Final 8x8 image

Location Photos

These are the five photos from the camera. For my final image I selected the 4th one down, Mainly because I think that it fits the assignment best. It would look good as a 8"x 8" image as the main focal point would be the watch face. This photo reminds me a little of Alice In Wonderland with a sort of fairytale feel to the image, as if it were taken from a part of the film. I also like the shadows created on the grass from the hand.

One Shot – Item and Location

For this short assignment, we were asked to take a random item or found object and include it or wear it in our photos. We are allowed to have five images on the camera but can only download one of them. We are also not allowed to edit the photos in any way aide from cropping them. The final image had to be 8" x 8" square at 300 dpi on Photoshop.

We had to include a person in the image which is why we were allowed to be in pairs. If the photo was taken near to the college, it would not be viewed so would be a waste of time. We were only allowed to use ambient light, so we had to think about direction and strength of the light, focal point and the depth of field.

Final Images - Studio Images

Evaluation

I am quite pleased with the other two final images. I like the composition of the images and how the colour leak worked. I used the colour leak because I wanted it to look like the warmth was radiating from the cup which hopefully it comes across as. I thought this would be a good way of making the cups look appealing, fitting the purpose of a hot drink. However, the image doesn’t leave much room for text. It may have been better to have taken the images landscape rather than portrait but keeping the cups on the left or right hand side with the same layout, as shown in the drawing below:

Final Images - Photomontage Of Cup

Evaluation

The basis of this idea was that I wanted to put all the cups together in one photo but not next to each other like most photos. I wanted to experiment with the idea of showing 5 cups in one. I’m not too pleased with this photo as I think it looks unprofessional. It looks like it’s just been copped and bits of the cup have been stuck back together. I think if I did it again I would go for a different approach; the same basic idea but put together differently. Instead of bits and pieces I would do it in vertical stripes, show each stripe is a different cup. I think this would look a lot more appealing and professional than what I produced. 

Photoshop Process 2

When I decided to edit these images in Photoshop I had an idea of showing warmth from the cups, as if there were hot drinks inside. To show the idea of 'warmth' I used the selection tool but with a high feather, I then selected a small area of the photo and made a new layer of that selection. So now the new layer called 'layer 1' was in front of the background. From this I selected the background and went to Image -> Adjustment -> desaturate, this left me with the background black and white but 'layer 1' being in colour I then flattened the image and saved it. This Process is shown Below.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Final Stage

Photoshop Process

Making a whole cup out of many. The inspiration for this idea came from David Hockney’s work with photographic collages (shown in posts below). A photographic collage can also be known as a Photomontage. A Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. From this I had the idea of putting all the cups together but joint to form just the one cup.I started of by importing photos of just the single cups. I then began selecting a small part of another cup and dragging them onto a basic cup. I repeated this process layer by layer till I go a basic shape of a Cup. This process is shown on the Left and below. Overall I'm pleased with the final image, but i think it looks to mix and match, the single parts of the cup doesn't stand out, it's just overshadowed but the part next to it or next to that. I think if i did this next time i would make it so it was vertical stripes, each stripe would be a different cup. I think this would look a lot more appealing and professional than the first attempt. 

1

2

3

4 (final image)

Studio Photos

Studio Photos

1st Photo

For the studio shoot I used a small wooden table as a setting for the cups, I wanted them to have a location shot feel but in the with out the busy background and with using the studio I could have a nice precise and crisp photo. Originally I was going to use a white backing but it didn’t go so well with the dark wooden tones of the table. I ended up using black instead of white also because it gave a nice warm feel with the reflection of the light rather than a harsh white. The first photo (on the left) didn’t turn out so well the placement of the cups and coffee beans was ok but the image was darker especially on the left hand side which meant you couldn’t see the colour or design on the cup well.To resolve this problem I placed a portable reflector opposite to the light coming from the back, this lit up the front of the cup nicely as you can see on the image below the top left. Overall I’m rather happy with most of the studio images.

