Image Editing

I thought I'd have a go at editing my favourite image from my set, which was the one of the doll laying in the road.

For the first edit I simply took my edited version, duplicated the layer and burnt the image on top of itself, then made it black and white, and erased the doll to keep it in colour. I feel this works quite well as it really brings the focus to the doll.

For my next edit I took the first edit and decided to add some blood, to bring some 'life' (or in this case death) to the doll. I did this by using a brush tip to put the blood in, then changed the opacity to make it look as if the doll is on the ground. I'm not sure if the blood looks too fake, although obviously with the doll being representative of a child then of course the blood would be fake...

With this edit I really went to town! First I added a picture of some worn, textured paper to a new layer to give it a 'gritty' effect. I then added the school sign from one of my other images, rotated it slightly and erased the background, then changed the opacity as it looked too bold. I am really pleased with how it turned out, as it perhaps make it a bit more obvious that it was a child that had been knocked over.

Transport Project - Edited Final Images

I decided to have a go at editing all my images to see if they can be improved in any way. Firstly I enhanced the colours to make them bolder, and sharpened the image.

I think my roadkill image looks better after editing.

Again with this shot I enhanced the colours, and altered the saturation and contrast. I didn't think there was much difference with this one, but I'm going to go with the edited version.

I used the same editing techniques for this image, again I think it looks better as it has bought out the colours of the doll well, which really helps to make it stand out.

Used the same enhancing techniques for this one, again I prefer this version!

I again enhanced the colours, contrast and the saturation. I think this image looks better than the original.

For this one I cropped the image and enlarged the sign, then enhanced the colours to try and make it brighter. This version looks much better than the original.

Transport Project - Final Unedited Images

These are the images I have decided on for my finals. I have chosen 6 because I've not yet been able to decide between the last two - the two doll images. I will see how I go with the editing process to see if that helps me decide!

I decided to use this roadkill shot as it wasn't too graphic but at the same time showed quite well that the rabbit had been run over, and I feel that the position of its legs show that it was running.

I really like the image as I feel it is really poignant. I also like the lighting as I feel it adds to the soilitude and mournfulness of the area and subject. The flowers were taken at a fairly lonely bit of road near the racehill, which in a way is quite peaceful and I think that this image conveys that well.
This is probably my favourite shot out of all the images I took for this project. I love the closeness of the doll and the small depth of field - which I feel really makes the doll stand out. However, I'm not sure if this represents transport terribly well - I know that its meant to represent a run over child, but I'm worried that other people may not make that connection.

This is the other doll image that I was having trouble deciding between. I think this may work better as it clearly shows transport, but then on the other hand I feel like it may look too set up.

I love the lighting in this shot. It was just turning dark and I used a flash and I feel that this has really bought out the dramatic colours of the sky.

I decided to use the 30 sign rather than the speed camera sign as I felt it was more bold. I plan to edit this shot to brighten it up, bring the sign closer and more central to the image and get rid of the lamppost just in view on the right hand side.

Transport Project - Further Shooting

On Sunday, March 14th I went out again to re shoot some images and to try some more ideas out. I went back up to the racecourse to get more images of the floral tribute there, mainly I wanted to get a car going past like I had done before, but improve on the previous image.
This one was the first one I took, and it turned out to be my favourite from this attempt.

I did experiment with getting cars on the other side of the road, but I feel it works better when the car is on the same side of the road as the flowers.
I also decided to get a few more shots of the flowers by themselves, from different angles and perspectives. This one is ok, however I don't like the blue bin in the background - but there was a van pulled up next to the lamppost and this was the best angle I could get.

Unfortunately the sky was quite overcast when I went up there, I did use a polarizing filter to experiment with changing the colour/contrast of the sky. Whilst it is quite grey and cloudy, I feel this could also add a certain depth to the image, as it gives a downcast kind of feel to it.

Again I experimented with portrait/landscape views to see what works best.

My next idea and one I was really keen on doing was to photograph a child's doll in the road. A lot of the inspiration for this is from the Think! campaign television advert for the 'It's 30 For A Reason' message. The advert can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeUX6LABCEA

It was my intention to go up to a nearby school and photograph the doll - representing a child - laying run over in the road.

Ideally I wanted to get the school sign in the picture along with the doll, but this didn't work out as I wanted as to get both in to the frame I had to move quite far away, and really I wanted the doll to be the main focus of the image.

So I then tried taking photos of the doll closer up. I used a large aperture to get a small depth of field as I wanted the viewer to immediately be drawn to the doll. I think this image works quite well and I am pleased at how it turned out.

I still wanted to get some sort of school imagery into the photograph, and as I was outside the school I saw that there was yellow wording in the road, so I decided to place the doll onto the word 'School'. I felt that perhaps the words weren't quite legible enough however.

Rather than trying to get the words clear I decided to go down to the doll's viewpoint and get in really close to her, but keep the words in the background as more of a suggestion than a main focus point. Again I aim pleased with how the image turned out.

