Best 20 Pictures

Top 40 Pictures

Overall Project Evaluation

We have now reached the end of this project and I have enjoyed every bit of it. At first, I wasn't too sure about how hard this was going to be, I thought the editing was going to be a real challenge but this has given me the chance to improve my Photoshop skills and allowed me to explore the different tools and effects I had never used before. I found this whole topic difficult at first as I found it hard to come up with different ideas and themes to look at during each one of my sessions. However, after doing my photographer research, I gathered some ideas and looked further into them. The best bits of this project was the editing - this is because it allowed me to experiment and see which effect or tool I could use to make my pictures look good. Personally, I think the liquify tool is one of my favourite as it gave me different results each time I used it. Overall, this project has been great and has taught me how to organise my photography and how to plan my sessions so that I could be prepared for them. I think working in the studio has been more beneficial than working on location as I can easily manipulate the lighting and backgrounds, whereas when out on location, I have to adapt my pictures to the lighting outside and find backgrounds that will be suitable for my pictures. If I could do this project again, I think I will explore a fairytale themed topic. This will allow me to use make up and props and manipulate my subjects even more.

Work Diary - Shoot Ten (Sandrine Estrade Boulet)

For this session, I decided to use the techniques that Boulet has portrayed in her work. I picked this because I really enjoy looking at her work and I thought it would be fun to use her methods. Instead of going out and finding objects, I have decided to concentrate on household objects; this is because I want to explore the different ways that I could make ordinary daily objects into exciting new creations. I found this session extremely fun, I enjoyed going around the house and thinking about what I could photograph and how I can manipulate them. The best bit going was the editing, I enjoyed adding eyes and mouths and think about the best ways to do this - it was fun to see the ordinary objects slowly turn into fun characters.

I really like this picture, I think it's cute and has a vintage look to it. I like how I gave the elephants a feature from a whale, this emphasises the whole childhood theme I was trying to achieve. I also like the way they are in a line, showing how they travel together.

Straight Images - Shoot Ten (Sandrine Estrade Boulet)

Photographer Research - Kassandra

Kassandra's work is strangely inspiring, she connects the human body and mind to the most random objects, however it may not all seem randomised as if you look deeply into her work you can find a story in the work. Each image has something in particular about it that sets a tone and mood from a sky full of stars to a plate of raspberries. 

In this image, your eyes are taken in by the stripes, the zebra stripes. However there is a red 'blob' or splash of red in the middle. If you look deeply into the image you will find a white tiger biting onto the zebras, the zebra on the left of the blood looks in pain and in horrific panic and shock, while the other zebras look as if nothing has happened or even paralysed. The strong red used brings out the image, because of the image being a monochrome, the red spreads out as if it was an illness.

In this image, the sunlight is shining directly on the lady, making her the main subject. She contrasts with the raspberry as she has a soft warm skin tone, therefore giving a weak contrast against the bold, strong raspberry.

This image shows a woman mixed into a zebra, a bit like the star sign Sagittarius, instead of a bow and arrow she is holding a book which seems to be a bible in my point of view. She is the main subject in the image as she has been placed in the centre and the white and black stripes of the zebra stand out of the image, contrasting with the green leaves. The greenery around the image represents peace and quiet and natural which is what you would associate the colour green with.

This image seems to attack you from the fact that there is a naked lady holding a huge ball. If you look deeply into the image you can see the blue being reflected off the ball is actually the colour you would associate jelly fishes with as they're inside the ball. The butterflies aren't butterflies but are actually moths being attracted to the light. The blue fades into the deep star-full sky but it seems that there is a sunrise or sunset from the orange in the background.

Overall, this photographer is great at using a mixture of colours to show contradiction and excitement in her pictures. The fact that so many colours are used makes it seem as if there is so much going on in each of her pictures, whereas the situations in each of her pictures are quite simple. The subjects in his pictures are all portrayed in a non-human way, they are portrayed as fairytale characters and this is done to go with the different colours as it emphasises the fairytale theme.

I have been influenced by this photographer as she takes people's dreams and turns them into photographs. The whole fairytale idea gives off a theme of imagination and childhood, this brings excitement and sometimes humour to her images.

This is one of my pictures that has been influenced by this photographer; I tried making my subject look abnormal and non-human. This is similar to the photographer as she likes to focus on manipulating her subjects so they look like creatures rather than human beings.

In summary, I like how this photographer uses her techniques to achieve similar targets with each one of her pictures. Her editing skills are very good as she shows every details of her 'creatures' and her backgrounds clearly.

Photographer Research - Katerina Plotnikova

What shocked me and others, is the fact that there is minimal or no photoshop involved in Katerina's work. With the help of professional animal trainers, she can take these dangerous pictures with exciting animal. These surreal photographs shows the close relationship between humans and animals, the calmness and soft touch of nature which is hidden away from our daily lives.

This image shows a bear, a wild, strong, very instinct based animals, which can be ferocious is actually holding a princess' hand. It almost seems as the bear is kissing her hand as if it was a prince. This image reminds me of the well known fairytale, beauty and the beast as you see the strong connection between a young, gentle lady and a wild animal. 

In this image, you would most likely see the snake as a cold hearted reptile who devours its preys alive. However, the photographer has shown the beauty of the pattern on the snake's scales contrasting against the human soft, clear skin and the ladies bright blue eyes. By choosing a subject with dark brown hair, Plotnikova can really show off the green, purple and white flowers on her hair making it seem a very peaceful image.

This image shows two sisters in my view as they look similar, the both have a hedgehog on them creating that twin or mirroring effect. They are both the main subject of the image, as they aren't blurred out like the background; they are focused in.

As shown in this image, this photographer is extremely good at contrasting the background with her main subjects. The dark, foggy background in this particular photograph is a mysterious element added to contrast with the subject's bright blue dress, contradicting the atmosphere it gives out. The background brings about a sense of danger and adventure, whereas the blue colour of the dress represents the calmness and peacefulness of the girl.

In conclusion, this photographer is amazing at showing contrast in a variety of ways in one photograph. She does this implicitly and explicitly; this makes the picture more exciting as it has hidden meanings and messages. Colour is a big element in her work as she uses this in different ways; to show contrast or to represent a feeling or emotion the subject is going through. She also uses colours that compliment each other in some of her pictures - this makes her work look brighter and much more attractive to her viewers. She uses the sun in some of her pictures to bring out these colours and further highlight the brightness of the images to her viewers. This also helps her make her subjects appear non-human and more like mystical 'creatures'.

Katerina has influenced me by using colours cleverly in each picture, I think this helps her to ensure her viewer focuses on what she wants them to focus on. This allows her to choose a complex scene to put her subjects in and still being able to force the viewer to focus on her subjects despite her chosen background. She also uses blurring techniques in order to blur the scene and leave her subjects sharp, once again, forcing the viewer to focus on her subjects and she prevents them from seeing the background. The degree of the blur differs as I looked through her work and this is a good way of showing the importance of her subject.

I took inspiration from this photographer in this image. I used the element of colour like Katerina to show contrast and the blurred background makes the viewer focus on the flower. Also, the flower is quite sharp so its details are very clear.

To summarise, this photographer is extremely talented when manipulating colours and using them in the best way possible. I love how she also uses colour to represent an emotion or to set a certain atmosphere for the viewer, highlighting specific themes and ideas. The details in her images are very sharp and she never fails to miss out anything, making sure she gives her viewers everything they could ever ask for when it comes to her work.