8. Theme or focus of image & reasons for choice
All of the images were aimed and focused around advertising Salford Quays as a
vibrant and aesthetically pleasing place to visit. So with this in mind I found spots from
all around the Salford Quays area I felt would make people want to visit the area e.g.
Media City, Old Trafford. I chose to take 5 of my final photos at Old Trafford because I
feel personally the stadium is not only a good looking building but an exciting place
to visit that could draw people to Salford Quays. I decided to take photos of some of
the iconic landmarks at Old Trafford such as the statues of Matt Busby, Alex Ferguson
and The trinity. I also took images of Media City, The Lowry and Imperial War Museum.
I feel all of these images show off not only the architecture of Salford Quays but the
sophistication of the area. The reason I chose these settings Is because I believe they
are the most iconic places in the area with Manchester United being one of the most
popular teams in the world it’s guaranteed to draw people to the area and places
like the BBC studios in media city where shows watched by millions are produced.
Techniques used
When taking the photos I used numerous techniques to achieve the look I wanted.
Some of the techniques I used include depth of field, applying rule of thirds to frame
the shot, changing the ISO to optimize the shot, shutter speed to make the brightness
of the image right. For example in photo 10 I tried to frame the photo using rule of
thirds and made sure at the primary focal points are interesting and aren’t just sky or
ground. In photo 9 I used depth of field so the wheel was the main thing in focus and
through the wheel was slightly blurred. Also in photo 8 I made the background blurred
with the statue being the main thing in focus and also if you were to apply rule of
thirds to it all of the statue would be in the central box. Phots 6, 5 and 7 I also feel are
good examples of rule of thirds because of the way the main focal points are the
landmarks in the shot.
Strengths & suggested improvements
I feel the strengths of my images are the colours and the framing of the shot.
Personally I feel the colours are vibrant and attractive in all of my shots apart from the
black and white shot obviously. For the framing of my shots I think images 3, 7 and 10
are the strongest because of the way your eye is drawn to the main targets and I like
the symmetry in images 3 and 7.
I feel the improvements on my images could be more diversity in location, I took quite
a lot of my images at Old Trafford because I personally like the location being a
Manchester United fan, but I could have showed more of Salford Quays off. Also I
think I could have used more natural editing because on a couple of images it can
be seen as unrealistic.
9. Editing details
In Image 1, I turned up the vibrance of the image to about 50 and then I added a
false sunny sky reflection in the windows using the overlay and opacity tools.
In image 2, all I did was make the whites a bit brighter and removed the dull grey sky
and replaced it with a sunny one.
In image 3. I added a false sunny reflection again but this time I had to replicate the
left side of the windows and flip it and put it on the right because there was a
reflection of an ugly building site on that side, this took quite a while to make it look
natural but I finally achieved it, I also turned up the vibrance on the neon sign.
In image 4, I did quite a lot, I added a new sunny sky, then removed about 10 people
and railings from the image using the clone stamp tool. This took quite a while to do
because of how much I needed to get rid of.
In image 5, I obviously turned the photo black and white and then added a copy of
the original and put it underneath the black and white version and then erased the
stadium so that’s the only thing in colour.
In image 6 all I did was mess around with the vibrance, colour balance and
saturation until I achieved a photo I was happy with.
In image 7 I cropped out of the photo the parts I didn’t want and then tampered with
saturation and toned down the image until I got a kind of darker image compared to
the rest but it still looks colourful.
In image 8, I once more added a new sky. Then I added a Gaussian blur effect so the
only thing in focus was the statue and the writing.
In image 9 I removed quite a few ugly buildings from the background using the clone
stamp tool and added more trees using the clone stamp tool, I also added a sky
again.
In image 10 all I did was turn the photo black and white and I thought this simplistic
look worked so I left it at that.
Capture Log
Setting Shutter Speed ISO Aperture
All Manual Image 1: 1/125 sec 220 4.2
Image 2: 1/160 sec 800 4.7
Image 3: 1/160 sec 800 3.6
Image 4: 1/125 sec 800 3.6
Image 5: 1/100 sec 400 4.8
Image 6: 1/200 sec 800 4.8
Image 7: 1/125sec 160 4.4
Image 8: 1/160 800 4.6
Image 9: 1/160 800 3.9
Image 10:1/160 sec 800 4.9
10. Editing details
In Image 1, I turned up the vibrance of the image to about 50 and then I added a
false sunny sky reflection in the windows using the overlay and opacity tools.
In image 2, all I did was make the whites a bit brighter and removed the dull grey sky
and replaced it with a sunny one.
In image 3. I added a false sunny reflection again but this time I had to replicate the
left side of the windows and flip it and put it on the right because there was a
reflection of an ugly building site on that side, this took quite a while to make it look
natural but I finally achieved it, I also turned up the vibrance on the neon sign.
In image 4, I did quite a lot, I added a new sunny sky, then removed about 10 people
and railings from the image using the clone stamp tool. This took quite a while to do
because of how much I needed to get rid of.
In image 5, I obviously turned the photo black and white and then added a copy of
the original and put it underneath the black and white version and then erased the
stadium so that’s the only thing in colour.
In image 6 all I did was mess around with the vibrance, colour balance and
saturation until I achieved a photo I was happy with.
In image 7 I cropped out of the photo the parts I didn’t want and then tampered with
saturation and toned down the image until I got a kind of darker image compared to
the rest but it still looks colourful.
In image 8, I once more added a new sky. Then I added a Gaussian blur effect so the
only thing in focus was the statue and the writing.
In image 9 I removed quite a few ugly buildings from the background using the clone
stamp tool and added more trees using the clone stamp tool, I also added a sky
again.
In image 10 all I did was turn the photo black and white and I thought this simplistic
look worked so I left it at that.
Capture Log
Setting Shutter Speed ISO Aperture
All Manual Image 1: 1/125 sec 220 4.2
Image 2: 1/160 sec 800 4.7
Image 3: 1/160 sec 800 3.6
Image 4: 1/125 sec 800 3.6
Image 5: 1/100 sec 400 4.8
Image 6: 1/200 sec 800 4.8
Image 7: 1/125sec 160 4.4
Image 8: 1/160 800 4.6
Image 9: 1/160 800 3.9
Image 10:1/160 sec 800 4.9
