Photographer Research - Laura Zalenga

Laura Zalenga 

I've decided to research Laura Zalenga because I like how she created reflection in Photoshop, and I wanted to do something similar with my flower photos. I like this affect this creates because it makes the photo look more abstract by adding more of a pattern and texture to create a kaleidoscope effect.

I like this photo because you are still able to see what the original photo was of a person sitting down but the way Zalenga has reflected the photo in multiple ways creates more of a pattern and draws the viewer in more. Also, I like how there are no overpowering colours that makes the photo look unbalanced, the subtle colours allows the viewer to be drawn in more and look at all of the small details. 

I like this photo because Zalenga has reflected the picture of the person in different ways that almost makes the photo look more like flowers than a person. This illusion intrigues the viewer because they would look at the photo in more detail and suddenly realise that the photo is of a persons face. Also, I like how the the purple is more or less one shade and allows the person's face stand out even further.

I like this photo because it looks very abstract because you are not really able to tell what the true photo is. Also, I like how the centre of each reflection is a light blue which creates a contrast to the dark reds because the lighter tones draws in the viewer and drags their eye through the image into the darker tones. 

Final Evaluation

Final Evaluation

In my opinion, Shoot 1, 8 and 9 worked the most for me because I felt that those photos helped me develop further and really portray my message of people should be reflecting about our own and the worlds action against nature. Shoot 1 helped me by allowing me to experiment the most in Photoshop and experiment with different methods on how to create. This shoot set me in my tracks and made me more focus on where I want to end up in later shoots. Also, I liked how my final photos ended up because I feel that when the flower has been reflected in multiple ways, the images as a whole kind of looks abstract and unique, and due to each flower being different, each photo looks completely different from each other even thought they follow the same technique. Shoot 8 helped me expand my thinking even further by diving deeper into my title and presenting a series of photos that express a deeper meaning and is very relevant to today's society. I was able to experiment with multiple methods in Photoshop in a way to create these final images to get the most affective results. I found Shoot 8 very personal to me because I was able to express my feelings about the current events on the environment a lot more clearly and hopefully get people to think about their own actions as well. Shoot 9 helped my tie all of my ideas and projects together because I was able to use the techniques I learned in Shoot 1 and combine them with my newer view of Reflection in Nature that I demonstrated in Shoot 8. However, in my opinion, Shoot 2 was my least successful shoot because I found that creating reflection using water did not demonstrate what I was trying to portray clearly enough and did not impact my final portfolio in any way. Also, I found that these images did not stand out because they look boring and a bit flat.

I selected my final portfolio images because I think that they help portray my message of reflecting about how nature is slowly disappearing from us. I also wanted to show how I have developed over the course of my project because as I found how my photos became more and more personal to me, my photos had developed and expressed a more deeper meaning towards to viewer. Therefore showing as how I grew, so did my photos. I structured my portfolio in a certain way to present how I have developed and show clear stages of my progress. In my opinion my last few photos in my final portfolio helps ties everything together because I was able to link my first set of ideas to my last ones. I managed to do this by using my first few edited photos and edit them into the model to create a double reflection of nature.

My work has been influenced by multiple photographers but my most source of influence was from Imogen Cunningham, Laura Zalenga and Christoffer Relander. Imogen Cunningham influenced me when I was taking pictures of flowers. I liked how she framed most of her flowers up close so you were able to see the detail and texture on the petals without any distracting features from the background or anywhere else. Also, I like how she makes the flowers seem more fragile by having a strong light going through them, kind of making the petals seem transparent. Zalenga influenced me through my editing process, I liked how she created interesting and abstract final images with a simple photo. I wanted to create something similar with my first few shoots because I thought that this editing process would add extra elements of interest which would draw the viewer in because they would have to figure what the true photo was. Chirstoffer Relander influenced me a lot by helping me expand my thinking a lot further and diver deeper into my project to produce a series of images that have a powerful meaning behind them. Relander combines both people and nature pictures together. By using the same technique I was able to portray that people need to stop and think about the environment, our own actions are slowly damaging the planet but government and transnational corporations decisions are damaging the environment the most, such as the BP oil spill and the Brazilian government allowing companies to cut down trees in the Amazon rainforest.

