211 , Presentation of Theme 2 Landscape

I had originally decided upon the presentation of my two themes final images by arranging them onto a A3 size format within Photoshop and just simply print off within the collage . After some forethought as having to present two themes I changed my mind about my landscape pictures presentation. I searched on the Internet for some inspiration and after looking on several websites for example Jessops and proaminaging.com I decided upon using the Boots website because of it's ease to use and it's wide range of formats to choose from . I had tried to upload my pictures onto a photo book but it required me to have 30 pictures so wouldn't allow my to do this . After a little thought and looking around on the Boots site I then realised that with having twelve images this would be ideal for a calender. I then just had to decide on which layout. The Boots website gives a multitude of choices of themes and layouts and is very easy and navigate. With my images being in different sizes I at first struggled to find a format to fit them in but after after a little while I was able to upload them into a collage easily in a format which I found suitable. 

Below is the final images all put on a A3 format within photoshop which I was very pleased with but then went onto to present them in a printed manner.

http://www.bootsphoto.com/studio?creation_id=22518918

I have now received my calender collage from Boots and I am fairly pleased with it,the cost seemed fair at £20.98 , this included postage and the delivery time was excellent only taking 2 working days. The only slight disappointment was that the images were slightly darker then I anticipated, the Boots program had cropped some of the images and I felt that it would have been better produced on lustre paper rather then the gloss which was used. I will bring my collage to college for Steve to see and review. With signing up as a customer with Boots I was also given up to 40 free prints to use so will be able to get prints of all my images from both themes which I will order and will also bring to college. Below is a screen grab from the Boots website showing some of the uploaded pictures . Also showing directly below is a screen grab of a very good editing programme on the Boots site called "picnik" this has quite advanced tool which allows many adjustments for example , cloning , curves and sharpening there's also all the basic tools like exposure and cropping. 

Presenting Photo Images ( 211 )

For this unit there is only one outcome to it and that is to be able to present images for viewing . To enable to do this I will have to investigate 6 main points which are as follows ;

1 Maintain the working environment
2 Select presentation method
3 Use materials and equipment
4 Produce final images
5 Prepare and present images for viewing
6 Produce a portfolio of images

1 , With all processes in photography your first thought must be to the health and safety of yourself and others. For myself I wont be printing my images. However if I was my considerations would be as follows.
Printing at home; In doing this you will need be aware of the printer and computer cables, that they are kept safely and not obstructing you or the operation of the hardware and also ensuring that the printer ink levels are sufficient for your prints.

If you were to print them off in photography shop for example Jessops or Boots there would the two normal methods ; the traditional method of leaving your images with them,  either being on a digital memory format or on a traditional film. Or in most shops have a self service printing machine where you upload your images direct to it and you get you prints straight away, this method is very popular as it is cheap and quick. By leaving your digital memory card or memory stick with them you then have the advantage of being able to choose a wider choice of print sizes and paper types to use.This of course has it's advantages but would be more expensive and take longer to produce. So your working environment of course would be in the shop itself so care would need to be taken to make sure that no one else obstructs you or touching them machine



2 , The vast array of presentation methods today is quite incredible. The majority of the images we see are on electronic devices on either LCD or LED screens these maybe seen on your phones or images stored to memory sticks which can be then viewed on a computer screen , televisions or digital picture frames or just on your camera's. These then could be hung on a wall and you could have a different image shown every day or every hour ! My daughters hand-held Nintendo DS can even capture images change there appearance and display the in different ways. You can have you picture printed onto T shits , cups , plates , calenders or even jigsaws.
Then there is the more traditional method where you will still work with the digital image you have created but instead of seeing it on a screen you can get the image printed. With this method you have lots of choices to think about, do you just simply take you memory card or stick to your local photographic shop and print off your images onto their photographic paper , this does have it's advantage as I have discovered as after an experiment with my old Epson Stylus Photo 890 that it is only capable of printing picture that are up to 8mp where my images are 12mp. After discovering this I printed some images in Jessops and quickly realised that they were much better. As an alternative you also can upload your images to various websites for example http://www.proamimaging.com/organiseUpload.php within this you have 9 easy steps to follow to ensure you get the best results for your photographs. I have also recently opened a Flickr account...http://www.flickr.com/photos/72074235@N02/ 
here you can upload your pictures or videos for anyone to see and also view anyone else's and leave comments against them.
I have chosen to present my images for viewing from within my blog , I had wanted to print but unfortunately due to finances being low have not been able to afford too.

