1. Take photos of action figures on ice for a unique environment 2. Edit photos to make the action figures seem natural within the environment
Research
Because it was hard to find pictures of figures on ice, I decided to find images of action figures in different/unique environments. These photos are great because of they're use of snow and grass. The one on the left is in the snow and that allows the photo to have a cold feel. The shadows also have a blue color and that adds variety in the photo. The one on the right is a clonetrooper walking in what seems to be grass. Before editing, I'm sure the photo had an interesting color palette but because the artist chose to have black and white, it creates a balanced photo. The clone trooper is mostly showing its shaded side so it stands out from the lighter grass.
Because the photos were taken in unique environments, it inspired me to do the same. For my photos I'm going to take photos of my figures on ice and although it'll be a small thing of ice, the figures will make it seem that it's a large environment.
New Photos
I tried to use a unique environment for the figures to be in so I took photos of them on a sheet of ice on a cloudy day. The cloudy added a desaturated feel to the photo and because it was around noon, there was a lot of light and the shadows seemed a little brighter. Because it was ice I was posing the figures on, I found it hard to pose them in a walking "manner." This resulted in the figures being posed in a standing stance.
Final Edits
For one of the edited photos, I made it black and white with contrasting shadows and the photo has some cyan/bluish elements to add a cool feel to the photo. Two other photos all have a cool feel to it and the reds of the clone troopers have more of a vibrant feel to them and that contrasts the slightly desaturated, cool environment. One of the photos is overall "cold" with desaturated colors and a bluish tint applied to many elements of the photo.
Printed/Matted Photo
(Date not part of printed/matted photo)
5 Step Critique
Observe: The photo has a mud trooper and two clone troopers from Star Wars that are posed on a sheet of ice. Describe: The environment is a sheet of ice on the lower horizontal third of the photo with two clone troopers and one mud trooper standing on it. The mud trooper takes up about the middle fifth of the photo while the two clone troopers fill the two left fifths of the photo. The backdrop of the figures consist of a big rock behind the mud trooper, another rock to the lower right of the mud trooper, and behind the rocks are branches and grass. Pre-edit, the branches and grass had some color but were desaturated to emphasize the colors of the figures. Besides the figures, the whole photo has a desaturated/cold filter to it accompanied with little cyan tints here and there. Selective color was used to alter the hue of different colors of the photo and to emphasize certain colors of the photo. Analyze: Color and emphasis are two things that interact to make the photo more interesting because the colors of the figures have more vibrancy compared to the backdrop of the photo and creates the impactful emphasis. The background elements were desaturated and slightly darkened to bring out the vibrant red on the figures which grabs the viewers attention. This connection between color and emphasis is important because it makes the viewer look at what is meant to be the subject of the photo which is the figures. If everything was vibrant and bright, the figures wouldn't stand out and they would fall within the backdrop. To make the photo "3D," the figures had to be vibrant and the backdrop had to be desaturated to show the distance between the two. Shape and repetition are two things that also interact to make the photo more interesting. The three figures have similar shapes and it creates repetition which then creates a "path" for the viewer to follow. Because they're all red, it grabs the viewers attention to look at the figures first, and then the viewer can look at the non shape defined elements of the photo. This is important because if everything was similar, the viewer could end up looking everywhere which is not the idea for this photo. The idea is to look at the figures first, then the backdrop second. Interpret: The overall mood of the photo could be contemplation. The two similar clone troopers are to the left of the photo and they seem to be doing their own thing and they have their own color scheme so that separates them from the central mud trooper of the photo. The mud trooper is the central figure but the photo is taken in a way to make it seem smaller and that adds to contemplation mood. The mud trooper is alone and he has a different color scheme than the clone troopers so it seems as if he could be contemplating that he's insignificant in terms of the role he serves. Evaluate: The photo accomplishes the objectives because the ice is visible and because one of the figures is looking at the ice, the viewer will wanna try and follow the figure's line of sight. Because ice is usually associated with cold, the photo also has a cold temperature to it which seems to add more drama to it. Another thing the photo does well is the eye pleasing clash of color because of the vibrant red on the figures that balances out the cold which allows more elements to be viewed by the viewer. The only thing I would change is to include more ice in the photo to make the environment more unique.