Evaluation

Evaluation

I chose to do photography because I have quite an eye for camera angles and I am willing to experiment with it. I liked experimenting with different mediums of digital photography. I very much enjoyed using the photography studio that college had to offer, it gave my photography a more professional feel due to the lighting. Overall, I am very happy with the outcome of my project, playing with light and shadows, and turning death into an art form, showing the beauty of the internal anatomy.

I experimented with different contexts in my photos, in some I attempted to change the background and the setting of the skull, for example, in some images I used a dark black background to add mystery, and in others i used various materials, including other animal parts, as the backgrounds. For the characteristics, I chose spines and skulls as my main focus, as the spines have an interesting structure and work well when it comes to lighting and shadow on a photo. Skulls have a lot of personality, sometimes more than what the actual animal had when it was alive, which I find greatly interesting. I like to think that I achieved this.

My target audience for the project is people who are interested in anatomy and animals, and the taxidermy side of the project. However, my target audience may also be people who are interested in editorial photography and quite expressive photography.

The research I did for my project connected through my work through subject matter. I considered how each person had done their work and how they placed things. Like how some of the photographers placed their animals next to food, I liked the idea of placing skulls on skins and next to wood, making the photos seem quite natural, yet still like some effort has been put into them.

For my digital art at the start of the project, I started simple, using the program Paint Tool Sai and a drawing tablet to aide me in my work. However, once I moved onto photography, my materials changed. I used my Canon EOS Rebel T1i, A flash stand, and a position. At home, I used my fish tank lights to create the desired lighting. Obviously I used my animal parts, bird skins and skulls, as the subject matter. The photos I took in the studio are my favourite, though, as they look the most professional with low-key photography.

My project developed from Digital art into digital photography,  I started the project with drawings, both traditional and on the computer. However, I soon realised this wasnt working for me, and my photography was. This is what decided my transaction, to finish off my project in that field. I also thought it would be easier, and it would give me a broader spectrum to work with.

I am very happy with the way my final piece, and could  not think of any ways to improve it. Maybe I couldve experimented the poses with different animals. I could've used fur as well as feather as my backgrounds and matter.

I think I have improved my photography greatly, and learning how to use my camera in a more professional way. I really enjoyed doing the low key photography as it worked great with my subject matter.

I do not see myself working in the creative industry, I'd just rather have it as a hobby.

My project has kept to the brief I set myself, showing respect to the animals through photography, and I am quite happy with the results. I have expressed my context and characteristics through my photography quite well, using the lighting and shadows to enhance this imagery. I also really like my choices of poses and backgrounds for said pieces. Overall, I am very happy with how the project evolved and developed, and I am incredibly glad that I developed it from digital art to photography.

Final pieces

Final pieces.

For my final pieces I decided to manipulate some of my spotlight photos of my skulls and blend them together. I really like the outcome of these two pieces, I will explain why later. They are made up of the following photos.

After this, I decided to make them all greyscale, and then decided to patch them all together. I believe the greyscale adds more impact to the image.

This is the first of two of my final pieces. I really like the way it came out. I tried to alternate the angles to give it more form, instead of the two similar looking shots being on top of eachother, I put them at the opposite sides of the piece. I like how smoothly they conjoined, making it look like one photo when its actually four.

My next final piece is as follows

This piece is my favourite piece, combined from a photo I took of a fox skull and a muntjac deer spine. I really like the way the lighting works in this piece, and how abstract it is. The spots of light draw attention to the matter involved well, and it has quite a nice atmosphere to it, still looking quite natural.

These were the images I used for the piece.

Studio Photography #2

I really like this photo due to the reflective surface and the direction of the lighting, this photo is probably one of my favourites in this set. I like the black space around it too. 

The next photos are experimented with different backgrounds. I liked the mossy log as it was on topic with my subject matter and made the photos look more natural.

I then tried the photos with a different lighting and background, using shadow instead of reflection. Again, Im really happy with how these came out, but I could've angled the background better to make it look limitless

This photo is one of my favourites in this set, as it has quite an eerie feel to it due to the shadows.

Studio Photography

Studio Photos.

I took some photos in the studio and experimented with different lighting techniques. I also tried to use different backgrounds and textures. I like the outcome on most of the photos, many of them are below. I enjoyed taking photos with the low lighting and the flash stands.

I like the shadowing on these photos and the way that I used my bird skin as the background, creating quite a nice textured piece, however, I believe that the lighted part of the skull are too bright, so I might want to turn up the aperture next time.

I tried a different, whiter background with this one, and experimented more with the shadows on the floor moreso than the shadows on the skull itself. I like the soft atmosphere it has to it, too, the blues compliment the soft yellow of the skull well.

I like the backlight on this photo, and the way it bounces off the skull and the feathers. I also like the extremely dark background, as it makes it softer.

I like the shadows on this picture, and I like the way the lighting shines through the bones. I also like the angle and the focal point of the picture.

I like the way the light shining through the skull makes it look like a latern, the way it lights it up. I also like the light bouncing off the skull, the black background making it the main focal point.

The complexity of this skull is what made this picture to me. I like the way the shadows and light play with the shapes included in it, and the way the red and yellow of the pheasant skin gives it a background.

This is my favourite photo in the set. I like the angles and the curves, and the shadows in this piece. I also like how only a little part of the skull is spotlighted, so the rest is in darkness, making it quite mysterious.

I like this picture for the same reason as above, the spotlighting, colours of the background, and the shadows.

I like this photo due to the background, and how soft it is.

I like the darkness of these photos, and how symmetrical they are, however I like that one side is in darkness, giving them mystery and eerines

I like the closeup of this photo, to the point where its difficult to be able to tell what it is. I also like the way the textures of the skull show up quite well, and all of the small details.

This picture is also quite alien, and very soft. I also like the complex design of the skull and how it plays with the lighting.

This photo is also a light experiment, to see how the light would shadow through the ribs. I like how one side is light and the other is dark, giving it quite a conflicting look.

This picture is quite silent, little to nothing going on, very empty. The blues give it quite a secluded atmosphere, and the shadow is also very soft.

Bones and feathers

Collage bone photography

I decided to take some collage pictures with my feathers and bones. I decided to drop them down anywhere and then take the photo, instead of thinking the photo through. I also used flash as it was very dark, and I thought flash would bring out the colours of the feathers more, too.

I like this photo because of the angle its taken at and the way the light reflects off the spine, the way the shadows play. I Like the way only half of the spine is visible, too. The composition and the complementary colours work well.

I also really like this photo as it works more like a coat of arms  with the composition and the camera angle. The way the photo was taken above the subject and the symmetry to it. I also like the natural look to it. However, I think I could've taken some more time to set the shot up. 

I love the browns in the photo, and how natural it is. The natural lighting also enhances this shot. I also believe the quite natural angle helped out, too. I really like the shadows in this picture and I cant pick anything to fault it. Its definitely one of my favourites.

This is also a set that I took which is based on animal parts, naturally. I like the way that the reds and yellows compliment the bones and how good of a backdrop the pheasant makes. I used very natural lighting for these photos, and I like to think they came out okay.