During the photo process, I thought of creating a portrait-style long exposure. With this in mind, I shot various photos indoors to reduce outside lighting and focus more on the subject. When experimenting with a range of lights and long exposure settings I noticed that when I would attempt to make circles it would come out looking like wings. The lighting I used extended outward like a fan and would create a wide range of light in my long exposure images. This is where I got the idea to make the subject look like an angel. Using the tripod and long exposure settings helped me to create light streaks which I used to create the circle halo where I took the same exposure shot and layered them together. To make the light angel more convincing I added more dramatic light on the figure to emphasize the pureness and angelic effect. I chose to be the subject of my work with the use of the tripod and used different color lighting to use in my design, as well as duplicating exposure that I felt worked well with my composition. To create the illusion of motion in the wings, I added an image of a long exposure circle.
The work I created is titled Light Angel. The process first started with figuring out what types of lights I wanted to use for my project. I initially thought of using glow sticks but decided to use fiber lights. Since I took the long exposures on my phone it took me a while to figure out how to adjust my long exposures as well as limiting as much light as possible in my scene. When first introduced to this project I wanted to experiment with doing my light exposures outside and possibly going Uptown to take images for this project. After taking photos outdoors I decided to move my scene indoors to limit excess lighting. The work was completed by layering my long exposures and using a mask tool to manipulate what parts of the long exposures were seen. I originally started with the image of the subject (myself) and layering duplicate long exposures around the subject. The overall tone of this work is bright white and blue. The foreground is the focal point so that the long exposures could stand out more and used a dark background scene to execute this design. The fiber optic lights I used created an inconsistent lighting effect. It looked like mini lights were pieced together to create different exposures instead of one consistent light like a strobe which I felt created a unique effect. I added blurring and color effects to help create an appealing composition.
ReplyDeleteWhen interpreting this work one thing that stands out is the stance of the subject. They look upwards and have a radiance of white coming from them. Also looking closely at the overall composition there looks to be elements that have been blurred to convey an idea of motion. The wings attached to the subject have depth through the change in scale and a shadow to make it seem as though they are two wings. The addition of the blue overlay and circle-long exposure adds an eye-catching element to the piece. Elements that further make one think of angels is the incorporation of the halo. The possible meaning behind this composition is utilizing long exposures that could signify angels and furthering this idea through the symbols and photos used in this composition.
Evaluating this piece from an outside perspective the project really experiments within the project parameters. For the concept, multiple exposures were used in a creative way. The use of light was used in a unique way. One element that is engaging is the halo above the subject’s head. The halo looks as if it were floating above the subject and is a creative use of perspective. The harsh lighting on the subject works well to symbolize the pureness of the subject. From the creator’s perspective, I could have possibly added additional elements in the background to add more depth to the composition. The hair almost blends in with the background and is hard to see. I also have added motion blur on the wings as well to add to the overall motion. I experimented a lot with figuring out how I was going to transform my original photo and hiding all elements to show that lights were used to make the composition more natural. Techniques like using an overall color I felt worked well to create a cohesive piece in addition to combining duplicate elements together. The composition, technique, and concept worked well in the parameters of this project.
From a cultural perspective, angels can be seen as a symbol of purity and hope for others. It is commonly associated with religion and heaven. When googling images of angels a consistent theme is a solo figure with wings and a halo in a clouded or dark sky. Additionally, most imagery avoids realistic subjects but rather uses digital imagery. Today there is an increasing amount of violence and destruction impacting countless people and a symbolic being such as an angel can give people hope that things will change for the better and obtain spiritual redemption. Aside from religion, angels are seen as a symbol of hope in pop culture through movies and TV shows. In terms of this assignment, this work shows that night exposure is a great way to focus on the lights in a particular setting. The darkness helps the light stand out which works well when analyzing the night angel piece.
ReplyDeleteThe work that stood out to me was Cassie Eberle’s Night Prowler composition. The layering and colors used in her composition are not only engaging but give the feeling that you are in a hallucination. The blurring and unclear faces helped to bring the overall work together. This work was also noteworthy because it was a self-portrait which I also took inspiration from for this project. The lighting that they used blended together well with a significant amount of dramatic color contrast with all the layers. It is noticeably clear that the artist wanted to create something that was unique and chaotic and took their time experimenting with various images to create their finished work.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=angels&form=HDRSC3&first=1