Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed
-Mahatma Gandhi
Statement of Intent
A broad theme of changing landscapes is the focus of this project. From urban to natural, winter to summer, this project will explore the various ways we see the world we live in. This project will require more time to complete as landscapes are not limited to my school in one time of year. I plan to experiment with different methods and compositions, changing camera settings such as aperture and shutter speed to see the best way to capture the Earth at that time and place, dependent on natural factors such as time, brightness, seasons and landforms. In order to broaden my depth of understanding, my initial research will contain landscape images of varying styles, seeing the different ways landscapes can be captured and the effect it has. Not only this, but I could also possibly visit art galleries and museums containing these types of images so that it is clear to me how the very best shots are captured. So that my understanding of landscapes themselves is also consolidated, I can attend geography trips and go on holiday to see unique and interesting landforms. I will take inspiration from the works of artists and photographers who specialise in landscape photography, such as Thomas Heaton. This will be beneficial because, as this is their full-time job, they are professionals at viewing and knowing how to shoot various landscapes, allowing me to take inspiration from their interesting compositions, raising the standard of my own work. As this project follows a huge range of changing landscapes, I will do photoshoots and take images whenever I come across a visually appealing space, for example a beautiful skyline or a vast mountain range. In order to do this, I must attend photography trips or even plan visits to different places to make my work unique. Another method of differentiating my images is by allowing myself to experiment with taking images. I will take the time to vary camera settings, compositions, framing and angles. I could also even use Photoshop to refine my images, using tools such as selecting and cutting. I could also experiment with various filters to see how the colour and brightness of an image can used to create unique effects. I will show my progress over this long project by displaying every image I take, even if they're unsightly. By doing this, I am able to show improvements and comment on any flaws. I will also screenshot work done on Photoshop. As a final result, I will display all my various finished outcomes in one place at the end, showing the theme changing landscapes and showing the steps that I will have taken to get there.
Mindmap
Being an area of outstanding natural beauty, Anglesey will be an extraordinary opportunity to experiment with photographing sights that not many of us have the pleasure of see every day. It will certainly be interesting to see how the various camera settings will capture the natural surroundings, and how utilising diverse compositional technqiues such as angles and perspectives will affect how they appear on the camera. Also, I will be able to experiment with unique lighting, as the natural landscape, lacking light pollution, will give more striking sunsets and sunrises than those in the city.
Glyn Davies
"Unfamiliar Familiarity"
ConnectionThis image is highly relevant to my theme of landscapes as it depicts the strikingly beautiful aspects of nature, something which I hope to capture in my own work. It also inspires me by giving me insight into how different intensity of light can affect an image and the unique methods to compose photographs. It has also made me think about improvements that could've been made on my Anglesey trip, including the fact that I could've altered the shutter speed to make an image have a more interesting effect. From this, I can raise the quality and uniqueness of future photoshoots.
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CommentI wholeheartedly adore this image as, in my opinion, there is nothing more beautiful than the light of a sunset and a peaceful beach. The way that this photographer has used their camera settings such as the slow shutter speed and slightly toned down exposure makes this photo immensely visually pleasing. It has made Anglesey look like a magnificent holiday destination. The only improvement I could suggest for this image is to use a more interesting angle; photography is a way to look at the world differently and every day we live life from the angle of this photo.
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Content & Composition
This image is of a beach at sunset, with a rock in the centre that is in a midst of gentle waves. It looks fairly new, being fully in colour. It has been taken in quiet Anglesey beach, showing various textures and structures, with rocky land in the background. Dark clouds envelope the top of the shot, complimenting the similar texture and colour of the waves, separated by a soft orange sky. There is a clear foreground, midground and background, containing the rock, land and sky respectively, allowing the eyes to follow a path going out, even further accentuated by leading lines created by the rocks, pointing to a clear path in the centre directly lined up with the rock. The rule of thirds has been used in this image to give it a balanced composition, with the rock being placed on the bottom third of the photo and the rocks taking up the top third. A relatively slow shutter speed has been used to capture this shot, evident by the blurred streams of water brushing past the rock to create a cloud-like texture. Because of this, a tripod was required to take this image to keep the camera steady in one place, as to not blur out the entire shot. A slightly dark exposure was used on the photographer's camera, which created a shadowy, almost moody lightscape. In my opinion, this was even further accentuated through increasing the contrast using Photoshop, creating a striking but smooth difference between the orange sunlight and the blue clouds, which have been captured by the photographer clevery taking the image looking south. Finally, the depth of field on this image is extremely deep, allowing us to see the background in full detail. In order to do this, the aperture on the camera would've been set to a high f-stop.
