Wednesday, 23 March 2016

SHOOT 4

For my fourth shoot I used the lego figure again but this is for the last time as I want to experiment using scale in another way. This shoot took place in my bedroom because of the windows and that it was on the second floor so I could fit the green vegetation into the background of the images. For this shoot I used a Nikon D3200 with a 18 - 55mm lens. I experimented using the zoom with the 18 - 55m lens with close up shots and then long shots where I had the lego figure looks smaller. I used manual focus for this shoot as well as the camera kept focusing on the window so I used manual to focus on the lego figure. 

This shoot went real and reflects well with the other shoots. There were a variety of factors that contributed to this shoot. Firstly, the lighting in the shots is perfect as it creates a nice composition between the lego figure and the green vegetation in the background. In addition to, the angle of the shots are satisfactory because of the different close ups which use scale well as it varies the size of the lego figure in each shot. A good example of this is  image 11. However, there is an image that I wasn't too happy with. An example of this is image 1 because of the lighting. The flash from the camera has caused the image to become too bright and you can also see the reflections on the window from the flash. 

Overall, I'm really pleased with this shoot as I've been able to make it look as if the lego figure is cleaning the window, bringing movement to the Images. In addition to, the shape of the window creates a frame for the image, thus framing the lego figure. Lastly, the green vegetation in the background creates contrast and composition which adds more detail to the image. For my next few shoots In plan on using humans and human objects to experiment with scale and shoot large scale images instead of small scale images like I've done with the lego figure.



Monday, 21 March 2016

SHOOT 3

For my third shoot I used the idea of using a lego figure again but used two instead of one this time. This shoot took place in my kitchen, the same place as shoot 1 and 2. This is because the kitchen top had a lot of space to do this shoot and was flat. In addition to, the lighting with the sun shining through the windows naturally brightened the image which look a lot better. For this shoot I used a Nikon D3200 with a 18 - 55mm lens. I used manual focus for this shoot because I had the two figures at different distances away from the lens. Therefore I needed to be able to have both in focus or have the camera specifically focus on one of the figures. I did experiment with flash in this shoot, but I feel the natural lighting without the flash creates a better image. 

This shoot went well and this is down to a variety of factors. The way the lego figures are positioned makes the image look real with the monkey about to crush Obi Won Kenobi by using a hole puncher. The lighting is also good because it not too bright or dark and this creates a nice composition to go with the image. My favourite image from this shoot is image 6. This is because the lighting is perfect which shows enough detail and looks natural, not staged. In addition to, the focus of the image is good because both characters are in focus. However, there were a couple of images that I weren't happy with. Image 3 is a good example of this. The lighting is the main problem here because the flash from the camera is too bright, causing reflections to show which I think look bad. 

Overall, Im happy with this shoot as I experimented by using another subject with the added lego character. Most of the images are well taken with good lighting and angles of shot. For my next shoot I plan on doing another shoot with the lego figures. 


Tuesday, 15 March 2016

SHOOT 2

For my second shoot I used the lego figure again to show how a living lego figure would look in the real world. The shoot took place in my kitchen sink as I wanted to do a shoot where the lego figure looked like he is going to dive into the water which I filled up. 
For this shoot I used a Nikon D3200 with a 18 - 55mm lens. I had the focus on 'autofocus' so I could get the best quality image and so the lego figure wasn't blurred. In addition to, I experimented with flash in some of the images to see if it created a better lighting for the scene. 

This shoot was better than how I'd imagine it to look. This is down to a variety of factors. Firstly, shoot 1 and 6 are the best examples of why this shoot went well, and are also my favourite images from this shoot. The angle of the shot in these images are well positioned because they aren't zoomed too far out like the other images and are close up. Also, the lighting is perfect due to the flash from the camera which brightens these images significantly. Another factor is that both these images are well in focus and are very sharp, providing a better looking and quality photo. However, there a few negatives to point about from some images. Shoot 3 wasn't the best of shots. It is not in focus, thus the blurred image. In addition to, the lighting is too dark which brings less detail to the image and less composition. 

Overall, Im pleased with this shoot as most of the images turned out well and its another shoot too add to the lego theme. I don't plan on editing images from this shoot but I may tweak some of the images i.e. the saturation. For my next shoot I'm going to use the lego figure again but just with a different scene.


Wednesday, 9 March 2016

SHOOT 1

For my first shoot I done a shoot using a lego figure to show how a living toy would move in the human world. This shoot took place in my kitchen due to the night lighting which was  perfect for the shoot as the lighting was natural, thus making the shot look more realistic. In addition to, the plant in the kitchen was what I needed due to the large stems of the plant to create a bigger comparison with the lego figure. For this shoot I used a Nikon D3200 with a 18 - 55mm lens. I I experimented with and without flash in various images to see which created the better lighting. In addition to this, I feel without flash created a better image.

