My Final 5 Photographs

My theme is "Childhood"
I chose this theme as I feel that there are many different aspects of childhood, some of which are more relevant today than they ever were, and some which are becoming less and less relevant. My aim was to portray this, and to also show some of the emotions that children can feel.

 I took this photo with the idea of portraying how children nowadays are often fixated by technology and tend to ignore books and other typical previous childhood activities. I darkened the image slightly in order to bring out the bright light coming from the phone. My inspiration for the photograph is the idea that children nowadays spend more time in front of mobile phones and screens than they do reading books. This is why the phone is in focus and the books are out of focus in the background. I darkened the image to bring out the reflecting light on the girl's face and I did this to make the books seem less important compared to the phone- reflecting the views of children today.

I took this photo with the idea of showing that although children do spend a large amount of time on screens, many still like to read. I continued with the idea of soft focusing. In this image the girl is in focus and the book is slightly out of focus. I did this to portray the idea that the girl needs to focus on the book and I left the book slightly out of focus to draw the viewer away from the contents of the book and bring them towards the main idea of the photograph which is that many children still read. I also blurred out the book slightly so it could be anything, leaving it open to the viewer's interpretation.

 I took this photo in an attempt to show the facial features and eyes of a child. I used the close up on this photograph to show emotion. I focused particularly on the eye and pushed the hair and ear slightly out of focus to attract attention to the facial features. In order to make the photo work I had to light the image correctly and I used two small lamps to ensure that the face was lit up as best as possible.

 I took this photo in strong light and then brought that saturation down far enough to achieve a darker shadow effect without making the photo black and white. I did this to give the photo a detached feeling and distance the girl from the viewer of the photo. I also darkened the photo slightly to bring out the darkness in the eyes and the shadows on the girl's shoulders and face.

This was taken on a small footbridge. I used the low down shot to show off the detail in the shoes and the wooden bridge. I saturated the photo slightly in order to bring out the colours in the shoes. I also cropped the image slightly to remove some of the out of focus water in the right of the image. I didn't use a tripod to take the photograph as it was taken too low down to accommodate a tripod. Instead I had to crouch down and take the photo from there.

Photographer- Bjorn Lofterud

Lofterud is Swedish photographer who specialises in simple but beautiful photography. Some of his best work is taken at dusk or at sunrise as he is especially good at manipulating sunlight and light levels in his photographs. Lofterud has a very wide portfolio ranging from food photography, to interior photography, to architecture. This is displayed on his website and his wide range of photographs means that he often works commerically for advertising companies and brands. His simplistic style allows for eye catching images with easy to understand messages and motifs. Still life is another area that he specialises in and his ability to capture basic items in a stylish and exciting manner.
I particularly admire Lofterud's ability to capture basic images in an interesting light and his ability to bring new meanings to seemingly boring objects.

Photographer-Timothy Hogan

Hogan is a commercial photographer based in Los Angeles, California. His particular talents lie in using lighting effectively and his craftsmanship style of composing a photograph. He has worked with a large array of advertising companies. He takes photos advertising and displaying fashion, beauty, design and beverage industries and is regularly hired due to his expertise and wide skill-set which allows him to adapt to the job at hand. Most of Hogan's images are retouched by his editing crew and this allows his brilliant lighting abilities to be furthered in order to develop the overall visual style of the image. As Hogan is a commercial photographer he does not have a specific type of photography that he specializes in. This makes his photography skills useful as he can be employed by anyone. Hogan is also known for his engineeristic style of composing his photographs. This ranges from changing backgrounds to improve lighting, to changing models as they do not fit with the composition. This allows his vision to be fully realised and gives him the ability to produce stunning photographs.
Hogan is one of my favourite photographers. This is due to his ability to play with colour and motion in his photography. This is particularly prominent in the two photographs above and I chose them as they are my favourite ones from Hogan's collections. 

