Review of Final Piece.

Review of Final Piece

My final piece has come out well. You can see both the ghosts in the photos and the colours look both old and tattered. While editing on Photoshop I have had complications with both of the ghosts and trying to make sure they can be seen and have the effect I was going for. This meant making sure the figures aren't too light or too dark when placing them in the windows. Photoshop has been the main source of editing these photos and I have been able to create the old effect I wanted and I am pleased with the outcome. When editing the photos I had to keep going back to old photos and remind myself what different styles they had and what would work best in my own work. Being able to analyse photos from years ago has helped a lot in what has shaped my own final piece. The main focus was making sure the photos look old and not modern but also that they have the ghostly feel many of the famous ghost photos have.

Plan of Final Piece.

For my final piece I am going to create two old ghost photos. The two photos I will use will be of old looking buildings and will have a ghost in one of the windows. The ghost will be easily seen and will look like it is standing in the window looking at the camera. To create these photos I will use Photoshop and edit the photos to look old. I have taken two photos, one is a close up of a window from a church and the other is a house. For the house photo I will put a shaded figure in one of the top windows so that it looks like a ghost. For the second image I will put an image of a man starring down in the window so that it looks like someone is in the church looking back at you. These two photos will also hopefully look like old photos taken years ago, with marks and brown, black and white colours used. I have tested out different ways of making a photo look old and placing a ghost in a photo and found the best outcome thanks to my experimentations.

Review of Experimentations.

                    Review of Experimentations.

My experiments have helped me get a better idea of what I will be able to do for my final piece. By editing on Photoshop and trying out different effects such as Contre-jour I have a much better idea of what technique I will use in my final piece. The main focus of my experimentations was to see if I could re-create the ghost effect used in many famous photos. By doing this I can see what will work and what will not for my ghost themed final piece.

Editing my photos on Photoshop has been a big part when creating my ghost style experiments. This is because Photoshop offers the best way to edit the photos to look black and white or old and then changing the person to look like a ghost in the window. I am pleased with some of the outcomes, for example having someones face in the window works but looks better when it has the dissolve effect on Photoshop. Being able to change the colour of the photo was also a lot easier on Photoshop as you can get the right tone for the old style or just go black and white easily.

Looking at different camera techniques such as Contre-jour has helped bring more meaning and story into my experimentations. This means when working on my final piece I will be able to incorporate many of the techniques I have experimented with.

Contre-jour Contact Sheet.

Contre-jour experiments.

These are my Contre-jour experiments. Some have worked well however there are some which you can still see details of the face and body when it should be just black. I like the effect and the on the hand photos especially the Contre-jour has worked well.

Old Style - Experiments.

By editing on Photoshop I was able to create photographs with an old style. Changing the hue/saturation helps create this effect and the outcome looks like something I could use in my final piece. For this first photo I used the black and white photo of the window. The colours have worked well together and it looks like the photo has been taken a long time ago.

This photo is the first experiment I have done with the ghost effect. I have taken a photo of small child from the internet and placed her over the window. By using Photoshop I was able to make the photo look like it is a ghost. After placing the girl in the photo I lowered the vibrance which made the photo black and white. Then I raised the brightness so that the girl looks distorted and more ghost like. I then used the soft light tool to make the girl barely visible and to make it look like she is inside the window.

Old Style.

Old photos have a unique and similar look. The mix of browns and black white is a running theme throughout. As you can see from these photos there is a large difference between the brown coloured photo and the black and white. The brown and yellow's in the first photo do fit in well with the ghost style because the photo in a whole looks a lot more creepy and ghost like. For my final piece I will try to re-create this effect with windows and ghost like figures.

Bubbles and Milk.

Bubbles
As an experiment I have taken photos of water pouring into a container of water. This is because you can see many small bubbles and the effect looks good. Each bubble can be easily seen and they look slightly surreal. Having this type of surreal effect could be something I incorporate into my final piece.

Milk

By pouring a small amount of milk into a container of water, it gives the impression of smoke or fog. The first thing you think of when looking at these photos are smoke or fog. I am pleased with the outcome of the photos, however you had to time it right when taking a photo and some of the photos weren't in focus. This was because when you focus the camera at a certain distance from the water it will then lose the focus if you move and become slightly blurred.

Figures In Windows. - contre-jour.

Lauren Turton does window photography with contre-jour. This fits in well with the figures in windows topic I have chosen. The photo itself has a lot of mystery because you can't see the people's features or who they are. You can't see what is outside the window because of how bright and white it is which adds more mystery. The inside of the house is very dark and the outside is very bright. This could show sadness and loneliness inside the house and hope and happiness outside the window in the open world.

Another photographer who uses contre-jour in their photography is Victoria Jane. Their photos seem to have stories and look like part of a film. This has a very romantic feel because of the two people kissing. The photo reminds me of something from a fairytale or a romantic film. The outside of the photo looks very light and could once again mean there is hope outside the window. The two people inside the room could show hope and love inside the darkness.