photographer 5 - Eliot Porter

Photographer - Eliot Porter

Eliot Porter taught himself how to take photographs throughout his teenage years. In the beginning of his photography career Porter was well known for his black and white photography, but in late 1938 his was gaining widespread attention for his landscapes. By 1950 his main focus was colour photography and constantly was teaching himself how to improve on the images he was producing.


















I like this picture above because i like the way the Porter has chosen to use black and white to change the way that the image would usually be seen. If this picture was in colour there would be a clear difference in the different parts of the picture, as well as a clear sign of depth being used. The use of tone in this image is effective because it shows the lines of all of the aspects of the photo. It also breaks up each element in a successful way that doesn't allow them to get lost.

I have chosen the picture above because I like how natural this picture is. I also like how Porter has not focused on one single aspect of the scene but allowed everything to appear into the view to make it seem more realistic. The use of colour in this image makes it more interesting, as the small amounts of colour within the green help to breakup the large amount  of one colour.

I have chosen this picture to show how simple Porters photography could often be. I like this picture because I like how you cant actually see what is behind the the different branches of the trees yet Porter has still left some space for something to be seen. Line is used in this image to show each tree individually. It gives each tree its own space so that they  are all noticed within the photo.

I have chosen this photo because I like how Porter has used autumn colours without ending the photo. I also like this picture because of how natural the setting is meaning that it could easily be replicated. The use of colour here again breaks up the use of one colour in a large area. This is effective because it allows a colour break and draw attention to that area.

I have found Porter's work to be influential as I have enjoyed looking at the way he styles his location shoots and how he includes the natural element in his pieces. I would like to include this in some of my photography, I think that to achieve this I need to think more about my composition and incorporate Porter's elements of nature into my images.

To summarise Porter's use of natural photography allows him to capture a true aspect of the scene in front of him. His use of composition allows him to give a creative aspect to his images as well us give them some originality. Porter's work is therefore able to include a variety of the formal elements, such as colour, depth, form etc. 

For me Porter has been an influence for me to try to keep my natural styled images as realistic as possible. i have used him as an influence to keep in the back of my mind so they i can base many of my images from my walk shoots. i have found porter to be a helpful influence as i have enjoyed keeping images as close to their true identity as possible. 

Photographer 4 - Lee Towndrow

Photographer - Lee Towndrow 

Lee Towndrow is a visual photographer based in New York. He started his career as a designer and photographer for a design company that he started, the company is best know for creating many album covers for Canadian bands. He's also created visual effects and designs for TV adverts, music videos, and feature films.

I have chosen to include Lee Towndrow's work as i like the way that he uses colour in a lot of his photos. I find the way that he uses colour is original and creative. This gives him a slight edge to stand out and be different.

I have chosen this picture because I like the way that Towndrow has used bright vibrant colours to show the main points of the photo that he wants you to focus on. I also like the way that he has done this with just 2 colours by doing this he has been able to get across the effect without having to use multiple colours. In this image where a different colour is use it changes the focus of the image, it goes from being the blue background to being the bright pink on the person.

I have chosen to include this photo because of the simplicity of the actual photo with the use of a bright colour again to dull colours. I think that this makes one part of the picture stand out more than another.  The colour in this image is made clear against a black background. This is effective as you  cannot loose the brightness of the yellow against the background.

I have chosen this picture because I personally think there is a aspect of abstract to it, as to me this picture does not seem natural. I also like the way that colour is used in this picture as I like the way that each colour has been separated from each other.  The colour white is used in this image to break up the two bright colours. This ensures that neither colour is lost nor washed out and make sure that the brightness says effective.

I chosen this picture for the same sort of reasons, I like the way that Towndrow has used colour as he is able to make other aspects of the image stand out so that they don't blend in with each other.The people are positioned against the background to use their colours of their clothes to break away from the yellow.

I will try to incorporate some of the ways that Towndrow uses colour in his images to try and give my work some originality so that not all the colours blend in with each other.

Looking at Lee Towndrow's photography has inspired me to be more creative with colour in my photos and has given me the inspiration to be more experimental when using colour. His images have also made me want to use colour in a fun way and not always be sure that the picture will work out in the end.

To summarise Towndrow uses colour in a unique way to allow for original images as well as images that look different and fun as well as giving off the right effect. I hope to take this and use it in my own photography.

