Digital Photography & Imaging - Project 2: Self-portrait Double Exposure + Poster

5/5/2023 - 2/6/2023 (Week 5 - Week 9)
Katelyn Tan Kye Ling (0354148)
Bachelor Of Design In Creative Media (Digital Photography & Imaging)
Project 2: Self-portrait Double Exposure + Poster

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LECTURES

WEEK 5 - Lecture 5 (5/5/2023)
This week's tutorial was slightly challenging. Therefore, Mr. Martin used almost the whole class time to give us a detailed tutorial on double exposure. (Result of tutorial below)

LECTURE:

1. Double Exposure & Image Blending Mode

What is Double Exposure Photography?

Double exposure photography refers to merging multiple images. The goal is to make them surreal, emotional, or humorous. They usually feature silhouettes.

• Tilt Shift

Fig. 1.1 Example of Tilt Shift

• Fake Reflection: There are many ways you can create reflections. One of them is creating a double-exposure with the help of a separate window photo.

Fig. 1.2 Example of Fake Reflection

• Experiment with simple portraits and details textured: Combining something plain with something complicated will give you a balanced result. It will also save a lot of simple photos that you might discard.

• Convert Results to Black & White: A lack of colour will strengthen the emotions in your double-exposure images. If you want to express your work in a vulnerable way, experiment with this.

• Work With Silhouette

• Pick two random photo: A random process doesn’t mean it’s not meaningful. Your results might create a story of their own, one that others will find encouraging.

• Make simple objects look fascinating: Take photos of everyday objects you usually take for granted. Try to make them look like something else. A silhouette of a dull-looking building could become the outline of a starry sky like the photo below.

Fig. 1.3 Example of Fascinating Double Exposure

• Use Shadow

For this week, we had a tutorial on how to make a double exposure photoshop picture. Before that, we did some research on what double exposure is so that we could get a gist of what it is.

EXERCISES:
My take on Double Exposure:

Fig. 1.4 In-class Double Exposure Tutorial (5/5/2023)

WEEK 6 - Lecture 6 (12/5/2023)

At the start of the class, Mr. Martin gave us a lecture on Digital Photography (Notes below). Next we did 3 exercises that taught us how to change the texture of an object (Results of tutorial below). After that we each could have a short consultation session with Mr. Martin to talk about our posters (project 2). Lastly, we were given an exercise during our lecture which was to pair up and take pictures of each other in (x0.5, x1, x2, portrait mode and paranoma mode).

LECTURE

1. EXPOSURE SETTINGS

• EXPOSURE: In photography, exposure is the amount of light which reaches your camera sensor or film.

Fig. 2.1 Exposure

• The main parts of the camera: 

  1. Camera body:

  • Shutter

  • Image sensor

  • LCD screen

  2. Camera lens:

  • Aperture/ Iris

   The camera body is a light proof box.

  

Fig. 2.2 Parts Of Camera

• a) IRIS b) SHUTTER SPEED c) ISO

There are only two camera settings that affect the actual “luminous exposure” of an image: shutter speed and aperture. The third setting, camera ISO, also affects the brightness of your photos.

Fig. 2.3 Iris, Shutter Speed & ISO

a) IRIS (Aperture): Controls the flow of light entering the lens. It is measured by f-stop. The lower the f-number, the larger the lens opening.

Fig. 2.4 Iris

Fig. 2.5 F-stop

b) SHUTTER: The shutter is a small plastic sheet that opens and closes to allow light onto the film or prevent light from reaching the film.

            - Shutter Speed: Measured in seconds.

Fig. 2.6 Shutter Speed

c) ISO: Originally referred to the sensitivity of film—it's "light gathering" ability. For digital photography, ISO refers to the sensitivity—the signal gain—of the camera's sensor. The lower the number of ISO the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. 

Fig. 2.7 Value Of Using Higher ISOs

2. LENS PERSPECTIVE

- Appropriate lens provided desire framing, lens choice affects angle of view.

Fig. 2.8 Camera Lenses

- Different lenses are designed for different for different purposes. Lenses can be categorized by               FOCAL LENGTH.

Fig. 2.9 Types Of Camera Lenses

• Focal Length: Focal length is the measurement (in millimeters) from the optical center of a camera lens to the camera’s sensor. (The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view and vice-versa.)

Fig. 2.10 Focal Length

• Depth Of Field: The proportion of the image that is reasonably sharp and in focus. (The smaller the aperture you use, the greater the depth of field.)

Fig. 2.11 Depth Of Field

• Wide Lens: Ideal for fitting a large area into your frame. (especially useful for landscape photography or street photography. With wide angle lenses, almost everything is in focus, unless your subject is very close to the lens.)

Fig. 2.12 Wide Lens

• Standard Lens: Offer a fairly accurate representation of what the human eye sees, both in terms of visual angle and perspective. (Images created by standard lens are perceived as more natural than those taken with other types of camera lenses.)

Fig. 2.13 Standard Lens

• Tele Lens: Great for isolating a subject that is far away. (Allow you to photograph subjects from a distance thanks to their magnification.)

Fig. 2.14 Tele Lens

3. DSLR VS Smartphone

PROs:

• Familiar with device

• Good quality

• Easy to learn

CONs:

• Still limited

• Good but not great

• Non-ergonomic shape

-DSLR Cameras are designed to capture images. Phones are designed to carry out a multitude of functions.

