Intro to web design

Creating a web page 

We have been tasked to create a web page with the option of using various different tools and coding techniques. The main tools I will be using to complete the objective will be text edit and the w3schools website.

Here are some screen shots of my progress

I used text edit and code information from the w3 schools site. I previewed the website on google chrome. On the screenshots you may find the code on the right handside I used to create the page. 

Location photography

Here are the final results form my location project.

Drastically different from the images I proposed to create due to time constraints and an opportunity to work with a talented model on short notice.

Running up to the shoot I had been gathering an interest in urban portrait photography. Through observing the work of other photographers I had noticed how much the surrounding scenery can lend to the feel an image and work with the main subject to develop a story, and cities prove remarkably versatile for the backdrop of an image. I developed a preference for urban environments over natural locations in the weeks prior to my shoot, this was due to how quickly an urban environment can change. For both practical reasons and artistic reasons it's helpful to be able to find such different locations with different lighting conditions so close together. All of the photographs in this series of images were taken just a 5 minutes walk from each other.

Prior to organising the shoot I managed to get hold of some location lighting with daylight temperature flash and a continuous tungsten modelling light. For any shots where the model was lit by ambient light I incorporated the tungsten modelling lamp to enhance the lighting of the image. However, you will notice some shots where there was very little ambient light, in these images I used the daylight flash to add a sense of drama. In order to balance my lighting with the ambient lighting I used very wide apertures to keep everything lit, because of this the images are very soft. We (me - Joseph Rigby, the model - Roarie Yum and my assistant - Lewis Evans) continued to move around the small area we were in to achieve as much variety as possible in the photographs :)

Overall I believe the images turned out well, we achieved a variety of look in a variety of locations, the lighting came out brilliantly and we made good use of the urban location. The model was also very good and some of the images really feel to be part of a story. If i could change anything I would perhaps increase the ISO to allow for smaller apertures and sharper images.


Feel free to check out my website :) www.josephrigbyphotography.co.uk

Deconstruction of a book

We have been given the assignment of deconstructing a book and reforming it in our own individual way.

I did some initial research in the college, our tutor gave us some ideas of what other classes were doing. One being a student who re-designed a book based on football, by folding and cutting the pages in such a way that when you open the book it looks like a football. On hearing this idea I decided I would like to redesign my book in a way that fitted the context of the books theme.

The next step: we walked to a charity shop close by and purchased cheap books. The book I purchased was titled Warrior Woman and was about a woman of asian descent growing up in the west amongst stereotypes combining martial arts and anyone of asian descent. This stereo types seems to have almost become a self fulfilling prophecy for this woman.

I cut the shape of a gun into the front half of the book so as to frame it, the title warrior woman still showing. I stopped cutting the shape of the gun on a chapter with a name I deemed very relevant to the books context, the chapter was entitled Western Palace. At this point I stopped cutting so the name of the chapter appears at the front. Finally, I decided the art work on the front of the book which I had already cut out was too good to leave out. I cut out an area below the chapters title through maybe 30 pages or so in the shape of a square, this way I could glue the artwork into the bottom page and allow it to be framed by the remainder of the 30 pages above I had already cut out.

At this point I was happy with the result, I stapled all of the remaining pages together and completed my work, I was happy with the result and felt I had embodied the main crux of the book in it's physical reformation.

Thanks for reading :) 

www.josephrigbyphotography.co.uk

Location Photography

We have been assigned the task of producing a series of 12 images from a location photography shoot. Here is some initial research of my own as to how I will conduct the shoot and the style of photographs I would like to emulate.

Firstly, I will explain that for some time I have been planning to produce a series of landscape images which I can then photoshop people into to produce an all encompassing series of portraits with magnificent natural or urban backdrops. I plan on this unit to capture 12 location images in which I can later add people into the photographs.

Below is some research of the types of images I would like to produce and the way I would like to go about producing them.

The first photographer I looked at was a photographer who's work I know very well. He produces composite imagery to create a feeling through his photographs, although there is a sense of unreality in his images I don't think his purpose is to create realistic images. His name is Erik Almas and the screenshots below are taken from his website: http://www.erikalmas.com/

They say it's better to aim high so these are the kind of images I would hope to produce, allowing room in the foreground to add human subjects. I too would like to produce such images through composites but more likely in settings of greenery due to a national park being close to my home. 

