Colour Theory

I have been looking into colour theory and the associations that revolve around colour.

Usually a colour is associated with a look or feeling because of a majority of people experience that particular feeling when in contact with an object of that colour.

For example, the human heart is red and pumps blood. This is associated with feelings of love because of the quickening of pulse or the dull ache inside when hurt in love. Therefore the colour red becomes associated with the feeling of love. Pink is lighter shade of red and therefore is also associated with love and both colours are used in the adversing of love based holidays such as Valentines day.

Colour harmony seems to be based on what we know and see in every day lives. This tends to be non man-made and natural things like a pink plant with yellow insides and green leaves.

Image found at : http://www.imageflora.com/images/lupinus-beryl-viscountess-cowdray-salmon-pink-flower-plant-in-spring-60165.jpg

 This colour combination is not unpleasing or shocking to the eye, therefor the colours go well together. Colour associations forms without our brains even knowing it.

This raises questions in my mind about how we choose our favourite colours and why. My favourite colour is green and I believe it is largely down to the fact that it is also my mothers favourite colour and growing up, the house was decorated with large amounts of green. I was exposed to the colour alot during childhood and I feel as though this has influenced my decision.

Jobs

I have been searching constantly for a part time job for the past 2/3 months. After going to several interviews I have managed to secure a position as a coffee barista in the train station. I'm finding juggling my work with the exhausting hours very difficult over the easter break as I am up at 3:30am in the morning to be at work for 5am. My evenings are cut short due to tiredness and in the past this is when I would do all my work. I will now have to make an effort to spend a one of my days off catching up with logbook and journal work.

Despite securing this job, I applied for the position of a photographer at Revolution Portraits in Norwich city centre about 3 months ago, I heard back from them 2 weeks ago and attended the interview regardless of my current employed status. They have invited me back for a second interview in a weeks time. The trial will consist of assisting the current photographers and seeing how I react with their clients. I am really greatful for an opportunity like this and really hope I get the job in the long run as they would be taking me on full time after university has finished. Despite only being at the coffee job for 2 weeks now, it would definitely be worth enduring the awkward 1 weeks notice in order to secure a full time job in the photography industry.

Mid Year Review thoughts.

I found the idea of having 3 of my fellow students looking over my work very daunting at first but I think the notes will definitely help me improve my work.
I can now go back through my previous posts and add to them things I didn't see previously while bearing it all in mind for future work.
There are definitely some very helpful notes on my feedback sheet such as making my moodboards clearer and adding things to my analysis of images which I was previously oblivious to.

Mid Year Review notes.

LO 7 - Areas for development

Add visual references of Paolo Roversi in your 'shoot ideas' post.
Please explain your definition of 'freshness' and how it ties in visually.
On the Edward Steichen post say how you can use these images to develop your own practice as well as what you like about them.
Reference back to research when evaluation your own shoots.
In your summer shoot, explain why you used shells.

Strengths - 

In the beginning there is a god link between visual research and your own images.


LO 9 - Areas for development

Consider looking into colour theory
Look at lighting for spring/summer and consider changing overlay in shoot 5 as you have lost your highlights.

Strengths - 

Emailing people for headpieces
Good organisation of creative team
Looking at where you want to go in the industry.


LO 10 - Areas for development

Think about naming your styling moodboards to make them clearer
Be more specific about what you want your lighting to do and explain how this affects your images.

Strengths - 

Forsight into planning and potential problems.
Good collaborations with fashion students.


LO 11 - Areas for development

Talk clearly about your visual opinion to each season
Broaden your research eg, look at landscapes and still life.

Strengths - 

Depth to research


LO 12 - Areas for development

Explain what you like about your own images and why?
If it does not influence the next shoot, put it in your journal.

Strengths - 

Good use of critical evaluation.

Winter edit process.

The first image is an example of what this image looked like after skin retouching but before the fill layers. To get to the final image it was actually quite a simple but effective process. Using a blue and a white fill layer at different opacities I managed to create an icy fog over the image. I then tweaked the contrast to create a stronger contrast between the snowy highlights and the moody shadows. This was a very simple process but extremely effective and much easier than the autumn edit I had to as I really focused on getting everything right in camera this time.

Josh Olins inspired by Richard Mosse?

Richard Mosse - Infra

Josh Olins - Balenciaga campaign.

When scrolling through Josh's website I came across his Balanciaga campaign and immediately thought of Richard Mosse's Infra images.

I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that it appears that Josh has ripped off Richards images. The infra set of images are some of my favourite images ever and they mean so much to me, I feel like I really understand them and the pain felt in the Dominican Republic of Congo at the time the images were taken. But with Josh's images, while I'm happy that the unusual and beautiful aesthetic style has caught on, I feel as though the use of this in fashion imagery has now reduced the meaning of Richard Mosse's infra images.

I'm wondering if the campaign was shot on Kodachrome film or on digital and edited to look this way? I'm pretty sure it was the latter though, and unusually, I think this angers me. As a retoucher, manipulating and editing images is something I take pride and joy in but for some reason, I really do not like the fact that Josh Olins has created this campaign in 2014 that has basically ripped off the hard work and many years that Richard Mosse put into photographing in the Dominican Republic of Congo in 2012. This causes such a conflict inside of me.