Malgorzata Bajek City of Glasgow College.

Still life is a unique genre of photography. One thing that makes it so special is that often the subjects aren’t very interesting. They’re just ordinary objects that you normally wouldn’t pay much attention to.

That means that to be successful at still life photography, you need to find ways to make your photos interesting. That also means it’s a great style of photography for learning new skills.

By experimenting with different arrangements, lighting, and compositions, still life photographers can breathe life into their subjects.

I think Still life photography makes it easy to experiment.

In contrast to portrait and landscape photography, we don’t have to deal with live models, and we don’t have to search out an interesting location or photo opportunity. Instead, you can create your own interesting composition using common objects you have or find nearby.

"The Old Masters techniques"  its one of the most common ‘old masters technique’ that we use in todays society is “The Flemish Method”. 

This method of painting requires a rigid surface on which to work, one that has been primed pure white, as well as a very precise line drawing.

By taking commonplace objects and turning them into interesting works of art, still life photography is the perfect way to show potential clients what you are capable of.

Different Types of Still Life Photography:

- Tabletop Photography

-  Product Photography

- Food Photography

- Found Object Photography

Another benefit of still life photography is it doesn’t take much to get started.

Also Still life photography isn’t very demanding when it comes to your choice of cameras. 

Evelyn Bencicova.

Suzanne Cummings

Marcel Christ

Light painting is a photographic technique that involves the movement of light whilst the cameras shutter is open. In order to capture the moving light source you will need to set your camera to a long exposure, this can be anything from 10 seconds to several minutes depending on how much light you want to expose.

Gregory Crewdson is an American photographer best known for staging cinematic scenes of suburbia to dramatic effect. His surreal images are often melancholic, offering ambiguous narrative suggestions and blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality. Working with large production teams to scout and shoot his images, his photographs have become increasingly complex as if it were for a motion picture production, including its painstaking preparation of elaborate sets, lighting, and cast, as seen in his seminal series Beneath the Roses (2003–2008) and Twilight (1998–2001).

He creates these movie like sets that end up looking very cinematic and moody and just simply amazing. I think he is one of the most talented and creative photographers I know. His images are very complex and every one is unique. 

The second photographer is Harold Ross. He is an American fine art photographer who has been mastering the art of light painting for the past 30 years. His work has been exhibited, published and collected all over the world.

I'm very impressed by his amazing work and I totally love it. to be honest I'm not a big fan of still life photography but his photos are just stunning. 

In addition to photographing typically beautiful subjects he is more drawn to shooting subjects that one might not consider inherently beautiful.

Harold Ross is using light painting method called Sculpting with Light which involves casting light on and around subjects in the dark during a time exposure.

Final shots for submission 

For this brief we have to do some research to gain a better understanding of photojournalism and also gain some knowledge about street photography.

My research contains inspiration images found online.

Tabloids and Broadsheets / Journalism analysis

Every news outlet chooses stories that suit its target audience.

What are the main differences between the tabloids and the quality press?

Tabloid newspapers are different in content, style and language from quality newspapers (sometimes known as ‘broadsheets’).

Tabloid Press: 

Content:

 News, opinion and a significant coverage of celebrity, including celebrity scandal. Stories tend to be shorter.

Angle: Will choose angle according to readership.

Headline: Alliteration, puns, emotive.

I

ntro:

Sensationalist, emotive.

Language: Simple and short sentences and paragraphs. Language is emotive, dramatic or sensationalist. Slang and puns are common.

Quality Press

Content: 

News, analysis and opinion; celebrity coverage is minimal. Stories are often longer, with more background detail provided.

Angle: Will choose angle according to readership.

Headline: Straightforward, factual.

Intro: Straightforward, factual.

Language: More complex. Sentences and paragraphs can be longer; more subordinate clauses are used. Language is formal, measured and detached rather than sensationalist. Proper titles are used rather than slang or nicknames.

The role of a picture editor

It is not important if photographs are “good.” It’s important that they are interesting.What makes a photograph interesting? I’ll count the ways: It can be our first look at something. It can be entertaining. It can evoke deep emotions. It can be amusing or thrilling or intriguing. It can be proof of something. It can jog memories or raise questions. It can be beautiful. It can convey authority. Most often, it informs. And, it can surprise.A good subject for one photographer may not be good for another. Some photographers create a graphic and dramatic structure of a scene and then record it. Others leave a scene alone, intent on catching the ring of truth in a moment’s natural activity. Some do a bit of both. Label the extremes “posed” and “candid.”

