Final Assignment: Inspiration through Music!

Introduction to Photography

WEEK 8

PART 1: THE ASSIGNMENT

After reviewing our previous assignment, Mr. Martin showed us some monochrome slideshow photos of photojournalism accompanied by an interesting background music. He also mentioned during the lecture that taking and choosing photos according to our personalities. This is very important as it shows the uniqueness of each individual, especially the background music which has the ability to invoke feelings. Besides, we are encouraged not to always follow the skills in order to obtain good photos as the meaning of each photos are what matters most.

Exercise 7: CHOOSE A FAVORITE MUSIC!

- Select a music of your favourite.

- Upload the music.

- Describe about the music.

1# "Tell Your Heart To Beat Again" by Danny Gokey

Lyrics:

You're shattered Like you've never been before The life you knew In a thousand pieces on the floor And words fall short in times like these When this world drives you to your knees You think you're never gonna get back To the you that used to be Tell your heart to beat again Close your eyes and breathe it in Let the shadows fall away Step into the light of grace Yesterday's a closing door You don't live there anymore Say goodbye to where you've been And tell your heart to beat again Beginning Just let that word wash over you It's alright now Love's healing hands have pulled you through So get back up, take step one Leave the darkness, feel the sun Cause your story's far from over And your journey's just begun

Tell your heart to beat again Close your eyes and breathe it in Let the shadows fall away Step into the light of grace Yesterday's a closing door You don't live there anymore Say goodbye to where you've been And tell your heart to beat again Let every heartbreak And every scar Be a picture that reminds you Who has carried you this far 'Cause love sees farther than you ever could In this moment heaven's working Everything for your good Tell your heart to beat again Close your eyes and breathe it in Let the shadows fall away Step into the light of grace Yesterday's a closing door You don't live there anymore Say goodbye to where you've been And tell your heart to beat again

Your heart to beat again Beat again Oh, so tell your heart to beat again

Rationale:

When scenes of past guilt flashes through my mind again and again, this song reminds me that I'm forgiven by God and that the past sins are erased in His book. After hearing this for countless times, especially when I felt shattered, I cried tears of sadness. But this didn't just end here, no, before the song finishes, I cried, but I cried a different kind of tears -- tears of joy, knowing that God still loves me and is working everything for good. I love this song because it has touched me countless times when I'm desperate in life. Most importantly, I love the One who inspired this song, who bring me back up to overcome and be an overcomer just to see me set free!

2# "My World" by Florian Bur

This is a song by Florian Bur "My World". The reason I love this music is because it lifted my soul out and bring me to quiet places I have never been before. It whispers out that there are many mysteries out there yet to be discovered. This piece is rich in tone with many instruments combined to enhance the euphoria feelings of the audience.

Words fail to describe what I’m feeling right now but you can follow me to places they whisk me whenever I listen to them...

WEEK 13

PART 2: THE IMPROVEMENT

Mr. Martin requires me to crack my head and visualize the final outcome more.. whoopsy~

So, after listening to this song by Florian Bur - "My World" many times, the meaning of the song changes. The reason I love this music is because it lifted my soul out and bring me to quiet places I have never been before. It whispers out that there are many hero's out there yet to be discovered. This piece is rich in tone with many instruments combined to enhance the euphoria feelings of the audience. The start of the music brings about a melancholic feeling where it builds up the struggles with a high tempo, stops a while and gradually intensifying the positivity with the soft melody, viewing the scenario at the end as a grand success.

I finalize my overall concept based on what goes in my head with a drawing I did when I'm in secondary school:

In order to get the same scenery, thank God Mr. Martin recommended me a whooping place in the mists of concrete jungles - Bukit Tabur, Ampang.

Bukit Tabur by Shafizan, taken from http://ishafizan.blogspot.my

So, here are some sketches of my idea:

Feedback from Mr. Martin:

……I can see a huge progress from the drawing (the secondary school drawing) in comparison with the final proposal...…

Things I am reminded again to change to be a better designer:

- Go out of my comfort zone and not choose an easy way out (especially ways to cut down editing problems by mere avoiding it and not do anything

WEEK 14 - 16

PART 3: THE DRAFT

Original:

Bukit Tabur by Shafizan, taken from http://ishafizan.blogspot.my

Idea:

Outcome 1:

Feedback:

-Background wise frame it tighter

-Position the character above the lake, so as to see the reflection of her

Outcome 2:

Felt that the shadow is not right

Feedback:

-Make shadow smaller

Outcome 3:

However, I still prefer the non-reflection, as that is what my original idea is. Well, at least it is interesting on learning how to edit a shadow! Really, it is fun!

WEEK 18

PART 4: THE STUDIO

Exercise 10: Portrait + Studio Lighting

So based on these two different references, we have to create the same atmosphere ourselves in groups of four.

References: Practice Outcome:

Aperture: f/5.3

Shutter Speed: 1/100

ISO: 200

Aperture: f/5.6

Shutter Speed: 1/100

ISO: 320

It is fun to try both soft lights and hard lights to get similar effects as shown in the references. I really love the outcome!

Before today's studio lighting practice, a change of plans have to be made. Mr. Martin received an email from the Dean of Design School that the Ministry of Education just banned trips to the forest for assignments anymore and that the trip to Bukit Tabur have to be cancelled.

