Follow The Lead
In this project - I have continued from hidden identities. I have decided to use a light on a slow shutter speed to create the illusion of a pathway or something leading you with a light. I have classed this as hidden identities as you cannot see what is creating the light therefore its identity is hidden.
MOOD BAORD
Brainstrom
IDEA SHEETS
Joel James Devlin
Joel James Devlin is a London based photographer who works in different styles. But his 'low-light' collection caught my attention as his photographs are clearly thought about and laid out. He has gone in to high amounts of research to take 50-minute exposures of plane trails and his light trails which float on the water. He works in very subtle colours which make his photographs more unique because they almost seem normal to have a fluorescent green light floating on water.
This is one of my favourite photographs by Joel James Devlin, because of the use of everything - colours, reflections, shutter speeds and silhouettes. In this photograph, the light which has been put above water lets us imagine that it is a fish swimming away or towards us, also the colour that he has chosen, green, is subtle against the blue nature of this photograph however the type of green he has chosen has become vivid but not unappealing to the eye.
|
Whilst this photograph doesn't follow what my project is going to be, but the use of the long shutter speeds to show the lines of the planes against a beautiful dark blue sky is inspirational because it is effective. This is due to the idea that they look like straight constellations, also that you can see the roads that every plane follows depending on the place that they are flying to. Whilst researching Joel James Devlin, I discovered that this photograph series is based at Heathrow Airport and this highlights the density of airplanes which fly in and out of Heathrow everyday, making this photographs more amazing once you discover what this photo consists of and where.
|
Barry Underwood
Barry Underwood is an American photographer who uses light to paint different objects in landscape areas to create an atmosphere. To do this, he has used long exposure on his camera - a long shutter speed - on still landscapes to get the affect of these light objects and these surreal aspects in his photographs. I have looked as his work as inspiration to create a sense of something being there whilst we are unsure what. I intend to use this similar technique but to create pathways leading to places.
This is one of my favourite photographs done by Barry Underwood and one of the most inspirational out of his collection towards my own work as this is a light down a pathway. He has create a sense of something being there and this is the direction I have gone towards. He has used bright lights throughout his work against a fairly dull or dark landscape. In this photograph, he has used a bright red light which reflects off the surroundings centring the red strip. This photograph is a lot more bizarre than the other ones as to someones imagination it looks as if it is a trail left by something unknown.
|
This is one of my favourite photographs because of how the trees are lit up around the lights highlighting only the area that the photographer wants you to focus on. He has stuck to natural colours which also highlights the fact that this area is outside and in a place such as a forest because he has used a yellow light which emphasises the greens around it and then contrasted it with the purple sky behind only showing a small amount. It almost looks as if he has written a word but he hasn't.
|
Experiment Photoshoot
In this photoshoot, I was simply experimenting with different shutter speeds and different filters on my light. The range of shutter speeds was between 30" and 15" I discovered that in the area I was practicing, the slower shutter made the rest of the room darker and enabled me to add more light with my torch, whereas the faster one brighten the room a bit too much and I couldn't get much light into the frame.
Top Photograph
This photograph, I had the right shutter speed and I was able to get a good amount of light to make a pathway. Although it was a faster shutter speed - 15" - it worked out well because of the lighting of the room as it got darker outside therefore the room became darker as well. Throughout my photoshoots I will have to use different shutter speeds to ensure that I get the right light. Whilst this was an experiment photoshoot and I was planning to do the majority of my photoshoots in a wooded area, I decided that I might do some inside on old or graffitied staircases.
|
Photoshoot 1 - Epping Common
In this photoshoot, I was another experiment shoot as I was doing it outside. I chose to do my photoshoot in a forest as the sun was setting so it was getting darker as I took more photographs. This was around 7:30pm. I used a torch to create the lights and had shutter speeds ranging between 30" and 15".
Top 2 Photographs
In this photograph, whilst the light is fairly random, it still looks like a path and flows as if it is being walked. It was taken using quite a fast shutter speed, 15", this worked well because I ran with the light there for it stayed straight but also some of it was bumpy and this adds character to the photograph.
I plan to edit this photograph by either desaturating it fully or only slightly, I will then edit the contrast to make the photograph darker therefore the focus will be entirely the light. I took this photograph only with one torch. |
This is another top photograph because I used two lights and this made the trails look like they are going quite fast. I also walked around a tree which wrapped the tree in light before carrying on with the pathway. The light trail in this photograph starts off well as it looks like a pathway, however towards the end it loses track a bit therefore, I will attempt to replicate this but end the pathway better. The shutter speed of this photograph was taken at 30".
I plan to edit this the same way as I plan to the photograph above, however adjusting it slightly according to how it looks. |
Photoshop Tutorial
Photoshop Edits
Both of these images, I did the same editing through photoshop, however I slightly adjusted each step according to the image.
Photoshoot 2 - Osterley Park
In this photoshoot, I went to Osterley Park between 8:00pm and 8:15pm whilst it was still light but the sun was setting. I found a pathway in Osterley Park which was over grown and had trees all around it. I took some photos down the pathway as well as into the overgrown area. This photoshoot didn't plan out as well as I would of liked it to of done, due to my camera dying fairly quickly therefore I couldn't that many photographs. I also tried to rush this photoshoot to get as many photos as possible which is why many of them didn't come out that well.
Top Photograph
This photograph worked well, however the light was a bit jittery and you can kind of see the person who is walking with the light which defeats the aim of this project. I do like this photograph because of the colouring of the background. Whilst the light trail is fairly random, you can still follow it and trace it like a pathway.
