Final Ten Photographs (Architecture)

Below are my final ten photographs which I have chosen for my architecture theme. Below these is an explanation to the reason why I have chosen these photographs.

Firstly, I have chosen one of my favourites from my collection. This photograph shows a cathedral in Birmingham. I have stood quite close to the cathedral so that it's historic detail is shown and that it covers the photograph from left to right. As you can see this is done with precision making it the main focal point. When a viewer looks at this photograph they are drawn to looking at the historic detail from the cathedral and nothing else, this is because there are no interruptions in the photograph to distractn the viewers eye.

For this photograph I mainly concentrated on positioning and lighting. What makes this photograph unique is that it is taken at nightime and the only light source which was available to me was the surrounding church lights. What I wanted to achieve here is the whole church from left to right showing what it looked like when there is no natural light shining onto it. As you can see from the lights shining onto the church it creates a few different types of yellow/gold colours and the shadwows from surrounding objects can be seen quite boldy on the church. Patterns were also used here from the detail of the church and the churches windows which spread across the churc from left to right. This photograph required me to use my tripod as I had to use a very slow shutter speed due to the surrounding light being very dark.

These two photographs were also taken at night time so there was hardly any natural light available. As you can see from these two photographs that there are some colours which have been blended together to create some truely magnificent colours which are not only on the church but also surrounding the church. As you can see what ever natural light that was available has mixed with the light surronding the church to create different blues/purples on the first photograph. The top photograph conecntrates more on the detail of the church thus displaying the patterns from the churches detail whilst being placed in the centre of the photograph.

On this photgoraph I have attempted  John Golden's work. By this I have taken a photograph of St Peters church in Burton Upon Trent, but what I have done here is taken it from a different angle. Angles and shapes were what really showed in John Golden's church photography so I have done the same here. As you can see by doing this it shows the dominance of the church because of it towering over on the photograph whilst it also shows the great historic detail of the church.

Here is another night time photograph I have chosen from my collection. What I have done here is chosen an area that didn't have alot of light surrounding it to create this sort of eeire looking photograph but still to display the church in all of its beauty. As you can see from the light which is next to the church it shines onto the church making that area quite bright but then gets darker as you move deeper into the church. This is great as the strongness of colour gets shallower as you move more to the left of the photograph.

These two photographs are also of the St Peters Church in Burton Upon Trent. One is of the church at a distance and one is of the churches tower zoomed in to capture its detail. With the top photograph I managed to create a lines that guide eye composition with the path way which is created from the trees either side leading upto the church which stands dominantly at the end of the photograph. Where as the top photograph I have concentrated more on patterns and detail of the church to show its great historic beauty. As you can see patterns emerge from alot of areas of the church in the bottom photograph. This is purely down to the design of the church. As you can also see on the bottom photograph I placed the main focal point in the centre of the photograph so that there is equal distance to the edge of the photograph on both sides. I did this so that it made the church the main focal point with minor interruptions to distract the viewers eye. With a white background this also makes the church with all of it's detail stand out quite alot when the viewer is drawn to the church.

Here is another photograph where I have positioned myself so that the chruch has covered pretty much all of the photograph from left to right. This is great as where ever the viewer looks on the photograph they will be constantly been drawn to the churches detail which is included throughout mos of the photograph.

For my last photograph I have chosen one that was to a similar style of John Golden's work. John Golden's church photography mainly concentrates on where he is positioned when he is taking the photograph alongside the angle of his shot. As you can see here I have stood right next to the church so that when I look up to take the photograph it is taken at a great angle. As you can see by doing this the whole of the churches tower is in the shot making it tower over you whilst showing it's historic design in detail at the same time. I also concenterated on patterns here from the churches design due to me being so close to the main focal point.

Conclusion

I have chosen to take these photographs because I am deeply interested in churches. This is mainly due to the fact that they have a lot of history involved in them and most of them have fantastic exterior designs which involve fantastic shapes and patterns. Whilst researching the photographers for this theme I caught many different styles of photographing churches which involve many different compositions. Some of them used rule of thirds, some of them involved angles and shapes and some of them are taken at night. So I was highly inspired by these styles of photograph so I have gone out and attempted these styles to see if I can use there work to perfect my photographs.

Final Ten Photographs (Nature)

Below are my final ten photographs for the nature theme, underneath that is an explanation for the reason why I chose those photographs.

For my first photograph I have chosen one of my favourites. Whilst out on a photoshoot at Cannock Chase I managed to come across three trees at the top of a small hill. I managed to achieve a photograph of them at a distance. The reason I took the photograph at a distance was to get an equal distance between each tree. As you can see this has turned out perfectly. Colour has also been concentrated here from the greens in the grass to the blues in the sky. Rule of thirds was also used here with the ground being the bottom third, the trees being the middle third and the sky being the top third.