The shoot went really well and I'm happy with most of the images from this shoot. My favourite images from this shoot are images 6 and 10. This is because of the lighting and the positioning; the angle of the shot and the positioning got the lego figure. The lighting creates a nice composition and the positioning creates movement within the image so it looks like the lego figure is moving and real. However, the images that I fell could've been better were images 1 and 4. Firstly with image 1 the lighting isn't good enough as its too bright due to the use of flash and its zoomed too far out and doesn't give any detail or composition. Image 4's good apart from the lighting, which is far too dark and not bright enough. 

Overall, I'm very pleased with this shoot as most of the images turned out to be good and its how I imagined it to look when going through shoot ideas. For this shoot I don't intend on editing for my best edit as I want to have a 'no filter' effect and keep the images as real as possible. With my next shoot Im planning on using the lego figures again but in different situation/scene.

JIM DENEVAN

Jim Denevan is an artist who is based in Santa Cruz, California, USA. He creates temporary   drawings on sand, earth and ice which are eventually erased by the natural processes of waves and weather. The drawings range in scale and proportion from large scale land works the size of a city to smaller beach compositions. 

Jim's work is really inspiring and so creative. The work he does is at such a large scale in terms of work and the actually scale of the the work. Some of these patterns he has created are amazing and how he makes some of the perfectly symmetrical will be always be a question of mine.

I could use his work as an idea. The large scale drawings into the ground could be something I can do or a guideline. For example, I could create something else, but it could be at a much smaller scale or a large scale version like Jim does. 



Jim Denevan2010 Lake Baikal, Siberia

Jim Denevan2009 Black Rock Desert, NV

Jim Denevan2010 Vancouver, BC

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

WILLIAM EGGLESTON

The idea of using scale in my work has definitely interested me. This use of scale fits in with the idea of fantasy as I could make things considerably bigger or smaller than they actually are with the power of a camera. I have found a few artists who have images that use scale really well, which takes a while to realise how they done it. 



Tricycle, Memphis
William Eggleston
1969 - 1970


This photo by William Eggleston is a perfect example of what else I could do with my shoots, using the idea of scale. The idea of using toy vehicles is another good idea as its different to using the lego figures. Also, I could try and make these toy vehicles look the same size as a normal human vehicle in the real world which would fit in well with my whole idea. In addition to, this is an unedited picture so I could try using scale without any editing. 

Saturday, 5 March 2016

CLAES OLDENBURG

Claes Oldenburg is an American sculptor, best known for his public art work of everyday objects at a much larger scale. Claes' work interests me because of how large-scaled the projects are and the end results are mind-blowing and it actually seems like you're in a fantasy world when looking at these everyday objects because your used to seeing them at a much smaller scale. 


Claes Oldenburg
Shuttlecocks
1994
The idea of having a shuttlecock on the lawn came from Claes' wife, Coosje. She saw a painting of a Native American wearing a headdress which led to the whole concept of large feathers scattered over the lawn, as they had fell off a passing bird. They were then looking at a map of the site and realised it had a similar layout to that of a tennis court. They then thought that ball sculptures catered along the lawn would be good but then realise fit would be too repetitive. This led to them combining the idea of a feather and ball to create the idea of using shuttlecocks. There are 4 shuttle cocks scattered along the lawns of the site as you have the museum building in the middle which acts as a net and then the lawns on both sides with the shuttlecocks. 
This is a really good piece of work because of the whole idea behind it and that it was so simple. The idea of a tennis court or badminton court but enlarged using buildings and grass is amazing and then to add the shuttlecocks to this which stand out on the lush green grass really well. 


Aluminium and fiber-reinforced plastic; painted with polyurethane enamel

Four shuttlecocks, each 17 ft. 11 in. (5. 5 m) high x 15 ft. 1 in. (4.6 m) crown diameter and 4 ft. (1.2 m) nose cone diameter, sited in different positions on the grounds of the museum.

Claes Oldenburg
Dropped Cone
2001


The idea of using an ice cream cone for the next project came from the fact that most the ice cream parlours in Cologne, Germany have a large plastic ice cream cone in front of them, which are very popular in the area. The subject was irresistible to Claes and Coosje, especially as they found the word 'cone' concealed in the letters of the city's name. 
This piece of work is another piece that interests me because of how it's differentiated from the everything else around it and and the emphasis on the cone separates it from the advertising variations found in the street. 

Stainless and galvanized steels, fiber-reinforced plastic, balsa wood; painted with polyester gelcoat
39 ft. 10 in. (12.1 m) high x 19 ft. (5.8 m) diameter; 
height above building: 32 ft. 10 in. (10 m)

Claes Oldenburg
Spoonbridge and Cherry
1988

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is located in front of the Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis.
In searching for a subject that was horizontal and included fountain elements, so as not to dominate the other sculptures in the garden, he tried a spoon over water, terminating in an island.
The cherry stem was situated in a contrapposto relation to the curve of the spoon and eventually turned into a fountain: while spray from the end of the stem disperses in the air, water issues silently from its base, coating the cherry so that it glistens.
Overall, the piece of work is so eye catching because of the size comparison between the Spoonbridge and Cherry and the buildings, people and trees around the work that looks contrastingly small. 

