Depth of Field Work Diary

Evaluation of the Shoot

This shoot was probably one of my more favourite photoshoots because I think that there is a lot of variation that you can include.  You can either concentrate on deep depths of field or shallow depths of field and you can either concentrate on a small detail in the photograph or have the whole image to be in focus so that the attention is drawn to every aspect.  The images that I got show all of these different techniques and I think that every image that I got shows a different type of depth of field, which is what I wanted to get from the very beginning, to show just how much variety that you can encounter when looking at depth of field.

When I first took this image, I wasn't overly happy with it because I thought that it was too bland and simple looking.  However, when I got it back and onto the computer, i realised that the simplicity of the image actually works in its favour as I think that the simple leaf with the detailed but blurred background works together to create a really interesting picture.

I also really like this studio made depth of field image because I think that it is a clear indication of the progression that you can get in using various depth of field methods to get the best possible photo.  I think that the way I managed to capture each individual face, but still give the front subject the most focus has worked really well, especially seeing as the second subject has a slight blur and then the furthest subject has a complete blur over the face, however, we can still see what the person looks like.  This is one of the main reasons that I really like this image.

Idea Development

When it comes to shooting depth of field, I don't think that I would do much different to how I did it in this shoot because I think that I showed the amount of different shots that you can get using depth of field.  To make this shoot better however, I could maybe have more of a focus rather than photographing the first thing that comes to mind which is probably what I will do when it comes to photographing multiple imagery in my next topic.

Animation Work Diary

Evaluation of the Shoot

This shoot went really well and I managed to get some really good results from the photos that I took.  WHen I first started I was skeptical as I didn't thing that they would look that great because I thought that it was necessary to have a tripod in order to create a still and perfect looking animation, however they way that they turned out, greatly suprised me.

I am especially pleased with how this animation turned out.  I think that the way that it continuously spins round without stopping, means that you can't see where the animation begins and ends which I think works extremely well.  I also am happy with the fact that it doesn't really look like the background is moving, which is what I was afraid would be the reason that this didn't work.  However, much to my suprise it actually worked really well and I am happy with the outcome of this animation. 

I am also really happy with how this one turned out because it is what I was expecting to create from the beginning.  Despite this being a good animation, I think that it would look better if I had kept the camera more still because the background slightly moves to the left as the girl gets further to the left of the image.  If I was to re-shoot this then I would definitely use some sort of tripod in order to keep the background in the same place with the subject being the only think that was moving. 

Idea Development

If I was to re-visit this idea of animation, then I would look more into the actual animation side of things, in order to create a much more lengthy animation.  I think that I would benefit from doing more animation and creating some more advanced animations in order to give the ones that I have created a little more depth.

Sequencing Work Diary

Evaluation of the Shoot

I am really happy with how this shoot turned out and I think that the way I showed the sequencing technique worked really well.  I did not save this sequence as a GIF. file because it was too large which is why I had to save it as a video.  However, I still think that it works really well and I think that I have shown the sequencing technique really well.  After going through all of the different stages to show the 'journey to civilisation', I think that the overall idea behind the shoot has worked really well and I think that I can make a lot more sequencing photographs when it comes to further developing the idea. 

This particular sequence that I made works really well and portrays a really good story about going out into the open world.  I would of liked to have made this longer rather than stopping rather abruptly but I ran out of space to take any more photos so I think that next time I can make more space to get more photos so that it actually looks like a full journey.

Idea Development

Even though I am really happy with how this shoot turned out, I think that I would still benefit greatly from re-shooting and getting more images so that I can sit and make a longer sequence so that it all works together a lot better and a longer sequence is created.  I will also try to make it into a GIF. file by making it a lot smaller so that it will work as a gif rather than a video.

Depth of Field Technique Page

In order to achieve a good sense of depth of field, it really depends on the type of focal length that you use and sometimes the type of lens.  Sometimes it helps to use the macro feature to get depth of field, but this only really works when you are really close-up to something.  

In order to get a good depth of field it is a good idea to choose the right focal length.  If you want a deep depth of field, where the subject is highly in focus and the surroundings are blurred, the best way of achieving this would be to stand far away from your subject and then zoom in to around 300mm.  This way your subject is in focus and the rest of the image is blurred.  I think that this is the best way of achieving a really detailed depth of field image.  If you would like an image with a small depth of field then it would be a good idea to use a smaller focal length of about 35mm, standing closer to your subject so that they are more in focus with the background. These are two examples of the differences between the two different depths of field.

Animation Technique Page

Once you grasp the general idea of creating an animation it is fairly simple to replicate on any type of animation that you want to create.

First of all you need to go out or go into some form of studio whether it is a professional one or one that you have created from a sheet and take some photos of things that progressively move.  For example you could take lots of different photos of your face changing expressions and then put all of them together to show your face changing.  Or maybe you could do an animation of someone slowly blinking or maybe even running or walking across the camera. Either way, whatever you want to create, you use the same technique for it all.  Say for instance that you wanted to have 5 different photos that you wanted to put together into an animation to make it look like someone is walking towards the camera.  Open all of the images into photoshop and then put each individual photo onto the first image that you want to start the animation off on, until you have every individual photo on their own layer in a document.  You would then open the animation bar in photoshop which you can find at the top of the screen under 'View'.  You would then make all of the different layers into what is known as frames and then put each one to the specific time that you want to be between each frame.  If you want to create a short animation then you would set this to like half a second or something even lower if you want it really fast.  The general idea would then be to 'save for web and devices' and make sure that it is a small enough file (otherwise it won't save) and then make sure that it is saved as a gif file so that you can upload it onto your websites through photobucket.  This is the general idea behind creating an animation similar to this one here that I made. 

Animation Image Bank

Sequencing Technique Page

For sequencing, the method that you need to use is not all that difficult once you grasp what you need to do. 

To start off with you need to go out and take a lot of photos that you can piece together.  You can piece this photo together by either overlapping them to create a kind of multiple exposure image, or you could simply put one next to the other in order to show a sequence.  The most easiest way of explaining this method would be for me to say, get a friend to take some photos of and find a good background that will make the subject stand out.  It would then make sense for you to either put the camera on a tripod or hold the camera really still.  I think that the best way to get a perfect photo would be to use a tripod, as the idea is to be a still as possible.  You can that either choose the athletic option on your camera if you have one, or you can get the subject to move slowly enough so that you can have time to take all of the seperate images.  The idea would then to be to get your subject to begin walking across where you camera is pointed at giving you enough time to take all of the individual photos and then when the subject has gone all the way passed the viewfinder on your camera, go back to editing and piece together all of the different images, overlapping each one.  The idea would be to erase or cut out the subject from each of the images apart from the starting position and then overlap each layer that you have erased or cut out, in order to make it look like the person is walking across. you could also fade some of the layers so that others stand out more than others.  You could also make the person do some cool tricks that you could photograph to make the photos look a little more interesting than someone just walking past.  A good example of what the final image should look like, should look like this. 

Another way that you could photograph sequencing, would be through photographing some sort of progression, for example, you could get a flower and take a photo of it and then gradually pick of the petals and take a photo in between each stage of the loss of petals until you are left with no petals and just the middle of the flower.  You could then place all of the images side by side or in a grid format to show how the flower is slowly deteriorating.  I think that this method of sequencing also looks really good and is better if you are trying to present a story, maybe between two people. An example of this form of sequencing would be something more like this.