You Are Here! Mapping Project Update and Additions!

April 16, 2013April 16, 20131 Comment

I have been thinking about space and place throughout this ‘You Are Here’ mapping project (here), how we experience space and place and how we form memories of those places. I decided to put together my own “Memory Pack” to see if I can create and capture those experiences and memories and get people viewing the place they choose in different ways. I decided upon a picnic/lunch bag as the carrier for the “Memory Pack” as it is associated with days out, fun, holidays, school trips and fun memories. Inside that I placed a plastic lunch box filed with all kinds of things….

The Lunch Bag/Carrier

“Memory Box” contents

Close up of “Memory Box” contents

I included bubble blower as it has fun connotations and memories of being a kid,

Crayons,

Pencils

Balloons

Post-It-Notes to use with the crayons and pencils to write about your favourite place, draw on etc,

A bottle to capture tiny treasures or anything that is interesting from your favourite place,

And a disposable camera to capture the memories on. (this will be processed and a copy of the prints given to the participants for free)

And I included some rules!

***A £1 deposit is required before you are able to book out the “Memory Pack” which is refundable upon return of the pack.***

***”Memory Pack” is available to book out for periods of half an hour unless otherwise agreed***

***Prints may take up to 1 month to process and distribute***

To take part in this part of my project please pop into the Mellor Management Training Incubator at Stall 21 in Pontypool Market or email us at projectpontypoolincubator@gmail.com, please also visit www.projectpontypool.wordpress.com

The Park

November 23, 2012Leave a comment

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I took these photos at the same time as I took the ones in the previous post (https://artreviewed.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/its-all-in-the-detail/ )

I am still fairly undecided on where I want to go with this project and what I want to do with it, I have an idea but don’t think it is the best idea and feel that I could do better and create something that I would be much happier with. I know that I would like to do something involving/based on the park but I also want to do something involving industry as it is an important factor in how the town came about. I am currently working on a concept but am uncertain at the moment where it may lead.

The Town I Live In

October 30, 2012Leave a comment

I’m about to embark on a project where the topic is the town I live in, the whole of my class has to do a project on it and will become part of a regeneration of the town. We had a trip to the town on friday which was interesting and informative and it made me realise that I take so much that is in the town for granted.

The town isn’t very good-looking on the surface, there seem to be more and more empty shops and pubs appearing day by day and in general it has an air of being forgotten and unloved, but beneath the surface there is so much heritage and things to discover. There is an old market that retains much of its original features, many of the old buildings are still standing and beneath your feet are hidden tunnels that once connected one shop to another, secret pathways that helped traders to move around and basements full of history.

The old buildings have been changed to accommodate new businesses, but above street level things have stayed the same, you can see where hotels used to be, pubs and old trading stores.

I was worried about what the other students would think, scared that they would just see what is on the surface, see it for what I have done for years, a neglected space that shoppers seem to forget exists. I didn’t want that to happen and I hope it hasn’t because if the trip to my town has taught me anything it is that I do still love it and that maybe I have been neglectful of it too, not seeing the beauty beneath the grime and the stories the buildings and streets have to tell.

I already have an idea for my project and I cant wait to start putting it into place, I just hope I can do my town proud!

Rockpools

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012Leave a comment

All of these images were taken 2 summers ago. I happened to be looking through the photos I have stored on my computer and found these (pre editing they looked a bit different!)

Rockpools have always fascinated me, as a child on beach holidays with my parents my Dad and I would always be found poking about in rockpools and emptying nets into buckets, showing my Mum the contents to be put back later! I’ve often thought about setting up my own salt water tank to try to recreate my own rock pool! They seem to me such magical other worlds that offer so much to see if you look close enough.

I still have loads of images of rock pools that I want to edit but here are some of the first ones for you to enjoy!

* All images taken with Pentax K2000 and edited using Photoshop CS3

Detrius

August 31, 2012Leave a comment

These images were taken a few years ago on a camping holiday. When I was looking through all of the images that I had taken I realised that a lot of them were of items that the sea had washed up onto the shore. I liked the images as they were but decided to focus in on the details of what was left by the sea. I have Photoshopped all images with Photoshop CS3 and altered the tone and colour caste of the images, warming or cooling the picture to add to its effect. I am not sure which of these images is my favourite, in a way they all are for different reasons. I would like to continue with looking at “Detrius” as a theme and topic in future works that I undertake.

* All photos taken with Pentax K2000 and editied using Photoshop CS3

Moth!

