REFLECTIVE BLOG

3 IN 1 CREATURE/LIMINAL
FEEDBACK
Through the means of a critical evaluation and by asking my peers, I have gained some valuable feedback that I could use in future work to enhance my work.

All in all, the overall reception of the idea behind the work was positive. My peers said that they thought it is an idea that is not commonly explored.

The first few photographs (the ones with the lighter backgrounds and darker contrasts) were thought to work the best. Some said the contrast of the light background and the darker outline of the model produced a great effect.

SELF REFLECTION
I am pleased with the outcome of this brief. I thought that the idea of spirits trying to breach the barrier between the land of the dead and the living was a creative approach to the liminal side of the 3 in 1 brief.

I think the photographs with the lighter backgrounds and the starker contrast create a vibrant and intense photographic effect. It produces a better representation of the brief.

The poses of the models in the photograph show that the 'spirits' are trying to come into our world.

However, I do think there are some negative aspects to this series of photographs that mainly stem from the photos which have a darker background. The darker backgrounds make it difficult to see the model and their shadows, which is the whole point of the photos. This detracts from the intended outcome. Many people I asked about my work also agreed with me and further implied the photos with the darker background were the weakest of the series of photos.

GLITCH IN NINE PORTRAIT
FEEDBACK
After completing this series of photographs, I asked my peers to give me evaluative feedback regarding the concept, design and overall outcome of this brief.

The concept I had thought of to satisfy the brief was the a question- is a portrait without a clear image of the subject's face still a portrait? Portraits, by definition, are a painting, photo or other means of visual interpretations of a subject's face. Most comments pertaining to the design of my concept were positive. People said that it 'combined quite an unoriginal idea (holding up a picture frame) with an original idea (obscuring the face with effects), which produced quite an imaginative finish'.

The location of the tree trunks that one of my subjects sat on was also mentioned as being quite 'idyllic' and provided a good photo opportunity.

Some people felt the backdrop of the holly bush was plain in comparison to the ones with the tree trunks, although the picture it was part of looked good.

The picture with the lake in the background received mixed comments regarding the way in which I obscured the subject's face. Some people said they liked the way in which it had been obscured, whereas others said they didn't. Overall on balance, I think this particular way of obscuring the face received a negative reception, however most people did comment that 'it made a big emphasis on the subject's face', which I take as positive constructive criticism as the main focus of people's attention should be the subject's face.

The different ways in which the subject's face was obscured were an idea of mine after playing around with the photo filters on Photoshop. This idea to change how the face is obscured was commented on positively by peers. People noted it kept the concept fresh and interesting. If I had only done one type of filter or way of hiding the face the concept might have gotten dated and plain quite quickly.





SELF REFLECTION
I thought originally that I would only do one way of obscuring the face. The way in which I wanted to achieve this was to increase the exposure time and increase the length of time the shutter is open for on the camera, then get the model to shake their head to create an illusion of movement. This would produce a blurred effect that would obscure the face. This is an interesting idea, but would probably have got boring quite quickly. To the right is a picture of the motion blur effect. I achieved this by adding a motion blur photo filter on Photoshop.

The woodland location, especially around the tree trunks, frame the subject and increase the focus on him. This presents a nice visual effect that enhances the visual appeal of the photo. The fact that there is a different location in most of the photos keeps the idea fresh and can complement the subject in different ways.

The vignettes around the edges of the photos subtly frame the photo nicely, which I thinks adds visual appeal to the finished effect.

Looking back, I think the locale and the environment added greatly to my final photos. The weather and colour of the sky meant that there was less camera glare, which could have decreased the quality of the photo. The light that the time of day and the weather it produced lent itself well to photography, as there were no harsh lights when I was taking the photographs.


I like the fact that I didn't just use blurring as a way to obscure the subjects' face. The mosaic pixels, the swirl and the smudge.