Before I began this unit of photography, I captured lots of photography with a strong sense of mood & atmosphere during my other units of work, as well as during the time I spent exploring photography as a hobby. Here are my top 10 atmospheric photos from before I began this topic.
Photo 1
This is a photo from my Oxford photoshoot, from my Architecture unit. The sky in this photo almost covers the entire sky, it appears like a soft sheet, and makes the atmosphere in this photo feel as if it's a sunny day about the be clouded by dark skies, possibly meaning a storm is about to arise. The building also is very bright with only a small shadow on the left side. The almost empty grounds makes this photo very atmospheric. Although it isn't a unique angle I love how this photo is taken from the very center of this building.
Photo 2
I love the variation in the sky in this photo, with the sun setting behind the bridge in the distance. The reflection of the water is great too, if I could do it again I would use a higher shutter speed and ISO to freeze the motion of the water for a smooth reflection, but nonetheless I love this photo due to the interesting sky, and the reflections in both the water and the buildings. Unfortunately, after a long photoshoot in London that lasted the full day, my camera battery died before the sun properly set and I wasn't able to capture any photos of Canary Wharf at night time.
Photo 3
This photo of the London Eye and Big Ben is atmospheric due to the cloudy skies and variation in the colors, I also love the combination between architecture and nature, despite being in the centre of one of the largest cities in the world, with the trees in the foreground, These trees create a sense of someone looking out of the bushes at the houses of this famous architecture showing it in a new light, with a dull and almost menacing atmosphere to this photo.
Photo 3
This photo is another photo from my Architecture unit, captured with my wide angle lens, from a road near Tyne Bridge, Newcastle. This old style of architecture is very similar to what is seen in the previous photo. I used the wide angle lens again to capture this photo, and the variation in the sky made for a much more appealing photo. I like this photo as it takes a creative spin on the famous piece of architecture that has been photographed thousands of times, showing the Tyne Bridge but rather than being the subject of the photo it is in the background of this dark street. I chose to do this as the architecture all around this area is very interesting, and the way the bridges cover the roads in Newcastle is very interesting, and reminds me of scenery you see in Brookyln, NYC. I love the atmosphere this creates, as the streets are dark despite it being day because of the bridge above.
Photo 4
This photo is of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. This was one of my first experiences using my wide angle lens, as this was my first shoot after purchasing what soon became my personal favourite lens. Because of the wide angle, I was able to capture far more of the scenery. I love the atmosphere here because even though it's a bright sunny day, the area of this image is shadowed by the surrounding buildings, and this city always has a very historic feeling, being one of the most historic cities in Europe. I love the old, historic atmosphere here, the variation in the sky always adds depth to a photo, particularly when the wide angle lens is used that adds more sky to the photograph. Bicycles always surround this library building, and I deliberately placed a row of these cycles in the shot to add atmosphere, detail and avoid capturing another generic photo of this famous building.
This building has undoubtedly been photographed thousands of times and it's a difficult task as a photographer to capture the subject in an innovative way when capturing something that has been done many times before. However, in this instance I believe I've done a good job, the placement of the cycles in the foreground leaves the viewer to question the subject of the photo, and the interesting lighting scheme of the image, along with the lens flare, adds heavily to the atmosphere of this photo.
Photo 6
This first photo is from a beach in Devon. When I first arrived for a small photos-hoot in this small seaside town the weather was a pleasant summer day. As I was walking along the beach with my camera, dark clouds began to form, before a storm that occurred roughly 10 minutes after this photo was taken. I would've liked to captured more photography during the storm, but we had to take shelter in nearby shops due to the extremely strong winds on the coast.
I like the atmosphere in this photo, this image that any other time would be bright and colourful, suddenly turned dark and dour. Literally half an hour before this photo, on this day the beach was full of people, like myself, who were sunbathing, eating Ice-cream and taking part in other summer activities, now the only people who were left here were a few children. Perhaps this shows a childlike innocence, where they were naïve to the incoming storm lost in a world of imagination and enjoyment as children are.
Although on the surface this photo shows a dismal atmosphere, and in the eyes of the pessimist, a beach once full of joy and happiness that has now been dispelled, to me this shows happy people, living in the moment without letting the weather make them feel down. It's a reminder of the beauty of being a child for those who may have long forgotten.
Photo 7
This photo is from Calderstones Park, in the very last week of autumn. The end of the season will always be atmospheric in that it symbolises change, which can be good or bad depending on your view of the world, but ultimately it means that we don't know what is to come. Here the trees are bare, and the ground is littered with fallen leaves, this is why I took this from a low angle, it could make you wonder how many times in the lifespan of these trees has this cycle occurred, the transition from autumn to winter and then back again over the course of each year. What makes this photo even more atmospheric, is the bare and empty landscape, even in the background of the image there is only a dark forest, with nobody to be seen. Perhaps everyone is inside, away from the cold, spending time with their friends and families.
Photo 8
I love the contrast between the foreground and the background in this photo from Birkenhead park during autumn. Here I used an aperture of f/8, low ISO and fast shutter speed to create this effect, where the dark foreground juxtaposes the bright, colourful background to create a photo with an interesting atmosphere. This could have lots of artistic interpretations, perhaps being symbolic of the light over the dark horizon, or the colour that can be found through the darkness. Still, I love how the dark colours draw attention to the beautiful colour of the scenery and its reflection in the background,
Photo 9
I love the atmosphere in this photo, the empty path leads into the bright scenery in the background, but in the foreground we see a dark woods which adds to the feeling of the photo. Due to the time of year, there are leaves scattered all over the floor though the trees are still covered in leaves, creating shadows in the photo.
Photo 10
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Here I used extreme back light to create an interesting silhouette of a person with an umbrella, I love this as it creates interest to the audience by depriving the viewer of light and mid tone textures, and combined with the leading lines of the tunnel it makes the audience curious as to the focal point of the image. The dark shadows and colours make this photo very atmospheric. In atmospheric photography, it's important to pay attention to lighting in image as it can have a huge impact on the mood generated, especially in the dark. Interesting photos can be created by using an oversaturation of light in the dark so the camera will struggle to record photos, which can have interesting results and create atmospheric photos.
I would also like to photograph LED lights at night or in dark places as well as using other light sources creatively to create atmosphere such as Phones, Street Lights, Headlights and torches.