It has been very sunny and lovely in Coventry lately, so I took the opportunity to get some fresh air and take some photos.
The selection of photos that I have uploaded were taken over a three day period, in a few different locations.
I am very pleased with how these turned out. They required very little editing thanks to the wonderful natural conditions.
This is the final portrait image that I chose to use. It is an editorial image that would go alongside a magazine article.
I used a large aperture to create a small depth of field around my subject, the ensured that she was the main focus and not the busy background. As well as this, I put the subject just off centre to make the composition much more interesting, it could be seen as using the rule of three as it would cross over two of the cross sections in a grid.
Finally I used photoshop to up the contrast and enhance the shadows, I then made the image black and white and applied a purple duotone so it was more than just black and white. I think that the colour adds a lot more depth to the image.
I chose to make my image black and white because I feel that it really helps to enhance the light tones in the image. It sets my subject apart from the darker background shadows.
This is the photograph that I have chosen for my final landscape image. Out of all the photographs that I have taken I feel that it is the most interesting.
The composition is engrossing, the leading lines at the centre lead to the rest of the image and take the viewer with them. As well as this, because I included very little sky in the background it creates its own environment. It is enclosed to the frame that I put it in and makes the viewer wonder what may be outside of it’s own little world.
I used photoshop to slightly manipulate the contrast of the image. The original image was slightly lighter, and to get the effect that I wanted I needed to edit it slightly.
I feel that even though this image doesn’t specifically show two pieces of contrasting architecture it could still be used as a Political/sociological piece. The foundations of the building that you can see at the bottom of the image are very obviously old, they could even be around the same age as the old Cathedral and they are very close to each other and are a similar colour. And the building on top is very new. Therefore it is a more subtle way of looking at the old and the new in Coventry.
I personally prefer black and white portraits to colour. However they do not necessarily work the best all the time. So I chose to use photoshop to edit my images in a way that would enhance their best qualities.
I upped the contrast in this image to make the shadows in my subjects hair and in her face much stronger. I feel like this makes the image much more interesting, I also made it a duotone image by overlaying a slight yellow tone into the white parts of the image. I really like the effect.
All that I did to edit this image is to make the contrast slightly higher, I really wanted to enhance the orange tones in the image.
When I took this image it was slightly underexposed, so I used photoshop to slightly put up the exposure to show more of the image’s detail. As well as this I made it black and white, this is to really emphasise the darker tones in the image, as well as the lighter tones becoming more prominent.
This image itself didn’t need any editing, however I chose to play around with the tones and the contrast to really make an impact with the image.
I made it black and white and added a slight duotone to create a more interesting image in general.
This is my favourite image from the shoot, I really love how natural it is. I took it while my subject was joking around and having a laugh. I feel that I really captured my subject in the image, and that is why it is so perfect.
I made it black and white and used a purple duotone in order to lighten some of the darker parts of the image.
For my portrait I wanted to create an editorial portrait to go alongside a magazine article. I feel that an editorial image should show the person for who they are, it shouldn’t be too staged. So, to do this I tried to capture my subjects while they were ‘in between’ takes and unaware, I wanted to capture their true selves.
I did my shoot at twilight because I really like how the light is, it is just starting to get dark, there is an orange glow from the surrounding buildings and street lights.
As well as this I also think that the harsh inside lights are very unflattering. So natural light is much better, in my opinion anyway.
I tried to use the rule of three rule to place my subject just away from the centre of the frame. In this case it did work to make my images much more interesting. The compositions are more complex than just having the subject at the centre of the image, I took the surroundings in to consideration and made them a part of my image.
I went out again this afternoon to do a second landscape shoot now knowing what I wanted to capture for my final image.
I decided to walk into the city centre by taking a different to be able to capture a different selection of images.
It was a very sunny day so a few of the images were slightly over exposed, it was only a tiny bit. I was able to fix that problem with a little bit of editing in photoshop.
My two favourite images from this shoot are these two bellow:
I love this image. There is just so much going on, it creates a very interesting image.
I used leading lines as a way of leading the viewer into the image. I think that the fact that I didn’t allow much of the sky into the image makes it feel very closed in, and maybe slightly uncomfortable.
This is the second out of my favourite images. I love this image because of the contrast between the old and the new buildings. I thought that when looking at the new vs old in Coventry there was only really one option. The Cathedral vs The University. The Cathedral is one of the oldest standing buildings in the city centre and the University is moderately new. In this image I have used the Cathedral as the main focus of the image, and then brought in the newer buildings of the university in the background as a way of creating contrast. As well as this I used the rule of three by adding in a lot of empty sky, the subject of the image covers only the left and bottom of the frame.
This afternoon it is lovely and sunny so I thought it would be nice to go for a walk and take some photographs.
I have decided that I really like the contrast between buildings and the clear sky. Its a mix between the natural and the man made which I find really interesting.
I am going to go out again later on today and do some more shots. As well as going to some parts of the city that I am yet to photograph to get some new views for my images.
I try to use the rule of three in a lot of my images as I feel that it tends to make the images more interesting by giving them composition.
My idea for my final image is to showcase the old vs the new in Coventry. I have an obsession with the contrast between old buildings and shiny new buildings. So for this I want to find spots in Coventry that show how much has changed in the recent century.
Coventry has such a rich history that I want to try and show that through my image making.
I want to create a landscape photograph in the genre of Political/sociological. I was torn between that and photo journalism, however because my theme is much longer running I feel like this would be a better fit.
The last few days have been a welcome change to the miserable weather that I have become accustomed to since moving to The Midlands. The sun has been out and everything has just felt much nicer.
I love the way that the sun creates such drastic shadows against the cathedral, it creates more depth to the image.
In the right hand image I used leading lines as a way of drawing the viewer into the image. It makes them want to follow the path and see where it goes.
The colours of the Cathedral make the whole image look Autumnal and fresh.
Shutter speed – 1/4000th of a second.
I wanted to see how detailed I could make this image purely be changing the shutter speed to the fasted setting.
I love how you can see all of the tiny water droplets and how they work as a whole image.
rebecca koss 