Overall Project Evaluation

Overall Project Evaluation:
As a whole I feel that this unit has been very successful in the way in which I have present my response to the exam paper. As is evident in all my work I chose to do my exam on the subject of water which allowed me to experiment with lots of different mediums in water. I have been able to experiment with how drops of water interact with a larger mass of water and also how ink, which is thicker then water, interacts when dropped into a large body of water. Another way in which I have presented water is how large solid objects break the surface of the water then how the water then engulfs the large vacant space which was created by the object. Also by experimenting in the studio for a large amount of this project I also mated to see the way in which fire and water interact. This was done by using lighter fluid to set fire to the surface of the water and photographing the fire. This lead on to me experimenting with fire and water of the surface of a pond and also with the reflections in the pond. Finally it all finished by going full circle and putting drops onto a glass sheet and seeing the individual drops randomly placed out along the glass.

Very little of my research actually influenced my main ten shoots. This was because I had a very clear idea on what I wanted to do for those shoots and the photographer who have done the same sort of studio shoots didn't have very much information on how they took photos and the technique that they used when taking said photos. The main photographer who I did research on who actually made some form of impact on my ten main shoots was a person called "Luiz Luxvich" a photographer who's main focus is in the macro realm of taking photos of drops as they hit water. I had lots of issues with trying to get the same type of photos as I had limited lighting and he had lots so I couldn't get as good an image nut I feel like he did influence both the start and end of the project. The start being the same style of photography as his work, trying to capture drops of water as they make impact with a large mass of water. Then for my last shoot he influenced me to use multiple drops of water on glass and look at them though a macro lens. Even though he did no photos like mine in this way I still think of him as the influence for this because it is drops of water and macro lens use like him.

The photographer who influenced me the most was Michel Rajkovi. He influenced most of my exam. The reason behind this is because I like the way in which he uses a long exposure time to create a white mist from the movement of waves. The reason this impacted on my and my work so much was mainly because of the atmosphere I feel that his images created. They made a very tranquil yet lonely atmosphere  because of the lack of movement in the photos. The waves which would show the movement in the image has been eliminated by the long exposure leaving the mist and the dark overtones in the image creating a world entirely void of movement and seems to be untouched by anything leaving only the surrounding and the photographer hence the lonely atmosphere. The other element which I think pays a very important role in the atmosphere is the conversion of colour into black and white allowing for the again the very tranquil but also lonely feeling in his images which I then re-created in my images later on.

One of the many things which I have taken from this project which I can use in the future is a better understanding of my camera as a whole. Though repeated use and experimentation I have managed to identify a multitude of different was in which my camera works and also how to use the setting I already knew but in a new better way. An example of this would be I have always known how to use a longer shutter speed to created interesting images like capturing the light from cars on a motor way or the movement of stars in the night sky, but when I was doing my exam I discovered that I can use a longer exposure while it is still bright outside while I have a neutral density filter fitted to the front of the camera. Another technique which I learned from new was the ability to take a photo of a droplet as it hits the surface of the water. In other words I have managed to dramatically improve my timing and reaction speed for taking photos of different things.

Though this project I have also developed the way in which I present my work allowing me to showcase my work in new and more interesting ways then I had previously. An example of this is the way in which I have done my editing. All of my edits are different in some way or another allowing for there to be a variety in my work and the way in which the exam has been answered as well.

To make a final statement on this project in my opinion I think that it went fairly well because I managed to created a project which has managed to answer the exam spec point water in a comprehensive way with photographs.