Doing this project I have learned more about my own photography and the world. When creating reflection for this project I learned a new technique in photoshop to create an abstract illusion. I was able to create reflection using multiple settings in photoshop to reflect the photo multiple ways to create a kaleidoscope photo affect. Also, I learned how to manipulate two photos and combine them together to create an interesting affect of a nature photo blended into a portrait photo. I was able to learn how to balance the two photos together by manipulating the opacity to create a clear composition of both the person and the nature image, and make sure that one photo wasn't overpowering the other. This helped me clearly portray how as a generation we need to change something to save our future. While I was doing this project I was more conscious about environmental issues and I found that more or less everyday there are more problems that are going to occur due to if we do not change something and we have until 2030 to change otherwise the damage will become permanent. Also, the most damage caused to the environment is developed countries, such as the UK and America, but the people who suffer the most due to this are developing countries, majority are countries in Africa. I feel like some people and the government do not take this seriously enough, therefore, this causes risk because the environment may be permanently damaged to some people's reckless actions. Therefore, I wanted my photography to emphasise this message to help even get a few more people aware of what we are doing to our planet and what we can do to help.

Work Record 9

Work Record 9

For this shoot, I went to my local supermarket and bought flowers and set up a small studio in my house and took pictures of them from close angles.

For this shoot, I was a heavily inspired by Imogen Cunningham because I like how she takes pictures of flowers close up. In my opinion, this allows the viewer to see the true beauty in the flower by being able to see more detail of each petal. By taking pictures close up, I will be able to emphasise my message about true beauty of nature more strongly.



Contact Sheets




Best Images



I like this photo because of the bright and vivd colour the yellow shows. This photo will be able to draw in people more because of the bold tones. Also, I like how I have taken the pictures up close because you are able to more detail and the texture of the petals more clearly. In my opinion, this photo of the flower reminds me of the sun, almost demonstrating another form of nature.



I like this photo because you can see the petals being wrapped around each other creating an interesting spiralling pattern. In my opinion, this almost created a leading line that draws the viewer to go around in circles and gradually making their way towards the outside.



I like this photo because of the deep blues on the petals help stand out a bit more. I have taken this photo close up, you are able to see the veins of the petals a lot more easily. Also, I like how this has allowed the viewer to see the detail inside the orchid where you can see the texture from the centre more quickly.

Worst Photos



I don't like this photo becasue it is too under exposed due to now having the correct aperture settings. This ruins the affect of the photo because you are unable to see any of the colour, texture or detail in the petals.



I don't like this photo because it is too blurry, this is due to the camera not focusing of the flower properly and more on the background, Again, this ruins the photo because you cannot see any of the detail whats so ever because everything on the petals blends into one.

AO1 - Imogen Cunningham influenced my work by helping me think of my framework when I was taking pictures of the different flowers by being able to show all of the detail in the petals. By doing this, my photos will be able to represent how we need to save what we have left in the environment otherwise we will eventually lose something truly beautiful.

AO2 - I used a Canon 600D to take these photos with my settings set to ISO 800 and shutter speed set to 1/125 through out the whole shoot. My aperture was varied during the shoot but was mostly kept to around f8 - f11 depending on how much light was coming through. Due to the strange lighting I wasn't able to control in my house, I had to keep manipulating my settings to make sure I had the correct exposure.

AO3 - My idea for recording Reflection in Nature for this shoot was to take pictures of flowers and reflect them using Photoshop like I did in my first shoot. This helped me develop further and present more for my first shoot but also combining my photos to where I am now taking my project by editing the final images into the models from the pervious shoot. I like the image of the yellow flower the most (Best Image 1) because the colours are bold and stand out a lot on the model creating a strong contrast.

AO4 - I feel as if I have produced a strong series of images by my final shoot helping me develop further by combining both my original idea and my later ones together. For this shoot, I decided to edit my photos how I did in shoot one (by creating an interesting abstract looking reflection) and what I have developed to in later shoots by taking that photo and editing it into a person to portray how they are reflecting about nature.

Manipulating My Photos



For this shoot, I used the exact same editing process as I did back in shoot 1 because I wanted to expand further on my original idea and produce more photos similar because I did like the technique. To create my final image I went into canvas size and changed the anchor size to the top corner and after, I changed the percentage size to 200. Then, I copied and pasted the photo 4 times and then flipped the image depending where it was in the frame to create the abstract reflected images.

