Work Record Five : Bubbles and Straws

Work Record Five : Bubbles and Straws

Plans for shoot:
This shoot will be a macro shoot using a tripod, remote release and a macro lens. I will use acrylic paints diluted in water with washing up liquid to be able to create bubbles. I will pair these coloured bubbles with different coloured straws to investigate the different effects of pairing two colours together. 

Research Influence:
The photographer that I will be researching to  aid me with this shoot is a Swedish woman named Emelie Otterbeck. She is a professional photographer with a strong sense of colour which allows her to use colour in her images as a subject in itself. The beginning of her education into photography was in 2013 with the history of photography and video art in Konstfack. Her work relates to selective colour as she moulds colours to her will, they are integral to the images as the subjects.

Image Bank:

Contact Sheets:

Images that need improvement

DS7_7567.JPG:

For this shoot I used a flask to house all of the colours and the light from a nearby light for the lighting. However, there was also a window situated behind me which caused glare on the flask and detracted from the colours of the liquid. To fix this issue I used another piece of black card mount to block the natural light which, as you can see, stopped the glare in the later images. 

DS7_7580.JPG:

Due to the camera setting being set to Aperture priority the camera determines the correct exposure depending on the manual f-stop. This meant that if the point of focus was slightly off and so the exposure was slightly too short resulting in the image being too dark. In the images that followed I changed the point of focus to correct the lighting which brightened the shots. 

DS7_7595.JPG:

This shot is completely out of focus as I was attempting to shoot the bubbles which meant there was no definitive line for the camera to choose, meaning the images were blurry. To correct this I used a lower f-stop which would narrow the field of focus and changed the area of focus within the camera so that the auto-focus was able to function. Typically in the other shoots I have conducted I would have used manual focus, however I was dubious about using manual focus as the bubbles created vast variations in depth meaning it was difficult to discern the different layers. 

Best Images

The combination of yellow and red in these two images suggests that the liquid is alive due to the luminescence of each colour individually translating to the viewer the uncertainty surrounding the liquid. There also movement evident in the above and below shots providing connotations of strange goo that develops sentience to go for a wander. 

The blue and yellow colour combinations clash more than yellow and red creating a more hazardous atmosphere within the image, thus conveying more tension to the viewer. 

I chose these images as enjoy the variation between the compositions and also the different lighting effects that have been created in each shoot despite the lighting remaining constant. It highlights the uniqueness of each shot and the effect that the lighting has on the colour combinations.  

A03: Record ideas , observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress. 

This shoot is relevant to selected colour as I was experimenting with the different colour combinations to investigate the different effects that could be gained from each pair. Some of the images still had a small amount of glare despite my best efforts to prevent this, none the less I am still fond of the images due to their unique and varying nature. As stated before I did have difficulty shooting due to the conflicting light sources, however I overcame this obstacle during the shoot and so will not be needing to re shoot any of these images. Next time I will either shoot at night or incorporate the natural light into the shots. 

My research into Emelie Otterbeck as informative in the respect that she demonstrates the use of colour in her images as a vital component rather than an after thought. This encouraged me to consider the different possibilities that were available to me and consequently complete this shoot. I also drew inspiration straight from one of Otterbeck's images that she took for a commission. Although the shot is of juice it was an inspiration for this shoot that could be applied to my current investigation. 

Otterbeck's image of fruit juice. 

My image of acrylics and washing up liquid. 

A02: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops. 

As I was diluting the acrylics in order to create bubbles there wasn't a large amount of pigment within the bubbles. In hindsight I believe that inks might have carried more colour. However, I do not have access to multiple colours of inks meaning I would only be able to complete one colour combination. 

For this shoot I used a 60mm macro lens, a Nikon D7200 camera body, remote release and tripod. I have committed to using macro photography for this project as it physically moves the viewer closer to the subject thus making the images more engaging. As stated before I could have used a different angle when shooting to avoid the glare on the flask, even so I wasn't aware of the problem until I had begun shooting and I was able to fix it during the shoot.  

A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. 

To further relate this shoot to my theme of selected colour I will edit the images in Photoshop and attempt to isolate the colours. 

To do this I first opened all of the NEF files in Photoshop after using the slider to adjust the images. 

I then straightened some of the images using the crop tool as they were a little tilted. 

I then applied a black and white layer to the image. 

My next step was to change the range of colours. To do this I clicked on SELECT then COLOUR RANGE. 

This then brings up the small window where it allows you to select the colour range you with to include. 

I then clicked on add sample (highlighted) to use the small dropper and click within the image which colours I would like to include. 

There is a large amount of negative space either side of the flask that detracts from the colours. Consequently I once again used the crop tool to remove the negative space.

Here is the final image:

I  used these same techniques to edit the rest of the images.

Final Images:

A04: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. 

For this shoot I am trying to investigate selective colour and the different effects that colour combinations have. By reducing the pigment of the colours in the images it created a more intense focus on the blue liquid thus conveying a mysterious and other-worldly origin.

This shoot was successful in experimenting with different colour combinations because the colours offset each other causing either a clash or a harmonious pair. This resulted in either a tense atmosphere or one of intrigue. 

Progression:
If I was to shoot this again I would like to source more vibrant bubbles or perhaps experiment with bubble mixed. However in regards to the pigment in the bubbles I feel that the faint whisper was enough to cause the desired curiosity. For my next shoot I would like to continue experimenting with different coloured liquids alongside my previous use of GIF. To be able to use GIFs in my next shoot I will need to ensure that the composition remains static so there is no detraction from the focal point of the compositions: the colours.