Different sources of image making

The benefits of RAW files are in the versatility of the files; they store more data at greater volumes, so they can be manipulated further and more than standard JPEG images. The downside of this of course is the amount of space a RAW file takes up.

For this project I'm also going to be looking into more sources of image making, more cameras, more file types and various other types of image based creation, like different types of film.

Large format cameras use 5x4 inch film, giving greater detail than even some digital cameras today, which shoot at 35mm. The large format is roughly 16x bigger, giving far and away superior detail.

Medium format cameras can use a variety of different sizes of film, but for the purposes of this project, I'm going to look at 6x7 inch and 6x6 inch film.

6x7 inch film has less shots on a roll but a larger negative, giving more quality, whereas a 6x6 has 12 shots on a roll, which gives more shots and less quality. Besides the amount/quality, 6x6 film is square, giving a crop on film that is hard to get in decent quality in other ways.

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes; I'm going to be using the 5DMkII, with a 24-105mm l series lens, shooting in CR2 (Canon camera's RAW format). The benefits of this are obviously the massive storage capacity and extensive control over everything, on top of instant results and being able to change my shots accordingly.

This, I would say, is a delicate balance for film cameras. Between the quality and the lack of control, film cameras can be either a very helpful tool or an exceedingly large hinderance. First you have to put the film in the camera, take the pictures (making sure not to expose the film to any other light), and then process the film. Next you either print it onto paper or scan the film. This entire process can be not only be costly, but also take a considerable amount of time.

With this taken into consideration, I am going to use digital and Large format. I want to try to compare the images to see how digital photography and film are different.

Raw file offers 'latitude' = more information, can push to parameters more.

The benefits of RAW files are in the versatility of the files, they store more data, at greater volumes, so they can be manipulated further and more than standard JPEG images, the downside of this of course is the amount of space a RAW file takes up. 

For this project I'm also going to be looking into more sources of image making, looking at more cameras, more file types and various other types of image based creation, like different types of film.

Large format camera's use 5x4 inch film, giving greater detail than even some digital cameras today, which shoot at 35mm, the large format is roughly 16x bigger than those, giving far and away superior detail. 

Medium format cameras can use a variety of different sizes of film, but for the purposes of this project, I'm going to look at 6x7 inch and 6x6 inch film. 

6x7 inch film has less shots on a roll, but has a larger negative, giving more quality, whereas a 6x6 has 12 shots on a roll, giving more shots, but less quality, not only the amount/quality, 6x6 film is square, giving a crop on film that is hard to get in decent quality in other ways.

Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes, I'm going to be using the 5DMkII, with a  24-105mm l series lens, shooting in CR2 (Canon camera's RAW format) The benefits of this obviously being the massive storage capacity, and complete and utter control over everything, on top of instant results, and being able to change my shots accordingly. 

This is what i would say film cameras have a delicate balance with, between the quality and the lack of control, film cameras can be either very helpful or may be an exceedingly large hinderance. You have to first put the film in the camera, take the pictures, making sure not to expose the film to any other light, then process the film, then either print it onto paper or scan the film, during this entire process can be not only financially costly, but also take a considerable amount of time.

With all this taken into consideration, I'm going to try and use digital and Large format, because i want to try and compare the difference in the images, i want to really look at how digital and film are different. 

Sources; Large format camera (5x4 inch film), 5DMkII (24-105mm l series lens; CR2), 6x7 (10 shots per roll; larger negatives than 6x6), 6x6 (12 shots per roll)

Put film in camera > Take pictures > take film out > Get processed > Scan film

6x7 is a better quality, because it uses more film per shot.

i used CR2 and 5x4 film.

CR2 is the RAW file for canon cameras. Raw files contain information required to produce a viewable image from the camera's sensor data. (short file header that has an indicator of the byte-ordering, Camera sensor metadata (which interprets the sensor image data), Image metadata(exposure settings, camera/scanner/lens model, date), Image thumbnail.

TIFF file keeps more information about the file, but it's a larger file than JPEG. TIFF is flexible and adaptable; including header tags (size, definition, image-data arrangement, applied image compression that defines the image's geometry. Can also include vector based clipping path (outlines, cropping, image frames) TIFF can be edited and re-saved without losing image quality. 

WORKFLOW

The original image was shot high key. Super high key, i then duplicated the layer, changed the layer style to overlay, then used the magic wand tool to select all the white in the image and deleted it, this gave the darker parts of the image a rich colour, and adding a high level of contrast to an already high contrast image.

Lighting diagrams

did you use flash - why? - Why not?

colour of background and reason for this choice

storage -MC/SD?

where did you store your photographs? PC/Ext?

-PSD Adjustments +screen grabs

-RAW processing - step by step

-Re-sizing the images in PS (SCREEN GRABS)

I used the above lighting set up to achieve the super high contrast image i wanted, i wanted to make a very bright image, with lots of white, to do this i had to use flash, i needed as much light as i could possibly get on the model as i could, the infinity curve helped reflect the light in such a way that there were no creases and gave a solid white background. 

I kind of had to use flash for my image, there wasn't any other choice, High key is impossible to achieve without it, but for the amount of light i needed, i had to use four lights, two in the front, to light the model and two in the back to really flood the background with light, the infinity curve helped create a negative space behind the model. The infinity curve is white to do specifically stuff like this, because white reflects light so well. 

 I started with this image

 i adjusted the temperature, making the image warmer

 i brought down the exposure, not much, just enough to stop the image being too white

 i adjusted the contrast to try and bring some detail out in the clouds

 i then crushed the blacks and shadows, giving some more depth to the darker parts of the image

 i then brought down the vibrance a little, trying to stop everything looking too green

 then, once i'd finished processing everything in the basic ways;

 i adjusted the levels to try and get the levels perfectly

i also adjusted the darkness a little more to try and keep the image a rich colour

Critical Research

Alec Soth

Alec Soth is an american photographer, who uses a large format camera to capture images, his work usually focus' on the 'off-beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America'.