To be interesting, a photograph needs to show something distinctive. A two-headed cow is unusual. A bride in her wedding gown standing in a kitchen is a bit odd. But there can also be something special in what otherwise might be a common picture: a child’s yawn, for example, or a man’s gestures or a tree’s shadow. The flawless detail in print from a large-format camera may define the peculiarity of a subject.

photos credit: https://allmyfriendsarejpegs.com

During my research, black and white photos taken on the streets of Glasgow by Glaswegian photographer particularly attracted my attention. I'm in love with these black and white photos, I feel that they do fully reflect the cloudy charm of the city and the atmosphere of this place and strong and expressive edit enhances this effect

Doing this research has definitely given me a lot of thoughts and ideas for my shooting for “People Make Glasgow” 

My goal will be to capture people emotions during the normal day, truly get their various emotions starting from sadness, tiredness and joy. 

There is my final pictures for the ‘White Shirts brief.

Light painting is a creative use of long exposure techniques. To get a light painting picture all u have to do is open your camera shutter long enough to record the moving light sources as blurry streaks, a scene or object can be brought to life by painting with a beam of light .

During light painting, the camera will register the streaks from your light source backwards like a mirror image. 

Finding an excellent location is crucial in light painting photography. If it’s too bright, it may drown out light painting. The best background should be dark enough to allow to use a shutter speed of up to thirty seconds.

 Light painting is tricky because you don’t see what you’re doing until you finish taking the photo.

Equipment for light photography: 

- Camera Body / Lenses (  You can use any type of lens that you like for light painting. A 50mm or even a regular kit lens will do fine in most situations. )

- Tripod - to avoid Camera Shake

-  Shutter release

-  Stop watch - you need it for timing your exposures

-  Light source - it could be a cell phone, flashlights, lasers etc

(  A friend is a great addition to a night of light painting!  ) 

Camera settings for light painting:

Mode: Manual or bulb.

Shutter speed: 30 seconds.

F-stop or aperture: 8 or 10.  Its best to start with f/8 because it’s wide enough to let enough light in and still maintain deep focus.

ISO: 100.  The higher the value you choose, the more sensitive to light your camera will be.  However, selecting a high ISO also introduces noise that can ruin your image.

Image quality - raw 

Turn off any image stabilization (IS or VR) on your lens..

Light painting tips:

The most important one is to keep your light moving.

Don’t shine the light source back at the camera otherwise you will create a bright spot in the image.

Set your camera up on a tripod and take a few test shots.

Selecting a light source is important.

You can decrease the exposure by closing down the aperture

Use lots of different angles - don't be afraid to experiment

Different surfaces are going to react to light differently.

Light painting Photographers:

Simon Bond -  Simon Bond is a creative photographer from the UK, but now based in Asia. He now educates people about his various photographic styles through blogging with Digital Photography School, Expert Photography, and his own website.

Simon’s 7 Killer Light Painting Tips

1. Choose the darkest location possible. This will make the effect of the light painting stronger. That might mean heading to a beach, or into the forest.

2. Preplan the direction of the light painting, and think about the shapes you wish to create.

3. Keep things simple. The light painting needs to form either a leading line into the frame, or a focus point in the frame. Avoid over cluttering the whole frame with light patterns.

4. Experiment before going out to shoot on location. The Pixelstick has many light pattern presets you can download from the company website. You can also vary the brightness of the stick, and how long the stick fires for.

5. Use varied exposure times. For more complicated patterns, exposing for 10 seconds or longer is needed. If you want to light paint with different setting in the same frame (say two different colours), then I’d suggest at least 20 seconds, perhaps even using bulb.

6. Shorter exposure times also work well. If you’re photographing with a model it’s better to keep to about 1 or 2 seconds, and keep the light painting patterns simple. A simple round circle spin takes around 1 second for instance.

7. Incorporate a flash. Longer exposures with a model are possible as well, though the model will have to sit very still. A combination of light painting and strobism is recommended, as the strobe will freeze the subject.

Using a flash to brighten your scene and subject can help create otherworldly images. Photo by Simon Bond.

Photo by Simon Bond. The play of light here reminds me at first glance of an angel's wings.

I think his pictures are a great example of light painting photography. They look almost like they were converted in Photoshop. Both photos were taken in the same place and arrangement.

Light painting artist Hannu Huhtamo has been light painting since 2008 but it was back in the 1990's when he shot his first light painting image.

   Hannu Huhtamo‘s light painting is notable for many reasons, but perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of his work is his symmetry. His large body of work is filled with lush and mesmerizing flowers of light and glowing structures that put others to shame.

Photo by Hannu Huhtamo. 

