Traces: Shooting Process

In this post, I will talk about the photography session I had, in which we learned about how to use camera settings and functions, as well as looking into photography with traces of the artist and other people in it. After that, we were given time to practice our photography for an hour, so to prepare ourselves for the photography session in city center later on.

I mainly used my Canon EOS 5D Mark II with manual settings at ISO 100, f/2.8, and 1/10. I used a low shutter speed because I wanted to experiment on creating a blur effect on my friend's faces with it. The first photograph however is a photograph of me, taken with my friend's Canon 700D with auto settings. 

Here are the contact sheets of the photographs I took from the session. I had only shot 15 photos, which is not enough material as I had learned.

Now I will talk about some of the photos individually. Some of these photos I did some correction on with photoshop, mainly the first and last photo.

Canon EOS 700D - ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/15

As said, I took this photograph with my friend's 700D but with my lens. It was based on a photo of a two children with balloons on their head, which we had seen at class. The original photo was colored, but I feel that monochromatic works better so I changed it to monochrome. I liked the mysterious and creepy feel of not being able to see the face, which then made me to do the same with my other photos.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II - ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/15

Trying to make it creepy and mysterious based on the first photo, I experimented with low shutter and told my friend to move his head across quickly as to create a blurred and disfigured face. I liked the setting as well because it looks urban and lonely with the background.

Doing the same effect and settings, but with a different person on it. I liked this photo more than the previous one, mainly because I feel that the pose is better and his clothes feel fitting to the creepy or saddening feel I was trying to gain from these photographs.

With the same camera settings, I took this photograph. It was a quick snap and I had not planned it, but I liked the dark silhouette. The original photo has grey colors on the back, which felt dull, so I changed it on photoshop by tinting it orange to give it more color.

From this photography session, I have learned more about camera settings, photographers, photography, and the mistakes I've made. I realized that I should've gotten more images and be more eager to take photos that interested me right there at the spot instead of waiting for what I felt may be a good image.