Portrait

Out of all of the nine photos on my contact sheet, I like this one the most:

I like portrait #9 because it looks like a candid, even though I directed my grandpa to make this pose.  I wanted grandpa to look at phone and pretend that I wasn't here. I think this looks nice and natural after I edited it in Photoshop.

Hands

In photography class, our final project was to take pictures of hands and to change the colors to black and white in Photoshop. 

When I converted these images into black and white, I felt tender because the images provoke a feeling of softness and sentimentality. I feel like the filter improved these images because in the three images, it makes it have a heart warming tone to it and have a sense of intimacy. 

In the Style of Ben Thomas

As an attempt of inspiration, I want to emulate his work. I don't have the right materials that can simulate his photos but that didn't stop me.

"SCV-70" is one of my favorite photos that Ben had created. It's colorful and feels futuristic. I try to create something similar but I don't have a toy robot to use as a subject. However, I used a Star-Lord figurine to substitute the robot. 

This is the inspiration for "SCV-70". I don't want to make it too vibrant and bright or else it would look unnatural. However, I made an attempt to make it look bright and bold as possible. I used a Star-Lord figurine as my subject because the helmet he has on makes him look kind of like a robot. I used Photoshop to increase the brightness, vibrancy, and contrast to match with the colors and editing of Ben's photo. 

When taking a photo in Ben's style, it's important to imitate the vibrancy and brightness, just like in the inspiration photo. I focused mostly on the colors, composition, and editing in my remake. I had trouble in not making it too bright and bold or else it would hurt people's eyes. I want to make it bright enough to be like "SCV-70" is. But, I think I tried my best. 

About Ben Thomas

Ben Thomas is an Australian photographer who excels in visual arts. Born in Adelaide, Australia, he worked with moving images at a younger age. In his mid-twenties, he moved to Melbourne to pursue photography as a tool to familiarize himself and compose his surroundings His new interest in his new home has sparked passion in him. Photography has always been his personal obsession but never studied the art itself.  However, he improved his skills overtime through experimentation, revision, and collaborations with other photographers. His photography style is described as hyper realistic, he composes art that opposes to the limits on how photography should be seen and created. He also challenges on the impressions of not only photography, but the subject, with his photos heavily centered around city environments. 

Ben Thomas received awards, accomplishments, and work during his career in photography. He worked with The New Yorker Magazine, Sony, Cake, Singapore Airlines, Penguin Books and Chronicle Books. He gained gallery representation from Duran Mashaal Gallery in Montreal and Huxley Palour in London. He had commercial representation ifrom WANDA PRINT in Paris. He earned his title as a Hasselblad Master in 2018. He was a winner in LensCulture Emerging Talents Jurors' Pick in 2016, finalist in the 2016 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize, winner in the 2015 125LIVE Olympus Vision, a honorable mention in the 2015 International Photographer of the year, and a winner in the 2015 Desktop Create Awards.

The meaning behind their work is to challenge the basics of photography. Not every piece of artwork has to be limited to the same rules of photography. Photographers can break a few rules and their work can still be considered be incredible. It's good to experiment with different backgrounds and subjects when taking photography as a passion. Ben Thomas is the prime example of how photography can be daring, not just following the rules and basics.

                 

This photo is taken from Coney Island in 2016. Ben was traveling around the world from new inspiration for his art. He traveled to New York for new artwork and ways to experiment with his environment. In this photo, the subject is a concession stand at the carnival. The photo is shown as bright and colorful, like Ben Thomas had increase vibrancy and brightness in the photo. This and the following photos will have a distinct theme of being vibrant.

                                            

This photo is also taken from Coney Island in 2016, named "Nathan's". The subject of the photo is the hot dog stand, Nathan's Famous. The photo also shows that it is celebrating its 100th anniversary. 

This photo is taken from Dubai in around 2017-18. Thomas was in a fairground at the time and found a diner as his inspiration. The diner's colors makes it look fun and summer-like. 

This photo is taken from Tokyo in around 2015-16, named "SCV-70".  He traveled to Tokyo for new experiments to challenge the basics of photography. He found this robot as his subject of the photo. 

This photo is taken from Melbourne in around 2017-18. When he started living in Melbourne, he looked for the right environment to take photos of. This plaza seemed perfect for him and his passion. 

I chose this photographer because his photos are very appealing to my eyes. I like that his photos are full of life and it has a summery vibe to his work. His work is more brilliant and bold rather than gloomy and gray. The style of photography has a fun personality to it. I prefer this kind of style rather than just looking at dull and monochrome style of photography.

Contact Sheet

In photography class, our project is to take pictures to create a contact sheet.  Here is my contact sheet:

I used my family as subjects for my project. The top three are pictures of my aunt Lindsay, the middle three are pictures of my aunt Chrissy, and the bottom three are pictures of my grandpa. They were really great at being good models for this contact sheet and I love them!

Shallow and Deep Depth of Field

In Photography class, we were assigned to use shallow depth of field when we take pictures. If we wish to make the depth more believable, we can use Photoshop and set a new layer with the Gaussian blur. I took ten photos and I had chosen my best two. Here are my best two. 

Here is the first photo. The subject of the photo is my Captain America bag I got for my 15th birthday. This photo shows shallow depth of field. I edited this photo in Photoshop. I used Gaussian blur to make the blur in the background more realistic and make it clear that the main focus is the bag.

The second photo shows the deep depth of field. Again, I used Gaussian blur but instead I used it on the background. I also changed the contrast and saturation of the photo as well. 

Here is my first photo. The subject of the photo is a Rocket Raccoon plush I got for Christmas. The photo exhibits shallow depth of field. In Photoshop, I used Gaussian blur on the background to focus on the plush.

Here is my second photo. This one exhibits deep depth of field. In Photoshop, I used Gaussian blur but I applied it on the bag and plush to focus on the background.  I changed the contrast and saturation of the photo.

The images changes between the two photos because the shallow and deep depth of field change the perspectives of the photos. The depths change the focus of the subjects in each of the photos. In the two pictures of the Captain America bag, for example, you focus on the bag in the first picture and you focus on the Captain America poster or the coat hanger in the background of the second picture. They alter the feel of each of the photos as well. The depths make the pictures interesting and unique rather than bland and feeling like there is no personality.  

Low and High Angles

For my Photography class, we did a project on low and high angles. I managed to get some pictures that are both low and high angles. We also edited these photos in Photoshop. Here are photos I have chosen and edited.

Original High Angle

This is a photo of colored pencils in a star formation of a rainbow. I thought it might be a cool idea for a high angle photo. 

Final Edit High Angle

In Photoshop, I cropped out the rings of my sketchbook and the rest of the paper to create a "rule of thirds" photo. I also increased the brightness and decreased the contrast to show off the colored pencils better. Then, I increased the saturation to show of the vibrancy of the rainbow colors. Later, I masked the wooden tip and bodies of the pencils to balance the colors out. 

Original Low Angle

This is a picture of the Pop figures I have of Star-Lord and Gamora. The picture looks cool to me, kind of makes them look heroic. 

Final Edit Low Angle

In Photoshop, I increased the brightness and slightly increased the contrast to show them off better. Next, I increased the saturation to show off the colors better. Then, I masked some of red in Star-Lord's jacket, Gamora's sleeve and hair, and the green part of the box.