Final Idea

Final work
My final work is Extraordinary objects and the 'unseen'. It's based on work with high shutter speeds and wet photography, also a little on places. This page has photos on, photographer research can be found on the dedicated 'objects' page. 

I chose the idea 'extraordinary objects' as my final idea as i think it has been one of the most interesting during test shots for all three ideas. There are many ways of developing this idea, which i have experimented on, such as high shutter speeds with objects, making ordinary objects look extraordinary by capturing them in a different way and also proportions of objects being different. I think it has been the most interesting to work with and i have developed many ideas supporting it.

I have chosen to focus on high speed photography using mainly liquids, as i have experimented with it (on objects page) and been happy with the results produced. I think they were very extraordinary, as it's 'seeing the unseen' which was a phrase that supported Harold Edgerton's work, which i have been quite  inspired by. I have also focused on General extraordinary objects; a collection of photos including quirky and unnatural objects. I have been interested in looking at making ordinary object extraordinary, by photographing them is different ways, or making an ordinary object look extraordinary as seen on the object page in 'secondary research'.

I have also decided to add a couple of photos from my places idea, as i was quite impressed with the results of some of the photos. I found that they could be integrated, as some focus on objects in that place. It also supports the object idea of 'seeing the unseen' which i aim to capture ordinary sightings, but due to the lack of attention these sightings and happenings become 'extraordinary'.

Final idea
Here is a collection of shots that i have taken, mainly using high speed photography, but there's also some extraordinary objects.

I was particularly impressed with the results of this photo, there is a nice pattern effect surrounding the frozen droplets, creating waves in the scissors below the water. The colours also suit the scene well, with blues and greys, also whites. The dark black scissors in the ripples creates a contrast within the patterns, which i particularly liked. The shutter speed used was 1/200 of a second, with flash on as the shutter did not let in enough light. This photo was also nicely on par with the rule of thirds, the main area in the centre. There is also almost a leading line created by this photo, you look where the ripples end at the edge of the photo which guides you to the middle, where droplets are.

This is the actual image before any manipulation, the hand has been cropped out and the image seems slightly plain. Compared to the image above i cropped towards the subject to make it more obvious what to look at, and risen up the contrast and brightness slightly. I think this had a great effect on the colour, which when bringing out the contrast and brightness presented the movement in the water and patterns on the scissors better.

These images were tests before the real one, which weren't as good

This image was sharply and well in focus, but there was a slight lack in interest or shapes, everything is quite uneven such as the drops. Compared to the top image, there is also not as much sign as repetition between the movements in the water.

This test was simply out of focus, not what i intended. I wanted a sharp capture of water. Theres also shadows blocking the light in areas and a great deal of interference at the top.

This photo was part of an experiment of 'crushing grapes'. What i aimed to do was capture the action of something breaking apart such as fruit. I was actually hoping there was going to be a bit more, but overall i am quite happy with the results of this photo. Firstly, the water spraying out the grape has been captured sharply, and it's movement simulates the high speed in this shot, which i liked. It's also on par with the rule of thirds, with the subject positioned in the centre, but the bottle to the left was a slight distraction, but it's black area actually helps present the liquid, as it absorbed the light behind it. The shutter speed is at 1/200 using flash too.

This photo is exactly the same, but has the red writing which has been removed in the top image using the clone-stamp tool in photoshop.

These images were tests of the one above, which proved nothing interesting at all.

This image has no action or evidence that it was taken in high speed at all, which i did not want. There is not much to look at, and you don't really know what to either.

The same happened with this image. nothing good. There was also a hard light reflecting off the scissors which was distracting, and the colours weren't as vivid either. The background also has a strong orange light which is not intended.

This was a test of putting different liquids together, in this case food colouring and water. This photo achieved what i expected, creating some interesting and extraordinary patterns which happen simply too quickly for us to take note of. This photo is a good example of how extraordinary events are happening al the time, it's just a matter of noticing. The shutter was 1/200 using flash. What made me choose this one above the other test shots is it had the most texture in the liquid, which is what i wanted to capture the most of.

These were several other tests i didn't think were as interesting

There is nothing extraordinary about this photo, and the shadow is a slight distration. I was looking for more movment in the liquids instead of a big cloud.

