Winter - The final image

The image below is my final photograph for the second colour studies assignment. For me this image evokes the feeling of winter despite the fact that it was taken on a bright sunny day. The high concentration of blue in this image meant that the Ir process in photoshop was much more effective.

f/32.0 0.4 ISO 100

Infrared conversion in photoshop - the process

Image opened in photoshop and a layer created...

Layer duplicated and inverted, layer changed to colour...

New adjustment layer added - channel mixer and  red and blue adjusted in the red output channel, red should be lower than blue...

Adjustments made to red and blue in the blue output channel, this time red should be higher and blue lower in value...

Saturation adjustment layer added and reds adjusted...

Finally, cooling filter added (This final stage not used in all images)

The final product.

My infrared - pre final images

All the images below have gone through the same infra red conversion process in Photoshop CS5.

f/8.0 35.0 ISO 200

The above image was taken at night, the slow shutter speed has allowed for some movement in the clouds.

f/14.0 35.0 ISO 200

This image was also taken during the night, the white snow like particles are fake snow made with sodium polyacrylate (see earlier post).

f/4.5 1/50 ISO 100

This image was taken on a clear day, the deep blues in the sky help to create a more credible looking fake IR image.

f/4.2 1/800 ISO 100

This image was also taken in bright daylight, the blue on the ground is the reflection of the sky which during the processing has become over saturated. 

f/11.0 30.0 ISO 100

This image was take at dusk and hasn't really well at all, the tree in the that is set away from the others on the left of the image was very yellow in colour and posed some problems during the post processing.

Winter = White

Below are several screen shots of what come ups in a google images search when you type in the following search strings;

Winter in paintings

Winter in photography

Winter

My reasoning behind showing these screen shots is to show the predominance of the colour white in winter imagery. This dominance of white when it cones to winter images has reinforced my decision to use an infrared conversion process to create my final image for my second colour studies assignment.

Winter

After some initial and difficult research on winter,  (difficult because it is not winter and I am trying to think outside the box on how to produce a winter feeling without showing anything that is actually wintry...) I have decided to go with an infrared effect. This is a type of photography that I have seen before but not experimented in. I do not own an infrared camera and I do not have the time required to get a camera converted, I am therefore going to try to reproduce this effect in photoshop.
 
What is infrared photography?

http://www.crhfoto.co.uk/crh/digital%20infra-red/digital-ir.htm

For me the colour I associate most with winter is white, for the obvious reason of snow but also because for me white can be a cold colour when used in contrast with dark colours. I know white can be percieved as hot (white hot for example) but for me it is a cold colour. Infra red photography (or conversion through photoshop in my case) produces images that have a distinct wintry feel, even when the images are far from a wintry setting.

Examples Of IR Photography

http://www.rbfotografia.com.br/Bruna/natureza/content/B6_large.html

http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=41012

http://www.pbase.com/allonkira/image/114808703

http://www.instantshift.com/2010/01/20/99-brilliant-examples-of-infrared-photography/

http://www.infraredphoto.eu/Site/Welcome.html

Winter research photographs

Below are some winter images that I have found to be a bit different from the normal wintry wonderland images that I have also found.The use of subject, colour, contrast, reflection (image 1) lighting (images 2 & 3) have created images that are immediately recognisable as winter related.

http://www.cherrybam.com/winter-photography-graphics.php

http://www.cherrybam.com/winter-photography-graphics.php

http://www.cherrybam.com/winter-photography-graphics.php

Although I find all of the images above visually appealing and depictive of winter, I am going to aim to use an image that is not directly linked to winter like these christmas images, it is my hope to create an image that gives the impression of winter - but isn't!

Sodium polyacrylate

Sodium polyacrylate [-CH₂-CH(COONa)-]_{n is a "super absorbant" polymer which can absorb 200-300 times it's own weight in water. This substance is found in babies nappies and through my research I have found can be used to create fake snow. On purchasing some nappies, I proceeded to remove the sodium polyacrylate from approximately 10 of them, put them in a bucket, then added water, the result is shown below!}

_{I will experiment with this technique as a possible use for my colour studies assignment.} 

Colour studies Assignment 2 - Research, Brainstorm

Colour Studies Assignment 2 - Research; 10 Signs that winter is coming - from the Guardian website

This is an article that I found on the Guardian newspaper website. I found this very inspiring as it led me to think of winter outside of the box with regards to my final image. 

