Term 2 - Week 3 - Digital Technology 2 - Auckland Museum Response

At the Auckland Memorial Museum a man called Shaun Higgens has talked to everyone. We've been to the photography studio in the museum taking photos of birds and shells. They take photos of lots of objects which are different sizes.

Context:
At the museum the Photographers are woking in the Archival Genre. They are taking photos of the objects so they have a photographic record of them. They are taking photos in the studio with plain backgrounds and studio lighting. I could see their work online or in a collection. When I look at all of the photos I know they are pictorial records of objects in the Museum.



http://www.prophotographer.co.nz/features-test/017/museums

http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collections-research/collections/about-our-collections/pictorial-collections/about-the-pictorial-collections

Auckland Museum added 2 new photos.

22 May at 18:57 · 

Over from ‪#‎AMnature‬ our Curator Land Vertebrates Matt Rayner has been investigating some interesting features of the Eurasian skylark: 

“Now I already thought Eurasian skylarks (http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/eurasian-skylark) were cool birds. But recently our collections imaging team took these wonderful shots leading me to find out that skylarks have some of the longest toe nails of any of our feathered friends, which is even cooler!

Naturally there were some scientists out there that studied why this is. The researchers compared skylarks living in grassland habitats versus those living in bare ground habitats and found those who have to walk on grass were consistently more endowed in the nail department. Turns out skylarks long toenails are a form of grass snowshoe…wicked!”

 

I've had a nice chat to Jen about the birds and how she enjoyed photographing different colours and different details.

Auckland Museum added 4 new photos.

11 May at 22:37 · 

"Truth has again proved to be stranger than fiction; and the Howard Mystery, or the Story of the Severed Hand, which has been becoming day by day for the past three months only more and more mysterious, far surpasses in interest any production of the novelist even in these days of sensational stories and thrilling incidents." 

In December 1885, a severed hand was found on a Christchurch beach. A mechanic named Arthur Howard had mysteriously gone missing some weeks earlier, and his wife identified the hand as belonging to him. Yet Mr. Howard was soon found alive and well in Petone, and was convicted of attempting to defraud the insurance company. The owner of the hand was never identified. 

‪#‎AucklandMuseum‬ ‪#‎AMcollection‬ HV 6322 SEV. 1886.

They were photographing so they could document digitally.

Auckland Museum

3 May at 19:49 · 

It was a task no mother wanted to do - send out bereavement cards for her fallen son. 

Sergeant Vivian Kavanagh was killed at Flanders in 1917. Families attempted to practice bereavement rituals, despite their separation from the graves of their loved ones. Vivian's mother, Mrs C Kavanagh of Grey Lynn, sent out bereavement cards to those who had expressed their sympathy.

With so many deaths, special memorial cards were produced bearing the various regimental badges. Sergeant Kavanagh's was the New Zealand Rifle Brigade.

 Museum

5 May at 19:48 · 

Military uniforms often replaced formal suits for wartime wedding attire. On occasion wartime brides in the armed services wore their uniform too.

Nurse Lesley Fletcher married 2nd Lieut William George Hill in Helwan, Egypt in 1943. She started her general training in 1935 and gained her diploma. Lesley joined the Army Nursing Service and after a year at Waiouru Military Camp was posted to the hospital ship Maunganui which carried wounded home to New Zealand.

Lesley met her f...

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We've been in to the room where they stored some of the photography archives. I've found it so interesting

My Response - Photos of Small Objects - Self Directed

Context:
In this mini Project I am working with the idea of Photographing Small Objects with a plain white background. I am influenced by the Photography of Objects at the museum. They take photos of Museum Objects which can be big and small. They take photos in the studio. The photos have a plain white background. They use studio lights so it's even light. I'm going to take good photos of small objects on a plain white background made with white paper. I've used a speed light to light the photo so the light was even like studio lighting.

F8 1/125 ISO 800

I've taken this photo of all the objects. I can only see some of the curtain but not much of it at all.  This photo has got more light. All of these objects are close together. This photo has been taken in the dining room. I've used the tripod.



In camera raw I've put the tint up to +8, the exposure down to -0.90, the contrast up to +23, the shadows up to +21 and the whites up to +16 so I see the difference between the before and after.

F6.3 1/125 ISO 800

 I've taken the same photo of all the objects. This photo is far too over exposed so in camera raw I can change the exposure down a little bit but not too much. I really like the shadow. The background is out of focus. I've used the tripod. 

In camera raw I've put the exposure down to -1.60, the contrast up to +28, the shadows up to +31 and the whites up to +18 so I see the difference between the before and after.

F7.1 1/50 ISO 800

I've taken this photo of the piano. I've zoomed in on the piano key because I'm thinking about close up Photography. This photo has been taken with a high angle because I've looked down. I've also made sure that the piano key is in focus. I've used the tripod. 

In camera raw I've put the tint up to +12, the exposure down to -0.70, the contrast up to +63, the shadows up to +48 and the whites up to +36 so I see the difference between the before and after.

F7.1 1/200 ISO 800. 

The iPod screen has got lots of scratches because I've dropped it. I've zoomed right in on the iPod because I'm thinking about close up Photography. This photo has been taken from a high angle because I've looked down. I see a bit of reflection through the iPod. I've used the tripod. 

In camera raw I've put the exposure down to -0.75 so I see the difference between the before and after.

The lighting on the objects was even. It was a very good idea to use the speed light to take the photo. Next time I could use the tripod to get a better angle. If I'm using the tripod I could take photos using a slow shutter speed. These object photos were taken at home and not the Museum. This can make the photos very different. The way I've taken the photos of small objects at my house makes them look similar because of the plain white background and the lighting. I really like taking photos of small objects.