Assignment 2

For this assignment, we are supposed to take a series of 4 photos about the keitai phenomenon.

Initially I wanted to take everyday objects, but I wasn't sure of what exactly. I then thought of our handphone(s) being inseparable from us: we bring it to our meals, to bed, and to the washroom. (Ok, this may be exaggerating, but I do think there are people like that.) Thus, I wanted to take photos of a handphone lying beside a bowl of rice, a pillow, a toothbrush, etc to depict the phone accompanying us as we get by our daily activities. I deliberately chose non-mediated activities to portray the handphone as invasive and pervasive. The phone even invades our daily activities that do not need media: it's not as if we need the phone to eat or sleep, unlike doing work, listening to music etc. But the fact that it is there shows the convenience of the handphone that makes it pervasive (unlike a laptop, for instance).

However, I then realized the keitai phenomenon refers to that of taking photos with the handphone, and not to the handphone itself. So I tweaked my concept a little, and changed my photos to show a handphone taking photos of a pillow, toothbrushes, cutlery and a wardrobe instead. The world outside the photo is post-edited to be black and white. This is to show contrast: everyday life is mundane, but through the lens of the handphone, we find interest and color in life that is worth capturing. This is part of the keitai phenomenon as people tend to take photos of everyday objects and share them with their family and friends through social media. Nevertheless, through my choice of everyday objects, I still hope to portray the handphone as being invasive and pervasive (as explained above) at the same time.

I kept the phone to the bottom left of all photos for consistency. The photos are arranged to the sequence of our morning routines: waking up, brushing our teeth, having breakfast, and changing for work/school. Here're my photos:

I placed a teddy bear beside the pillow to add color contrast. I don't actually sleep with it ;) This is also the only photo where I had to add saturation to the colored photo. The contrast between color and black and white isn't really great otherwise.

I had some problems taking this photo as I had to avoid capturing the camera and myself in the mirror. Thus the composition of the colored photo is not ideal. However, in the context of the whole photo, the composition becomes more acceptable.

This photo presented the least problems when I captured it. The lighting in my kitchen was kind of dark though, which explains the shadow in the colored photo. However, I thought this makes the photo more realistic, so I didn't correct it.

This was actually the first photo I took. I had some trouble as I had no surfaces to rest my arms while I was taking it. My tripod doesn't give me a good angle, and my arms were tired by the time I took the photo. There was also reflection of my room and myself on the phone's surface.

However, I then realized I can actually superimpose the color photos taken from my phone, so I don't have to worry about the reflection. I solved the difficulty of coordinating my hands to take both photos simultaneously by taking the photo on digital camera first, before capturing on the phone as I continue to hold my left hand in place. And so this is what I did for the previous photos ;)

Assignment 1 (Revised)

The feedback for Assignment 1 was rather positive. I'm glad my group mates and Jing liked my canted shot of the Helix bridge for DDOF. My group mates chose the first photo for SDOF as they thought it showed SDOF better, with more details in the background. They liked the blur motion photo too, though one of them suggested that I may want to crop it to make the photo adhere more to the rule of thirds. After some consideration, I decided against it as I think it too looks fine as it is.

More comments were given for freeze action (which I totally agree, as I think the photo wasn't well taken). My group mates suggested to photograph colorful fruits instead (e.g. strawberries), as the cut apple and guava are as pale as the white plate, so there is less contrast in the photo which hence makes it less interesting. They also suggested to drop the fruits with greater force so as to achieve more visual impact.

However, as I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to change my theme for freeze action. I took photos of falling beads instead. I dropped tiny beads into a container and photographed them bouncing/scattering. (I did consider dropping them onto the table/floor, but I'll probably have a hard time trying to pick them up.)

This was really difficult as I could not focus on the beads despite setting the shutter speed to the maximum. This was partly due to me shooting indoors, where the lighting is more dim. The best shots I could get were next to the window. Nonetheless, I did post-editing to brighten the photos.

Another challenge was to coordinate my hands, as I had to film while dropping the beads. Sometimes, my fingers or the shadow of my hand are caught in the photo. I also needed to experiment with different angles, and sometimes, the form of the dropping beads were not aesthetically pleasing. I took a few hundred photos in all before I ended up with these two photos:

 

I can't really decide which is better. I prefer the first's composition it generally follows the rule of thirds. However, the beads' form in the second photo is more interesting than the linear one in the first.

P.S. I hope not all beads have to be clear to count as freeze action. I didn't manage to take one photo where all the beads are in focus :(

Shall ask for feedback after mid-terms next week.

Class Exercise 2

The topic for this class exercise was to take photos that show the "extraordinary in the ordinary". Thus we had to scout for relevant scenes in school. I think it's actually much easier to take interesting photos than extraordinary photos. I found it difficult to justify why the photos were extraordinary, while it is easier to say that the photos look interesting aesthetically, due to the less conventional content and visual effects. Nevertheless, here're the photos I took. (Note: photos were taken with Instagram.)

Photo 1: This is a remote corner I found in school (with Jessie). Located below AS3 (if my memory serves me right), it is probably a corner for cleaners to rest, as there're chairs, water bottles and some snacks there. It was empty when we photographed the place. I think it's extraordinary in the sense that although it is a forgotten corner to most of us, it is actually a peaceful little resting place to the cleaners. The Instagram effects give the photo an old/dreamy feel, which further enhanced what I would like to convey about the place: forgotten, slightly desolate, yet safe from the hectic city (or university) life. 

