For this particular assignment, since we are supposed to take photographs of things and places that are of significance to us, I’ve settled on focusing on bringing out the sentimentality. Before jumping to shooting for the project, I did some research for inspiration!
RESEARCH
http://www.rengim.com/shoots
http://www.rengim.com/shoots
Rengim’s photos have this unmistaken feeling of amenity, a soft kindling of something nostalgic with her usage of duller, muter tones. With these comforting colours, it truly expresses the softness of sentimentality.
The depth of view and chiaroscuro effects are combined seamlessly, making the photographs seem untouched and pure.
I really enjoyed browsing through her gallery, every piece had its very own unique warm, content feeling.
AKOS MAJOR
http://www.photographyoffice.com/blog/2014/9/minimalist-waterscapes-by-akos-major-photography
http://www.designstudio210.com/2013/05/on-the-wall-photographer-akos-major/
Akos had an eye for minimalistic shots that showed little, without losing its impact. Looking at his photographs, you just feel so serene and at peace. There’s not much happening usually, but the flatness and negative spaces he leaves gives this feeling that hey, there’s much more but this is what you see, and you will feel calmed.
Similar to Rengim, he uses slightly weaker tones and hues too, maximising the feeling of peace and quiet sentiments.
PROCESS
All I used for this assignment was my trusty Samsung S8+ camera and a friend as a tripod! (thanks man)
I’ll mostly be editing the lighting and a little of the hues with Photoshop after selecting the final 3 photos for each task.
For Task 1, I chose a ring my dearest grandmother bought for me from those rental box shops! It’s nothing much, but it means a lot to me.
CLOSE UPS
Close up test shots of the ring. I used a background that contrasted with the ring, especially since it’s a tiny object, I wanted it to pop out and avoid blending and disappearing from the viewer’s focus.
FULL BODY with the object
Full body shots ended up being mostly fail shots as my chosen object is way too small to be seen or focused on in these shots. But I still tried to convey the feeling of sentiment from the posing, although not proving to be as effective as the object of interest isn’t really obvious.
FULL BODY interacting with object
Similarly to the earlier full body shots, the ring is really small in the photos. However, compared to the earlier shots, with the simple act of interacting with the ring, it shows that there’s actually something there for the viewer to see.
MID-RANGE
Mid-range shots have a slightly more personal feeling. With the closeness but not too close either, it gives off this feeling of understanding.
These shots worked better in showing the nostalgic emotions, hopefully making some sort of a subtle connection between photo and the person viewing.
CLOSE UP of interacting with object
The close up interaction shots gave decent results I felt. They just felt way closer, personal and it really brings the ring into focus.
The ring is shown clearer and minor actions and details and be seen and portray some expression and maybe a little implication of a story?
After looking through all the shots, I prefer the full body interactive ones the most, but I’ll edit them and see how it all turns out!
For Task 2, I went to my primary school and the general neighbourhood area around it.
As it was a weekend when I went to take these photos, the school was obviously closed. It was really quiet and I couldn’t really get in to shoot. So I improvised and just went around taking photos of the routes and places I used to go or just hang around at.
I went up a few HDB blocks trying to take some top down shots of the school and the neighbourhood and I’m glad the weather that day was really nice.
All in all, some of the shots ended up a little off, with the emotion not being conveyed properly, being blurry, odd angles that just didn’t work out. But they were all just learning points in the end, and a few turned out decent enough for post processing, so there’s that. It was a little hard taking photos with just a phone and no actual tripod but with what I have, I’ll have to make do!