Photo by Hannu Huhtamo. 

Work like Hannu’s truly shows the power and appeal of light painting. I really enjoyed watching his light painting photos.

Despite the fact that the first picture shows a seemingly boring arrangement of metal, the creator of this picture managed get an interesting light painting image by adding small lighting elements.

About the second picture I think that is interesting in itself, even without the element of light. The composition of this photo attracts attention as well as the object

Trevor Williams - he is a member of the Japan -based light painting group Fiz-iks. The attention he pays to his surroundings and the way he incorporates them often take his photos to the next level and is partially why his work is so notable.

I found him during the research and I liked his work, especially the photo below. The climate of the photo is amazing and also choice of location is interesting, the red light works perfectly with this place.

The way the light is created it makes a some kind of light cage around the character. I think we can interpret this as boundaries that people create for themselves, their comfort zone.

Photo by Trevor Williams.

Michael Ross is a briliant light painting photographer and his high concept photos are pulled off in a way that appears effortless, yet anyone who has tried their hand at light painting knows just how difficult some of his results are to come by.

His work reminds me of disco lights which is really cool.I think his concept of photos makes him stand out among other photographers. 

Photo by Michael Ross.

Photo by Michael Ross.

I wonder what prompted the photographer to create this image and how it should be interpreted. I think it's beautiful that every potential recipient can interpret it in his unique way. For me it looks more like a spontaneous photo than a planned photo session.

                                             Conclusion

Light painting photography is a fun way to teach yourself about how a camera works and also is an excellent way to get creative with night photography.

Few useful videos foe beginner in light painting photography which I found on Youtube

"Image noise" is the digital equivalent of film grain for analogue cameras. Alternatively, one can think of it as analogous to the subtle background hiss you may hear from your audio system at full volume. For digital images, this noise appears as random speckles on an otherwise smooth surface and can significantly degrade image quality.

Technique - Black Frames

For this project we have to make a short 90s video about someone creating. 

Below are 4 films that most caught my attention during research. Each of them is distinguished by an exquisite music track and an interesting topic.

This first video is the Cinematic Commercial Film Reel. In this video I was captivated by the music and the beautiful video frames. Video author ideally choose the background music to build the mood here for the potentials viewers. The cadres beautifully interact with each other and pass smoothly

It's my favourite video from my research for Artisan brief. its really moody and I like it. The video maker managed to get these a bit vintage atmosphere here thanks to intense colour tones. Also beautiful music completes the atmosphere of the video.

Here is a Cinematic Fitness girl motivation video. I really enjoyed watching this one. From the first second you can feel the atmosphere here. 

Numerous close-ups and a slower pace make this movie unique mood. I did not like the video colour shades here, I would use stronger edit here. 

I feel this project might be a challenge for my but I hope I will find some interesting subject and I will managed to get a good video for college.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooc0IjNzw9s

For this project we are asked to shoot a still life with using an old object.

I found a few inspiration images for this brief on Pinterest.

The first photo is from a series of still life photographs featuring old bottles and vintage props. I really like this image because it has a bit moody atmosphere here and the set up looks really well prepared. Every element here works well with each other. 

During my research, this image intrigued me the most I really like the simplicity of idea here, is conveyed by the idea of ​​recycling.

I think an interesting idea for this project could be the use of old egg shells or leftover food. 

In this brief I would like to use as a object an old shells and old jar from spices and also I would like add an interesting element, old decorative stones.

Theme of my sense of will be a unifying or coherent form or structure.

For this project I would like to shoot buildings and other physical structures. I would like to shoot from different perspectives and angle.

Most pictures I would like to shoot from below. Architecture photography has always been close to my heart. 

Below are some examples that I particularly like and which I would like to follow.

This image is my favourite picture from this research, I really like perspective here and the reflection effect on the glass. 

In this image I really like the lighting, it creates a beautiful shadow game here. And also the sky looks here interesting. 

The charm of this photo creates the angle from which it was taken. This photo proves that perspective is important.

Cloudy sky and reflection on glass make this image super interesting for potential viewers. Similar effect I would like to capture on my final image. 

The first thought that came to my mind after seeing this photo was the sentence 'urban jungle'. The cloudless and bright sky creates a contrast with the buildings and makes them looks more tall. 

Few tips how to shoot Architectural Photography:

For my Catch me if u can project I would like to shoot football game.

Sports photography refers to the genre of photography that covers all types of sports.

In the majority of cases, professional sports photography is a branch of photojournalism,while amateur sports photography, such as photos of children playing association football, is a branch of vernacular photography.

