tianaphotographingthecity

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Female in Focus

These photos are inspired by the women of London. The portraits show women in their everyday life. They are inspired by the award Female in Focus that gives credit to and acknowledges women photographers as they are underrepresented in their field. The work showcased by the women who have won this award vary greatly, but they all have a simplicity and causality similar to that of what you see in my photos. The photos also give a look into the everyday fashion of women in London.

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V&A Museum

This image relates to my final project because the focal point is the woman in the dress. I want my final project to be about fashion, specifically every day wear. I chose to photograph this women because her dressed stood out and she was more well-dressed than a majority of the other people I saw at the museum. I felt it was necessary leave a large area of space on either side of her to allow the audience to know where she is. Her blue dress contrasts to the neutral colors of the art.

My camera settings for this photo were: an ISO of 200, aperture of 5.6, exposure of zero, 45 mm lens, and 1/10 shutter speed. I choose these values because they made the image to appear the clear with substantial lighting.

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Studio Lighting Challenge

The first challenge was to create a dramatic photo. This is done by using a small frame of light to create dramatic shadows. To create this type of photo you want the light to be pointing down at the model, at about 45 degrees.

The second challenge was to create a beautifying photo. This is done using medium-sized lighting and light shadows.

The third challenge was flat/neutral. For this technique large, direct lighting is used.

With all of these different lighting set ups I found it difficult to adjust the lighting in order to create the right kind of shadow. I found trying to ensure there was no shadow to be the most difficult. I can use these techniques in my final project in order to create more dramatic photos using shadows or using medium lighting to create a beautifying appearance of the clothing I want to photograph.

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Day 7: Part 2: Architecture Photography

Steel and white building

2. Whole building no people

3. Triptych

4. Building at a low vantage point

5. Multiple buildings (4+)

I found achieving most of these photos to relatively easy. I think that each picture allowed me to develop a new way of taking a photo. In my final project I can use some of these techniques, such as using black and white images, rule of thirds, and low vantage points.

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Day 7: Part 1: Street Photography

For this assignment we had to take a series of street photos. The first photo shows Rule of Thirds and had to be taken by crouching down. This was an easy photo to achieve because you can visualize the thirds and choose what you would like to have in each section.

Photo two had to be of a high contrast area and showing leading lines. From having to achieve this photo I was able to gain a better understanding of the concept of leading lines. The lines that a person chooses to have in their photo leads to the focal point of the image. I found capturing this photo to be difficult because of the angle that is needed to achieve this type of image.

This next image was to be of two people who were facing you, with their full body in the picture, and no one else in the background. I chose to challenge myself by not asking two people to pose, but by trying to capture two people in motion, in a crowded area.

Photo four is of the best photo I took after standing in the same place for ten minutes.

The fifth picture is of a vanishing point. This is easy to accomplish by taking a picture down a long road.

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In Lecture today we focused on power dynamics. Alex explained that in order to create power dynamics in photos you want to have a low vantage point and have the subject filling the space. Lowering the camera and shooting the subject from above can also create a power dynamic between the subject and the person viewing the photo. 

Our first location was the BBC building. I found it difficult to determine poor dynamics based on the outside of the building. I decided to take a picture of the BBC sign and building at an upwards angle to show the height and significance of the building. I also chose to take a picture of a building officer telling a person they were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the building. The officers uniform shows that he has power of the individual. 

Next, we took pictures of a stranger who was walking down the street. I created a poor dynamic that makes the man powerful over the viewer of the photo by having him stand on an elevated surface. Also, I used the same technique to take a powerful photo of Ferrell. 

Lastly, I took a picture of the raised flags in street because flags typically symbolize the power of a particular group. 

Overall, I found the power dynamic exercise to be beneficial because it informed me on how to create powerful photos and I like how the pictures turned out. I can use this technique in my final project to show how powerful fashion is in society and the power that an individual feels in their outfit. 

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The Street fashion of London

One suggestion from peer reviews was to make my photos more cohesive. One suggestion was to have a set number of subjects in my photos. I chose to take two photos that contained one, two, and three people. Another suggestion was to determine a demographic. Another suggestion was demographics. However, I did not accomplish this suggestion because (1) I did not find it ethical to take pictures of children and (2) I only approached people that I felt comfortable doing so and was not going to ask anyone I did not feel confident talking with. In order to still have a more cohesive demographic, they decided to focus on race. My photos allowed me to have people with White European backgrounds for my photos of one and three people and Black European backgrounds for my photos of two people. Likewise, I chose for four of my photos to be posed of people standing and have two outliers, one of a woman walking and one of three girls sitting, to add a variety that still showed the pictures went together. Finally, to make them cohesive I chose to make all photos the same shape and size along with applying filters to some in order to have all photos have the same lighting.

