Post Production Evaluations

As part of our portfolio creating unit, we had the task of shooting and printing 6 more images for our portfolio. To do this, we worked from our previously created Portfolio Plan – an Adobe Spark page for use as a guideline for our shots.

CCIM — Portfolio Image – Shot by Diana Ferguson (my own work)

This portfolio image (above) was created with the use of filters with inspiration taken from my portfolio research. I used a handmade filter for this image and found that it showed contrast against the blue sky. To change this image and make it brighter, I opened it on Photoshop so that I was able to create layers that allowed me to play around with the colours. I brightened the blue and orange areas of the image and also left the building slightly darker than in the original image. I feel that in doing this, I created a more vibrant image that accentuated the original colours. Once I finished adjusting my image, I then embedded it onto a previously sized canvas ready for printing.

PortfolioTemp — Portfolio Image – Shot by Diana Ferguson (my own work)

This image (above) is my harbour portrait and was taken using natural light. The main adjustments I made were changes to the exposure, shadows, highlights and white balance. To make these adjustments I opened my image on Photoshop and worked from there. Once I finished adjusting my image, I then embedded it onto a previously sized canvas ready for printing. I really like this image as it links my theme of home back to my portraits, and also ads diversity to my portfolio as it is a location portrait.

PortfolioTemp2 — Portfolio Image – Shot by Diana Ferguson (my own image)

My next image (above) is one of my two studio portraits. This portrait is based around the theme of ‘Red’. To achieve this image I had my model (who was wearing red) to sit in front of a red background. When making adjustments to this image, I tried to keep it to a minimum as I was really pleased with how the image originally turned out. I adjusted the exposure slightly along side the shadows and highlights. Once I finished adjusting my image, I then embedded it onto a previously sized canvas ready for printing. I am extremely happy with how this image turned out as it really highlights my theme and showcases the natural beauty of an image that hasn’t been overly edited.

PortfolioTemp3 — Portfolio Image – Shot by Diana Ferguson (my own image)

This image (above) was shot at the harbour and was to be focused mainly on the hut in the centre of the image. For this, I cropped the image slightly using Photoshop to make sure the hut was in the centre. I also changed the exposure slightly and adjusted the colours so that the red became slightly more vibrant, the blue of the sky popped and sharpened it so that the rocks at the bottom of the image were more prominent. Once I finished adjusting my image, I then embedded it onto a previously sized canvas ready for printing. I feel like this image captures my theme of home well as it was shot in my home town and highlights something close to my heart.

Robyn — Portfolio Image – Shot by Diana Ferguson (my own image)

For my second studio portrait (above), the aim was to create a moody feel to it. This image was taken in studio using side lighting to light only one side of my models face. When making adjustments to this image, I first changed the colour of the background to a grey tone, then changed the exposure slightly. I then adjusted the highlights and darkened the shadows to highlight the exposed side of her face. Once I finished adjusting my image, I then embedded it onto a previously sized canvas ready for printing. I feel like the side lighting really helped create my desired moody feel to the image and think it is a very good technique to use when creating atmospheric images.

Gold — Portfolio Image – Shot by Diana Ferguson (my own image)

For my final portfolio image (above), I shot a still life image. This image was taken in studio on a piece of white card and a soft box. When adjusting this image I worked on the exposure slightly, and also the highlights. As well as that, I changed the background colour slightly just to make the white more vibrant than what it originally looked like. Once I finished adjusting my image, I then embedded it onto a previously sized canvas ready for printing. I think this image came out really clean and am very happy with the finished product.

To get my images printed, I used Deadly Digital and printed on Permajet Gloss paper and I am extremely pleased with the appearance of my images after the retouching process. When creating the canvas for my images next time, I feel like I could resize the borders slightly better to fit my images. Over all, the process as a whole worked well for me and I enjoyed doing it.

Portfolio Plan

Attached below is the link to my Adobe Spark page on my Portfolio Plan:

https://spark.adobe.com/page/en959kc1HNbGs/

Portfolio Research Task

Below is a the link to my Portfolio Research Adobe Spark page.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/H2ST7AFRtLRz7/

Introduction to Colour Management

Colour Space –

What is Colour Space?

Colour Space is an abstract mathematical model which describes the range of colours, showing the amount of colours used.

Colour Range

Bigger colour spaces such as Adobe RGB capture a wider variety of colours compared to smaller colour spaces like sRGB.

Colorspaces2

Why do we need it?

It is a standard that sets a specific colour range. This allows us to see what the camera can pick up, what monitors can display and the range a printer can print.

When would you use Adobe98 or sRGB?

Each colour space has a different range of tones and colours. Depending on what colour space you use, it can affect the vibrancy and brightness of your colours.

