Tone

Tone:

• Tone - light or darkness of an item/object, this may be a shade or how light/dark the colour appears. 
• Tones are created by the way light falls on a 3D object. The parts of the object on which the light is stingiest are highlights and the darker areas are shadows. There will be a range of tones in between the highlights and shadows. 
• Without tone Form does not exist, the tone is, therefore, an important aspect in the visualisation of 3D objects.
• Direct lighting - creates harsh tones and shadows
• Diffuse lighting - soft lighting, lightens any shadows ( makes wrinkles less noticeable, mainly used in fashion)

The harsh lighting in this portrait highlights the bone structure in his face, by accentuating his jawline it creates an intense atmosphere of power. Stereotypically men are supposed to be powerful and power is often associated with masculinity. 

Research 

Irving Penn: Still Life

Irving Penn (June 16, 1917 – October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally and continues to inform the art of photography. 

 
Irving Penn's photographs many skulls and omens of death. He may do this as he fears his own death or just the inevitable end of all things. In the first image, there is a bottle with what looks like liquid next to the skull, it may be that the story he is trying to tell is of someone that had taken their own life.

AO:1.  You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued.

My Photographs:

Images that need improvement:

The first image that needs improvement is the image above, the starling's skull has been completely whited out by the light source (high powered torch)I was using. You can see in the next image in the series that I have remedied this and adjusted the lighting by reflecting the torch off of another piece of card to avoid this happening again.

The second image that needs adjustment is 0062.NEF. The reason this needs to be edited is that the lighting again is casting a too harsh light on to the shot leaving both skulls lit badly and the top of the large skull is out of frame, not allowing any depth to the image. Also, like before I was able to fix both of these problems as I immediately reviewed my photographs on the camera after I took them. I adjusted the lighting and moved the camera back so the whole of the larger skull was in the image.

My best images:

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My main idea for taking photographs was to follow my inspiration my researched photographer Irving Penn. He takes photographs of skulls and things relating to death. My main subject that I was focused on was animal skulls, this is because they have an excellent tonality and can be moved and manipulated to, however, best suits the photograph.

My images came out better than I had expected them to, especially the photo of my cat's fur. While trying to photograph my cat I tried every method of bribery you can tempt a cat with but he refused to sit still, I was forced to change some of the camera settings and sacrifice the depth of field for an in-focus shot. After this ordeal, I didn't think I had any in-focus shots but I am glad to say I did. 

I'm also with my last photograph of the fabric as I was sceptical that the sheen would come out in the photo, but with a little manipulation of the lighting, I was able to capture it.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a Nikon D3100 for my images, with the settings on autofocus. The camera fluctuated on the settings as I had to change the depth of field to gain a faster shutter speed when taking photographs of my cat's fur. I used my standard set up as I have before: a tripod, remote release and a high powered torch for lighting. The reason a remote release was necessary was that I was using a macro lens and I was causing camera shake which also affected the focusing. I also opted for a high powered torch because as I said before it can be reflected off of another piece of card to avoid whiting out the image and also allows for softer lighting. 

Editing my Photographs:

To edit my photographs I used Photoshop, I used the black and white layer and adjusted the colours to better suit Irving Penn's style of photography. I also changed the contrast using curves so that the texture of inside and around the nose was better visible.

Adjusting Curves

Black and white layer

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

By using a macro lens I already began trying to understand

Irving Penn and by adjusting the contrast of the image I started adding the depth and detail that he has in his published photographs. By using him as inspiration for my photography I will take forward his style and use of colour when studying photography and start developing and adjusting my style of photography to make it more informed of the use of tones/ depth and the way this portrays the image.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

For the formal elements texture and pattern I believe that I have made an intelligent and considered response as my photographs related to Irving Penn's use of tone and angles when studying morbid photography but also reflect my own style as well.

My images relate to his work as I have used a macro lens and took focused shots and edited them to resemble his style.I also tried to focus on death which is a heavy influence on Irving Penn, consequently, it is the subject of many of his photographs and mine during this shoot. 

Here are my final edited photographs: