Lucid Dream

Lucid dreaming is essentially having consciences while you dream, also the dreamer is able to control the environment of the dream world, lucid dreams are often realistic and vivid. It is shown that there are higher amounts of beta-1 frequency band (13–19 Hz) brain wave activity experienced by lucid dreamers, hence there is an increased amount of activity in the parietal lobes making lucid dreaming a conscious process.

Paul Tholey, an oneirologist and Gestalt theorist laid the epistemological basis for the research of lucid dreams. these seven factors are what determine the difference between a lucid dream and a dream.

1. Awareness of the dream state (orientation);
2. Awareness of the capacity to make decisions;
3. Awareness of memory functions;
4. Awareness of identity;
5. Awareness of the dream environment;
6. Awareness of the meaning of the dream;
7. Awareness of concentration and focus (the subjective clarity of that state).

This paralysis is caused by neurons in the brainstem that block signals from the action-generating areas in the brain to the spinal nerves and muscles. The shutdown happens when Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep starts, meaning that dreaming of even the most energetic actions results in no more than a slight twitch. One of the few actions that are not paralysed, however, is eye movement. This is where REM sleep gets its name from and this window of free action provides the lucid dreamer a way of signalling to the outside world.

Paul Schneggenburger Long Exposure

These are three of the long exposure of couples sleeping project Paul did a while back, it investigates how couples sleeps together. its called the sleep of beloved. ver 80 couples and even some small families volunteering to share this intimate time in front of the camera, each gaining revelations about their nocturnal connectedness. Some couples are intertwined for the majority of the night, others touching at all times, and some turn their backs to one another. this technique can actually be used in my final project, as i am attempting to documenting the relationship between the "dream world" and "reality " when you sleep.

Andre De Freitas Double Exposure Inspiration

This is two double exposures done by Andre De Freitas, as i decide upon that i would base my final project on to dreaming and sleep. this two piece of Freitas, thats suits whats in my mind. merging the dream world and the reality in one photograph. Only while we sleep we believe in ourselves and we be true to ourselves, therefore i think it is important to show that.

Landscape and portraits ideas for final project

These are two landscape i took, one represents the sun rise, and one represents the sunset. both of them has the same basic composition, however i moved on the first photo while taking. but the subject of both photo is clear, one is the smoke, one is the reflection of the sun, to improve this two photography would be following the rules of golden ratio as well as rules of thirds. By reframing these photographs they would look gorgeous.

This is an attempt of extreme close up of body parts inspired by Miguel Ribeiro to depict the human body as an object, peel of the human texture. http://www.miguelribeirophoto.com/abstract-body.html

                            
This is an attempt of photographing subject sleeping, as for my final project i plan to base on the topic of dreaming, inner spaces, lucid dreaming, sleeping. these are some attempts of how i could photograph subject sleeping. i think the framing of all three photographs is acceptable, and aperture is tuned correctly, and especially the second photograph the subject face is on the perfect spot of the golden ratio, the audience would immediately look at my subject before looking at any other thing in the photograph. this makes my photography able to convey meaning that i want to express. on the right track!

Test of different Inspirations

This is an attempt of a close up side view portrait, however, the focus is completely off and due to low light condition, i have to use a slower shutter speed, which result the shakiness of the photo. this reminds me the importance of light control in a photograph, i should consider learning how to work with a flash and lights in an indoor environment. 

This is an attempt of using reflections and mirror to create a image however the focus is off, and the framing needs work.

this is an attempt of slow shutter speed with movement inspired by Jesus Armand http://jarmandstudio.com 

This two photos are attempts to take extreme close up to create photographs of double exposure, inspired by http://andredefreitas.com/Double-Exposures Andre de Freitas, however these are fail attempts therefore i did not continue using them to make double exposure in photoshop.

this is an attempt of again creating the depth of field using low exposure, however due to unsteady hands it is very blur.

these are my portrait practice, i feel more comfortable and confident with taking portraits then i was before, the composition and control of focus seems to improved.

Learn from mistakes

I was trying to photograph the broken glass, my friend broke however under low light condition and with out lights to support it is very hard to focus the broken pieces of glass. 

this is again mistake on focus, i should take more time on to creating and composing the framing of a photograph rather then taking a lot of photographs with out thinking.

