ELLENation '09 - NM3223 Weblog

The LIGHT

2009-11-19T23:13:00.003+08:00

Welcome to Ellen's NM3223 blog.

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FINAL PROJECT - HUMAN:NATURE

2009-11-17T15:21:00.002+08:00

Human:nature, due to the “word’s” ambiguity, I had various impressions of the theme. I guess this is what allowed all of us different interpretations of the theme:

What first came to mind was Human Nature, the intrinsic characteristics of mankind. I thought about the bad habits that were characteristics of Singapore residents – littering, being inconsiderate (pretending to sleep in front of an old lady on public transportation).
Then I linked this to the 7 deadly sins, since these are 7 traits in humans that are difficult to erase and avoid. I thought about the execution, instead of getting actors to portray the emotions on their faces, I thought I would do B&W photography of just hands. Maybe a pair in one, and 2 pairs in some. Maybe parts of body to be included, but no faces will be shown. I was very hooked onto this idea, and I knew this would be a great constraint to me. I wanted to get different pairs of hands for each trait. For example, I wanted a couple for “lust”, and an old man’s hand with huge gold rings on it. But some I knew it would be quite difficult to get willing actors. I didn’t want this project to be tarnished by cliché images, for the theme in itself is a widely popular subject. I will put this as a personal project on the sidelines and do it during the holidays when I get to see all my relatives.
I also thought about Human VS Nature, how a jungle island that used to be Singapore, is now a cement jungle instead. I used to have a piece of small, green highland the size of 2 football fields right opposite my house, and now it’s a construction site for a new condominium.
Then I thought deeper and came to realize the similarity of humans and plants. For example, ginseng is one plant that closely resembles the human body. I thought I could develop an “Evolution” of a series of 5-6 pictures.
The last idea is the one that I am going to develop for this project. Humans have a tendency to take elements of things that are pleasing to the eye, and try to make it their own. And it is no surprise that much of the inspiration for art and jewellery come from Mother Nature. Elements such as organic lines, flows, and shapes are inspired by the dainty and beautiful flowers, and have been made into souvenirs, jewellery, embellishments etc.

I did some research on the national flower, and found that actual orchid (flowers) were used in the process of souvenir making. Which means that the end user could actually end up getting the real flower, plus the metal that comes with it. Orchids are sent for electro-plating, and gold is used as electrolyte. Hence, some of the souvenirs that we see in gift shops, as well as gifts to important guests and ministers are gold-plated orchids.

The story follows that of a how to acquire Nature-infused Jewellery into your own home.

step one

step two

step three

step four

step five

Instead of displaying the utensils that are used to make this precious flower, I decided to omit this scene, and have a scene of broken petals that are left behind, with no main flower in sight. This is done so as to create some sense of mystery as to what happened to the flowers.

The last scene shows the final product – leaving the finished-product inside a dish of flowers. My aim is to invoke a sense of familiarity in the viewer. It is interesting how jewellery can be made to as life-like as the real flower, and that when placed side-by-side, it really is a fuse of nature and man-made objects, with the jewellery itself already fusing both.

To achieve the jewelled state of the orchid, I used various functions in Photoshop to create the effect. Because I only wanted to “metal-lise” 2 flowers, I cropped them out and used “Custom Black & White” to get the shadows in the figure on the left. Because I imagine my end product to be metallic and reflective, I rendered the levels such that I had strong shadows and highlights but still had some midtones, and then Posterising the outcome till I had simplified shadows.

Then I explored the Filter Gallery. I found that Plastic Wrap and Chrome have very nice reflective outcomes, but both filters do not work together without some overlaying. Therefore I had to create multiple layers and work the filters on both layers separately. In the end, I found that overlaying the Chrome layer in Vivid Light on the Plastic Wrap filtered layer has a great effect, after adjusting opacity levels.

It was not enough to simply paste the finished product into this scene, as it simply looked like it was floating. Hence, I used the colour replacement tool to put some colours onto the petals that would reflect light, as well as colour from the neighbouring flowers.

#5 \\ Emotions Capture

2009-11-07T14:24:00.000+08:00

Task - Choose one non-human subject, and portray it in minimum 3 different emotional expressions.

I chose eggs to portray differing dimensions, i.e. not within one end of the spectrum.

Because eggs are so fragile, yet so strong, and have different meanings attached to it, I want to portray feelings of precariousness, danger, fragility, celebrations.. Initially I wanted to smash a lot of eggs and create the feeling of devastation, but I figured it would be a waste of good food. (I love eating eggs, especially the small quail ones1!) Hence I decided to make do with smashing one for trial. But the effect failed terribly, hence I didn't replicate it. The following are the end products of my week-long trials.

