Solarisation- Research

Solarisation is a technique in which the image is turned into a negative form. The whole image is completely reversed, causing darker parts of the original image to appear lighter or white, and light areas to appear darker or black. Originally, solarisation was first recognised in extreme cases of over exposure on a negative.

To create a solarised images in the darkroom, what you have to do is expose your image to the light sensitive paper, as you normally would, then place the image into the developer. However, this is where the processing changes. As soon as the image starts to appear, remove the print from the developer and flash it under plain white light for 3 seconds. Make sure you have all the corners in, then place it back into the developer for another 30 seconds. Then remove and carry on with the processing as normal.

Solaristaion in photoshop is a lot simpler. To create a solarised image in photoshop all you do is open the image, select par of the image or all of it, go to filter, stylize and then solarisation. You can either leave it how it is, or play around with the curves.

Online darkroom examples;

Online photoshop solarisation;





My photoshop solarisation;

half term project

Half Term Project-

I decided to shoot just old buildings because the follow up task was a shoot of old pictures. I did this to get an overall idea of what works and what doesn't when shooting these buildings. By doing this I noticed that there was a lot of detail so, close up shots would work, however, the lighting really controlled this. If the sun was shining directly on the the area with a lot of detail, the majority of it would be too exposed due to it being so fine and small but if the sun was behind the building on a cloudy day, the detail wouldn't have enough light and would be under exposed. Artificial light such as the flash, again over exposed the area so the lighting had to be just right. I found that if the sun was hitting the building slightly at the side, I would be able to get a good shot, as well as using shadow as one half of the building would be light, and the other would be dark. 

I shot my shoot during 11 and 2 pm because I know that this is when the sun is at it's highest and the sun would hit the highest point of the building and the face which was facing towards it. I also did this because I wanted one particular picture with juxtaposition, which included the trinity shopping centre and the trinity church. 

Another thing I noticed was that the buildings are very similar in the structure, the majority of the buildings I found either had ledges, oval detail, (whether it was the shape of the windows or a wall), was very rectangular and had a taller part of the building; which was obviously the focal point of the building, which is why I focused more on these particular qualities of the buildings. Also, due to the buildings being very tall, I found that to get the most amount of detail and to get the focal points of the buildings in the shots i took, I had to shoot portrait at a low angle/ worms view. Because of this, I knew I had to have a nice blue sky to contrast with the brown/orange colours of the building. Although my angles were very limited, I saw this as an advantage because I could get the sky in. 

                 

           

   

Camera and photography techniques- research

Library Research;

Book- The creative darkroom handbook; Chris Wainwright

Sandwiches-
'The term sandwich is used to describe a combination of any number of translucent images bound up together in close contact and in register, through which light is transmitted in order to produce a composite picture. Two negatives, or two transparencies, placed emulsion-to-emulsion and held together between glass plates, are the simplest form of sandwich. Three or more negatives or transparencies are equally possible. Sandwiches may also include high contrast images using lith film and these can be particularly effective. Whether you use negatives, transparencies or anything else, the technique is identical.'

Examples-

Burning-
'However skilful a printer you may be, if you simply expose a negative on the paper and then develop it, you are almost certainly not getting the most out of your negative. The negative merely records, in terms of tones, the original scene; the highlights and shadows remain just where they were at the time. This is fine if the lighting conditions were absolutely perfect when the photograph was taken. In nearly all cases, though, the lighting, or the distribution of tones can be improved. This is why it is useful to have some means of manipulating the tones in the print.'

Examples-

                                     

Solarization-

'Solarization is a fascinating technique which is likely to give hours of entertainment in the darkroom, not to mention frustration. It is based on a strange chemical phenomenon which occurs when a partially developed emulsion is re-exposed to light. Both film and paper can be solarized, but the best effect is best obtained with lith film. When a lith negative containing an white image on black is printed normally, a lith positive is formed which has a black image on white. If the lith positive is solarized, by turning the light on during development, the result is a black image with a white line around it, on a black background.

Examples-

Internet based;

Double Exposure-

Double exposure is pretty self explanatory. Its where the shutter of the camera is opened twice but over the same piece of negative, creating an image on top of another image.  However, to get a correct effect, both images need to be different. This technique can be used to tie an object or a person in with a background or even another object or can even be used to create ghostly like images.

 Examples;

Painting with developer-
Painting with developer is a more creative way to develop your images. You can be a lot more precise and paint a shape or image onto the exposed paper so it only exposes the parts in which you've added developer. Personally, this is one of my favourite techniques due to the amount of freedom you have with the task and how experimental you can get. Also, you can never be wrong.

Experiments;

Painting on images-

Painting on images is very similar to painting with developer. However, instead of painting with developer, you paint on actual prints with paint. I like this technique again because of the amount of freedom but also because you can emphasise some parts of the image more than the others. Adding colour to the sky or even textures with acrylic paint. The opportunities are endless.

Examples;

Distressing images-

There are many ways of distressing images such as; stepping on it, squashing dirt into it, creasing it, or sand it down with sand paper. However, James Fee distressing his images by leaving the chemicals he uses on his prints and leaving them out in the sun for up to 2 weeks, 2 months and sometimes longer.

Examples;

 

Photogram-

To create a photogramic image, all you need to do is place an object over a light sensitive paper and expose your negative to it. This will expose your image but the object shape or pattern will be complete white as its blocked the part of your image out, where you placed the object.