As I was lying in the road taking pictures of the doll, in a few shots I accidentally caught edges of cars creeping into view. When I reviewed the images I thought they actually worked quite well, so I decided to place the doll in the road and have my car in the background, as if it had just knocked the 'child' down and was driving off - almost like a hit and run type scenario. I feel this image works well and represents what I was trying to convey.

Moving on with the car and doll idea I thought about photographing the doll under the car's tyres. This is more of a graphic representation of my idea. As it was quite dark lying down by the car I used my flash and actually quite like the effect that it gave my images. However I don't think these work quite as well as my previous images.

Keeping going with my signs theme, I shot the School sign nearby where I was shooting. As it was starting to get dark I again used my flash and I really like how the image turned out.

My last idea to go out and shoot was the speed camera signs along the South Coast Road that flash as you drive past when going too fast. I went when it was fully dark as I really wanted to bring out the lights of the sign. I had to experiment with timing and shutter speed as I wanted as little ambient light as possible. I also used my tripod as I was using shutter speeds of under 1 second and it wouldn't have worked hand held!

I had to get my timings just right to make sure I either captured the '30' or the speed camera symbol, and sometimes I ended up capturing both at the same time, which wasn't what I was going for but it did end up making an interesting image!

Transport Project - Further Idea Development/Shoot 1

On Sunday the 7th of March, I went out with my camera with the intention of shooting roadkill. This can be quite a difficult task as it all depends on whether there is any that day! However I was quite lucky. The first bit I came across was a seagull or pigeon that was quite near my flat. It wasn't perfect, however as it had probably been there for a while and there wasn't much left, just a mess of feathers. However I gave it a go!

I then went on a drive through Newhaven on the way to Piddinghoe. I decided to go this way as from previous experience of driving this way I had seen a lot of roadkill before. The first bit I came across was indistinguishable, it probably used to belong to a rabbit or fox. It was also in quite a dark wooded area and as there was nowhere proper to pull over we had to stop in the road, which was quite tricky and I didn't have to long to shoot! As a result, the image is quite dark.
Further on down the road we encountered a dead pheasant. Again this had obviously been there a while as it was very squashed. At this point we were actually able to pull into a farm track so I managed to get a few shots from different angles/perspectives. I also quite like the shadows cast from the trees, I feel it kind of adds a poignant loneliness to the place. Later that day when we drove back past the pheasant we saw a crow picking from the carcass. As we approached it flew away with a piece in its beak - if only we'd been a few minutes earlier I could have got a great shot!

As our journey down the road progressed we found the best roadkill of the day - a dead rabbit. This was quite hard for me to photograph as I love rabbits and hate seeing them lying dead in the road. However I persevered, and we were able to pull up and I took quite a few shots from different angles, and close up etc. The first one is probably my favourite. We were lucky as it must have been fairly recent as it wasn't too mashed up and was pretty much intact.


We then encountered another poor rabbit, again fairly intact, and we were lucky that it was near the drive to someones house as we were able to quickly pull up and take quite a few shots. Again I like the shadows cast on the road.


Being unable to find any ghostbikes remaining in Brighton - they tend to stay for 12 weeks then get taken away by the Highways Agency - I decided the next best thing to shoot was another form of roadside tribute - flowers. You see a lot of these on the roadside, and I was able to find a nice bunch up near the racetrack. The sky was a brilliant blue that day which really contrasts well against the orange of the flowers.

I decided to experiment with both landscape and portrait shots to see which worked best. In the end I think the landscape ones look better with a bit of empty space next to them, as it kind of illustrates the soilitude and emptiness around them.

This next image is one of my favourites as I unintentionally caught a car going past. I think it makes quite a poignant image and again signifies solitude. By the point the sun was starting to set so it has come out a little dark - which, on one hand, feels works quite well. I intend to go back and re shoot this image to see if I can get it better.

I also decided to look at more unusual road signs rather than the usual ones you get in town, as I was able to find a few animal related ones which would tie in well with my roadkill shots. It was getting dark at this point but I quite liked the effect the light had on the signs.

I tried shooting all the signs both portrait and landscape to see which worked better, and in this instance I feel that the portrait ones did.


I feel this image could maybe do with being a little lighter, or even using flash to really bring the sign out.

Transport Project - Test Shots

To find out how my ideas would look I went out on the 27th and 28th of March and shot a few test shots.

The first idea I looked at was road signs/traffic control. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to venture further afield to look for roadkill or roadside tributes, so just shot the signs and effects of traffic in my local area.

I think some of these shots are interesting. I may experiment with a slow shutter speed at night and try and get all 3 colours of the traffic light at once. I feel maybe shooting some of the road signs from different angles or closer up will also look good and give them more of an abstract look, as they look a little boring just straight on.

Next up was my shoe idea. I took photos of various shoes I use for different aspects of my life, and put them on different floors to represent where I wear them, for example home, work, nights out, bedtime, etc

However, I don't think this idea works terribly well, it doesn't really say what I want it too. I may experiment further but I don't think this will make it to my final idea.