We have also through one of our college colleagues been fortunate enough to be invited for each of us on the course to be able to present two of our pictures to be displayed at the Swadlincote Council Buildings. This was possible due to Ian's work for South Derbyshire District Council . The pictures will be be on show for 1 week from the 6th of February. Ian was kind enough to order the materials needed and to order the prints. We have used Wilkinson picture frames at a size of 20in x 16in and with the use of a picture mount our prints were set at 16in x 12in . The pictures were uploaded to a wed based print shop based in Bradford called ProAm which you can see a link to herhttp://www.proamimaging.com/.All of our prints were printed onto lustre photo paper. I chose two pictures of my children as we are able to keep the prints so was keen to be able to show my children my work and to give them some sort of thank you to them for being patient with me during my picture taking of them. By doing this the public visiting the the Council Building will be able to while during their visit to view our pictures. Shown below are some of mine and other colleagues pictures in the process of being put into the frames in readiness to be hung at the Council Buildings.

 

The last 4 images above actually show the space where the pictures are being displayed within the council offices. I took these on the first day of the display whilst showing my children them , they greatly enjoyed having their pictures on display thinking they were going to be famous.

3.There is ample printers of all sizes available to suit all budgets in the market today, from the neat little Polaroid PoGo printer which can be bought for around £40.00 shown here this doesn't use any ink as the paper releases its colours using it's zero ink technology built into the printer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhcA88tye4M  The prints are rather small at only 2" by 3" but produce a very high quality finish on a fairly wide choice of papers that Polariod claim that the will not fade for up to 1000years.

4, To produce my final images I have chosen to upload both themes onto a A3 format created within photoshop. As posted in another blog I then decided to have the Nature theme printed off in a poster style calender in the format of a collage. I had looked at alternatives for example a book as seen below created on the Boots Photo website..http://www.bootsphoto.com/... but it wouldn't let me complete my order as I was only uploading 12 images and not the 30 it required. I'd really liked the look of this book so was quite disappointed at this, perhaps it was me not understanding the instructions but I felt a little let down by this. 

5, So I have now received my poster, 30" x 20" or 76cm x 51cm ,  for my Theme 2 Nature so will take to collage to see , below is a screen grab of it.

208 Final Images Nature Theme 2.

I'm happy to be able to show you the images I have chosen for my Assignment 208 Nature Theme.
I have greatly enjoyed taking these pictures as they were all taken in Cornwall, one of my favourite places, all on the coast line of the Celtic Sea on two short holidays in the one of the county's most beautiful areas and also with great fortune to have been blessed with good weather and light conditions. They were all taken near to Porthleven , Lizard's Point and Lands End.
In capturing these I have had to work with various light conditions from the dim light given from the twilight before the sunrise and warm glow of the sun disappearing I experienced in the Cornish sunsets. To help me I  used Ultra Violet , sky light and various Cokin graduation filters. Along with these the use of my Veldbon DF60 tripod , a must for the early morning shots where the light is low and the shutter speeds slow.
I used my Nikon D3100 along with its kit lens a Nikon DX 18-55mm VR and a Tamron 70-300mm Tele-Macro lens. I had taken over 400 images so it was a battle to thin them out to be able to choose the final 10, well It was a struggle so I couldn't,  so I'll be posting 12. I hope you enjoy them as much as i did capturing them.
All my images have been taken in full manual mode to enable full control of all settings this has allowed me to experiment with aperture and shutter settings on my camera to attempt to get the best possible pictures. With this in mind I also attempted some of the pictures using my cameras bulb setting as well.

Above picture 1. This was taken just as the sun was rising over Porthleven , I used my Tamron Telephoto lens set upon my tripod . I had attempted before to use a smaller aperture of around f32 but had struggled to get a crisp image as having to use a slow shutter speed as I'd wanted to give as much depth of field as possible but I kept getting a poor result. So after some experimenting this image was taken with the ISO set at 200 a f9 aperture and used the bulb setting on my camera which gave a shutter speed of 1/160th. I feel this gave a good compromise to enable to get a sharp image and not loose to much detail in the back ground . I didn't post processed this image at all as I felt it was a strong enough to be able to be used in its original state.

Above picture 2 . This image was taken from the beach in Porthleven , I took it in the early evening on the first day after only arriving about an hour or so before.After a little experimenting again I settled on ISO 200 f16 and a shutter speed of 1/8th , with a orange Cokin graduation filter. I wanted a slow shutter speed to be able to give a sense of movement in the image and a small f stop to help balance the shutter speed and give a clear image throughout. As you can see I have processed this image and have shown the various stages above. I particularly like the rich texture of the rock and sand  as a contrast to the soft foaming wave as they crash down on them and how the water has been captured in lines to the top right of the shot.

Above picturer 3 . This picture was also taken on the same afternoon in Porthleven . Settings were as follows; f16 , ISO200 and shutter speed of 1/3sec. This time I thought I'd use a slightly slower shutter speed to try and show the waters shadow on the sand as it retreated back into the sea to leaves. Also I timed it so the water is shown at it's highest as it hits the rocks. I decided to crop as this would balance the foreground and background . Also by doing this it has given the image more of an impact to the viewer as the main detail is in the middle and not in the top third of the frame. 