The main application of professional sports photography is for editorial purposes; dedicated sports photographers usually work for newspapers, major wire agencies or dedicated sports magazines. However, sports photography is also used for advertising purposes both to build a brand and as well as to promote a sport in a way that cannot be accomplished by editorial means.

Karen Carney of Chelsea Ladies. Photo by Javier Garcia (Image credit: Photo by Javier Garcia/BPI/Shutterstock)

This image is showing real emotions and beauty of this sport. The photographer managed to capture a photo in ideal moment and he got here a nice blurred background. Also the lighting here is very good.

I decided to add this image to my research because unlike to most football-themed pictures its showing a woman, contrary to popular opinion, women are also playing football, but unfortunately they are a minority in this sport.

I think this photo is a good example of football photography. The person who shoot managed to captured a great moment and emotions here.

The next photo which I chose for this research is also a image of women soccer player during the game. I really enjoyed this image because of the nice contrast between green field and the player purple costume. And also the blurred background looks here really good. The only distracting element is the bottle in the right corner of the photo.

England soccer player Alex Greenwood during the FIFA Women's World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand. Photo by Jane Stokes (Image credit: Jane Stokes/ProSports/Shutterstock)

While doing the research I found this picture it absolutely captivated me. Of course, at first glance it can be said that this picture was not taken during the sport discipline. I can easily say that the photo has been specially arranged. The special effect which is a smoke flare gives this picture a unique atmosphere. Light is mainly focused here on the girl character. The play of light sharpens the muscles of one leg of the athlete.

The lighting here is absolutely perfect. We can easily see every muscle of athletes. The light here is so perfect as if it was shoot in the studio. Boxing is not a sport for everyone but certainly this photo can interest every potential viewer.  When I look at this picture, it makes me want to be on audience and see this event with my own eyes.

Equipment:

Camera body + a telephoto lens + SD card

Spare batteries

Tripod

Equipment typically used for sports photography includes a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera with high continuous shooting speeds and interchangeable lenses ranging from 14mm to 400mm or longer in focal length, depending on the type of sport. The proper lenses are very important as they allow the photographer to reach closer or farther as quickly as possible to keep up with the game play. Essential accessories include a monopod or tripod for stability and extra batteries. Longer focal length lenses are typically used to photograph action in sports such as football, while wide angle lenses can be used for sideline and close-up athlete photos.

The preferred camera bodies for modern sports photography have fast autofocus and high burst rates, typically 8 frames per second or faster. 

FOOTBALL PHOTOGRAPHY 

1: Find the best place First things first; to be able to get good shots you need to plan ahead and think where most of the action that you’re interested in is going to happen. Then make sure you’re in the best place to capture it. For football this is often around the corners of the pitch or field. If it is a large, professional match then get as near to the front of the stands as you can but if it is a smaller local match then a corner of the field would be ideal.

Shutter speed: High shutter speeds - of at least 1/500th of a second - are ideal for capturing an action shot clearly. If you prefer a more artistic blurry shot then slower shutter speeds can create some fantastic effects. Try shooting at around the 1/30th mark and then either increase the shutter speed if you find that this is too blurry or slow the shutter speed down if there is not enough blur. Another technique to try is panning - an extended blurred motion technique that involves the photographer moving with the subject, resulting in photographs with sharp subjects and blurred backgrounds.

Aperture: the aperture is the hole that light travels through before reaching the image sensor on the back of your camera lens. You can open the aperture to let more light in by selecting a lower f-stop (focal ratio) such as f5.6, enabling you to then use a faster shutter speed. For close up shots, such as single player shots or tackles, a wider aperture such as f/2.8 or f/4 would be ideal as it will isolate the action nicely.

ISO: Now that you have your aperture and shutter speed set, you need to use the ISO to create the exposure, or brightness, you want to have. ISO measures the the speed at which your camera’s image sensor reads light coming in from outside. A lower ISO indicates lower sensitivity to available light, and higher ISO means more sensitivity. Depending on the shutter speed/aperture combination you have, a setting of around ISO 400 may work on a bright day, or ISO 800 for an overcast day or low-light situation such as dusk or night.

Perfect timing Timing is everything. In sport it really is a case of “once you miss it, it’s gone.”

Technique

Location is often important for sports photography. At big events, professional photographers often shoot from VIP spots with the best views, usually as close to the action as possible. Most sports require the photographer to frame their images with speed and adjust camera settings spontaneously to prevent blurring or incorrect exposure. Some sports photography is also done from a distance to give the game a unique effect.

ISO speed is often high (to allow faster shutter speeds) and may be left in auto.