Unit 2 Relationships - Shoot 4 - Animals in Captivity - Inspiration David Lloyd

Influences

Lioness Eye
David Lloyd
February 2015

Red Fox
David Lloyd
2008

The influences for this shoot are shown above, here I am looking at Davids Lloyds wildlife photography, concentrating on his use of depth of field and also how he captures animals eyes, to make the image have more dramatics and more meaning.
For shoot 4 I wanted to look at Humans Relationships with Wild Animals, so over the Easter Holidays I visited Monkey World in Dorset, a Ape Rescue Centre, I wanted to try and capture human relationships with animals. In this shoot I used a Canon 1200D, with a 75-300mm lens connected, I decided to use this lens because I wanted to get close up to the animals, and capture their facial expressions, to make the viewer of my photos think about how these animals have been treated in the past. I found that when using the 75-300mm lens, the outcome was a sharp foreground and a very soft blurry background, this is shown mostly in image 7. I had the challenge of chain link fences, which made taking photographs quite hard, likewise reflections in windows and smudge marks on glass. Here are the images from this shoot, which was also inspired by David Lloyd...

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Despite the mesh in front of the monkey in this image, I believe this adds to the message, the monkeys eyes are looking out of the mesh, the way his eyes are separated by the mesh adds to the message that he's been kept in captivity, I think it works well as the mesh in the bottom left hand corner is blurred, but the top right is in focus, with the whole of the monkey in focus also.

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As you can see in Image 4, I had trouble getting a nice clear image with the mesh fencing, I tried my hardest to eliminate this from the photo as much as possible, by zooming in further, I would say this is one of the weakest images from this shoot as its hard to see the subject i'm trying to take a photo of, instead your eyes are instantly drawn towards the blurry fence.

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Photograph 7 was one of my most successful photos on this shoot, although I was taking this photo through the fence, I managed to zoom in enough so you can hardly see it obstructing the photograph, I really like the depth of field in this picture, as the background is so blurred, its hard to see that the monkey is in an enclosure. I believe this is an interesting photograph because of the monkey's facial expression, and the way he is almost looking away from the camera, suggests he has a troubled past, which most of the monkeys have at Monkey World

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Unit 2 Relationships - Shoot 3 - Wildlife Photography - Inspiration David Lloyd

David Lloyd
White (Leucistic) Sparrow
August 2008

My influence for shoot 3 is David Lloyd, he's a Wildlife Photographer, one thing I like about his photography is the way he uses depth of field to make the animals he is taking pictures of stand out. I tried to recreate his work by taking pictures of birds, and trying to get a soft blur in the background.

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Image 1 is good, but I feel that its 'average' because the black bird is positioned in the middle, the photograph would of been more interesting if i'd used the rule of thirds, but its a good first time photograph for my Wildlife shoot.

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Image 2 is one of my favorite photos from this shoot, it relates to my artists, David Lloyd, as I have captured a bird in motion, I like the detail in this photograph, with the seed in the birds beak, i'm really pleased with how the background has turned out in this photo, its very similar to those in David Lloyd's photos, as Lloyd uses a short depth of field in his work, which make section of the image look clear, and this is what the viewers eyes are drawn to first. Similarly to David Lloyds work, I photographed a Sparrow for this picture.

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For image 3 I decided that I would change the location of the my photos, I had done a lot of photos in my garden, and fancied something more challenging, so I set out to find different types of birds and capture them naturally, without tempting them with bird seed. This image was quite hard to take, and took a lot of practice, as it was hard to focus the image and whilst following the birds, i had to set the cameras shutter speed to 1/4000, as to not get the flying bird or the waves blurred, luckily it was a bright sunny day, so this was not a problem, you can see some of the less successful photos from this at the bottom of this post. 

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At first I didn't think this photograph was good because the its hard to see the seagull as it was taken quite early in the morning, with the sun behind it, but I actually like the way the sun gives a warm glow around its wings, making the sea gull look dramatic and powerful.

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As you can see photographs 5 & 6 are of the same bird, I uploaded both of these images to show how much difference using the rule of thirds can make, photo 5 shows the bird in the centre of the image, this makes the photo look 'average', compared to photo 6. The bird is one third of the way across the photo, the reason I have took it so the subject is to the left of the photo is because the subjects is facing towards the right. 

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Although in this picture the bird is in focus, its hard to see as its the same colours as the background. I feel like I could also of made this image more interesting by zooming in further, and/or by using the rule of thirds. I may be able to improve this photograph if I crop it.

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Editing into Black and White - In the style of David Lloyds Great Migration Safari Photography

Black and White Edit 

Here I have edited photograph 4 into black and white in the style of David Lloyds 'Fighting Lions', I was hoping that the image would become even more dramatic in Black and White, however, I believe that the original colour photo is more powerful, when editing, I lost the warm glow around the wing, which was what originally made the bird seem powerful, the colour of the background in the Black and White is a very dull grey, and I think the blue background in the original works well with the warm white glow around its wings.

