Definition & Theory
- Documentary - usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life.
Image Bank
Research
Henri Cartier Bresson was a french photographer who pioneered the genre of street photography and views his work as capturing a decisive moment. The decisive moment is a concept made popular by Henri Cartier Bresson and Magnum co founder. It refers to capturing an event that is spontaneous, where the image represents the essence of the event itself. As a result of this he is considered to be a founding father of modern photojournalism.
The first photo uses a massive tonal range and is also seems to be really busy as the water makes a lot of information. The use of the everyday rain and people jumping over puddles in order to not get wet is really interesting to see at this angle. How he has framed the photo makes the person really small and the amount of water seem massive.
The next photo uses a lighter background and dark features in order to bring out the dark clothes of the person and the leading line of the metal banister. I like how he has taken the photo where the birds are still enough that you can make out what they are however have some blur to show how they were startled and have taken flight.
The last photo of a man riding his bike really uses the skill of timing perfectly as he has managed to capture the bike moving. However taken it as such the bike isn't behind the stairs or partially in shot. As well as this he uses a tonal range all down the stairs and the pavement however made the person in zone 9 so they stand out.
Contact Sheet(s)
A Autumn walk in the forest
Best Photos
This first photo I like how the mushroom has grown so quick that it has been cracking and how the camera captured all the detail. Due to the f stop used it has blurred the background allowing the mushroom to really stand out.
In my second photo I really zoomed into the mushroom making sure to retain all the detail in how the growth of the mushroom has split and opened the bark. I also blurred the background to make it really standout. I am planning to make a link to my artist by changing this photo into black and white using photoshop.
The next photo shows how smooth the mushroom is compared to the roughness of the bark. I am going to change this photo into black and white to make the different zones from the zone system to stand out. This photo reminds me of the stairs in Henri Cartier Bresson's photos.
In the next photo I used the sun coming from the top left hand corner casting over the mushroom creating lots of different tones. The reminds my of Henri Cartier Bresson's photo of the man jumping over water because of the use of different tones.
This next photo was inspired by the busyness of Henri Cartier Bresson's photos. As a result I used the amount of mushrooms and the tree stump to create the idea that there is lots of information. As well as this there are lots of mushrooms and that draws people into the photo, to try and find them all.
This photo of the black rimed mushroom really shows the third dimension as the light has a shadow effect across the mushroom, as well as the dark rim allows you to follow is round the back of the mushroom. I think that this would be a great photo to change into black and white as I think it would enhance the key elements in the photo.
This next photo is very similar to the last however I zoomed in much closer really focusing on the detail with in the mushroom head and the detail shown. I made sure the background was blurred using a high f stop .
The photo using a group of mushrooms is one that I like due to how the background I slightly blurred so not distracting. This allows the focus to be on the detail and the textured look of the mushrooms and is really zoomed in to help frame the photo so you cant see what else is around, making the main focus stand out.
This photo is one of my favourites as how I have angled the camera so your looking at them face on has allowed the mushrooms to partly blend in like they would in the woodland. However they still stand out due to the white stem and red tops that look at this particular angle, hairy. This links well with Henri Cartier Bresson as he takes everyday things and shows them at a different angle or in a different light.
This next photo of the three red mushrooms I put in as much detail as I could by using my f stop and focus together in order to get the crinkle effect on the sides of the mushrooms. However I am going to possibly change this photo into black and white to hopefully show a more multi toned photo.
This photo is one of my favourites as it is one of my lighter mushroom photos and how the colours really complement each other, bring out the light, white / brown mushrooms. The blurred background as well that has is made lighter by the sun really makes the foreground stand out so much more. I am going to change this photo into black and white as I think it would really enhance the mushrooms and make them stand out more.
The next photo reminds me of the typical mushroom where in stories there would be creatures living in the stem. I was inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson for the idea of the mushroom house and from the angle I have taken this photo I can almost imagine it. As well as this I really made sure tat the stem was in focus to help play into that idea.
In the next photo I really like how much detail I managed to retain in the photo. By blurring the background I made the mushroom standout, I also like how the moss and brown leaves only complement this making the foreground darker making the mushroom really pronounced. My favourite part of the photo is the split in the mushroom and how its really white on the inside therefore standing out more than everything else.
This next photo is another of my favourites because of the amount of retained detail and how well the lighter toned mushroom is taking up most of the frame. As well as this the detailed under folds of the mushroom are really sharp and are made more pronounced by the faster changes in dark tones to light tones. As a result if this photo was changed to black and white I think it would show a spectacular third dimensional picture. Inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson and his use of seeing things from a different point of view.
