Dev 1 : footprints

DEV 1
My first idea is to capture a beautiful landscape, then overlay photographs of footprints in photoshop.

I went to some fields near my house at sunrise and took these photos.
Though the sunrise wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped, I tried to take shots that make Gods creation look weird and wonderful. There was a particular tree that was really crooked, which I thought would represent how humans are destroying the earth, and, at the same time, show the incredible uniqueness and beauty of what God has designed.
I enjoyed taking photos of the trees, as the patterns they create with their branches look pretty, and the sunlight in the background of the photo makes them look silhouetted, so they really stand out.

Your eye goes straight to the middle of the trunk, where the branches start to come off, then follows the bigger branches out. The composition entails the rule of thirds, as the bottom of the trunk is positioned in the right hand corner. I like this photo, as the branches almost fill the whole space of the image. I also feel that it shows the true uniqueness and beauty of nature. However, the image may be better if the trunk started in the corner of the photograph, or maybe in the centre to get all the branches in. Also, the trunk isn't fully in focus, which weakens the image.

I like how the silhouette of the tree almost looks like lightning, which could also symbolise destruction of the earth. I feel this would be a better image if the background trees weren't in shot, as I think they make the composition of the photo seem messy, as there is too many branches.

The prominence of the clouds in this image make it look gloomy, which could represent the idea that God is disappointed in what we have done to his creation.
I used Adam Burton as my inspiration for this photo, as the tree surrounds the corners of the image.

I got the pylon in this photo, as it looks like its just been put there without purpose, which is my intention for this project; to show that we are intervening with the beauty of Gods creation.

On the three images below I played with the shutter speed to see if I could make the image appear more 'weird and wonderful'. I put it on 1/2.5 and moved the camera landscape on the first, and portrait on the other two.
I feel that it gives the photo more of a 'spiritual presence', which works with my intentions of showing Gods creation.

                                                                                               

I imprinted my footprints in some mud and took photos.
However, I felt my footprint wasn't dramatic enough, and it was hard to see.

So, to solve this, I got one of my dads boots and painted the bottom black.
I printed the footprint onto paper and took images of them.

I then used photoshop to overlay the footprint images onto landscape images, to show how humans are destroying Gods Earth:
I tried to use the footprints in different ways:

in this image I tried to scatter the footprints to make it look more messy, to portray the fact that humans are treading on Gods creation and making their mark which is destroying the Earth.
However, even though it may portray this message, I feel that the composition of it and the way it has been done doesn't look very appealing. 

Therefore, I just used one path of footprints:

I like how the footprints go diagonally straight across the middle of the image as it catches your eye more and makes you understand the concept of the reason behind the image.
The footprints are walking over the image of the 'spiritual presence' which shows disobedience to God.

I decided to try the concept out with a different image, to see how it looked:

I like the idea of this image, and felt that it looked better than with the other background image, as the colours contrasted more and made the message more apparent, as the footprints stood out more.
However, I felt that the footprints just looked like they were put on without any thought. I wanted to make them look like they were someone walking over the landscape:

I seperated the footprints to make them two seperate photos. This made it easier for me to make them look like they were actually walking across the landscape.
I also used the blending change 'darken' on photoshop, instead of 'overlay', which I felt made them stand out more.



I then used the eraser tool on photoshop to cut out a footprint.
I really like this image because it is presented very uniquely, which automatically catches your eye.
I also feel that, because it is very in your face, it makes the message of the image more evident and easy to see, which makes the viewer more effectively challenged.

I took some other shots of footprints in some frost on an early morning:

I overlayed it onto the landscape image: 

On this image you cannot see the footprints, which means that the message is not received by the viewer. I also don't like the fact that it only overlays the middle of the image, as it shows the cut off point of the photo. However, I like texture that it brings as an overall image, as it helps you relate to nature and creation. 

Like Charles Cramer does, it brings atmosphere and emotion through the image, as the 'overlay' emphasizes the textures.