Statement of intent
My chosen theme for my GCSE project is going to be around landscape. I'm going to look at different types of landscape and texture, such as trees , lakes , wood , water, urban landscape and even my own local landscape. I have chosen this theme because I would like to explore different kinds of pictures and length for my landscape and texture project. I want to experiment with creative ideas on my project to create patterns to get that higher grade.
Research
For my research, I have been looking at different types of photographers that focus on textures, for example I have been researching Nik Merkulov, who does photographs of texture with a combination of warm and cold colors. They are abstract in style, through creating a swirl or marble effect with the colours and textures of the objects. A another photographer that I've been researching is Alim Yakubo, he photographs the textures of paint which is different to Merkulov who uses marble as a focus, where as Yakubo uses paint on natural and man-made objects to highlight the textures of these.
To edit my picture I will use photoshop and use a range of different tools to make my picture stand out. I will watch some video tutorials to learn how to create good filters on my work. I will use a DSLR canon camera , I will use a shutter speed setting of tv mode to make the background out of focus, and I use only the manual setting so I can control the way I want to take the photograph: I will use a aperture of f/2 to get a close up image of the object and I will use is f/16 to get the background and the foreground in the picture. I will also use this app called snap seed to extend my knowledge when taking photographs that I take on my phone.
I will adjust the white balance when I photograph inside and outside depending on the levels of sunlight and weather . I will either use white fluorescent to make the picture more like a horror atmosphere with all the purple and blue effect or I will use daylights to get the orange and red effect on the picture which creates an autumn golden hour vibe . For my photographs I will use either 3200 ISO, if it’s in a cold and dark place to make the picture more brighter than being a dark picture or I will use 1600 if it’s in a sunny place.
Through my project I am going to use Photoshop or Photopea to edit my pictures , to create patterns using my photographs of texture in landscape . I am interested in creating a kaleidoscope pattern using the colours and shapes found naturally in my photographs, for example leaves , flowers and animals . I will watch tutorials to learn methods of editing my pictures in the style of Nik Merkulov and Alim Yakubov.
In doing this project, I hope to learn more about different styles of photography through research and imitating different photographers techniques while out on a shoot. Through doing this I will learn about different compositional rules when taking my photographs for example using different angles and framing objects in the landscape in my photographs. I also want to learn how to use editing software like photoshop or photopea to make my pictures engaging and interesting to look at , as well as learning how to do kaleidoscope patterns with my own photographs .
Final format
I see my final format as being an exhibition filled with kaleidoscope pictures , making my landscape project more unnatural and abstract , exaggerating the colours and textures in my original photographs
Mind Map
my ideas of texture
Mood board
Mood board
Martin Lawrence research
Context
Martin Lawrence is a photographer from Preston. He is known for his landscape photography in places like Lake District , London , South America, Africa and North America. He has been featured in magazines to show off his work to inspire young people who want to do photography when they are older. He also created workshops for other landscape photographers.
Composition
When I am looking at this photograph by Martin Lawrence of the lake district , I can see that we have the mountains in one third of the picture, the little house in the second third and the shoreline has the last third of the picture. This creates a strong composition to the image and makes the water and pebbles stand out as it takes up most of the image.
In my opinion I think Martin used a strong and powerful composition to make the picture better. He has done this by using Strong leading lines from the gravel shoreline, mountains, trees running down the hill and the building. This pulls the viewer's eye to just off center of the image. The picture of the reflection hits perfectly in the middle of the photography which has a strong impact. The image becomes symmetrical and almost like a pattern or even abstract. I really like this effect and it can only have been done when the weather was very still. In my opinion, this picture gives out colours don't really look that soft, it is a mixture of warm and cold colours and the contrasting colours fit well together and make it look interesting so the photographer takes more picture of the spot.