Mid-Project Evaluation

Mid-Project Evaluation

Doing my project A Reflection in Nature, I felt as if my work didn't have a deep enough meaning to it because I was simply just taking photos of flowers and manipulating them in photoshop or using a mirror/ glass ball to create a reflection. I wanted to make my work mean more to people and the viewer especially and present a series of images that have a powerful meaning behind it. I wanted to create a powerful meaning especially considering recent events because we are slowly destroying and killing nature and slowly we will eventually killing ourselves. Climate change is a big thing in todays society and scientists say that we have until 2030 to turn things around and reduce pollution levels before permanently damaging the earth forever. However governments do not seem to be doing much and causing the rest of the people to suffer. For example, in Brazil the Brazilian government keep cutting down trees in the rainforest for multiple reasons, such as cattle farming, oil drilling or using the wood to sale, either way they are having little care for the rainforest and only concerned on how much money is in their pockets. The amazon rainforest is one of the main sources of oxygen for the rest of the globe and by cutting down millions of the trees, it effects the rest of the world. Additionally, when they use the land for cattle farming, the cattle permanently damage the land and nothing can ever grow in that area again naturally. The permanent damage of nature is not just in Brazil, this is a global problem and I wanted my series of photography images to help reflect this problem and highlight that we are running out of time to make a change. However, I was struggle to come up with a concept that fit this message and the term 'Reflection'. I was talking to friends and doing research on my own and then in a casual conversation I had, one of them said "sometimes you just need to stop and reflect in life" and I realised how I could create my photos to seem more deeper. I realised that I was taking the term 'Reflection' too seriously and physically, and I didn't think about reflection in an emotional way.

Therefore I decided to change my approach slightly to help present my further way of thinking, and now I am going to edit nature photos into people to create the appearance that they are thinking/ reflecting about nature and realising how we need to save and treasure what we have left. After doing a lot of research, I found an artist that does more or less exactly what I was thinking about doing. Christoffer Relander edits nature pictures into people who have a serious or concerned look on their face. When looking at his work, I made me think about what positions I would want the model to stand in to get the best effect. I personally preferred the model looking off into the distance the best because it made the model seem as if they're deep into thought. Here are some examples of Christoffer Relander's work which I could hopefully come out with something similar.

So far I do like my shoots because they have helped my produce more ideas on how to create reflection due to reflection being portrayed in a different way in each shoot. In my opinion, my favourite shoot was the first one because I was really able to experiment with my photos in photoshop by creating different ways to produce a reflection. This technique was one of my favourites in producing a reflection because I liked the affect it created because some of my photos didn't really look like flowers anymore, they looked more abstract. Using this technique I was able to produce a lot of photos that looked different and unique to each other, even though they are all pictures of flowers and I have used the same technique in photoshop to produce this. However, I did not like my second shoot because I felt that the photos did not portray reflection clearly enough. Additionally, I do not think that these photos contribute to my final portfolio at all because these images do not link to any other of my shoots. This shoot does not demonstrate reflection clearly like my other shoots because the water is quite mirky therefore the reflection in the water is not clear.

Essay

An Investigation on A Reflection of Nature.

Introduction

For my independent investigation, I am going to be focusing on nature, such as flowers and landscapes, but to narrow my work even further and make it more detailed I have decided to focus on reflection. I’m more interested in nature instead of other topics because in my opinion, nature is slowly being destroyed by man-made objects, such as buildings and businesses, and I wanted to show reflection in nature to help people reflect and realise what we have been doing to nature and if we carry on at the pace that we are, there will be limited left. I have decided to both manipulate and find natural reflections to help my photos seem more interesting. To do this, I have come up with multiple ideas, I will be using Photoshop, mirrors and glass balls and extra equipment to manipulate and create reflection, but I will also be using water, such as a stream or lake, to have real life reflection in my photos. I have taken many inspirations from different photographers and use some techniques from each of them to create my own work with my slight own twist/ style.

History

Reflection in nature photography is a more abstract idea which is harder to figure out its history. However, I found a photo done by Edward Steichen called Moonrise in 1904. The moonrise photo by Edward Stiechen (seen below) looks very grainy and out of focus due to the lack of technology in 1904. Stiechen would use a Kodak 50-expousre box camera to take his pictures which would have film inside, when digital cameras today use electronic equipment. However, you can see that he has taken a photo using reflection of the pond creating an interesting mirrored affect, therefore, linking back to my personal investigation of reflection in nature. Also, by looking and analysing Moonrise, it has allowed me to realise how technology has developed and we are able to have more pixels in a picture to make them clearer and I could capture a luring picture like Stiechen did but with more detail in. The photo is very dark and eerie creating a sense of foreboding and the photo looks as if it could have been taken out of a scene in a horror movie. Also, during this time, there was a photography movement called Pictorialism (1885-1915). The Pictorialist movement was there to help inspire and show other photographers how photography can take more of an artistic and expressive route, this allowed the photographer to find their own style and think slightly outside of the box, therefore, emphasising the beauty instead of documenting
reality. This movement has led to more of a diversity of photography going from realism to abstract and allowing photographers to experiment more. Also, an artist I am researching for my investigation, Imogen Cunningham, was a part of the Pictoralist movement by taking images of people and flowers in a sexual way to represent “sensual and energetic pulse that runs through all of life”. Cunningham helped produce a new style of photography by taking pictures in a completely different style then done before by almost shocking them by the type of photos she would take. I found this interesting when I discovered this because when I first started to look at her photos, I like how they were taken in a different way compared to other photographers who take pictured of flowers, and I wanted to do something similar in my photography so my photos can stand out further. However, when the 1920s came, Modernism was used and replaced Pictorialism. Modernism introduced to look more at line, form and colour in photography and stepping away to what has already been done before.

