Photography evaluation

My photography example

To finalise Unit 5 and apply all knowledge built up from the photography unit, I have taken a collection of 4 images under my theme of human vs nature. The genre of photography I have followed is landscape, with a human aspect interrupting in the frame. The idea initiated from my interest and passion in landscape photography. The concept of having something in the frame in all photos is an interesting aspect I include within my photography, with various messages that can be interpreted behind it. For example, in the collection of my photos, both from my planning photography and final collection there's usually a hand in the frame or a lens ball, in which the landscape is flipped upside down. This makes the photograph more interesting, and strikes messages making the photo deeper than what's seen, intertwining all aspects that make it meaningful, from the time of day taken, composition, lighting etc. All in which I have practised in a photography studio and when on location with Canon & Nikon cameras throughout the course of a year. The following categories describe further what I have learnt from the beginning of the year, developing throughout to my final end project.

Genres - 

Brandon Woelfel example

To begin within photography, a research task was conducted as to what themes and genres interested us. Though my interest was / is in landscape, portrait and travel photography, I initially was unaware of the rules typically used within that medium, for example rule of thirds and the horizon line, and other further composition rules such as framing, symmetry & patterns and depth/shallow depth of field. Learning about those rules and practising them on location had been insightful and affected aesthetically the way in which I saw my personal photography, when on location I had considered what my main subject would be and what angle I would stand at to capture it within the interlocking grid as part of rule of thirds, or the composition and difference between where the top sky was and bottom subject, this being a field or overview of a city from above as part of the horizon line. Being aware of these rules improved visuals I have, along with recognising the aesthetics of some photographers works and reasoning behind the composition. An example being Brandon Woelfels use of shallow depth of field in the example shown. 
The photographer may have wanted to blur the background to create the aesthetically Bokeh effect, possibly to represent the busy city life. The busy life concept interrupted by the main subject of the model, this being the main subject due to the foreground in focus. The photograph is composed in a visually pleasing way with the rule of symmetry. Learning about the various genres within photography such as editorial, portrait, landscape, fashion etc. has provided me with extensive ideas for future projects.

Research & photographers - 

Karl Shakur photography -  Opposite to Jim Zuckerman's size rule

I have conducted research behind my work, including photographers to support and develop ideas I have. Beginning photographers I had researched such as Mads Perch, Marthe Sobczak, and Brandon Woelfel under themes of Portrait and techniques including projection have expanded to Connor Franta, Karl Shakur, Chris Burkard, Jim Zuckerman etc. The change in photographers I have researched also have a change in theme. As I was more experimental and open with the photography I was researching, then becoming more direct for my final project to inspire and develop final ideas. Research behind photographers such as Connor Franta, using sources such as his book 'A Work In Progress' and the web itself. Ideas within his book that had inspired the main part of my final photography includes the information about his arm and how he likes to include this in the frame to label a section of himself into his photography, to symbolise a part of him in the frame. The composition of the hand in my final project whilst using the rule of thirds in my final collection of photos is inspired by this idea, though a different creative intention (explored under creative intention) along with Jim Zuckerman's composition and theory of size. His photography practises the idea of the human size and bigger landscapes (example) in the way that having a smaller human aspect does not make the landscape any bigger, rather both human and physical subjects are as important. When planning, my ideas were the same as Zuckerman's in the sense that I was not going to apply that similar 'rule' of size, rather that the physical and human aspect contradicted each other. (example shown as part of my final collection, in which the human side covers as much as the frame as the lights) However, research had been challenging in the planning stage of some practical tasks, e.g the practical task when using the photography studio for examples of Low-key photography. Researching photographers that specialised in the genre was difficult, however to help resolve this I could have used various other sources, e.g finding editorial photography magazines or photography books. 

My photography example

Concluding the research, the photographers that I have researched have impacted my ideas by allowing me to interpret reasoning behind their photographs by analysing elements such as their use of light, composition, time of day the photograph has been captured etc.therefore attempting to replicate the work to get a feel of the type of camera settings needed including F stops, ISO's and lens types, possibly used to capture a similar desired product. For future projects, I would like to expand in terms of contradicting different artists and comparing their views and my opinions and replications of this. Within my final project research, I found viewing how different photographers capture landscapes from deciding their main subjects and viewpoints / perspectives when capturing a shot, along with  thinking about the wider message behind the photo quite intriguing.   

