Lens Based Photo Assignment
Small Things
Photograph (Samsung camera)
September 2020
Small Things is an image focused on wildflowers with two bees on them. The intention of this piece was to focus on something small and beautiful in a big and chaotic world. I have always felt inspired by nature, and I think bringing a focus is what made this project the most intriguing. This piece feels overwhelmingly calm because it reminds me of how I felt relaxed and focused when I was taking it.
Inspiration
Stephen Dalton is a photographer inspired by nature. He got into photography in his 20's and he combined these passions to photograph nature scenes and animals. He was the first to be able to take sharp photographs of insects in flight. Carder Bumblebee (bottom right) was my main inspiration piece for Small Things. I love how his work makes nature seem so significant and beautiful and I tried to capture a similar state of mind with Small Things.
15-Sawfly by Dalton (right) shows an example of one of his photographs catching an insect mid-flight.
Barn Owl by Stephen Dalton
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Carder Bumblebee by Stephen Dalton
15-Sawfly by Stephen Dalton
Barn Owl (left) is my personal favorite Stephen Dalton piece. Not much of his work has much of an emotional impact, but this one in my opinion gives off a spooky aesthetic. I love the way he was able to show the owl so clearly when the background was so dark. This piece gives off an emotion unlike the rest of his works, where the purpose is to get a clear image of an insect or creature. Barn Owl is also a small part of my inspiration because I want me work to have an emotional impact. In the case of Small Things, this impact was beauty and awe in simplicity. |
Planning and Experimentation
My first idea was to use inspiration from Francesca Woodman and address something more personal. My planning is shown on the left. I was going to stand on a scale and cover the part that showed my weight with wildflowers, and take the picture from above so that only my feet and the scale showed. I was going to title the piece "growth". I went and picked the wildflowers and set them in a vase, but while I was looking for the scale I became obsessed with the way the flowers looked in the vase and I took a few pictures of that. Those pictures are shown below. It was then that I decided to shift my focus and research other inspirations. I wanted to focus on something more natural.
Sketchbook planning
With the photos above, I experimented with different angles, contrast, lighting, close ups, motion, and simplicity. The 6th one with the curtain is one of my favorites because it is very simple but very clear, and I like the texture and how apparent it is in the image. I also like the bottom one, and I feel like out of all my photos it has the most emotion. I splashed the counter with water droplets and flower petals when I photographed the vase with flowers to bring more to the picture. The blurry image was completely unplanned; all I did was spin very fast and take random pictures, and I liked how the one shown turned out. It is nearly opposite to the crisp and clean image of the curtain.
With further planning I was trying to find ways to photograph plants in my own house. I wanted to take pictures of my succulent, which I sketched out in the picture to the left, but I couldn't find a place with good enough lighting. I still wanted to find new ways to photograph the wildflowers; I experimented with a flashlight and different hues but nothing was sticking and I eventually decided I needed to look elsewhere for inspiration. I researched different photographers and found Dalton, and was inspired to look outside.
Sketchbook planning
I went by the lake the take pictures. My new focus was on something small, which I stuck with in the end. I sketched and photographed ducks, spider webs, and flowers and eventually settled on what became Small Things. I didn't expect there to be so many ducks at the lake but they were fun to take pictures of, although none of the pictures carried the message I wanted to bring.
Sketchbook planning
When photographing the ducks, I experimented with many different angles. I took some pictures from below, which captured the reflection of the ducks in the puddle very well. I also took some from above to capture the swimming ducks. Then I experimented with close up and focused photographs, as well as symmetry.
Process
After the experimentation I decided on the photo I wanted to use. I chose Small Things because it brought significance to a small piece of nature, which was my message. The original photo is shown left, before I edited it. I did not like the lack of focus in the image. It was a very clean image but I needed more to be brought out of it, I needed the bees to be more focused on, and I needed the image to feel separate from the rest of the world, similar to Carder Bumblebee. |
To edit, I used an app called Snapseed. I'm familiar with the app because I've done photo editing before. Snapseed offers their own filters, but you can also customize the edits to your liking. I clicked "tune image".
As you can see from the image, I adjusted many elements of the photo to get what I wanted. I was happy with the end result, but I still would've liked to get a clearer image of the bees.
Reflection
This project was a lot of learning and a lot of experimentation for me because I don't have much experience with photography. It's not my favorite art medium, but I think this project opened me up to it a little more.