Straight Images - Location Contrast 1

Work Diary - Location Contrast 1

Evaluation

I found the location contrast shoot quite difficult. Although I could see many different contrasting colours, I found it difficult to think of things other than colours to photograph. Because of this I ended up with lots of images that were very similar. Most of the photos that I had taken of things that were not colours did not show contrast clearly enough.

Despite this being quite a difficult shoot for me, I did take some quite good photos for contrasting colours which I am happy about. I tried to be creative and composed my own images rather than just taking pictures of objects where they were. For example I found a bright leaf and thought this would be a good example of contrast if I could find a dull surface to put it on.

This image I had taken was supposed to show the contrast between different textures, but because of the dull lighting the difference between the two textures is not that obvious. Also the line separating the two different textures is not clear enough so it is hard to see that they are separate and their is not much contrast between them. I feel that this photo would be a more effective contrast image if the colours of the two different textures were not so similar.

I like this image I had taken during the location contrast shoot, as it shows two types of contrast. We can see the clear contrast between the sizes of the leaves, but there is also contrast between the bright colour of the leaves against the dull colour of the wall. The smaller leaf contains yellow, orange, red and green tones which all contrast against each other as they are all bright colours. Lines are also visible in the form of the leaf veins and the lines between the bricks.

Progression

If I was to go and shoot location contrast again I would make sure to go on a bright day because I found that with this shoot the dull lighting reduced the quality of the photos and made the contrast less clear in the images. Taking pictures in the sun will make the tones clearer and therefore enhancing the contrast. I would use my creativity more and move objects around to make a contrasting image rather than just taking a picture of what is in front of me. I would also try to produce a larger variety of images rather than images that only contrast by colour, and would shoot in a larger variation of locations for more varied images.

This picture below is one I found on the internet. It shows contrast in a very creative way. This is the kind of approach I would like to attempt, and create my own image rather than just taking a picture of what is already there. I like the way this image is so unique and abstract but at the same time the contrast is the part of the image that you notice first. The plain background is effective as there is no distraction from the woman's face. I would defiantly like to try and photograph more creative examples of contrast in the future as this image has inspired me.

Straight images - Location Contrast 1

Work Diary - Studio Contrast

Evaluation

I found studio contrast quite difficult to do, and a lot harder than studio form and studio back of head photography. The first thing I thought of which relates to contrast was contrast between colours, so this is what i started taking pictures of, however after this I found it hard to think of any other types of contrast to photograph. This resulted in a lack of photos, and most of the images I had taken were contrast between colours. I wanted to make sure the contrast was the emphasised feature of the photos, however I wasn't sure how to do this so in some of my images the contrast is not that clear. 

On the other hand, I tried to use my creativity to think of different, unique examples of contrast. I used props to try and do this which resulted in some good images with unusual examples of contrast. 

 This image I had taken during the studio contrast session was supposed to show the contrast in hair length, however this is not made obvious enough. This picture looks more like back of head portraiture rather than contrast. In order to make it clear that the difference in hair length was what I was trying to emphasise, I should have made Connie and Josh put their heads nearer together, and I could also edit it black and white so that the focus is on the context of the image and not the colours, so the contrast is more obvious. On the other hand I could also make the colours more vibrant so that the image could be contrasting in 3 ways, the contrast between the length of hair, gender and colour.

This is an idea I came up with towards the end of the session, once I had shot all the obvious examples of contrast. I wanted to emphasise the difference in height, and used the prop of a ladder to make it clear that this is what I wanted the image to focus on. I really like how this image turned out and I think it clearly shows contrast, while also being unique and abstract.

Progression

If I were to shoot contrast in the studio again, I would probably find more props to use as I found that I had nothing to take pictures of despite people, and props might benefit my work and allow me to be more creative like in the photo using the ladder. I will also try to edit the photos so that the focus is on the contrast, for example if the picture was not showing contrast of colour, I could make the image black and white so that the focus is on the context rather than the colours in the image. 

 

This picture below shows an example of studio contrast, and I would like to take similar images to this in the future. I uses props rather than people to show contrast, which is visible due to the lighting. After looking at this picture I was to experiment photographing objects rather than people, as its something have not practised a lot.

 

 

Image Bank - contrast

When I thought of contrast, the first thing that came to mind was contrast between colours, however after looking up contrast in photography I realized that contrast can be shown in a large variety of ways. Its not always the colour in the image that can be contrasting, but other aspects such as big or small, fat or thin, positive or negative etc. I also found pictures that contrsted in more than one way, for example the first image in this image bank. The age of the people in the photo is contrasting, as well as the tones used in this photo, as the outline of highlights contrasts significantly against the shadows at the side of the face. I think this is a creative idea that emphasizes contrast even more.

defining contrast

Dictionary definition: the state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association.

striking, different, opposite, drastic

In this photograph it is the colours in the frame that are contrasting, which might be the first thing to come to mind when thinking of contrast. The one green apple contrasts against the red ones which makes us focus on this one first.

This photo contrasts in two ways which is what I like about it. The light and dark tones contrast against each other, and there is also the contrast against the to body types and gender. 

The contrast in this photo is between the size of the tomatoes, as well as the colour of them against the white background. This makes the tomatoes look very bold which emphasises their size

This photo also contrasts in two ways, the light and dark tones, and the emotion of the dog.

My own definition of contrast: A large difference or opposite between aspects of two things

Contrast - Studio Work

Contrast mindmap