LO5 - Review

I am pleased with the overall outcome of my photo's after editing. However some photos were harder to edit due to them being either under or over exposed. Therefore if I was to take these photos again I would have checked the light sensor bar inside the viewfinder which shows me if the current photo is correctly exposed. However this may have been difficult as the light was constantly changing due to the stage lights flashing. Furthermore I would have used only manual focus as at times the autofocus would not pick up my subject due to the light. This left me with some photographs that were out of focus and were not suitable for my final portfolio.  Additionally for some shots such as that of Ballamonas' guitarist Billy with a blue background, I would have used a lower f / stop as I wanted to create a shallow depth of field to help isolate him from the background. This is something I had to edit in and could of saved time if I did it on the spot.

Many of my images are similar, if not at a similar level of competency to that of one of my photographers that I looked at in LO1. That being Ebru Yildiz who was a live music event photographer. Many of his images are from a low angle which I tried to recreate when taking my photographs. There are different uses of lighting while taking a photo, that being diffused, which is light that is being refracted to create a soft balanced light, direct, which is light that is focused and from above, and reflected, which is light that is reflected off of a surface onto the subject. Within my work and that of Ebru's, We both used direct light due to the stage lights being a great source of direct light.

LO5 - Presentational Strategies

For these display methods all of them seemed viable barr one, this being the T-Shirts. This is due to the complications with contact and processing times for them. Therefore I would be wiling to chose any of the other display methods for my final photo's. However the framed and canvas are more expensive, but have a overall better look.

LO5 - Final Photos

Wonder

This Photo was taken on the 12th of March 2016. It was shot during the evening as it was at a gig. This image was taken at The Mayfairs gig at the O2 in Sheffield. It depicts the lead singer/guitarist playing along as though he's in his own bubble. The meaning that I tried to get across from this image was that the light is surrounding him in his own little bubble. That he is closed off from anything else but the music. I used the rule of thirds in this piece placing the singers face where the two lines would intersect. This is where most peoples eyes are drawn to when looking at a photo like this. During editing I brought up the brightness, saturation and highlights to help emphasise the light behind the singers face. This was to try and hide the face to create a sense of mystery behind the identity of the singer. This fits the brief as I have tried to show the identity of the singer however making the audience ask questions.

Look out

I took this photo at the same gig on the 12th of March 2016 during the evening. The image shows the bassist playing on stage while looking at the audience. He was playing as part of The Mayfairs who were supporting Kong at the O2 in Sheffield. I took the photo with the intention of capturing his facial expression. This is as he is looking into the crowd while showing that he is connected with the music. This helps show that he can express his identity through music, thus fitting the brief. Through editing I tried to create a sepia tone which creates a warm feeling without taking all the colour out of the shot. This was as I was trying to match the bassists facial expression. I used the technique of viewpoint within this photo. By having him above me looking out at the audience makes it seem as though the audience is actually there.

Live For The Moment

I took this photo on the 12th of March also at the Kong gig. This was taken during the evening around 9pm. This image shows the lead guitarists, Eddie Grey, playing with a joyous expression while looking out at the crowd at the O2. I tried to convey happiness and how he is happy playing music, which can also show that he is expressing his identity through music. This will help fit the brief as it shows his identity. I also used the rule of thirds within this photo, having his face in focus where the lines would intersect. This is as this is where peoples attentions are drawn to most within a photograph. When editing this photo I tried to replicate photos taken on film original film cameras. Many photos of great bands were taken on film which create the high grain, monochrome images. I did this by making the photo black and white/monochrome and added a large amount of grain. Unlike my first image when I enhanced the light behind the guitarist, I purposely dulled it down using the highlights and shadows section in Lightroom. This is as I wanted the audience to see the smiling expression on the guitarists face. Mainly because he is smiling and looking as though he is enjoying himself.

In the zone

This photo was taken on the 9th of April 2016. It was also shot during the evening around 9pm as it was at a gig at The Leadmill in Sheffield. This image shows the lead guitarist Billy playing the guitar. His hair is covering his face which creates an element of mystery within the photograph as we can't see what he really looks like. This can then make the audience ask questions about the photograph and as to who the guitarist is. I focused on using a shallow depth of field within this photo. I helped emphasise this through editing, by outlining him followed by adding a Gaussian blur to the background. This helped isolate him from the background and things round him. This is as I wanted to show him playing on his own. This isolation can help show that he is expressing himself through music, and is in his own little world while playing, therefore fitting the brief which I was set. Additionally I brought the vibrancy and saturation up to help create strong colours. This is as the lighting was the stage lighting which, although was strong and bright, was only subjective to the space which it was lighting.