This is Moonrise photo by Edward Steichen in 1904. The photo looks very grainy and slightly out of focus due to lack of technology in cameras to take clear pictures. However, you can see that he has taken a photo using natural reflection from the pond creating a mirrored effect. Also, the photo is very dark and eerie creating a sense of foreboding as if it could be a scene from a horror movie. I like this photo because it helps give me ideas on how I could portray reflection. The mirrored affect makes me think of looking through a different perspective or a different angle. I like how the photo shows a clear understanding of how the frame should be set out to have the best affect. I find this photo interesting because this style of photography was not common during this time period and it almost like a stamp of a new era. For me, the moon stands out the most because the tone is a lot lighter and brighter compared to the rest of the dark and eerie surroundings.

Photographer Research

For my investigation I have taken influence from Imogen Cunningham, Eliot Porter and Christoffer Relander.

Imogen Cunningham is an American photographer who took pictures of people and flowers. I have been influenced by her work because she makes the flowers seem very delicate and fragile. When I take photos, I hope to achieve something similar and then edit them to be later copied and placed on top of each other when I am creating my final images.

I like this photo because there is a clear demonstration of tone in the petals which I would like to achieve in my own photos. By doing this I will be able to push my photography further by applying more of my formal elements in the photos. Additionally, it would make my photos seem more interesting by more detail within the photo. Also, I like how she has framed the flower in the photo by having it very close up, therefore, there are no distractions from the background and all focus is on the flower itself. In my opinion, the this that draws me in the most is the centre of the flower because of its texture and pattern. The petals are smooth and plain when the centre of the flower has a lot of texture from the nectar and makes it stand out the most.  

I like this photo because of the way of Imogen Cunningham has made the flower look fragile and delicate. I like this appearance because the petals almost seem like tissue paper and could easily rip apart but some of the petals looking slightly see through. Also, the centre of the flower looks like it’s in the shape of a heart, which could suggest how people may have a lot of layers, but they can still be fragile and easily be hurt. I like how the background is the complete opposite to the flower to help emphasis its features and stand out more. The texture and the different shades of tone on the petals makes the flower seem more interesting because it adds extra depth, and they stand out even further because of the plain black background.

Eliot Porter is an American photographer who takes many photos of nature, mostly of forests and things he finds in them. I have been influenced by him by his tree landscapes work because I could take pictures of trees and forest in similar ways and edit them into people.

I like this photo because the yellow with the white balances each other looking very pleasing. Also, the trees are all the same species making the photo look even more balanced and symmetrical. By the image looking balanced, the photo looks more pleasing to the eye. I like the photo because the colours a very neutral and crates a calming sensation. Also, I like how you almost travel through the photo towards the back and going through the forest.

I like this photo because it gives me ideas and inspiration on what I could take pictures of in the forest near me because they don’t have trees like in the photo above. Also, I like how there is a cluster of trees together because it makes me think of my composition because when I edit my photos and put the nature picture in the person, I still want to be able to see a lot of the trees/ forest.

Christoffer Relander is a photographer who combines nature and people together, who I take the most inspiration from. I have been influenced by him because he makes it seem like the models are reflecting about something and by combining the two images together, he makes it seem that they are reflecting about nature.

 

I like both of these photos because this is what I would like to do for my project. Also, I like how the models are looking away from the camera as if they were deep in thought. This helps me think of my composition and when I take pictures of people by giving me ideas on how they should stand. Also, I like how some of the person fades away slightly to add extra texture to the photo and making it more interesting. For me, the lightest points in both photos is the part that stands out to me the most and draws me in further. Also, the tree branches create leading lines throughout the whole photo and dragging the eye to each section. 

