On 6th November 2023 Laura Westgate gave a talk to the club entitled "Effective Composition and Post Production Techniques".
Laura holds a Fine Art degree from the Nottingham Trent University. She is a qualified Art teacher and has been teaching for the last 14 years. She is currently the head of Art at Bradley Stoke Community School and looks after Fine Art, Textiles and Photography GCSE and A level.
In the first half of the evening Laura presented an introduction to the fundamentals of effective composition. The second half was more hands-on, dealing with what to do with your photographs: an introduction to creative post production techniques.
The links below address some of the topics covered in Laura's presentation.
Rankin's Destroy project
For Youth Music’s 10th Anniversary musicians photographed by Rankin created an original piece of artwork based on one of the photographer’s iconic portraits. Two years in the making, the Destroy / Rankin project involved over 70 musicians and visual artists including Michael Stipe, U2, Jarvis Cocker, Ian Brown, Kylie Minogue, Debbie Harry, Marianne Faithfull, Mat Collishaw, Douglas Gordon and Damien Hirst. Asked to ‘destroy’ the photographs, the artists created a portfolio of deeply personal reflections on their images, with submissions ranging from paintings and drawings to video and collage making up a unique body of collaborative art.
The series was exhibited and auctioned at Phillips de Pury as well as published in a book In 2009.
Destroy, 2009 - Rankin's official website
Rankin & Goldie 'Destroy' for Youth Music - YouTube video
Repoussoir
Repoussoir is a framing and composition technique used in art and photography. Pronounced “ruh-poo-swahr”, the term originates from the French verb repousser, meaning “to push back”. Repoussoir is a time-tested method for using the foreground to strategically frame other parts of the scene.
Repoussoir Explained & How to Use it in Photography - Focus, Wavelength blog
Worm's eye view
Giving viewers a worm's eye view in your photography is a great way to get your images to stand out.
Guide to Worm's eye view photography - Shotkit
Tilt shift photography
Tilt shift photography is a special type of photography used by architectural, landscape, and other creative photographers. They use a particular kind of lens called a tilt shift lens, which can move in various directions and create different effects as a result. The most notable example of this type of photography is the miniature or diorama effect. Post-processing can be used to emulate this tilt shift effect.
What is Tilt Shift Photography, and How Do You Achieve It? - Make Use Of
Books
Things Organized Neatly - Austin Radcliffe
Things Come Apart - Todd McLellan
Laura holds a Fine Art degree from the Nottingham Trent University. She is a qualified Art teacher and has been teaching for the last 14 years. She is currently the head of Art at Bradley Stoke Community School and looks after Fine Art, Textiles and Photography GCSE and A level.
In the first half of the evening Laura presented an introduction to the fundamentals of effective composition. The second half was more hands-on, dealing with what to do with your photographs: an introduction to creative post production techniques.
The links below address some of the topics covered in Laura's presentation.
Rankin's Destroy project
For Youth Music’s 10th Anniversary musicians photographed by Rankin created an original piece of artwork based on one of the photographer’s iconic portraits. Two years in the making, the Destroy / Rankin project involved over 70 musicians and visual artists including Michael Stipe, U2, Jarvis Cocker, Ian Brown, Kylie Minogue, Debbie Harry, Marianne Faithfull, Mat Collishaw, Douglas Gordon and Damien Hirst. Asked to ‘destroy’ the photographs, the artists created a portfolio of deeply personal reflections on their images, with submissions ranging from paintings and drawings to video and collage making up a unique body of collaborative art.
The series was exhibited and auctioned at Phillips de Pury as well as published in a book In 2009.
Destroy, 2009 - Rankin's official website
Rankin & Goldie 'Destroy' for Youth Music - YouTube video
Repoussoir
Repoussoir is a framing and composition technique used in art and photography. Pronounced “ruh-poo-swahr”, the term originates from the French verb repousser, meaning “to push back”. Repoussoir is a time-tested method for using the foreground to strategically frame other parts of the scene.
Repoussoir Explained & How to Use it in Photography - Focus, Wavelength blog
Worm's eye view
Giving viewers a worm's eye view in your photography is a great way to get your images to stand out.
Guide to Worm's eye view photography - Shotkit
Tilt shift photography
Tilt shift photography is a special type of photography used by architectural, landscape, and other creative photographers. They use a particular kind of lens called a tilt shift lens, which can move in various directions and create different effects as a result. The most notable example of this type of photography is the miniature or diorama effect. Post-processing can be used to emulate this tilt shift effect.
What is Tilt Shift Photography, and How Do You Achieve It? - Make Use Of
Books
Things Organized Neatly - Austin Radcliffe
Things Come Apart - Todd McLellan