August 29, 2012August 29, 2012Leave a comment

I had forgotten that I had taken these images a while ago and found them on my computer when I was having a sort out of my images! I found this little (Big) fella on our shed door over at the allotment. All the images have been played around with in Photoshop CS3 and have been zoomed and cropped, some changed from colour to black and white and some with vignette round the edges.

I really like the above image. I like that the moths body goes out of focus and the attention is drawn to his face. I added the vignette to enhance that quality.

The image above is another favourite, I really like the angle at which I took this. I think changing this image to black and white is also really effective and helps to keep the attention on the moth rather than be distracted by the background.

The image above and the ones below are all from the same viewpoint but I have changed different things in Photoshop to see what they would look like and how from one image you can get several different styles and “looks”.

I am really pleased with how they came out, especially as they were not taken at a really close range or with a Macro Lens. It amazes me what my camera can pick up detail wise and, as I am learning, the amount of things you can do with Photoshop!

Also, if you are on facebook please look out for my photography page Peering at Pictures Photography (PAPP)

Close Up at the Allotment!

August 24, 2012August 24, 2012Leave a comment

I took these over at the allotment and have played around with them in Photoshop CS3. The above and below image are the same but one seems to be clearer in the water highlight and the other not so much…I am having trouble deciding which one I like best! Both were from the same image that has been cropped down and zoomed in on, made into a black and white image and then I have played around with the colour saturation and contrast. I think that in the image below I have concentrated too much on the contrast and blown the white highlights but the above one havent played around with it enough…Something to work on and play around with!

I love this image, It shows a pool of water between the stem and leaves of a leek plant. I converted this image from colour to black and white and upped the lighting. converting an image from colour to black and white can reveal details that were lost when the image was colour. I have cropped the image and blown it up, removed some parts that I felt were distracting and that is about it. I am really happy with how this image looks.

This image is an extreme close up of droplets of water on one of the leek leaves. The droplets in the foreground and background are a bit distorted but I don’t mind that. I have pretty much done the same to this image as I have in the above one. I decided not to sharpen this image as I liked the grainy feel to it.

This image is one of my favourites, I didn’t need to crop it as much as the others although I did convert it from colour to black and white. i feel that with this image you can almost feel the texture of the dandelion clock. I don’t think there is any improvement I would make to this image.

*Images taken with Pentax K2000 and edited with Photoshop CS3

Weekend Project – The Garden!

June 30, 20121 Comment

As blogged about (here https://artreviewed.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekend-project-1-the-garden/)! I have finally had the prints done and the photos have been scanned to share!

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Considering I have never used a fish-eye lens before, or the camera, I am really happy with the way these have turned out. The circle frame on some of them has given me an idea for my circles project where I could use the fish-eye lens to capture and frame objects.

I used my Canon EOS3000 to shoot with, a Pro Series HD Xtreme Fisheye 0.15x lens (Macro) attachment, Kodak Colour Plus 24exp 200ISO film and had the negatives processed and images printed at Asda (7″x5″ prints) on a 1hr processing time (costing £7). I did have a bit of trouble with the processing as the first batch were printed incorrectly as the machine they used got a bit confused by the framing that the fish eye lens produced, throwing off the alignment of photos. However, I went back and they re-printed for free.

Weekend Project #1 The Garden

June 23, 20121 Comment

As I said in my post here (https://artreviewed.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/in-review-may/) I wanted to start doing Day/weekend projects, taking photos with all my different cameras. I know it has been a while coming but I got weigh-laid along the way but have now started!!!!

Today I took my Canon EOS3000 into the garden with a fish eye lens attachment and had fun snapping away. I havent got any photos to show for it yet, hopefully I shall get them processed tomorrow!!! I am so excited to FINALLY start using film again nad be able to try out all my cameras again! I always seem to use the same camera (my Pentax K2000 DSLR) when I take photos and I forget that I have other choices that I could use.

I can’t wait to get the film processed, for one, it’s a camera I haven’t really used before (well, I have used it but the film came back blank but think it was down to it being a black and white film and not being processed correctly…) and I cant wait to see what the photos come out like!

It’s nice to be able to set myself a task of taking a roll of film over the course of a day/weekend as although it’s not a ‘proper’ project, it pushes me into thinking more creatively and allows me to capture things that I would probably, normally, take for granted. It helps me see things in a new light and I can learn from what I have done and figure out what I’d like to progress with.

Once processed, I shall be putting my favourites up on here for you to see! 😀

Nature

June 16, 20121 Comment

I took this photo last weekend when I went over to my allotment. In the original photo the bee was lost in the background. I cropped the image and brightened it slightly in Photoshop and am really happy with the level of detail in the image now. You can almost stroke the bee and feel his fuzziness! 😀