The season is a between in the middle of late summer because if it fall the leaves will turn brownish and yellowish colour but the leaved in this picture is green and yellow a little bit. Vanishing point is created by the small white house, the tree and the line running down the hillside, this also draws your eye to the center of the photograph. Probably used a telescopic lens because the picture looks sharp and clear.
The impact of this is that the photographer is trying to get a good picture of everything and so in my opinion I think he stood in the water to capture the image. The photograph is taken at eye height, This makes us feel like we are standing next to him
Foreground is the water, mid ground is the gates on the RHS of the picture, distance is the mountains.The water and the grass are in the other third of the picture so it’s balanced and leveled . it capture the photographer's eyes By getting the good angle.
I like this picture because they have a good composition and the ISO was on the level
·
Content
In this picture is see the trees being reflected to the water in the same shape
The hills and trees are in a green and yellowish colour
There is a line down the picture where is curved
The mountains are brown but it looks blueish colour because the clouds are blocking it
The stones is in a range of colours of brown , black and yellow
Connection
This picture relates to my theme I am doing which is landscape because I did a similar picture where I used the rule of third in the picture it shows the background of the water , statue and some tall buildings . The water is the foreground it is the same as Martin Lawrence’s picture it is a leveled out and it is symmetrical. Martin Lawrence has used leading lines and rule of thirds, foreground, middle ground and background, like in my own photograph at Media City UK and Salford Quays
Martin Lawrence is a photographer from Preston. He is known for his landscape photography in places like Lake District , London , South America, Africa and North America. He has been featured in magazines to show off his work to inspire young people who want to do photography when they are older. He also created workshops for other landscape photographers.
Composition
When I am looking at this photograph by Martin Lawrence of the lake district , I can see that we have the mountains in one third of the picture, the little house in the second third and the shoreline has the last third of the picture. This creates a strong composition to the image and makes the water and pebbles stand out as it takes up most of the image.
In my opinion I think Martin used a strong and powerful composition to make the picture better. He has done this by using Strong leading lines from the gravel shoreline, mountains, trees running down the hill and the building. This pulls the viewer's eye to just off center of the image. The picture of the reflection hits perfectly in the middle of the photography which has a strong impact. The image becomes symmetrical and almost like a pattern or even abstract. I really like this effect and it can only have been done when the weather was very still. In my opinion, this picture gives out colours don't really look that soft, it is a mixture of warm and cold colours and the contrasting colours fit well together and make it look interesting so the photographer takes more picture of the spot.
The season is a between in the middle of late summer because if it fall the leaves will turn brownish and yellowish colour but the leaved in this picture is green and yellow a little bit. Vanishing point is created by the small white house, the tree and the line running down the hillside, this also draws your eye to the center of the photograph. Probably used a telescopic lens because the picture looks sharp and clear.
The impact of this is that the photographer is trying to get a good picture of everything and so in my opinion I think he stood in the water to capture the image. The photograph is taken at eye height, This makes us feel like we are standing next to him
Foreground is the water, mid ground is the gates on the RHS of the picture, distance is the mountains.The water and the grass are in the other third of the picture so it’s balanced and leveled . it capture the photographer's eyes By getting the good angle.