Locations & lighting setups -
Practising the process of photography, under the genre chosen such as fashion or portrait, or street and landscape with the inspired research over the year has included various locations, this being out in central London or the photography studio. Within the studio, we have learnt various setups - 

Three point lighting, high-key photography, low-key photography- 
The traditional photography studio setup including the key / main light, giving the subject the most strength in light and can be used for contrasting photos, in the example that the other light, the fill light, is off or low. This can gives results of a rendered shadow across a models face, for example, a practical in which we learnt this technique alongside low-key photography (example) 

Photograph taken when learning
about Low-key photography

Though understood, I feel I still need to practise this technique in the studio with a black backdrop. Throughout photography, I feel that this technique would be suitable when expressing a models emotions through their facial expressions intertwined with contrasting highlights and shadows. Purposes of this to add depth behind the photograph. 
The fill light, placed opposite to the key light, is used to 'fill' shadows created by the contrasting key light. The key light may be brightest with this slightly dimmer, however throughout the year experimenting with practical tasks, I had experimented with adjusting the 1-6 dial settings. Lastly, the back light positioned down to view the main subject. The back light does not provide direct lighting, rather subtle highlights for the outline of a subject e.g the models hair. The back light separates the model from the backdrop. Other aspects that separate the model from the backdrop in techniques such as high-key photography is the poly boards and un-diffused lights, lights with no soft boxes around them, that reflect to the backdrop. In terms of high-key lighting, the backdrop turns completely white, infinity lighting therefore making the main focus the model. Practising this technique in the studio included advantages such as understanding the setup and ability to set the lights in the same composition, however challenges included the camera settings, adjusting and being knowledgeable when adjusting the ISO, along with how much light to let into the lens as part of aperture. To improve and expand my knowledge within photography, I would like to experiment more with technically adjusting the camera under high and low-key photography settings, though I feel confident in understanding the actual setup. 

Silhouette lighting- 

Learning about a further lighting technique under photography allowed an extensive understanding of using the studio and various techniques one can experiment with, using the equipment the studio has, such as the gel lights, soft boxes, vivders, poly boards silver photography umbrellas etc. Examples of using the soft boxes, vivider's and poly boards is silhouette lighting, where a white background is created using the light box with the outline and features of an individual in black. Intentions behind the photography being mystery into the individual, the idea that the shot may be close up with the human emotion through a facial expression not fully shown. I would create this aesthetic when my creative intention explores a sense of ambiguity. This lighting technique is one I have not practised with, an issue that I will improve for future projects being time management, to practise techniques I have not yet embarked on. Other time management issues including the process of booking the photography studio, this being a challenge at times along with ethical issues when on location - accidentally getting someone who does not want to be photographed in the frame or shooting in an off limits location for the aesthetic surrounding. 

Projection photography -

Projection photography

Within projection photography, I have a good view of the creative intention, reasoning as to why you may use projection photography and when, along with previous planning and research, for example for artists like Marthe Sobczak (example) Interesting how he projects onto human skin and the composition of these, the creative intention possibly reflecting what others see of the person, in comparison to who they are or further identity connotations. Within the practical tasks, I had practised how to setup using the projector,  however struggled in terms of getting the whole projected image to cover the backdrop. I understood camera techniques from using a lower ISO, this also provoking ideas of my own personal style in terms of using a lower ISO, linking to my personal photography of darker shadowed images to brighter lights in terms of night and street light photography, this further expanding contextual photography, contributing to ambitions of photography both in and outside the unit. 

Technical camera operation -
Initially beginning the year, I was unaware of the main elements in regards to photographing, this including the technical settings cameras have giving the end product of the photograph and affecting the aesthetically qualities of it. These including:

Aperture and F stops. Gathering the information of F stops - the higher the F stop the less light therefore smaller aperture and a higher f stop also meaning light only travelling in one direction, therefore creating depth of field and opposite to this, a wider lens allowing light to travel in every direction therefore meaning a blurred background, creating shallow depth of field was challenging to understand initially, however became more clear when practising with Nikon cameras. The concept of shallow depth of field created through the camera settings has helped me tell meanings behind photos, such as - (example) The F stop being between around 1.8 to 8 allows a large amount of light into the lens allowing the background to be adjusted and blurred, creating a purple bokeh effect. The concept including the idea of colour and size,though there are many blue/purple lights in the background, they're smaller and are under the bigger yellow/ orange bulb. The yellow possibly being brighter than the other lights period, or just the composition and idea of size making it look visually more important. The depth of field created through the cameras settings can therefore overall impact a photos intention. Learning about this from the beginning intrigued me, and further does as I would want to know what camera settings are used in order to create some style or sense of emotion, depending on the way in which the brightness may be or movement in the image. 

