Devil's Dyke Shoot

We arrived at Devil's Dyke at 5:30am for sunrise at 6am. We stayed until 7am in order to capture the sunrise and the moment when the sunlight fell on the dyke. I tried many different camera settings, finding that in order to capture the colour of the clouds, I had to let in less light, which made the foreground very dark. I may have to take the sky from the darker photos and add it to the foreground of the lighter photos. It was a beautiful experience, and gave me an opportunity to try different aperture, ISO and shutter speed settings.

 ISO 100, 0''4, F11

 ISO 200, 1/15, F16

 ISO 100, 1/20, F20

Long Man Progress

I have added the giant image to the photograph of the Long Man of Wilmington, with the aim that it looks like the back of a giant's head in the foreground of the photograph. I used a photograph of the back of my father's head and used the brush tool and the smudge tool to make it larger, change the shape slightly and blur the edges.

I am also still playing with the colour of the background image using selective colour rather than a colour balance mask, experimenting with making it more green or red, and seeing which I prefer.

Michelham Priory Progress

I have added a 'ghostly' image to the Michelham Priory photograph. There are two identical images of the ghost on top of each other. The bottom layer has a 20% opacity and motion blur, and the layer on top has 56% opacity.

 There are two identical images of the ghost on top of each other. The bottom layer has a 20% opacity and motion blur, and the layer on top has 56% opacity.

Tutorial used: Ghosting tutorial

New Photograph

I am changing the Lewes Castle ghost to a different mythical creature to avoid having two of the same (ghosts). I am going to St Leonard's forest near Horsham, where folktales speak of dragons dwelling throughout the past. They are proud of this past, with carvings of dragons on benches and such tributes. This will be a challenging creature to portray, and will once again involve Photoshop.

Thinking Photography

Thinking about the purpose of the photograph that you are taking is essential in photography. Why is it interesting? Why would people want to see it?

"For the functionalist there exists a why, a wherefore, as well as what and how. That is what makes a work into a 'cause', i.e.an instrument of purposeful effect." (Quote from Novy Lef, quoted in Burgin 1982:179)

Taking photographs as 'status updates' relies upon the narcissistic principle of assuming that people will want to see your photograph. What is the point of photographs that are not interesting? Is this principle destroying the medium of photography itself? Look at the photograph before you take it - does it have a punctum? Is there a meaning behind it that you are attempting to convey, or is it merely a studium with no focus or purpose?

I must ensure that my photographs are taken purposefully, and that they will achieve their desired function: to inspire people into being more imaginative, like our ancestors, rather than blindly believing that they have seen all this world has to offer. To focus more upon the future than to dwell upon the past is important, but important lessons can only be learnt by looking back. Ancient fables and fairytales are still told to children today because they teach essential lessons so effectively, there is no reason to stop telling the same tales. Equally, we all still learn about the mythical creatures featured in Sussex Myths and Folktales, because they still inspire such interest in people today. We have not yet surpassed believing, however hesitantly, that there might just have been some truth in these stories.

I do not believe that the medium of photography will ever die. Truly aesthetically pleasing photographs will never lose their beauty, and people will never lose their captivation with such images. Photographs as political points as well, as showing changes both throughout the world and over time, will always be useful as historical record, to be used in the future. Vernacular photography teaches us about the past, with each photograph telling its own story.

-Burgin, V. (1982) 'Chapter 8: Photography, Phantasy, Function' in Thinking Photography. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 177-219.

Ubiquitous Photography

"Something that is ever present and everywhere..."

Photograph-based social media platforms - sharing photos can lead to connective and collective memory.

Flikr - instrument to shaped views of the world.
Shared pictures = sharing experiences, life stories.
In the past, photographs would have been shared by passing prints around families and friends, so photographic social networking sites create personal connections between users.

Penelope Umbrico - works with 'found photos' from sites such as Flikr. She compiles them into one installation to compare aesthetics. Installation of sunsets from Flikr now 21,887,750 images strong.

Erica Scourti - works with online blogging. Contacted people to set up a creative exchange, encouraging people to share their photos with captions.

Joachim Schmid - German found photography artist. Wanted to document shifts in the age of digital photography. Published a book of 'other people photography', exploring patterns and themes. Analyses Flikr as a culture of creativity.

Discussions - How do these media platforms act? They work as a development of passing around prints of photographs between your relations - they expand your social circle and allow people to share photographs with people on the other side of the planet. Uploading photos of universal events such as sunsets encourages connectivity by sharing an image of an event that happens all over the world: an image that everyone knows and recognises as a sunset, but knowing that it was taken thousands of miles away brings you closer to that photographer.

Databending

We were experimenting with data bending photographs by opening them as a .bmp file in TextEdit and changing the code. This can include removing, duplicating and moving sections of the code. The results of my experiments are as follows. I think this is a great technique, and it is an illustration of the possibilities that digital photography holds. It is a new art form, which holds any audience in fascination and excitement at new possibilities.