I like this picture because they have a good composition and the ISO was on the level
·
Content
In this picture is see the trees being reflected to the water in the same shape
The hills and trees are in a green and yellowish colour
There is a line down the picture where is curved
The mountains are brown but it looks blueish colour because the clouds are blocking it
The stones is in a range of colours of brown , black and yellow
Connection
This picture relates to my theme I am doing which is landscape because I did a similar picture where I used the rule of third in the picture it shows the background of the water , statue and some tall buildings . The water is the foreground it is the same as Martin Lawrence’s picture it is a leveled out and it is symmetrical. Martin Lawrence has used leading lines and rule of thirds, foreground, middle ground and background, like in my own photograph at Media City UK and Salford Quays
Ryan Coyle research
Context -
This photographer's name is Daniel Coyle he takes picture of texture for both man made and nature for his project , he takes picture of the sunrise and sunset which is a part of nature alongside of the picture there's also trees. The subject of the images is the tree in this picture, The sunrise is filled with different colors that collide together some warm and cold to make the picture stand out . At the time he took this picture late at night in winter or in the early morning . Daniel Coyle chose this picture because he want to put emotions and his creative ideas to the test to see if the audience get captivated by the picture he took
Composition
- In this picture he has used the rule of thirds , as we look into more depth of the picture , this picture has a sweet spot and that is the black mountains that grabs the person's attention to look at the picture even more . There are only one or two objects that I see in both of the pictures. The second one is the trees and mountains for the ISO is a little bit bright because they took it in the early morning where the sunrise is really good to take a picture of, the view is very sharp because you can see all the details properly . The photographer Daniel Coyle did use his tripod to get a good picture with amazing angles. He has used tungsten or white fluorescent to make it look more purple and blue. He has used f/16 to get land on the picture; there are also strong leading lines that go horizontally and vertically that makes his picture really sharp . The river is going from a foamy light purple to a mirrored purple river that reflects the sunset and the clouds to get that foamy effect Daniel has used a modern digital camera to get that effect with an old fashion camera it will be out of focus and hard to evaluate . The photographer has used photoshop to make different shades of purple to capture the perfect blend which will allure the audience in . The fact that there was no human nor animal making this place more serene and mellow and the aura is giving me a dreamy and a comforting feeling
Connections
- I like his work because it is not my theme that I am currently working on which is texture but it is a good project to do . His work is very detailed and creative because he travels a lot to get inspiration from people who do photography. Another thing is that the picture turns out to be good at the end . From my point of view his strengthens is making the picture stand out and grabbing the people's attentions from something else
Comment
- I am trying to achieve this picture but close up of the object because I want to see the details of the picture . My outcomes would be different if not the same because this picture is more wide and spacious whereas mine is more of close up and together where you can see the details more easily .
This photographer's name is Daniel Coyle he takes picture of texture for both man made and nature for his project , he takes picture of the sunrise and sunset which is a part of nature alongside of the picture there's also trees. The subject of the images is the tree in this picture, The sunrise is filled with different colors that collide together some warm and cold to make the picture stand out . At the time he took this picture late at night in winter or in the early morning . Daniel Coyle chose this picture because he want to put emotions and his creative ideas to the test to see if the audience get captivated by the picture he took
Composition
- In this picture he has used the rule of thirds , as we look into more depth of the picture , this picture has a sweet spot and that is the black mountains that grabs the person's attention to look at the picture even more . There are only one or two objects that I see in both of the pictures. The second one is the trees and mountains for the ISO is a little bit bright because they took it in the early morning where the sunrise is really good to take a picture of, the view is very sharp because you can see all the details properly . The photographer Daniel Coyle did use his tripod to get a good picture with amazing angles. He has used tungsten or white fluorescent to make it look more purple and blue. He has used f/16 to get land on the picture; there are also strong leading lines that go horizontally and vertically that makes his picture really sharp . The river is going from a foamy light purple to a mirrored purple river that reflects the sunset and the clouds to get that foamy effect Daniel has used a modern digital camera to get that effect with an old fashion camera it will be out of focus and hard to evaluate . The photographer has used photoshop to make different shades of purple to capture the perfect blend which will allure the audience in . The fact that there was no human nor animal making this place more serene and mellow and the aura is giving me a dreamy and a comforting feeling
Connections
- I like his work because it is not my theme that I am currently working on which is texture but it is a good project to do . His work is very detailed and creative because he travels a lot to get inspiration from people who do photography. Another thing is that the picture turns out to be good at the end . From my point of view his strengthens is making the picture stand out and grabbing the people's attentions from something else
Comment
- I am trying to achieve this picture but close up of the object because I want to see the details of the picture . My outcomes would be different if not the same because this picture is more wide and spacious whereas mine is more of close up and together where you can see the details more easily .
