Overall Evaluation

Throughout this project I have focused on one particular element to portray through all of my photographs, the element I chose was Story Telling, therefore my photographs had to link to this theme in some way or another. In total I have done 12 shoots that tell a different story. 

- shoot 1, Telling a story of someone's ordinary routine

- shoot 2, Telling a story of anorexia 

- shoot 3, Telling a story of stereotypes 

- shoot 4, Telling a story of the life cycle of a flower 

- shoot 5, Telling a story of fashion

- shoot 6, Telling a story of animations

- shoot 7, Telling a story of Dorothy 

- shoot 8, Telling a story of Alice in wonderland 

- shoot 9, Telling a story of thoughts & feelings 

- shoot 10, Telling a story of the life of a dog

- shoot 11, Telling a story ofold & new

- shoot 12, Telling a story of movement 

In order to understand a more deeper meaning of Story telling and to help me think of photographs that would link to the theme I looked a describing words for Story telling, I also made a definition page of four annotated pictures, the dictionary definition and my own definition of story telling, this helped me gain knowledge of the area I have been portraying through my pictures for this whole project. Before I began shooting for this project I made an image bank containing 30 annotated photographs that linked to Story telling in some way, this allowed me to think of ideas I could develope in my own way androgen photograph them. Research into photographer is a big part of this project, I made a research log containing 20 photographers that I had looked at. After this I then picked 5 photographers from my research log that I wanted to look further into as I believed they linked well to the theme of story telling, the 5 photographers included why I had chosen to look at their work, 4 annotated pictures that they had taken and then an influence and summary paragraph of if they have influenced my work in any way at all. 

After each lesson when I had done a shoot I then made a work record of two annotated pictures that I had taken and an overall paragraph of what I did during the lesson and what I would do different if I was to do it again. By doing this it allowed me to evaluate my own work to see what I like about it and how I could make it better, therefore when i did another shoot I had learnt from any mistakes I had done in a previous shoot and also learnt skills that I like from previous shoot, such as lighting that I could then use in my next shoot. 

Towards the end of the project I made 5 connecting essays, the connecting essays are 5 photographers that have one photograph that connects with one of my own photographs in some way or another. The connection between the pictures could be the lighting, composition, same story behind the picture ect. By doing the connecting essays I have learnt how to connect my work to other photographers and gain a better understanding of the theme Story telling. The connecting essays have also allowed me to develope my initial ideas when looking at my photograph compared to the photographer photo. 

Throughout the project there was a number of print techniques that I used when editing my photographs, these where: black & white, duotone, repetition, selective colour, photojoiner, cluster, soft focus and weaving. By doing these print techniques it allowed me to develope my skills when using photoshop. The print techniques also allowed me to understand which photographs work best with which print technique, also the print techniques made me develope some simple photographs into more complex and different photographs, the print techniques make my work unique. 

During this project I have learnt a number of skills. One being my development of using photoshop and editing my photos, I have learnt a number of new ways to edit my photographs during this project. I have also shown more understanding of how to edit each individual photo, for example: which edit looks best with which photo. I have also developed my skills physically, actually taking the pictures themself, I now understand more about what background suits which atmosphere, what lighting looks best with the photograph and the composition of the photograph. Due to the skills that I have developed in this unit I know feel confident for the next unit(unit3) because I am more confident in my work and feel that I am able to come up with my own, new ideas for shoots to do. Therefore this is good for unit3 as it is a personal project, meaning I have to choose what topic/theme my unit will be about. For the next unit I will carry on with my progress and develop my own skills even further by staying concentrated and working hard to reach my full potential.

Overall this project has allowed me to develope my skills within photography, I know understand fully how the studio works, I am confident at using photoshop and now feel confident when developing my own ideas from other photographers work. Mainly from this project I have learnt that taking more photos in shoots is important because it gives you more to choose from when editing the pictures and it also gives you a variety. 

Story Telling- Electronic Portfolio

Photos from sophbennett1234

Shoot Twelve

In todays lesson I took photographs to tell the story of movement. This shoot was a location shoot, however when it came to the editing process I made the background black, like a studio shoot as I believed it looked a lot better and shows the movement and positions more clearly. I used natural lighting for this shoot. If I was to do this shoot again I would do it in the studio instead of location as it looks a lot better and more professional. 


In this photograph I have captured the movement of a handstand. I have then copied and repeated the same image and changed the opacity as it goes on.  I have edited the background black to show a clearer outline of the handstand. I used natural sun light for the lighting of this image. If I was to take this image again I would try to capture the model doing a handstand when her legs are directly straight upwards as they are slightly leaning to the left hand side.