Erez Marom
"Off Duty"
Connection & CommentThe features captured in this image, such as the lighthouse and the sweeping seascapes, are also found in Anglesey. Because of this, this image will develop my understanding of natural landscape photography, a technique which I am not particularly familiar with. Marom's work will make me consider factors such as angles, lighting and framing that will best compliment the natural landscape.
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ContextBorn in Israel, Erez Marom is an exceptional landscape photographer who travels across the globe, with works in his portfolio depicting locations from Indonesia's Borneo Rainforest to the Patagonian mountains. Slightly closer to home, "Off Duty" was taken in the Faroe Islands, just north of Scotland, in an area called "Mykines". Spending a large portion of his time teaching, I would love to attend a workshop of his.
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Composition
The photographer has cleverly used the rule of thirds to capture the lighthouse in the image's "sweet spot", effectively drawing the viewer's attention to it while leaving the image with a balanced composition. Furthermore, Marom has positioned the shot in such a way that the land behind the lighthouse almost mirrors it in the shot, placed in the top left third of the frame. This also places the landmass behind nicely amid the lighthouse and the hill. Moreover, we are given the seascape's sense of scale as Marom has placed the towering lighthouse in the foreground, telling us that we are looking at a vast landscape. The almost snakelike landform trails off behind in a leading line, dragging the viewer's eyes along back into the distance where the land vanishes into the horizon. With a bright blue (albeit cloudy) sky visible at the top of the frame, this image was most probably taken in the afternoon. However, the foreground is dark, obscured by clouds above. Contrastingly, however, the midground is elegantly illuminated by a break in the cloud above. This is extremely effective as it subtly provides the image with a balanced, almost harmonious shot. Also, it further encourages the viewer to draw their eyes from the foreground's lighthouse back through the leading line by drawing our attention back into the shot, from the earthy green foreground into the brighter background. Indicated by the crisp swashes of waves, this image has most likely been taken using a fast shutter speed, allowing the photographer to almost freeze time with this image. Although this technique does not require a tripod, one may have been used to perfect the image's angle and framing, filling the shot with a virtually equal amount of land, sea and sky, further contributing to the balanced composition of the photograph. Finally, the image looks as if it has been taken at eye level, effectively dropping the viewer into the image as if they are there looking into the distant scape, giving the image an almost lifelike form.
Anglesey 2019
Spring
Grass Beach
Coastal Bluffs
© James Pedlan 2017
Rocky Oasis
Coastal Woodland
Pine Forest
Path of the Holy
© Wayne Brittle
Best |
Worst |
Ocean's Approach
Shingle Beach
Wanderer's Beacon
Valley's Crossing
Windswept Shores
A broad theme of changing landscapes is the main focus of this project. The portion of this project that you have just seen explores the untouched natural landscape of Anglesey. Taking a trip to North Wales was infinitely beneficial as it had allowed me to experience and photograph scenery that I do not get to see in my daily life. From derelict buildings to magnificent sweeping seascapes, the natural setting of Anglesey
Orlando, FL
Summer
Spaceship Earth
Cape Kennedy
Amsterdam
Manchester
Mass Transit
Developing through Photoshop
After conducting research on existing landscape photography projects, I have considered to refine my images by experimenting with layers and selection boxes in the styles of Francesco Paler and Legan Rooster. This will involve cutting sections of my images into geometric shapes or faces and merging them with other similar photos. I have chosen to do this partly as, after my light and dark project involving reflecting my model's face in geometric mirrors, I am relatively adept at the technique of selecting and cutting using photoshop. Furthermore, I believe that geometric shapes thoroughly compliment both natural and urban landscapes.
Anglesey Geometric Collage
Further Development
As, so far, all of my collages have been triangular in shape, I will start to explore different shapes to make my work more varied.
I have conducted further research to aid this.
I have conducted further research to aid this.
On second thought, I was not particularly fond of the grain texture, so I deleted it altered the image's curves instead, producing this result:
In my opinion, the wooden truss in the centre isn't aesthetically pleasing either, so I have produced a second outcome using different segments.
