Evaluation

Matt Smith – Photo Skills B Evaluation

My initial ideas for this project were a little vague. I was unsure what to focus on but I was finally intrigued by a news story about a Para Olympian allowed to compete in the normal Olympics despite being a double amputee with mechanical limbs. When developing my idea I was still unsure of a final outcome and I talked about creating a panoramic image with several models in all having been manipulated in some way by having a limb replaced with a mechanical part and the theme would be sports. I decided against this in the end as I felt a single portrait would be more suited as I felt the focus might get lost amongst the business of a multi-person shot.

When I got this project I wasn’t excited or motivated by it, I thought it was pointless but in hindsight it got me thinking a bit more about composite images as a whole. I always try not to manipulate my images apart from exposure changes. I have always seen manipulation of my personal work as cheating or fake but having thought about it most photographers working today work heavily alongside Photoshop and that’s the benefit of digital photography. I would like to continue to think about how I can use manipulation in personal and up coming projects to enhance my ideas and final outcomes. Photoshop is a powerful tool if used right and this brief has helped me re-realise that.

I found it quite hard to research and get inspired for this project, every search for ‘cyborg’ seemed to bring up terminator related images or images of that nature which I wanted to stay away from since the first day. However I managed to use photographers I was already aware of and some new research to see how digital manipulation and composites can make up an image to combine several ideas into one. It was nice to have the freedom in this project to express our ideas and not be constrained to using certain techniques, which is why I chose to shoot with a wider lens than I normally would for a portrait. The sigma 10-20mm isn’t generally a flattering lens for portraits as it drags out features and either squashes people or stretches them out but since the key focus of this project was something a little out of the ordinary I wasn’t as bothered about getting a textbook portrait and I think this has helped add a unique perspective to my final image which I wouldn’t have got if I had gone with my original play of shooting at 30mm.

I’m happy with my final outcome. I made the mistake of not backing up my original images, which left me needing to go out and re shoot and on the second time I was much more direct with what I wanted. I had already edited my original images so I knew what to avoid making life easier in post. I decided to include a football net in my final shot to add to the sports theme and also distract from the background elements that were somewhat unrelated. I am glad I decided to push myself to add the hologram style effect to my images and I think this helps make my ideas more literal. Originally I was going for subtle editing but this felt like the easy option when push came to shove I decided to experiment a little more than I usually would and I’m happy with the results. 

My Final Image

Source Images

For my final composite I have used a few images I sourced online, I would have liked to have used all my own images but this wasn't possible due to need some specific things. If I had taken the photos myself I would have had much more control over exposure, angles and resolution etc but I have managed to find good resolution photos for my final composite.

A late addition was the technical drawings, I discovered these by accident and decided they would be a perfect addition to my final piece filling some empty background space while continuing on the theme of mechanics and technology.

Editing

When editing my final image I only had a slight idea of the look I was going for. The majority of it was trial and error seeing what worked and what didn't. Too my dismay I used images I found online due to not having access to the parts I wanted. I decided to replace my models leg with a coilover suspension unit from a car. This is an aftermarket part found on racing cars as it lets you adjust the height of the suspension as well as the dampening rate. I thought this would be a great asset to a footballer letting you jump higher and run faster!

This was pretty much the only object I wanted to replace I had always wanted to focus on subtle changes rather than creating a fully mechanical person. While searching for components to use I came across 'technical drawings'. I thought these would be perfect background elements to bring a little more to my images. They are like mechanical blueprints for objects and show the breakdown of parts needed to create them and the order they are used. They are a very visual element to the engineering process and I thought they would be a nice addition to my image.

I decided to try and give my final a 'prototype' feel. This idea was inspired by the inclusion of the technical drawing. I thought it might be nice to create an image that looked as if it were a computer render of an 'improved athlete'. When I had placed the technical drawings in I was happy with the image but it looked quite bare on either side of the model and I found the background was a little overpowering. I decided that I was going to add to the render/future element by creating hologram versions of my model.

After completing all my manipulation I focused my efforts on editing the photo so that I was happy with the colour, exposure contrast etc. Anything that needed changing was done so using adjustment layers so that I could edit and tweak along the way as adjustment layers and masks are non destructive so if I decided I didn't like it I could easily remove it and revert to the original image.