Form

Form

Form is a three dimensional shape, such as a cube, sphere or cone    

Sculpture and 3D design are about creating forms. 
In 2D artworks, tone and perspective can be used to create an illusion of form

The pepper's form within the photo makes it not look like a pepper and instead looks like a 

human by making the pepper look muscular to deceive the viewer to think it is something.

Image Bank

Artist Research

Edward Weston was a 20th century american photographer who did still life's, landscapes, nudes, portraits, genre scene and parodies. 

This photo is an unclose almost macro shot of a cabbage leaf but thanks to Weston's use of form it makes the leaf seem much larger and almost amplifies the depth and shape of the leaf. There is also a use of direct light to cast a shadow that presents the shape and creates for a 3D feel to the photograph.

The sense of a three dimensional object within this photo is removed. The viewer knows that this is a 3D object but with the use of diffuse light it presents it as 2D object. The only three dimensional part of the object is the front of the shell that has the shine of light. This gives a flat from to the rest of the shell and rounded form to the front of the shell. 

Contact Sheet

Selected Images

With this photo I wanted it to focus on the style of Edward Weston by first taking a shot of a shell with a high amount of negative space. Then I moved on to putting it in black and white in photoshop.

This added to the Edward Weston style I was aiming for but was not close enough to the Edward Weston style. So I used curves to increase the darkest parts of the photos. 

I then applied this same style to my other photos, tweaking the curves slightly to suit each photograph.

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My intention with this shoot was to mimic the style of Edward Weston by photographing shells using a negative space. I wanted to have a similarly dark series of photos that capture the 3D elements of the shape. Looking at Edward Westons series of shell photos inspired me to produce images in a similar style to his, I started using different objects but the photos did not achieve the same style as Edwards weston and did meet the formal element of form. So I used Shells instead that achieved the style of Edward Weston and met the Formal Element of Form. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used my Canon 5D for this shoot and throughout the shoot I used a high aperture to make just the shell in focus. I also used manual focus to make sure I achieved the specific style I wanted to achieve. I used a high aperture to make sure I had a low depth of field so that only the shell was in focus and the background was out of focus. The shutter speed was set to auto as it was not key in securing the style I wanted. 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My research into Edward weston was key in creating the style of representing form I wanted to achieve, his use of negative space and exploring the full range of the tone made my style my shoot and edits to mimic his style. Researching into the theory of form also helped me come up with objects to use in my shoot as I had to keep in mind the use of shadows. 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

With this series I believe I have created a close representation of the Edward Weston style and a key portrayal of the formal element of Form. Using the darker areas of the Tonal range helped create the shadows more present within the photos. My intention to create a strong series of form based photo's has been achieved. 

Shape

Shape

"the external form, contours, or outline of someone or something"

A key part of shape photography is the use of negative space. Negative Space - the space that surrounds an object in a image.

This photo clearly uses negative space. The cross in the centre is the shape that the photographer is trying to focus on but it doest not take up the majority of the photo, but the negative space creates more focus on the shape and shows it shape more. 

Image Bank

The evident sexual imagery in this photo is used to show the woman as venerable as she is in the nude. The connation with being naked and being venerable links to the hard contrast of the white positive space and black negative space.  

Artist Research

For my artist research for shape I chose Debby Lewis Harrison. She mainly focuses on food photography but the majority of her work relies on the fundamentals of negative space. 

These three photos really show different uses of negative space.

These two show the use of non majority negative space, the photo is in mainly dominated with the subject of ice cream but there is still negative space. The negative space is also not one colour but has a pattern to it. The negative space is used to outline the shape.

This photo is two thirds negative space but the viewers eye is till drawn to ingredients. The negative space is also one colour just in different light. This is done so that the viewer is not distracted and focuses on the subject. It also helps the objects stand out. 

I also did a small amount in to Jonathan Knowles. He is known as the liquid photographer as many of his photos contain liquid. His use of negative space is too allow the focus on the shape of the liquid and to not distract the viewer. 

This photo is a clear use of negative space to promote focus on the subjects shape. The negative space takes up the background and is not one colour but it matches the colour palette of the subject, these complimentary colours allow the subjects outline to blend in but the complexity within the shape to be observed. 

Contact Sheet

Selected Images

Improvement Needed

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My plan for recording shape was to photograph objects with negative space allowing the outline of the object, this was in the style of Debby Lewis Walsh. I also wanted to capture liquid relating to Jonathan Knowles, my plan was to pour bright coloured liquid into water and then take photos with a high shutter speed. 

