Test Shots Before I went to take my final prints in 35mm I wanted to take some test shots to see if my idea

would be effective. I also felt I needed some idea of what my final pictures may look like. To achieve this I took the pictures in digital so that I could edit them in Photoshop without it costing me money to develop. I made the pictures black and white and added various effects such as Curves to increase the contrast. To turn the image black and white I used a Gradient Map. I tweaked with the settings to suit what I wanted and to give myself a target as to what I wanted to achieve in the darkroom. My aim was to create test shots that were going to be as close to the real thing as possible so that I had a perfect idea as to whether my method was good enough. Like I had said in my brief I wanted high contrast black and white images to show off the detail in the doorways. By following the statement of intent I created a set of pictures that followed this.

I really liked these pictures because they have punchy contrast that brings out the texture in the bricks. The foreground I feel is made more interesting by having a gateway and a bit of the pavement in. It differed from my original idea of having a simplistic background, however I preferred the fuller foreground because it leads your eyes into the picture using converging lines. I made sure that the focus was in the right place in the photo as this could distract the viewer from the subject. To aid me with this I used an aperture of f.8 to ensure the majority of the photograph was in focus. I noted down all of the settings so that I could replicate the

images on the analog camera. I also made sure that the ISO was set to 400 so that it matched the film speed. This would help me to establish a good shutter speed to use when I returned with the film. This also helped me work out whether I needed a tripod to take the photos. I really liked this photo because it uses the open gate to almost invite the viewer into the picture. I also liked the shrubbery, which creates a mysterious feel, and suggests how low maintained the garden is. The dark high contrast image also fitted in with the unorganized bushes. Although I liked the photograph I felt that this photo wouldnt work in a set because there are two doorways, which upsets the balance in the series if pictures as the others only have one door.

I also used the test shot time to consider the best approach to composition. I liked the colours in this photograph because of the bright white door against the dark brick. However, even though the signs add to the photo, the composition doesnt seem quite right for the project as the other photos were taken differently. This photo concluded that I would take my pictures from head on for when I return with my film. I used this process in order to find out the best shots so that I didnt waste my film on irrelevant pictures.

With this picture I really concentrated on the symmetry of the picture. I found that the plants really added to the overall look of the doorway. In my opinion, I felt that without the flowers the door would look too plain by itself. The leaves on the floor and the dirt on the plant pots also added extra contrast to the foreground to add tonality and texture to the image. I also added a faint vignette to the picture to help make the viewer focus on the doorway more. I made sure that it was subtle so that it didnt take away texture from the brickwork and distract the audience from the architecture. I knew that I could use this technique in the darkroom later on with dodging and burning if I wanted to.