Definition Post - Tone

Definition Post

Tone: the overall lightness or darkness of an area of an image

Words that can be used to describe 'tone':

- Shade
- Light
- Dark
- Intense
- Powerful
- Strength
- Emphasis
- Impact
- Composition

Four annotated online pictures

This photograph is in black and white which contributes to the different shades within the picture. It being in black and white helps the viewer to notice the tones that this tiger owns. His stripes are what stand out against his light fur as they're a deep shade of black. The grey area on his nose balances out the blacks and the whites along with the faint and dainty white whiskers carefully sprawled out around his mouth.The white rim under his eyes stand out a lot more than they originally would if this photo was in colour. This picture sets the tone of the image as being intense and dark as there's a lot more blacks and dark greys than there is white. White's a lot less of a harsh colour, hence why this photograph is slightly fierce.

This woman's hair is the main focus when studying this image. The reasons for this are because there is a spotlight shinning down on the top of her hair where there are a vareity of tones. Also, half of her face is covered by her hair which makes it evident that her hair is thr subject here. The amount of shades in each strip of her hair is crazy because there's a range of colours from bronze to lilac. Each strand of hair is of a different colour, starting off light at the top and gradually turning darker at the ends. Tone can be portrayed through black and white images but also ones like this above as the colours in her hair are around the same shades, demonstrating tone through the range of shades.

This photograph is an outstanding shot of a hot air balloon floating infront of the sun. The amount of tones in this picture is insane. Firstly, the clouds are made up of shades of blacks, greys and whites. The rim of the clouds have an outline of white going all the way around which demonstrates the areas where there is less cloud compared to the areas where these is thick cloud. Secondly, the hot air balloon being in front of the sun causes the audience to immediately look at this part of the photograph as it's almost like the sun is a spotlight for the balloon. Thirdly, in the bottom right hand corner there are tree brances crawling on the side up to the top of this photo. These are in one block of colour; black. This makes the tree look as though it's silhouette along with the hot air balloon.

Tone in this picture is key for creating a lonely effect for this, what looks like, ballerina. She has her face and body turned away from the camera with the light shining down on her back. Shading is everywhere in this image as her body is 3D so there is plenty of tone to be fulfilled here. The fact that she is looking down away from the camera portrays that she has  perhaps been rejected from a career in dancing, and the black and white tones in this image enhance this view. Colour is usually a positive formal element used when making a photograph come across as being energetic and cheeful, so this image being in black and white with the formal element tone creates a more negative feel that matches with the subject of this image.

My definition of tone: A variety of shades ranging from black to white demonstrating a photograph as being 3D / A variety of shades based on one colour demanstrating a photograph as being 3D.

Work Diary - Tone

Evaluation

In Monday's photography session where I went around the college to take photographs portraying 'tone' I really found myself enjoying this certain task. I believe that a photo being in black and white can make anything out of the ordinary seem interesting. If I were to take a picture of the corner of a building in normal colour it would look quite bland and unnatractive, whereas when I took this photo in black and white the different shades and tones made this usually boring photograph actually a really good attempt at demonstrating 'tone' through pictures. I didn't find this topic too stressful or hard as I was able to take a picture of nearly anything as long as it contained different shades and a variety of tones. There was a range of black, greys and whites in nearly every single picture that I shot which I believe contributed to my success with the aim for the lesson. One of my favourite photographs that I captured in Monday's session was the one of the leaf below.

This photograph is simply of an extremly light leaf in the colour white, resting on top of a patch of grass that would usually be a variety of greens, but in this case is a variety of blacks and greys. Tone here has been thoroughly covered as the audience would be aware of the leaf being a completely different part to the image compared to the grass. If the leaf wasn't as white as this then this photograph wouldn't be as effective as it's this fresh piece of nature that's the subject of the picture. 

This photograph of mine on the other hand was actually one of the worst pictures that I took from my point of view. There is no dark shades in this image. Most of the colours that build up this picture are light greys and a few dark greys. To portray tone, black needs to be involved so that shade is evident. Also, the reflection of someone else taking this photo has been indluded in the left of this picture which immediately makes the quality of photography in this photograph decrease. I do not believe that it was a success at all.

Progression

I don't usually like to take many photographs in black and white. I appreciate that it creates an interesting feel when being the main effect of a photograph, however I do not think that I would use black and white in my project. Nonetheless, there are a lot of pictures that inspire me for 'tone' for if I were to go out and re-shoot this topic. I found images that efficiently covered dark shades and light shades to be the most successful types of pictures. There isn't really a focus that I have in mind when taking pictures of tone as I believe that anything can portray tone and so a variety of images, like the ones I have listed below, are just as effective when together as a handful of photographs, rather than being all based on the same topic/idea. These photographs beneath are extremely inspiring, and the ones of the animals are ones that attract me most. Tone can also be in sepia or a different colour as long as the photograph contains the same colour throughout, with just different shades and tones of that colour for example, the tiger picture.

Defintion Post - Reflection

Definition Post

Reflection: Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. 

Words that can be used to describe reflection:

- Mirror
- Mirrored
- Double
- Duplicate
- Exact
- Copy
- Precise
- Distorted
- Neat

Four annotated online pictures

This photograph is deceiving when the viewer first looks at it. The reflection in this image is the clouds and sky that have formed in the puddle that the female is looking across at. Part of her body has been reflected in the puddle aswell, making it look as though she's almost floating on or falling through the sky. It can be seen as an illusion and I believe that it's very creative. The reflection of the clouds and sky is almost exact to what it looks like in real life. Usually reflections in puddles are distorted, this one however looks precise so it also gives the impression of perhaps photoshop working it's magic.

