Skye Silver

I have known about Skye Silver's work for a few years because my mum has quite a collection of their beautiful jewellery. My parents came across Skye Silver on their honeymoon on Skye and have been customers ever since.

They use the silver to depict and often coat natural objects such as shells, leaves, pine cones and snowflakes. Recently they have started adding some stones and also using some enamel to enhance their designs.

I really like their work because they use natural objects as their inspiration and I have included them in my research because I wanted to try to copy some of their shapes in my Extending Specialist Techniques unit.

Here are some photos of their work:

 

 

 

 

 

I would love to learn how to make such beautiful jewellery at some point in the future.

 

 

 

Hockney Vs Soraya

The two photographers that I have chosen to compare the work and style of are David Hockney and Margaret Soraya.

I chose these photographers because whilst they both take photos of landscapes, their approaches - and therefore results - are completely different.

David Hockney creates his collages by taking multiple photos of the same subject from different angles and then sticks them together to create the full landscape. Hockney’s collages are very colourful and the viewers’ eye is drawn to the different parts of the collage which are often mini photos in their own right. I think there can be quite a lot to look at/ find in his collages which make them more interesting.

Soraya on the other hand uses one photograph of a landscape to create her beautiful photos, very often involving amazingly still water which creates a serene atmosphere and incredible reflections in the water. The photos with the misty atmosphere give a sense of mystery which I really like. Soraya’s photographs are either black and white or monochrome which in itself adds interest to the photos.

Margaret Soraya’s photos are mostly empty with little or no movement whereas David Hockney’s photo collages are full of life and energy. I like both of these styles and if they were put together I think they would create a really nice balance between Hockney’s energetic, lively pieces and Soraya’s more peaceful, contemplative photographs.

It was interesting researching the different photographers and comparing their techniques. I look forward to trying out both of their techniques in the future.

Location Photography

The term "Location Photography" is used for pretty much everything  and can be divided into interior and exterior locations. It covers street photography, landscape photography (which includes cities), wedding photography, beach photography, venues and commercial photography. All of these can then be further divided into subcategories.

The photographers whose work I have looked at are:

Sam Cornwell
David Hockney
Robert Mapplethorpe
Margaret Soraya
Ansel Adams
Leigh Richardson
John Parris

I found it really interesting looking at these photographers' work and finding out a little about their style/technique, etc.

John Parris

John Parris is a wedding and portrait photographer, who won "Photographer of the Year Scotland 2015".

I know a bit about his work because when I was doing the Creative Fashion course (along with seven other girls) at Selkirk High School in S6, John Parris was the photographer for both the photoshoot at the Haining and the fashion show in March.

The following photos are a selection from the Haining photoshoot:

There was also a  sort of parents preview evening where he revealed everyone's photos and also did a short presentation about his work. I can still remember him talking about how he sometimes carries his camera in the crook of his arm so that he can take photos without people knowing because he likes the more natural, not-posing-for-the-photo reaction. There was one photo in particular that I remember of a boy peering out the corner of a window but unfortunately I could not find it on the Parris Photography website.

Leigh Richardson

Leigh Richardson is a photographer who mostly uses the environment as his subject matter. This ranges from close ups of flowers to forest floors to busy roads and cityscapes. He uses digital editing software on his photos.

I came across one of his photos on a card and decided to find out more about his work. However the only information I could find was on his Digital Photographer page.  There are a lot of amazing photos in his gallery, including the photo I saw on the card although it has a different title - the card says the photo is called "Sunset Over Durdle Door" but his gallery says it is called "Fire in the Durdle Sky".

I would have used the image from his gallery but when I tried to insert the image it was blurred, so this is a photo of the card.

I really like Richardson's work and I would be interested in trying to take some similar photos of plants/flowers, etc. at some point.