10 signs that winter is coming

From thick tights to house-mice and rows about the radiators

• 
• • Laura Barnett
  • guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 September 2010 20.00 BST
  • larger | smaller


The umbrellas are already out, but they're useless if it's windy. Photograph: Rex Features
1 Women in tights
Legs that, just a week ago, were bronzed and bare – or pale and goose-pimpled – are disappearing, swathed in 40-denier opaques. But look on the bright side: tights are a godsend if, like me, you needed weeks to pluck up the courage to get your legs out in the first place.

2 Rows over whether it's too early to put the heating on
He's feeling the chill, so reaches for the thermostat; she points out that he's only wearing a T-shirt.

3 Umbrellas
Oh, for the gaily striped beach parasol under which you sipped piña coladas from coconuts just one short month ago! Now, you need a portable shelter from the ravages of rain and wind: though a combination of the two, particularly prevalent right now, renders the flimsy thing totally useless.

4 Putting away your summer clothes
Farewell the playsuits and spaghetti-strap maxidresses of summer. All hail the mothballed cardigans and bobbly jumpers of winter.

5 Loads of good stuff on the telly
Mad Men, This is England '86, The Inbetweeners, a fab new period drama on ITV with Maggie Smith: now there are plenty of reasons to scurry straight home from work.

6 Comfort food
Salads, shmalads: suddenly you have a craving for something hot, satisfying and probably heart-stoppingly calorific. At least you don't have to put your swimsuit back on for another year.

7 Locking the door to your garden and realising you probably won't open it again for six months
The green-fingered may shudder, but the rest of us have found that sausage dog-shaped draught excluder and welded it to the bottom of the back door.

8 The reappearance of boots, and the disappearance of sandals
No more will your gold-painted toenails peep out fetchingly from your gladiators: it's time for the return of the knee-high boot. Or the ankle boot, or the open-toed shoe-boot (shoot?).

9 Putting the sun cream to the back of the cupboard
Away with you, half-empty bottle of Ambre Solaire Factor 30, with your smell of sunshine and freedom, to gather dust behind the mouthwash and Bonjela.

10 The influx of wildlife into your home
One minute you're swatting summer wasps, the next you're doing battle with an invasion of house-mice, spiders and other creepy-crawlies. Call in pest control, or take pity on them for just trying to keep warm: the choice is yours.

• © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Colour Studies Assignment 2 - Research

Seasons

Winter

Creating a winter themed landscape in Autumn is not the easiest of tasks to do, so I decided to get peoples views on Winter as a place for me to maybe get some ideas I maybe hadn't thought about. Below is the post and subsequent answers that followed.

Colour Studies Assignment 1 - Re-Shoots

After presenting our images to our groups, most had the desired effect of representing my chosen keywords to the group. Those that didn't, I re-shot along with those that I felt could have represented the keywords better. 

_____________________________________________________________________

"Light" f/10 2.0  ISO 100

I decided for the keyword "light" to change the subject of my image and aim for a  more literal interpretation of "light" that fills the criteria for my colour swatch also. This image is of the Imperial Chinese Arch (the largest Imperial Arch outside of China) at the entrance to Liverpool's Chinatown area. I chose to use this image because I feel it shows how light can change the appearance of a subject, provide emphasis and draw attention - in this instance, the light illuminating the arch is a purple hue, but it changes cyclically throughout the evening.

"Decay" f/5.6 1/250 ISO 100

For this representation of the keyword "decay" my subject remains the same as before, this time I decided to shoot further from the drainpipe in order to create a more interesting shot. I remained focused on the same particular area of decay (the red area centrally) as I felt this was a point from which the eye could be drawn out along the drainpipe in both directions, making the extent of the decay more visible, therefore emphasising the keyword. 

"Shape" f/5.6 1/60 ISO 200

For the keyword "shape" I decided to this time shoot closer to the air brick. I feel that by doing this, the photograph took on a more three dimensional feel due to the central focus and various shapes created by the vent and it's shadows.

"Vibrant"f/5.6 1/160 ISO 320

I did not re-shoot for this image, instead opting to take it into photoshop and spot colour one individual flower in the image as I feel that this draws more attention to the vibrancy of the flower. 

"Reflection" f/16.0 30.0 ISO 100

With this image I was simply trying to create a more obvious representation of the keyword whilst also intriguing the viewer... So I decided to opt for a different subject and a different perspective.

"Industrial" f/20.0 10.0 ISO 200

With this shot I feel that getting closer to Rocksavage and shooting at night emphasises the keyword more clearly. The defining features are more evident, although I feel that with this image the impact of the power plant on the surrounding landscape is lost.

