Experimenting with Nikon D7000

Experimenting with Nikon D7000

Experimenting with Nikon D7000

Exploration of Diane Arbus photographs

love, it's not over yet. Diane Arbus

First noticed: Adolescent boy and girl, presumably a couple. Shallow depth of field, background is blurred. Neither of the subjects is looking directly into the camera. Boy's leg is resting on girl's knee. Sitting on a park bench

Second look: Gap in between their torsos suggests lack of intimacy, making me think that the leg rest is staged. Girl's hips are turned away from him. Boy looking off in the distance whilst girl looks like she's trying to put on a front for a happier relationship. Girl wears a half hearted smile. Title suggests that the love between these two may be over soon.

triplets in a bedroom. Diane Arbus

First noticed: Serious, straight facial expressions, lack of emotion. Clashing prints and patterns. Three very similar looking young girls. Three beds with them all positioned on the middle bed. Same clothes, very formal with white headbands.

Second look: Girl on the far left is the only one looking directly into the camera, suggests that she is the more confident one? Their plain clothes contrast with the frills and patterns on the wall. Lavish bedspread- children of wealthy parents? Other two girls look as if they are looking for direction from the photographer. Girl on the left has shoulder more forward and my eye is drawn to her inquisitive expression. She comes across as maybe more intelligent.

Experimenting with shallow depth of field whereby the area within the depth of field appears sharp, while the areas in front of and beyond the field appear blurry.Initially found it difficult to grasp the technique in getting a good contrast between the sharp subject in focus and the blurred background. 

Soon discovered that by using a more zoomed in lens I was able to capture the photographs that I wanted. This collection of images are my favourite - the focus on the different coloured berries with the blurred background of the black gate makes it seem like they are trying to escape.









I feel that the fragile stalks holding the drooping berries are highlighted beautifully in the photograph.
After taking these images I began to feel much more confident and began to get to grips properly with shallow field.

Brainstorming Ideas

First Post. First Task.

Exploration of photos that give me inspiration. At the moment I have minimal knowledge of famous photographers.

My interest in documentary making has led me to research into photojournalists and documentary photographers. I find photos with people in them to be the most interesting. I become quite captivated by the photographs ability to stay uninvolved in what they are documenting. This is a style I would like to include in my own photographs.

Through online research I have discovered photojournalist Corey Arnold. This photograph stood out to me as it captures a sense of man vs the sea

The yellow and orange colours of the fisherman's overalls standout amongst the grey and dreary reality of where he is. However at the same time they highlight the plastic balls hanging off the side of the boat.

Plants ideas in my head about documenting a fishing tour in Brighton or following a group of young people on boats.

This photograph was taken by another photojournalist - Lynsey Addario. I like the fact that it takes looking at the the photo more than once to notice the people further back who are hidden in the gritty fog.
It gives the photo depth that makes me want to know who each individual is, especially the ones lost at the back.

The New York Times published this picture taken by Joachim Ladefoged along with an article about how cheerleading has evolved.

 I feel particularly inspired by this photograph because it is of one of my brainstorm ideas.
The like the editing on this photo and the floodlight effect in the centre.
The synchronicity of each partner stunt is captured at just the right moment.

Researching on the guardians website I stumbled across an article about american photographer 'Jean-Pierre Laffont'.
Collection of black and white photographs I found this one to be the most inspiring. Puts female body shapes into perspective. The femininity of the curls around the woman's face and her bikini contrasted her masculine body position create an interesting photo.