For this photograph I have got the model to do a bridge. I have also edited the background plain black because it looked better than the location background. By making the background black it makes the position/movement stand out and looks more clear. The lighting used was also natural, the same as above. If I was to take this image again I would take it from all different angles, above, low, in front behind ect to see what angle looks best. I would also take the photograph in the studio due to the fact that I know it will look a lot better. 

Shoot Eleven

In todays lesson I took photographs to tell the story of old and new. I did this by showing things children would do in the olden days compared to what they do know. For example reading in the olden days and playing on a ipad today. To show the difference between the two I edited the old pictures to make them look old fashioned. this shoot was a location shoot, therefore I used a natural background and natural lighting. If I was to do this shoot again I would do a studio shoot as I believe it would have looked better.


In this picture I have merged two separate images together, one showing old and the other showing new. the old fashioned image shows the model playing cards, whereas the present day photo shows the model playing on her ipad. I used natural lighting and a natural location background. If I was to take this image again I would include more background as when I merged the images together it was hard to fit the two together.

For this photograph I have just shown an old fashioned picture of the model drawing. I have again merged two images together, however these two images are the same. This creates a shadow, ghost effect. I have made the image black and white with a hint of orange to make it look old fashioned and show its from a different erea. If I was to take this photograph again I would take it from all different angles to see which ones turn out the best so I have a bigger variety to choose from.

shoot Ten

In todays lesson I took photographs of my two dogs  to tell the story of the life of a dog. This shoot was a location shoot. Therefore I used natural day light for the lighting of my photographs and a natural setting. I took a variety of pictures to show a day in a dogs life. For example: Sleeping and eating. If I was to do this lesson again I would try to do a studio shoot, however I do like the pictures I took on this location shoot because I like that they look natural.


I have taken this image from a direct in front angle. In the photograph I managed to capture my dog looking straight at the camera, therefore you can see his facial expression. During the editing process I slightly blurred the background to show depth of field and make the dog the main focus of the image. If I was to take this photograph again I would try to take it while my dog was outside rather than inside as I feel it would look better if it was taken on grass or a field.

In this photograph I have taken to show the movement of my dog. I took this picture from behind, slightly above leaving a lot of space at the right hand side. then while editing I merged the same image over the top of each other to make it look as if my dog is actually walking. The lighting for this picture was natural as I relied on the sun light due to it being a location shoot. If I was to take this picture again I would experiment with different angles of taking the picture.

Shoot Nine

In todays lesson i took photographs in the studio to tell the story of thoughts and feelings. I did this by having the model write down her first thoughts onto a piece of paper and then photographer her. I used a dark navy background and one sided lighting to get shadows on the models face, making one side lighter than the other. The composition of all my photographs included the model from head to waist. I took the photographs from a direct in from angle. If I was to do this lesson again I would take photos of a variety of different people just so I could get a different range of thoughts and feelings.


In this photograph I have merged tree pictures together at different opacity levels. On showing the quote, 'live for today', the other saying 'inspire me' and then 'peace'. This show the models thoughts and feelings along with her facial expression. I used a dark navy blue background in this photograph and shadowy lighting to create shadows on the models face by having one sided lighting, therefore making one side lighter than the other. If I was to take this photograph again I would change the composition and include more of the models body. For example: Try whole length photos to see how they look. 

For this photograph I have captured the model laughing which I really liked. I have edited the picture black and white and made the corners and edges darker than the middle section of the picture. I have used the same on sided lighting to create shadows as I did for the picture above. I also used the same navy background. If I was to take this photograph again I would take the photo from further back to include more in the composition. 

Connecting Essay

One: Gorna DA

This photograph from the photographer Gorna DA, shows the life cycle of a leaf. The different photographs are put into different sections to represent the life cycle of the leaf growing and then dying. The leaf changes colour which represents time passing as the life cycle takes place. the image is split into 9 different sections. The background used is plain white because the leaves are the main focus of the photograph.  

This image is my own photography. I have taken step by step photographs and put them into a sequence to show the life cycle of flowers growing. I used two flowers as I felt the images looked more full as with one flower it looked to empty. I used a dark blue background but when editing my photos I made the background darker so it looked black because I believe the photos stand out more on the black background. I used an overhead light to shine the light directly onto the flowers rather than the background. I put the different photographs of the flowers in order of the flower growing, until they both have all their petals.


Overall both these photographs connect to one another because they both show the life cycle of nature, for example: a leaf in the first image and flowers in the second image. These photographs also connect together because they are separate photographs put together into a ordered sequence of the leaf/flowers growing. Another reason for why the images connect is because of the plain backgrounds used in all the images, for example: White in the first image and black in the second image.