Photo 2: This is the drain cover a few steps away from the corner where I took the first photo. The little brick wall behind it reminds me (and Jessie) of a tombstone. I thought it was interesting as most of us would probably pass by without noticing the brick wall, let alone discover its similarity to a tombstone. Yet through this exercise, I realized that ordinary objects can connect people simply by making us realize that we interpret them in the same way, and this realization can be extraordinary in itself.

Photo 3: This was taken at a drain (yes, another one ;)) at AS3. I think by taking the photo at a low angle, I was able to crop out unnecessary details (e.g. the trees and buildings in the background), and thus focusing the viewer's attention on the drain. Through Instagram effects, I was able to blur parts of the photo and add a dreamy feel to it. I think the drain now looks like some kind of canal to some unknown destination. (Which will be kind of romantic if the drain was cleaner ;)) This photo can be extraordinary in that the change in point of view (and effects) invokes a different feel to the otherwise ordinary place that we pass by everyday.

 

Photo 4: This was taken beside the drain in the previous photo. Again, the change in perspective creates a different feel for the plants that grow only up to our feet: they now look as though they are tall enough to offer shelter and protection. In addition, as the leaves of the plant filter sunlight, they create a spotlight on the ground. I think the photo would be much more interesting if there was a subject in the spotlight though. The photo is less extraordinary with the spotlight being the subject? Still, like Photo 3, I think this photo can only be extraordinary in that the change in point of view invokes a different feel to the otherwise ordinary place.

Admittedly my justifications for the "extraordinari-ness" of the photos can be better. Thus my biggest lesson from this exercise is that although the technical aspects of photography are difficult, having a great concept and executing it is even more challenging. Looks like I have a lot more to learn :)

Class Exercise 1

Oops I forgot to upload this. What we did during the first tutorial was to take panning shots. This was an interesting experience for me as I never took them before, and I guess I was sort of confused about the difference between panning shots and motion blur. I got a much better understanding after the tutorial. Panning shots track a (fast) moving object, hence the object is clear while the background is not. On the other hand, motion blur photos are those that are shot when the camera does not track the object, hence the object is blur while the background is clear.

I decided to take photos of cars since they are probably the fastest moving objects we can find in school. Here are some of the photos. I think the second one with the blue van looks nicer in terms of colour contrast and composition.

I also realized the difficulty of taking panning shots as it is difficult to control the composition with the cars moving at fast speeds. I also had to try different shutter speeds to get better contrast between the blur background and the clearer subject.

Assignment 1

Here are the photos for my first assignment. I plan to re-take some of them though.

The deep depth of field photo is the one I took near Marina Bay Sands, at the helix bridge. I think this photo shows deep depth of field better, as compared to the other night shots I took of the landscape.

 

As I didn't bring my tripod along that day, I had to try balancing my camera on smooth, solid surfaces to prevent taking blurry photos due to slow shutter speed. I also borrowed my friend's tripod as necessary. However, this photo was taken while I balanced my camera against the slanted railing on the helix bridge. It resulted in a canted shot which I think was quite interesting. It managed to show both the helix bridge and MBS at the same time, with a nice composition following the rule of thirds. There are also leading lines formed by the bridge that lead the viewer's attention from the bridge to MBS.

I took the shallow depth of field photos at the garden of the condominium where I live. I took two photos of flowers.

 

I can't really decide which photo to use. I think the first one shows shallow depth of field better, since it is obvious that the background, e.g. the trees and the buildings, are out of focus, but the second photo has a more interesting composition. It makes use of the principle of closure, as only part of the flower is shown. The flower in the foreground also frames another in the background:

 

 (I didn't choose this photo as I thought it looked weird to focus on the flower and the leaves in the background.)

Since I can't decide, I will probably take the shallow depth of field photos again. I may try to improve on the flower photos or even change the subject matter altogether, depending on the feedback.

For the photo on blur motion, I chose to use the one I took on the same night as the helix bridge, which is one of cars.

 

I took a lot of similar photos of the same scene, but I chose this in the end as its composition is nicer. (The cars are more or less in the center of the photo, and not too close to the edges.) I also thought it looked better to show the buildings in the background, as opposed to just the road, so as to show the context where the photo was taken. Also, some of the other cars I took were too blur or too clear.  Another reason I chose this photo was because the road forms leading lines that add to the sense of motion.

I may re-take the photo on freeze action. Initially I tried to take photos of the fountain in my condo, but I thought it didn't really show the impact of freeze action. I then thought I could take freeze action of a coin (or coins) spinning. However, indoor lighting was not really ideal, so I had to make do with a slower shutter speed. The best photo I took was this:

 

(This photo was cropped and post-edited so that it looks better, I hope.) 

 

The coin is "frozen" at a tilted angle. If you look closely though, some parts of the coin are blur, so I'm not sure if this fulfills the criteria for freeze action. Hence I decided to take photos of my mother washing and cutting fruits instead. The best photo I took was this:

 (This photo was also cropped and post-edited so that it looks better, I hope.)

I guess there will be more impact if the apple was thrown with greater force or at a higher angle so that the water splashes higher. However, I think the water now looks like jelly (or agar-agar), which is interesting as well.

If this photo doesn't work out though, I thought of throwing beads and shooting them bounce. I tried for quite a while last night, but indoor lighting doesn't allow me to increase shutter speed so as "freeze" the beads. I may try again this weekend.