My HN2 Year Blog

Envirnomental Photography

The Brief:

THE ART OF CAPTURING THE WORLD:

Capture 3 urban images of a town or city illustrating the new world we live in during the current global pandemic.

My interpretation of Environmental photography and this brief is to capture an image incorporating a landscape or place with people but not focusing on the people as a portrait but more the whole image telling a story of our current climate and how it has affected people and their surroundings as they get on with their daily lives whilst adjusting and adhering to current guidelines.

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PLANNING:

Research and evaluate 2 images that interperet environmental photography. I will research using the internet via various broadsheet newspaper publications, Photography sites to acquire my images for evaluation. After some research I have opted for the following images as I feel they depict the environmental theme whilst fitting in with the brief of how a town and its people are dealing with the current pandemic.

My first image is not so much about the people visually but has a great deal to do with them and the fact that they are at home during lockdown and not out in the city, This is also due to the fact that tourists are not traveling therefor no boats are on the river. Normally this is a bussling river where tourists are the main source of income and also play a big factor in the poluted state of the citys river, The photographer has captured a deserted river and managed to portray how beautiful this part of the city and the river actually is. Due to the current pandemic we are actually seeing how the over populated poluted cities without all the people and traffic are becoming beautiful and vibrant and very picturesque.

The photographer is telling us how we are slowly destroying our cities and how beautiful they actually are, He is also telling us that polution is everywhere and it takes something like this pandemic to show us how unhealthy some of our cities actually are, If this is what it is like with clean air and no oil or engines constantly on the river 24hrs a day after a few months then we need to seriously think about what we are doing to ourselves and the enviroment. As a society we are responsible to some extent for our surroundings and yes there are livelyhoods to think about but surely this has shown us how we need to be more socially aware and enjoy our surroundings.

The photographer that captured the image below is sending out a similar messaage, Whilst he has captured someone working from home out on their balcony, The fact they can cleary see the eifel tower and further views accross the city so cleary, Views that they probably don't get very often due to the hustle and bustle of city life, Traffic, Industries, etc.

My plan is to go to Edinburgh and try to capture similar style images from various vantage points within the city, I think that this will be dependant on weather conditions so I will monitor weather apps to make sure I have best chance of capturing my planned shots.

Equipment:

Fujifilm XT30 and 85mm will take tripod but as 85mm is 1.8 and I can still get good captures with a higher ISO I will probably look at taking night time shots hand held.

Weather:

Forecast for the day was dry all day with some sunny spells.

Change of Plan:

After much deliberation I decided to go for another theme as I felt trying to capture similar images to that of my research would not do the brief justice. I have therefore tried to portray how the current pandemic is making us even more individual and anti-social as people, and the fact that people in the most part are adhering to the measures that have been put in place to try and combat it. I also want to show how businesses are being affected and wonder how long they can sustain their business with the current foot flow that they are currently getting.

Contact Sheet:

Below are some of the images captured that I feel best suit the brief and my amended plan.

From the above images I have selected 3 that I feel portray the current pandemic within the city and the effect it is having on local businesses and the city as a whole, Some are thriving whilst others are struggling to make ends meet.

This is an a prime example of the social measures that are in place all over the city and whilst open and trying to entice customers to what is an all year round tourist hot spot there are very few tourists visiting the world renowned attraction.

My second image is also showing the effect that the pandemic is having on the much relied tourists, A city bus tour which on any normal day throughout the year would be packed full.

A city restuarant which would normally be full at this time of night and have numerous staff on duty is very quiet and has very little staff.

Is this pandemic making us even more anti social?

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Advanced Image Editing:

Projects: Accent colour

Using colour palettes in photography, Using accent colours e.g. red

Using a limited colour palettes gives a stronger result as well as emphasising an accent colour such as red.

The TASK:

Capture 3 Images outdoors with RED as the accent colour

Using a limited colour palettes gives a stronger result as well as emphasising an accent colour such as redcolour palette - How will you draw emphasis to the colour red - Consider composition

Went out and about in the city trying to capture some images as per task, I have added a slideshow of the first captures, These are all SOC and I will edit and show before and after images. I will capture more images before deciding on my final 3.

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From the above slideshow I have narrowed it down to my final captures, After some editing to said images to show both complimentary / harmonious colour schemes I feel that I have managed to emphasise the colour RED to the viewer.

The image above I feel demonstrates warm HARMONIOUS COLOURS whilst the image below is more COMPLIMENTARY COLOURS

To complete the task the image below is again complimentary colours.

I have added another two images which I feel sits within the required brief.

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Environment Brief: Heavy weather

Bad weather will mean different things to different people, We have been tasked with capturing four images depicting the "moody and dramatic weather of Scotland" for a National Trust for Scotland Calendar which will be sold to raise funds to help protect Scotlands Heritage.