-Phone cameras are very limited by size. The size of the lens and the size of the sensor that captures the photos. Entry-level DSLR have much larger lenses and sensors than mobile phones do.

EXERCISES:

1. Shooting Exercise With Phone:

Fig. 2.15 Different Camera Modes (Smartphone) (12/5/2023)

Fig. 2.16 Panorama (12/5/2023)

2. Photoshop Exercise

Fig. 2.17 Malaysian Flag + Cloth Fabric (12/5/2023)

Fig. 2.18 Girl + Liverpool (12/5/2023)

Fig. 2.19 Cat + Giraffe Skin (12/5/2023)

WEEK 7 - Lecture 7 (19/5/2023)

For this week we took the whole lesson to turn a human into a cyborg. This exercise was extremely challenging for me and I struggled with it quite a bit.

Fig. 3.1 Cyborg Exercise (19/5/2023)

WEEK 8 - Lecture 8

This week was independent learning week.

WEEK 9 - Lecture 9 (2/6/2023)

This week's class was cancelled due to Mr. Martin's personal reason. However, there still was an exercise given to us (Flower Face). 

Fig. 4.1 Proof Of Class Cancellation (2/6/2023)

Fig. 4.2 My Take On Flower Face Exercise (2/6/2023)

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INSTRUCTION

DOUBLE EXPOSURE EXERCISE

For the first part of the project, we were to create a double exposure photoshop with our own picture.

1st Attempt

I first made 2 different double exposures to try and test out which looked better.

 

Fig. 5.1 Self-portrait Double Exposure #1 (10/5/2023)

2nd Attempt

Fig. 5.2 Self-portrait Double Exposure #2 (10/5/2023)

Final

After some feedback from Mr. Martin I decided to go with #2 and also altered some things according to Mr. Martin's suggestions.

Fig. 5.3 Self-portrait Double Exposure #2 (Final) (20/5/2023)

POSTER DESIGN

For Project 2, you are to submit your work in Maybank Foundation MyTIGER Values Art Competition 2023. Based on your chosen topic, submit an illustration poster that interprets your project aim through Maybank TIGER core values of Teamwork, Integrity, Growth, Excellence & Efficiency and Relationship Building.

Fig. 6.1 MyTiger Values Art Competition Poster

My ideas and concept of my poster I want to do: 
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nnEDXd5BrBj93idAhVKZtnkwcjurcCNywoTtfqRXr0/edit?usp=sharing

Sketch

Fig. 6.2Poster Sketch #1 (11/5/2023)

Fig. 6.3 Poster Sketch #2 (11/5/2023)

Digital Poster

I wasn't very keen and fond of the first 2 posters so I decided to create a new poster which actually came to my liking. The concept was how desperate people can get for food, yet so many people still decide to waste food.

Fig. 6.4 Digital Poster (Progress) (17/5/2023)

I found that the colour and quality of the poster didn't look good. Therefore, I decided to redo the whole thing. I added more things as well to enhance the poster.

Fig. 6.5 Digital Poster (Progress) (24/5/2023)

After some feedback from Mr. Martin, I fixed my poster once again which was my final.

Final Poster

Fig. 6.6 Final Poster (29/5/2023)

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FEEDBACK

Week 6 - Double Exposure & Poster

Double Exposure: 1st design is good not too bad. 2nd design is good as well however smoke doesn't really fit the design.

Poster: Moodboard has to be changed, the work I did wasn't referenced from the moodboard. The wasted food in sketch #1 should be more appetizing, it should have colour if not why would the boy be attracted to the food. Some pictures in sketch #2 looked forced and doesn't fit.

Week 7 - Double Exposure & Poster

Double Exposure: Face to scenery gradient doesn't blend well.

Poster: New poster done is good. Quality picture is low. Can try make cloud like the food shapes instead.

Week 8 - Poster

Poster: Not bad already. I think the bin should be full of food

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REFLECTION

Experience

My whole experience regarding this 2 assignments were amazing. I was shocked at the double exposure I made. It took quite some time for me to create it, but eventually I came out with a piece I was satisfied with. The poster wasn't easy. I struggled to come up with an idea for it and had many attempts at it. After that I finally came out with a poster that I was also satisfied with, a poster that brought meaning. Overall, the 2 assignments gave me quite a though time. However, I learnt many things from it and it improve my skills in Adobe Photoshop.

Observation

I noticed that blending is very important. Because when my self-portrait to the scenery wasn't well blend, the gradient of it wasn't flowing. It looked very abrupt, but once I changed the flow of the brush, the face to scenery gradient flowed so smoothly. I also notice that when putting a few pictures together, one must select the correct pictures that fit well as pictures might look too forced if 2 pictures does not suit each other.

Findings

When searching for double exposure picture inspirations, I thought to myself, "wow! this work is amazing". And when I completed my own double exposure, It thought of the inspirations again and started to really appreciate the work because it really isn't easy. And I found myself looking at the details of the double exposure pictures as well. As for the poster, I start to look at posters out on the streets as well. No matter how simple or complicated a poster looks, much effort, time and thinking was put into it. Now when I look at posters, I start to think, how did the artist manage to come up with such brilliant poster ideas when I took such a long time to create one simple poster.