The first photograph I took is of a dying flower. I used a neutral colour background and centered the flower head to ensure all attention was focussed on the flower head. I also took the photograph in portrait format to emphasise the length of the stem and the hanging flower head as this clearly demonstrates the effects of age on the flower. I used lighting shining upwards from the left to highlight the flower head and cast a slight shadow in the top right hand corner. I did this to highlight the details on the intricate flower head and to brighten the purple colour.
The second photograph I took is of candles being blown out. I took this photo in the dark to capture the strong colours of the flame and used a fast shutter speed to capture the flame as it was being blown out. I also used a wide aperture to give a blurred background and keep the viewer's focus on the one candle in focus. In regards to the theme of age, I took this photograph because the blowing out of candles on your birthday cake can symbolise the official change in age.
This is the third photograph I took relating to the theme age. I took this picture because I liked the idea that non-living objects can age too and show signs of age. Furthermore, each photograph pictured captured a moment in time and preserved a memory which too aged with the people in the photographs. I took the picture on the wooden surface as the lines draw the viewer's eyes along the photographs and I used depth of field again to focus on the central picture and keep the photograph from appearing flat.
This is the fourth photograph I took surrounding the theme of age. I took this phototgraph because the bud which is not old and will flower into a beautiful orchid appeared wrinkled and aged as much as the first dying flower. I used natural lighting in this picture shining from the righthand side to emphasise the cracks and the wrinkles on the bud and to enhance the purple/pink colour. Again I used depth of field to focus on the closer bud by blurring out the second bud and part of the stem.
This is the final photograph I took for the theme of age but by far my favourite. I took the picture to focus on my mother's eye specifically her wrinkles surrounding her eye which show natural aging. However, I chose to photograph these wrinkles because they are smiling wrinkles and so, although they represent something our society tries to avoid, aging, they are actually signs of laughing and smiling and happiness. I liked this idea because the theme of age can seem very morbid yet these wrinkles represent something much happier and full of life. To take this photograph I used a dark background and an external light source shining from the left to highlight parts of my mother's face and add shadows elsewhere. I also, used depth of field to focus on her eyes and to blur out her hair in the background. Using editing software, I enhanced the colour of her eye by increasing the saturation and contrast ever so slightly. This also added more emphasis on the shadows and highlights.
