My Double Exposure Photos.

If you look around on the internet and in any good photography magazine you'll find no end of examples of people playing around with the technique of Double Exposure whether with old 35mm cameras or with a similar technique to what I've used in the following section with my own work, so why have I chosen to approach this section in this way? It was kind of a natural progression from my last assignment on the National Parks, I looked at the process of the Camera Obsure and when searching for work along these lines came up with quiet a few images that came under the heading of Double Exposure. A lot of the work I found either combined images nature with people, people and building or building and nature looking at the contrasts between this kinds of elements, what I couldn't find was anyone who'd used this effect to produce a collection with any kind of message about conservation. I'm not saying know ever has it's just as I write this I have't yet found anyone who's come up with a similar approach as the idea I had. This kind of photography wasn't something I'd ever had a great deal of experience with as I hadn't used many older film cameras that made this effect possible and somehow it felt like the right creative route to be moving my work in, to begin with I had to come up with a way of reproducing the effect in a digital medium which mean't a little bit of trial and error work until I had a way that I felt really capture the original. To do this I settle on using Layers in Photoshop by taking one photo and pasting a second over the top then using layer effects to blend the two together (usually overlay,soft light,screen etc) to create the images you see below. A small amount of Eraser work was also needed in some cases but what I had in the back of my mind at all times was that the end result didn't want to end up looking too faked or unrealistic for a better word as some work can end up being when Photoshop is used to much. Below are the end results of this process.

This first image focuses on one of the real issues we find in our gardens today and that's predation. Cats and other predators are using our gardens more and more because in a round about way we're making it easier for them to hunt by feeding birds giving them a regular and accessible area to go after these birds from plenty of cover. For this point to be made I think this image works really well with the starring yellow eyes seemingly watching the bird intently. I think if you're going to encourage people to make there gardens a more wildlife friendly place they also have to know the effect there pets might have on these plans.

Here I wanted to make a point about a garden can be a place that has multiple uses, there's a couple more photos further down in this section which look at the similar theme but here its more showing how you can use your space for everyday needs such as grow food, drying cloths etc but at the same time make it a space suitable for wildlife in this case say a family of birds.

Feeding our wild birds is something many of us use our gardens for these days, whether this is from the increase in wildlife programs on tv or more down to the fact that we like to see our self's as a wildlife loving nation who knows. To illustrate this fact and to show just what you're likely to see I started off with a simple background of seed and then combined it with photos of birds from my own back garden. For me I think the second of the Wood Pigeon works best because the bird looks like its made up of seed because of how well the photos blend.

People sometimes don't realize how important flowering plants are in our gardens today for the many insects that need them as a food source, there many plants out there that aren't expensive and really don't need that much looking after but can be vital to so many species. For this point I've used a flower photo and then blended it with a Butterfly photo that colour wise has made a very eye catching example.

The use of chemicals in our gardens has had over the years an effect on the wildlife number, take for example the use of slug/snail bate had removed from there gardens what some keen gardeners regarded as a pest but this then has in turn had an effect on other species. If I take my garden as an example over the years I've seen less and less Thrushes of either kind because there just isn't the supply of food there once was, this is down to the killing of snails with pesticides but also could be effected by our habit of having less and less undergrowth in our gardens for the snails/slugs to find there own food and shelter. What this photo really symbolizes is the delicate tree of life that you find in your garden, you remove one species and the effect is felt in many others that rely on it for there own survival.

This image again looks at the importance of flowering plants but this time to do with Bee issues. Over the last few years a lot has been said and written about falling bee numbers and how this is down to a few issues be it bad winters early springs, disease and use of pesticides but there's one we can do something about and that's there food source. More and more gardens are becoming filled with concrete and losing flowers and plants that the bees need to survive, again as with the butterfly image before this one just tries to show with little effort you can make a differents to a struggling species.

With the two above photos I wanted to look at what life can be brought into our gardens by the introduction of water. By adding a pond know matter how large or small it can soon become the most wild space in the whole of your green space. The background image is a simple shot of a pond surface covered in plant life, in the first image I've blend a dragonfly photo and in the second you find a frog starring out at you. With both of these they weren't the easiest to blend because of the darker background so some use of the Eraser tool in Photoshop was needed just to make the top images not be lost into the background too much, to get the required results it was just a matter of playing with the opacity controls until I was happy with how the final images looked.

With these two images I wanted to focus on the fact that you're garden shouldn't be a concrete jungle and that it can be made into a wildlife friendly place at the same time. The first image combines the slabs concrete background with an image highlighting this multi use nature with plenty of greenery while still having room for bins and other household items in the background. To me this gets pretty much right to the point in that you can see the message clearly, the second image is me trying to be a little more clever in that I've combined the man made concrete slabs with the more natural leaf structure photo to say again that you have to try and make room in our gardens for nature. Here I liked the way the very symmetrical straight and uniformed lines of the slabs are broken up by the more seemingly random approach of the leaf structure giving the image a very different and contrasting rhythm.


At this point I've got to say I feel good about how this assignment is coming together, I know my tutor will have her own say on how to improve or alter it but to me it feels quiet a strong piece with a message hopeful that is clear and runs throughout that there are simple straightforwards things we can all do in what ever shape or size gardens we own that can give nature a helping hand and do our own little bit for conservation.