 

Changing the colours of natural photographs represents the effects of the digital age on natural concepts. One could argue that nature can barely exist anymore - any time it flourishes, digital technology arrives to invade the space. This data bending exercise has reminded me that even photography can be seen as a violation of the natural world. We take beautiful natural phenomena and transform them into data.

Michelham Priory Shoot

I have completed the Michelham Priory shoot, and have photographed several different possible locations for the representation of the ghost that allegedly haunts the priory. 

I like the warm lighting - it was sunny, but not too bright as to over-expose the images. I want to include as much of the building in the photograph as possible, so that people can recognise the iconography of the location, whilst also seeing the ghost. I will place her in the shadows somewhere, so that the ghostly white image stands out amongst the surroundings.

Databending and Glitch Art

'Databending' is the term describing the emerging art of digitally editing photos by changing the code of the imported image. This achieves a 'glitching' effect - unnatural patterns and colours appearing across the image.

The digital nature of this art form makes it popular with the modern music industry for album covers and music videos.

Location: Devil's Dyke

The legend states that the Devil flew away before he had finished digging at Devil's Dyke, so I will go up there very early, soon after dawn, so that I get beautiful lighting for the shoot, and I can use Photoshop to super-impose the Devil, flying away, in the distance.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/devils-dyke/

Schedule (and new location)

I have decided to change the Springheeled Jack photograph to one of Devil's Dyke, near Brighton. This legend is more exciting, featuring the Devil himself.

The Legend of Devil's Dyke

Long Man of Wilmington - Complete, editing in progress.

Ghost of Lewes Castle - ASAP, early morning (before people start arriving), cloudy day.

Ghost of Michelham Priory - Friday 13th March

Devil's Dyke - Saturday 14th March

Fairies of Mount Caburn - Few weeks time, when it is warmer.

Old Witch of a Sussex Village - TBA, when Amber (the witch) is free to travel to Seaford.

Location: Long Man of Wilmington

Information about location

Location: Lewes Castle

This site gives information about open times, fees and location.

https://sussexpast.co.uk/properties-to-discover/lewes-castle

Location: Mount Caburn

Mount Caburn is located in Glynde. These are public guides for accessing the Mount.

Instructions

Google Maps street view of the location

Creating Artificial Landscapes

For more Photoshop practise, I've created some artificial landscapes by combining photographs to make a new 'environment'. Both were very quickly done, but I feel that they are quite effective examples of how Photoshop can be used to create landscapes.

This is a combination of a photograph of the Milky Way as a background with two layers on top, each containing an image of a marble, removed from their original backgrounds. 

This is an image of some fireworks with an image of the countryside over the top. Using the magic wand tool, I removed the blue sky from the countryside photo, and as I went into quite close detail, removing tiny pixels of blue from between the leaves of the tree so that the fireworks really appeared to be behind it, which tricks the viewer into almost believing the illusion.

Shop Keeper Task

This is the best result from the task we were given over reading week - to take 5 portrait photos of a shop keeper. Once we found a shop keeper who was willing to be photographed, we had to try and take the portraits; however there was a very low level of light, so most came out fuzzy, despite adjusting the camera to a darkened environment. Using photoshop, I managed to lighten and sharpen them slightly, and this was the only example that really came out. They're not very interesting photos, but it was an incredibly uncomfortable task for someone who would never chose to do a photography project of strangers who are trying to go about their own business.

Flash Gun Photography

This morning we've been experimenting with flash gun photography. I have never gotten on well with flashes up to now, but we achieved some really captivating effects today, and now I feel that I'd like to explore this field more. In relation to my project, I think that the flash could have a 'creepy' effect on my witch photo. A lit foreground can give a photography an eerie effect.

Burgin Reading

I found this reading interesting, as it highlighted for me a fact that I had not registered until now: that photographs are not to be viewed for an extended period of time. To do so generates a frustration to see more of the scene (from the point of view of the camera). The viewer wishes to become present within the photograph in order to see more than the brief moment in time captured by the camera.
I think that this will be relevant to my project, as the mythological characters that I am portraying through my work will be intriguing to a modern audience, and they will want to see more of them. For example, they will want to see the 'pharisees' flying around; the witch hobble into her hovel; the bogeyman spring out at some unsuspecting passers-by. I think it is this fascination with mythological characters that is so important for my project to be a success - my audience has to be intrigued by what they are seeing.

Burgin, V. (1982) 'Chapter 8: Photography, Phantasy, Function' in Thinking Photography. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 191.

First Shoot

Today we went on a practise shoot in some of the locations that I will be photographing for my final project. I found that one of the main problems with landscape photography is the uncontrollable element of natural light. I have found in the past that sunlight makes landscape photography very difficult, but I feel that some of the images that I am trying to capture would be enhanced by sunlight. If some of the images that I captured today are suitable for my final project then I will work on them in Photoshop, but I plan to go back, at least to the castle, when it is cloudy to see if that difference in lighting will be more suited to the portrayal of a haunting.

Editing Photos

I've started editing the photos that I took on my first shoot, changing the colour slightly until I'm happy with it. Then I will begin creating a black shape in the foreground to represent the silhouette of a giant's head, as if he were looking up at his shape through the trees.