Seriously, I am not surprised because going there is my concern and is quite a hassle not just for me but for my lecturer as well, of course, my lecturer is totally OK with it but for me...... Guess what? I did pray to God about it last week and told Him that if it is His will, let that trip happen and it seems the answer from Him is "No." Well, God knows what's best for my idea and for the whole university students in Malaysia and hence, the email on 25th May. Mr. Martin suggested me to have an apocalypse theme instead which I think is a good idea indeed.

We'll see.

All I have to do is just hop on to the nearest condominium and take a shot of the urban landscape of Subang.

WEEK 19

PART 5: THE BACKGROUND SHOOTING

For my background, I went for two days (31/5 and 1/6) all the way up to the 26th floor of D' Latour, Subang to catch the scenery of the city from before sunset (>6pm) all the way till night time (>7pm). It seems the weather is not in my favor and the sun is mostly hidden in the clouds. That's when photo editing plays a part in ways I could not imagine.

This time, I tried using the HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging settings in my camera and I really hope it works! At least I can see the difference in colour tone between a non HDR and a HDR picture.

Fun fact: Got stuck in the elevator on the 26th floor with no signal at all. Ha! Didn't know that I can only access the ground floor without a security card. Glad thing I'm chill enough to wave and say hi to the CCTV and press the bell for my redemption.

Some of the shots taken:

PART 6: SUBJECT SHOOTING

After that, I went to the photography studio and get the right lighting I wanted for my final photo besides having to struggle in posing the best relaxed floating shots which in reality, is not! (Body is wobbling). The reason why studio lighting is needed because:

#1 I have no control over sunlight, especially when it comes to sunsets.

#2 Lack of props (chairs) for my floating posture in the 26th floor of a condominium.

I really liked how the image turns out, and it is really fun and tiring to run to the camera and back again to position again rightly (Feet numb strikes).

Aperture: f/3.5 Shutter Speed: 1/200 ISO: 400

Fun Fact: When the studio's backdrop suddenly stuck as I wanted to roll it back up, my heart skipped a beat. And then the backdrop suddenly starts....rolling down like a waterfall...You can guess how much my blood pressure at that moment is. Well, I forced myself to climb the highest ladder in my whole life just to "manually" scroll it back up countless times and watching it fall down again (Luckily the final state isn't worse than the first). Sorry Sir! I definitely got many valuable experiences in this module, so exciting! I'll never know what is going to happen to me next!

PART 7: THE CONSTRUCTION

1. PHOTO SELECTION

This photo is chosen because it portrays the end of the day which brings in a melancholic mood and paints a feeling of quietness, portraying the music I chose in the earlier post.

Aperture: f/14 Shutter Speed: 1" 6 ISO: 100

2. EDITING IN SUNSET

This is by far the most epic edit I have ever did in Photoshop for just being only a beginner! I used the gradient tool and created a radial mask on the gradient to create an artificial sun.

This is the source of my learning from PHLEARN:

3. CROPPING IN SUBJECT

4. EDITING IN WINGS AND FEATHER VECTOR

5. ADDING LIGHTINGS ON WINGS VECTOR

I searched the net and could not find any tutorials on doing a short cut side lighting on Photoshop, worse with people questioning the same questions on Adobe forums as well. I have no choice but to enjoy the thrills of doing it the old fashioned way - manually air brushing all the way! This step is by far the hardest among all the other steps as I couldn't make it as realistic as possible (it is my first time editing in Photoshop as I mentioned earlier) and manually air brushing the lightings take days! Definitely, there are still many opportunities for me to try out again and practice more in the future. I'm glad I have tried my best and leave no stone unturned for now.

"The more difficult the task, the sweeter the victory.”

- Cmdr. William T. Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation

6. WINGS AND FEATHERS LIGHTING

7. WINGS LIGHTING 2

I changed the wing lighting as it is not realistic and found out that I have highlighted the wrong area in the previous picture. It took me awhile to study how the vector is drawn by zooming in before knowing where the light reflects.

DONE! (Before & After!)

"Taking up challenges ain't easy, doing something extra hard ain't sweet, and the end might not be as great as the simple. But I learn more than I can ever imagine, and having the process of discovery is all that matters."

Doing this project brings me to face and overcome my fears: fears of being stuck in a lift, fears of destroying expensive school properties, fears of the inability to edit....and photography teaches me about life: dealing with people and affirming what life is all about.

PART 8: THE FINAL EXPERIENCE

For the best experience, listen to this music while scrolling.

"My World" by Florian Bur

This picture which portrays the song whispers out sacrificial love and the purpose of life. The girl represents the many heroes out there that are yet to be discovered, with their hidden attributes and their struggles as their story. As the setting sun softly shines on her, her glory of finally fulfilling her destiny is shown, and she clearly knows that everything will soon fade and deem forgotten by time, thus she rests peacefully awaiting her fall. But why did she do with peace, knowing that at the end her life will soon fade like the morning dew? Why is she willing to sacrifice something which costs her whole life? What is the purpose of life if at the end we just die and everything ends? Does life really just ends after death?

"If you keep quiet at such a time like this, deliverance and relief will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will perish. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?" - The Book of Queen Esther

"If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it."

Did you get my world now?