As I continue to explore concepts within photography, this part of my project will focus on artificial coloured light to enhance my photographs of the everyday. I will think carefully about how I manipulate the lighting using a range of the lights including LED, flashgun, practical and gels to explore how colour lights has on an environment. Inspired by several different photographers, including Lewis Baltz, Ryan McGinley and Juan Orrantia, I will explore lighting different environments including cars, using a galaxy projector giving them an ominous yet interesting aesthetic. I will think carefully about the colour used, for example, if the outside of the car is blue the inside will be too. Using the galaxy projector I also want to turn boring compositions into brightly lit mundane compositions, I would also like to use my car as a focus to increase the interest in the photo, I intend to light up my whole car with different colours that contrast well together.

COLOUR LIGHT EXPERIMENTS

Juan Orrantia

Juan Orrantia is a naturalist photographer who takes photos of untouched environments, most of his photos contain bright vibrant colours mixing into dark, bokeh backgrounds which leads to the bright colours standing out and being the main part of the photo. This is different to Lewis Baltz’ work as Baltz uses coloured light to change his photos whereas Orrantia uses the colours already in the natural environment within his photography. Orrantia usually stages his compositions whereas Baltz looks out for compositions that catch his eye and will make an interesting photo, both photographers link well to my project as they both use some form of colour within their work, one uses nature around them and the other uses lighting and possibly slight editing.

Juan Orrantia Colour Photo Gallery

Visual Analysis

The lighting used in these photos already exists, Orrantia uses this to his advantage and picks the areas where the light fascinatingly hits the objects. However, in some of his other photos, the ones more staged look as if they are being lit up by one or two strobe lights, potentially with some coloured gel over it to give the vibrant red hue. The angle used for the lighting is diagonally in front, lighting up the front of the object but leaving the rest unlit

Takeaway Point

After looking at his photography, I think Orrantia is a Historical narrative photographer, he takes colourful photos that inevitably all tell separate stories and all explore different aspects within the border. The main themes within his photos seemed to be nature and colour, he also seemed to look out for colour within nature, combining these 2 categories shows his talent through the photos he has taken, it also shows the natural beauty within everything he photographs. Orrantia was trying to capture plants and other objects in a natural yet intriguing environment, lots of his photos revolve around manipulating the light or the object to make the photo stand out. When I see his photos, I get a sensation of how artificial and fake they can be. Some are very natural but others arent.

Using different coloured gels and the flash gun attachment to the camera, I want to create a different colour assortment of photographs adding a layer of red to a “boring” photo is a new aspect of photography and I want to use this technique with other colours too and also to start changing the narrative behind the photo, I also want to subtly incorporate the colour theory by using different vibrancies, I want to make my compositions unique and interesting to look at.

RED

In this photoshoot, I used a red light to create mysterious and scary compositions, this creates a different side to an object or a scene, i liked this idea because it was very similar to Baltz but I ended up providing the light for my photos. Linking back to colour psychology, red can represent danger and love which are two very contrasting yet simple representations.

After looking into the work of Juan Orrantia, i started taking photos of simplistic compositions and thought that by adding a layer of coloured light would act like a void and mask the simplicity, this technique helped me look into other techniques that used a form of manipulation to affect the way the light hits an environment. Although this is nothing like the work of Juan Orrantia as his colours are all natural and found in the already existent environment, but these photoshoots are inspired by his work.

PINK

Pink is a joyful and bright colour, this makes my compositions seem simple yet artistic, the added vibrancy creates a subtle ominous narrative. Since watching a video that includes colour psychology, I was introduced to the idea that each colour has a meaning behind it, Pink represents very feminine characteristics such as softness, kindness, nurturing, and compassion. Pink is a warm colour as it is a light red hue, this could represent how the photo is interpreted,

PURPLE

Using a purple light, makes these black chairs represent the luxurious yet wealthy meaning of a simple inanimate object. Purple also represents virtue, this is the idea that something has higher morals and higher expectations than others which also impacts the look and aesthetic of this photograph.

WWW- all 3 colours are interesting and do make the photo appear more appealing.

EBI- these photos are all way too dark and are just boring, the compositions are too simplistic and honestly dont look like anything that would interest a viewer, to improve these i will keep the composition simplistic but make the light appear visually interesting by choosing colours that compliment each other and make the viewer feel more interesting in the work they see.

WWW- these photos all contain a bright colour filling the screen which can be seen as a refinement of my previous photoshoot as the compositions are more interesting and more complex for the viewer to see what is actually going on. the contrast of red and purple in one photo can be seen to add small pink highlights through out which is interesting as there is no pink light.

Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley is an American photographer who is based in New York, he was one of the youngest artists to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He is best known for his evocative portrait photography.

Ryan McGinley often can be seen to represent the youthful and intimate side to a photograph by using subjects such as youthful energetic people that may represent themselves differently by wearing certain things or not wearing anything at all whilst they interact with the natural surrounding environment.

McGinley is considered to be the most influential photographer of his generation due to his work being shown in various exhibitions around the world, it evokes emotions such as nostalgia and freedom.

After seeing McGinleys work the audience often praise McGinley for his ability to evoke those emotions, this impacts lots of newly emerging photographers as it inspires them to use techniques like McGinley.

He uses multiple colours within a single photo to add to the motion affect, the blur that is added adds interesting shapes and lines that frame the subject McGinley has chosen.

Takeaway Point

Since looking at Ryan McGinley i have realised that the artistic thought process behind the photos using motion blur are really interesting as they can focus on subjects but also create a haze affect that covers and fills some negative space that surrounds the subjects.

Slow Sync Flash

I think trying slow sync within my photography will help me because it could be the deciding factor when choosing a compositional environment even though it won’t really matter because most of the frame is blurry, having a complex composition could leave viewers in awe almost wondering what it is.

