Reflections Photography - Traces Experimental Shoot 1 (cafe)

I went to a cafe as planned and sat and waited for people to leave their tables and then I photographed the traces they had left. Here are the contacts from this experiment:

This shoot was successful because I got some nice images however because I was on a limited time scale there was only so long I could wait in the cafe/coffee shop for so I didn't capture as many images as I might have liked. However if I choose this location for my finals I would make sure I had plenty of time to take many more images. Here are some edits of my favourite images from this experiment:

Table 1 Traces 1-

 I like this photo because it keeps enough in the frame to show you a lot of personality of who was once there especially through the empty wrappers left in the cup. Yet the frame is closed in enough on the table and just this that it almost isolates us from the rest of the coffee shop giving us time to reflect as an audience on this just being a single trace left in time which I have immortalised by capturing. I really like the composition I have created however I am slightly unhappy about the lighting because I feel like it is majority in shadows and this makes the cups seem very dull. I think it would have been more visually striking if the cups seemed a much brighter white against the background with more contrast. I did edit it in post production to saturate the colours and make it brighter however it only seemed to take away the actual quality of it.


Table 1 Traces 2-

 With this image I have tried to focus in even further on the characteristic of the empty wrappers in the cup. I have made it so that these are nicely in focus close up in the foreground and then using a shallow depth of field I have made everything else in the background out of focus such as the spoon on the table. I did try it the other way around having the spoon  and focus and the foreground out but that had very little character or detail to it which is why I chose this. I feel as well that the lighting in this image is much more successful and I was able to on post production make the whites even whiter which makes it more visually striking.


Table 2 Traces-

 This image I feel is less visually striking because there is some much going on in the frame that your eye never gets time to focus on any details. I struggled to find a way to reduce the composition and focus on one element without losing quality in post production by cropping and unfortunately I didn't take any close ups of this table as I had limited time before it got cleaned away. I have cropped it slightly to try and reduce the number of distractions in the background and surroundings but it still doesn't have that same sense of isolation as the previous images had.


Table 3 Traces 1-

Again I feel like its the composition of this piece which has made it successful because it is framed so tightly in a way which leaves it distraction free and isolates the table. I have furthered that feeling in post production by plying with the contrast so that the background of the table seemed a lot darker with these really white cups grabbing your attention. I had the plate in the foreground of this shot as I like the details of the crumbs and felt like this added character. I also like the way the you can just see over the rim of the coffee cups to the leftovers inside.

Table 3 Traces 2-

 In this image I took a more above angle to how this would impact the image. I still really like it as it has the characteristics of the crumbs and the detailing of the coffee left in the cup but it doesn't work as successfully in terms of the composition now the angle has changed. This high angle makes it much more confusing to work out the details and I find my eye doesn't flow around the frame as easy because it seems too tilted.


Table 4 Traces 1-

 I like this image but I feel like there are may be too much happening in the frame which doest allow you to have time to absorb any details. I think that also because you can see the edges of the table quite clearly and other things in the background this prevents us from getting the sense of isolation which worked so well in some of the previous images. Also because again I took a high up angle I have ruined the lighting slightly because I was blocking it which means instead of these stark white cups they again seem grey. I have done my best to resolve this in post production but I think this is just a mistake I will have to learn from.


Table 4 Traces 2-

 I like this image slightly more than the last because it is much more of a close up which means that I have managed to capture this moment isolated in time a bit more successfully. I again took a high up angle but I think it serves more of a purpose because I am trying to observe what is left in the bottom of the sups which I think adds an interesting detail to this image. Again though I have a problem with the lighting as I think I was blocking it out meaning that there are too many shadows for my liking.


Table 5 Traces 1-

 With this image I wanted to see what kind of atmosphere I could capture with an extreme close up of the cup. I like this image because you get to see the detailing of the coffee foam left in the cup ad the spilt coffee on the plate which all adds character and describes the person who left it. It is also well isolated and fairly free from distraction but I worry that this makes it look too simplistic especially in terms of composition because I have kept it fairly straight forward. I am in two minds about this image because I really like it but I don't know if it works well as part of this project because its a bit more unique to the others.


Table 5 Traces 2-

 With this image I went for another close up but one that is a bit more interesting in terms of composition because I kept the majority of the image the black of the tray then had a few details to add character. One detail is the used and stained sugar sachet and the the other is the dirty spoon which is creeping into frame. I like these details being very discrete but visible however it I am still unsure as to weather I like the fact it is so bare or not.


Table 5 Traces 3-

 I like this image to table 5 the most out of all these edits because I feel it much more in keeping with the style that I have been going for through my other images. It is a small slice of the scene on the table but this is nice because it gives our eyes a lot to look at but still has the sense of distance and isolation. I am particularly keen on this composition because the coffee foam left in the cup is where the point of focus is and then because I used such a shallow depth of field everything else is out of focus. I think this is a very unique focus point and I like it.


Table 6 outside Traces 1-

 As I was leaving the coffee shop I spotted a table which had coffee spilt over it which I thought was really interesting because the rain had made it run. I took photos of it which at the time I wasn't sure about but looking back I really like them and I also really like how the rain has created a really nice texture for which the smooth coffee sits next to. I find this image a lot of fun.


Table 6 outside Traces 2-

Again I really like the textures in this image but this is even more of an abstract feel to it because its even more close up. I like the colours as well because its this very murky brown sat on top of a really striking black/blue colour. It makes a good contrast between the two surfaces and hopefully this creates a pleasing image. My only concern is the focus of this image isn't exactly where I wanted it to be on the actually centre of the coffee splatter.

Overall I feel this shoot has helped me to gain a better understanding of how I can improve if I were to try this again and also it showed me which skills I need to improve on. I really enjoyed this shoot though and I found it really interesting and I think it was rather successful.