Original Colour Photograph

Experiments
The experimentations below are me getting use to the 75-300mm lens, as you can see, some of the images are quite dark, this is because I was taking these early in the morning, and so it wasn't very bright, and I was taking these with a fast shutter speed. 

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

Experiment 3

Experiment 4

Unit 2 Relationships - Shoot 2 - 'Capturing the Rain' - Technique Fast Motion Photography

For shoot two I want to look at linking in the theme of weather, and natures relationship with weather, I believe this will make a really interesting shoot. I have taken an initial shoot for this piece, a little bit of experimentation to get an idea of how to capture the weather, in the initial shoot which
can be seen below, I captured 'rain' to create this image firstly I set up my camera on a tripod, with a 50mm lens, so the image would short depth of field (background is a soft blur), it was a reasonably bright day so I was able to set the camera to a shutter speed of 1/4000, this fast shutter speed enable me to capture the falling raindrop, once I had set the camera up correctly, ISO 6400, to increase the brightness as much as possible, obviously I had to find a way to 'set up' the weather, because it was actually a nice sunny day, so I decided to use a watering can, this meant I was able to create an image of rain, the camera was set to a 10 second timer taking 10 pictures, one after the other, I started to pour the water out of the can at around 5 seconds before and continued to do so until the camera had taken all 8 photographs.

What have I learnt from this piece of experimentation?

I really enjoyed this piece of experimentation and I have learnt that it is vital to set the camera go have a fast shutter speed, a slow shutter speed can over-expose the image and will cause the raindrops to become blurred and will create lines of white where the raindrops movement has been captured by the camera. 

What worked well?

I really like the way that some of the raindrops in the foreground are clear and in focus and the water in the background is blurred, this emphasises the detail on the raindrops which are in focus. Another thing I believe works well is the way the raindrops are bursting as they come into contact with the tree, if you look at the top part of the tree, just down from the buds you can see this, and this adds to the image and shows the movement of the water. 

What would I change? 

When it comes to my shoot I will try different angles, above the plants and to the side of them.

Image 1

I think the photos from this shoot worked well and linked to the theme of this shoot, which was the relationship between nature and the weather, the photographs above and below are my two favourites, I prefer the image below as the composition is better, it's an interesting angle, I did this by setting my camera up on a tripod, the camera was positioned above the plant, I set the camera on a 10 second timer to then take 10 pictures at a shutter speed of 1/4000, the ISO was set high so the image was not too dark, I believe the dark brown background works well against the green foreground. I set the camera on manual focus and focused on the central part of the plant, this made the raindrops falling blurred and out of focus, and I like this effect, also the splashing of the raindrops onto the leafs.

Image 2

The photograph below, did not work as well, although the movement of the water splashing is interesting i failed to capture the movement of the falling raindrops, the grasses detract away from the raindrops, this is not what I wanted. Although it's an interesting picture it didn't work as well as the image above. 

Image 3

 

Improving the shoot...

Retake 1

Retake 2

I believe that this is one of the best photographs i have taken during this unit, and it is one of my personal favorites, to take this one I used a 50mm lens, and a fast shutter speed, what I think works well with this photo is the way that only the flower and its buds are in focus, meaning the water droplets on the flower and buds are sharp and in focus, making the picture look really detailed, the focused flower draws the viewers attention straight away because it stands out against the brown/green blurred background, the blurred falling water droplets also make the image look detailed. The detail of the in focus water droplets can be seen if you look closely on the pettels of the flower, you can see the reflection of the sun through these, and i think this adds to photograph. I accomplished my aim in all of these photographs to show the relationship between Nature and Weather. 

Retake 3

Retake 4

After getting to grips with how to use a fast shutter speed and understanding that it has to be bright as well, i deceided to revisit this shoot, it is the shoot I've enjoyed the most and have done the best it!

More Experimentation Photographs

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 These are the photographs from my experimentation, I simply set my tripod and camera up, and on poured water out of a watering can, onto a table, for this experimentation, I simply used a 18-55mm lens, focuses on the table top, and set the timer on the camera to 10 seconds, then take 10 photos instantly. I also played around with different shutter speeds and ISO numbers

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How does this shoot relate to my Artists?