Here are some other photographs in which carry a similar depth of feeling. I would like to recreate the power of these images in my own, although the locations will be considerably different. 

The below image I found on viewbug.com, taken by an individual who goes by the name of Wolongshan on this particular website.

The image carries incredible power, he captures the stillness of the sky and the rocks with the almost violent, ceaseless power and movement of the waves. He uses a composition which pulls you into the centre of the image, leading your eyes in from the left corner and outward from the very centre to view the rocks waves and stars, all the way back to the foreground where you can once again see the power and detail of the waves.

I have planned a shoot in the following location, I found this location on darkskydiscovery.org.uk, I plan to take images of the night sky in this location to replace with the sky from other images I take where the sky may not be so incredible:

I can't choose a date as such to photograph at this location as I need to be sure on the day the sky will be clear. The same is true with the location I hope to do the bulk of my photography in: The Ees, Chorlton. The Ees is a small nature reserve, there is small lake in the park and the river mersey which passes through, there are numerous woody areas and also a few wild meadows, however I may also try and incorporate images I have previously taken of fields and hills in North Yorkshire.

Here is an image I have captured a few years previous in the same park (chorlton ees), along with a map of it's location (The largest green area towards the bottom left hand side):

Below is a mood board of some images similar to the style I would like to finally produce with the human subjects added. All of the images have been produced by Erik Almas and are unfortunately not captured in locations similar to where I will be shooting.

 This is the end of my brief :) Thanks for reading.

Joseph Rigby

www.josephrigbyphotography.co.uk

Pre Raphaelite research

We were briefed to emulate a painting or photograph produced by the Pre Raphaelite collective.

I began researching the pre raphaelites at the Manchester art Gallery, here I got a view of their great works portraying the 19th century the way it actually was, a stark movement at the time. The most notable painting I saw was entitled Work Painting by Ford Madox Brown, although it would be too resource intensive for me to replicate it gave me a good feel for their work, steeped in metaphors and hidden meaning.

I went on to research more of the collectives work on the internet, using various websites and search engines to discover more of their paintings and hopefully find a piece of work I would like to emulate that ins't too resource intensive. One of the first images that caught my eye was a historical painting of Lady Godiva by John Collier

Lady Godiva was a noblewoman from the 11th century who rode the streets of coventry in protest of her husbands oppressive tax on his tenants. John Collier portrayed her as a young and graceful woman, with her head down, perhaps from the traditional victorian perspective that it's a shameful thing to be naked. The grand background and mighty horse mixed with the soft morning light and heir of grace and gentleness in her posture however definitely give her the feeling of a heroin.

I thought deeply about wether I could reproduce this image in a modern setting and tried to think of metaphors to surround the image for a modern interpretation. However, I found none to do the image justice and continued to search for other paintings whilst still bearing this one in mind.

I found several technically basic portraits produced by the pre raphaelites, including: Sophy Gray by Millais, various works of Jane Morris by Rossetti and a portrait of Cecily Horner by Edward Burne Jones, (all images found and downloaded from Wiki Art)

However, none of these images really inspired me, so I searched for a painting with a little with a little more of a meaning or story behind the image.














I continued my search by looking for any historical or mythical paintings produced by the brother hood using wiki art to search for the categories of each individual painter. I first stumbled across Cinderella by John Everett Millais and felt as if I had found something I could relate to. However, the images itself struck my as quite boring and flat, so i decided to continue looking as i would rather emulate something a little more passionate.












Finally I found Pandora By Rossetti, here was an image I could relate too, was colourful and enjoyable to look at it ( in my opinion) and was also technically a viable option which could be produced with a small budget.

I have chosen my painting to emulate and am currently looking for models and MUA's etc to help me with the production of a final image.

Joseph Rigby 

www.josephrigbyphotography.co.uk 

Using a Range of Media

Evidence of using different media and evidence of importing images from multiple sources. 

The above 2 images are scanned rubbings of various textures i found around the college, the one on the left is a rubbing of a perferated wall mounted file holder whilst the rubbing on the right is of a mac keyboard.  I then scanned the rubbings into the computer. 

    

The above 2 images are natural materials i found outside of the college and then scanned into a computer. My medium being real life !

The Two images above are evidence of me working with printed images which I photographed and imported from my mobile phone. 

 The Three images below are images I produced on the white infinity product background with my DSLR camera, I imported the images from an SD memory card.