Personally, i have used Towndrow as a influence to try and use colour in a different way. I have tried to show colours in places that wouldn't usually be focused on. One of the ways that I have been influenced was in the editing process of one of my photos. I decided to use selective colour to make the colour of the rose stand out, I then decided to turn the background black and white to allow the flower to be the main focus. I the main way that I have been influenced by Towndrow is to use  colour as a effect and to allow it to change the way the picture looks.

Photographer 3 - Paul Scharff

Photographer - Paul Scharff

Paul Scharff is a natural photographer who has been captivated by nature and light for his whole life. Scharff has always looked at things in a non traditional way, often identifying the more smaller and often seen as insignificant details of things. The way that Scharff Photographs is seen as original and is able to give images a completely different perspective.

I chose this photo because of the texture. I think that this picture shows the simplicity of the scene as well as giving it a twist. the way that light is used in this photo helps to show the natural aspect of the waves. I like that Scharff has decide to keep the image empty and just focuses on the texture of the waves.

i have chosen this photo because of the way that Scharff has focused on one side of the flower to give a closer look into the petals. I also like the way that colour has been used in this photo show that it stands out more than the background which has been left on its own to form around the flower.

I like the way that the flowers have been focused on and the way that the background has been edited to be black and white. I think that Scharff has been able to keep the simplicity of this image and kept it looking natural.

I have chosen this photo because of the way that Scharff has been able to show the natural texture of the tree trunk. I like the way that Scharff has kept this simple and has been able to complete the focus just on the texture of the trunk.

I personally think that Scharff's work is influential as I have liked to see the way that he has been able to keep things looking natural as well as being able to use multiple formal elements in his photos. In my own work I will use some of the ways that Scharff has uses nature and the formal elements to make original looking photos.

The way that Scharff shows nature in his photographs has inspired me to shoot nature differently in some of my images. He has made me want to keep some of my nature shoots as simple and unedited as possible, I think that his photography has shown me that sometimes simplicity is more effective.

To summarise I like this photographer as I like the simplicity of the photos and I think it would be a simple but effective thing to bring into my photography.

I have used Scharff as a influence to my work by using the idea of including more than one element in a photo. i think that by using Scharff as a influence i have been able to show how diverse images can be and show how they don't just confirm to one element. The image below shows texture as well as colour in a different way that is usually thought to be used. i think that by using more than on element in a Image i have been able to show how many different forms of each element their can be and how you don't always have to stick to the stereotypical forms that are usually used.

Photographer 2 - Francois - Xavier Marciat

Photographer 2 -Francois-Xavier Marciat:

Francois- Xavier Marciat is a landscape photographer. I have chosen his work as I like the style that he takes his landscapes in. I like the way that he uses tone in his photographs as it makes parts of his photos have a clearer outline than others. I also think that his photos are original.

I like this photo because I like the way the tone is used to give the picture a completely different perspective. The use of tone completely changes the mood of the photo to me. I find that you cant completely tell how the weather is or whether its a positive atmosphere. I like this because it shows that its not information that we need to know for this picture. The use of tone in this image helps to emphasis the lines in the beach huts and the car. It makes them standout as well as be effective for giving the objects character.

I like this picture because of the way that the tone is used to show depth. In his photo depth is clearly shown however you can't exactly see where its leading to. The use of depth he is shown through the angle the photo is taken, by choosing to take the photo from low down you can see clearly the pathway that is going to be walked along. This helps to suggest that journey is also being shown in this image.  i also like the angle that this photo us taken from as I think it helps to see the picture differently.

 I like this picture because of how close the photographer was able to get to the scene. I also like the way that tone was again used to help you to see it differently. The tone helps to focus on the animals in the photo without them being lost into a pool of colour. However I'm not excited by this picture as nothing really stands out to me as I find it quite boring.

I like the way that tone is used in this picture to show the way the clouds have cleared in that one space to let the light through. this is one of my favourite pictures as I think it stands out, yet is not overpowering to look at. I also like the way that depth is used it this picture as I think that its quite a creative way to use it. The angle this photo is taken is from looking up, this gives the direction for your eyes to look up and look into the light. This angle is a different angle to show depth but is just as effective.

I will try to use the way that Marciat uses tone in some of my pictures as I think that it can be quiet affective in creating a different mood in a photo. I would also try to use tone and depth together like he does as I think that it creates a interesting sight in the photo.