This is to remind not always rely on the low aperture and foreground focus that create this kind of pictures.

i have to observe light before taking photograph even more in order to avoid shaky photos like these.

This is the only photo i like from this blog post, the smoke highlights the whole photo as it is framed to fit on to the golden ratio. also the blend between the smoke and the clouds makes a great combination

Portrait in low light and aperture test

This is to test the aperture of the camera to see how different aperture can affect the light of the photograph, but also the blueness and depth of field of a photography the above i used low aperture to create this fore ground clear and background blur effect, the lower the aperture the more difference between the foreground and background.

This is the exactly opposite of tunning the aperture to the highest so that less light goes in to the lens, creating a image more of a contrast, this would especially nice if a photographer aims to show high contrast and wants to show less blueness.

this is an attempt of indoor low light setting

This is one of the protest for the terrorist attack in france a couple weeks ago. i especially framed the women in the yellow umbrella(as it represents the umbrella revolution in hong kong as well) on to the golden ratio, while leaving the focus to infinite in order to show the slogans at the back as well. i think this is a good example of journalism photography. 

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These are some of the attempts of street portrait in low light conditions, the composition of all three photos seems to be lacking in terms of conveying meaning of significance. Although the composition were not very up to standard i feel i am more used to engaging with the subject, and i am more able to capture their emotions.

Landscape 1

This is an attempt to apply rules of third and golden ratio in to one photograph by putting the light behind the tree on the left creating a silhouette look of the tree, however, the focus is off and the framing needs work.

This is one of my favourite photos, by using the bridge and the car as a follow to the end of the road, which is a tree but the shape of it looks very similar to how an explosion would look. the car was purposely waited to be at the at point of the road in order to create an atmosphere of the end of the world, that this red car looks to be getting away from the dying planet.

These were attempts to show depth of field, through putting the focus on the fore ground objects leaving out the background creating this kind of overlaying things on to another photography feel to it, almost looks like a college, i think the second attempt was more successful. However, the first one still seems to show the isolation of the first branch with the others through the focus.

Portrait 2 Practice

This photo aims to create a non focused subject, i choose to focus on the first cart rather, than tuning it to infinite so that the subject is focused. this creates a sense of mystery, and that the subject could be anyone. Representing the lost and unclear memory of our childhood, as we grow the more we forget about out past, not until death comes near we do not remember and thinking that memories are that much of a significance in our life.

This is an attempt to engage with a subject that is a stranger and approaching the photo with out his awareness, in order to capture its most natural emotion, documenting the metro. The focus of this photo needs work, and aperture as well. However, the subjects seems to show the isolation of people in modern society.

These were attempts to create contrast between the size and ratio of the building background and the subject in the middle. The focus needs work, also this is a failed attempt to engage with my subject. however, i think aesthetically the composition and framing is quite interesting.

Portrait 1 Pratice

These are three portraits i took a week ago from my camera, i was practicing my skills of interacting with the subject while taking a portrait and i have found the importance of being able to frame the composition correctly while capturing the right moment of the subject. for the first two photos the cat (subject) was weirdly stable it did not move at all as long as i don't stay too close. i think both of the cat portrait captures the emotion of the cat especially the first one, the people walking in the background, signify how alone and how attention seeking the cat is. One of the lacking qualities of the photo would probably the golden ratio, if i slightly shifted the subject to the right while taking this photography aesthetically it would be even more pleasing to the eye.

The above photograph aims to capture movement and create a sense of connection between the subject and the background through their colours, the wall that almost cuts the photo in to half, seems to separate the reality, and the dream world, which we all go in to while we sleep, we often ignore through walking parallel with it, simply not seeing the potential of the inner space and power that everyone of us has. In terms of techniques the photo needs a bit more of the right angel and framing it could be slightly titled to the right and the whole composition should make the line between reality and dream world in the middle.

Shop Keeper Task

To produce a set of shots of the shopkeeper as follows:

1. A head and shoulders shot. Same as the in class exercise… this means they have to interact with the subject, move them to a suitable spot etc.

2. A wider shot of them in the workplace or outside… posed, more context… (i.e.

standing outside the coffee shop)

3. A shot of them working (i.e. making the coffee)

4. A shot of them interacting (i.e. serving a customer at the table)

5. A contextual shot without them. (i.e. the coffee)