For my second photograph I thought I would try something a little bit different . Before leaving Cannock chase I spotted some Pine trees. Now as we know Pine trees are very tall so I wanted to express this by taking a photograph right next to the bottom of the tree bark and pointing upward right to the very top of the tree. I had to use a very fast shutter speed here to get the perfect brightness for the photograph as it was very bright outside and I was practically looking at the sky.

These two photographs were attempted in comparison of Ansel Adams work just in colour instead of black and white. By this I mean I have attempted his way of taking photographs by using the way he is positioned when taking photographs and where he positions the main focal point in his photograph which is mainly in the centre of the photograph. As you can see I have attempted this here by placing the main focal point (tree) in the centre of the photograph for each picture. I would also say that the rule of thirds composition is used in the bottom photograph with the ground being the bottom third, the main focal point being the middle third and the sky being the top third.

Agin this photograph takes Ansel Adam's work into consideration but again in colour and not black and white. Some of Ansel Adams's photographs include the main focal point which he is standing right next to which will be in focus and then in the background there will be the same sort of object for example tree barks. This creates a pattern effect from left to right across the photograph. This is what I feel I have achieved here with the main focal point being the closest tree in focus and then the patterned effect from left to right from the trees in the background. A low shutter speed had to be used here due to the towering pine trees covering the area blocking out the natural light. A low F-Stop was also used to get the background to be slightly blurry compared to the tree at the front of the photograph which is in focus.

Again, here is another photograph where I have attempted Ansel Adam's style of work where the main focal point is positioned right in the centre of the photograph with no other objects interrupting the photograph. A mixture of greens from the tree, blues from the sky and whites from the cloud mix together to create a warm colourful photograph.

Here I have gone for a similar approcah to how the photograph is taken but I have concentrated more on the main focal points detail rather than the colour surrounding it. As you can see I stood quite close to the main focal point so it took up most of the space in the photograph. I have concentrated highly on colour in the photograph from the whites and greens mixed on the main focal point.

Again, here is another photograph taken with similar style to my other photographs. I stood at quite a distance from the tree but because of the way I postioned the tree in the photograph alongside no interruptions I was able to make it the main focal point of the photograph without the viewers eye wandering off looking at something else. Again, there was a strong light source which is great as it mixes together with the colours from the tree and the ground making it a warm coloured photograph.

Here is a photograph which is a little different from the rest of my photographs. Instead of having the whole tree involved as the main focal point in the shot I decided to take the photograph of the lower half of the tree. This focuses on the detail of the history of this old oak tree from the old branches spreading out in different directions. I concentrated alot on the colour in this photograph from the greens which surround the tree to black/brown areas from the main focal point making the branches stand out boldly.

For my last photograph I have chosen another of my favourites from my collection. What I have done here is included the positioned the main focal point (tree) directly in the centre of the photograph. Here I have stood quite close to the tree so that it covers the photograph from left to right. I would also say that patterns have been included here aswell from the high amount of branches spreading out from the centre of the tree. This photograph was taken out in strong sunlight which brightnes up the photograph especially the main focal point making it look more colourful.


Conclusion

When researching this theme I gathered that the best way to take picutres of trees was to have them centered in the photograph with no interruptions. Classic examples from Ansel Adams and John Shaw show how well this works. So I wanted to attempt to repeat this style of photography with my work and I feel that this has gone very well. I have managed to keep the colour very concentrated in each photograph with the end result of bright and colourful photographs with minor interruptions. I have chosen these final ten photographs because I feel these are the successful photographs from when I attempted the style of photography from my pieces of research.

Research - Theme 2 - John Golden

For my next piece of research into this area I am going to be researching photographer John Golden. John Golden is a photographer who has taken many different beautiful photographs from many different generes. I will be researching ten different church photographs from his collection and describing how they have inspired me to attempt this type of photography.

This is the first photograph I have chosen from John's collection. As you can see the whole of the church hasn't been included in this photograph. This isn't a bad thing though as you only need a part of the church in the photograph to show its dominance and for it to portray a historic message. This one thing I love about Johns work as it is similar to mine. He heavily concentrates on angle in his work. As you can see from this photograph only a slight angle has been used. Here he concentrates more on shapes mixed with angles from the two different shapes on the church. I would also say that colour has been concentrated in this photograph from the different, bright colours on the church to the warm blues in the sky.

These three photographs have all had angles composition heavily used in them. As you can see John has stood right up next to the church and taken the photograph which includes the whole body of the church right to the top. As you can see from him doing this he manages to show the dominance of the main focal point by showing how tall the church is as they almost tower over you. Quite a lot of strong natural light has been clearly used here as there are only a few clouds in the sky in the last two photographs and no clouds in the top photograph. This is great as it brightens the main focal point showing off there true colours and patterns.