In this next photo I have angled the camera so the tree looks disproportionately tall as well as this I wanted the branches to get darker as you look up the tree to help make a contrast between them and the sky. Henri Cartier Bresson helped to inspire this idea as it reminds me of his second photo where the backgrounds are light and the subject is really dark.
The next photo I used the sky as a light background in order to make the bark and the colours of the leaves standout. I really like the contrast between the bark and the sky and how the few leaves left on the tree allow for the view to know that its autumn.
In the photo of the fern I used the darkness of the other fern leaves to make the one odd white fern leaf stand out. I like how this creates a large contrast, which I'm going to enhance in photoshop. This idea of making just one thing stand out comes from Henri Cartier Bresson's photos where he uses something everyday to make his subject standout.
This next photo of all the trees growing upwards was taken face on so they all look vertical. This creates lines and lines of trees making the forest appear creepy. In photoshop I could increase contrast and possible lower the light to make the forest appear dark, mysterious creating a feeling of danger. The way I have framed this reminds me of scary video game forest as you cant see the sky, your feet or even though the forest.
The next photo is of conker shells this really links with my autumn forest theme as conkers are only found on certain trees at certain times of the year. I like how the spikes on the outside of the shell slightly blend into the forest floor however the white membrane inside makes the centre stand out. Forming a star like effect as your eyes them zoom out from the centre allowing you to see the whole photo.
The next photo shows the colour change in the leaves on the trees. This reminds me of how Henri Cartier Bresson used the everyday things and found a different view to make the viewer see the beauty in the everyday. This reminds me that autumn is the time when everything bursts with it last beauty as if nature has been saving up all year of the grand finale.
In the next photo I love how it really shows how the mushroom has to grow and push its way out from under the leaves and dirt to reach the surface. I like how I made the red in the mushroom the highlight of the photo, using the leaves and a darker backdrop to only help enhance this.
In this photo the mushroom has crinkled up and deformed. I really like the definition and texture that is shown in this photo. I am going to convert this photo into black and white, then enhance this effect.
The next photo is of a mushroom, I like how it seems to resemble a sort of honeycomb structure. I think that with out learning from Henri Cartier Bresson about finding the beauty in the everyday I would never have seen this. I think it could be really interesting to make it more like my artists work by changing it into black and white and seeing the change in contrast.
Henri Cartier Bresson inspired this photo of the red and white mushroom as like before with the idea from stories of creatures living in mushrooms, this mushroom reminded me more of those types with the use of the colours. As a result I made sure to make the mushroom take up as much of the frame as possible to make it seem a lot large than it really is.
In the next photo I found this mushroom under / in between a tree's base roots. This photo shows the spongy texture of the mushroom, I also used a high aperture so retain as much detail as I could of the mushroom and the bark.
In this photo I used the trees to make a almost dark tunnel that the path goes through to the other side which is lit up by the sun. I like how the path creates a leading line for your eyes to flow. All most as if you could step into the photo and walk through it.
This photo reminds me of Henri Cartier Bresson's first photo as there is so much information in the photo is seems busy. Making one side of the forest seem a lot denser than the other side. I also like how the branches standout from the rest of the photo because they are so much darker than the leaves.
The last photo is taken to also relate to my autumn theme by using the redness of the berries to contrast against the pale yellow leaves. This all stands out against the blurred background I love how I framed the photo to get the most out of the berries and leaves, to really make sure they are the main focus.
Images that need improvement
The reason these pictures where chosen are because there are certain things that didn't turn out as i wanted them to or need improvement in some areas. The first photo didn't turn out how i wanted it to as the two mushrooms didn't stand out and blend in to well with the background. As a result if i was to retake the photo i would only focus on one and try to get that to stand out from the background. I may do this by making the background blurred by changing the aperture on my camera.
The second photo is slightly over exposed from the look i was going for. I was trying to get it so the light moves across the mushroom however my shutter speed was to low for the direct sunlight and over exposed the photo. If i was to retake the photo i would increase the shutter speed and adjust the focus to make the whole mushroom in focus.
The next photo is out of focus, as i wasn't able to get the steam of the mushroom in focus and as a result if i was to retake i would use a tri-pod to minimise the shake and make sure my lens is in focus.
The next photo needs improvement due to the colours involved are to similar as a result all the colours blur together and make the mushrooms really difficult to spot. As a result if i was going to improve on this photo i wouldn't use these mushrooms and they are to dark instead i would try to shine some light on the mushroom in order to get them to stand out more against the ground.