Examples;

Task 2- Planning

Task 1

Elements; 

Form;

I decided to use this particular image for form, because I thought it was the best image that portrayed form the best. Form is when there's more depth to whatever the subject is. In other words, its a part of a building that has 3D elements to it.

Line; 

For line, I didn't want to do the lines of buildings because this was the case with the majority of people in my class so, I decided to do a wooden floor. I also used the 3x3 technique to just to add a little more into the image.

Scale;

Again with scale, I didn't want it to be the same front facing, portrait image that was so popular so, I decided to shoot landscape and slighting off to the right of the building. However, I personally think that the image would've looked better portrait and face on. 

Texture;

Because texture usually comes in a large space or area, I really wanted to do repetition. Again, I used the 3x3 technique, focusing slightly off to the right. Also, because columns are very popular with older building, i wanted to incorporate that.  

Shape;
Unusual shapes rarely come with new buildings, simply because they're very simplistic. So I found that the building for the University was perfect for the shape element because it isn't a basic shape, such as a square or rectangle. I could've re-shot this picture

Lighting;
Lighting was pretty easy for me. I just found a building with dimension on a sunny day. Then choose a part of the building in which the sun was blacked out of parts but then still shinning in others. Evidently, for this image, the sun is shining on the taller part on the left and the sun is blocked on the rest of the building.

Secondary Research- Moodboards

 Old;

 Old building- Bradford college;
Before Bradford college became bradford college, it was known as 'Bradford technical school' and Bradford and Ilkley community college'. It was first established in 1832 as a Technical school.

 Town Hall;
The City Town Hall started construction in 1970 and took roughly 3 years to build, finishing in 1973. However, extensions were built onto the original building in 1909 and 1914. The build without the extensions came to approximately £100,000. The tip of the tower is 220 feet tall which includes 13 bells; ringing every 15 minutes. Each bell costs up to £5,000.

 The City Gent;
The original name of this pub was the Yorkshire penny bank. The architect for this build was a Scottish man named James Ledingham who was born on the 28th November 1849 and died in 1926. The building was built in 1895 but then closed and re-opened as a pub representing and supporting the local football team.

 Bradford Cathedral;
The first church to be built on this site was in the Anglo-saxon times but was demolished by the Scottish. The Gothic style Cathedral was then rebuilt in the 14th century however, some of the material used in the first Church was also included in the rebuild. The Cathedral was completed in 1458 and a clerestory was added on in the 15th century. The Cathedral officially became a Cathedral in 1919 Diocese of Bradford was created. The Cathedral then went on to be extended in 1950's and 1960's.

Holy Trinity Parish Church- Idle;
The church was built between 1928 and 1930, however, no bells were placed in the tower. John Taylor and co of loughbrough appealed for 8 bells to be placed there. The appeal was accepted and 8 bells were placed in the tower in December 1914 but the first ringing of the bells were on 20th March, 1915.

 Bradford Odeon;
Bradford Odeon was originally two buildings. One was built in 1930, which is still standing today, the other in 1938 but was demolished in 1969. The new Victoria building became a honourable venue for well respected artists and bands. In 1963 the Beatles were a support group, later returning in December 1963 as a headlining band along with The rolling stones in 1965 and Tom Jones in 1968 and many more.

 Salts Mills- Saltaire;
Salts Mills was built in 1953 and was the worlds largest industrial building by total floor area. The Salts Mill is listed as a grade 2 building. The Mill closed in 1986 with refurbishing and renovation starting the next year. The Salts Mills is now known for housing an art gallery, Restaurant and shopping complex.

Cartwright Hall- Lister Park;
This building is Named after Edmund Cartwright because of the donations of Edwardian and Victorian work he gave. Cartwright hall then became the a brief home of a musical number named 'Every sperm is sacred' in the Monty Phtyon film.

New;

 David Hockney Building- Bradford college;
The new building of Bradford college opened up for learners in 2014. The building was named after a intonationally known artist, 'David Hockney'. The building takes up a massive 23,000m2 and has 6 stories.

 Water Fountains- Centenary square;
This area of Bradford town is mainly used as an exhibit and market area. The fountains were started in 2011 and was officially opened to the public on 24th march 2012.In 2012, City park was awarded the title of best place in the UK and Ireland.

 Odeon;
The Odeon is located in the middle of Bradford and Leeds, in the Gallagher Leisure park and has 13 screens, ranging from 126/442 seats. In 2011 Odeon had all 13 screen converted to digital screens. Gallagher group constructed the Leisure centre in 1990's. It later went on the close the Odeon in Bradford in 2000 and then Odeon in Leeds in 2001.

Cineworld- Leisure exchange;
Cineworld is the second largest cinema operator in the United Kingdom with over 800 screens. Sites were built at a steady rate throughout the late 90's and early 2000's. However, it was founded in 1996.

 The Law Courts;
Bradford law courts share a building with Bradford crown court.

 Bradford University;
Bradford University received its royal charter in 1966 which made it the 40th University to be made in Britain. It was the first British University to have a department of peace studies 1973, which is currently the worlds largest University centre for the study of peace and conflict.

National Media Museum;
The National Media Museum is part of the national science museum group. It officially opened for the public on 16th June 1983. In 1989, it celebrated 50 years of photography which displayed the kodak gallery.