Photography Traces Final Photo Shoot and Edits

For my final photo shoot I decided in the end after more research and another tutorial that I was going to take a much more documentation approach to this using techniques like brash contrasting colours and closed in compositions to make more of an impact on the viewer and make them stronger as a set. After looking back through I decided the best subject matter for this that worked well in this manner the first time I tried it was the food leftovers on the plates. This led me to decided that I will do my finals based in the canteen taking pictures of peoples leftovers on their plates. This will show the traces they leave behind but also hopefully make the viewer reflect on the way we act and live our lives leaving so much waste behind. It also is nice to be doing it in the university canteen because then it gives a  relevant reflection back to the students when presented in our exhibition space also on campus. I like the idea that these dirty plates could also be a metaphor for the amount of rubbish that we produce everyday not only externally but the amount of rubbish produced in our bodies too. I decided that this shoot would take time because it was simply a case of chance depending on how many people eat in the canteen as to weather I was going to be able to get many decent shots. Therefore I planned to take my final images over two different days both in lunchtime hours when the canteen is at its busiest. This would also allow me to get more of a variety of plates with varying foods and variety of colours. Here is the contact sheet from my first day shooting:

And then here is my contact sheet from my second day of shooting:

Next I reviewed all these images and chose my favourites from each set of plates and edited them to give me a feel of how they worked and in my head I was then beginning to build up an idea of what images I could use for my final and which images would work well together. Here are my favourites edited:

 With this image I used a very shallow depth of field to make your eye focus into the pepper packet as this is the rubbish left on the plate and therefore this is helping to create the meaning/metaphor I am trying to go for with this work. I have also tried to compose it in a way which is simplistic and almost quite beautiful at first which then shocks the audience when they notice that they are actually looking at someone's leftovers. I  think enhancing the colours has worked really well in post because it has made it even more eye catching and bold and also by increasing the contrast it allows you to pick up on a lot more detail such as the specks of pepper on the plate. I am really happy with this image.

With this image I took a much more overhead angle on it as I like the basic but observational feel that it gave to it. It made it much more obvious that this was a documentary styled image and in a way reminded me of when police take pictures of evidence from a straight above angle, very plain and simple. I feel like this image was harder to make eye catching because there was a bit less colour on this plate which is why I put my focus much more on the composition and framing of it which works well. However I said I wanted to have challenging features on the plate too to help add to my meaning and unfortunately this plate did not have anything else on it other than the leftover food. I like this image but I am not sure it works in this set.

In this picture I really like the textures created by the gravy and the food and I feel like it adds more interest to this piece. Other than that I am not sure weather I like this piece or not because even though I did my best to enhance the colours in post I found that the murky colour of the gravy made this very hard to do without it becoming too unrealistic. This is as far as I could push it which is a shame because I love the fact that it is just a large pile of vegetables left over which was probably the most natural food on the plate which again gives an interesting reflection about this person. I am still unsure as to weather this will work with in my set because it hasn't got any unexpected or challenging elements on the plate other than the left over food again.

In this case it wasn't a plate left it was a bowl so I had to try and take a different approach to photographing it because I found that if I tried a more closed in frame like the others there was so little left that it was just a very dull image. Instead I chose this as my final of the bowl because it was taken again from a very documentation angle but from further away  which allowed you to see all the mess that this person left on the try around the bowl. I had to enhance the colours a lot in this image so that you could actually see the liquid that was left in the bowl and I do really like how there is just a tiny puddle left on the spoon. The only problem with this image is that it will fit into my final set of image because the rest are plates. It may stand out a little too much.

I really love this image because there was so much left on the plate that it really gave me a lot to work with especially with all the different colours and textures that are present. I have composed it so that the main focus is on the half eaten potato and then you just get this lovely coloured lettuce around it. I also think having the fork disappearing into the food works nicely because it emphasises how much this person really did leave behind. I feel like the enhancing of the colour and contrast have worked well to draw the eye in and also to add more detail like the tiny specks of peeper sat on the potato. Even thought this has no challenging features on/in it I like it because it still shows a message about us and how some people can leave some much behind and waste it like this.

 I really liked the composition of this image however unfortunately when I took it someone was blocking the light which has made it look much darker. I have tired to enhance the brightness and colours in post production but I could only do so much whilst trying to keep it at least looking realistic. The reason why I like the composition is because it has some food in the foreground and background which is out of focused due to a shallow depth of field and then its the bunched up tissue in the centre of the late which is the point of focus. I like this because your eye is instantly drawn to this rubbish and then you start to see all the other unsettling leftovers and rubbish on the plate. I feel like this would work well with in the set in terms of meaning however ascetically it may not fit in because it is noticeably quite dull/dark compared to a lot of the others.

In this image I feel like the colour is the element which works really well because I have enhanced it in post to make it brighter and more saturated so that it is a harsh pallet however I feel like it isnt so over done that it seems unrealistic. I think that I have the balance of brightness and saturation just right. I like here how the plate was very clean and white too which meant that the food and objects stand out on it even more. It almost creates a stronger metaphor because the plate  is the pure element and then the food taints and spoils it representing humans effect on the planet in terms of mass consumption and mass waste we produce. I like this image a lot because visually it is very pleasing but when thought into a lot deeper it has a good meaning to it and would work well with in my set.