I will edit it in the same way above as I like how those photographs came out, but I will adjust it accordingly. I was unable to get that many good photographs from this photoshoot therefore this was an unsuccessful shoot however I did find this area which I enjoyed taking photographs therefore I plan to go back to this area to redo this shoot and hope for better photographs. |
Photoshoot 3 - Lampton Park
In this photoshoot, I went to Lampton Park at between 7:30 and 8:00pm with using a torch, I decided to try using two lights instead of one, and changing the angle of the camera. The double light didn't work as well as the single light, however changing the angle of the camera gave the photograph more of an atmosphere. Although I didn't have my camera on a tripod for some of the photographs to experiment how it would look with a bit of motion blur in it.
Top 2
This is one of my top photographs because I had it on the floor slightly tilted up therefore I got some of the strands of grass in the photograph. Also the train of the light seems to take off towards the end which you could image something taking off and flying which is supernatural if it isn't a plane. The colouring of this photograph highlights the light trail as it was two contrasting colours - green, the grass and purple/blue, the sky - against the white yellow of my torch.
|
This photograph, whilst the light trail doesn't follow or lead anywhere, I still like the way it has brightened the overgrowth of the forest I was in bringing out the colours. I didn't have the camera on a tripod for this one but was resting it on my knee as steady as I could hence why it is ever so slightly blurry.
|
Photoshoot 4 - Between 9pm and 10pm
In this photoshoot, I went to a man made area in a park in Battersea, where there was a water fountain and pillars which had plants growing up and around them. This made the background interesting as it was slightly lit up so you could see the detail of the area, but it was dark at the time. For some of these photographs, I tied the torch to a piece of string to hold as close to the floor as possible and also took some photos in the reflection of a window and indoors.
Top Photographs
This is one of my top photographs because of the way you can tell that some thing is running up the stairs, however the colouring and the lighting of the photograph wasn't brilliant as it was too bright and the yellowing of the lights made it difficult to get a good clear light trail. This has given me an idea to do a shoot like this but indoors and upstairs so I can control the lighting and how many lights I have on according to the brightness of the area.
Will try darken this photograph without ruining the light trail to then desaturate and change the contrast. |
This is one of my top photographs out of this photoshoot due to me getting the idea of attaching the torch to a piece of string so I could hold it as close to the ground as possible. The colouring of this photograph worked well as well as it is fairly dark but yet still has elements of light in it.
I will edit it by desaturating it slightly and editing the contrast and brightness in order to get the effect I want. |
Photoshop Edits
I did a similar photoshop to both of these photographs as I have done previously. However for this photograph, I had to darken it as much as i could before hand due to it being too bright. It hasn't worked as well I was hoping due to it being too bright, however the idea of the pathway going up stairs has inspired me to work more around indoors and stairways.
|
With this photograph, I edited it the same way I have done before to get the same effect that I have done in my other photographs. This worked better because it wasn't as bright as the other one and I was also able to highlight and focus more on the light trail.
|
Photoshop Tutorial
Photoshop Edit
Whilst this photograph doesn't follow my initial idea of creating a pathway, I decided to edit it because I had creating the lighting myself. I had done this by turning off all the lights in the house and leaving the curtains open to let in any street light that was there during the night. Once I had edited it, I found that the photograph came out quite well, therefore I will recreate this scene but instead of doing random circles, I will have it leading down a pathway, down stairs or down a corridor.
Photoshoot 5 - Lampton Park
This photoshoot, I did over 30min from 8:00pm in Lampton Park. The photographs that worked better in this shoot were done when it was still quite light. This was because the trees where more visible and you could see some of the grass that the light was shining on. In this photoshoot, I was able to get form the pathway well and where I held the light low down to the ground you can see some of the green off the floor.
Top Photographs
I decided to take these photographs landscape, instead of doing them portrait as I have been. I was able to get more of depth and wideness of the pathway and the background. This photograph the pathway worked well as it slightly highlights the ground around it as I tied the torch to a piece of string therefore I could walk it as close to the ground as possible.
Through editing this photograph, I will need to brighten it to then make the contrast more visible and to also bring out some more colours before I desaturate it slightly. |
This is one of my top photographs of this photoshoot because it is really clear that the light trail is acting as a pathway. However the shutter speed was too short therefore the pathway gets cut off and doesn't disappear whereas it just ends abruptly.
I will attempt to lighten this photograph to make more of the photograph visible so I can work better on it. |
Photoshop Edits
Photoshoot 6 - Indoors between 9pm and 10pm
For this photoshoot, I set up my camera at the end of the hall way so I had a god view of the length of the house and the stairs. My shutter speeds for these photographs varied between 20" and 30". Whilst doing this photoshoot, as I was walking with the light, there was an occasion where you could see me through out the photographs, therefore when I edit them I hope to be able to fade it.
Top Photographs
This is one of my top photographs because of the way the light reflects off the floor and the walls, also how you can only see the light through the stair banisters. Although you can see the person holding the light slightly in this photograph, I hope that when I edit it, I will be able to remove as much of it as possible.
I plan on editing this image by slightly desaturating it and editing the contrast so the light trail because more prominent that it already is. |
This is another one of my top photographs because whilst the light is still reflecting off the floor and the wall, where the person has held the torch lower to the ground it has become more of a visible line instead of a bold reflection.
I will edit this the same way that I have edited previous photographs. |