For this project, I wanted to explore using different colored lights and light reflections on my dark brown (technically considered red) Doberman. Considering the fact that he's super photogenic (yes, my opinion is biased) shooting this was probably the most fun I've had with any project in this class. I also loved how the use of a color-changing wand created so many shadows and highlights on his face. I explored layering images over one another and playing with different blending modes to push forward the narrative of movement. Dobermans are very high-energy breeds and mine is no exception to that, he has the goofiest personality and is always funny and fun to be around, so I knew from the start that I wanted to make my composite a very fun and dynamic one. I also played a lot with the saturation of each individual layer to see how bright I could get those colors from my original images to transform them to either be brighter or to tone down the color so as to not overpower the other colors on the image. My biggest struggle with this project was getting my model to stay still long enough for me to be able to get a clear image of him in the dark since he is already a pretty dark dog, after copious amounts of cheese and turkey bribing I was able to get the best shots. I also played with a couple different exposures on my phone to get the best or most dynamic images possible, this was also a little bit of a struggle for me personally, using my phone to shoot all of my images. I shot all of my images between the hours of 6 and 9 pm in my kitchen and used my phone mounted on a tripod.
My original idea was to create light art and compiling multiple light trails to create the illusion of a flower, but after many attempts and still not geting my desired results, I changed my plans completely. This work is a composition of multiple images of my dog in different colored lighting. I played around with so many different settings on my phone throughout the entire process. I used a color changing wand to create the rays of colors and experimented with movement as I was taking my images to see what gave me the most interesting results. At the beginning I really struggled with getting my settings right so that I could create bright and visible light trails. I used my dog in the foreground with an empty background so that he would be the main subject. I used a corner in my kitchen that, due to the kitchen island’s placement, gave me more control over the lighting and shadows in the room. I also used a tripod to hold my phone so that I could get as clear and crisp light trails and shadows as possible. Due to my dog being a red Doberman Pinscher, he has very dark brown fur with small hints of a lighter, almost caramel, color around his chest, eyebrows and snout which made it a little more tricky to make sure he still appeared clear enough with such a dark background. I played around with this by holding the color wand at different angles and locations around him. I took multiple images of him in different angles to experiment with how the light bounced off of his fur.
ReplyDeleteBy looking at the image alone I interpret it as a composition of a poised Doberman in a series of very serious and almost noble poses. Having different colors and light trails around my dog makes the image feel less serious than his poses would elude it to be. People tend to be scared of big dogs and dogs considered “aggressive breeds” and I think that’s complete bologna. I wanted to showcase that even a “serious” dog can have a fun and outgoing personality. This is why I added layers of his images over on another, to invoke movement and in a sense make it looks like hes in a dance club type of setting. I also used specific colors to represent his personality. I chose pink because he’s a girls dog and a huge velcro dog (which just means he wants to be with me and or touching me at all times). I chose green because it reminds me of his curious and adventurous personality and it just reminds me of times when I could just see him running around grass fields. I chose blue because it evokes peace and he is such a peaceful dog, I got him during a very hard time in my life and he just brings me and anyone he meets so much peace. Although he is a peaceful dog, he also a very high energy breed so he’s always ready to go, so I wanted to add light trails that evoked movement to highlight that aspect of him. He also, in my eyes, has a sparkle to his eyes and I wanted to ensure I used images where you could see that sparkle and I feel like in all of the 3 photos of him, even in the dark, you can see that little twinkle. I also used an image of me behind him on the right image that almost makes it look like he has a halo over his head because when he was younger he was very mischievous and I would always defend him saying he was just a little angel baby.
I followed a lot of the pre-made light trail lines on my background image to set the composition of my work. I did this because I didnt want to have super harsh lines dividing the images. I wanted it to look like a blend of light, movement, trails and colors throughout the entire composition. This was a little hard considering I had used different angles and shadows on each image, but I am content with the way I was able to compose and blend the images in the work. I used long exposure images of light movement to create dynamic light trials to transform a static image into a more dynamic one. The way the light and colors were used transformed the space into a more interesting and fun space. The use and execution of blending modes and hue/saturation modifications helped to bring out some of those pops of color and helped to use the darkness to create bold shadows and subtle highlights.
ReplyDeleteI think this work exists within our larger culture with the stigma surrounding large breed dogs, more specifically Dobermans. Theres many times where we are out in public and I can see people reacting in fear to my dog and I wish so badly that people could just give him a chance and see that he’s actually the sweetest and most friendly boy ever. I think this work also speaks about darkness in the sense that you can use darkness to highlight an image. Using my dog in the foreground and a blank wall in the background sets a great enviorontemtn for light to dance and bounce around, creating beautiful shadows and highlights throughout. It also shows how using night exposures can create very bold and impactful images that you can’t always achieve with all bright environments. This work was composed to show the lighter, friendly and more fun ideation of a large, deemed “aggressive” breed dog.
Night Prowler by Jennie Keophaphone really stood out to me. It was very elegantly composed and did a spectacular job using the foreground and background. I think the use of the light orbs being blurry in the background and the hand being up close and clearer really showcases visual depth. We both pushed the idea for movement in similar yet distinct ways, she used the swift movement of a flashlight on her phone and I used a color changing wand in a more circular way but we both achieved out intended goal. She managed to push the idea of warmth with ther use of more orange/yellow tones throughout, while I used pink, blue, and green to invoke the idea of playfulness. A small detail I noticed we both did was in her work, she used another layer of the hand over the original in a lighter maybe more transparent way and achieved the notion of movement. I did the same thing with layering images of my dog over themselves at a slightly different positon to create the illusion of movement in my dog. This could provide me inspiration by showing me that I dont need to have sooo much going on in my work to still be able to achieve the idea of movement. It also further emphasizes how the use of color can invoke certain emotions.