My photography

ISO 
Learning about the cameras sensitivity to light was less challenging  than aperture and F stops, and further striked ambitions of personal style. A lower ISO is what I typically would use as developed throughout the year, e.g in the example. Practical tasks focused on using 
ISO had been undertaken more on location than when using the photography studio, personally needing practise with adjusting the ISO in high-key and low-key photography studio lighting setups, this being a goal I have set for future photography studio practise sessions. Research I had conducted midway through the year in terms of ISO included the underexposed and overexposed noise/grain element. The idea that a higher ISO meaning a more noisy, brighter photo, possibly labelled as overexposed and a lower ISO, a darker photograph being underexposed. Overexposed and underexposed hold intriguing creative messages, viewing and connotating settings certain photographers may have used and reasons behind this- e.g for the aesthetical quality. 

My photography grain example

Shutter speed 
Alongside learning about aperture, I also learnt about shutter speed initially. The process in which controls how fast or slow light travels through the lens. Techniques experimented with shutter speeds that I have attempted on location include the blurriness of photos, however have not experimented with capturing fast movement. I also have aims of exploring more themes such as long exposure photography as further development from the year with a fast shutter speed, an example of a photographer specialising in this being Andrew Stawarz.
Adjusting the fractional shutter speeds can be important in situations such as capturing a single frame when a lot of movement, actions taken to capture the photograph making the image more powerful. I personally find shutter speeds challenging to understand out of the three main elements however researching and practising further will improve skills I hold. 


Using a Nikon:

Vertical composition 

Applying the elements of photography to using a Nikon camera included learning the settings of the camera and way around it. There were advantages and easier parts picked up on, 
through practising in the studio and playing around with settings 
including zooming and focusing when appropriate along with adapting to the difference between using manual and auto mode, however more challenging elements where improvement is needed in terms of locating shutter speeds and white balance. Smaller features I learnt included shooting in portrait, vertically. 

Creative intentions - Final project
Concluding my final project, the process of planning went well as I was able to identify photographers I enjoy viewing and able to apply their work to my creative intention, including messages of human elements vs nature and how this can be subtly done through capturing contrasting subjects. This being both metaphorically through my reasoning behind things like a human eye compared to brighter lights and the darkness of the human aspect compared to the more vibrant side. This carried out in other brighter light settings of my collection, the two images taken at golden hour sunset time. As planned, I wanted to use this time of day to make the photographs cinematically
 pleasing and give a golden, sunset glow. The arm behind one of the photographs links to Connor Frantas photography, this being an inspiration and including 
 an element of a human that isn't fully in frame. I have chosen the collection of 4 images, 2 taken horizontally and 2 taken vertically as I feel the layout will fit together. The 4 images are split into coupled pairs, the photos that have the similar lighting together. Learning the functions of a Nikon camera have improved, however I personally feel more practice is needed for Nikon cameras and I am confident with Canons. Using more techniques confidently such as rule of thirds and framing will occur in future projects as reflected off this project. The overall end product and lead up to do so has made me enjoy photography more, and given more contextual knowledge in terms of research and wider photographers / photography genres.

Post Photoshop editing -
Learning in Adobe Photoshop initially had been challenging and I feel as though I still need practise within the software. Minor edits have been made in my final collection, for example the sharpen tool for extra details of the lensball and photography adjustments, such as higher vibrance and lower brightness.

Final photography

Intertwining skills I have learnt from the past few months learning photography within the unit have now been applied to this project and are presented through a collection of 4 photographs, exploring my theme - human vs nature, along with carrying interesting lighting, in which was previously not in my creative intention but is something I can embark on.

