Lens Based
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Inspiration
John Shaw is an American nature photographer who is well known for his instructional books. In 1997, he received the inaugural Outstanding Photographer Award from North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA). In 2002, Nikon featured him as "Legend Behind the Lens". John Shaw is known best for his travel and nature photography. His passion for travel and the outdoors developed at an early age, “My parents owned a travel trailer and we visited scenic vistas and national parks all over the U.S. and Canada”. His started to get interested in photography when he was given a camera in middle school. “I became more serious about it during my college years, when I made my first photo sales. Primarily I was photographing nature subjects at the time. Photography became my full-time pursuit in the fall of 1971, and has been ever since.” Shaw uses a Nikon camera to capture his pictures, normally he uses the Nikon D4S and D810. The two pictures I was inspired by were of tress that were changing colors for the fall. They had the bright reds and oranges that contrasted with different greens and blues. |
Planning
The idea of the project started with fall memories with my dad. For dance I always had regional's for dance around Thanksgiving, which also created memories between me and my dad. My dad passed away a few years ago so I like to keep memories of us close to help me keep him close. The season of fall just seemed right to photography because my favorite memories of us come from that season. I knew I wanted to do landscape photography to capture the seasons different colors. I was thinking about going to park to take these pictures but knew they had no connection to my dad. This is when I came up with the idea to go to the Milwaukee zoo, because that's where I first learned about photography. My dad used to be into photography so he would always take me to the zoo and teach me how to work the camera. After deciding where I was going to take the pictures I started to sketch out different ideas that I should capture. I knew I wanted a lot of trees for the colors, but also thought having different water features would help enhance the comparison to my inspiration. I also knew I wanted to have bright reds and orange over the greens and browns that could still be on the trees.
The idea of the project started with fall memories with my dad. For dance I always had regional's for dance around Thanksgiving, which also created memories between me and my dad. My dad passed away a few years ago so I like to keep memories of us close to help me keep him close. The season of fall just seemed right to photography because my favorite memories of us come from that season. I knew I wanted to do landscape photography to capture the seasons different colors. I was thinking about going to park to take these pictures but knew they had no connection to my dad. This is when I came up with the idea to go to the Milwaukee zoo, because that's where I first learned about photography. My dad used to be into photography so he would always take me to the zoo and teach me how to work the camera. After deciding where I was going to take the pictures I started to sketch out different ideas that I should capture. I knew I wanted a lot of trees for the colors, but also thought having different water features would help enhance the comparison to my inspiration. I also knew I wanted to have bright reds and orange over the greens and browns that could still be on the trees.
Process
I started by finding leaves from around my neighborhood that could be used to experiment with the colors. I would take pictures of the leaves I thought had the brightest colors that I could use for inspiration. I liked the way the orange and red mixed together because when I think of fall, I think of these colors together. |
I also passed different trees that could help experiment with color contrast. This also helped me see the different angles I could get to find the best picture. Here was where I was testing out different lens and decided to go with the wide lens, which is most common with landscape photography.
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When walking around I was look for different tree that one still had leaves, and were also different colors. I was trying to make each picture I took different to ensure that I got a variety of different pictures. Throughout walking through the zoo, I captured different trees and water scene that I could use for my final picture. I was looking for different pathways that had trees on both sides so it looked like you were going into the trees. I also liked the pictures where the sun was peaking through from behind the leaves. The only downside about these pictures was that it made it harder to edit the picture because the sun was so bright it canceled out the color of the leaves, which took away from the overall picture. |
Once I got enough pictures, I uploaded all of them onto my computer. As I was going through them I deleted ones I didn’t like or ones that could not be fixed during my photo-shop phase. I went through and picked out my favorites that I would take the time to edit, because the others I knew I could use for process pictures so I wanted to keep them original. To edit the pictures I used the tools on my MacBook photos. I played around with the brightness, contrast, exposure, brilliance, highlights, and shadows. When going through this process I wanted to keep the pictures natural, but also allow the bright colors to pop. I mainly used the exposure and contrast tools. When I was doing this process I had a picture of my inspiration from John Shaw just to ensure that I was using techniques similar to him. The two picture below are the ones felt connected the best with John Shaw's pieces and I felt like they turned out the best. These pictures didn't need a lot of editing either I just fixed the lighting to brighten the leaves and I felt like they were fine right after.