In this photograph, the audience are unable to see the actual figure that is the reflection in the male's sunglasses. There is also a whole scenery in the reflection. The horizon is visible in each lens and this is what the audience focus on.  This photograph has been taken in black and white which portrays tone and reflection in one picture. It's a discrete way of capturing reflection because most of the time these photographs are accidental; as in they're taken to get a photograph of the person with the sunglasses on, not to get one of the reflection. 

This is a photograph of an extremely large bubble. There is always so much content in the reflection of a bubble because it blows up into such a large thin sphere of liquid enclosing air or another gas. The reflection is of what looks like a building which curves round in the shape of the bubble formation. This creates the fish eye effect and makes a picture look more intriguing than if it were just a flat, straight refelction. I admire the colour in this photograph also because the detail of the refelction is so precise; it's really clever.

This is my favourite piece of reflection photography out of these four images. My reasons for this are because there's a lot of attractive colours in this picture which capture an audiences attention. The reflection emphasises this photograph as it would be quite bland with just the dice on a plain table. The reason I am aware that what they're sitting on is a table is because the sky has been reflected in it also. As the viewer, we are unable to see the deep blue sky as it's only visible in the table's reflection. I like this style of reflection as it portrays something being there when it physically isn't. 

My definition of 'reflection': where the subject of the picture is reflected to form an either exact or distorted copy through the use of mirrors, puddles or windows etc.

Computer Experiments

Straight Images - Tone

Image Bank - Tone

Tone is probably the most intangible element of composition. Tone may consist of shadings from white-to-grey-to-black, or it may consist of darks against lights with little or no greys. The use of dark areas against light areas is a common method of adding the feeling of a third dimension to a two-dimensional black-and-white picture. The interaction of light against dark shades in varying degrees helps to set the mood of a composition. A picture consisting of dark or somber shades conveys mystery, intrigue, or sadness. When the tones are mostly light and airy, the picture portrays lightness, joy, or airiness. Below are photographs that demonstrate the formal element 'tone'. Tone has been portrayed through black and white images along with pictures containing one colour in a variety of shades.  

Work Diary - Reflection

Work Diary

Evaluation

In Wednesday's session I was asked to go out and take photographs of reflection, whether that be reflection in puddles, in water or in glass and car windows. I found taking photographs of reflections in mirrors to be my favourite part of the lesson because I was able to make something in an image look as though there was two of them. This also produced symmetry in my photographs which I thought made them look creative. A lot of my straight images were of symmetry so I believe that I fulfilled the task of reflection very effectively. I did find a few things to be slightly difficult though. One of those things being that in some photos you were able to see the camera in the reflection. This is why I preferred working with reflections in mirrors because you didn't have to accidentally get the camera involved with the photograph. 

This was one of my favourite pictures that I got of my eye. I zoomed into the original picture to ensure that the reflection from the eye was the main subject of this photograph. In the white part of my eye you can see the reflection of all of my eyelashes spread right across my eyelid. This is pure natural reflection that I think is extremely effective when in a photograph. The blue and green tones of my eye also contain some reflection of my surroundings. In the reflection, the eyelashes look a lot thicker and closer together than they actually are because my eye is of a sphere shape so they curve round in the reflection. This is a distorted reflection that I wasn't able to find in puddles, only my eyeball.

This other photograph that I captured is an example of symmetry. The line distinguishing the real life from the reflection is so vague that it's difficult to tell where the refelction is coming from. I think this is a lot more photographic than having a thick bulky line going right down the middle of the photograph that lets you know where the start of the reflection is coming from. Using blue as the reflector gives the photo more colour and makes it more interesting rather than it being plain and just an ordinary reflection.

Progression

Because I really enjoyed using mirrors in Wednesday's photography session, I would include a lot of these in my future photographs if I were to focus my pictures on reflection and re-shoot. I would gather a variety of mirror shapes and sizes and use them in my photographs so that they would create more than one reflection when teamed up. I would most likely also attempt to use water/puddles of any sort in my photography because these create distorted reflections which I believe are original and creative. A picture doesn't have to be perfect to be amazing. A few of the images that have inspired me throughout the topic 'reflection' would be the ones that I have inserted below that would help me if I were to go out and re-shoot for reflection again. 

Image Bank - Reflection

These photographs below are all representations of reflection photography. They are deceiving to the eye at first glance, but extremely creative and effective as a photograph. Photographing a reflection creates a unique image of an often photographed subject by adding interest and depth to a photograph. When an object is being photographed alone, it can look fascinating when flying solo, however when a reflection of that object is part of a photograph it gives it a more creative feel and makes a fascinating photo even more breathtaking. My favourite styles of reflection are with mirrors and water. I feel water is the most natural ingredient for creating reflections and illusions and feel that it portrays a photograph to be simple but effective. 

I really love this photo. The simplicity of it is relaxing and soothing and the fresh neutral colours pair well with the calm atmosphere that it releases. The woman in the water looks refreshed and cleansed and her reflection makes it look as though you can see part of her face under the water; even though you can't. It's a very tranquil photograph.

I love the mirror being used for the reflection in this picture. At first glance it looks as though there are two women in the picture, but then you realise that she's looking into a mirror at her reflection. So you're able to see the side of her face from her original body and then you're able to see the front of her facial features through the reflection. It shows nearly all of her face through creative styles, and I like that.

This is a complete illusion leaking out through a photograph by reflection being used as the main reason behind it. It comes across as the woman in the picture not having a face, and so the mirror looks as though it's just a frame with a hole rather than a mirror with a reflection. 

I admire in this photograph how you're only able to see the head of the boys through the puddle on the pavement. You struggle to realised where the young boy's head is coming from as he's not leaning directly over the puddle. Then you realise that it's a head that belongs to the body standing a bit into the distance. Reflection is just too clever.