So update on the investigation title and some experiments....

After posting the first draft of my investigation, I have altered it slightly to take in my interest in both photography and computer science.

New investigation route:

Does the unlimited access to digital and social media expose the individual to art and experiences that may have otherwise remained a closed door? 


Let the journey be the destination; before the phenomena of the Internet, artists such as Dan Eldon documented his travels across South Africa using journals, and creating very thought provoking photo montages of his experiences and the impact of the environment he was exposed to. 


The concept of documenting has continued today but with digital and social media as the journal and anyone with Internet access the audience. Photographs can be taken, edited and uploaded in an instant, with viewing happening 24/7 across the globe. This new, wider community has opened the door for many to try something new, or realise they are not alone. 


By taking up my camera again I have influenced my 4 year old son, who has become interested in taking photos of what he experiences and he wants to share them with his own audience. This has allowed my son to interact with the world in a different way, seeing new things and deciding on what is a good picture. My son has also influenced me as he views the world from different angles and levels, along with his enthusiasm when out and about, which is contagious. This has provided me with a new perspective when capturing images, taking into account what he can see and how that impacts on his photographs, and allowing this to influence how I set up my shots.

So what do we think?

Anyway onto the experiments. I am currently taking photos when I get the opportunity to, I have a lot of stuff going on at the moment so trying to fit in going out specifically to take photographs is pretty slim. After a trip round the zoo with my family, and using my mobile phone, I got some interesting images that I could combine  And Sunday I was off to flyball training, so I took my camera with me, the idea was to get some images of the dogs and also from the brige looking down on the motorway. I have just sat down to put some images together and see what I could make that would be a little different.

Zoo Experiment:

I like how this one turned out, the bright colour on the T-shirt makes the eye track through the image. It was interesting to see the different positions that people moved into as the walked down the path. 

Motorway Experiments:

Original Image once all the photos were combined together, I had to remove some cars that appeared in between the lorries as it made the image way too busy to really see anything.

With a filter put over, I like the detail on the vehicles coming through, and it really makes them stand out.

This is a combination of two different final images using different levels to alter the colour intensity. I loved the dramatic sky on the first image but not the washed out vehicles, the second image had the vehicles that you can see above but a very pale sky. This looks much more interesting combined together.

New day and a new camera up...

Only having one lonely camera at home, I have decided to put it up in my office at work. I am hoping it will be able to record through the window, so fingers crossed it works.

Here it is, set up on the lovely bars on the window. And here is the view...

Poor Camera!

My husband went out this evening to walk the dogs and came across the camera I put up in the local nature reserve. The poor thing had been pulled down and tossed into a bush, it was incredibly water logged and very soggy indeed, after retrieving the equally soggy photographic paper I decided to scan it anyway to see if it had managed to capture anything. (We have to remember here that it has only been up for about 6 weeks, and who knows when it ended up in the bush!)

Drum roll for the beaten up camera.....

Not too shabby really, it has got the tree line definition and the street light on the right hand side, and lots of water marks. 

More pinhole cameras...

As it was a decent day we decided to go and collect the cameras I had put up a few months ago. Sadly at both locations the cameras had been removed, teaching me the lesson to make sure they are positioned off the beaten track.

With the weather holding and the dogs needing a walk, my Dad and I set out to put up some more. They are positioned in places that are hopefully hidden from view, and in some excellent spots for capturing a great exposure (fingers crossed).

Camera One

Great spot, quite secluded, and again I found myself in shorts wading through nettles and thistles to attach this. One day I will learn to wear trousers.

The view from the camera, fingers crossed for some great sky trails.

Camera Two

Again up to my waist in long grass and nettles, with the ground under foot not quite where I expected it to be!

The view from the camera position.

Hopefully these will stay put and I can pick them up in a few months. Or leave them over the winter as I don't fancy walking around here when it is cold, wet and windy!

Combining Images...

After spending the summer taking a large number of photographs, with many of the same scene at different times, I decided I needed to try and do something constructive with them. I thought that be layering them I could get some interesting sky patterns. So here are the results...

This was my first experiment of using different exposure times to construct the image that shows the passing of the sunset on this particular day. I took a number of photos at different stages of the sunset and then cut sections from each. I quite like the overall image but it is not very dramatic.

This is my second attempt and I was using a different method this time, instead of using sections of the images I was layering them on top of each other. This image has approximately 8 images combined to give this sky effect. This is the dramatic effect that I was after, although I did end up making everything else a silhouette, I guess that will be something I need to work on.

My final attempt for the evening, and I decided to try out adding in a different set of images on top of the second image I constructed. The photos I used on this were of a more pink and purple sunset than the originals ones I had been using. The camera was also set up in a slightly different position so I have got a ghosting effect in parts of the photo which I really like. I am also really pleased with the subtle colour that is showing through the blues in the sky.

I will be looking into this further and finding some more interesting locations to take the original photos to then use. 

On a side note, I am doing this investigation as part of my A2 Photography course. I am looking at how social media can be used to influence the artist and the viewer. I have found a number of different photographers and artists over the summer that have impacted on what photographs I have been taking and it has pushed me to find out more about how to recreate the same techniques. This would not have been possible when I did my A Levels back in school due to the lack of Internet and social media.

So in conclusion:

How does social media impact on the artist and the viewer, does it allow the artist to become the viewer and the viewer to become the artist? Discuss....

Long Exposure on the phone?

Since I have two young children it is not always feasible to take my camera equipment with me everywhere we go, and also spend large amounts of time taking a few images, not due to the boys becoming bored, but it is not fair on them to have to spend time out of our day out (usually the zoo) waiting for me. The solution - find an app that lets me do long exposures, one quick hunt around the Internet and I had a whole list of ones to look at. I decided on the one to download and got it set up with little effort.

The test was the next day at the zoo, with 4 adults and 4 children aged from 5 to 1, and on a very busy day to the zoo, so the challenge was set.

I am pretty impressed with the functionality of this app, it has captured the motion of the water well, I like that you are able to alter the shutter time and also how much blur is wanted. The only downside is that anything over 1 second is really hard to keep steady, when you have a 2 year old swinging on your arm like a monkey! And I don't want to get a tripod for my phone.

Capturing Motion...

Since studying A Level Art (way back when I was in Sixth Form) I got the chance to see a Howard Hodgkin exhibition, I loved the use of colour in his paintings as they are so vibrant and full of motion. I had to get my Dad to come and help me collect a marque from a friend (eldest's birthday party is outside so need shelter!), so I decided to let my dad drive and I would try to capture motion while we were driving back.

I was lucky as it was a glorious day (as my Dad would put it!), this also helped with the picking up of the marque as I would not want to do that in the rain. The other bonus is that we were able to drive through a number of different areas from the motorway to country lanes giving a variety of colours and textures to capture.

I had some great fun taking these images, moving car and holding camera steady is always a challenge, making sure camera does not fall out of window, trying not to be sick watching the world go by that quickly.

I love the colours that have been captured and the different scenes, I have not idea what made the shiny trails on the first 2 images, I can only think a stationary car that we drove past, or something that had the sun shining off it. I feel that it really has captured some qualities of Howard Hodgkins's work.