Slow Sync Flash – Inspired By McGinley

For this photoshoot I used the concept of slow sync flash, this is inspired by Ryan McGinley, this technique is very interesting as the original photo would be very boring but by adding this blur it adds different characteristics. This was a fun technique to try as it was more hands on and there was more to think about. When using artificial colour, I will be able to manipulate the shapes and placement of the colour.

Although these photos are a good first attempt, after getting the hang of how to do it I believe I will be able to improve the quality and focus of each photo. To refine these i will use the technique i used in year 12 with light drawing.

I had some purple gel over the flash on my camera to give off a radiant purple light, however, this wasn’t visible in all the photos, but in the photos, it isn’t there is still a high influx of vibrant colours.

WWW- These photos turned out really well, the simple composition was made more interesting by the slight blur that added certain lines and shapes with some brighter white highlights that stand out from the background.

Emphasize the Machine Parts – Blue LED Wand on Bonnet

To emphasize the mechanical side of the machinery within my bonnet I wanted to change the lighting, i chose to do a blue light as it shines up through

To refine my original photographs, I used an LED wand to direct the colour to specific parts of the bonnet, i chose to use blue as this then connects to the photos I took within my car using a blue galaxy projector.

This skill can help me in future projects as it makes the photo appear more visually striking compared to just a straight on shoot. I will incorporate this into my car photos as i would like to make them more interesting, by doing this i think my car compositions will be altered to fit a new aspiring aesthetic.

these photos are interesting but are very dark, they don’t fit the aesthetic i was originally aiming for, i wanted my photos to be lively and full of colour and although these do contain blue i think the harshness and tonal value of the black offsets the blue minimising the affect it may have.

Refined and edited pictures

Galaxy Projector

The Galaxy Projector emits a larger amount of light so it’s not directed to a certain area, this made my compositions slightly more interesting as the shapes and colours projected fill the frame.

this was an idea i got when i had my galaxy projector on, what would it look like in a smaller space where the colour is the main focus? so i got up and tried it in the bathroom as this did convey a story almost of an ordinary day for anyone. After editing these photos i was pleasantly shocked with the outcome, this is then where my future photographs stemmed from, i imagined this pattern filling an even smaller space, a car? this idea also reminded me of my childhood when watching Scooby Doo and the mystery machine lit up and had a life of its own, as only recently getting a car of my own i felt like i could finally relate to those tv cartoon characters i had wanted to be all those years ago. The ominous, ghostly vibe of a glowing car that has no driver or passengers did strike me as a good photoshoot opportunity.

Car Interior with Galaxy Light

With my car being a bright colour already I wanted to bring the exterior to the interior, highlighting the interior with a bright blue light, to contrast this, the radio emits a vibrant orange, referring to the colour theory, on the colour wheel orange is opposite to blue meaning they compliment each other really well.

As this project moves on i will use my car as the subject to being lit up by LED wands and a galaxy projector as the shapes the car has can frame the intense lighting. The lines are curved but have an elegant look if close up as they can be seen to seperate two components that are identical. I will also use different parts of the car, such as the engine due to the way the mechanical parts look under such intense lighting, i also want to focus on small parts in the interior, what the footwell and pedals look like when i have the galaxy projector filling a smaller more direct space.

Seats in the car

my seats are a light colour so when a light is shining on them, it will immediately absorb the colour and show the colours brightly. this is very interesting as no one would know that the seats are a light colour as the light is almost too overbearing and makes the car look surreal and fake.

The light was sat on my dashboard whilst the camera was on a tripod angled to see the window but not the light itself, i did this because the light did appear too bright in the photo so to cancel that out by taking the photo at an angle i was able to capture an interesting composition.

Red Interior

For these next photoshoots i was doing some trial and error with which colour made the interior appear more visually appealing and which colour filled the space, after taking photos with different colours on the galaxy projector i was able to find that blue did work the best.

Dark Blue Interior

Light Blue Interior

The Bonnet of the Car

The bonnet is a very boring part of the car in my eyes but to make it seem more interesting I added a bright blue vibe to help relate it to my project as it is based around colour.

Behind the Car

These photos were taken from behind the car, the blue light contrasts well with the small hint of red from the rear lights, learner plates and the radio light from inside the car, this angle really shows the shapes and lines projected by the car itself.

Wide Angle of the Car

Seeing more of the surrounding environment helps isolate the car from the background, this makes it more interesting as the background has artifical lighting too but the colour isnt as intense as it is more neutral.

I like how the red contrasts with the blue in a smaller frame, the red creates a border for the car making the interior stand out more, however, the interior is framed by the outside of the car and the windshield.

Windows

For these photos, I picked a time when it had just rained to capture the condensation on my windows, with the condensation evaporating due to me turning my car on, the droplets left parallel lines down the window creating cracks in the mist to see my imagined composition, I think this frosted window effect is really interesting as it adds a layer to my photos.

Fogged Window

Experiment with LED Wand

Seats

Whilst shining the light inside my car I noticed the shadow made by the seats and headrests, this was interesting because the shadows create a very interesting and abnormal shape and almost creates an alternate universe.

Bonnet

These photos are similar to my last photoshoot but they were taken by putting a LED wand under the car so that the light could be seen to shine up through the small gaps inbetween the mechanical components. This was really interesting as the shadows that were created were really interesting and left interesting shapes and lines.

2 Led Coloured Lights inspiration

These photos interest me a lot as I like the contrasting features between the colours used. To do this I intend to use a Tri-Pod and 2 Led wands to light up the interior and exterior of the car. I will also use the colour theory to help me pick out the right colours to create a contrast.