Pariah

I started out with the idea of "The Odd One Out". Initially I wanted to use lots of white eggs, and a normal brown one within those cardboard trays, but my family didn't need so many eggs, and I didn't want to waste it. In the end, I found some cute quail's eggs at the supermarket, and I was sort of enlightened. The odd one out doesn't have to be singular! They can just look very different, and different they do look from the normal eggs.

I increased exposure of the original picture, and added the Black-Transparent Gradient layer that I Overlayed onto the picture to create this film-like effect. I wanted to emphasise on the fact that a difference in society, be it race or language, is real, and the effects are felt and recorded. Everyone sees it.

Loom

I took this picture on a white egg, and initially, it was really difficult to see the cracks on the shell because the cracks were faint and the shell was light. I was hesitant to make the cracks bigger because the egg wasn't cooked and I didn't want the contents to spill out.

Finally, I gingerly knocked the shell and plucked out some to create the more malevolent looking cracks. While I had started out with a theme of Fragility, I thought the scene felt more like someone whose soul is broken. Hence I created the B&W feel to complete the gloomy feel of this picture, and gave it a tighter crop.

I like the effect. And the specks on the egg's surface (:

Mixed Blessings

Singapore is a curious society. While we are striving towards capitalism, democratisation, and in the process, undeniably Westernisation, we love the fact that we do have unique cultural roots. Research had shown that Singaporean youths, like those of India and Korea, prefer a cultural middle ground that is a comfort zone between liberalism and staying true to their cultural roots.

Since eggs is a notion of celebration both in the Chinese and American culture, my aim was for this picture to put across this curious blend. Red Eggs signify the celebration for the month-old baby, and colourfully decorated ones are a symbol of Easter Day. Since it would be jarring for both kinds of eggs to appear in the same picture (I didn't see the point of it - too literal), I used modern furnishings to signify modern times and Western influence instead.

The gold mesh-lined basket, and the potpourri is reminiscent of spas and luxury, what we easily identify as modern. By putting these and the red eggs together, it creates a culturally exciting atmosphere, something like that of a shophouse - modern and Western-influenced, yet reminiscent of Asian influences.

I love the eclecticism in this picture.

#3 \\ Focal Length and Sensor Latitude - Revisited

2009-11-06T13:34:00.004+08:00

Re-taken the same subject in portraiture. I love this effect, it's a little disorienting. :P

Close-up

Retook a picture of another flower is better lighting conditions. The lights were less harsh and were more flattering for a flower and it reflects off the water droplets. Just in case you were wondering, yes they're artificial plants :p

Zoom shot
f14.0, 1/8s, ISO400, 12mm

I really like this shot. Somehow it seems to portray the rush for seats every time someone boards the bus, or any public transport for that matter. Just the other day another auntie practically zoomed to the seat just in front of me, just as that lady stood up to leave. Unfortunately (for her), I was too tired to care. SIT! And she gave me a dirty look. Oops.

High Key
f6.3, 1/30s, ISO400, 24mm

I re-did this photo by adjusting the exposure and masking the shadow away. Now it seems less distracting and more focus is on the beautiful glass and potpourri instead.

Low Key

f4.5, 1/10s, ISO1600, 32mm

I re-adjusted this photo after a few rounds of practices. I found the previous one too dark, and I couldn't see much details. This is a little better. I love the vibrance of the flowers and the subtle contour of the vase. I think I'm in love with glass (:

Exercise 02: Discussion on Surrealism

2009-09-19T15:34:00.003+08:00

This week's class discussion was on Surrealism. And I found it really interesting because I had studied a little on Surrealism in college art classes. Salvador Dali is one of my favourite artists, especially in the later part of his artistic career.

Click img to see larger version.

I think this piece, titled Cannibalism in Autumn, is a symbol of Dali's genius and creativity. His painting technique is impeccable as he blends highlights and shadows evenly, creating an illusion of realism. For this piece, he portrays a revolting trait with such grace and beauty, that it no longer seems disgusting.

Several of his other pieces, including his series that portrays time, reflects his ability to convey his abstract messages to his audience effectively, without losing the audience. Surrealism can be the creative bridge between portraiture and contemporary art for audience who are simply not interested at the extremes.

#4 \\ False Reality

2009-09-17T14:15:00.000+08:00

How long will it be before we get so addicted to our phones, that we evolve, and we become IT?

This idea came about because a friend was talking incessantly on the phone while out with her. And I was MIGHTY IRRITATED.

Anyway, I though about having the best listening and speaking device, and they are undoubtedly our very own organs. Hence I came up with morphing an arm into a post-modern phone. The phone is actually an extension of the arm, hence the flesh coloured tone of it. All the listener got to do is to tap the extension against a receiver to get an incoming call, or he can call directly from his own arm. Such convenience.

