Christmas snaps.

Did y'all enjoy yah christmas this year? I sure did. Nomnomnom christmas dinner!
Anyway, i managed to take a few photos aswell throughout the day, none were particulary successful in my opinion buh some that i took of a couple of baubles were interesting.

To improve this one i think it will neeed brightening up a bit, its rather dark at the moment.

Might have to clone my reflection out if this, sortah takes away from the image.

Because i am so very ridiculous i also went on the annual CVTEC (Cheshire Vintage Tractor Engine Club) road run with the vintage tractors. This year it was decided that a fancy dress competition was to be held aswell. So not only did  gai about 3stone, purely in clothes, i had to walk round wearing cardboard as me and my nan had to decided to go as a christmas card and an envelope - we went as a pair as we do the raffle together to raise money for charity.

As you can imagine i certainly got some interesting outcomes from this, not entirely because its a good photo, more becasue the subject is hilarious in most cases.

Our tractor/trailer, decorated as Santas sleigh.

The snowman that drove the tractor.

I kid you not, this is indeed a gorilla driving a trator. Doesnt it look evil?

The angel gabriel driving the nativity scene..

A small farm we drove past, there were many landscape i could have shot, but by the end of the run, my hands were t cold to use!

Hmm, there you have it - Ickiees christmas weekend.

its a bit chilly..

Ahhh, wow! the wedding on friday was incredible. I absolutely loved it. I was actually trusted to take photographs aswell as set-up and cart all the equipment about with me. One roll of film did get fogged though, luckily not one i was in charge of ;D haha.
Today ~I hit the snowy outdoors, armed with my camera. Managed to stay upright aswell :)
 just about.
Couple of shots from today..

Taken in Roka park, under the arches.

Again, taken in Roka park.

Excitement! :D

Just had an offer from the photographer in Davenham, Peter Thorp, to go and assist him at a wedding tomorro!
Stupidly nervous but also mega excited! :D
WOW!

f/64

Group f/64 was formed in the 20th century by some photographers in San Francisco, who all shared the same photographic style. They formed to oppose the pictorials photographic style that took over during the 1900s. The group was first formed during the time that America was suffering with the great depression, and there are only 11 photographers included. The photographers wanted to promote the more modern style of photography that looked at perfectly exposed shots of natural forms. The name of the group comes from the photographic lens and is used to signify the quality of the photographers work along with the wide range of ability. F/64 put on their first show in 1932 and three years later the group had dis-formed.

One artist that was a member of this group was Ansel Adams, an American Photogrpaher and Enviromentalist, best known for his balck and white landscape photographs.

This first photograph taken by Ansel Adams draws the viewer in by using perspective via the road infront of him. However due to the rising and falling of the ground, there is an interesting shape made. Either side of the road very littel detail can be seen and this is most probably because Adams wanted the viewer to focus upon the road and where it is leading them.The end of the road points to a set of mountains, also very dark and underexposed. But from here your attention is directed up to the very angry looking sky. Despite areas being underexposed, the entire image is in focus and is very sharp. Overall the photograph is very effective and eye catching.

This ariel view of a highway some where in America is very interesting due to the vast ammount of lines that be seen. Each different line lead the eye to a different point in the photograph. You get a very mixed mood from the image, some areas are very busy, other seem peaceful. There is a wide range in tones thrughout the image, highlighting the key features. I think a very fast shutter speed will have been used due to the sharpness, especially where moving traffic can be seen.

This image is very calm and relaing to look at, the reflection in the water is clear and full of detail despite being slightly out of focus, however i think this was meant as the rest of the image surrounding it is perfectly sharp. I like the fact that there is a foreground before the water and the image is not entirely seperated by just a border between land and water. The range of tones is vast and there is a good high contrast within the picture.

A second artist that was a member of the f/64 group is Imogen Cunningham, most commonly known for her photographs of botanicals, nudes and industry.

This image by Imogen s very calm and peaceful, this mood is created by the petals surrounding the middle of the flower. With a mixture of textures throughout, the subject has been well photogrpahed. The lighting is only soft which keeps the calm atmosphere. There is alot of detail present and even though the back has been slightly over exposed, it is all in focus.

The subject of this photograph is unusual and i am unsure as to what it is. I do however like the composition of the picture, and the texture within the subject. The photograph appears to have been slightly under exposed but it seems to work well and the photograph doesnt suffer for it. the image seems to have a soft layer over it despite the entirity being in focus.

The subject of this photograph is a cactus i think has clearly been lit from the back, therefore only the outside of the object has any detail in, The inside is a pure black silhouette with no detail in at all. Light also bounces off the back of the image, creating a nice glow around the image. It has been well composed using the rule of thirds, the bulk of the object has been situated on the right hand side. Generally a very interesting image with a good range of tones and textures throughout.

Postmodernism

Postmodern art, the term used to describe an art movement. It is thought to be a reaction or rejection to modernism. It attacks the use of stereotyping and class, directing itself at subjects such as men vs. women. Or straight vs. gay. Post modern is the term commonly used to describe most artwork produced since the 1950s and it is argued that post modern is just a subsector of the contempary movement. Postmodernism flows throughtout all possible art forms, with a wide range of examples.
Conceptual art and multimedia are both examples of postmodern art.
When researching Postmodern art i found a couple of artists whose work is described as being postmodern.
The first being Sigmar Polke. He was a german photographer/painter. His artwork shows how vivid his imagination was buh also demonstrates the political situation at the time.

First example of one of Poles sketches. The image in general is very intriguing, i am not sure what the story is behind it. An interesting mix of techniques and textures have been used which make the image much more interesting to look at. The use of black and white aswell as colour is also effective, the colour possibly representing a brighter, happier time.

This image could very easily be a photograph however it is actually a drawing. Again a very unusual story behind it. The composition is interesting because of the one man lying on his own on the side nearest the viewer whereas the rest of the public is opposite. The subject, being a bear fight, itself is unusal and so the audience wants to study it further to find out why two bears would be fighting. In this image it appears to be for entertainment purposes.

I am not really sure what this image is meant to represent hwever i like the different textures that Polke has used. I also like how the only detail displayed had been created using a series of dots. It is an unusual way to creat an image. I like tha lack of detail, it leaves more to the imagination.

A second artist i found was Ed Kienholz, an American Sculpturist whose work criticised the modern times. 

This first sculpture is very realistic looking. It appears it has been made using pieces of metal all layered over the top of each other. The detail within the model is very precise and i love the texture given off. The different colours aswell make it unique, as it has not been made to look pretty and be perfect.

This scultpure has been photographed on a stand and is more of a display item. It shows what appears to be a miniature of home set-up, with a light and a chair Again a wide range in materials has been used and it has a good sense of texture to it. I don't think the photograph is very generous to it and believe it would look better if seen in real life.

This final sculpture is very different again to those seen previously. I am not sure whether it is an actual car body that has been used or whether Kienholz has made it using a range of materials. The scene created here is very lifelike and believable. The textures are a lot smoother than they have been in the previous two images i have looked at, but this one is my favourite image as to me, it stands out the most and is more interesting. It intrigues the audience as to what is in the car, why it is there,and why the supposed car has no wheels etc.