Tom Juxtapose

Photo montage/text over images

In the first session we looked at montages and text over images.

We looked at how we could make them ourselves. Out of the people we looked at my favourites were James Gallagher and Gillian Wearing. 

I made my own text over image photographs. I walked around Leeds City Centre asking people to quote something they live by or just the first thing that comes to their head. These are the ones I made:

This is the photomontage I created:

Double exposures

A double exposure is when two pictures are blended together to make on image. 

We used a 5x4 camera to create double exposure prints. One shot was a silhouette and the second shot was a landscape one out of the window. Opening the lens for 2 seconds and 4 seconds.

This is an example of someone who creates double exposures (Jasper James):

We worked in groups to make our own and this was our final print:

Photograms

Photograms are created in the dark room, objects are places over photographic paper to create white silhouettes over the paper. 

We brought in objects to create images in the dark room. First we did test strips to see how long we would need to leave it under the dark room. 2 seconds, 4 seconds and 8 seconds. I found that 4 seconds was enough time for mine.

These are the test sheets and final print of my photomontage:

Juxtapose Project

In my project I would like to focus on Double Exposure photography.

These are some of the photographers I have been looking at to get inspiration:

Jasper James:

I like the silhouettes in his photographs with the cityscape backgrounds. This one looks like a woman is at a window with her hands on the glass looking at New York

Dan Mountford

I really like how this one is unique to the rest of the double exposure photographers I have looked at. The building tilted on the side to make the back of her head and the trees in her hair. The white background makes it look simple but more effective because it makes you concentrate more on the front of the image. It's simple but I think that's what makes it more likeable, there isn't too much going on.

Andre de Freitas

The colours in this make a nice contrast. I like how the flowers stand out brighter on the girl and are more faded in the background. There's vibrant colours but it doesn't take the focus away from the model, she is still really clear.

Sara K Byrne

I think this is really different to any double exposures I've researched. I like how the tree is inside of the girl's silhouette but it's upside down. It looks really simple but still really effective, it's unique. I also like how the dark, dingy colours of the tree and the grey washed out background contrast really nicely.

Oliver Morris

This is the style of photography/double exposures I would like to create. I like the way the wheat plants look like they're coming out of the top of her head. The model and the wheat field are both very clear and I like that you can have them both standing out without it looking like there is too much going on in the photograph.

Proposal

Title of project:

Juxtapose

Chosen theme/topic:

Double exposures

Chosen options/formats:

I am going to produce my photography digitally and I will use photoshop to create the double exposures.

Concept: 

What are you going to produce?

Double exposure photography using portraits and sceneries/objects/items. 

I will make my photographs dark colours or black and white.
I would like to create some double exposures influenced by some of the photographers I have researched e.g. Dan Mountford and Sara K Byrne.

How are you going to produce it?

I will think about what I want my photographs to look like and a meaning behind the portrait/scenery to take the pictures needed. I will then follow the meaning I have chosen to create similar double exposures. I am going to use Photoshop to edit my photographs together and edit the colours, brightness and contrast.

What resources will you need?

I will need a camera, access to the studio for portrait shots, models for my photographs and Photoshop to edit my photos.


Shoot 1: Shooting in the studio for my double exposures

I thought taking portrait pictures in the studio for my double exposures would help because there is a white background, which will make it look a lot more clear when adding my double exposure over the top using photoshop.

Camera settings:ISO 100, 1/125th and F5.6
Room settings: 2 studio lights with soft boxes (left and right)

I think this shoot went well because the lighting isn't over or under exposed and the contrast in colour between the white background and the colourful t-shirt works well.
To improve this shoot I think I should have taken more close up photographs and maybe a range of different lighting. The close up photographs would have worked well when I create my double exposures.

Shoot 2: shooting backgrounds for double exposures

These are some of the photographs I took for the backgrounds of my double exposures.

Camera settings: ISO 800, F11 and 1/125th.

I think this shoot went well because I didn't just focus on one background e.g. flowers. I tried out lots of different sceneries whilst taking them, thinking about what would work with the portraits I've already taken. I like the range of nature and buildings too, I think it would have made my photo's a little boring and repetitive if I'd just have used flowers and trees.

