The swimming and flocking is working!

I'm very happy as the tadpoles are finally swimming in a nice fluid movement and they change direction on their own. They spawn from the middle of the code and swim outwards. They don't touch the edges of the screen as if trapped in a fish tank.

Also now when I press the mouse down the tadpoles swim to the mouse and then slowly depart. However when the mouse is held down the tadpoles freeze which is something I would like to attempt to fix.

If I can work out how, I would also like to move my mouse through the code and interrupt the tadpoles movement, forcing them to depart and swim away.

I also now need to focus on colour. Working on a good colour palette will help my code to be much more stronger and effective. I'm thinking of trying a photograph background to see if it portrays tadpoles better.

I also need to experiment with different screen sizes to see which is more effective for this code.

progress - the tadpoles are fluttering

I had just one dot moving extremely fast from the x and y position. It appeared that it was fluttering and not swimming.

I then made an array with many dots doing this movement. It wasn't the swimming motion that I wanted but it was a start as it wasn't just moving horizontally or vertically anymore.

Final Images

Rewritten Proposal

My aim is to explore the human portrait by photo manipulation. They must still look like a photographic medium but either look like a persons face or an alien like creature.

I will achieve this by taking well lit photographs of three models faces at the same height and angle. These portraits alone will be good photographs. I will then mix their faces to create a new character. I will also use photo manipulation and colour to make an altered human species. The viewer will see a series that begins with three close ups of faces but then changes into something more interesting.

This illusion will create unique characters and it's purpose is to elude and entertain the viewer.

Figuring out which photographs work best together

Am trying to figure out which photograph of Rachel to use. The second one will work better when merging the faces I think but the first one looks better with the other two. I think I may use the first one when just showing her face but when merging, use this second one.

Irving Penn - artist model

Irving Penn is an American photographer and best known for his fashion photography. However, I really like his black and white portrait style.

The photos are lit in a very interesting way. They're very high in contrast and create very interesting shadow on the subjects faces. I would love to emulate this in my own work for this project.

Adriadne Photography

I am especially inspired by Adriadne's studio photography. her models appear to be very well lit and although using just plain backgrounds, I find the composition, colours and expressions on the models faces to be very successful. I would love to emulate this style by having very crisp photographs with correct white balance as hers appear to have.

Simon Woolf

Simon Woolf is a well known photographer in Wellington New Zealand. He does some great commercial and portrait photography. I especially love his studio style and how well lit his photographs are.

His black and white style is especially beautiful. He tries to catch people looking happy.

Second Shoot images (2 new models)

Weekly task - HDR photograph

Taken at Oriental Bay - Wellington.

Light Painting Weekly task

Editing and White Balance

Before the white balance adjustments

several experiments....

After fiddling with the RGB hue adjustments in curves, this is what I consider the correct result for the white balance. 

I choose to edit the images I like the most and find most effective at the moment. However I did take a lot of photos and it's going to take time to sort through them all. These ones are just of my models face..

First shoot images

Micheal Muller - Artist Inspiration

Micheal Muller is one of my artist models because of his amazing, professional portraits. I'm especially inspired by those in which he took in a studio. He has very clear images which portray emotions and convey the models (or in Muller's case, actor/musician's) character in a very unique and true way. I wish to capture this in my own work. I also really like the use of his lighting and editing techniques.

I really like the shadows created on the face and shirt. I would like to experiment with lighting such as this in my own work.

I think this is a really lovely black and white image composed very well. Although it cuts off the models shoulders it adds a motion like the photographer caught the model as he was leaning forward. I also really like how the model is making eye contact with the camera combined with a very curious expression on his face.

I really like how just one side of the models face is illuminated. This is because it creates a very mysterious, two dimensional effect.

The focus on the face is really effective as the sides of her face are slightly out of focus. Her eyes are very compelling in this photograph and I would like to capture this in my own work.

The shadows make a really interesting photograph.

Again, I like how just one side of his face is illuminated with the combination of the white background.

I really like how well lit this photograph is, I'd like to achieve this in some of the photographs in my own work.

I love how the photographer has really caught this actor during a natural emotion such as smiling and laughing. This makes this photograph much more natural and appealing to the viewer.