For my first project, I wanted to give the audience a glimpse on what a farm looks like. My grandparents had not only raised a farm of their own with horses, chickens, and cows, but they also own a business of their own where they would sell cow manure to stores like Southern States, and to give milk to local dairy factories around Alexander and Iredell County. Since there were no cows present at my grandmother's personal farm, I was able to find a cow from the Library of Congress while also choosing the right lighting for the cow as well depending on where the light's position was. During the final stages, I was able to add some of my own effects with different wet brushes for the borders, or small brushes for the crack as well. The last effects I was able to implement were the fogy effect I acquired from taking a picture of the floor of my garage, blur effects for the background and subjects, and finally, a simple written description of who the person's name is and what they are currently doing.
When looking at this work you have a person (grandma) on a field with a cow to the left of her. The photo looks to be taken right outside of a barn house or homestead.
ReplyDeleteBased off the work it creates this welcoming natural feel with the grandma looking towards the camera. I'm not a hundred percent sure the placement of the cow is as affective. I understand it when you added the writing at the top but I think it would've been effective if her hands were up like she was actually feeding. Where it works with creating that farm feel, I think that there could have been possible a more effective way.
With that being said I think that since this is a wet plate collodion, I think that placing the cow further back and making the grandma closer to replicate the depth of field would have worked better in the sense of recreating. Where the work focuses on creating that farm feeling. For the most part I would assume that people can tell what a farm is but the meaning behind the relations within the farm should be what stand out as you said within your description. The black and white is effective in the natural picture without the cow, because the cow is more in focus it you can see some of the whiteness around it that looks unnatural. Also with the cows white pattern it draws your eye away from the person. With the border maybe include some areas that are more smooth and create solid lines/curves to create a more natural look instead of a repeated splatter. Also take away from the border so it doesn't create a perfect rectangle. Same with the white splatters throughout maybe add some black splatters. I think the crack add more thickness near the edges to create more depth and possibly separate the crack at the top center-left.
Overall I enjoy the work and the concept behind it, I think pushing is a little bit more with the depth of field would help with creating that family feel of a farm life. Good job! :)