This piece drew some flak from those whom I've showed it to. They said. GROSS. But well, this is essentially what your phone is made up of... I just morphed it into a human form :P

#3 \\ Focal Length and Sensor Latitude

2009-09-15T17:47:00.000+08:00

Task - To take one photo of that exhibits each quality below:

Focal length: Perspective, Close-up, Zoom-shot
Sensor Latitude: High Key, Low Key
Restrictions: No flash light

Here are my initial shots:
Perspective
Indicate: Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens
Classmate commented that the picture would be more exciting if it was in portrait, and cropped to show only one section. I agree with this.

Close-up
Indicate: Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens

Although my classmates said this was a good shot, I felt that it wasn’t close-up enough. And to add to my own demise, I also felt that the subject was far from exciting. :(

Zoom shot
Indicate: Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens

I like this shot very much, but everyone didn;t like the fact that it was overexposed. My classmates also suggested that I take the zoom shot right down the middle of an aisle, with one subject pushing her trolley coming towards me, I will probably try to do this, with normal exposure. (:

High Key
Indicate: Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens

This is one of my virgin attempts at taking a high key shot. This was done by placing my cup of dried flowers in front of an A3 piece of plain paper, and shining my table lamp at it. There were a lot of limitations like lack of space, lack of appropriate lighting source. I thought that the lights were too harsh at first, but it turned out well in the photo.

Classmates commented that the shadow is distracting, and that a cropped view of the top part of the glass is better. But I disagree with the latter comment, as I really like the symmetry of the glass handle. Since Jing said photo manipulation was allowed, I’ll try to do something about the shadow. (:

Low Key

Indicate: Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens

I took this photo by opportunity at the PGP Cafe when I had supper with my friend. I did a double take when I caught sight of a vase of dried flowers against a completely black wall. What a good subject for my low key photo, since it is similar in content to my high key shot. (:

However, the lighting condition was really bad. I took the photo in RAW mode and editted it such that the subject became brighter and the background became pure black. \

Just learnt masking, so I shall try that on the raw version of this image and hope that I achieve a better clarity with this picture.

Notes to self: To be revisited, indicate Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens

#2 \\ Understanding Lenses

2009-08-31T17:46:00.003+08:00

Task
Produce the following pictures (1 photo each) :
Aperture: Shallow-depth-of-field, Deep-depth-of-field
Shutter: Freeze action, Motion blur
Total: 4 photographs

Motion blur

Freeze Action

Shallow DOF

f4, 1/10, ISO400, 12mm

Deep DOF

#1 \\ Objects as Subjects - Revisited

2009-08-30T22:54:00.003+08:00

Technique: straight photography (no digital manipulation required)
Task: Express the following visual qualities via photography (one photo each):
Line, Shape, Form, Pattern, Texture

I've decided to redo the lines picture only, as I think the rest fit pretty well into their themes (:

Line

This picture was taken in my office lounge. I love the setting of the lounge, and at the same time, i was afraid that it would be too dark to take the picture, but it turned out really well. I am blessed with a steady hand and a good camera :)

On a sidenote, I love how it shows the reclining seat in the next cubicle.

Shape

Form

Pattern

Texture

Exercise 01: Be The Judge

2009-08-28T03:13:00.000+08:00

I browsed through the links that Jing provided for this exercise, and the following picture from Tan Choon Wee amazed me. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.

This picture won him the Digital Photographer of the Year 2008 award.
See it HERE.

I thought this picture was really phenomenal as it somehow, captured, and THEN translated the joy the of boys in the river, right to the viewer. Immersing themselves in Nature's wonder, and having fun with such a mundane activity.

I love the fact that the boys were playing with various brightly coloured tumblers that is set against such a stark, dark background. The shutter speed was perfect such that it caught the motion of the water, but froze the boys' hands in place. The water jets made it look like a dancing fountain, and I guess that's what directly translated the joy and the liveliness of the activity back in Bali. The slight asymmetry of the picture simply catches my attention, for I'm not a big fan of symmetry in prints and art.

If I had to choose winner among those in the same category, I would still pick the same one, simply because he captured not only movement, but action, life and joy all within his picture, that I cannot find in the others.

#1 \\ Objects as Subjects

2009-08-25T17:43:00.003+08:00

Technique: straight photography (no digital manipulation required)
Task: Express the following visual qualities via photography (one photo each):
Line, Shape, Form, Pattern, Texture

Line

I don't really like this picture, cos the theme of lines doesn't pop our here. I'd be retaking it. Maybe I'd stick some of my favourite colour pencils into clay and take it. And the shadows. :/

Shape

Form

Pattern

Texture

I love to paint, and I'm incessantly amazed by how acryllic paint creates these pretty swirls, and I leave them overnight to harden so that I get pretty coasters. (: I guess this is a non-conventional take to textures. Some may even say lines, or patterns.

Welcome to ELLENation @ NM3223

2009-08-23T23:21:00.000+08:00