Stainless steel and aluminum painted with polyurethane enamel
29 ft. 6 in. x 51 ft. 6 in. x 13 ft. 6 in. (9 x 15.7 x 4.1 m)
















Friday, 4 March 2016

ADELE J BARON

The idea of using scale in my work has definitely interested me. This use of scale fits in wight he idea of a fantasy world as I could make things considerably bigger or smaller than they actually are in the real world with the power of a camera. I have found a few artists who have images that use scale really well, which takes a while to realise how they done it.  



The Giant Pumpkin
Adele J Baron
October, 2015
This is an artist I found on Flickr who uses scale as one of her themes. In this picture the larger pumpkin has been edited into the picture. This is a really good idea of how I could use scale and that I can take normal pictures but then edit them to mess with scale and how people view the image. 


Does Size Matter?
Adele J Baron
July, 2014
This is another image created by Flickr user Adele J Baron. In this image there is a child laying down who is facing upwards. Standing on top of this child's face is another child who is much smaller and is facing downwards on the other child laying down. For this picture the artist has clearly edited the smaller child into the picture and decreased the size of the person. This is an idea I could use for my shoots where I edit people or objects into pictures to use scale as a comparison.



JD HANCOCK

JD Hancock is from Austin, Texas, USA. Professionally he builds on websites and apps for a living and photography is one of the things he does for fun. JD says his photography is "mostly of the slightly-giggle-worthy-pop-culture-reference variety".

The equipment JD uses is a Nikon D50 and Nikon Coolpix S50 point-and-shoot which he used in his earlier work. However, sometimes he'll use his iPhone. In addition to, he uses iPhoto for image management and post-processing and occasionally photoshop.


Swimming in the iPool
JD Hancock
April, 2009
This photo is from JD's series called 'iPhoneland' which is a sub-series of his main series called 'Little Dudes'. In this series he uses an iPhone to set the background for his 'little dudes'. The idea for this photo came from the summer time and JD wondered how the 'little dudes' would spend their summer. This gave him the idea of using the iPhone as a swimming pool and it was the perfect scale to use with the miniature train figures.

Berry Hard Work
JD Hancock
April, 2013


This another photo from the series 'Little Dudes'. His description of this series is 'documenting the little dudes who live in my phone'. The colours and focus in this photo are extravagant because the red is really emphasised as well as the focus concentrating on the 'little dues' working. This photo actually makes it seem like these 'little dudes' are alive and moving as they're mining the artists strawberries that are in his home to most probably eat to survive in this human world.


The Anxious Type
JD Hancock
May, 2009


This is another photo from the 'Little dudes' series. In this photo we can see one of the 'little dudes' sitting by himself on an old type writer. The figure is sitting on the letter K which I found out that it wasn't on purpose and has no meaning, the artist just randomly placed the miniature figure. I like the composition of the picture as you have the white circles for the letters and then the black of the type writer. In addition to, the green outfit that the 'little dude' is wearing really stands out, which creates a nice composition. Also, I like the angle of which the photo was taken where the type writer goes from the bottom right of the picture to the top left. 




Feel The Frame Friday
JD Hancock
October, 2009
This photo is also from the 'Little dudes' series. In this photo we can see two of the miniature figures in the bottom left side of the image. They seem to be reaching one hand up each and feeling the frame, as the title clearly implies. This shows how small these 'Little dudes' are in this human world and is a good use of scale by the artist. 


ANDREW WHYTE

Andrew Whyte is an English photographer who I found while looking through the internet for artists who relates to my theme of perspectives. His work called 'Legography' really caught my attention due to the unique perspective of the miniature lego figures living in the real world.

The pictures from this project are very unique and inspiring. The way he has set up the lego figures in the frame is very interesting because its like the lego figures are moving but he has just captured a snapshot while they go about their own business. This links perfectly with my idea of capturing lego figures in the real world as if they were part of human life. This fits perfectly with the theme of fantasy as its something you could only imagine or dream of seeing.
Lack of communication
Andrew Whyte
2007 - 2014
This first photo captures the lego figure looking into a green glass bottle that seems to have been left on the ground. The way the lego figure is looking into it is interesting as it makes you wonder if he's seen something or just investigating man made objects.
Time well spent
Andrew Whyte
2007 - 2014
This second photo captures a lego figure walking along the beach with his camera. The way he is positioned so it looks like he's in a walking motion is interesting as its just like a human motion but with a lego figure. The way the focus of the photo is concentrated onto he beach and the figure with the blurred sea is perfect as well. In addition to, it creates a good composition to the image.
 
Dirty stop-out
Andrew Whyte
2007 - 2014
This third photo is of the same lego figure using his camera to capture the beautiful and composite sunset. The way the lego figure and the ground he's standing on is darkened creates a nice contrast between that and the sunset. The sunset itself is a nice capture with all the different colours giving the image a even greater composition.
Vantage Point
Andrew Whyte
2007 - 2014
This fourth photo is of the lego figure climbing the railings next to the railway line. The lego figure is again, taking a picture of the train with his camera. The way the figure is stood there is brilliant as well as the focus of the camera. The composition of the image is good as well and the angle of the shot because of the way the railing change size from left to right.