Nik Merkulov research
context
- Nik Merkulov is a photographer who takes pictures of man-made textures enhancing the colours to be more bright and vibrant colours. He takes picture of nail polish, paint and many more materials. Merkulov was a painter before being a photographer that why the subject are of paints and inks .
composition
- In this picture Merkulov uses a combination of cold and warm colours in different images. Using only one or the others in his photographs to contrast with the each other when they are published or exhibited. Merkulov uses strong leading lines that are going vertically and horizontally making a really strong image which draws your eye to the sweet spot . They used a rule of thirds as well , the sweet spot is the green massive blob with the sparkles that attracts the audience's attention. Before getting these results took many photographs from an array of different angles to choose the most engaging image that will captivate the audience. Merkulov also he uses a tripod and canon 50mm f2.5 compact macro lense to get a still image close up image of the paint, along side his canon 5DSR camera .
connections
- I like his work because it relates to the theme that i am doing which is texture . His work is very detailed and creative making the people really interested in his work and it shows that he is really passionate of his work. I am also wanting to capture patterns that uses vibrant and contrasting colours, his choice of warm and cold colours have inspired myself in my own photographs.
comments
- I'm trying to achieve to develop my photography techniques in Merkulov’s style, because it relates to my theme of focusing upon man made and natural textures . I am aiming to imitate his photographs in my outcomes, because the stimulus is similar to his because it's up close, focused photographs of texture and enhancing the colours to be more contrasting against the others in my final gallery.
- Nik Merkulov is a photographer who takes pictures of man-made textures enhancing the colours to be more bright and vibrant colours. He takes picture of nail polish, paint and many more materials. Merkulov was a painter before being a photographer that why the subject are of paints and inks .
composition
- In this picture Merkulov uses a combination of cold and warm colours in different images. Using only one or the others in his photographs to contrast with the each other when they are published or exhibited. Merkulov uses strong leading lines that are going vertically and horizontally making a really strong image which draws your eye to the sweet spot . They used a rule of thirds as well , the sweet spot is the green massive blob with the sparkles that attracts the audience's attention. Before getting these results took many photographs from an array of different angles to choose the most engaging image that will captivate the audience. Merkulov also he uses a tripod and canon 50mm f2.5 compact macro lense to get a still image close up image of the paint, along side his canon 5DSR camera .
connections
- I like his work because it relates to the theme that i am doing which is texture . His work is very detailed and creative making the people really interested in his work and it shows that he is really passionate of his work. I am also wanting to capture patterns that uses vibrant and contrasting colours, his choice of warm and cold colours have inspired myself in my own photographs.
comments
- I'm trying to achieve to develop my photography techniques in Merkulov’s style, because it relates to my theme of focusing upon man made and natural textures . I am aiming to imitate his photographs in my outcomes, because the stimulus is similar to his because it's up close, focused photographs of texture and enhancing the colours to be more contrasting against the others in my final gallery.
Man Made texture
Pictures from Salford
Best and Worst Picture
WorstThis is my worst picture because it is a bit too out of focus and it was too shaky . The aperture wasn't correct and I used the wrong white balance . I should've used a tripod
|
BestThis is my best picture because it is more clear and clean and it has strong leading lines horizontally and vertically that gives more depth.
|
Close up details of grids
Best pictureThis is my best picture because I used the rule of thirds , there is leading lines going vertically and I have used a smaller aperture like f/2.8 to make the fore background to be out of focus . I took the imagine at a certain angle create a nice contrast of the light and the shadow
|
Worst pictureThis is my worst picture because the ISO is really dark and you cant see anything in this picture . I didn't use the right white balance and I could've used an micro lens to get more detail of object
|
Brick texture
Night shots
Best pictureOn this picture I have used a strong rule of the thirds at the top section is all dark the second section is all colorful and creates a patterns across the picture and the last section have a orange band at the bottom going vertically . I've also used a longer shutter speed to make these patterns .