Initially this shoot was biased around take the Nature element that Jelle Martens portrays in his work, but after doing my Artist research I discovered that my second artist David Lloyd has done something quite similar with animals jumping into water, and capturing both the movement of the water, and also the movement of the animal. His fast motion photography tends to normally be animals running on land, but I discovered this photo, relating to this shoot. (Shown Below)

'Wildebeest Leaping'
'Great Migration Safari'
Taken in 2014
David Lloyd

Unit 2 Relationships - 2nd Artist - David Lloyd

For my 2nd Influence I am looking at a Wildlife photographer called David Lloyd, who is originally from New Zealand, but living in London, he came to the UK in 1989, his favourite places are Kenya and Botswana, which can be seen in his 'Safari' work, he runs safari's for ambitious young photographers, interested in getting into wildlife photography, although he does a lot of safari work, I'll be looking concentrating mainly on his British Wildlife Photography, however, I will take aspects from his wildlife photography, such as his composition and his action shots, two examples of his work (one British Wildlife Photography, the other Safari Wildlife Photography) are displayed below.

Photograph 1 - British Wildlife Photography

'Red Deer'
'British Wildlife Photography'
David Lloyd
July 2011

Deconstructing Lloyds Work & What I like about his Photography
What really influences me about David Lloyds work is his stunning photographs, as you can see in the image above named 'Red Deer', the simplicity of having a deer in the centre of the image with a short depth of field, really makes for a dramatic and powerful photography, the camera he uses is a Nikon D800E, this is a DLSR, he started taking Wildlife Photos in the UK from 2008, despite this photograph being very simply, the subject (Deer) is making direct eye contact with lens, so it feels like the Deer is looking at you from a viewers point of view, firstly your eyes are drawn straight towards the deers antlers, so Lloyd is trying to portray the power that this animal has, your eyes are then drawn towards the eyes, the deer does not seem scared or anxious in the photography, he looks strong and powerful, with a serious facial expression. The way you can only see the head and then a faint outline of the deers body adds to the dramatics of this photo, although the deer looks strong and powerful, he is also alone, deers normally are in herds, the faded grasses in the foreground may represent his herd, which he has lost, the out of focus grass may represent the herd fading away, and that he is all alone, in which case, could make the viewer feel sad and sympathetic.

Photograph 2 - Great Migration Photo Safari 

'Fighting Lions'
'Great Migration Photo Safari'
David Lloyd
2013

Deconstructing Lloyds Work & What I like about his Photography
The photograph above is another one of David Lloyds Wildlife photos, despite the first photo 'Red Deer' was taken in a completely different shoot, the same themes run throughout his work, the theme of 'Power' and how power is portrayed in nature, I also believe he follows the theme of 'Survival' and Strength, the image above shows one of his Safari photographs, two lions fighting, he uses the same technique as photo 'Red Deer' of having the most dramatic part of the photo in the centre, this image has been made more dramatic as he has changed it into black and white. The scars on the lions show also follows this theme of 'Power' and 'Survival'. When I do my Wildlife shoot, I could experiment with Photoshop, changing the images into black and white and seeing if this makes the message of the image stronger. The message of fearlessness also enrols into this photograph.

Unit 2 Relationships - Shoot 1 - Inspiration Jelle Martens - Best Edits

Best Edits

Here are my Best Edits from shoot 1, inspired by Artist Jelle Martens, I edited these by creating layers, each individual photograph has its own layer, and I just cropped and erased to form them into shapes. My best edit is the one below, this one worked better as the colours are more vibrant and the other one looks a little distorted, I'm very happy with how these Images have turned out, and you can really see my influence in them, I have posted my influencing artist at the bottom of this page.

Influence 

'In the Quivering Forest'
Jelle Martens
Date - Unknown 

Unit 2 Relationships - Shoot 1 - Macro Photography - Inspired by Jelle Martens

Inspiration for this shoot...

Jelle Martens
'In the Quivering Forest'

Shoot 1 - For shoot 1 I took these macro pictures below, I tried to capture as many different textures and colours in these pictures, as this is what Jelle Martens does in his work, the purpose of taking these pictures is to then go on to create them into a collage, much like Jelle Marten's - 'Quivering Forest' which is my first influence. Some of these pictures worked well and are clear, and show natures different colours and textures, other pictures did not work so well, as the image is blurry and a little 'bland'. 

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I believe this picture worked well, it is in focus and I think the vibrant colours are effective at showing how beautiful nature is, which is what I want to portray in my collage.

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This photograph did not work as well, as its not very interesting, and the image doesn't have a message that will make the viewer think.

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This is one of my favorite pictures, I like the way the log in the front is sharp and clear, and as you go from Right to Left the image subtly gets softer. It also portrays the message that nature is being destroyed, which I interpenetrated from Jelle Martens work, as I think he is trying to say that we're the shapes in the piece, and that we're messing with nature.  

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This photograph will work well in my collage, as there are different shapes and also different shades of purple/blue, which is really effective and makes an interesting photograph.

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This picture did not work well, and is probably the least successful photo as it is blurred, I must of moved slightly when taking this photography, which will be the reason for this blurriness.  

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I also really pleased with this photograph, I took this by standing directly above a tree, with a 50mm lens, its interesting because it makes the viewer think about which part of the tree was photographed, I will defiantly be using this photo in the collage, as the colours work well too.

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