Pictures/websites/Canberra photographers I admire

Allura Maison of Amorosa Dezignz

http://www.amorosadezignz.net/

This is a picture of me taken by Allura Maison of Amorosa Dezignz. Allura is a very creative person and she is awesome to work with. I like her style of photography and editing. There is a lot of colour used in her photos and they are always beautiful and happy! She has a lot of cool concepts!


Matt Maguire of Matt Maguire Photography


http://www.mattmaguirephotography.com/index.htm

Of course i was going to put my dad in there, after all, he was the one that got me into photography in the first place! Matt Maguire is a landscape photographer who has been almost everywhere, taking his camera with him! What i admire about his photos are that they are hardly photoshopped, only to brighten, darken or sharpen.



Emily of ESH Photography


http://www.eshphotography.com.au/ 




I really like her portrait style, they are simple, but so effective. I didn't want to copy her photos because i don't really know her personally and cant ask her permission, but check out her website and see for yourself. They are just naturally nice photos!

My Self-Portrait & Artist Statement

Artist statement

I am a relatively creative person but I find it difficult expressing myself in words and also defining my artwork. But this is sometimes a good thing, as I have a chance to really think about why I created the pieces I did.

I would like to think that the pieces I am creating are a little bit random. This is because I am little bit random and out there! Photography is my way of expressing myself and finding out more about current issues and the world around me, and with a better understanding it helps me to work with different people and people I would not normally work with. I never set out to take photos, it’s always unplanned or spur of the moment, it’s just the way I roll.

I am going to create a self-portrait, taking just a few things out of my life and putting them into a picture. I have such a passion for dance and have made life long friends from it. Friends will be in my self-portrait because they are part of me. I also adore fashion (Such a surprise I know), in particular, dresses. I just love the detail and fabrics. I know I am probably boring you with the things I like but its necessary!

I take a lot of photos and sometimes they don’t turn out the way I wanted them to, that’s why I love Photoshop. I can brighten a photo that was before, too dark and I can sharpen photos that would have previously been blurry. Although, I try not to use it too much, as I prefer natural, just as they were taken kind of photos.

I read quite a few fashion magazines and I feel that I get inspirations from their pages. Joon Brandt is also one, I love high-end fashion shoots! Allura Maison, She is a local Canberra based photographer with a lot of style and she has a lot of awesome concepts. The last, being my dad, Matt Maguire, he is a photographer and he was the one that told me to pick up a camera and start snapping in the first place. He is one cool guy and knows how to take a good photo.

Marco Palmero Analysis

'Superhero Portrait'

Marco Palmero is the name of the artist who created this digital self-portrait. Marco is a Sydney photographer who specialises in executive portraiture.

I don’t really know much about this artist but I saw the photo and I though ‘wouldn’t we all like to be superman’! I just though it was just a really cool photo. I know it has been done before, but in a business suit? I think not!

In this photo the man (late 20’s early 30’s) seems to be looking up into the sky as if he were superman. He is wearing glasses (maybe to look more like a business man) and he is wearing a black suit with a white shirt and striped tie. He looks like just your average guy in a suit by day, and just your average superhero by night! He is also wearing a superman outfit under his clothes (Photoshopped in) and he is ripping the suit open to expose his superhero-ness! He may be showing a message here…are we all superheroes? Is everyone a superhero?

Marco is in the centre of the photo, which has a black background (in a studio) as to not take away any attention from the subject.

Andy Warhol Analysis

'Shocked Hair'

This picture creeps me out a little bit, but at the same time it is pretty cool because it is so simple, yet so effective.

This self-portrait was created in 1986, part of the ‘Pop art’ collection by Warhol, a year before his death. I am not sure what inspired him to have his hair the way he did. He was obviously very out there. I guess it was just part of his abstract nature. He used the ‘Silk-screen process’ to mass-produce his artworks.

There is not too much detail to this self-portrait, what I mean to say is that they are just basic images that have been edited. In the first photo in the top left corner, Warhol has a blank expression on his face and is looking straight into the camera (as he does in all four). He is placed right smack-bang in the centre (As he does in all four) and his hair is not as visible.

In the second, he looks almost scary, but I think it is the hair that gives that impression. In this on, his mouth is slightly open and his hair is more visible.

The third is similar to the first, very little expression. Although, his mouth is open slightly, his right eyebrow is raised ever so slightly and his hair is less visible.

In the forth one, Warhol looks sad or a little bit disappointed, his eyes are not as defined and the hair is more visible.

I think the first image and the third image are slightly the same and the second image and the forth image are the same, which is weird because the top two photos are connected and it is the same with the bottom two…

In this image Warhol has used only two colours, pink and yellow. He has created a multi-image portrait.

Assignment - Cindy Sherman Photo Analysis

Cindy Sherman Self Portrait

This photo is one of Sherman’s most famous pieces in the ‘Untitled film stills’ collection. It is number 14 in the collection and was created in 1978. So the 20^th century.

The inspiration to do this collection was from old B movies and she created over 100 images.

I really like this photo, it has a bit of an Audrey Hepburn feel to it, which is why I chose to analyse this photo, as I am a Hepburn fan.  

In this photo, there is a young woman, possibly in her 20’s, very pretty with lots of style and flair, wearing the style of that era, a white blouse and a dark patterned jacket or blazer. She is also wearing what looks to be a straw textured hat.

The photo has a very simple background of two building as to not take any focus away from the woman. She looks as though she is looking in the opposite directions of the sun because there is a shadow in the right side of her face and the other side of her face is illuminated by the sun.

The woman is just slightly off-centre but she is the obvious attention too the viewer. She is in a city, in America I presume.