Pure Concentration

This photo was taken on the 9th of April at The Leadmill in Sheffield during the evening. It shows the guitarist of Ballamona Billy Surr. The image depicts Billy Surr playing guitar during a concert. Within this image I tried to capture and show how peaceful the guitar is. This image in my opinion seems to be stuck in time and connotes slowness. For this image I tried to leave space in front of the guitarist as this is a rule of photography. This helps create space for infront of him as though he is looking into this space. Additionally I used a shallow depth of field to help with the running theme of isolation while playing music. During editing I created a black and white/monochrome image and bumped up the contrast. This helped the image seem even more still and enhanced the feeling of him being stuck in time. This also links to him being stuck in the moment with music, showing that his identity is being portrayed through music, which fits the brief.

Mystery

This is another photo of Ballamona's guitarist Billy Surr taken at The Leadmill on the 9th of April 2016. This photo was taken in the evening during this day. This image depicts BIlly Surr playing the guitar passionately. When taking this photo I tried to express the emotion of the way he is playing the guitar. This helps show Billy expressing himself through the motion of his guitar and how his identity is playing music. This meaning helps fit the brief as it shows his identity. When taking this photo I tried to relate to the spiral that is used within the rule of thirds. This is where the head space is the largest sector and it spirals into the guitar making that the main focus. However through editing I de-hazed the image to help make him stand out from the background and to help focus on his hair. This is as his hair hides his identity and creates a sense of mystery behind the guitarist.

Peace and Happiness

I took this photo at the same gig on the 9th of April 2016. I took it during the evening at The Leadmill in Sheffield. This image shows the lead singer and the bassist of Ballmona playing. I tried to focus on both of them however after taking the photo I had focussed more on the lead singer. Ifi was to do this again i would of had a larger aperture to include both of them in the mage. However since the bassist is slightly blurred I feel as though the image is isolating Ewan the singer from everything else. This links in with the rest of my collection as its all about how people can express their identities through music. This is as this is what the brief asked me to do. Once again I used the spiral from the rule of thirds with the largest section being the bassist leading into the lead singer's face. When editing this image I tried to emphasise the light in the background, by bringing up the highlights, to reinforce verisimilitude of being at a gig. This can help people who often go to gigs, relate with the piece. 

Split Identities

For my last image I took a picture of the whole band from a far. It was also taken on the 9th of April during the evening at The Leadmill. I took a picture of the whole band from far out as this is often the view an audience will get. Therefore I was trying to show it from a audience perspective, with the heads of the crowd in front. I used the technique of framing in which I had the audience in front of the camera to make it feel as though we are with them looking at the band. his can help the audience relate with their identities to the audience as they both have a passion for music. This fits the brief as it is clearly depicting different identities within music in one image. When editing this image I used a de-haze effect to bring the over exposed image down so that we can clearly see the band. Additioanlly I emphasised the stage lights which help create a divide between the two sets of identities, that being the audience and the other being the band.

LO5 - Gallery

LO4 - Edited Photos

Photo 1

This is a photo of the lead singer. Through editing I tried to enhance the light behind him to help bring out the colours. Blue and orange colours are complimentary colours which help make the final photo look more aesthetically pleasing. When editing this photo I tried to create a sense of mystery by enhancing the light behind the singers face. This light covers some of the guitarists face which can help hide his emotion.

Editing Process

Here I begin editing the photo in Adobe Lightroom. I begin by bringing the exposure down and the contrast up. Then as the light in the background is highly bright, I bring the highlights all the way down. Followed by moving the shadows up by +9, the whites +5 and then the blacks down by -34. To create more definition between the light and my subject I turn the clarity up by 55.

In this part of editing I change the tone map. I begin by moving the lights up by 25 followed by bringing the darks down by 8 and the shadows down by 46. This helps define the subject from the light behind him.

Here I adjust the amount or sharpening on the image. I increase the sharpening marginally to avoid too much grain.Then i increase the luminance to reduce the amount of noise.

All I did in this part was to bring the dehaze function down to reduce the light pollution in the image and increase the contrast in the image.

For this part I moved to photoshop to outline the subject. I did this then inversed my selection and applied a gaussian blur to the background. This helped create a shallower depth of field to the image to bring out my subject more.

Here I applied a gradient overlay to help bring the colours out more.

Photo 2

When editing this photo I tried to bring out the drummer. Before this he was highly washed out and hard to see. By bringing up the exposure, it helped bring out his face. His face can connote that he is looking into the crowd analysing everyone, and his fans. Additionally I tried to amplify the his drumming to reenforce verisimilitude of creating music.

Editing Process

In this section I balanced the underexposed image by initially bringing the exposure up and the contrast down. This allowed me to see the image more clearly. I then brought the overexposed images' highlights, shadows and blacks down to balance out the image. Additioanlly I brought the clarity up to help make objects stand out.

As I had to bring the exposure up, it added a lot of unwanted noise. Therefore I reduced this by increasing the luminance on the image.

I then took this image into photoshop to further reduce the noise and grain on the image.

Photo 3

In this photo I turned it into a sepia tone. This helps create a warm feeling without taking all the colour out of the photo. I tried to match the expression of the bassist, that being warm. The black and white can help isolate the assists and capture him in his own little world.

