Photography Challenge - Week 4
Photo Challenges
Week 4 of our photo challenge - and I got the wonderful Mirror Image, and Daz got A Taste for Vintage. Daz had a different set of hurdles to overcome for this challenge, and I had to overcome the challenge of laziness and zero motivation.
My challenge - Mirror Image
Mirror image? Easy! I’ll get some reflections, take mirror shots or whatever! Oh how wrong I was. With Daz out of Plymouth, I really could not be bothered to go out and about looking for shots. One reason is because of being tired after work or having other plans, another reason is just zero motivation.
So, it’s Thursday night - deadline night, and I have just got back from standing under a shelter at the train station in the pouring rain - stuck for what to shoot. But - I managed it. Don’t get me wrong, in any kind of professional setting or serious photography, I am a stickler for deadlines. Everything is done thoroughly and in plenty of time, but for a hobby photography challenge? Pffft, let’s put some pressure on and see how we get on!
Number 1 - I used my phone to reflect the number 1.
It turns out reflections in the rain are difficult. The raindrops hitting the puddles distorts them, so it’s hard to get a clean shot. To overcome this, I used my phone to reflect the image, held it close to my lens and forced the reflections.
Rainflection
I used this technique over and over, and got some practice in for when a train came. When it turned up I was prepared, and used the phone technique to reflect the light trail.
Train in the Rain - The reflection is entirely captured in the reflection of my phone, but is positioned to look as though it is part of the puddle.
What did I enjoy?
What’s not to love about standing in the rain at 9pm? Ok so I’m being a bit negative, but what I did enjoy was overcoming the challenge. There is no way normal puddle reflections would work, so thinking on my feet to get results was quite rewarding.
Lessons to learn
Always prepare for every eventuality. I hadn’t even thought about the fact it may rain. I had ideas of where I’d go for reflections, but the rain completely ruined those plans. Always check the forecast and prepare accordingly!
Darren’s Challenge
Darren’s challenge was A Taste for Vintage. As he was visiting his mum and sister on the edge of Dartmoor, he was limited by only having his immediate vicinity.
Vintage Car - This shot of an old style car was Daz’s first shot when leaving for Dartmoor.
Postbox - This timeless classic really represents the classic ‘old school’ genre.
Rustic Bell
Faded Daisy - This daisy in front of a faded looking background gives a washed out effect.
Honey’s Bakery - Is a classic village type of shot.
Jag Tower
Reely Abandoned
Time After Time
Timeless Classic
Old Clock Tower
In Daz’s words:
My theme for this week saw me take on a taste for vintage.
When I first got given this assignment for the week I couldn't decide whether I wanted to go for the typical old vintage style (looking for old buildings / monuments or anything that wasn't modern) or the idea of a modern spin (trying to take something modern and incorporating it into something vintage in the editing process). In the end I just went with the flow and chose to do both and merge both modern and old together.
All in all, I really had fun with this theme! I enjoyed the whole idea of scouting out things that would be classed as vintage. If you’re like me I generally like getting out there with the camera more than the editing process - but even with the editing it actually made me consider different styles to match the theme.
This was a theme that is definitely fun and if you want to consider a different style and feel, then I would definitely recommend giving this a go. Even if you can't get out and about with your camera (whether that's down to poor weather, work etc) this is one of those type of themes you can actually look at doing at home as well. Look around for something that may be passed down in your family or something old - or even taking modern things and making them into a vintage edit.
Lessons to learn
When it comes to trying to get the vintage look for your photos, photographers will always have their own way of editing. The way I chose to do this was to look at 5 different characteristics.
• Low colour saturation - Quite simply lower your saturation level down.
• Low contrast - Decrease the contrast while slightly increasing brightness to create a haze effect.
• Noise - Old photos have a high level of noise, so use a film grain noise or HSV noise.
• Yellow tint - Adjust the colour balance by favouring yellow & red. Use other tools such as colour temperature, curves & colour mixer.
• Vignetting - Darken the edges of an image while keeping the subject brighter.
Next week…
We have our themes for next week - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.