Incorporating Nature with Urban
Final Gallery:
12/12/2019
Mock Exam : Landscapes Evaluation
Perhaps the most significant portion of my project, I started by conducting research on landscape photography. Erez Marom’s work was particularly beneficial in providing me with inspiration. Tools such as Pinterest and Instagram’s hashtag feature were essential in ensuring that I was exposed to the largest range of ideas possible. After considering a wide range of options from collages to photographic globes, I settled on a theme of geometric patterns. The reason for this is that, as a photographer, I think that the patterns created by intricate geometric shapes balances almost harmoniously with the theme of changing landscapes, as opposed to an idea such as a globe, which, in my opinion, is not particularly aesthetically appealing nor a high-level skill. The experiences which I found most interesting were those during my trip to Anglesey. Fascinated by the natural world, the trip to North Wales’s untouched scenery was the highlight of my project. Aside from being an escape from the city, Anglesey gave me an unmissable opportunity to capture the most fantastic images that my portfolio would not be the same without. Having spent the majority of my lifetime in urban, built up areas, taking photographs within the natural landscape had unexpectedly taught me an array of various skills, from how to adjust the basic camera settings in order to capture the sweeping seascapes to how to use composition, angles and lighting to make an image more interesting. These invaluable skills will continue to help me take images to the best of my ability in future projects.
Another learning experience had also come with this project’s development phase. Having become more fluent in Photoshop following my Light & Dark project, I wanted to make sure that, firstly, my development will showcase my newfound skills and, secondly, that it will also allow me to continue learning and discovering more skills, as I did while developing my Light & Dark and Conflict images. My theme of geometric collages has not only done that, but it has also made a huge mark on my portfolio. After multiple lousy attempts to create the geometric collages based on my prior knowledge of photoshop, I researched various alternative methods that will produce a high-level, aesthetically pleasing outcome. While doing so, I discovered a method of creating custom templates using Illustrator, showcased in the areas of my portfolio where I showed the processes used to refine my images. Another type of Adobe software, learning how to use Illustrator was an invaluable experience that would’ve solved issues that had risen in my previous projects a lot quicker. At first, I had followed the tutorial step by step in order to familiarise myself with the processes involved. Following this, I ventured out into various ideas, experimenting with different patterns, colours and blending tools, assessing the effect that they had. As a result, I have an array of distinct outcomes. As a photographer, I am particularly fond of the outcome where I had incorporated both urban and natural landscapes together into a geometric collage. The techniques used in this image included opacity differences, various colour balances and blending tools. These more unique ideas had come after I reached a dead end while starting to develop the images. Unsure of what style to showcase or what theme to follow, I had produced a few mediocre-at-most outcomes, including the semi-circular seascape image and the rock collage with the circle in the centre. These outcomes were what had driven me to conduct more photography research and eventually settle on the geometric collage idea. A recurring theme with each of my projects, my not-so-great ideas had ultimately lead to the highlight of my portfolio.
Another learning experience had also come with this project’s development phase. Having become more fluent in Photoshop following my Light & Dark project, I wanted to make sure that, firstly, my development will showcase my newfound skills and, secondly, that it will also allow me to continue learning and discovering more skills, as I did while developing my Light & Dark and Conflict images. My theme of geometric collages has not only done that, but it has also made a huge mark on my portfolio. After multiple lousy attempts to create the geometric collages based on my prior knowledge of photoshop, I researched various alternative methods that will produce a high-level, aesthetically pleasing outcome. While doing so, I discovered a method of creating custom templates using Illustrator, showcased in the areas of my portfolio where I showed the processes used to refine my images. Another type of Adobe software, learning how to use Illustrator was an invaluable experience that would’ve solved issues that had risen in my previous projects a lot quicker. At first, I had followed the tutorial step by step in order to familiarise myself with the processes involved. Following this, I ventured out into various ideas, experimenting with different patterns, colours and blending tools, assessing the effect that they had. As a result, I have an array of distinct outcomes. As a photographer, I am particularly fond of the outcome where I had incorporated both urban and natural landscapes together into a geometric collage. The techniques used in this image included opacity differences, various colour balances and blending tools. These more unique ideas had come after I reached a dead end while starting to develop the images. Unsure of what style to showcase or what theme to follow, I had produced a few mediocre-at-most outcomes, including the semi-circular seascape image and the rock collage with the circle in the centre. These outcomes were what had driven me to conduct more photography research and eventually settle on the geometric collage idea. A recurring theme with each of my projects, my not-so-great ideas had ultimately lead to the highlight of my portfolio.