A Christmas Story                

The Art of Photography
Applying the Techniques of Illustration and Narrative
Gillian Ball
413218

www.gillballphotography.blogspot.co.uk

Christmas is a time for familys, a time when far too much money is spent and far too much food is eaten! But for me, Christmas is all about children.
Seeing the look on a child’s face when they visit Santa to tell him what they would like and the excitement when the letter they wrote receives a response, the letter drops through the letter box with their name on it . It’s a kind of promise that Santa defiantly knows and maybe just maybe that whispered conversation was worth it. 

Whenever Christmas comes around, I automatically think about snow but it cannot be guaranteed and now adds the added element of surprise and wonder. 

Of course Christmas isn’t Christmas without decorations, inside and out. Again it’s the look of excitement on a child’s face when “that” box comes out of the attic and the tree decorations are dusted off ready to be hung.   
Theres the customary argument between adult and child about where the ornaments should go, the child wanting all of them in one corner at the bottom, which of course is the only place he can reach. Then theres the crowning moment, the pierce to resistance,















putting the star on top and while grinning from ear to ear and sitting proudly on his dads shoulders the job is complete.            

 

 

On Christmas Eve, no more can be done, the sweets are all out on the tables ready for morning and with one last job, the milk and cookies for Santa and of course the carrots for Rudolf, its bedtime for the children and drink time for the adults.  

After a few trips back to bed with an excited boy who is hoping for a glimpse of St Nick in the fireplace, it’s time to throw a bell in the driveway and off to bed for us, much later than normal.  
It’s a guaranteed awakening at a ridiculously early time in

the very early morning and it’s a rude awakening with the knees of a small boy in your stomach and a far too heavy stocking full of toys and sweets, being thrust in your face. You roll over, check the time to find you’ve been asleep for two hours and now have to try and get your kids back to bed.

At a much more sensible time, the adults get up and start preparing dinner (breakfast goes out the window as the kids are hyped up on sweets from Santa) 

Soon the grandparents arrive and the presents are being handed out. Grandad creates a neat pile next to his arm chair so as not to miss any of the family
opening theirs.

 

 

 The kids presents are encroaching on the space and its only now you realise you’ve bought them far too much. The toys have to be out of there boxes and the clothes are already being thrown around as if they never existed.  

  
Time for dinner… Turkey of course, one you’ll be eating for the next two weeks, and all the trimmings, the veg, the yorkies and the roast potatoes all gobbled down with a glass of wine or two. Then the pud which is covered in brandy and set on fire much to the kids amazement…
MAGIC!
And now the madness continues the toys are all out and the noise is deafening. Those who haven’t had
too much to drink play with the kids. Those who have take a nap!  
And that’s the story of Christmas and like it or not as soon as its over thoughts are turned to next year!

 

This assignment was one I really enjoyed. I put a lot of effort in to the subject I chose and spent a lot of time researching layouts and different photographers work on the subject.

 I personally like the images of the children in hats, that for me sums up Christmas.

 I turned them into greyscale images and left the hats in colour. I had seen some other photographers do it and I love the effect it gives. My take on the images I think have come out really well and I am really pleased with the way they have turned out.

The images on page 3 of the fake snow were taken at the Christmas fare outside Santa’s grotto. I took the first one of the snowman and like the effect the little boy being slightly silhouetted. 
The images of the tree being decorated , I like the black and white ones they show what I wanted to come across and are focused and I think well composed however, the coloured one of the boy on his dads shoulders doing the star came out a bit fogy and I am a bit disheartened by it..
The images on page 5 of the biscuits and festive treats I feel have turned out well. The image of the biscuits took a lot of attempts to get right as I kept getting a lot
of shadows and the composition didn’t feel right, however the final image (although there still are some shadows) I think it is well composed and gives the desired effect I was after.
The images of people, the little boy opening his presents with his grandparents I really like they show the emotion and give an idea of the atmosphere in the room.
Overall I think I still have a lot to learn about the manual setting on my camera  and have a lot ot learn about composing images and what would work better than some of the images I have been taking. I also think I have already learned a lot and will continue to grow as I progress through the course.

CHANGES TO ASSIGNMENT IN RELATION TO TUTOR FEEDBACK

Changes to Assignment in Relation to Tutor Feedback

As I said in my reflections to the tutors feedback, I am disheartened by some of the comments as I was and still am really pleased with the assignment I created. I have however tried some of the suggestions and am equally pleased with the results.

SHAPE

The feedback received for shape was one of the more positive responses of the assignment. It was suggested that I used a tripod and reshot image two in order to give more focus to the outer edges. I have done this and like this image more than the first attempt. I haven't retaken the first image as the feedback suggested it was a good image in its own right.

I also researched the 'rostrum, camera techniques' and can see how that would benefit my images and give a more creative edge.

 

 



The image of the shells on the gravel was one of the images I was most pleased with, I love the effect this created and was impressed at the result.

TEXTURE

I have taken my tutors suggestion on board for the and taken it in with the light and focus on the tip of the top shell. I do like the result and I think placed along side the original image works well in the assignment, however I still feel the original image is one of my strong ones.

 

 

 



Although I stand by my idea to create an image different from the images I used as inspiration, I have re-shot the image focused on the smooth area of the shell.
This image has caused a lot of questions among people who have seen it and while I like that its become a talking point the general feeling is that it didn't work well.

COLOUR


The feedback was greatly received as I struggled with an idea on how to portray colour in a colourless object. For me this was annoying as I can normally come up with a number of ideas to illustrate the point I am trying to make.

I did however think of a couple of ideas but wasn't happy with the results. I have tried the tutor suggestions and am really pleased with the results and feel this has enhanced my assignment greatly.







Green tissue paper didn't really work out well the paper was to thin and let to much of the white light through, however you can still see that it has a green tint.

The Pink paper is my favourite out of them all. it has changed the colour of the shells and has a great shine in the foreground.

This  was taken using purple tissue paper and although its not as thin as the green the colour is not as strong as some of the others

The white light with no tissue paper has left a great effect and has created a white shell image and shows colour well by its self.

 This was taken with orange tissue paper and is like the pink it has given a great effect and strong colour to the shells.

The red has also created a strong image and has also given a good effect I think the shells are slightly less coloured than the foreground but you can still see tint it has given.

Research

www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/magazine-layouts-10

This website was suggested to me by my tutor and I downloaded the tutorial and found it really useful. It gave me an idea of how I wanted my final project to be layed out and the look I wanted to go with.

 

www.slodive.com/inspiration/showcase/magazine-layout/  this website also gave me ideas on the layout of my final piece. I want a scrap book type feel with rough pages and layers of different ideas and images.

I used amateur photography magazine for inspiration and watched online videos on how to construct a worthy layout that is eye catching and will draw the reader in.

On top of how to  create a layout I also looked for inspiration on images that other photographers have taken of Christmas.

 
This image was taken by Sandra Hill Photography and I found it on www.favim.com. I have tried to recreate this and haven't managed to get the desired atmosphere as yet but this is one I'd like to perfect.



This is another image im going to have a go at creating as Christmas is all about family and this has it written all over it.






These two were taken by Ariana Michelle and were found on http://indulgy.com/post/5DdWMmQr01/christmas-photo-ideas