ROBERT LYNCH
boomsatsuma
MEDIA STUDENT
UNIT 31 ANALYSING A RANGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Yousuf Karsh,
Audrey Hepburn portrait
Yousuf Karsh: Formal portrait of Audrey Hepburn.
Photographic Category: Formal portrait piece for portfolio or exhibition piece.
Purpose: The purpose of this photo is to be used as a portfolio piece or exhibition piece.
Image analysis: The image is in black and white (due to the era of the image, though all of Yousuf’s portrait images were in black and white) which adds depth to the image with the white canvas and Audrey’s black clothing. The photographer does not use any harsh lighting as Audrey’s face has not been washed out by light. Lighting has been used though, you can see by the angle Audrey has her face that light is directly aimed at her face and is creating a shadow on the other side of her face, this could have been done to add extra effect as well as bring out her features for the photograph.
Meaning: Yousuf Karsh usually made his subjects look a certain way whether that be, powerful and wise or doubtful and weak. This image creates a sense of power with Audrey whith her breaking away from the background and being highlighted, this could be representing her presence in aspects of her life. Yet at the same time her head is held high yet her eye fall as is to show doubt, this could be done to show the pressures of being a actress, model and activist.
OTHER IMAGES BY YOUSUF;
Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1932 the var department hyeres
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photograph of a man riding a bike.
Photographic Category: Photo for portfolio of exhibition piece.
Purpose: To be used as portfolio piece or exhibition piece.
Image analysis: The image has a lot of twists and turns in it which give a sense of confusion along with the blurred figure whizzing past. The camera used has a slow shutter speed so the biker is not captured still yet leaves a trail of blurred light behind him. The photo was taken outside so natural light was used this means that no artificial lights had to be used.
Meaning: Its hard to find a meaning behind the techniques used when the image is a man riding a bike but the contents can reveal a good enough meaning. Everything in the image other than the person on the bike is still which gives a sense of immovability or staying the same then the person blurs through the image showing him/her passing through their still surroundings.
Other photos by Henri
Neil Leifer; photo of Muhammad Ali
Neil Leifer: Image of Muhammad Ali’s win over Sonny Liston.
Photographic category: Portfolio piece or exhibition piece.
Purpose: To be used as a portfolio or exhibition piece.
Image analysis: The image is obviously capturing one of Muhammad Ali’s great victory’s so the camera is aimed up at him showing him standing above everyone else. The lights that are on Muhammad are strong on him and his direct surroundings but not any further so Muhammad and a phew rows are lighted then the light fades in blackness, this creates the effect that Ali’s victory is the light.
Meaning: This image was captured to show Muhammad Ali standing above all other men and women creating the effect that he is on top and some kind of man to be revered in the world of boxing.
Other images from Neill
Unit 31 photography.
Off site project.
Taste of Africa: Taste of Africa is a restaurant on fishponds high street which serves all kinds of food from veggie couscous meals to beef burgers and curry’s. I think this will be a good choice to photograph for Unit 31 as it is a good example of a local business who serves local people.
Doug Hillard: Is a local sports store that supply’s to the local community and other sporting associations. I think it will be good to photograph for Unit 31 as it is a good local business to show what a bit of diversity in the local community which lots of foot stored or electronics.
Pot Black Pool Club: I think Pot Black Pool Club will be a good place to take photos of for our Unit 31 work as it has a nice gloomy environment and no harsh lights except the light directly above the pool tables which is perfect for taking photos. I wanted to use Pot Black as the local company to use as my subject as I like it’s not a place for everyone walking by to go in, it’s a quiet place for people who wants to play pool or snooker, have a drink and that’s it.
10 Unedited Photos
Unit 31 photo editing.
Edit 1
1.Original photo: This is one of the pictures I took a pot black, it is of all the pool balls set up in a triangle ready for the game to begin with the eight ball tilted to face the camera. I wanted to get a good angle so there would be a nice shine on the balls.
1.Edited photo: The original photo was too dark so brightened it up in premier pro, I also brought the exposure levels up in the image to make the colours seem to burst more. I added a boarder to the image as well as it is meant to be a postcard.
Photo edits: In this screen shot I showed the most obvious things I did to the photo from brightening up the photo in general and bringing the exposure levels up as well as the contrast.
 Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.04.26 |  Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.04.07 |
|---|---|
 Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.04.16 |  Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.04.46 |
 Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.05.01 |  Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.04.52 |
Edit 2
2.Original photo: I like this photo as it is the opposite side of the first photo and at a level view which almost makes it seem as though you are the white ball about to hurdle into the rest. The lighting is again at a nice angle and adds a good shine to the balls. The straight blackness in the background of the photo adds a nice effect creating a highlighted effect surrounding the table and balls.
2.Edited photo: The original photo looked a little pale for my liking so I darkened the brightness and contrast of the image making it easier on the eyes. Whilst Lowering the brightness and contrast of the image I heightened the exposure to make the colours pop out more as they were still a bit pale.
Photo edits: This photo I felt was a little too over exposed which in tow made the overal image look washed but made the green on the pool table pretty horrible. To sort this out I lowerred the saturation and hightened the contrast for some darker tones. While sorting out the "washed" look I did decide to keep a vintage tone to it in omage to the history of billiards.
 5 |  Screen Shot 2017-05-12 at 10.26.13 |
|---|---|
 2 |  1 |
 3 |
Edit 3
3.Original photo: I wanted this image to look like the kind of photo that would be hung up on a wall somewhere and just capture pool. Again the lighting is really good from the lamps this adds a great shine to the balls as well as brings the green of the table out.
3.Edited photo. This photo I wanted to look like a 1950’s poster style image and I think I captured that well by layering a ‘poster’ style over it. In this image I also raised the colours, contrast and exposer.
Photo edits: To achieve my "1950's" poster look I pushed the saturation, exposure and contrast to extremes to really make a somewhat distorted look. I personally really like the old very comic like posters and had fun trying to imitate it.
 6 |  9 |
|---|---|
 8 |  7 |
Edit 4
4.Original photo: This image was not a planned one. It was a spur of the moment image we took which in the end looks the best out of the rest of the images in my opinion. The harsh light on Alon’s hand is from the pool tables lamps which highlighted his hand well but also kind of washed his hand out. I used a 50mm lens which got his hand really nice and crisp and keeps the background blurred out. It helps that the only real lights are the ones from the pool table’s because it adds a cool effect having a solid black background.
4.Edited photo: This image previously was to blown out by the light from the pool table so I had to bring the brightness levels down in photoshop and make the contrast darker. This made the image look a lot nicer as you can actually see the details of the finer and chalk cube. For the future if I take a image like this again I will think about the angle I am taking this image at when harsh light is involved.
Photo edits: In this photot I really like the depth of field I have created from the cue all the way back to the subjects knuckles, The original photo was over exposed too much so I lowered the brightness and highened the contrast, I still wanted some white noise and fuzz in the image as I feel it gives it extra character.
 10 |  11 |
|---|---|
 12 |  13 |
9 |
Edit 5
5. Original photo. This image I feel was the best in terms of the lighting, the depth of field and focus as well as the angle of the photo. Again this photo follows my theme of the plain black background.
Edited photo. As I like this image alot I only edited it a little bit, all I did to this image is make the contrast a bit stronger and the over all image just brighter.
 18 | 9 |
|---|---|
8 | 11 |
Here is the screen shots from the editing of this photo, again it was very light editing just a little touch up, I felt it's be fine to do this as with some of the other photos I really pushed the boat out.
Overview and review; So as you can see the themes I am following through these pictures are mor in the way the photo is taken rather than edited, I always leave black space behind each photo to contrast against the photo subject it's self. I really like this as I like to see a subject popping against the background. My first photographer I analysed, Yousef Karsh was an inspiration for this as he keeps blank space.
UNIT 31 PRE PRODUCTION
Pot black risk assessment
Location Recce
Call Sheet
Analysing Images
Martin Parr - Tea
Genre: Social Documentary
Analysis:
-
The Tea: The Tea it’s self is a very standard English Tea. The reason this cup of tea looks English is it’s clear milky consistency. Indian tea uses mild but is a lot thicker and Oriental tea use tea leaves to permeate in the water and nothing else much is used to ad a milky consistency.
-
The Cup and Saucer: The cup and saucer have a Oriental style to them, this style is called willow pattern and was very much in style between the 60’s and 80’s of the UK, some places still use the style.
-
The cloth: The cloth again like the tea is very reminiscent of classic England, a picnic in the park is what I would use to describe the cloth. It is also like a cafe label as it looks thin and could be used as a table cover.