Photographer relevance

Imogen Cunningham is relevant to my work because I can use her style of taking photos of flowers in my own work. She frames her flowers close to the lens so you can get hardly no distractions from other things in the frame. Also, many of her photos are black and white and sometimes with subtle colour which I could attempt at some point to make my photos seem more interesting. Additionally, I could experiment with using a plain background, so all of the focus is on the flower. Eliot Porter is relevant to my work because I could take photos of forest scenery to then manipulate later on. This is relevant to my work because I will be able to go to forests near where I live and take photos in a similar style and put them inside of a silhouette of a person. By taking photos of forests instead of just flowers, I will be able to experiment with different techniques to create different types of outcomes. Christoffer Relander is relevant to my work because I am doing something very similar to what he has done before. By using his style in my own work, I will be able to experiment with different techniques in photoshop to create me own affect. This will help me work seem more interesting because I will have a different layer to the photo, thus adding more depth. However, to make this style more like mine, I will edit these photos slightly differently so you are able to see more of the nature image, therefore, my final images will link more closely into my project A Reflection in Nature

Future

My project will probably develop further on the term reflection and experiment with the nature and people images. I will probably experiment further with different elements in photoshop to build my photos more and make them seem interesting. For example, in photoshop I can use different techniques to create a reflected affect. Also, I can develop my photography physically by bringing more objects to create reflection and add more depth.

By doing this project I hope in the future that society realises that at the rate we are going, we are going to damage the environment by damaging nature. Governments cut down trees to create room for industrialisation and other resources and not replanting them, this affects the whole world by the CO2 levels increasing and less oxygen being released. Due to the rise in carbon dioxide, this adds to the greenhouse gasses and contributes to global warming which will eventually lead to climate change. I decided to create my topic about ‘Reflection in Nature’ to help create awareness that we need to realise what is happening to nature (such as deforestation and desertification), therefore, we need to start to take more action if we want a sustainable future.

If I was able to continue this project further, I would travel to different countries and take pictures of different landscape showing all kinds of nature. By doing this I would be able to show the beauty of nature across the world and create a bigger impact on people on how we need to stop and reflect about nature and how we need to save it. What would have been better and really help me push my project further if I could of travelled to Australia and taken pictures of the bush fires and some of the animals to help emphasise that this will keep happening if we don’t stop and reflect on how we are affecting the environment and change our way.

Conclusion

In conclusion, after researching Reflection in Nature, I have realised where I went to take my project and develop it further. Before researching, I wanted to take photos of flowers and reflect them using either photoshop, mirrors, water or glass. However, after seeing Christoffer Relander’s work, I have realised I could take this on a deeper scale and present people reflecting their own actions in nature and how they can change their ways to help save the environment. I am still going to use the style that I originally thought of before I started my project because my image progression will portray how I have developed my way of thinking on this project and move forward to a more deep and relevant meaning. Additionally, when I originally started this project, I thought I could have only taken pictures of bright vibrant flowers during summer to display colour and make my photos seem more intriguing. However, looking at Eliot Porter’s photography, I have realised that I can take photos of forest and present the beauty and wonder in nature by the viewer not being able to see where the forests starts and finishes. Therefore, I am no longer limiting myself and demonstrating a variety of photography which is closely linked to my project. Going through my project, I have realised that I can combine my original idea of using reflected photos and edit them into people to portray how I am able to use all of my ideas and combine them together so they are all closely linked instead of looking like several small separate projects.

Photographer Research - Christoffer Relander

Christoffer Relander

Christoffer Relander is Finnish photographer who uses both people and nature to produce one photo. Half way through my component, I decided that I wanted to experiment more with my photos and develop on my idea of Reflection in Nature. Therefore, I did more research and I discovered this photographer who I took a lot of inspiration from.



I like this photo because the face slowly blends into the leaves smoothly making the photo seem more peaceful and relaxing. Additionally, I like how you can see the face and the leaves in a lot of detail and they don't make the photo look too busy.



I like this photo because the model is in black and white and the landscape the mountains is in colour helping the landscape stand out further. Additionally, I like how he has made an equal balance between the landscape photo and portrait so it makes the image seem more blended in together instead of one over powering the other - creating a relaxing and soothing feel.



I like this photo because it resembles something to what I can do with the resources around me. I live near a forest and this photo gives me ideas on how I could use his technique in my own work because like the image before, Relander used landscape photos that I wouldn't of had access to.

Portfolio

Portfolio