List of Interests/Hobbies :)

I like a lot of things really, although im not to keen on brussel sprouts...

Some of the things i like/am interested in are:

• Dancing

• Spanish

• Photography (obviously..)

• Teaching Zumba!

• Assisting photographers on shoots

• SLR cameras

• Summer

• Fashion

I would like to say i am a pretty down to earth bubbly kinda girl. I love summer and the beach and would love to do some travelling after college :)

Assignment!

“So what does the ‘self’ in self-portrait actually mean?  Historically the self portrait (specifically the painted self portrait) has been understood as a representation of emotions, an outward expression of inner feelings penetrating self-analysis and self-contemplation that might bestow an immortality of sorts on the artist.”

Susan Bright, Uncanny Likeness: Photographers Photographing Themselves, 2010

In this project you are to explore the concept of self portraiture in digital art. Use the image capture and manipulation skills you have gained throughout the session to create a single self portrait that tells the viewer something about you.

You may use images from a number of sources: old photographs both digital and printed, drawings/artwork that you have created, stock photographs etc.  You may use your own cameras to capture new images also if you wish.

Process:         

1. Find out a little more about self portraiture in the digital realm. Find a minimum of three artists who have created digital self portraits.  Analyse at least one image from each using the guide given to you earlier in the session.

2. Think about your work.  What would you want a viewer to think when they see your self portrait?  What do you want them to find out about you?  Write a list of things about yourself if it helps- your interests, hobbies, words that you would use to describe yourself etc.

3. Begin capturing, processing, manipulating and laying out your work.  Be creative!  Make use of all the skills and techniques you have learned throughout the session to create your work.  Your final piece should be 8x10 inches in size and 300ppi- set this up first in Photoshop before you begin.

4. Complete an artist’s statement of one typed 12pt A4 page documenting your ideas, references, inspirations and the techniques you used.

5. Print your image on A4 paper using the laser printer.

6. Submit a full resolution digital copy of your piece, 8x10 inches at 300ppi, the printed piece and your artists’ statement by 4pm, Wednesday week 8.

For submission:

You must submit the following for assessment by Wednesday week 8.

• A digital Photoshop file of your self portrait, 8x10 inches in size and 300ppi.
• A hard copy of your self portrait, printed on A4 paper on the laser printer.
• An artist’s statement of approximately one A4 page detailing your ideas and intent of your self portrait, printed.
• Research questions, further investigation and evaluations in your research workbook.

How to analyse a photo!

Observation	Knowledge	Interpretation
Describe exactly what you see in the photo What people and objects are shown? How are they arranged? What is the physical setting? What other details can you see?	Summarize what you already know about the situation and time period shown, and the people and objects that appear.	Say what you conclude from what you see. What's going on in the picture? Who are the people & what are they doing? What might be the function of the objects? What can we conclude about the time period?
Further Research What questions has the photo raised? What are some sources I can use to find answers?

Photo Restoration

Before

After

For this photo:

• I used the spot brush tool (quite a bit!)
• The patch tool (to get rid of lines through the image)
• The magnetic lasoo tool (to select the part of the image i wanted)
• Colour balance (to make the water/sky blue and trees and bushes green)
• The burn tool, to make the buildings look slightly darker
• Sharpening
• Brightened it

Before



After

For this photo:

• I used the spot healing brush tool (for blemishes, lines through the photo and dirt spots)
• I brightened it
• Sharpened it
• increased the contrast
• Blured the photo to try and reduce some of the grainy-ness
• Manetic lasoo tool to select the car and grass
• Then used the colour balence option to increase the colour of the car/grass

The rule of thirds

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is an imaginary tic-tac-toe board is drawn across an image to break it into nine equal squares. The four points where these lines intersect are strongest focal points. The lines themselves are the second strongest focal points. With the rule of thirds, it is best that you do not have the main point of focus inside any of the squares.

As you can see in this photo, the line is cutting through the sun and the horison is just under one of the lines.

Recent Photos

These are just some photo's i have taken/edited recently.

The first picture is the before picture (obviously) and the second photo is the after.

So for this picture, I:
Changed the 'Temperature' to -27
Changed the 'Tint' to +9
Changed the 'Exposure' to -0.90
Changed the 'Black clipping' to +45
'Sharpening' +112
'Luminance Smoothing' to +45

* I used Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for this edit.

Irina Werning's Back to the Future project

Food for thought!

"I love old photos. I admit being a nosey photographer. As soon as I step into someone else’s house, I start sniffing for them. Most of us are fascinated by their retro look but to me, it’s imagining how people would feel and look like if they were to reenact them today... A few months ago, I decided to actually do this. So, with my camera, I started inviting people to go back to their future".

South American photographer Irina Werning completed a personal project last year titled 'Back to the Future', in which she had her friends pose for recreations of photographs from her childhood. 

How do you think she managed to recreate not only the poses and settings, but the visual nature of the recreated photographs- the colour balance, softness, tone etc?

Irina is a very talented photographer indeed! It takes a lot of skill to recreate photos to the quality that she has achieved. I dont think it would have been to difficult to recreate poses, i mean, she had the photo to show the model and they could try their best interpretation of it, and if it was not exact, she could help them to achieve the look better. 

I really have no idea how she could have possibly taken the photos in the same spot, this really amazed me! What if there were totally random people living in the house?! I am really surprised at this.

Another thing that is hard to explain is the visual nature of the recreated photos. She must be a pro on photoshop! I mean, i know the tools to use,  but how she got it down perfectly is unbelievable. 

                                            LUCIA IN 1956 & 2010, Buenos Aires

                                                 MECHI IN 1990 & 2010, Buenos Aires





                                                             FLOR IN 1975 & 2010, Buenos Aires