This photograph concentrates more on distance rather angle like the other photographs. As you can see John has stood quite far away from the main focal but has still managed to place it right in the centre of the photograph. Again colour has also been used here alongside natural light to brighten up the photograph and show the different colours on the church.

This next photograph takes on pretty much the same style of his other photographs. This time distance doesnt plahy a great part as he is standing quite close to the maion focal point. This as you can see enables him to gain a greater angle of the church making the whole church be a part of the photograph from bottom to top. This shows a visual message of dominace by it towering over whilst shwoing the beauty of the churches design.

This photograph takes on quite a different style to the other photographs I have chosen. As you can see this photograph is in black and white ao colour has majorly been concerned here where as the other photographs have been mainly concentrated on angles, shapes and distance. Angles have still come into play here but with the different parts of the church being at different levels of light it creates different shades of black and white.

Back to the original style of John Golden's work. Here on both of these photographs angles are the main concern. As you can see the corners of the churches stick out quite close to the viewrs eye and then the church is placed from left to right across the photographs. This is a great idea as it shows off the churches style in a different way. I would also say that patterns have been used in both photographs as you can see the design of both churches very clearly.

For the finishing photograph I have chosen one of my favourite photographs of John Goldens work. It's one of my favouites as it includes alot of different elementswhilst keeping it nice and simple. As you can see like normal, he has stood right next to the entrance of the church and taken the photograph of the whole of the churches tower so like normal angles have come into use on this photograph. Beacause he has stood so close to the main focal point you can see pretty much every little detail of the church so patterns and design have also been used here which is great as it shows the historic side of the church. To finish with colour with natural light have been mixed to create a warm photograph with a clourful blue sky which surrounds the churches exterior.

Research - Theme 1 - Phillip Colla

For my final piece of theme one research I will be looking at Phillip Colla's photography. Phillip Colla is a photographer who ranges from tree photography to underwater photography. His work is simply quite stunning so below are ten photographs that I feel have inspired me to take on this type of photography. All of these images can found by clicking on this link http://www.oceanlight.com/lightbox.php

To start off I have found a slightly unusual photograph. This is a photograph of several Joshua trees in California. There is a strange feel to this photograph but also involves some very important composition types. The main one being patterns. I woud say that Phillip involved every single one of these Joshua trees in this shot on purpise so that he could mix the strange look of them and the pattern effect together to create a slightly different type of shot. The patterns mix from the the different trees spreading across the photograph from left to right. A slightly darker photograph due to a minimum amount of natural light has also been added to the photograph to make it look even more unusual.

With these three photographs we are back to the most vital point when taking photographs of trees which is to not have any interuptions in them. By this I mean not having any other objects in the photograph that could distract the viewers eye. Here Phillip has taken these three photographs perfectly. He has got the main focal point directly in the centere of the photograph and has also created a nice combination of colour and natural light on all three of the photographs. These blend in well with the main focal point making them stand out even more to the viewers eye.

These two photographs use a different concept and convey a comepletly different visual message. Again the main focal point is placed right in the centre of the photograph but the photograph has been taken up close to the tree with an upward facing angle. This means the photographer was looking up right to the top of the tree and as you can see the tree is almost hanging over the photographer. This shows a visual message of dominance on how tall the tree is as it covers the photograph from bottom to top. Although this is the main composition in these photographs there are other aspects that come into play aswell. Colour was also conecntrated here especially as he would've been looking directly into the blue sky. This also mixes well with the greens on the tree leaves.

Again, another photograph that uses the same compostion. Angle were also a major point here, by standing right up to the tree Phillip was able to look up and take the photograph showing truely how tall these trees are. What is different about this photograph is that he has managed to do this with two trees next to each other. As you can see by doing this he has managed to create a frame within frame effect making the trees almost looking like gates which lead to other trees in the background of the photograph.

This photograph of an ancient brisltecone pine has been taken perfectly. Like normal he could've taken this photograph by placing the main focal point in the centre of the photograph but instead he has stood so it is to the right of the photograph and has taken it by standing an angle rather than straight up. As you can see this spreads the brisltcone from right to left of the photograph. I feel that by doing this it shows off the ancient patterns from the branches of the tree with more effect rather than if it was centred in the photograph.

Here is a photograph of a bristlecone tree that has been taken perfectly. It has been placed in the centre of the photograph with minimum interruptions making it the main focal point of the photograph. Phillip has stood quite close to the tree which is great as the tree spreads all the way to the top of the photograph. The deep blue colour of the sky which gets deeper as you go higher into the photograph makes the branches of the trees stand out even more than they already do. A high amount of natural light was also used here so a fast shutter speed would've been used.