Shoot 3: Outdoor portraits for double exposures

I shot more portraits and other things such as hands in the air and together to try and get more of a realistic outdoor feel to the photo's.

Camera settings: ISO 800, F8 and 1/125th.

I think this shoot went well because I got different angle shots of the model which will work really well with creating silhouette type of double exposures which is what I really wanted to do after researching different photographers.

Shoot 4: More outdoor photography (portrait and background)

This wasn't a planned shoot and that's why it wasn't taken on a digital camera. They were taken on a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone, but I still really like the quality.

I think this shoot went well because it wasn't planned but I still ended up with good photographs that will work well making double exposures with. I like the contrast between the suit he's wearing and the graffiti wall.

Practising editing in photoshop

Using the images I have so far I thought I would practise to make double exposures and see how they turn out so I can go back and improve photographs if any don't work so well.

This is how I create my double exposures:

1. Add both pictures I want to use into the same document on Photoshop

2. I select the top layer and change the blending mode to Screen

This is how the photo changes by changing the blending mode:

After changing the opacity and resizing the background image, this is what my final image looks like

Group critique

What is good about the project so far?

The way that my double exposures are working

Which is the best image of the series?

The first image (left) was the most popular

What is working aesthetically?

The colour co-ordination in the leaves and coat.

The way there aren't too many leaves, there is a white space at the top and you can still see the features on the models face.

 The white background on the second image works nicely rather than having the leaves in the background too, there isn't any distraction and there isn't too much going on.
You can tell what the images are that I've used (leaves/bushes/berries)

What I could improve?

Think of a meaning that could link the images to work as a series.

Creating more double exposures



Whilst I was creating this double exposure I got my inspiration from the photographer Sara K Byrne. I like how it's berries making up the silhouette.

I was looking at Dan Mountford. He did a similar image of a silhouette of a hand with a face inside of the hand. I prefer the black and white one I've done because the second one just looks like I've just put the face in without thinking about it and it doesn't really fit.
The black and white one was my second attempt at creating a double exposure like this so I thought about how I could improve it. Changing it to black and white really made the difference for me, it gave more feel to the photograph.

All of my double exposures have been really similar with the plain white background, so I decided I'd try and make them different a little. This time I didn't take out the background on either of the images before putting them together. I think these ones in particular work well together because it gives you the feel of a real place, in the other photographs you couldn't see where they were but you can in these ones, and the pictures that have been overlaid in Photoshop were taken in the same place where the portraits were taken. 

Final images

Evaluation

I chose the technique 'double exposures' for this project because I have not done it before and thought it looked really unique and interesting. I shot different backgrounds and portraits on a Canon camera and created them into double exposures on Photoshop.

Reflecting on my proposal, I think I have met all the criteria I was hoping for. For example, I said I wanted to use scenery and  portraiture and that's what I have done. I said I wanted access to the studio and I managed to book it out for all the times I needed to. Also, I said in my proposal that I wanted to create double exposures influenced/styled by some of the photographers I looked at, which I managed to do. For example, I took the silhouette and nature idea from Sara K Byrne and made it my own. This image is in my final images. I also tried something that Dan Mountford did, which was the silhouette hand and put a face in it, this image is in my test pieces.

I made a few different test pieces but only chose 3 as my final images. I think the ones I chose are all unique and in my opinion they worked the best out of all the ones I did before, I also liked the images before editing too. I think my final images are good quality, in focus and are of the correct exposure needed. During the assignment we had a 'group critique' session. I had a lot of compliments on my first chosen final image, so that is the main reason I chose it.

If I was to re-shoot all my photographs, the thing I would change would be to visit more locations and widen my range of photography. I would also try to get more models for my photographs because in this assignment I have stuck to 2. I have only done this because these were the easiest people for me to use, if people weren't busy in college/school etc. it would have been much easier for me to get models.

Overall, I have enjoyed this project. It is one of my favorites that we have done so far because there was a wider range in what we could do. We learnt a range of different techniques at the beginning then we could choose the one we enjoyed doing the most and carry that on through the whole assignment. I really enjoyed learning how to improve my \Photoshop techniques and doing double exposures will most likely be something I will continue to do in the future with different projects. 

Contact sheets