Masao Yamamoto

Masao Yamamoto is a Japanese freelance photographer who captures the harmonious details of life and that some people haven't seen. He focuses on the identity of nature and edits his pictures to look ancient and more eerie. Masao Yamamoto explores the emotional power of photography not only through nature but also people. I picked this photographer because I was mesmerized by his work as well as it brought my attention and interests towards nature and made me look at the topic of nature and living creatures in a different perspective and to explore the different ideas of it. I was interested in taking pictures of nature after seeing this photo. When I saw this photo it looked magical and it looked very pleasing to the eye. It looks very relaxed and calming and the black background makes the bird stand out more. I think the bird and the reflection is the most formal element because I feel the reflection on the water is related to identity and and how to express and explore your identity by your appearance and how you look. I think most of his work is on reflections because appearance is a essential part of your identity. I think the camera he used plays the big role in the photos he captures because the texture of the photo and the colour of the photo is the most eye catching in my opinion. As well as the use of the dark lifeless background that contrasts with the purity of the bird and the how it focuses on the bird and the reflection. I picked this image because I really like the way its presented and how well and clear it was taken. We can see the details and even the reflection very clearly. When I see this image the contextual and visual part of this photo is the most I adore about.

In this picture we can see that Yamamoto used a white flower to contrast the black background. He placed the flower in the middle to gain attention. The photo also gives a very aesthetic feel to it which is very attracting. The lighting he used for this is looks like he wanted to make it not too bright but instead paid attention to the details on the flower and where the light is coming from. He makes it seem like he's using natural lighting. I think the use of the grainy film is to depict the topic of memory and aging. The way I see this picture is that the flower never ages and that could represent our souls or the way we behave and you can see that the background is i contrast to it as it looks old and wrecked. It could also represent the idea of youth and looks. The lightly yellow tint gives the picture a rusty appearance and it fits well with the grainy film.

PHOTOSHOOT PLAN

What is my idea?

My idea is to take nature based photos such as animals plants and trees to then later on develop and edit

Who / what has inspired me?

I am inspired by the work of Masao Yamamoto and how he presents the subject of identity

Sketch / Plan

My plan is to use monochromatic imagery in the style of Masao Yamamoto

Setting / Location

For this photoshoot I am going to take photos in Holland park specifically in Kyoto and Fukushima Garden

Lighting

I will be using natural lighting which will look exceptional once I finish editing

Pose / Style

I will be using filters and to explore the idea of monochromatic imagery which will hopefully develop to look like Masao Yamamoto's work

Camera angle / Position

My camera will be a front view of my subject/object so I can capture a full image so I have more to work with

Main challenges of the shoot

I think the main challenge is to find the wildlife but also capturing the images in the right lighting

Reflection of the shoot

I just hope this shoot will go very well and hope the outcome will look outstanding after it is edited

Contact Sheet

Developments exploring colour

For my first set of developments I was mainly focusing on how I could make this edit look as close as to Yamamoto's work and I'm pretty proud of the outcome. While I was editing I could notice that the photographers work was all tinted in yellowish green and was made to look very antique. Im very satisfied with the results but I think there wasn't a variety to edit. Although the problem was that there weren't enough photos I was able to make it look similar to Yamamoto's work and I am very proud of that. The lighting in the photo was very dull that day but I think that it was meant to be because I didn't really have to mess around with the lighting of the picture when I was editing so it was a big head start. My favourite edits were the last edit and the second edit because it looked the most similar to his work. I made the colour of the trees in my last edit darker and more intense so it seems more like a shadow and you can also see that the branches are more defined in contrast to the more brighter sky. To take this photo I needed to find the perfect set of trees and I was lucky to find one that had a huge gap where the light shone through and then I placed the phone on the floor and took the picture.

Process logs - Technique

For my first set of developments I decided to just make the very simple and not too over done. This is so I can show my progressions throughout the portfolio. I started off by picking my most favourite picture. Once I've done that I turned the picture black and white and lowered the opacity of the black and white layer so I can tint it later on. I also tried experimenting with saturation and colour. Once that is done I used photo filter and tinted the picture an orangish-yellow. This was only for my basic edits.