Photography project practice

My photography practice 

As part of developing my photography final idea, I have taken photographs to support my creative intention and took the photograph in the style of a photographer I take inspiration from - Connor Franta. The hand represents the human aspect that I am using in my work with the contrast of human and nature. The use of shallow depth of field has created the bokeh effect, however my hand had not been fully in focus, it is not as sharp as it could be. From doing this, one issue I noticed technically was trying to focus / hold the camera with one hand with my hand in the frame. Getting the right shot therefore may take time.
I feel that the lighting aspect of the photograph came out successfully, from the golden highlights reflected onto the top of the building. This also plays with the human and nature concept, the idea of natural light- sunlight, breaking through compared to the the artificial fairy lights. This idea will be considered for final projects as part of creative intentions in a subtle manner.
Photograph taken also exploring the idea of natural light vs artificial light - the world through an object.

In this photograph, the same idea of natural vs human intentions are explored, but in a more indirect manner.

The common idea of small human subjects making the physical landscape look even bigger (example labelled size) is not applied here. Though the size can be interpreted, my photograph explores more the actual object, a light bulb, being a human light source as a subject contrasting the idea of the actual natural light source -the sun. This again explores my whole theme of human vs nature but in a more subtle and thought provoking way.

SIZE - Karl Shakur photography.

Further practice, human element:
As part of further developing my idea in the human vs physical aspect, I have taken photos using natural light with the object being the lensball and my hand interrupting. Viewing these over, I want to ensure that I have other human elements such as an eye, half a face, etc. The composition of the blue sky photo contrasting with the golden hour reflected photo is different and experimental to what I have been researching and thinking of so far, and reminds me to think of the rule of thirds along with breaking this rule to possibly create a sort of uncertainty or uncomfortableness. The editorial image of my hand was taken at the same time being sunrise, again giving a golden glow. The picture can be categorised under editorial due to the RGB glitch effect. This can be something I experiment with, however the creative intention behind it may not link to my theme of human vs nature. The shadow of the hand is something I like visually about the photo, and will experiment with in my final photos - possibly allowing the shadow to reflect onto a leaf or natural aspect.


List of techniques I would like to use within my final photos:

• Allowing the shadow of a hand to reflect onto a leaf or natural aspect
• Composition - hand near a building or near a tree etc.
• Golden hour, sunset time. Golden highlights reflected onto buildings 
• Artificial light vs sunlight 
• Rule of thirds 

Planning final photography ideas

Themes in which I would like to explore for final projects are listed, along with initial ideas on any specific moods I am trying to create. As part of progressing in photography, I have brainstormed ideas around themes that are different to my preference, along with ideas labelled under themes I partake in so far and would like to develop in with some self and web examples.

Landscape - the world through an object -

• Landscape themed images but a smaller focused object in the frame
• Experimentation with composition 
• Objects such as focusing on a text in a book, using a lensball, prism, smaller phone, etc
• Collide landscape with human aspect - capture a human's hand in the frame - ( Connor Franta inspired photography )
• Person whos facial expressions trigger the audience. 
• Continue adding a small human part of the body, such as hands, just eyes, half of face. never show the full model. Intentions of this - difference and power of human subjects vs the physical world. 



My photography

• Object and landscape relevant to each other. 

Creative intention:

The genre of photography I would like to explore is landscape, with an interrupting subject always in the frame. The theme will include some portraiture or objects as part of interrupting the landscape, for example by using a lensball to flip an environment or a small quote within a book, along with human hands as inspired by Connor Franta's photography. I have chosen to do this as I enjoy the stories that are capable of being told behind landscape photos and making thes even more meaningful by adding human subjects, such as a model or their hands, eyes etc - a small part of them. The concept of human vs nature is introduced here.

Target audience and intentions:
The target audience for my exhibited work would be young adults, as I feel there are many people in this audience who are creatively active and enjoy viewing art forms that may have stories. I have chosen this idea for that specific reason, as I am passionate about telling somewhat of a story behind a collection of photos to give meaning to my photography and not only intreguie the audience, but take time out of their day to think and consider something they've seen in a deeper manner.

Output and layout:
Initial ideas I have on the layout of the collection includes using a mix of A2 and A3, as I feel the horizontal and vertical composition creates some creative vibe and composition wise may be frustratingly aesthetic, the vertical/horizontal compositions contrasting each other yet also fitting in neatly with another.  One thing I would like to experiment with is continuing one photo on one print onto the next print, then having these close together when exhibited on the poly boards and other photos far in equal length from each other. The separation could have the human subject onto some parts of the first print and continued onto the next properly, this could indicate the separation that both humans and physical subjects have.