Location Photos

A few location shots, trying to get some ideas of what makes the paper cup look appealing. Not too pleased with the two in the middle as the one on the left looks plain and boring, think it may look better if it had coffee or tea in it. The middle right photo looks ok but the cup has 3 lids on it which looks odd and i think the hands cover the cup's design to much. I like the top photo with the cup in focus and the background blurred,  however on it's own it could be plain, maybe could put it as a series, for example use that with the greenery in the background then have one where a cafe is the backing or an office. The bottom photo has a sepia effect on it, i used it as it has a warmth to it, this photo could work well as it displays all the cups but you can't see the full size or design of the cups.

Basic Ideas

Before going in the studio i drew up a few ideas of what kind of photos i wanted to get from the studio, and then ideas for the final images after they have been edited in photoshop. 
I think that they will need to be edited in photoshop because i don't want to follow suit with the common photos that i keep finding where there's just the cups and a white background.

1st idea: Photo of one of the smaller cups, idea of using a white background then on photoshop carry the pattern onto the background.
maybe include the coffee beans to make it look more appealing.

2nd idea: using 2 different sized cups or maybe use 3 of various size, arrange next to each other, then basically just same as above continue the pattern onto the background and again include the coffee bean to make it look more appealing.

Research, Part 3

These photos are mainly from the McDonald's adverts. They are advertising the product well in a professional manor. I think they would be good to work from as they are adverts that are working well and selling the product.

 I think this advert is good but I don't think it will work well with the assignment as only a small amount of the cup is being displayed, so being as we are selling the cup I think it all needs to be displayed. 

This Photo has been taken from this website:  http://blogs.simmons.edu/taxonomy/term/717


This image is from McDonalds' ad campaign from the winter of 2009. They wanted to separate themselves from Starbucks in the area of cost, but not quality. So Not only did they create a series of billboards with creative lines, but they also played with the urban layout of major cities. For example, the ad to the right plays with the idea of street 
lights.

I like the playfulness of this advertisement. It's not just an image in a magazine or a photo on a billboard, it explores a different more interactive style of adverting. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to mimic this for my final images as they are to be submitted as an A4 sized photo, however I could do something similar to this and then photograph it to give a similar effect.

Research. Part 2

David Hockney

David Hockney experimented with photographic collages, which is basically where you take several photos of either the same subject or different things and the bring them all together in little pieces to make on photo. I think this maybe be a good way of showing all the different variety of cups from the company in an interesting way, rather than a simple point on shoot photo of the one cup.

Below photo by David Hockney showing photographic collages.

http://www.davidhockney.com/ 

Research. Part 1

Photo taken from http://www.istockphoto.com/

Photo taken from http://www.istockphoto.com/

These photos have a simplistic layout, inside of the cup is the main attraction point as they are making the coffee look appealing by putting a simple face or a heart shape in the drink. I think this idea of the drink being the main focus, however the idea of this compatition is to sell the packaging not the contents, so need to find a way of mixing the 2 together. 

Research. Part 1

The Company: http://www2.huhtamaki.com/web/guest

Huhtamaki is a specialty packaging organization that provides many of the world’s most recognizable consumer goods packaging and foodservice containers, as well as the retail line of Chinet® premium disposable tableware. The company was established as a manufacturer of confectionary in 1920 and has grown in size since. Packaging was first established in 1965 under the brand 'Polarpak'. Huhtamaki today employ around 15,000 people in over 30 countries.

Introduction to 'Capture The Cup'

Huhtamaki have set a photography competition that celebrates it’s 90^th anniversary. For this assignment I have been asked to produce three final images that promote the companies disposable hot paper cups range.

The competition celebrates Huhtamaki’s 90^th anniversary, the company is one of the worlds largest packaging manufacturing company. They provide paper and plastic beverage packaging for marketing areas such as; fast food chain, contracting caterers, cafes, stadia, and hospitality outlets.

The winner of the competition will receive £500  and two runner-ups will receive £250, the winners image may also be used to promote the company.  I have been given a time limit of just two days to create ideas, photograph the cup whether that be on location or in the studio, then to edit/finalize the images.

The final images with be submitted to the company before it end date which is 1^st of November, the winner will be notified via email by Monday 15^th November 2010.