This photo wasn't bad, but the glass was slightly too far to the left. 

Too cloudy and the colours were too bright from the flash possibly reflecting from the glass or tiles behind.

I took this photo using the idea of Harold Edgerton's black and white image of milk, as seen on objects page. The photo is taken at averagely the same angle using a tripod. There is a good repetitive effect of rings around the bright red candle. What i especially liked was the texture of the pan emerging with the water, it made a extraordinary and interesting effect. I used a shutter speed of 1/200 of a second. In photoshop, the contrast levels have been adjusted so theres slightly more brightness. This truly brings out the rich colours and textures of the pan, and contrast in the shadows.

This is the image before any manipulation, as you can see includes the unwanted worksurface in all four corners which has been cropped out, and the rim of the pan. in Harold Edgerton's photo there is no sign of the container of what it was in, which i aimed to do.

I thought this was a nice concept, in terms of extraordinary objects that are 'out of proportion'. The objects in this image are tack sharp, which i like as the smaller details in the clock above are preserved. Something that explains the proportion is the details in the wall behind, it's the texture of the paint. The three different colours of the big clock, small clock and the wall also worked out well. Compared to the photos below i have added slightly more contrast in the colour which helps bring out the three colours, also the sharper, smaller details. 

This is the clock from further away. I thought this one explained the proportion of the two the best, but there wasn't much detail in the smaller clock and it was slightly to small for anyone to figure out what it is. The image could have been cropped but there would be a lot better detail if you take the photo closer up.

I liked this photo for the sharp detail in the small clock, but it is slightly hard to tell the proportion of how small or large it is. there is evidence from the textures in the paint, but the larger clock is not displayed enough for one to work out. They could think the larger clock is meant to be huge whilst the small one is average.

This image was of an extraordinary sculpture, made out of ordinary objects. It relates off my extraordinary secondary research on the objects page, making completely everyday objects into something extraordinary. i thought this image would look good in black and white, showing the contrast bewteen the object and the background. I used the quick selection tool in photoshop to slightly brighten the background at not the object. This made photo focus on the subject slightly better.

Before black and white was applied. The impression over the photo appears slightly less extraordinary,  as it focuses on the objects in the background slightly more than the one above.

This is the photo before any manipulation, it has many unwanted objects placed around it, which are highly noticeable. The computer is in focus, and the screen can be seen making it a big distraction from the subject, and the background appears more focused as it's not cropped into unlike those above also making them more of a distraction.

This was the shot of the same object but at a different angle, i didn't like it as much. It could be cropped into, but doing so there is a pink cable behind which would have interrupted it. At this angle theres also more shadow and lighting reflecting over every detail of the object, which i didn't like as the actual shapes aren't presented as well.

i also attempted it with some different structures as well, but it didn't seem as extraodinary without the 'tree' shaped one.

Extraordinary places
Here is a smaller collection of photos i have thought are good enough to part with my final work. They are actually taken all at night. I am mainly focusing on the lighting and objects in the photos. I thought these photos could have something to do with objects.

This was a truly classic shot of the moon, but also with extra detail such as the town and clouds. There was some interesting lighting in the houses, blending greens, yellows and oranges creating a nice effect,  also the repetivitve use of square from the buildings and windows along the horizon. The moon makes the picture lighting up the sky, and presenting the clouds near it, making nice textures. i did not choose to use this photo in my final project as i felt it did not fit in with the idea of objects. 

This was another shot at the same place, not so impressive as the shutter speed was too fast, making the moon loose brightness and resulting in less detail of the whole area.

With this photo i highly darkened it from the original, which removed all the buildings. What it exactly displays is all the lights in the scene which are all objects. It was quite a different idea which i particularly liked. The photo for me is interesting to look at, you try to picture what is going on, what the lights are.

In order to do this i rose the contrast of the photo, which deepened the blacks making dark colours disappear such as reflections off concrete. This is what go rid of the buildings, road .etc and just displayed the lights.

This was after i slightly darkened it, and came up with the idea. everything is quite obvious and you can still see quite alot of the buildings. Theres also cars and roads which i didn't want. 

Before manipulation it was a street with lights, looking fairly normal. The camera focused on a bright subject, such as one of the lights so didn't have such a slow shutter speed, and captured the picture fairly sharp which i was happy with.