they have a misty look to them.

   Tungsten (Approx, 3200K): This image reminds me of them cold winter mornings, There is a blue tint which makes the image look colder

Fluorecent (Approx, 4000K): This image looks very bright and white.