Final Images and Evaluation (Photography)

Continuing from my editing, I selected my final images, and I placed them into an order I found the most fitting.  I'll display these images by themselves first, and then I will move on to my evaluation.

Evaluation

It took me a long time to decide on a theme.  For the longest time I was considering doing landscapes, specifically looking and roads and vehicle travel.  But this presented a series of problems I had little experience dealing with.  Standing in traffic was a very real consideration, as was things like weather and very dangerous locations.  Not that I needed to do this, but I felt I wanted the images to be of the specific ideas I had in mind.  I talked with some of my fellow students, who helped shift my focus.  I always loved the idea of photography on the smaller scale and had never attempted macro images.  With this idea in mind, I thought about what I wanted to do, what I wanted my message to be.

It did not take me long to reach an idea.  My point of view is a reasonably humourous one.  I try not to take things to seriously.  Life is a harsh and often frustrating thing, but getting frustrated never helps.  I always believe it's the small things in life that can make someone's day, and that idea would come to play a very literal part in my theme.  Lego, a children's toy, embodies that for me.  It's an iconic product with simple yet clever design.  It's a product I used myself both as a child and as an adult.  Weirdly, it can help relieve stress.  With some of these figures already in my possession, it made sense they'd be the perfect subject if I was working on the small scale.

The image I decided to display first is actually the last one I took.  It's one of my personal favourites, and felt like the best image to start with.  I wanted my images to represent the lighter side of life, and this image was an entry into that, hinting at the stresses of everyday life.  The image is a literal representation of life getting on top of you, and the sheer panic it causes.  I can't help but laugh at this image.  The idea of a toy running away from a hand amuses me on a level I can't really articulate.  I feel this image is simple yet relatable.  Of all the images I took, this is the only one that involves a none Lego subject element.

My second image was one of the earlier ones I took, and was going to be my first image for the longest time.  A simple, classically designed figure with an overly cheery expression.  This was one of my first tests, and I honestly just fell in love with the sharp subject in front with the background blurred and out of focus beyond recognition.  It showed me what I could do, and it was better than I expected it would work out.  This one is all about the character.  The sheer joy and happiness displayed here is something I can't help but adore.  In sheer contrast to my first image, this one more than the first sets the tone for my images.

I wanted to work in a studio type setting for a lot of these images.  In doing so, I actually found they lost a bit of their appeal.  I wanted to show some of the things we enjoy in our daily life, and to me, music is one of the biggest.  So much so it's become almost ambient in a way.  This character was designed to represent the cool, calm and collected, as well as to personify youth.  The character was 'built' with this in mind.  I wanted my images to have a subtle narrative, and this is where it really starts.

I wanted my images to show a progression of life, in some way.  Moving from a youthful teenager to dating, this image was just something I felt we could all relate too.  I wanted to avoid the "lovey dovey" cliche here, and opted to have the girls face be one of disapproval and rejection.  Weirdly, this to me makes the subject more lighthearted, and the expression on the boys face more amusing.  I was happier with these images, outside of the studio set up I'd created.  Multiples of these images were shot on both settings.

Like the 'Spaceman' image, this one is all about the character.  The stereotypical artist is meant to represent our hobbies and ambitions.  I tried for ages to add another element to this, adding actual paint brushes and paint, and even a Lego easel.  I eventually gave up, and just took this image, with nothing else intruding on it.  Ultimately, I love this one just because the character shines through, very much like the spaceman image.  This is my favourite image from a technical standpoint, as the focus on the figure is perfect in my mind.

We've all been here.  A lazy day in bed in our pajamas.  I really wanted to capture this part of our lives, a part we spend more than a third of our life doing.  But it was difficult, and honestly, I'm still not sure I got it right.  I had versions under the covers, different positions, and all sorts.  I just wasn't happy with how the subject was displayed for this theme.   Ultimately, I selected this one from the ones that I took just because of the way it was focused, with the foreground blurring in the way it has, focusing on the figure.  I very nearly didn't include this one in the final batch.

Another one from the studio setting, this image is meant to represent our time working.  Our daily jobs, as it were.  I wanted to find a gritty occupation, and honestly, in Lego that's hard.  This mechanic is the best I could find, and honestly, he's way too happy for my liking.  I wasn't sure what elements to include in this one, and the lighting in the studio set up was proving to be poor.  I had several lights I was alternating with, but I couldn't recreate the same sort of look as the images with the organic backgrounds.

This is one of my favourite ideas, but the execution was lacking.  Moving towards the end of life, and even suggesting death, this image is one that popped into my head, and I just had to try it.  The idea of a stiff rectangular figure outlined at a crime scene had me smiling, and I worked my best to recreate it.  However, the pen I used for the white was bad for bleeding, and I wasn't able to get the shape as crisp as I wanted.  I also struggled with the lighting, as it came out looking a little to artificial for my liking.  The detective character is a parody of a TV detective, known for orange hair and inappropriately wearing sunglasses.

Much like my last image, this was one of my favourite ideas, but least favourite executions.  I tried many different compositions and backdrops to this image, and this is the best version I was able to capture.  I was initially struggling to focus this correctly, but I'm happy with how this turned out.  It shifts the focus to the adult character, which for me personally, is a great metaphor for how I feel today.  Memories of being young are faded and unclear, and the future is ahead of me.  Almost scarily so.  This is one of my favourite images just for what it represents.

Continuing the theme of moving through life, this is the image I captured the most.  This Lego couple have been photographed everywhere.  Even on a rear bench.  But the lighting didn't work, and the attempts I'd done in the studio just weren't working.  I took this towards the end of my images, and it really was just a 'let's see how this looks' photograph.  It ended up being the most natural and organic version of the photograph.  It was important to me the last image was a positive one, and this old couple just make me smile.  Ultimately, the message I want to convey with my images is that life isn't always so bleak.  I sincerely hope my images can do that.  If I can get one smile from someone, I'll be most pleased.

Photography is not my strong suit.  Working on the small scale definitely interested me more than the alternative.  These plastic toys are dear to me, and were the perfect subject.  This project went from being a disaster to something I heavily enjoyed working on.  I just wish I'd discovered this sooner in our brief so I could have put more planning and energy into it.  A lot of my ideas and images suffered because I'd had them too late in the projects lifespan and were not fully realised.  I would do a lot differently, but that's not to say I regret these images.  It's a learning process, and I feel I learned a lot.