Planning Stage
For the self portrait diptych project, I first decided that it would be best for me to plan out all possible ideas and techniques that I could possibly use. I started this process off by using the mind-map generating website https://bubbl.us/, then by splitting my ideas off into different branches, I was able to come up with some very good ideas. For example for one of my braches, I split it off into the possible ideas for the personal contents- such as shoes, contents of bags or even their desk. But I have decided to go with the persons bag contents as this can then generate some very good pictures.
I also decided to brainstorm the possible portrait options, which included using mirrors and different timer settings. I will experiment with all of these ideas to see which one eventually works out the best.
Inspiration
Richard Vantielcke
Richard Vantielcke is a french freelance photographer living in Paris.
He defines himself as a "guardian of the legacy of surrealist painter Rene Magritte" (see website), as shown by his work on urban photography, self portrait photography and conceptual and narrative photography.
His photographic work focuses on the use of light and night photography to sublimate the everyday, by, as he states, "giving it a touch of mystery, strangeness, and weirdness".
I am interested mainly in his self-potrait diptych work, as this brief is on creating my very own self-portrait diptych.
These are the specific self-portrait diptych pictures that I have chosen to research as they show both personality and professionalism. I would like my photos to represent these similar traits both personality wise and to a professional standard. With my self-portrait I will be trying to input my personality by showing emotions such as shyness and timidness (as I myself am rather shy), along with showing the contents of my University bag, which contain the main objects I use everyday.
Tester Shots
I have starting taking possible pictures for the self portrait par of this unit, which is going to feature a portrait image of myself, along with one picture of the contents in my bag. I started off with taking the pictures of the contents within my bags, deciding to use different bag types and different contents. I shot these images on my IPhone 6S due to my camera working and it being the weekend so I was unable to take one of the University cameras out on loan.
I have attached all of the images that I took, there isn’t many as I just wanted to trial the layout and setup of all of the contents and the phone itself. When I take out the camera, I will also take out a tripod as this will then allow me to get a direct downward facing picture rather than me leaning on a chair to take the pictures on my IPhone 6S.
I prefer the images featuring the rucksack as you can fit a lot more in the picture due to the bigger size of the bag, however I’m glad that I experimented with the smaller bag as this allowed me to make this decision of choosing the backpack.
More Tester Shots
I decided to do a trial on my self-portrait images of myself by setting up my Nikon D3200 with a Manfrotto tripod in Ravlin Park as I wanted a rustic feel for my images, along with setting up a 5 second timer. However when setting up the camera, trying to focus at the correct point was difficult as it involved me walking to and from the camera. As these photos show, my technique didn't work very well. When I next try out some shots, I will ask someone to help me focus and zoom while I stand at the right point.
Editing in PhotoScape X
I decided to edit a couple of potential self portrait diptych images using the free editing software PhotoScape X. This is my first starting image of myself (I am aware that my eyes are closed, this was just the best picture to come out of my first shoot as the rest were all out of focus- see previous post).
After changing the basic settings (brightness, shadows and contrast), I decided add a greyscale filter as I wanted to see whether having this image in colour or greyscale would work best- I decided to keep it greyscale. Again, going back to my lightness and shadow settings, I adjusted them in order to bring out more details and definition both in myself and the background.
The last effect I decided to trial out was the vignette filter. This then gave the corners of my picture a slight shadow/fade which I really liked as it gave a rustic feel overall to the image. Making sure the vignette effect wasn't too strong, I adjusted the harshness of the effect, so that it created just the right tone to the picture.
As the first image is finished, I then moved onto editing the photo containing my personal items- in this case my rucksack with all of my uni essentials in. Similar with the previous photo, I repeated the same steps in order to create the same effect and outcome, so that they would match when put together.
After editing both of the images separately, I used the same software to place them together. Originally I was planning on putting them side-by-side, however, just by the look of these images, a stacked approach would look better in my opinion. Even though this is only a rough edit, I believe that these images came together really well. So here is the final outcome- overall I am impressed with the results.
Photowalk 6/2/18
Today we went on a photowalk to specifically focus on the self-portrait part of this portfolio. We went down to Old Portsmouth to the Land Rover BAR building which is surrounding by different boating yards. I not only took photos of myself, by I also took photos of 2 other people, as we were experimenting with a diffuser. These are the photos that I managed to capture- some good, and some not so good but thats what these trials are for. So I now know to take my time when taking photos as its the quality not the quantity, also to take it more carefully on my self-portrait images.
Draft Layout Ideas
I decided to try and experiment with some layout ideas for my self-portrait diptych. I have used the same personal picture as this is the one I will definitely be using due to it showing whats in my bag perfectly. However, I couldn't decide which self portrait image to use so I thought that it would be best to try out a couple to see which was best. This was due to them both representing me and my personality differently. The first image my eyes are closed and I am smiling, this was due to me wanting to portray a calm and collected personality along with being happy as well. However, my second image features me more neutral but with my eyes open, as I am trying to convey my serious, yet soft side. I have decided to use the second image as, even though I am not looking directly at the camera, it still represents who I am as a person along with my bag contents.