Considering Masao Yamamoto's presentation and composition

yamamoto-masao-microcosms-macrocosms-installation-photos-5.jpg

Experimenting with composition

For my further developments I decided to focus on composition and I am confident the edits I have done are really explicit and very professional. My most favourite edit is probably the first one because I think I really gave attention to every detail and the contrast of the black background makes the artifact stand out. I have brought out the topic of isolation and loneliness. The before and after of this photo I took is flawless. The fourth edit looks very whimsical and unique. The idea of this photo was to make it look peculiar and interesting so that it grabs attention and is eye catching.

To make the first edit, I cropped out most of the negative space and zoomed in on the statue so that it is the main focus. After that I decided to turn the picture black and white and I then turned down the opacity so that it is easier to tint. I also tried experimenting on the gradient maps but it didn't really workout so I scratched that idea and burned the background leaving only the stone pathway so that the picture looked not too isolated and so that it looks like it was taken out of a eerie film. Once I burned the background I tried out and played around with the contrast and lighting so that I can highlight the lighter and darker parts of the photo and then to define the little details of the picture. After that I used the curves tool to make the shadows stand out more, this also helped to elucidate the highlights. Finally to finish off the picture I used photo filter and made the photo a dark tint of orange.

Redraft contact sheet

For my redraft shoot, I decided to go back to Holland Park but this time focus on lighting and plants. I like how this shoot went because the flowers are very detailed and the natural lighting makes the photo look very clarified and pretty. My favourite picture is probably the Heliotrope purple flower because it looks the most eye-catching and very focused. My challenge when editing these photos will be to make it look less vibrant and more desaturated.

Redraft Developments - Exploring colour inspired by Masao Yamamoto

For my further developments I decided to experiment with gradient maps. For these developments I used textures from the internet. I think I went way out of focus on Yamamoto's work and made something nice but not to my expectations. I think the gradience and colours are very warm and bright. My expectations were to make the colours cool and yellowish green tinted but now it looks like it was captured in a old film. Im not disappointed but simultaneously I feel like I have not reached my goals and haven't succeeded in my challenges. Although it did not turn out how I thought it would, I really like the fact out of the pictures look really defined and detailed. The 8th edit looks very detailed and you can see it out stands a lot. I made the below parts of the flower darker and the layer above brighter to show the contrast. This made it look more professional and eye catching.

I wanted to focus on fixing my mistakes and turning the faults into something relating to my photographer. I will re edit some of the photos since this might be a good way to gain extra marks by pointing out my mistakes and turning it into something better.

Redraft contact sheet 3

I wanted to do as much as possible to show that I understand and want to express this artists work a lot so I took a final redraft shoot. I can see how I developed in taking pictures from the start to the end of this artists portfolio. I really like the pictures of the fish I took because you can see them very clearly compared to the first photoshoot I did. Some of the pictures I took are with low exposure you can see the shadows of the branches in contrast to the bright blue sky.

This is my final developments , To make this edit I used as much negative space as I could to show the isolation. I first made the picture black and white and contrasted the fish with the background to make the fish stand out more then lowered the opacity and layered over a photo filter. Then I went ahead and drew on with the burn tool to make the background a solid black to express the emptiness. To finish it off I experimented with curves and finally used a brush to draw on some shadow on the fish. I like this edit because when I see it, it makes me feel the isolation of the fish emotionally and I also like how it stands out amongst the empty blackness around it. It contrasts to the background because it is in middle of the picture.

For this edit, I used as much skills as possible from my previous editing and I like the outcome of the edit too. I started off with making the picture black and white and then I contrasted the duck to the water and made the duck brighter. I also used this to define the ripples of the water so it is more detailed. After this I tried experimenting with gradients but it didn't look very good so I didn't use it. Instead I used the colour lookup tool which had a variety of many combinations of colour filters to pick from. I chose this filter because it looks like the photo has aged. I then drew with the burn tool around the edges of the photo bring a zoom in to the duck . This also gives an aged affect to the photo