Above picture 4 . Again took at Porthleven on the same evening.  Settings of f16 , ISO200 and shutter speed of 1/3 of a second. As you can see I have used the same settings as photo number 3 . I was happy these so thought I'd try them again as it seemed to be working for me as I wanted a slow shutter speed to show the movement of the water. I have only cropped this picture to give it a panoramic feel to it with no other processing being made. 

Above picture 5 , As the light was so good I'm showing another from the same evening at Porthleven . Again also very similar settings; f16 , ISO200 and a shutter speed of 1/4 of a second. I think someone was looking down on me during this shoot as I was lucky enough to produce what I think are some very good pictures.Here we see a lower angled shot with no horizon in view. I have only cropped to give a panoramic view again feeling that the image is strong enough not to need processing. With this shot my eye is drawn to the bottom left then it has a natural path diagonally along the rocks up to the top right.

 Above picturer 6. The next morning . Setting our alarm for 4.30am, yes really , so as to give us plenty of time to adjust to the early hour and to travel the short distance from Porthleven to Lizard's Point the most southerly part of the United Kingdom we attempted some sunrise shots. This was taken at 5.40am using f10 , ISO200 with using my cameras bulb setting I judged the correct length of time with it giving it me a shutter speed of 5sec. I've not touched this picture at all , I've done this as it was,  out of about 50 shots the only one that came near to what I was trying to achieve so didn't want to do anything to it.

Above picture 7 . This was taken the same morning at Lizards Point about an hour after the sunrise. I'd wanted to use my tripod for this shot to get the best possible image but with it being so close to the edge was unable to. With this in mind  I positioned myself so that I was not obstructing anybody near to me , as I would create a trip hazard but as there we were the only people there at the time this was not a problem. I       positioned the forefront so that the two outer parts of the cliff balanced with the central part so that they all lead your eye towards the sea below. I'd like to say that I'd timed it so that the white seen in the wave also points out but this was all by chance. I have post processed this but to only fill in a area of white I've not adjusted anything else. I love how the colours and the texture contrast from the forefront to the the sea below giving it a feeling of great contrast . With it being taken looking straight down you don't get true feeling of the depth but by using the small aperture I'd wanted to give the viewer the feeling of being standing at the edge of no return.

Above picture 8 . Sunrise at Lizards Point. This was taken at same day at 7.48am . I used ISO 400 , F11 and 1/400th second shutter speed to help reduce blur within the picture. I not adjusted anything apart from only slightly straightening it in photoshop. I was very please with the colours of the sun reflected in the sea and using the quicker shutter speed was able to keep the waves in focus up to the horizon.

 Above picture 9 ...Taken on the first evening at Porthleven. I used ISO 200 , F16 and 1/4th of a second shutter speed . This has been cropped so as to only see the foreground up to the waves crashing against the rocks . Also as you can see from the photshop screen grabs I have removed items from within the sand ie seaweed etc. I am very pleased with this image, particularly how the the wave to the top left is shown to be holding still at it's peak. 

Above Number 10, This is my my favourite image . For me to be able to capture the water as it rushes into your feet shown as a  soft white blanket with the contrast against that and the texture of the sand and the exposed rock really works.Also I am very pleased to that it's also showing the next wave in the background still in focus. I used ISO 200 with F16 and 1/4second shutter .Using the slow shutter speed meant that it was essential to use my tripod , this helped to keep the images fore ground in focus and let the lens capture the movement of the water in a fixed position.

Above picture 11. Taken again at Lizards Point a little bit earlier then the other at 7.26am . Using ISO 200 F5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second . I not done anything to post process this at all, I feel that it is not perfect at all but after several adjustments with photoshop I kept coming back to it's original state so left as it is. Two things stick out to me with this , firstly how the sun is in the middle and secondly the the horizon starts level with where the rocks to the left finish . It hasn't got the sun reflection on the sea as the sun's not high enough but the sun it self and its warm glow and how it's reflected off the above clouds really makes this image stand out.

Above picture 12. Another sunrise but a little later in the year now in mid November so didn't have to get up quite so early. Taken in Porthleven again looking over the harbour to the church , which is actually a working man's club ,the onto the bay behind and then the sun . So we have 4 sections the the picture. I did again with this image attempt to make adjustment to but keep coming back to it's original state .I tried to lighten but in doing so just kept losing the suns detail , after actually being there this is it looked to the naked eye , with having the sun behind the church very little light was cast on the church. I used ISO 100 F22 and a shutter speed of 1/200th. Perhaps in hindsight I should have used a larger aperture along with a higher ISO but time was limited as the clouds were rising over the sun and wanted to attempt to get as much focus throughout the image as possible. Also out of about 10 shots I'd taken this was the only one which was no blurred as we had a wind rushing in against us so was quite difficult to keep the camera stable.