Constraints: 
As the project is on location, there may be ethical issues in terms of who or what may get in the shot, for example, an ethical issue of a person in the background who may have personal constraints of getting in photographs, or using a location in which photography is prohibited. There may be issues and careful consideration required when moving the camera around, along with other equipment such as lens' , a possible tripod, etc.


Visual language:
My project will consist of various aesthetical and technical qualities, ranging from lighting techniques and experimentation between camera settings allowing things such as shallow depth of field to be created or grainy / noise photos. Lighting will be an important aspect as I am using natural light, and the time of day can affect things such as compositions of shadows & highlights, the difference in a few minutes at a sunrise or sunset, etc.

Practises and influences:
As part of developing my idea and understand professionally how it can be done, I have researched some photographers. The photographers listed have had an impact on the aesthetical qualities of my work and have helped me visualise more ways in which my work can be taken. (examples below)

Inspired photographers for my idea:

Connor Franta hand photography

Connor franta:
Connor Franta is an online influencer apart of various art forms including own clothing merch, creating videos on youtube as a vlogger and photography. The lighting in which Franta takes his photographs intrigues me the most, as the time mostly involves sunrise or sunset. His photographs catch my attention due to the angles they're taken at, capturing a sight of nature in the fore/background and a human hand or man made building in the back/foreground etc.
The sections of work and images I am focusing on are the photographs including his hand. As researched from his book, Franta's intentions behind doing this is to capture a glimpse of his body in the moment. " I just take a photo of my hand pointing at the scene I wish to remember" His hand intertwines with the environment. However, there are some critics I have behind the concepts - Franta's reasoning contradicts the intentions behind my reasoning of choosing a theme of human vs nature - my idea includes the power that nature or human aspects can have and the difference between these rather than actually combining the both.
Areas of his work intertwine both a human aspect and landscape, from photographs of the sun setting at ' golden hour 'intertwining the sunset and half of the top of buildings. I therefore enjoy viewing the aesthetical light settings of the photographs.


Karl Shakur:

Karl Shakur photography

As researched previously, Karl Shakur is an adventure photographer who mostly includes subjects in his landscapes photos and portrays the idea of the smaller character and human traces being insignificant to the outside wider world by framing the human aspect smaller to the physical surrounding. The intentions and messages behind his work is one thing I am also aiming to show, following a similar human vs nature conflict. The suggested audiences of this photographer may include young to middle aged adults with desires to travel or those already travelling, along with audiences including storytellers or writers, possibly searching for a source of inspiration, using the photographs as a beginning of a story or by setting a scene. His work is mostly captured in natural light, as shown in the example. Researching his work will benefit me as I aim to have the same audience with the overall intentions of telling a story.




Chris Bukard:

Chris Bukard photography

Chris Bukard is a creative figure involving being an author, photographer, explorer and creative director. His work focuses on stories that allow humans to connect or build a relationship with the physical features of the world & appreciating this. The angle in which Bukard takes his photographs makes the natural features look more intriguing. Visual aesthetics are created in photos where the horizon line rule is used (example)
One thing that has influenced my trail of thinking is the idea that adding a human aspect to the landscape photography allows a space for audiences to relate - the audience could view the landscape as extravagant, but further imagining more when viewing a similar subject - this being a piece of the body (human subject in general) - the audience subconsciously relates to seeing a human subject, it involves them as part of who they physically are. The idea of making sure that the audience viewing the photograph feel captivated to visit the landscape or think deeper into messages behind the collection of photos is something I aspire to show in my work, considering all research.

Jim Zuckerman:

Jim zuckerman explained example.

Jim zuckerman is a photographer and author who has a different approach to the mainstream view of using a human subject -  the human subject in a small composition is seen as making the landscape  look bigger and overall holding more significance to the wider world, overall including the concept of size. Zuckerman's approach on this is different, his idea goes against size, e.g in a photographed example of a person in front of sunlight. (example) His words - " the truth is it doesn’t matter how big they are. What matters in fine art landscape work is the composition, the light, and the graphic design. That’s why I asked him to stand in such a way to make a strong and bold silhouette with a graphically pleasing form. This is how the human element can work well in a landscape photograph. "
The audiences of Zuckerman may include those who enjoy travelling and constantly seek for new places to go or more to explore. The desired audience of my photography links to this, with the whole idea of captivating someone as to where the photo was taken- landscape / place wise etc.