Some of his better known works are landscapes. These images appeal to me because they are interesting, simple and downright beautiful. They're fantastically composed and framed, and the choice of how the colours are either black and white, muted slightly or just vibrant is gorgeous. 

This photograph is deceptive.  Small town America, at first glance looks like it might have been taken 50 years ago. The old model trucks, the old looking buildings, only on further inspection can we see that this is a modern day small town America. Something that not long ago was celebrated, but today, seems to be sneered at.

The Photograph itself is beautifully framed, with use of the power lines which lead the viewer around the image from one section of negative space to the next. Interestingly, the marks on the road drag the eyes forward towards the nothingness in the distance, as if the image is telling us that there is a limited lifespan here and time is running out.

The most prominent section of negative space is the amorphous sky, looming over the image, sucking up the road and even slowly seeming to absorb the town in the distance. 

The entire picture is in monochrome, giving a bland and boring initial demeanour, but the longer the viewer looks at the image, the more atmosphere is built, between the fog in the distance and the reflection of the sky on the wet road, the atmosphere of the entire image is very quiet.

calm, small town america, wet, big sky, reflected in the wet road, disappears into the distance, without  focus, lots of negative space, Pizza/Chinese food combo, lots of leading lines, well framed, desaturated makes it feel bland and boring; no doubt how small town america can feel after a prolonged amount of time there gives it more atmosphere. at first glance it looks like the picture was taken a few decades ago.

Alec Soth is known for his images of small town America, this however is much more rural than even a small town, with only the bus as a clue that it could be anywhere near an actual settlement. 

The fact that there is a horse and a bus in this image interests me, both being modes of transport, one rarely used, on used all the time, opting for function over anything else, the bus, obviously, being able to carry 50 or more at a time, the downside being that it uses more resources and is more environmentally unstable.

This picture, like the last has a great deal of negative space, the big sky 

quiet, empty, misplaced, open, vacant, american countryside, odd framing, two modes of transport, outdated and new; the new carry more, at more of a cost. "looks like it's been plucked from somewhere and put down" so much negative space

This image is melancholy; almost as if it is mourning the inevitable death of the planet, because of the greed of the big oil companies. The natural landscape shaped and scarred by human life. Cemeteries and gas stations placed in the middle of such beautiful landscape speaks to human nature and the way we move heaven and earth to put what we want where we want to put it. 

The colours in this image are less contrasting, mainly sticking to a blue-ish hue, so most of the contrast comes from the subject matter, the graveyard and the gas station, the light of the gas station and the dark of the mountain. 

The picture feels quiet, which is odd, because it doesn't seem like somewhere that would be quiet, gas stations are usually fairly populated and high traffic, but this image is empty of people, cars and anything else, apart from the actual landscape.

balance, dark, incongruous, life/death, blue, quiet, contrast modern/natural, historical, static, petrol station gives life to the image, rest stop, resting place

I love this picture because of the balance of light and dark/life and death. The symbolism this picture gives off is very strong to me, the entire of the composition of this picture is near perfect, as well as the vivid blue of the image.

This photograph's composition is interesting, with the mountain standing guard over the graves, and the light of the 

Irving Penn

Irving Penn's work is mostly portraits, and usually in black and white.

This is a self portrait of Irving Penn, taken with a simple lighting setup, on a camera that seems to have a broken mirror, or the image has been changed during the film processing stage.

Each portrait is usually fairly closely cropped, and highly expressive. The work in itself is very unique and very interesting to look at, I really like these images, they appeal to me because of their unique and high contrast nature.

This image is very clean, it's almost sterile, because of the black and white. The high contrast between the black on her face and the white of almost everything else is interesting, and really jarring.  

Most of his subjects are different, in various ways, but each subject helps create an amazing image.

Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen is a photographer that uses black and white, but still manages to create diverse images.

Rineke Dijkstra

Dijkstra takes sequential images, often making sure that all the images in a set are uniform, making sure that each subject is framed similarly, making sure that everything is as similar as possible, to create a narrative in the series. This series is of bullfighters after they have fought bulls in the arena. They all have some form of injury or blood on them, giving the impression that they are successful matadors as successful matadors kill the bull at the end of the fight.

I find these images disturbing, and at the same time inspiring as they have looked death in the eye, and come out the other side, unfortunately the bulls don't share the same fate. These images don't look like the subjects are victorious, they look almost sad, maybe remorseful because of what they had to do to 'win'. 

proud, tired, 

Anders Petersen

Anders Petersen creates very gritty, very dark images, unlike Irving Penn's work. Anders Petersen seems to favour the dark in his images, making sure that the dark and shadow is deeper and darker, which helps give the images a fair amount of detail but not much mid tones. Lots of his work is very graphic, showing naked subjects, or people with strong emotion on their faces.

Vocabulary for this image: fairytale, romantic, blissful

Vocabulary for this image: mother/son, unsettling, creepy, 

 prominent teeth, manic, 

This image looks to be like it belongs in the 1960's from the time of the famous film 'Cathy Come Home.' It looks to be taken at a time of celebration with what looks like Christmas decorations in the background. The three main characters in this narrative don't look like they are celebrating. They don't look happy at all and this fact makes me think of the song 'Fairytale of New York.' 

This image is very unsettling, the grain and the framing of this picture make it quite sad in a way, the woman in the front of the frame, looking into the camera has a very resigned look on her face, but her looking directly into the camera makes it feel quite uncomfortable.

Vocabulary for this image: unsettling, sinister, loud, on the edge of 'polite society', jarring, uncomfortable, sad, celebration, unhappy.