Photography Assignment Four - Evaluation

The artistic strengths of my photos would be that they are very creative, they capture things that really represent London and the streets of London. The technical strengths would be that they are edited using a range of tools and techniques to make them more aesthetically pleasing and they are made to look the best they possibly can. The weaknesses of my photos would be that they are not as detailed as they could be. I think I could try to focus more on the little details of each photograph rather than just trying to get everything I can into the photograph. I think I need to look at angles and shots more, to find the best angle and shots to capture an object rather than just making sure I can see it through the lense.

I feel my photos have met my own expectations because I feel I have created a wide range of different photographs displaying all sorts of different, unusual images. I have edited them in a variety of ways to highlight the best features of each photograph and to show that I can use different the editing tools to create different effects on my photos. I have tried to use all sorts of effects and editing tools to show how different each one looks.

I have been influenced a lot by Umberto Verdoliva, an established street photographer who produces a lot of black and white photographs of every day things we’d find on streets all over the world. Verdoliva really inspires me because his photographs are unusual and unique. He manages to make everyday things look especially interesting and entertaining. I love his use of the black and white effect on most of his photos, I think it looks really classy. He also tends to use black and white photographs but with one distinct colour in it such as red or yellow. These colours look really good against the black and white background and stand out really well. I used this technique in some of my photographs to make the red London buses stand out against a London bridge I changed to black and white. Verdoliva also uses a technique that really inspired me to use in my own work and this is the blur effect. He makes certain parts of his photographs blurred so that he has a clearer focal point and I think it is really effective. I used this in my own work quite a lot, to make my images stand out more. I like to use the contrast tool quite a lot to make the darker, shaded areas of my photos stand out more. I also love to create photos with juxtaposition, like Umberto does. This just makes photos more interesting and entertaining. 

I think I have developed a range of skills in photography such as the ability to manipulate and edit the photos I take to make them look the best they can, with resources such as Photoshop.  I have also developed the ability to pick out objects that are unusual and interesting to capture. I have learnt the meanings of the key photography terms such as white balance, composition, aperture, and different forms of lighting. I can use all of these key terms when writing about my photographs and can use them when editing and working on my photos. 

The skills I have developed in technology would be the use of Photoshop, I have learnt how to use the program and the different tools available to manipulate and edit my photos. This has proved to be really useful in making my photos unique and stand out.

I think my photos and techniques do look really professional and that they can compare to professional images because they are creative and unique. I think they are edited really well, to make them look the best that they can and they are not over edited. I have used a range of techniques and tools to get my images to look professional and to stand out.

I intend to develop skills in the Photography area by continuing to take photographs of anything and everything in my spare time to get better practice at what looks good, what kind of things are most photogenic, what angles and shots are better to use and to get better practice with the different editing tools and techniques available. The more practice I get, the better I should get. If i carry on using all of the effects and key terms i have learnt like, contrast and composition, then i think i can really develop my photographs and develop my photography skills. Using these effects help to extend my creative ability and push my photographs to their maximum potential. 

Key Words

Shutter - A camera shutter is a piece of equipment that allows light to pass through it fora certain period of time. 
Aperture - An opening that light travels through, limiting the amount of light that reaches the camera. 
JPEG - Means Joint Photographic Experts Group and it is the most common form of saving images. 
Composition - This means the arrangement of visual elements in a photograph, putting together the objects that make up your image. 
White Balance - This is an adjustable camera setting that makes white objects appear white in photographs. This setting defines what the colour light looks like in specific lighting conditions. 
Landscape - Landscape is a section of rural scenery or countryside or land that is photographed because it is aesthetically pleasing. 
Macro - This is a type of up-close photography, normally of very small objects such as insects or flowers. 
Portrait - This is a photograph of a person, normally a head and shoulders shot. 
Cropping - Cutting out edges of a photo to focus on one thing, this allows you to chose how much of the photograph you want to be seen. 
Contrast -  The separation between the darkest and brightest areas of the image.
Sepia - Sepia photographs are images that are a redish-brown colour pigment. 
Diffused Light - A light that produces soft shadows. It is usually bounced off something, or shone through a cloth.
Hard Light - A more abrasive lighting approach that creates sharp edged shadows; as opposed to soft lighting.
Three Point Lighting - The basis for most lighting arrangements where a subject is lit from three directions in a scene; backlighting, key lighting, fill light.
Photojournalism - This is a form of journalism that takes images and photographs to tell a story.
Juxtaposition - This means putting things close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. 
Representation - The action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or the state of being so represented.
Connotation - An idea or meaning associated with a particular word or thing.