Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice

Selection of final images & review (P4, M4, D4)

Image No:Image 1:

Image 2:

Image 3:

Image 4:

Image 5:

Image 6:

Image 7:

Image 8:

Image 9:

Image 10:

Theme or focus of image & reasons for choice- why I took the picture, what was the focus and why.Image 1- In this image the focus is the colour and placement of the trees, against the black and white background. I used this to show the natural beauty surrounding Salford Quays.

Image 2- I took this image because I thought the buildings all had interesting shape to them, which I think catches the viewer’s eye along with the vibrancy of the colour of the buildings. The focus of the image is the buildings colour and shape.

Image 3- For this image I wanted to capture an interesting and different angle of the bridge. The focus is the bridge and where the bridge meets, but from a different point of view along with the cool colours used in the image.

Image 4- I took this image to try and capture something similar to a typical skyline picture, with all the different shapes of the buildings within the picture. The focus of this image is the contrast of the shapes of the buildings against the water.

Image 5- With this image, the main focus is the boat on the water, along with the contrast of colours of the blue buildings and the red boat. Also it shows a contrast between the modern buildings and businesses and a typical, old-fashioned canal boat.

Image 6- For this image, I wanted to show that in the very modern area, there is still a natural side, which is the focus of the image. The renowned Coronation Street sign, with the greenery from the tree branch represents perfectly the contrast between the two elements in the image. I think this definitely shows that even with the modern

business buildings, there is still natural beauty surrounding.

Image 7- I took this image as it is one of the first BBC buildings you see when at Salford Quays. I wanted to highlight all the media businesses within Salford Quays, and all the opportunities available. The main focus of this image is the big modern-style glass buildings.

Image 8- With this image I wanted to highlight the colours that represent Media City at Salford Quays. I thought by making the image mostly black and white, it would ensure the blue colours would stand out and make the image itself stand out more. The way the image is set out the words ‘Media City UK’ stands out through the wires and makes it clear that the blue colours in the image represent Media City.

Image 9- I took this image because I think it perfectly represents Media City, the modern buildings and the busy environment full of people, it’s both a social area and a business place filled with creative media opportunities. The glass modern buildings perfectly show the business side of Salford Quays, and the busy social life.

Image 10- With my last image I wanted to show more of the social side to Salford Quays and ‘The Dock Yard’ being one of the most popular music bars around the area. I loved the more rustic, old-fashioned look against the modern glass buildings. Showing more of the nightlife aspect of Salford Quays showing one of the most popular bars around. The focus of the image is the wooden benches and barrels against the glass building.

Techniques usedWhen taking all my images in manual I had full control of the shutter speed, f-stop and ISO. For images 2, 5 and 9 I had to take the images with a faster shutter speed, particularly image 2 to capture the boats movement, to capture the movement of the object or people in the image, no image blur from the movement. For example, with image 2 I used a shutter speed of 1/4000.

I kept the f stop around the same for all of these images because I took them all on the same day, with the same weather, so I didn’t have to adjust for different lighting. I mainly took the images on f/6.3 however for some I took on f/5. Also because I didn’t take many images with a deep depth of field, I kept the f stop around the same as I was taking images of buildings, which were all in focus and the main focus of my images.

For the ISO setting, again I kept this very similar for most of the images at 100, because the weather was over-cast and fairly bright. However at the beginning of the day I took these images, it was darker so I took the first 3 images at an ISO of 3200. Then, when it got brighter in the day I took the majority of my images at an ISO of 100.

I tried to include rule of thirds when taking my images, for example with images 1, 6, 8 and 10 the main focus of the image falls where the grid joins. Like in image 1, the first tree matches up to a joint in the grid, and then in image 8 the girl also falls on the lines or joint of the grid of rule of thirds. Also, in image 6 the famous Coronation Street sign also falls on the joint of the grid, behind the tree branch, which draws attention to the sign.

Strengths & suggested improvementsImage 1: With this image, if I were to take this again I would stand higher up so there was no railings in the image. However I like the way I have edited this image, and I think it definitely draws attention to it by the colours of the trees stand out against the black and white effect on the image.

Image 2: I like how in this image shows the different shapes and colours of the building, and I think it definitely shows how aesthetically pleasing the buildings are. However, I think an improvement would be if I stood higher, because I had to crop out the railings, and I think the image would look a lot better if it was larger and didn’t need cropping.

Image 3: With this image, I like the positioning of the bridge and how it looks from a different, unusual angle. However I think overall the image is a bit too bright and possibly a bit too over exposed, I think an improvement would be to take the image with a different exposure, so it wasn’t as bright.

Image 4: I like the positioning and the skyline look of Salford Quays. However, I think this image would be a lot better if it was straighter and not on a slight slant. So if I were to take this image again, I would use a tripod. I also would take this on better day; with better weather because I think the over casted sky takes colour away from this image.

Image 5: I really like this image; I really like the boat along with the buildings and the colours in the image. However, I think a recurring problem with my images is the sky and the weather. I think I would take this on day with better, sunny sky as I think that would improve the general quality of this image.

Image 6: I think a strength of this image is definitely the tree branch against the wall with the sign on, as I think it creates a juxtaposition of natural and modern. However again with this image I think the colour of the sky washes the image out, so if I took this image again I would do so on a day with better weather so it added colour to the image instead of washing it out. I also think this image is a bit bright and sky is a too bright, so I would take it again with a different exposure setting.

Image 7: I really like this image and I think the fact I edited the sky, definitely adds to the image. However I think the image would look better if I stood further away, and included some more building in the image, instead of focusing on just the one building.

Image 8: I also like this image; I think the colours definitely attract attention to this image. However I think a weakness to this image is the positioning, i think the railing pole takes away from the image, and if I took this again I would stand somewhere else, or stand higher so the image didn’t include the pole.

Image 9: I really like this image and I think this is the best quality image out of the whole series. I love the colour and the positioning of the image and I think it definitely represents what Salford Quays along with Media City is about. However if I was to take this image again I think I would stand higher to stand more head on of the

building and include more of the building in the image.

Image 10: I also really like this image; I think this is another one of my strongest images of the series. I love the colours and the rustic look of the bar. However a weakness of this image would be I think I stood too close, and if I did take this image again I would stand further back in order to show the full size of the bar.Editing detailsI used the same technique for images 7 and 9. I opened the original image and then created another layer, on which I placed the image of the sky. I then traced around the buildings using the Lasso tool and deleted the original sky. I would then place the fake sky behind the buildings. When I had finished with the sky I changed the colour of the image by changing the contrast, brightness and vibrancy on Photoshop to increase the colours on the buildings.

With images 1 and 8 I used the same technique for the images. I opened the original image in Photoshop then made a duplicate layer with the same image on. I then changed the front image to complete black and white, and then used the eraser tool to remove the black and white from the areas I wanted. I then changed the contrast, brightness and vibrancy again on Photoshop to make the coloured areas stand out.

For images 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 the only major changes I made to these images was by opening the images into Photoshop, using the crop tool to get rid of unwanted areas in the image. Then I also changed the colours in the image by adjusting the vibrancy, brightness and contrast on Photoshop to make the images’ colours stand out.

Capture LogSetting Shutter Speed ISO Aperture1.Manual

2.Manual

3.Manual

4.Manual

5.Manual

6.Manual

7.Manual

8.Manual

9.Manual

10.Manual

1/40001/4000

1/3200

1/125

1/125

1/125

1/125

1/100

1/100

1/40

32003200

3200

100

100

100

100

100

100

100

F/6.3

f/6.3

F/6.3

f/6.3

f/6.3

f/5

f/6.3

F/6.3

F/6.3

F/5