The next photo is blurred due to my hands shaking. As result when retaking the photo i would use a tri-pod to stop the shake, however as it needs to be so low to the ground i may have to use a higher shutter speed in order to stop the shake effect, however i would need to shine a light in order to keep the brightness.
The photo of the red mushroom is ok however i have lost a lot of detail in the photo as the camera wasn't focus correctly. However it was difficult to get a photo where a part of the mushroom wasn't in focus as there where so many dips from where it had been eaten.
The last photo is slightly out of focus due to shake and the camera being out of focus. As a result if i was to retake i would use a tri-pod and also change to shutter speed as then i can under expose the tree and little more making it more mysterious.
( AO:3 ) - Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress
When i was coming up with my idea for documentary i found it really difficult to find something that i was interested in that was going to inspire me. However my artist Henri Cartier Bresson helped me come up with the idea of a walk in the forest as of his photos remind me of a walk in the city. It allowed me to work out where i was going to do my documentary however when doing research for my image back i found out that it was mushroom season in the woodland areas. As a result i decided to do a walk around the forest near me documenting the mushrooms and the change in the trees in autumn.
Best Photos...
This first photo I like how the mushroom has grown so quick that it has been cracking and how the camera captured all the detail. Due to the f stop used it has blurred the background allowing the mushroom to really stand out.
In my second photo I really zoomed into the mushroom making sure to retain all the detail in how the growth of the mushroom has split and opened the bark. I also blurred the background to make it really standout. I am planning to make a link to my artist by changing this photo into black and white using photoshop.
The next photo shows how smooth the mushroom is compared to the roughness of the bark. I am going to change this photo into black and white to make the different zones from the zone system to stand out. This photo reminds me of the stairs in Henri Cartier Bresson's photos.
In the next photo I used the sun coming from the top left hand corner casting over the mushroom creating lots of different tones. The reminds my of Henri Cartier Bresson's photo of the man jumping over water because of the use of different tones.
This next photo was inspired by the busyness of Henri Cartier Bresson's photos. As a result I used the amount of mushrooms and the tree stump to create the idea that there is lots of information. As well as this there are lots of mushrooms and that draws people into the photo, to try and find them all.
This photo of the black rimed mushroom really shows the third dimension as the light has a shadow effect across the mushroom, as well as the dark rim allows you to follow is round the back of the mushroom. I think that this would be a great photo to change into black and white as I think it would enhance the key elements in the photo.
This next photo is very similar to the last however I zoomed in much closer really focusing on the detail with in the mushroom head and the detail shown. I made sure the background was blurred using a high f stop .
The photo using a group of mushrooms is one that I like due to how the background I slightly blurred so not distracting. This allows the focus to be on the detail and the textured look of the mushrooms and is really zoomed in to help frame the photo so you cant see what else is around, making the main focus stand out.
This photo is one of my favourites as how I have angled the camera so your looking at them face on has allowed the mushrooms to partly blend in like they would in the woodland. However they still stand out due to the white stem and red tops that look at this particular angle, hairy. This links well with Henri Cartier Bresson as he takes everyday things and shows them at a different angle or in a different light.
This next photo of the three red mushrooms I put in as much detail as I could by using my f stop and focus together in order to get the crinkle effect on the sides of the mushrooms. However I am going to possibly change this photo into black and white to hopefully show a more multi toned photo.
This photo is one of my favourites as it is one of my lighter mushroom photos and how the colours really complement each other, bring out the light, white / brown mushrooms. The blurred background as well that has is made lighter by the sun really makes the foreground stand out so much more. I am going to change this photo into black and white as I think it would really enhance the mushrooms and make them stand out more
The next photo reminds me of the typical mushroom where in stories there would be creatures living in the stem. I was inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson for the idea of the mushroom house and from the angle I have taken this photo I can almost imagine it. As well as this I really made sure tat the stem was in focus to help play into that idea.
In the next photo I really like how much detail I managed to retain in the photo. By blurring the background I made the mushroom standout, I also like how the moss and brown leaves only complement this making the foreground darker making the mushroom really pronounced. My favourite part of the photo is the split in the mushroom and how its really white on the inside therefore standing out more than everything else.
This next photo is another of my favourites because of the amount of retained detail and how well the lighter toned mushroom is taking up most of the frame. As well as this the detailed under folds of the mushroom are really sharp and are made more pronounced by the faster changes in dark tones to light tones. As a result if this photo was changed to black and white I think it would show a spectacular third dimensional picture. Inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson and his use of seeing things from a different point of view.