RGB2

Shown above is a comparison between sRGB and AdobeRGB. There is a clear difference between each, sRGB showing more muted and toned down colours compared the the brighter, vibrant colours of AdobeRGB. There is a wider variety of tone available with AdobeRGB than there is with sRGB.

When shooting in AdobeRGB, it is a possible option to convert the image to sRGB without loosing the colours from the photograph. When shooting in sRGB though, it is not possible to convert to AdobeRGB without the loss of colours.

AdobeRGB is specifically good to shoot in for people who regularly print their images. Printers are adapting to the AdobeRGB colour space and leave the printed images looking more vibrant and colourful.

Colour Profiles –

What is a colour profile?

Colour profiles come in to play when it comes to monitors displaying the images. Using RGB when shooting means that you can capture millions of colours. 16.7 million to be exact.

Colour profiles determine what colours are actually shown on monitors, as they are not able to display the full spectrum of colours, and helps provide consistency between different devices.

When would you use a colour profile?

Colour profiles are used in softwares such as Photoshop and Lightroom to help keep consistency through the whole process of shooting, editing and printing.

Emulate and Create Evaluations

19th Century – In The Beginning

I think the final image as a whole worked really well. My chosen portrait worked perfectly with the Tin Type effect and I feel like it came out looking almost authentic.

I found the tutorial steps particularly easy to follow and were explained well enough for me to successfully recreate the effect.

I found the hardest part to be navigating my way around Photoshop. The tools needed to create the image weren’t made overly clear. I think the solution to this would be to practice using Photoshop more to create these types of images.

I would definitely use this skill in the future and would particularly like to try and do a series of portraits in this style. I could possible shoot my portraits in a more fitting setting and have my models styled to fit the Tin Type look and feel.

20th Century – Film Types and Formats

I think I achieved the film type effect well in this image. The changed made to the image really brought out the colours in the photograph, specifically the blue.

The hardest part of the process for me was following the tutorial. I found the tutorial slightly complicated and I struggled to follow some of the steps, particularly changing the levels of Layers A and B.

If I were to work with Fujichrome Velvia 50 again, I think I would prefer to shoot with Fujochrome Velvia 50 and get an authentic image rather than a digitally created one. I feel like the authentic images have more of a natural beauty to them, and I also enjoy the process of shooting in film rather than editing on Photoshop.

21st Century – Digital Manipulation Photoshop Techniques

For me, I personally found that my original Filters image came out extremely well. The contrast of the orange paper and blue sky is very eye catching. The editing process brought out the contrast of the colours even more, giving it an even stronger look.

I feel like I could have spent more time focusing on brightening the building more, as I focused mainly on the orange and blue colours instead of the image as a whole.

The use of filters is an extremely interesting technique and is a good basis for Digital Manipulation as it involves bright colours that are perfect for brightening in Photoshop. I would enjoy doing a project on manipulating Filter images on Photoshop as it gives you a wide variety to work on and edit.

Film Formats and their Characteristics

For this imaging class, we were able to have a look at some old cameras that were brought in for us. We had a class discussion about how they work, and the processes used for each camera, including the film types.

35 mm (small format) –

The 35 mm ( 24 mm x 36 mm ) film is the most commonly used film for still life chemical photography and motion pictures.

It was created by Osker Barnack when he doubled the usual cinema format ( 24 mm x 18 mm ).

There are usually 12, 24 or 36 exposures in each film roll depending on what one you choose.

Some examples of 35 mm films are listed below;

Ilford FP4 35
Ilford HP5 35
Fuji Fujicolour C200 35
Kodak T-Max 100 35
Cinestill 800 ISO 800t Tungsten Xpro 35

120 mm (medium format) –

120 mm film is popularly and widely used for still photography, and was introduced in 1901 by Kodak.

This type of film was originally held on a wooden spool with metal flanges, then progressed to all metal. It is now made fully from plastic.

The length of film is between 30 inches and 33 inches.

Some examples of 120 mm film is listed below;

Fujifilm PRO 400H 120
Ilford FP4 Plus 120
Fujifilm Fujichrome Provia 100f 120
Ilford XP2 Super 120
Ilford Delta 400 Pro 120
Ilford Pan F Plus 120

Large Format –

These types of cameras are some of the earliest devices used to take photographs.

Large format film is anything above 4 x 5 inches (102 mm x 127 mm).

In the 1930s to 1950s, the most common size of large format film was 4 x 5 inches.

Large format film takes a longer time to use as film loading and unloading must be done in a dark space. This is usually done in a darkroom or changing bag.

Large format was widely used in press photography.

Some examples of large format films are listed below;