Photographer- Nicholas Samaras

Samaras is recognised as one of the best underwater photographers of all time. In the early stages of his career he spent lots of his time competing in small competitions in Greece. Over time he began to win the competitions and his skill began to become recognised. Today he has won countless awards including The Greek National Underwater Photography Championship. Samaras photographs animals underwater but also the underwater caverns and plants that are found at the bottom of the seabed. Most of his photography is unedited as he believes that photos should be appreciated as the photographer saw them when they were first took. His work has been published in magazines and articles for National Geographic, Beyond Blue Web magazine and many others, showing his wide influence on the world of underwater photography. Samaras also photographs divers and athletes in the aquatic professions.
In my opinion Samaras is a brilliant photographer, his ability to capture underwater shadows and reflections is something that I admire greatly and the use of colour in his photography is stunning.

Photographer-Thomas Kettner

Thomas Kettner is a German photographer who is well known for his unique way of shooting fashion photography. One of his many techniques is to use vibrant backgrounds in order to make the fashion items and models "pop". Animals are frequently used in his compositions and he also uses underwater scenes regularly. Kettner photographs male and female fashion however his choice of different backgrounds is more noticeable in the female photography. The female photography displays lots of different models and different types of fashion. the photos also show a varied style of photography and lenses. This is unique and keeps the viewer interested in what the next photo will show. The male photography also uses different backgrounds to enhance the image. These vary from helicopters and busy city streets to elephants and bars. The use of camera techniques such as macro and manual focusing are evident and this helps to make the images more eye catching. Editing is also evident in most of the images taken. Some are black and white, some are deliberately over exposed to blur the background and others have been edited to increase the vibrancy of the colours in the photo.
Although I don't enjoy fashion photography that much, Kettner's ability to bring out facial features and his brilliant use of lighting is admirable. I particularly like the underwater shots he takes as he uses a varied colour palate which I think brings diversity to his photographs.

Photographer- Lyndon Wade

Lyndon Wade was born and raised in Kansas and experience his first break as a photographer at the age of 18. When he was 21 he set up a photography studio in Kansas with his brother. Lyndon Wade is well known for his over the top style of his photographs and ability to tell a story in either a single, or a set of photographs. Despite the visual flare of his photographs he tries not to spend lots of his time in editing software such Photoshop. Instead he attempts to make his photos up using props and lighting to minimize time spent in the editing process. Another technique he uses is taking lots of different photos and overlaying or merging them together to create a stronger visual impact. He has been hired by Pepsi, Sony, Virgin and many other companies to shoot marketing material for them or create advertising posters using his unique style of photography. The final thing that makes Wade stand out is that every item and object in his photography is there for a reason, nothing feels out of place in the composition of the photograph.
I really like Wade's style of photography. I think that his use of editing, although often over the top in my opinion, works extremely well and his artistic design shows in both images above. I particular like the lighting in the Superhumans photograph as it draws attention to the athletes.

Action Cameras

These types of cameras are becoming more and more popular as they come down in price. They are used to shoot action footage such as swimming or other sports like mountain biking. The affordability and simplicity of action cameras is making them a viable option for the casual user and brands such as GoPro and Contour allow high definition photos and videos to be taken in extreme conditions and climates. Action cameras will often come with mounts for handlebars and helmets and there is a wide array of accessories such as lenses and covers for the cameras to provide extra protection. Action cameras can be used for films in chase sequences but they can also be used to take photos in extreme conditions such as underwater or in a very cold climate. This makes them extremely versatile and the shock proof design of them makes them strong and therefore useful for children to use instead of a £500 DSLR camera. The waterproof, dustproof and shockproof attributes of these cameras make them a good option for those who want to capture their action packed lives either on film or in photographs and the compactness of their design makes them easy to carry around.

I think that action cameras are brilliant. As someone who partakes in mountain biking they are very useful for capturing fast paced action, and their ruggedness allows for more risks to be taken when filming. They can also be used for underwater shots and this diversity is why I think they are so great.