Depth Of Field

Depth Of Field

Depth of field refers to the range of distance that appears acceptably sharp. It varies depending on camera type, aperture and focusing distance, although print size and viewing distance can also influence our perception of depth of field.

I set my camera up on a tripod in my back garden to reduce camera shake and set the camera to 'Aperture Priority Mode' so that I could change the F-number.

The F-number of this photograph is f22 which means that it has a large depth of field because the aperture of the lens was very small at the time of exposure. 

This is a photograph in exactly the same frame but with a bigger aperture (f5.6) which has resulted in a shallow depth of field. As you can see, the shed in the background of this is more blurry than the one above and the tree trunk in the foreground is distinctly sharper, demonstrating how depth of field is determined by the F-number.

Arnold Newman and Composition:

This photograph demonstrates a large depth of field, where both the subject and background are in focus. The composition of this includes the 'rule of thirds' where the subject is in a main area of focal points. The other focal points are to highlight Bill Clinton's life, as Arnold liked to document people in their own environment and in his pictures, showing the individual in a place that summarises them the most.

DOCUMENTARY: Newspaper article and Contact sheet

Newspaper article:

 

I enjoyed doing the newspaper article because it allowed me to have an insight on what photography can be used for in a wider context rather than just in a school environment. It also broadened my knowledge on journalism and creating a fictional storyline.

Contact sheet:

Contact sheets are important because they allow a photographer to see all their photos at once. It also makes it easy for a photographer to chose exactly which photo they want to use.

TRADITIONAL PORTRAIT: Arnold Newman

Arnold Newman

Arnold Abner Newman was an American photographer most famous for his environmental portraits of artists and politicians. Born March 3rd 1918 in New York City, he was raised and attended schools in Atlantic City and Miami Beach. He studied art under a scholarship at the University of Miami from 1936 to 1938. He died in New York City on June 6, 2006. He is also known for his carefully composed abstract still life images. He is considered as one of the most influential photographers of the 20th Century.
Arnold found his vision in the empathy he felt for artists and their work and photographed many famous personalities such as: john F. Kennedy, Pablo Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan and Audrey Hepburn and even though the subject may have been forgotten, he still managed to excite and interest the viewer through the photographs.
Arnold was often credited with being the first photographer to use environmental portraiture, in which the photographer places the subject in a carefully controlled setting to capture the subjects lifestyle and work using their most familiar surroundings expressing their personalities. for example; a musician might be photographed in their recording studio or on stage.


Newman's best known images were in black and white, although often he photographed in colour.

His black and white portrait of Igor Stravinsky seated at a grand piano became his signature image, though it was rejected by the magazine that gave the assignment to Newman.

I like Arnold's photographs because the hand covering the face adds extra emotions/feelings within the picture as well as having different lighting. The picture above of Picasso is different to his other pieces but in this case less is more, the high profile picture draws all the attention to his eyes and increases its intensity,making more impact on the audience. 

How i achieved my Arnold Newman inspired photo:

Contact Sheet:

I like my final piece because it has the same features that Arnold displayed in his photograph of Picasso such as the hand near the face, different lighting and black and white effect. However, if I was to take this shot again I would have the hand creating the shadow over the face instead of in the light as it would have made more of an impact and create more emotions within the photograph.

DOCUMENTARY: Richard Billingham

Richard Billingham:

Born in 1970, West Midlands Lives and works in Swansea, Wales 

Billingham graduated from the University of Sunderland in 1994 and in the same year took part in his first group exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery, London.
the world of photography became increasingly analytical, subjective and confessional of family life,the very private was becoming very public. However, Richard Billingham didn't care about how his family ought to look and instead he focused on them and their situation at the heart of working class life in Thatcher's Britain. Billingham's snap shots form a kind of family album no ordinary family member would ever show to anyone. This is not a family life of fake smiles and awkward calendar events, it is more like a backstage glimpse of the chaotic happenings within everyday life. It's a view that turned Billingham from a would-be painter into a well-known photographer.

The series of photographs, taken over a period of years are a stark, painful and often humorous documentation of the emotional, often violent relationship of his parents and brother. 

He never considered photography when he was living with his father Ray, he was simply a painter in need of a patient model. He began taking pictures of his bed bound alcoholic father that would act as a source material for his paintings as he wouldn't stay still for longer than 20 minutes at a time. This was how Billingham first started taking photographs.

 

 

I think these photographs aren't particularly astetically pleasing however this is because they aren't staged but are natural, there are no fake smiles and show the real expression of everyday life according to the photographer. The surroundings don't look very clean and is cluttered with empty bottles and cans of beer. A lot of Billingham's pictures are of his mother waiting on his father whilst he is sat down, showing the unequal distribution of domestic labor at that time.

High Key Lighting Studio

High key photography uses unnaturally bright lighting to blow out most or all harsh shadows in an image. High key methods were originally developed as a solution to screens that couldn't properly display high contrast ratios, but has developed into more of a stylistic choice such as modeling to create a positive, lighthearted or upbeat tone.

 

Gilbert and George

Gilbert & George started working together in 1967 after they met at St Martins School of Art and believe that everything is a potential subject for their work. The  inspirations and overall ideas are mostly a reflection on society. They are known for their distinctive brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks and have always addressed social issues. The backdrop and inspiration for much of their work is the East End of London where Gilbert & George have lived and worked for over 40 years. From street signs to Ginkgo trees, from chewing gum stains on the pavements to vistas of urban grandeur and decay, their work is both an ongoing portrait of a city and a reflection on the human condition.

 

I find this photograph by gilbert and George strange yet intriguing in that the background and subject are almost unrelated in terms of colour scheme. The picture is heavily dominated by lines, leading the eye in many different directions and confusing the audience as to where they are supposed to be looking. The composition

is fairly balanced and symmetrical by having both gilbert and George on either side of the picture. The grid lines create an element of the composition 'rule of thirds', where things are placed purposefully to create focal points.

 

 

The early work in this style is black and white, later with hand-painted red and yellow touches. They proceeded to use a range of bolder colours, sometimes back-lit, and overlaid with black grids. Their work has addressed a wide variety of subject matters including religion and patriotism.

 

 

To achieve a Gilbert and George style picture I flipped and duplicated my original photo and edited the colour and style using photoshop. I also put a grid over to the top to add to the Gilbert and George effect.

 

 

I feel that this was a successful edit because it relates well to my chosen photographers with the grid, repetition and bright colours. There is also an element of fun and isn't a serious photograph. the positioning of the subject looks like she is holding hands with herself, offering a sense of unity and connotes happiness.

Nick Chaffe 'Combining photographs with design'

Nick Chaffe 'Combining photographs with design'

Nick is half English half Swedish and currently lives in Manchester. Trained in graphic design, Nick went on to work full-time  for many different companies. Since 2008 he has operated independently from his own small studio in the UK. The image below expresses thoughts and feelings in the background patterns and shapes. This picture helps me to understand more about the subjects personality also the black and white effect makes the picture seem more significant and emotive.

 

 

My image has the same effect but with words and pictures to summaries the meaning of 'life' expressing my interpretations which include both good and bad aspects. I achieved this picture by using grey scale and removing the background of the images of people. l chose not to do the lines on my piece because I interpreted it in a slightly different way, however I still learned the same skills as everybody else but produced an alternative picture.

During the Chaffe project I have learnt new skills such as drawing and editing lines on a picture, below is a step by step on how to achieve a Chaffe style photograph.