Research... Websites used for colour studies assignment 1

1. Austin Crews. (2008). Communicating Through Photography. Available: http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Papers/App_Papers/Crews.html. Last accessed 7th October 2011. 
2. Michael Reichmann. (2001). Colour Theory as Applied to Landscape Photography. Available: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/colour_theory.shtml. Last accessed 7th October 2011. 
3. Wayne Turner. (Unknown year of publication). Colour and Photography. Available: http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/colour-and-photography/. Last accessed 7th October 2011. 

Research/brainstorm for colour studies assignment 1

Colour Studies Assignment 1

This assignment seemed a little bit daunting at first, which when I think about it now, to be daunted by this task makes no sense...Everything we see around us can be categorised in some way or another so to take a picture of something in a given category shouldn't be that difficult (in theory!)
 I thought it would be too easy to go out, take photographs - then find a keyword to match them, so from my research and planning beforehand I decided on;

1. Industrial - My own selection.
2. Decay - My own selection
3. Light - From the given list
4. Natural - From the given list
5. Texture - From the given list
6. Vibrant - From the given list
7. Shape - From the given list
8. Reflection - This keyword I was given along with my colour swatch

Colour swatch 

Prior to going out and taking my photographs I hadn't decided which keywords would relate to my colour.

The final 8 photographs
 

"Industrial" f/8 1/1600 ISO 100

This image is of Rocksavage power plant, Cheshire, taken from Frodsham hill, Cheshire. I felt that this image epitomized the keyword "industrial" for me. It is an imposing feature on the landscape and cannot be missed. I felt that taking the image in landscape rather than close up and incorporating some of the surrounding scenery into it, would allow me to demonstrate the imposing nature of the power plant on the surrounding area. My group did not recognise this as industrial therefore I will re-shoot this to emphasise the keyword. My plan is to shoot a close up shot, possibly at night to create more of an impact.

 "Light" f/10.0 1/80 ISO 100

 

When deciding on an image to go with my keyword "light", this was not my initial choice of picture, this kind of just happened upon me when I noticed my partners long shadow on the floor. His shadow contrasted well with the floor and without the light the shadow would not have been possible. I kept the bottom half of the subjects legs in as I felt it gave the image some perspective - without them I thought it resembled a chalk outline of a body. My groups first instinct with this image was that the keyword was shadow, I will therefore re-shoot an image for this keyword possibly usin a more literal image to represent the keyword.

"Decay" f/5.3 1/30 ISO 100

When I chose the keyword "decay" I felt it had a lot of scope to it as it is an inescapable part of life. It surrounds us and is an inevitable part of life. I felt that in this drainpipe the colours contrasted well - the red paint beneath the green paint evidence of where someone has tried, to no avail to hide/mask the decay. This image represented my keyword to the group and was correctly named, I have decided though to reshoot this image to try and emphasise the word even more whilst creating a more aesthetically pleasing shot.

"Nature" f/5.6 1/125 ISO 320

I chose to take a picture of this lavender because it was a colour that was on my swatch and it suited my chosen keyword. The bee was a coincidence, I noticed it had landed on the bush and decided that as a part of the photograph the symbiotic relationship between plant and bee would drive home the keyword "nature". This shot effectively denoted the keyword to my group when presented to them.

"Reflection" f/2.0 1/13 ISO 250

I chose to contrive this image to portray the keyword "Reflection". I wanted to convey the keyword in it's simplest form and chose to use the flowers because of their bright colour. When presented with this image it took my group a moment to get the correct keyword, as the mirror in the image is not instantly recogniseable, the inital thoughts by the group where that this image represented natural. I will re-shoot this image, unfortunateley the flowers in it are now dead, so I will chose another subject, this time trying to make the keyword more obvious within the frame.

"Shape" f/5.6 1/30 ISO 100

This air vent  on the side of my house was a perfect example for my chosen keyword "shape" and also part of my colour swatch. I feel the squares and the triangular shadows formed within the vent sum up the keyword.My group correctly identified this keyword although I have decided to re-shoot the image anyway, this time aiming to get a closer shot.

"Texture" f/5.6 1/80 ISO 320

I felt the coarseness of these bricks stood out enough to give a visual of the keyword "texture".  Getting in close allowed me to capture the rough face of the brick. My group instantly identified this image as texture.

" Vibrant" f/5.6 1/160 ISO 320

For me this flower sums up the word "vibrant". While I know it can be ambiguous to the viewer (during presentation initial thought about keyword from my peers was "nature"), this hydrangea stood out to me because of it's vibrance - it contrasted beautifully amidst the darker autumnal colours surrounding it. The hue of this was also close to that of the colours on my given swatch. The initial guess by my group for the keyword for this image was "natural" although it was closely followed by the correct keyword. I will re-shoot this image to try and emphasise the keyword more.