We looked at the technique of depth of fields through a variety of methods, also looking at both maximum and minimum depth of field. I enjoyed shooting all the different methods, by my favourite was definitely looking at minimum depth of field as opposed to maximum as I felt like I could be a lot more creative and experimental with my work. We did a shoot for minimum depth of field in the studio, and also one outside on location, but I preferred the location shoot as I enjoyed being about to capture and blur the vast colours available in the flowers around college. I did find the studio shoot quite difficult in contrast, as I found fitting all three of my models into the one frame difficult, especially as space was restricted inside. Although I enjoyed the location shoot, I did also find this difficult as you have to angle the camera in a specific way to ensure you get the blurred background, as I often found I was either too close or too far away from my subject to achieve this. In the end though, I felt like I achieved some good quality photos demonstrating the new technique, and I particularly enjoyed editing them to enhance the colours that I had captured.
Both of the images I have chosen to annotate are from my minimum depth of field, as I feel that with the maximum depth of field images I don't have enough to talk about as to me, personally, they are just like any other normal image I may have photographed during my AS year. I think that both of the photos above show contrast really well, and so this is definitely a technique I would like to explore again so I can incorporate it into my contrast-themed work. I particulalry like the contrasting colours in the top image as the green leaves blend together nicely to contrast against the pinks and oranges in the flower. Without the minimum depth of field present in the particular image, the background colours wouldn't have blurred as much as so a contrast wouldn't have been as definitive as the image would have been too busy. I should have perhaps shot this image again to ensure that I can crop out the brown fencing without needing to crop out any of the flower as this would have shown a greater contrast, and the composition would have looked more natural.
My second image I believe looks like a really top-quality image, because of the way I have adjusted the curves and levels well, better than I have done in some of my other work. I think this is an effective way of increasing the contrast of an image, closely resembling the high-contrast HDR photos I mentioned in my project proposal. Aside from the contrast of colour in this image, I like the contrast of light and dark between the bright white petals and the gloomy background, another theme I can focus on throughout my topic. Like the top image, it might have been ideal for me to shoot the subject from above to capture only the flower and the leaves as I couldn't crop the brown fence out from the image that I did manage to take.I perhaps should have worked on moving the camera also to try and achieve more of a blur on the background.
Idea Development:
I really do like the results I have achieved from photographing this technique, and I have definitely seen some interesting ideas I would like to take forward onto my focus on contrasts. Like stated above, this technique is really useful for showing the contrast between colours, and I feel that this particular technique will look effective on food shoots that I might do, such as brightly coloured fruit or sweets. The technique in iteself holds a contrast - blurry and sharp - so I could initially do a whole new shoot just on the technique alone, or I could introduce contrasts when I edit the images like the seond image above, as it is useful in showing the increase in curves and levels to make a HDR-style photograph.