|
Worst pictureOn this picture the whole picture is out of focus there are some leading line but it couldn't catch it up because of how dark the picture is , I should've adjusted the white balance .
|
Natural texture
Swans
Park
Close up of leaves
BestOn this picture there is good rule of thirds, the first section it shows the little leaves at the top . The second section it's showing some leaves but they're blurred out because it's part of the background . The last section their is a big leave that is also the sweet spot where that grabs the people attention.
|
WorstOn this picture the ISO was too bright so you couldn't see that much of the picture and it was shaky.
|
Ivy and berries
BestOn this picture I've used fluorescent effect that give the dark blue effect which makes it looks like it was took at a winter afternoon . And it have some strong leading lines that are going horizontally and vertically which making this picture more depth.
|
WorstOn this picture the flower is out focus because I used the wrong aperture.
|
Leaves
Moss
Close up texture of wood
Dried leaves and flowers
My journey
so far in my projector
- I didn't go to the lake district last year in October but I did go to Salford quay in September and took some day photography of trees , pinecones, leaves, and natural lights. These are all natural textures. I also took some pictures of buildings, statues, neon lights. These are all Man Made texture . The time of the day was really sunny so I got good light to take plants and trees I don't have a Photoshoot plan for texture yet because I’m still working on my projector and finishing off some details but it would be set it in a studio with natural lighting . A variety of photographs : texture, leaves, water, grass, metal, glass, concrete, bricks and buildings.
Mocks exams
today for our mocks where are doing photoshop
i'm trying to do a glass sphere effect on my picture
i'm trying to do a glass sphere effect on my picture
Photopea
2nd photopea - black and white effect
- before edited |
- final outcomeI edited this photograph in the style of Imogen Cunningham
I change the original into black and white by moving red , blue and green around . I made the picture lighter . I played around the lens flare choosing the right one . I like this tutorial it's very easy and cool. |
Using image- adjustments to improve colour and light
Before
After
Developing my ideas on my picture
So far in my project I have been using 4 techniques on Photopea. I have been refining my own photographs so that I enhance, the final outcomes. The tools I have been using are lens flare, magic cut, selection tool, layers, image/adjustments would say they both my favorite the first one would help me for a fantasy picture and the second one would help me with also fantasy but like a wired and cool outcome and this has helped me to develop my skills. The more I have practiced and looked at tutorials, the better my outcomes have tried will be at the end of the experiment . I have decide to used photopea to edited my picture to create patterns using the textures in my landscape photography . I'm going to try create a kaleidoscope effect using picture of leaves and flowers .
the kaleidoscope effect
Before
After
4 sides
Before
After
White kaleidoscope
The Black and White Kaleidoscope
The Pink Kaleidoscope
Green kaleidoscope
Blue kaleidoscope
My final outcome
Evaluation
My theme was looking at colourful patterns/texture/landscape in the urban and rural location, which was really easy to do because I was really excited to take in nature where I live. It took myself time to take pictures outside and it gave me the idea to focus on patterns . I enjoyed taking pictures of light at night. I would prefer taking pictures in town because there are beautiful lights and huge buildings that I believe would make my project better by experimenting with taking photographs in this location. I experienced using Photopea within my journey during this project. I was able to edit my photographs to enhance the image and also to develop my own techniques through using Photopea. I have researched Martin Lawrence and the way he took pictures of nature which has inspired me, it taught me that whenever you take a picture you have to find a sweet spot in a picture and have strong leading lines going vertical & horizontal lines . I also learnt how to write an analysis within my project which was really difficult to do at home during COVID19, this also affected my mental health a lot because it was hard and we were not allowed to go out to take more pictures. The most successful part during this journey was trying new techniques on this new software called Photopea that I have been using since lockdown . If I had a choice to do this project again, I would want to go to a new location and photograph from a wide range of locations, for example I would like to go to London because there are a lot of trees and buildings to expand my urban and rural photography style.