Bibliography:
Connor Franta: Book - A work in progress
Chris Bukard: 
https://fstoppers.com/originals/human-element-landscape-photography-151841
https://visualwilderness.com/composition-creativity/human-element-landscape-photography
Jim Zuckerman: 
https://www.photovideoedu.com/Learn/Articles/jim-zuckerman-on-landscape-photography-the-human-element.aspx

Further ideas - 

Night photography, creating a distractive different world - 

Brandon Woelfel photography.

• Bright colours
• Portraiture and landscape 
• Bokeh
• Intentions of an overall uplifting and distractive mood when viewed as a collection
• Experiment with long exposure photography
• Possible collaboration between the world through an object theme with this theme.
• Inspired by Rob - rbrgss photography. 

Web image

Landscape places or potratruitre photos, aesthetic pastel theme - editorial

Web image

• Based around colours
• Filters and grain
• Visually pleasing places /  clothing / lighting
• Photoshop 

Photographers

Karl Shakur - Landscape photographer 

Karl Shakur is an adventure / travel photographer who goes around worldwide capturing photographs. Themes within the photography include nature and astrology, and overall have the main aim of capturing the natural world.  

His work also includes working as an ' influencer with a growing audience of over 180,000 ' helping small and big brands tell their creative stories through their own creations and content.

His photography can be interpreted as intriguing as to where the photograph has been taken and when etc, along with his point of view of using the camera. The angles are original and unique, adding depth to the landscape.

To give more strength to his work, there are character and human traces e.g a person them-self or a car somewhere within the frame, which is insignificant in the presence of the wider world. 

Recreation of Karl Shakur's work -
To further explore and understand the photographers work, I have taken a photo in the style of Shakur's, exploring a similar forest setting and colour. The angle at which Shakur's photograph has been taken at is interesting and creates somewhat of unevenness, as to where the road may lead to, along with the photo being straight yet the road having a turn. There is also an interesting aspect added to the photography, the small car which may be a symbol for something deeper that the photographer would like to show. This theme is added throughout the photographers portfolio, for example in the astrology photos where person is sitting at the edge of a cliff in a landscape environment. This gives an important to insignificant ratio, symbolising a natural monumental to a human aspect.

My photo-

Photography studio practise - Gel lights.

Experimenting in the studio has allowed me to explore more effects and professional looks, along with initial use of gel lights. The use of these lights have given an interesting and different effect along with adding depth to the shadow left side of the photo, with no light reflecting to the vibrant yellow side, highlighting the clothing and upper parts of the face.

The setup of these photos included a black backdrop and all 3 setup lights switched off. One main focus gel light had been placed at a 45 degree angle on one side of the model to give a light to dark contrasted effect. The render on the models face from a dark to light colour creates some sort of mystery, along with the yellow giving creating uncertainess as to the colours the model may be wearing, skin tones, etc.
One thing that came out well within this photograph was the use of the gel light and the effect it has created from one side to the other, however I could experiment with the positioning of the main subject, for example attempting the rule of thirds by placing the model to the left of the photo using the grid template and taking the photo horizontally, allowing the subject to blend into the backdrop from the right, then a shine on the right side of the subjects clothing then faded into black again. The shine of light onto the piece of clothing without any initial light reflecting into it could create unease or uncertainess, further indicating a way in which these photographs can have deeper meanings. This would require many experimental shots with the settings of the cam

The orange / yellow lighting acts as a warm filter, and the use of shadows within this photograph is interesting & intriguing. The two shot brightens the right side of the frame and model, with the left side shadowed out, as if the subject is fading into the backdrop. The shadow in a particular shape covering everything but the eye creates a sense of  ambiguity as to why the subject is covered.
As the photography is low-key with dark contrasts and shadows, the camera settings included a low ISO and a high F stop, meaning less light into the lens. In the beginning, we adjusted these settings various times to fit the lighting setup and be sure that the backdrop was completely black, but with clear subjects still being visible in the foreground.

Silhouette lighting

This type of photography includes a white background created using a light box along with the outline and features of an individual in black. This photography portrays some mystery into the individual - things such as up close detail & emotion is not shown. The ambiguity of a models facial emotions is therefore creatively intriguing. 
The setup includes the following:

• Turn the light up to 6
• The model cannot be too close to the light box
•  Adjust the flash e.g diming the flash by turning the light down from 6 to 4, 
• On 6 - the features of the model may still be visible.
• On 4 the features of the model are dimmed, and the interior area of the model is black

.