In order to improve my street photography I did further research on London street artist. During my research, I discovered The1Harris. He is a London based photographer. One of his portfolios is fully of people doing their daily activities. some are posed, but most are taken without knowledge. I felt that this was good technique to try for some of photos in order to gain more variety in poses.

Here are some of his work:

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London Street Fashion

For the Pilot Phase project I chose to focus on London street fashion. I wanted to take pictures of people’s everyday fashion because the casual fashion of London is significantly more well-dressed than that of the United States of America. My purpose for obtaining photos was to ask as many groups of various sizes as I could. I felt this was a good first step because it would help me to get comfortable asking strangers to take their picture. My technique was to shoot all focused pictures to show the environment of where I found the outfit. I tried both landscape and portrait photos. I decided that the landscape photos looked more cohesive. Also, I tried both posed and unstaged photos to get a variety of perspectives. 

One improvement I can make for next time centering. I need to pay more attention to where my subjects are in the frame. Another improvement would be lighting. Some pictures are overexposed. I can fix this by lowering my shutter speed. I can make my photos more cohesive by choosing to photograph only staged or not staged as well as deciding on demographics, like race or age, and the amount of people in the photo.

Before taking my photos, I chose to explore fashion photography done by London photographers, specifically those that focused on street fashion. Through my research I discovered David Nyanzi, who is an Instagram photographer based in London. Nyanzi’s work captures the sophistication and creativity that goes into London fashion. Furthermore, he captures pictures of people walking through the streets as well as asking for people to pose for a photo. I used Nyanzi’s techniques to help guide me with my photo taking.

Here are some of David Nyanzi's photos:

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Aperture

The purpose of this assignment was to capture two portraits of our partner. For the first portrait Layla posed herself. I chose to have the picture show only Layla and the door behind her in order to ensure that Layla would be the focal point. Landscape seemed to be the best layout for the photo in order to get all the bars in the photo. Additionally, I chose to take the straight on. This, along with focusing on Layla looking away from the photo, gave an egocentric feel to the image. 

For the second picture I told Layla how to pose. After talking with Layla for a while, I could tell that she had a fun and bubbly personality. Therefore, I wanted to give her a fun pose that focused on her smile and showed her personality. For this photo I chose to take the picture from directly above Layla in order to only get her face in the photo. 

My experience with my first photography assignment was overwhelming. I found it difficult to find locations and poses for my partner. I also had issues with framing and getting my subject to be in the center. Overall, the assignment was interesting to do and I was able to gain more experience working with my camera.

Shutter Speed

The second technique we focused on was shutter speed. This allows for pictures of objects in motion. The first photo shows stop motion. This was achieved by having a fast shutter speed. This technique was difficult to achieve because I found it hard to to get the timing right and had difficulty following the subject in motion. I could use this technique in my Pilot Project to get pictures of people walking, instead of stopping them to ask for their picture or to get action shots of the individuals. 

The last photo is of slow shutter speed. This blurs the object in motion while keeping the background clear. I found this technique difficult as well for the reasons previously mentioned for the fast shutter speed. I do not think this technique would be effective for my project because it would blur the outfits of the individuals and with the outfits being the focal point, that would not be beneficial. 

Overall, I found the entire assignment to be very helpful in helping me to gain new techniques for taking my photos.

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Layla posed by Layla and Layla posed by Tiana.

Three facts about Layla:

Learning Chinese

Experienced in Tae Kwan Do 

Has been to a Tyler the Creator concert 

The purpose of this assignment was to capture two portraits of our partner. For the first portrait Layla posed herself. I chose to have the picture show only Layla and the door behind her in order to ensure that Layla would be the focal point. Landscape seemed to be the best layout for the photo in order to get all the bars in the photo. Additionally, I chose to take the straight on. This, along with focusing on Layla looking away from the photo, gave an egocentric feel to the image. 

For the second picture I told Layla how to pose. After talking with Layla for a while, I could tell that she had a fun and bubbly personality. Therefore, I wanted to give her a fun pose that focused on her smile and showed her personality. For this photo I chose to take the picture from directly above Layla in order to only get her face in the photo. 

My experience with my first photography assignment was overwhelming. I found it difficult to find locations and poses for my partner. I also had issues with framing and getting my subject to be in the center. Overall, the assignment was interesting to do and I was able to gain more experience working with my camera.