I didn't have an individual post for these photos, so here it is

These photos are on the bottom half of panel one. I used the mask to sort of frame the titles of the three children's fantasy books, Harry Potter, Peter Pan and The Hobbit. The blurred glitter of the mask in the image with Peter Pan also gave me the idea to use the same thing again in the next set of photos at the bottom of panel one, with the Rene Magritte concept of filling the silhouettes of the chess pieces with the blurred glitter.

Even more photos

These three photos are on panel 2, above the gridded photos from the previous post. Like most of my other photos, they include the contrast of light and dark.

They also relate back to these three photos from panel 1, with the grouping of the objects together, in book + chess pieces, mask + book, and chess pieces + mask.

Top of panel 2

These six photos are going at the top of panel two, in two rows of three. They tie back into the top of panel one, with the simple photos of the individual objects.

New photos + new artist model

These sets of photos are going at the bottom of panel two, to finish my folio. They were influenced by a  photography video Mrs Clemence showed me at the beginning of the year, of light being moved around objects to create different shadows. I thought the idea from the video would work well with my concept of light and shadow creating mystery and intrigue around objects.

They also introduce a new artist model within my work, Maurizio Galimberti. Galimberti uses the grid format to create a series of photographs of one subject, called a "photographic mosaic". The viewpoint of each photo is shifted slightly, to create an extended, multi-dimensional image of the subject. 

First panel finished (actually finished this time)

This is my first board which is finally finished. I've changed a few of the photos in the first two rows and added the chess silhouettes in the bottom row. Those new photos give me a new artist model, Rene Magritte. He's a painter who uses images in the silhouettes of other objects, which is what I've done with the chess pieces and the blurred glitter of the mask.

Folio board #1 (almost)

This is my first folio board, almost finished.

There's another row of photos that I need to edit a bit and then add to the bottom, and I want to edit some of the other ones a little more, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Next: incorporating artist models in my work (after actually finding artist models).

Lotsa new photos

Here is a contact sheet for all of my new photos from last week and today, working around grouping and arranging my subject matter together. I still want some help deciding which ones should go on my folio (hint hint, Mrs Clemence).

Another new shoot

Today I finally took some photos using different subject matter:

I was playing around with the chess pieces and the way the light shines through them when I got the first image of the frosted pieces. I thought the tones in the photo looked really nice, so I tried to replicate the photo with the unfrosted pieces. I love the effect the light has on the different kinds of glass, and I think I want to use these two on my folio.

I also took a few more photos using the mask and the books, paying attention to the contrast of light and darkness:

I've also thought about using an idea I had for my painting folio, of using a sort of narrator throughout my photos to connect all of the subject matter together, using either my hands or some else's, so I'm going to explore this idea in my next shoot and see how it works.

New shoot

Mrs Clemence gave me the idea of using light as a path or trail through my folio, and as an actual subject instead of just a tool to highlight my other subjects. With this in mind, I took some more photos today in the drama room, and these are some of my favourites that I might use on my folio:

I also want to take more photos next week with some new and different subject matter.

Rule of thirds

Three of my photos so far use the rule of thirds best:

In this photo, each of the four intersecting points is inside the eyes of both the mask and the shadow it casts. These are contrasted focal points, emphasizing the bright white of the inside of the mask and the darkness of the shadow in front of it. These points also draw attention to the difference in the shape of the eyes in the mask and the eyes in the shadow, and how the shadow is extended forwards into a ghostly form. The rule of thirds lines the photo up to be almost perfectly symmetrical, which could look quite dull, but I think the perspective and the contrast makes it more interesting.

With the rule of thirds, this photo looks like three separate parts: the spine of the book and path of light in the middle, and the black space on either side. Because the photo is so simple and has so little subject matter, the path of light and the illuminated spine of the book are automatically the focal points, but being placed in the centre of the photo in the middle of the black space draws you to this even more. One of the intersecting points also falls on the light streaming across the floor, which draws the eye to this extended part of the focal point.

In this photo, two of the intersecting points fall in contrasted areas, the light in front of the mask and the dark shadow below it. This draws attention to the use of bright lights and heavy shadows which I plan to continue for throughout my folio, and helps the photo further connect to this idea. The mask and its shadow are also placed directly on the right vertical line, while the left vertical line falls on the empty floor space beside it, which I think makes the photo more interesting than if the mask was placed in the centre.

Introduction

This year, my painting and photography folios both have the same concept: fantasy existing in the real world. This idea comes from my love of fantasy movies, books and TV shows (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, etc.)

My plan for my folio is to start with simple images of my subject matter, establishing the objects. On my folio already, I have ten photos: two rows of five. These photos are of a carnival mask and some books I own (Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Peter Pan). They all have exaggerated contrast, depicting bright lights and heavy shadows. I've used this contrast to add mystery and intrigue to the objects, immediately alluding to them as magical things.

As my folio continues, I plan to further explore the fantasy elements that exist in my photos by using camera tricks and photoshop to create surrealism, and to introduce more subject matter.