Unit 57.4 Evaluation

Unit 57.4 Evaluation

For my album cover I used a portrait photo. I used a 50mm lens as this is commonly used for portrait photos. For my photo I used a plain white background and a studio light on one side this was to create a shadow on the image that is similar to Adele’s album 21. My album cover is for an R&B album. I chose to use a portrait photo as many R&B artists use portrait photos for their album covers such as Beyoncé’s album I am and Neyo’s album red, which highly influenced my idea in both adding the colour and splitting the image.
I also used a shutter speed of 1/100s this allowed the camera to capture more light and create a still image. I used an aperture of F2 and ISO 200 this is so I would capture a lighter and sharper image.

After I took the photo I edited the image in Photoshop. First I edited the colour balance of the photo for this I changed the mid tones to Cyan 60, Green 100 and Blue 35. I also changed the highlights and shadows to Magenta 100.

My original idea was to split the photo into three jigsaw pieces however I was unable to do this. To split the image I used the quick selection tool in PS each time I split the photo I moved the piece and changed the color of each piece. Once I did this I changed the background using the paint bucket tool to plain white.    

Unit 57.2 Photography

Photography 

Photography is measured by three main aspects. Aperture, shutter speed and ISO are all link together meaning if you change the aperture on a cameras setting you will also need to change the shutter speed and ISO to balance the image.

Aperture 

Aperture is a opening in the lens. This controls how much light enters the lens. The size of the opening affects the light travel through the lens/sensor. The aperture affects both the brightness and the depth of field. Aperture is measured in F stops. The smaller the number of F stops the larger the hole. For example a aperture of F2 would create a large opening. A aperture of F22 however would create a smaller opening letting less light reach the sensor. 

The picture to the left shows how aperture can change the depth of field in a photo. This image was taken at a aperture of F2 which creates a short depth of field. To create a long depth of field 

the aperture will be F22 this would make the background clearer. 

Shutter Speed 

The shutter allows light to the camera, the shutter opens and closes at a predetermined speed. This affects both the brightness and motion. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds. The longer the shutter is open the more light and motion is captured. For example if the shutter speed was set at 1/4000s the more light and motion will be captured. If the shutter speed was set at 1/6s the camera would capture much less light and motion.

The picture top right shows a image taken at a shutter speed of 1/600s this shows motion blur on the hands. The image is also very bright. The image taken top left was taken at a shutter speed of 1/6s this shows a much sharper and darker image as a less amount of light has reached the lens.

ISO 

ISO is how sensitive the camera is to the light the higher the ISO the more sensitive the sensor is. A ISO of 100 will show a slightly dark image this will also be a clear image. A ISO of 800 will be a lighter image this will also show grain/noise to the image. The middle image is set at the correct ISO for this image. The standard setting for ISO is between 200 and 400. This however will depend on how the aperture and shutter speed is set. This is shown on the images to the right. 

White Balance 

White balance changes the colour of a image using temperature. white balance can be changed using the preset options available on the camera or changing the balance manually. A tungsten setting is generally used for indoors and gives a image a slight blue effect seen in the image below left. A fluorescent setting will give the image a slight yellow effect similar to the image below right.  

   

Unit 57.3 My album cover idea

Influenced by - Neyo Red

For my Album cover I will take a portrait photo and split this into three jigsaw pieces. I will then add colour to each individual piece. Both the idea to split the image and add colour was influenced by Neyo's album red. The genre for my album cover will be R&B. I have chosen this genre as a lot of R&B artist use self portraits on their album covers.

Technical checklist.

For my image i will use a ISO of 200. I will set the shutter speed at 1/6s. This will create a still image but will allow a bit more light in to the image. For the aperture I will use a F stop of 4 to create a lighter image and a longer depth of field.

For my cover I will use my photograph to the right.

For my photo i used:

ISO of 200

Shutter speed 1/100s

Aperture F2.

I changed the shutter speed and aperture to create a lighter and sharper image.