 I liked this image myself because when I was taking it I could spot a hair on the plate which I thought would work really well by giving the audience a visually challenging and disturbing aspect in and amongst the leftovers. However it was really hard to make this tiny little hair stand out and since I didn't have a macro lens so I couldn't get in as close as I would have liked to it either. So this is the best shot I managed to capture which does have the hair in it just under the handle of the knife however it is such a tiny detail that I don't know how noticeable it would be to outside viewers who may not be as aware of what they are looking for. Because I am not sure if this tiny detail makes a big enough impact I have not decided weather I will use it with in my final set of not because other than that detail it is a rather plain image.

 This image is very eye catching because of the colours in it which I also enhanced a lot to make them even brighter and more vibrant. I feel like this helps add messier feel to an already very messy plate which works well with in my meaning. I feel like having the rubbish scattered all over this plate as opposed to leftovers again helps to add more meaning to this set because it shows you how big we are as consumerists but also how much waste we produce too which taints our planet in the same way this plate is tainted. Having a very closed in frame here helps too because it means that there is no escape from the chaos on the plate and as a viewer you are forced to look at this almost uncomfortable image. I like this piece and I feel like it would work really nicely in my set.

This image is very interesting for me visually however I don't know how well it works in my set of images because there isn't really a disturbing or visually challenging element to it it apart from the leftover food. I like it visually because the composition works having the knife and fork coming in from two different directions both leading your eye towards the food. I also really like the bold red colours on this plate and by enhancing them in post I've managed to make them even more eye catching. However I don't think I would use this in my final set because it doesn't have a message as strong as some of the other images and it is a little bit too pleasing for the eye which I didn't actually want to do.

This image is probably one of my favourites from this shoot because it has a lot going on which helps to add meaning and also to challenge the viewer.  I feel like it it has all these different elements of litter and rubbish in it through the bunched up tissue and the pepper packet but I also love how it has this massive Starbucks branded coffee cup in the very back which links back to this whole idea of consumerism and waste production really well. Now beside all the meaning hidden with in this image it also works well visually because I have again as in all the photos enhanced the brightness/contrast and the saturation of the colours. It has worked very successfully here because the beans really catch your eye and draw you in but you can also spot tiny little details like the specks of pepper. Also the plate is so white in some places but so tainted in others that it is adding to the metaphor of this work even more. I think I will defiantly be using this with in my final set.

 This image works well in terms of the meaning however there isn't nothing very visually interesting which would draw a viewers eye in to it. I think this is because the plate is so crowded with cutlery and tissue that you cant actually see many of the food leftovers. The amount of cutlery and tissue links  back to one of my themes of mass consumption but it goes a little bit too far away from my original concept of leftovers/traces because on this plate you cant really see anything properly. Therefore I don't think I will be using this as part of the finals.

 This image is very visually striking because its got that mass of bright yellow sweet corn right at the front pulling your eye in. I enhanced that even further in post to make it brighter and more saturated which has also added more contrast between this bright yellow sweetcorn and the murky dull looking gravy which is covering the majority of the plate. I feel like this image is hard to look at because there is so many disturbing things going on like this excess amount of gravy and the bright unnatural looking sweetcorn. Also there is rubbish dumped on the plate too which helps challenge the viewer further. I think this chaos helps to put across the  message I want to about the nasty traces we can leave behind metaphorically and in reality. I like this image even though it is unsettling and it would work well with in my finals.

I like the bareness of this image and I think it is a good contrast to a lot of the other images however because there is so little in it it was very hard to compose and work with. Also there wasn't a lot I could do with it in post production either beside brighten it up. I have also noticed now I have blown it up bigger that is is slightly out of focus anyway which makes it very hard to look at. Also it doesn't really link as well as the others to my theme/concept so I think I wont be using this in my finals.

 This image has a lot of food left over and it has created a lot of visually interesting textures and shapes to draw you in however it is also a bit gruesome to look at because it was someone's dinner and it doesn't look too appetising the way its been left. I like that in one sense it is visually beautiful for a split second till you become aware of what your looking at then it starts to disturb you more than anything. I would have like this image to be in my final set however I have so many I like and because this one doesn't have anything challenging in it other than food It isn't as metaphorically strong as the others and therefore I probably wont use it.

This image works well metaphorically with my meaning but also visually which is good. I feel like it the lack of food leftovers but the traces that it was there work in my favour because they show the mass consumerism of people and then the rubbish scattered on the plate shows the mass waste we can produce. I think visually it works well too because  have enhanced the colours so that the nice bright orange stains of the beans draw your eye in and then the lines of the cutlery then lead you to keep looking at the rubbish piled up. I feel like this is one of my successful image and would work well in the finals.

This image is a lot more barren compared t some of the others because there isn't actually any objects left on the plate but instead just the traces of this gravy sauce like substance. I feel like the traces links well to the overall project theme of this unit but the bareness maybe doesn't link in to my specific theme as well so it may not work as well. I did try and make it more visually interesting in post through enhancing the brightness and saturation of colours but this still hasn't made it look any less barren so I am not sure it I will use it as a final.

I feel like this shoot had some varying rates of success however I am very happy with the amount of nice images I managed to capture and I feel like through reviewing each of my favourites once edited it has allowed me to narrow down the images towards the most successful for my finals. I have also narrowed down my theme further to actually begin looking deeper at a metaphor in a lot of these images which is about mass consumerism and mass waste. The second metaphor I also came up with is how the white of the plate represents the planet and then the stains and food which taint it also represents the negative impact we can have on the planet through this consumerist and wasteful ways. Next I must pick my 5 finals that will be exhibited and choose how I will print them and how they will be presented.