In-depth analysis of Greg Sand.

Another artists I looked at for inspirations is Greg Sand. Greg Sand is an Artist and Photographer who looks into the issues of time and death and produces his work from that. The majority of Greg's work is digital based and this helps him to manipulate the photos.

Greg recently received a BFA in Photography and is currently producing work for exhibitions across the state.

As you can see from his work he uses manipulation skills to change the features of people in the image. In this specific pieces the faces of each person posed in the image has been cut out. By doing this I believe that it takes away then personality and the unique look of the image. However it does leave me wanting to know who may be in the image, it could be someone famous or just an average family.
 Each of the images that make up this series have been presented in original frames like the one above. This gives the image a tired and appreciated effect.
This image has been posed for by what seems to be a family. This photograph was once probably very cherished by the people in the photo and by cutting out the faces it means these people may not be recognisable.
The photo has been planned and posed for but I think that this gives makes the photo more unique. 
The way the image is slightly off centre in the frame adds to the originality.

In-depth analysis of Markus Kison.

I researched another photographer called Markus Kison he is a digital based photographer based in Berlin. Markus has exhibited in various museums, received many awards and gives opinionated talks. 

Markus produced a project called 'Untitled but dissected' this consisted of a series of Polaroid photographs each with a main feature cut around so that it pops out of the image by cutting out certain areas of the photographs he turns a digital layers into a physical layers. 

By using the pop-up photos it makes us as the audience feel as though he could possibly be trying to drag us into the photograph. 

From looking at his work I gained a better understanding of picking main features/subjects in a photograph. Sometimes the little things are the things that grab the audiences attention. I think that the chosen theme within each image is different to the next most of them are similar in the way that they consist of people socialising and landscapes.

The use of colour is natural and the less vibrant colours give a sense of realism.

Markus has taken images of something you would see everyday and enhanced it into something unique.

The pieces are presented in a glass box for protection but this allows you to view it from all angles and see what areas are popped up.

By looking at the photographs the people do not seem to be posed. I think that each photo has been taken spontaneously.

Features like people in the foreground or buildings in the background are normal things that grab your attention. However if I was to go on to produce my own work inspired by Markus I would probably chose to use less obvious things, such as lamp posts, cars or maybe trees.

Mood board.

I created a mood board of ideas

Above is my mood board I created for inspiration for ideas I might use.

I was inspired by artist Greg Sand who produces the weaved photograph pieces and also goes on to enhance many of his images by destroying the people in the image.

I also liked the work of Markus Kison. He enhances his images by cutting sections out so that they pop up out of the image.

I finally found images using Flickr of reflections as I couldn't find a specific artist whom I liked the work off.

Personal project brief.

This is our given brief for this project. The project is called 'UNIT3 Personal Project'.

This brief asks us to produce a final outcome and a mounted sheet of photographs that relates to my chosen theme of landscapes but it will have a very personal outcome that I wish to pursue. 

The deadline for this project is the 7th of January.

Evaluation of Final outcome.

For my final outcome that related to our given brief of 'Enhancements' I started by picking a theme I would use continuously throughout my work. I chose Landscapes as everywhere you go or turn is another possible landscape. I then went on to look at different landscape photographers. I started with look at Michael Rauner as well as Brend and Hilla Becher. They both take a series of Landscapes photographs that make up one piece. I shot a both a film of photographs as well as digital images, relating to me theme of the similar images within the same area. I then developed some of the images in the dark room whilst experimenting with such things as, Press printing and Solarisation.
I then used my digital prints and enhanced them using different computer software. I started by doing some of the same experiments that i had done by hand such as toning prints and solarisation. I really enjoyed using the digital enhancements more then the hand made ones. By experimenting with different techniques it allowed me to see what my best outcome was and which of them I wanted to continue using within my final outcome.

When it came to creating my final piece I decided on using digital photographs rather then my dark room prints as the effects i was experimenting with were not as effective as i would have liked them to be. I then went onto looking at more photographers and came across a women called Vasilisa Forbes. She digitally enhances her images. She does so my selecting the main figure or object in the picture and covering it with coloured shapes and lines so that it is hidden. I loved the mystery behind her work and straight away knew this was something I wanted to pursue with further into my work.

I started this by taking a range of photographs of more landscapes but this time in different locations. I travelled to the Isle of wight and into Central London as well as local images around my house. With these images I started to create my own attempts of Vasilisa's and love the outcomes as they were my own although I was inspired they were still different. I did attempt to create the same piece but using a digital printed image and coloured paper to cover the area of interest rather then on the computer but I felt this just didn't have the same effect...

Also by doing it digitally it meant I was able to produce a series of images quicker. So with my selected images I started to create more of these experiments. I would cover areas of the image such as people or road signs and maybe ever animals. I then experimented further. To gain a higher grade I would need to do further manipulation and enhancements. I started by again selecting the original images but this time changing the way I edited them. instead of covering over the main objects in the image I did the opposite and covered the rest of the image but left the previously covered bits open so that you could see what was covered.


I really enjoyed creating these enhanced pieces. I think my use of photoshop and understanding of how and why Vailisa hides these features are good. I also believe that all my computer enhancements from the beginning have been the best outcomes. I am really happy with my final outcome however I feel I could improve on my darkroom skills and develop them further.

Overall I really enjoyed this project and I think my outcome is of a good standard. With all the new techniques I have used in this project I could possibly use them in other projects. 

HDR effect using photoshop.

 This enhancement is created by using Adobe Photoshop. 

You start by opening up you original image into Photoshop. Below is the image i started with.

Images with buildings or lots of sky work well.

I started by duplicating the layer. I then followed the steps of Image > Adjustment > shadows & highlight. Roughly you can changed the shadow to 30% and highlight - 50% but this is vary depending on your photo so its all a matter of your own judgment.

Under the shadow and highlight sliders is an 'Option box', click on it and more sliders will appear.

You can changed the 'Mid tone contrast' to around +50 this gives the colours a stronger effect within the image. Also change the 'colour correction' to roughly +20 this makes the colours look realistic.

You can continue to play around with the others but again it is all a matter of opinion. Then click OK.

Again duplicate your original image and drag the layer to the top so its above the rest. Select Filter > Other > High pass. Change the radius to about 10 pixels. After select Image > Adjustments > Desaturated and change the blending mode to overlay. By doing this it allows the contrast in colours so be more prompt.

Finally select Layer > New adjustment layer > Colour balance. Then change the 'Highlights'. You can adjust this to your preference but i started by adding more yellow and red.

I then changed the 'Shadows' by adding more blue, green and Cyan.

But again play around with the sliders till you find a colour your happy with.

This is my final outcome. I enjoyed creating this digital effect as it allows me to use my own opinion to get the best possible effect. Although it can give an artificial effect I still think it looks great.