 To summarise the way that Marciat uses tone has made me want to be more creative with the images that i choose to show tone in. He has also made me want to use it so that i can allow a photo to show a certain mood.

Marciat's use of tone has been an influence of mine when shooting tone. I like the way that he incorporates some natural light in the image to help the black and white fit into the Image better. I have used him as a influence by trying to include some natural light into the natural setting to keep the realistic feel to the image. i think that this has been achieved in the image below as i have been able to bring some natural light into my image by deciding to shoot the image facing a window. Marciat's work has been a influence of mine for the topic of tone as i have tried to use his style of having a aspect of light and an aspect of dark.

Photographer 1 - Florian Ritter

Photographer 1 - Florian Ritter:

Florian Ritter is a landscape photographer from Germany. her was born in 1981 and grew up with his younger sister, older brother and mother. His love for photography started in 2007, and he later decided to see how much love there was for photography and began to travel with it. He started in New York with a photography course. He realised while doing so that photography had a lot more offer than her first expected and he got more interested in landscapes.

I chose to include Ritter's work as I find his landscapes are different to ones that I've seen before. I like the way that he makes his backgrounds of his photos different to ones that I've seen before. I also like that he focuses on the main point of the photo and lets the backgrounds happen around that main point. I found that all of his work is appealing as it stands out to me because of the originality of his pictures.

I like this picture because I think it is a nice picture it look at.  Its a simple picture where you don't need to think hard about what the picture is and the meaning behind it. this picture uses the formal elements of colour in the background. I like the background in this picture because the colours of the sunset are not your typical colours you would usually see in a sunset yet it still looks realistic. The use of colour in this image is what makes it interesting, the colours in the sky are not what you usually used when showing a sky. In this image all of the colours compliment each other and all stand out to show the separate elements of the grass and the sky.

I like this picture because it is different to some of the others that I have seen by Ritter, this photo is quite busy compared to some of his others. This photo uses the formal element of depth as its shows us off into the distance. The use of depth here is effective because it draws you in to look further down into the image and to where the light stands out. I like this picture because I think its original and stands out because of the use light and colour in this photo.

I like this picture because is shows the diversity in Ritter's photography, most of his pictures that I have chosen to include have been quite bright or used a lot of colour in the. However I like the fact that this photo is a lot more plain in the idea of colour, it means that we don't focus on the use of colour but focus more on the house its surroundings. I also like this picture because I like the use of form in it where the grass is clearly shown. The use of form is effective because it helps to make some parts of the image stand out more than others and doesn't allow for small parts to go unnoticed. 

I like this photo because I like the use of colour. I also like the simplicity with this picture. I like that there's not more than one part of this picture for us to look at. this picture also uses the formal element of reflection. I like that this picture doesn't have anything to it, its just a picture of something simple and effective. The colour in this image stays as simple as the rest of the image, which allow for the whole image to be simple. The different colours in this image work into each other through smooth lines that help each colour to move to the next.

I personally think that Ritter's work is influential as I like they why he makes the backgrounds of his pictures look natural even when there not. In my future photos I will try to include some of the ways he makes his backgrounds look into my photographs. I would also incorporate some of the ways that he makes colours look so natural together. 

To summarise, Ritter's work is one of my favourites that I have looked at and I will continue to research further into the way he does some of his shoots and then include this in my work.   

While i found the Ritter's work was one of my favourites to look at i found that i struggled to incorporate his style of landscapes in my work. Ritter uses a effective background to go with the main focus of the image, i found myself only incorporating the idea of backgrounds. i found that in one of my images of contrast i have used the same sort of style to show a sky with some dark clouds and some light seeping through.  The way that i styled my picture was influenced by Ritter through my composition of the image with the light coming through the middle of the picture. Also with the use of the clouds as a dark border as well as capturing a small amount of the building.

In the image by Ritter he has included a sky that is dark surrounded by some dark clouds with only a small amount of light. In my image I have shown a larger proportion of the sky with the top of a building in the bottom corner of the picture. While the sky was not the main focus of Ritter's work I have found similarities with it and the image that I produced.

The main aspect of Ritter's work that I have enjoyed was his use of composition, I have found that the way he styles his landscapes has helped me throughout the project. I think that my three images below have been influenced by Ritter in some way. The main influence I have taken from Ritter is to always think about my background in the image. I have learnt not to neglect the background in a image as it is just as important as the main focus and will still be noticed.