When taking photos with negative space I felt that shadows and light effect the negative so that it was more distracting. If I were to re-shoot this I would use more effective lighting to make the background one solid colour so that it does not distract from the object's space. Many of the photos turned out well as they capture the outline of the shape well.  

When attempting to capture the shape of liquid I managed some successful shots of the liquid but again the negative space was not one colour which led to it becoming more distracting. If I were to do this again I would focus on working with the light and also using a higher shutter speed so that I could capture more shapes of the liquid. 

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.
For recording Shape I used my canon 5D and used changed my settings depending on my subject. Most of the negative space shots which focused on a static object I used an automatic shutter speed but for the liquid shots I had to use a high shutter speed so that I could capture more shots of the liquid moving. I did not have to change the aperture as I used lighting to make sure each shot had correct lighting. 

Each of my selected images needed some editing to make them closer to the Jonathan Knowles style I was going for.

With this image I will need to set the white balance so I achieved a white negative space to outline the shape more. I will also need to remove the marks that were on the surface when the photo was taken and I will also need to crop the photo so that the shadow in the back is not in frame.

 I first set the white balance using curves. I selected the most white point on the original photo. This has created a whiter negative space but it has made the marks on the surface more obvious and problematic. The negative space is not one solid colour as I want it to be but it is better to the unedited version.

I then went through with the Patch Tool and removed any marks by selecting the areas that had marks and then selecting a clear area. This made the negative space more as I wanted it as it had nothing to distract the audience.

I then cropped the image, making it more square but making the negative space seem more like one colour instead of shades of white.

Overall the edit allowed for negative space to become one solid colour and made it more in the style of Jonathan Knowles.

With this photo I wanted to make the negative space

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My research into Debby Lewis Walsh and Jonathan Knowles really inspired the majority of my photos. Debby Lewis Walsh's use of negative space inspired many of my photos to allow a focus on the subject using an empty background and a simple item in the centre. Jonathan Knowles work with liquid inspired my photos involving coloured liquid in clear water. 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

This series of photos I believe closely resemble the style of Jonathan Knowles and is a clear portrayal of shape. I really like these photos as each photo is unique of the shape its portraying. I would like to do this shoot again inside the studio with correct lighting and a large shape to use but these photos do resemble the intention I had. Even with the photos that do not use liquid they still follow his style of negative space.

Tone

Tone

"refers to the lightness or darkness of something."

Tones are created by the way light falls on a 3D object. The parts of the object on which the light is strongest are called highlights and the darker areas are called shadows. There will a range of tones in between the highlights and shadows.
Without tone Form does not exist, tone is therefore an important aspect in the visualisation of 3D objects.

The Zone System

Image Bank

Artist Research

Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist. His black and white landscape photographs of the American West, especially Yosemite National Park, have been widely reproduced on calendars, posters, books, and the internet. 

Ansel Adams uses the full tonal range within this photo as it spreads from the 0 on the left to coming up to a 8/7 on the right which shows shows the full tonal spectrum in this one photo. It also gives the conations that Industry is darker and more evil and that nature is more good and beautiful and that the industry is effecting nature.

This photo uses a more contrasting tonal range as the darkest and lightest tones on the photo are next to each other.  Which creates a conation of a hidden darkness. It also makes the viewer focus on the lightest part of the photo. 

Contact Sheet

Selected Images

Needs Improvement 

With the first photo I would like to frame it better so that it would follow the staircase and show a tonal increase on each step. I could then edit it within photo shop to create the highest and lowest tone on the top and bottom of the staircase.

The second photo I would use the shoe's contrasting tones and put it on a more complex background so that it would have more tones to contrast with. 

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My intentions with my shoot on Tone was too capture photos that would show the full tonal range. I mainly took a lot of darker photos that included an evident shadow or a photo that contained a bright and dark element. To follow Ansel Adams style I wanted to capture something that had a pattern.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used my Canon 5D during the shoot and the camera was in Auto Mode as I was focusing on frame and I believed that the camera settings would not effect what I wanted massively. All photos were shot with a low aperture to make sure that everything was in focus also a fast shutter speed was used to freeze any movement and not blur anything as I was not using a tripod. 

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

My  research into Tone allowed me to explore the use of the Tonal range in my shoot. This research was highly useful for my shoot and exploring tone. Researching Ansel Adams allowed me to focus on using shadows and having the whole Tonal range in my photos. 

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

With my series of photos I believe that they show the entire tonal range and link to the work of Ansel Adams with that they show the full tonal range. Too really show the Ansel Adams style I would require a nature style shoot which would allow me to create photos like his.