Something a little bit different to finish with. This is a photograph of numerous huge tree barks. This photograph was taken with all the natural light was available but with the tree barks being so big this would suggest that the rest of the tree would be big which means that the natural light would be covered making it a lot darker. This mixes well with the photograph though making it look a bit more stranger as it mixes well with the colours displayed in the photograph. I would also say that patterns play a big part in this photograph from the trees which go from left to right of the photograph.



Research - Theme One - Archie Miles

For my next research segment, I am going to research Nature photographer Archie Miles. Archie Miles is a photographer who mainly concentrates in the landscape and nature area of photography. After viewing some of his photography it has really inspired me to create some of these images of my own. He has a mixture of style. By this I mean he will take photographs of trees that are centered in the middle of the photograph and some will be of leaves or flower petals, alot like what I have done for my work. Below are ten photographs which I have found which inspired me to attempt his style of photography. All of these photographs can be found by clicking on this link http://www.archiemiles.co.uk/ and then clicking on the "trees" link.

This is the first photograph that I have chosen from Archie's collection. It is a photograph of an old oak tree at Windsor Great Park. As you can see it is a similar style to John Shaw's work. Here the tree is obviously the main focal point but to achieve this it had to be centered in the middle of the photograph. He is also stood quite close to the tree which makes it look very tall alongside the old branches spreading out across the whole of the photograph in different directions. I would almost say that rule of thirds is used here as well with the green grass being the bottom third, the tree being the middle third and the sky being the top third. Colour is also highly concentrated in this photograph especially in the sky as the blue gets a lot more darker towards the top of the photograph making the branches stand out even more.

This is the second photograph I have chosen from Archie's collection. This image has the same sort of style as the top photograph where it is centered but instead of having the whole of the oak included in the photograph he mainly focuses on the bark of the oak. Like I said this is still using the same sort of style but focuses more on detail from the main focal point. By this I mean you can see the patterns from the old oak because you are drawn to this rather than if it was taken further back using the whole of the tree for the photograph.

This is my attempt of this style of photograph. What I have done slightly differently here though is taken the photograph a little bit further back. This creates a larger span of pattern from the old branches from the main focal point, spanning out left to right of the top half of the photograph.

These next two photographs are a little bit different to the others. They both use the frames within frames composition but they are both a little stranger than normal photographs using this composition. The position of where the photographer was stood on the first one creates a different frames within frames composition as to if he was stood looking straight on between the trees. I would still say the main focal point would be the tree right in the centre of the photograph. The trees almost create a gateway to the main focal point standing dominantly in the centre of the photograph. The second photograph also includes the frames within frames composition. Again, it is a little different than normal, this time it is purely down to how strange the trees create the composition within itself due to them joining together. Colour is concentrated in this photograph as well mixed with natural sunlight. With a rear facing sun it creates a shadow effect from the tree barks.

This is the sort of tree photography I would like to attempt but unfortunetly it is not the right time of year to attempt it. These photographs both highly concentrate on colour mixed with natural light. With a mixture of strong natural light shining onto the very bright frost covered trees he has managed to create a great blend making them both bright, colourful and vibrant. The deep blue sky matches perfectly with the frost covered trees making them stand out very boldly. I would also say patterns have been used in both photographs from the branches of the trees spreading across the photographs.

Here is one of his photographs that uses the lines to guide to eye composition mixed with patterns from the trees both on the left and right. The trees on either side lead deep into the photograph which create the lines to guide the eye compostion. Natural light is also used here but a little bit darker than normal which suggests that this photograph was taken in the evening just as the sun is setting. I would say this creates a warm, natural coloured effect mixed with shadowing.

These two photographs both rely on the background to show all there natural beauty. Again, they are both centered in the photograph without any distractions or interruptions making them the main focal point in both photographs. The sky in the background attracts the trees making them look even more bolder than usual. This is great as they both stand out perfectly. Both concentrate on colour, more the top photograph than the second. The top photograph uses more natural light that is available making the greens on the stand out where as the second photograph uses less available light making the sky look a bit more whiter. This is perfect though as the tree branches are a dark colour so they stand out beautifully.

This is the final photograph I have chosen from Archie's collection. This uses the same style as some of his other photographs I have chosen but this one was taken just as the sun was setting. Obviously the tree is the main focal point in the photograph with it being centered without any other objects interrupting the photograph. Although the sun was nearly set, all the natural light that was available has been used perfectly to create a silhouette which blends perfectly with a yellow sky from the remaining sunlight.

Archie has also created many different books to show his photography. These books range from all of his types of photography. The one pictured above shows his work on trees in Britain and Northern Ireland.