- Reflecting the poly board or white board would add some highlight to the models face.

- Does not matter what backdrop you use, the frame will always be the soft box



-  Be imaginative - the more soft boxes lined up the bigger the photograph backdrop.

Nikon D7100

DLSR - digital single lens reflex

M - Manual. Front dial controls aperture.
Back dial controls shutter speed
A - aperture priority. Only front dial works here. camera automatically sets shutter speed
S - Shutter priority. Only back dial works here.
P - pre-set. saves different shutter speed or aperture settings e.g. can go back to different light settings in situations.
Green camera - auto.

Top screen - LCD screen - controls.

Black pixel in screen - dead pixel. Therefore means there's an issue in the sensor system / screen has a technical issue.

Number on screen at the top - shutter speed 

in diagram - 200.
Next to shutter speed is the f stop
in diagram - 15 

Other number  in brackets is the number of photos that remain in the camera therefore the amount of photos you can still take
in diagram - 560

' L fine ' is file settings, bottom left. ' Fine ' has the highest settings.

If all the memory is taken up on memory card 1, memory card 2 will automatically be switched to & used.

Top silver middle part - hot shoe mount. Flash guns go on top / used for flash. Examples of this include paparazzi photographers or a dial attached for studio lights in a photography studio.

                                                                                    

Small  button on top left -

S - Single fps - frames per second. ( amount of photos taken every second )

Cl - 3ps

Ch -  6ps

Timer symbol next to Q

Play icon - used to view footage - photos / videos.

Pressing up or down on images will show different quality settings on an image. To exit this, press up or down again.

To set a photo into monochrome or colour -
Menu - second icon down - 3rd option down - set picture control - vivid / monochrome

WB - white balance. shown in the top LCD screen. If you want to change the setting, use the back dial.

ISO - use back dial

ISO button when viewing photo - zooms out

Button underneath ISO - zooms in

Small button next to viewfinder adjusts focus - use if front settings aren't focusing etc.

Info button - gives all info about aperture, shutter speed, manual etc. All settings shown here. gives info photograph by photograph. 

L toggle - L locks the photo. 

Next to lens -

A - auto

AF - auto focus

Photographs taken using the camera -

Low key photography - photography studio

Lowkey photography includes using a low ISO and a black backdrop setting. The idea is opposite to high-key photography and creates more shadows than highlight.
Lowkey photography can be used with the boom light. The usual number of this is 4 however can be adjusted to 3 when used for a models profile etc.
A gradient of light is created when a shadow goes across one side of a models face from light to dark.










When using light which is not diffused - reflect this light onto 2 poly boards. The poly board allows the light to reflect onto the board and back out to the model. This gives further light for the model.







Silver umbrellas -
These are best for low-key photography as they create a good contrasted light. Using a diffused white umbrella may lead to different results. The results from using the silver umbrella are as shown in grey scale. Evidently, there are highlighted parts of my face from one side and my hair on the other side dark. However, there is also a faint line outlining my hair as a result of the light from the umbrella.





- Light reflects onto features of face 

- Faint outline of hair shown at the rendered end of the photograph

ISO & White balance

ISO -  the camera's sensitivity to light. 

• The higher the ISO the more noise added to the photo.
• ISO stands for International Organization of Standardization which is the main governing body that standardizes sensitivity ratings for camera sensors.
• ISO doubles the exposure making he brightness of a photograph higher, therefore if the ISO is too high the picture will not come out as desired.

The brightness of an image depends on the 3 aspects including shutter speed, aperture and ISO. When an image is seen as dark, it can be labelled as underexposed, if too bright the image can be labelled as overexposed, however an image may be adjusted to whichever camera settings depending on the photographers desired view of the image and the details that they would like to show. This therefore means that there may not be a perfect ISO or exposure for an image and settings can always be adjusted - depending on preference. 

( Terms - an overexposed ISO means that the image would be white and the subject may be fully covered by white. Underexposed is the opposite of this and may black out any details within the photograph. )

                                                                               

White balance - 
White balance includes the colour and way in which we see things. An images source of light has different temperatures, from ( typically ) warm to cool. The colours can be adjusted to make a photo look more natural and match the photograph with what our eyes originally saw it as. This links to the idea of photography being a creative process and not capturing reality after all the settings that may have been set on a camera. Adjusting the white balance therefore adjusts the colour so that the image can look as real and close to life as possible.