For the main image above I used a colour balance of;
Mid tones
Cyan - 60
Green - 100
Blue - 35

Highlights and shadows
Magenta - 100


























To break my photo into different pieces i used the quick selection tool in PS. Each time I broke a piece I adjusted the colour balance. Doing this has changed the colour of each piece. I then changed the background to white using the paint bucket tool. This created a white background behind my photo. I then used the crop tool to create a square image.

Photographers and Album covers

Fay Godwin - Landscape 

Fay Godwin is a landscape photographer who usually takes images of the countryside in a creative way. Godwin uses objects and light to create unique photos. Godwin has produced a lot of black and white photos and rarely adds colour to her work this give the image a stronger meaning. Fay Godwin is a self taught photographer. She began her career through portraits in 1960s. Eventually Godwin developed her skills to landscape. (https://imagesonline.bl.uk)

Eve Arnold - Celebrity 

Eve Arnold is a well respected photographer who took many portraits of celebrities such as Joan Crawford, Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe. Like Godwin, Arnold's images are usually black and white portraits of celebrities (pictured below) Although she did do some colour photos of Marilyn monroe. The colour made the images more unique as this was rare in Arnold's work. "Her interest in photography began in 1946 while working in a New York City photo-finishing plant"(en.wikipedia.org) In 2003 she received a OBE. 

Sarah Pickering - Art

Sarah Pickering is a art photographer who often uses fire and smoke to create freeze motion pictures. Pickering would also photograph images of the after effects of these images which are black and white.  She often also uses the streets to create the same effect. some examples of this are pictured below. Sarah Pickering like many other photographers became interested in photography at a early age. Although Pickering was interested in photography she still took a course in physics and geography as a back up (www.telegraph.co.uk) Pickering's earliest popular work was a group expedition Sarah Pickering & Gonzalo Lebrija with PynerContreras, London (UK)in 2005 she also won a award in the same year(www.meessendeclercq.be)

Martin Parr- Documentary 

Martin Parr is a well known Documentary/Photojournalist. Most of his earlier work especially from the 1995 - 1998 is mainly focused on real life families, individuals and events from the beach. using different camera techniques such as depth of field to show everyday events such as read a newspaper making each image different and unique. Parr has had a growing interest in photography since he was a boy. "Martin Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic, from 1970 to 1973" (www.magnumphotos.com)Since graduating Parr has been expanding his knowledge and experience in photography. The images below show some of his most successful and memorable work from the 90s.

Album covers 

Photographer - Nitin Vadukul

For this album cover Vadukul would have used a off white balance effect. The aperture would be F8 and the ISO 400 to capture the lighting. The shutter speed for this image would be 1/100s as this is more of a portrait image.

Photographer - Ed Thrasher

Ed Thrasher's cover image for purple rain is very well done using a short shutter speed to capture a freeze motion image of the smoke. Thrasher uses long depth of field and good framing to capture a clear, sharp image of the woman in the background. Thrasher also uses dark and moody lighting to add affect to the gritty ally for this Thrasher would have used a medium aperture of around F6.

Photographer -Peter Lindbergh

Lindbergh Uses a short depth of field in this portrait with a medium aperture of around 8 F-stops and a medium shutter speed of around 1/500 to capture the natural lighting. Lindbergh would of used ISO of 400 - 800 as the image is not over exposed or sensitive to the natural light. The framing is set to show a small portion of the background in the portrait. Overall the image is very well done to show a natural setting through the lighting.

Photographer - Chris Stanford

Stanford has used a slightly off white balance which gives the image a older look. Stanford has used a shutter speed of around 1/100 as the is some blur motion. Stanford also uses a low aperture of F2 to create a mid depth of field. Creating a blurred background.

Photographer - Iain Macmillan

Macmillan would have used shutter speed of 1/4000s to create freeze motion for this image. Macmillan used a long depth of field for this cover photo. A aperture of F9 would have been used to create a long depth of field capturing the detailed background and ISO 400 to create the bright image.