Photography Project Evaluation

For this photography project I was task to create a media product which include at least ten individual photos which I must take.

The task was simple so I researched different options for my photos I thought I could do a series of advertising posters, I looked at the option of creating a holiday brochure and then I thought of doing a calendar. After researching and thinking of the options I elected to create a calendar.

Now that I had my requirement I just had to find the type of things I would be photographing, I considered doing food as food calendars are very poplar at the moment, I even took some photos of sweet food such as cookies and cakes. The photos I took didn’t look great, the idea then came to me to create a beverage theme calendar filled with lots of different types of drinks, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, still, fizzy, and many more.

I used three different means of photography in this project I used my iPhone 3 as mobile phone photos are becoming increasingly more used in media and they’re becoming increasing more detailed, I also used my Nikon D3200 DSLR as it’s a very professional camera with many different feature and the ability to capture amazing detail, the other camera I used was my Pentax K1000 SLR, I used this camera with black and white film which I then developed myself and had the negatives scanned into the computer.

When I was editing my photos I learnt a lot of new techniques in photoshop, as I wasn’t familiar with photoshop when I started the techniques that I learned proved to be very useful. However looking back at my photographs now they seem very basic and if I had more time on this project or if I were to do it again I would probably use more advanced photoshop skills with which I would only change my photos slightly as I considered my photos to be very ‘pop-art’ like and I would like to try making my photos so much better with the challenge of hardly changing them.

Legal and Ethical Issues

There are no ethical issues for this project, however there are legal issues as I have taken photographs of branded products without permission from the brands owners.

I haven’t violated any laws of purchasing alcohol under age as the alcohol that I photographed was already bought by my adult parents.

Photography Unit Resources

Beverages

• Diet Coke Bottles
• Diet Coke Cans
• Apple Juice Bottles
• Aspall Cider Bottle
• Budweiser Bottle
• Innocent Smoothie Bottle
• Koppaberg Bottle

 

Cameras

• Nikon D3200 DSLR
• Pentax K1000 SLR
• iPhone 3Gs

 

Software

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Bridge

 

Computers

• iMac
• MacBook Laptop

 

Miscellaneous

• A white drawing board (used as a stand)

Calendar

        

Edited photos

When editing these select photos I tried a range of different photoshop options from the basic presets, to the black and white, I also experimented with some adjustment options by changing things like the levels, vibrance, contrast, saturation and  exposure. (There are some screenshots of my editing below.)

Photoshots

This gallery of photos holds two photo shoots that I have done for my calendar project which is centred around the concept of beverages, as you can see I have used a range of different beverage types from; alcoholic, to still, as well as some fizzy drinks. For these shoots I used a variety of photographing methods, my iPhone 3, my Nikon D3200 DigitalSLR, and my Pentax K1000 SLR.

My favourite photo is the black and white Koppaberg bottle, I took this photo using my Pentax K1000 using black and white film. I like the way the light bounces off the neck of the bottle drawing the eye to the highly defined label, this photo also has the film grain effect which I love and there are also a few perfectly positioned circle developer droplets in the top right corner’s negative space.

Photoshoot Moodboard

Health and Safety

There was no health and safety issues during my photo-shots as I was not shooting in any dangerous areas, using or near any dangerous objects.

However as a precaution I had emergency medical supply nearby as well as a phone so I could call for help.

Photo shoot plan

I’m going to do a calendar I will need a unique photo for each month but on some months I may include more photos as thumbnails to have at the side, I will also have a front cover photograph for the calendar either a collective photograph of all the props grouped together or just another excellent unique photograph, but no matter which one I want the  front cover photograph to engage the consumer so that at the slightest glimpse at the very least they take the time to get a more detailed look at the calendar.

The theme of my calendar will be beverages; wines, beer, ciders, juices, smoothies. I will be taking the photographs with both compact digital and traditional SLR film cameras so that I can select the best looking photos to have as my final photos in the calendar. I will be taking the photos in a make shift photo studio so that the light can capture the bottle, can, glass well and also so that I could edit in an alternative background which would be difficult or impossible to get without the use of photoshop. Other than that I will be taking photos on location outside, inside, in the rain to give a more seasonal feel to the layout of the calendar.

I will be taking close-up and mid-length portrait photographs so that the entire prop is visible in the photograph. With the digital photograph I will be doing some edits on photoshop to improve them or just to have a special effects versions (like the coke can that I embossed in my product research) in the corner of that months page. The traditional film will not be edited as I think that traditional film photographs have a better more real look and feel to them with the tonal range, the dust, spots and imperfections caused by the development, however as i will only see these photos when they are developed and scanned in the computer I will not know if they are good which is why I will need to take lots more pictures with film to make sure they are good.

With thirteen final pictures needed at a minimum, I will need to design pages to fit with the beverage choice for that month so I know if I need more photographs, I will need to take around five pictures per type shot for the traditional shoots and I will probably  take around ten to fifteen shoots with the digital. That does also mean once I’ve decided on which beverage goes with which month and weather thumbnails at the sides are needed I can then decided which ones are to be taken just traditional, just digital or a bit of both.

Drinks I’m going to use:

• Stella – bottle
• Budweiser – bottle
• Apple juice – with a glass
• Diet coke – can
• Tea cup and saucer (rain)
• Koppaberg – bottle
• Aspall – bottle
• Innocent smoothie – small bottle
• Espesso
• Mulled wine – bottle
• Any red wine bottle readily avalible
• Any white wine bottle readily avlible 
• Grouped photo – large at back small at front

Locations I’m going to use:

• Fake paper makeshift studio in bedroom
• Backgarden – as I can have the current morning frost be useful for the winter month of the calendar, and I can have a rainning version aswell.
• Dinning room – makes it seem more homely and the wooden table gives a good background for a bottle or glass.
• Living room – fire going with two chairs a table inbetween with a bottle of something in the centre frame, two people with limp hands touching so you get a lining effect to focous your atention on the bottle.

Tools needed:

• paper
• cellotape
• photoshop
• digital camera
• SD card
• SLR
• film rolls
• flash

Product Test Shots Edited

As I liked this photogrhaph so much and as tradtional photographs are extremly difficult to edit I left it pure as it was the day i developed it and I think it’s the best out of all my test shots.

I edited this coke can be reducing the noise, sharpening the edges, and embossed it in what I thought look like a cool stylish 60’s pop art type style.

With the “BIG PEAT” photo I did the standard – reduced the noise and sharpened it, I then gave it a brush stroked accented edge so it looked smoother and had a reduced glare from the light, I also think I’ve increased the focus on it making the photograph amazingly clearer then it ust to be.