Editing Process

I begin editing this photo by bringing the exposure up slightly as the image was rather dark. I then bring the contrast down to make the image clearer. I then turned the whites on the image up as this was the stand out colour on the bassist. To create the black and white I turned both the vibrance and saturation all the way down.

To create the grain in this image I first added a large amount of sharpening to bring out any existing noise.

I then use the grain effect in Lightroom to further the amount of grain.

Photo 4

In this photo I tried to replicate photos taken on film original film cameras. Many photos of great bands were taken on film which create the high grain, monochrome images. I did this by making the photo black and white/monochrome and added a large amount of grain. Unlike my first image when I enhanced the light behind the guitarist, I purposely dulled it down. This is as I wanted the audience to see the smiling expression on the guitarists face. Mainly because he is smiling and looking as though he is enjoying himself.

Editing Process

This image was also underexposed, so I had to bring the exposure up and match this with the contrast by bringing this down. I brought the highlights up but the white and blacks down to get this image.

To add the grain on this image I replicated how I did it for my previous image. this was by firstly adding a large amount of sharpening to my image.

I then bumped up the grain effect to further the grain in the image. Additionally I used the de-haze feature to bring down the haze layer that covered the image.

Photo 5

For this photograph I purposely, in editing, created a shallow depth of field. I did this as it helped isolate the guitarists from the rest of the room. This helped convey the meaning of being in the moment and how the guitarist is expressing himself through it.

Editing Process

For this image it was fairly over exposed, therefore I had to bring the exposure down and match that by bringing the contrast up. I then bring the Highlights and blacks down to create less of a haze on the image. Followed by bumping up the shadows and whites to make a balanced image. Moreover I turned up the clarity so that the guitarist would stand out from the background.

I wanted to focus on the guitarist so I tried to add a larger depth of field to the image. I did this by firstly outlining the guitarist with the pen tool in Photoshop.

I then made this the selection and inverted it to select the background.

Followed by adding a gaussian blur to create a shallower depth of field and make the guitarist stand out from the background.

Photo 6

When editing this photo I tried to focus on the drummers facial expression as this shows his passion and how focused he is on his drumming. The photo was originally underexposed therefore I had to change the colour and de-haze the image.

Editing Process

This image was very trick to balance as it was overexposed in a monochrome green. I had to change the tint of the image to get rid of the monotone and bring the exposure down and the contrast up slightly. I then brought the highlights down to help reduce the exposure. Followed by turning up the shadows, whites and blacks to create the balanced image.

The image above shows the tone curve map for how I changed the highlights, midtones and shadows.

This image was also fairly soft, so I then brought up the sharpening to make it more defined followed by reducing the noise created by this with the luminance tool.

As this image was highly overexposed I used the dehaze tool to get rid of the layer of haze on the image once balanced.

Photo 7

I made the image seem more still and stuck in time  by creating a monochrome effect on this image. Additionally this black and white theme links to him being stuck in the moment with music, showing that his identity is being portrayed through music.

Editing Process

This image was a good image when taken so not a lot of editing was needed. I brought the exposure down slightly and increased the contrast as I made it into a black and white image. Additionally to make it black and white I turned both the vibrance and saturation down. Moreover I turned the clarity up to make the darks more defined.

I added a slight amount of noise reduction to this but not a large amount.

I also used the dehaze tool to help make the image more defined.

Photo 8

Within this image I turned down the the shadows and blacks to help make the guitarist stand out. Additioanlly I turned the clarity all the way up to help bring him out from the background. This can help connote isolation and make it seem as though he is fully focused on expressing his identity through the music.

Editing Process

I liked the colours on this image so I decided not to touch them. Therefore I wanted to make the photo more defined. I decreased the contrast however I turned up the clarity to counter this. Additioanlly I brought the shadows down as it was too dark on his jacket. I then brought the whites up to highlight his guitar.

Photo 9

When editing this photo I tried to balance the images' highlights and shadows while emphasising the stage light. This is as the stage light helps create a sense of being at the gig and reinforces verisimilitude.

Editing Process

For this image I wanted to create a balanced image. Therefore I brought the exposure quite far down but countered this by bringing the contrast and clarity up, which helped bring them out from the background. Additioanlly I wanted to emphasise the stage light behind them, so I brought the highlights and whites up.

Photo 10

In this image I had to edit a fair bit as it was highly overexposed when I took it. However I kept this image in colour so that the stage lights could divide the audience and the band. This is as I wanted to emphasise the two sets of identities although there both linked to music.

Editing Process

This photo was tricky to do, however I used the dehaze tool first so that I had a clearer idea of what to do to the image. I brought up the exposure and the contras down. I then brought up both the shadows and whites followed by bringing the highlights and blacks down.

There was also a large amount of noise on this image so I used the luminance tool to reduce this.

Here I use the dehaze tool and turn it up very high.