Reflection
Overall I am happy with how the pictures turned out. I think they capture the meaning I was trying to go for just the way I wanted them to. This was my first time doing landscape photography, and I really liked the way it turned out. I think the viewer can see how my pictures were inspired by John Shaw's photography. I feel like the pictures I took captured different memories of me and my dad. I feel like I used more skills in testing out different lens where the last photography project I stuck to the same lens. I also went into this project not knowing what to expect and just letting the camera be the moment which felt like I had more creative freedom.
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
Overall I am happy with how the pictures turned out. I think they capture the meaning I was trying to go for just the way I wanted them to. This was my first time doing landscape photography, and I really liked the way it turned out. I think the viewer can see how my pictures were inspired by John Shaw's photography. I feel like the pictures I took captured different memories of me and my dad. I feel like I used more skills in testing out different lens where the last photography project I stuck to the same lens. I also went into this project not knowing what to expect and just letting the camera be the moment which felt like I had more creative freedom.
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
- Angles- I used the same angles that John Shaw used to achieve his pictures. I did this to ensure that I got a similar shot to him but also to make sure I got all the leaves I wanted to capture.
- Leave colors- I had two different pictures that I was inspired by, so in the first one I includes red and orange leaves like how John Shaw did. In the second I found more green and yellow leaves right by water to capture that picture.
- The types of trees photographed were different. At first i didn’t think this would be a big deal but after looking at the pictures you can tell that the evergreen tress John Shaw used were more full and didn’t look bare, where in mine I used regular trees from around Milwaukee. At the point I took pictures some had lost leaves making my pictures look bare.
- The color of the water in the one picture of green and yellow leaves. In my picture the water is darker and the leaves aren’t reflecting off the water whereas in John Shaw's the water is bright blue and the leaves are making a prefect reflection.
Critique
Overall I am happy with how the pictures turned out. I feel like the viewer can relate them back to my inspiration John Shaw. I think the way I used the exposure and contrast tools really helped bring out the true colors of fall that people think of. I think if could change this project I would have gone around to more places that had meaning to me and my dad and take pictures there. This could give me more options when it was time to pick the pictures I liked the best, because after going them the picture I took it was hard for me to decide what picture to turn in because I didn’t know which one looked the best. I also feel like I could have experimented more with the editing process. I could have made the editing more dramatic and not as natural where it doesn’t look edited. I also feel like I could have used different parts of the camera better like changing up the lens or mode I used. I also believe I could of tried different techniques from different artist to have my pictures stand out and not just look like fall photos.
Overall I am happy with how the pictures turned out. I feel like the viewer can relate them back to my inspiration John Shaw. I think the way I used the exposure and contrast tools really helped bring out the true colors of fall that people think of. I think if could change this project I would have gone around to more places that had meaning to me and my dad and take pictures there. This could give me more options when it was time to pick the pictures I liked the best, because after going them the picture I took it was hard for me to decide what picture to turn in because I didn’t know which one looked the best. I also feel like I could have experimented more with the editing process. I could have made the editing more dramatic and not as natural where it doesn’t look edited. I also feel like I could have used different parts of the camera better like changing up the lens or mode I used. I also believe I could of tried different techniques from different artist to have my pictures stand out and not just look like fall photos.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The cause and effect relationship is how self expression is shown through different memories, so seeing something important with have an rippling effect of making you remember these memories.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The theme of self expression and how different memories mean certain things to people, using photography to express ourselves.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came to the conclusion that many photographers enjoy taking fall time pictures just because of the many possibilities you can capture on your camera.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme around my project was self expression to show how different memories that have been captured throughout life can be remembered during specific times of the year.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inferences I made were that John Shaw likes to capture different moments with photography and find to true meaning behind them.
Bibliography
https://www.johnshawphoto.com/
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/ideas-and-inspiration/john-shaw-a-photographers-vision-simplified.html
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
The cause and effect relationship is how self expression is shown through different memories, so seeing something important with have an rippling effect of making you remember these memories.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The theme of self expression and how different memories mean certain things to people, using photography to express ourselves.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came to the conclusion that many photographers enjoy taking fall time pictures just because of the many possibilities you can capture on your camera.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The theme around my project was self expression to show how different memories that have been captured throughout life can be remembered during specific times of the year.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The inferences I made were that John Shaw likes to capture different moments with photography and find to true meaning behind them.
Bibliography
https://www.johnshawphoto.com/
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/ideas-and-inspiration/john-shaw-a-photographers-vision-simplified.html