In week 4 we continued on with the digital imaging in terms of editing and preparation for print and web. We looked at various file types and their eligibility for creating images of superior quality for publication, highlighting idiosynchrasies such as tweaking the transparency of said image (for overlap/fading purposes). Tiff is a good format for image storage, allegedly! Image-resizing is another attribute we covered; as many images will often only be viewed on a computer monitor one can reduce the file size of said image by reducing the resolution to match that of the monitor. There would be no noticeable difference with this process also saving disk space, making multiple images easier to store and/or email. We also looked at how to record sequences or a kind of macro within Photoshop to allow bulk updates to image collections. This method allows for consistent recreation of effects once this command has been saved, thus streamlining the work process into batches. For example, tweaking colour effects using the ‘S-Curve’ in Photoshop could prove problematic to recreate at a later date, recording this task solves the problem.
Creative Commons licensing is another topic we discussed:
“Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons licenses free of charge to the public. These licenses allow creators to communicate which rights they reserve, and which rights they waive for the benefit of recipients or other creators.
Portfolio
For this week’s lab we uploaded our image portfolio to our blogs. Over the next few paragraphs I’m going to explain my choice of images and what I was trying to achieve with each in terms of assignment requirements, themes etc.
Firstly, all images were taken on an iPhone as due to budgetary restrictions I was unable to procure a point n’ click or DSLR. I used a number of apps to tweak the images such as:
Camera+
Hipstamatic
Pro HDR
TiltShiftGen
The majority of the images were taken in New York but there are two from Thailand and one of my family home in Portlaoise. All of these images present an urban snapshot in differing cultural areas around the world. From the super modernity of Manhattan to the serenity of Wat Pho, Bangkok, an evident theme is one of an urban cultural snapshot of what someone calls or once called home. As the assignment requested that we consider themes such as ‘space & place, urban society, social documentary, history & memory’ I thought these images quite fitting. Personally, each location harbours memories weighed with emotion i.e. the one of home reminds me of wanting to be somewhere else, somewhere exotic, anywhere but there at one point in my life. The other locations such as New York and Bangkok remind me of being overwhelmed with a desire to be back in the safety of the homestead, a longing for the familiar, where someone knew my name and the horizon was the top of my road.
When choosing said images I was trying to highlight aspects that we covered in the lecture such as ‘depth of field’; the ‘Nobody Home’ picture achieves this, I think. While having no aperture settings to tweak I used the TiltShiftGen app which gives a miniaturised feel to the image and creates a sense of depth and distance. I used the same app to create this effect in the picture overlooking Times Square. In the images taken from Top O’ the Rock (overlooking Central Park and the shot of the Empire State Building) I tried to keep in mind the ‘rule of thirds’, i.e. lining up certain aspects of the image with the imagined symmetrical lines within the image – think noughts and crosses and you’ll get the gist.
Within all the images I tried to capture a sense of movement or flow, the best portrayal of this is the black and white photo of the four office towers lined in a row, creating a natural diagonal movement within. The Chrysler Building picture also has elements of this diagonal flow, with the building interjecting from the right directing the movement of the eye and dynamic of the picture. The same again is evident in the Bangkok Traffic image (Sukhumvit Road), and Times Square – I tried to compose the frame with an interesting angle in mind, using the natural shapes of the surrounding environment to add character. The Wat Pho image is an example of how shape repetition can enhance composition; the unusual structures (don’t know what they were called?!) really capture the eye and punctuate the skyline with their spires.
Lighting and more:
To achieve the pronounced lighting in some of the images I used the Pro HDR iPhone app which enhances and exaggerates the natural colours, creating a more vibrant image. This is most evident in the Manhattan Skyline and Wat Pho images. I also used some of the filters available with apps such as Camera+ to achieve the effects found in the ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ image and ‘Top O’ the Rock’. In terms of landscape/portrait decisions I let the environment dictate the need, shots viewing the horizon demanded landscape, those viewing upward to a height demanded portrait. Elementary dear Watson.
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