Anyone recognise where this is?

I really like this tilt-shift toy, it's loads of fun!

Just played with a picture that I took yesterday, see if you know where it was taken.....

For maximum effect the pictures will have to be taken from a height, so I now need to research different tall buildings etc.  Car parks are obvious, maybe the Spinnaker tower in Portsmouth too......

changing the project

Okay, so I am not totally changing the project, just doing something additional.  I am also going back to my post of 15th February and doing what I said I wasn't going to.  Hey, I'm a girl and so reserve the right to change my mind as and when it suits!

I have been looking back at the tilt-shift images and was struck by the idea of playing with scale (as already planned) but adding a twist.
My thought for this is to try and make the model people pictures in such a way that the viewer (at first glance) thinks that they are real people, and also to take pictures of real, life-size scenes and using tilt-shift make them look like models.  I think I will have two separate sections in the book, but with no writing or explanation about the pictures, just to keep people pondering.

While looking at other tilt-shift images I came across this collection of pictures which I think are great.
http://www.smashingtips.com/tilt-shift-photography

Poster Design (part 2)

Played with the font and I think this looks better.........

Poster Design

Well, I finally took the plunge and had a go at a design for the exhibition poster.  I am no whiz with Photoshop so it is far from great, but it's an idea to play with.

I only had access to a selection of images so this is just for illustration.

I couldn't find a font that I really liked, and I'm not too sure with the colour, but white looked too stark to my mind. Also, looking at it again, the bottom writing may well look better in the bottom right corner.

Anyway, constructive criticism is most welcome!

San Francisco: The Miniature City

The Minimus Design San Francisco project is a time lapse and tilt-shift video of a miniature San Francisco. The video is an intriguing, fantastical look into the buzzing metropolis.

The video is somewhat confusing in its ability to blur the line between reality, design and miniature figures. Rumored to have some clips from real life and some digitally created, the Minimus Design San Francisco viral video is becoming more and more popular as speculation rises. 

I personally think that the majority of it is made using models but there are parts that look 'too real'.  Judge for yourself and feel free to comment!

Research - David Levinthal

David Levinthal began his works using toy figurines with the series Hitler Moves East in 1977.  It was conceived with a package of toy Nazi soldiers posed on the floor of his parents home and became a recreation of the Germans’ 1941 invasion of Russia.

Since the success of this first publication he has continued to photograph toy people in a wide array of projects.  His works pertinent to my project include Modern Romance (1984-86), The Wild West (1987-89), American Beauties (1989-90), Desire (1990-91), Mein Kampf (1993-94), Baseball (2003-04), The Passion (2005), Hockey (2007), and I.E.D (2008).

In his work Levinthal makes use of a very shallow depth of field to almost create a sense of motion within the image.  The pictures below are from Hitler Moves East and I feel that they are closest to what I hope to achieve.  They appear, at first glance, to be pictures of real people and real events rather than a tableau created in a studio from model people.

 

                                                        

His latest project I.E.D again uses a battleground as its scenario, this time the ongoing military work in Afghanistan.

Levinthal is aware of the power of toys: "Ever since I began working with toys, I have been intrigued with the idea that these seemingly benign objects could take on such incredible power and personality simply by the way they were photographed. I began to realize that by carefully selecting the depth of field and making it narrow, I could create a sense of movement and reality that was in fact not there."

http://www.davidlevinthal.com/index.html

Good!

http://www.jasonbellphoto.com/#/home/

This site is clean and clear from the very start.  The menu options are neatly off to the left and clicking an option immediately brings up your choice.  With the galleries you can either use the 'next' and 'previous' arrows at the bottom corner to move through, or click anywhere on the right of the picture to move forwards, and on the left to move back.  You can also choose whether to have the thumbnails showing or not, so if you are looking for a specific picture it is easy to find.

For me there is nothing to dislike about this site at all, and added to the fact that the photo's are great I will be bookmarking this one!

opinions please

Today I played with an idea that may go into my project, but I am as yet undecided.  The general idea is to 'recreate' images from fiction featuring miniature people, or large people/animals.

The image today is of Gulliver, surrounded by people of Lilliput.  Firstly I would really appreciate general thoughts on the picture, and also whether it is better in colour or black and white.  Please be gentle with me!

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!

www.joneschijoff.com

Firstly this site loads with lots of little pop/click sounds as each piece of the picture lands.  When you run your cursor over the image not only does each square ‘pop out’ a little as you pass but the whole image floats and rolls.   

On this front page clicking on any of the individual squares simply enlarges that square, that is all. Well, not quite, you do get a ‘swoosh’ing sound as it zooms towards you!  The whole page still floats around too, and it was making me feel a little seasick to be honest.  All you can do from the close up image is click again and it goes back to the original set-up.

If you click on the arrow on the right you get a little ‘pop’ and the brain image is replaced by a selection of different pictures.

Now I had found this site simply by searching for ‘bad websites’, and so far I have no idea what this company/individual is or does…..

Surely the middle square with the company name on it will tell me all about them?  I click on it and it zooms towards me, and then I have to click the little circular arrow in the bottom corner to flip it over, and I should now be wiser as to this business right??  Erm……no!  it tells you where they are and nothing more.

By the time I get to the tenth image (working left to right) I have figured out that they are industrial designers, but I am also feeling somewhat unwell from all of the zooming in and out and rolling about.

And a random picture of Chuck Norris?  Really??

is a Blog better than a Website?

While researching good and bad website designs I stumbled across this article.  Basically the writer is suggesting that a good blog is a great alternative to, or even an addition to, a good website.  Also it has more chance of getting noticed..... 
see if you agree  http://photofocus.com/2009/12/10/five-reasons-why-photographers-should-build-a-blog-rather-than-a-website/
The best idea, it would seem, is to have both a great website and a linked blog.
In the next few posts I will be looking at examples of (in my opinion) both great and awful websites.