In this next photo I have angled the camera so the tree looks disproportionately tall as well as this I wanted the branches to get darker as you look up the tree to help make a contrast between them and the sky. Henri Cartier Bresson helped to inspire this idea as it reminds me of his second photo where the backgrounds are light and the subject is really dark.
The next photo I used the sky as a light background in order to make the bark and the colours of the leaves standout. I really like the contrast between the bark and the sky and how the few leaves left on the tree allow for the view to know that its autumn.
In the photo of the fern I used the darkness of the other fern leaves to make the one odd white fern leaf stand out. I like how this creates a large contrast, which I'm going to enhance in photoshop. This idea of making just one thing stand out comes from Henri Cartier Bresson's photos where he uses something everyday to make his subject standout.
This next photo of all the trees growing upwards was taken face on so they all look vertical. This creates lines and lines of trees making the forest appear creepy. In photoshop I could increase contrast and possible lower the light to make the forest appear dark, mysterious creating a feeling of danger. The way I have framed this reminds me of scary video game forest as you cant see the sky, your feet or even though the forest.
The next photo is of conker shells this really links with my autumn forest theme as conkers are only found on certain trees at certain times of the year. I like how the spikes on the outside of the shell slightly blend into the forest floor however the white membrane inside makes the centre stand out. Forming a star like effect as your eyes them zoom out from the centre allowing you to see the whole photo.
The next photo shows the colour change in the leaves on the trees. This reminds me of how Henri Cartier Bresson used the everyday things and found a different view to make the viewer see the beauty in the everyday. This reminds me that autumn is the time when everything bursts with it last beauty as if nature has been saving up all year of the grand finale.
In the next photo I love how it really shows how the mushroom has to grow and push its way out from under the leaves and dirt to reach the surface. I like how I made the red in the mushroom the highlight of the photo, using the leaves and a darker backdrop to only help enhance this.
The next photo is of a mushroom, I like how it seems to resemble a sort of honeycomb structure. I think that with out learning from Henri Cartier Bresson about finding the beauty in the everyday I would never have seen this. I think it could be really interesting to make it more like my artists work by changing it into black and white and seeing the change in contrast.
Henri Cartier Bresson inspired this photo of the red and white mushroom as like before with the idea from stories of creatures living in mushrooms, this mushroom reminded me more of those types with the use of the colours. As a result I made sure to make the mushroom take up as much of the frame as possible to make it seem a lot large than it really is.
In the next photo I found this mushroom under / in between a tree's base roots. This photo shows the spongy texture of the mushroom, I also used a high aperture so retain as much detail as I could of the mushroom and the bark.
In this photo I used the trees to make a almost dark tunnel that the path goes through to the other side which is lit up by the sun. I like how the path creates a leading line for your eyes to flow. All most as if you could step into the photo and walk through it.
This photo reminds me of Henri Cartier Bresson's first photo as there is so much information in the photo is seems busy. Making one side of the forest seem a lot denser than the other side. I also like how the branches standout from the rest of the photo because they are so much darker than the leaves.
The last photo is taken to also relate to my autumn theme by using the redness of the berries to contrast against the pale yellow leaves. This all stands out against the blurred background I love how I framed the photo to get the most out of the berries and leaves, to really make sure they are the main focus.
( AO:2 ) - Explore and select appropriate resource, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops
I used my Nikon D3100 camera and lens set to manual. As I was sitting in the forest in constant changing light I had to continuously change my F stop and shutter speed. The things that I had to keep in mind was the Sun light, going behind clouds as well as remember about the trees casting shadows. As a result all my photos where taken with ISO 200, F stop 5.0 - 5.6 , and a shutter speed 1/10 - 1/125.
To improve my best photo i am going to import them into photoshop and use different tools to create a better contrast. As well as this i am going to change them into black and white in order to show a stronger connection better my photos and my artist research.
This images are taken by using screen grab ( Ctrl, Shift, 4 )
All photos where edited into black and white.
( AO:1 ) - Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigation informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding
My research was very helpful as i was finding it hard to think of something to document. By looking at what my artist did i through of something smilier so in stead of going into a city to take photos i decided to go out to the forest. This really helped me to focus on what was in the forest, as a result i saw that there where lots of mushrooms around. This gave me the idea to document my walk through the forest.
( AO:4 ) - Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements
I believe that i have made a strong series of image that were inspired by my research on Henri Cartier Bresson. His use of portraying the everyday in a new way helped my to come up with my idea. The final images produced were refined in photoshop and where converted into black and white to relate more to my inspiration, as well as developing the contrast.
