Dead Flowers and Skull

Dead Flowers and Skull

Plans for shoot:
For this shoot I wanted to incorporate the first shoot that I completed and incorporate the influences of my photographs research as the skull symbolises human remains, and the inevitable end of all things. 

Photographer's Research:
My photographer's research for this shoot is a woman called Susan Meiselas, known for her image 'Cuesta del Plomo' which depicts the bottom half of a dead body among a beautiful landscape. I chose to investigate her as a photographer as she is able to capture the vulnerability of her subjects ,especially in this image. 

The image above depicts the bottom half of a corpse supposedly killed by the National Guard in Nicaragua. I chose to investigate this image as it relates to my theme of natural destruction. Despite being murder in a horrific fashion this individual is now being returned to the earth from where we all came. This image has a harrowing effect on the viewer, they are unable to exclude the remains at the bottom of the image and so are coerced into becoming a witness. The body also brings into question our own mortality thus creating a deep emotional investment in this shot. 

Image Bank:

Contact Sheets:

Images that need improvement

DS7_8002.JPG:

As I was shooting this on a table I had all of the other flowers pre-prepared for the next shot slightly to the left of the composition so that they were out of show. However, on this occasion I didn't move the flower far enough to the left and so it is in the shot. I saw this while I was reviewing the images as I continued and so moved in from the other images in this shoot. 

DS7_8006.JPG:

I dislike the composition of this image. The board that I am shooting on is reflective and shows the reflection of the skull in the foreground and the lighting creates a large shadow in the background. Both of these issues result in a distracting image that confuses the viewer and detracts from the subject. I changed the composition in the later shots by moving the camera closer to the table and the skull meaning there is less foreground in the shot. 

Best Images:

I like these images over the others in the shoot as the compositions are stronger with better balance in the images and better lighting. 

A03: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress. 

My main ideas for this shoot were to marry the grewson image of death and skulls with beautiful flowers similar to what Meiselas has achieved in her image. The images from this shoot did turn out like I had hoped them to, however some of the images I would have liked darker as this would emphasise the atmosphere I was trying to create. To achieve the darker atmosphere I wanted I will use Photoshop.  


A02: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining as work develops. 

For this shoot I used a Nikon D7200 with a 60mm Macro lens, remote release and tripod. To prepare for this shoot I had dried dead flowers so that they too would symbolise both beauty and death in my images. As I shot this as a Macro shoot I didn't need to plan the location ahead of time, the main element that did require planning was the dead flowers.  I decided on a Macro shoot rather than a Landscape shoot as most other shoots in this project have been Macro because, the images produced allow the viewer into the images in a way that landscape photography cannot. 

The lighting in this shoot was difficult as I was using natural light and the angle was casting a large shadow into the background which detracted from the skull. To improve the lighting I raised the F-stop as the camera was set to aperture priority as this would allow for a larger field of focus and so less shadow. The final camera settings were F/16 and an exposure of 10 seconds allowing for more diffused light and a less harsh shadow. 

A01: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. 

To improve my images I will edit them in Photoshop. Once all the images are open I then decided to create a vignette to the images to darken them and improve on the dark atmosphere in the images. To do this I used the Elliptical Marquee tool, this will select a circular area of the image.

I then right clicked and selected fethering. This will create a gradual vignette around the skull. 

The next step was to select inverse so I can darken the area outside the skull. To do this I right clicked and selected inverse. 

I then applied a curves layer as this will allow me to darken the outside boarder. 

I used these same techniques for the other images, sometimes interchanging a black and white layer for the curves layers. Here are the final images.

A04: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. 

I believe that this shoot was successful as I have responded effectively to my research into Susan Meiselas and to the theme of natural destruction. This shoot relates to natural destruction as it displays the natural process of death in both humans and plants. The symbolism behind this shoot is to show death in its many forms, and the different ways nature works in to remove any organic trace through decay or fire.