Shake it, shake, shake it...

As part of our current project of experimenting with photo media techniques at college, we were tasked with taking strictly twelve photos (no reshoots) using a formatted Nikon D90 (great value mid-range cameras, recommend picking one up).  Each photo had to be associated with a certain word - we just had to represent these words with images (easy, right? Right?). These were then edited in Photoshop to improve the quality of each image and make them look like polaroid pictures (kudos if you got the title).

Here are my responses and some insight into each one. Good luck!

• Sass - In college there's a roof access warning sign and, as seen in the image, someone has stuck some eye stickers in the "oo" in "roof". This image emphasises the playful, cheeky nature of this act.  The positioning of the text and red edge in the shot lead the eye well, but since the red colour was quite pale to begin with, I increased the intensity of the red tones in the image to bring them out more and make the image more eye-catching.

• Line - The overhead power lines between two telegraph poles outside college work well for this word. I upped the saturation in this image to favour blue tones, which enhances the colour of the sky because it was quite pale in the original image.

• Tired - I found this trolley around one of the back corners of the college, and it fits the bill for "tired" nicely due to its worn appearance and almost abandoned nature. Once again, I increased the intensity of the red tones to emphasise the various nicks and scratches in the paintwork. The fact that the trolley has tyres also creates a nice pun on the word - this is one tyred, tired trolley (sorry).

• Contrast - Some more exploring led me to this damp-mark on the ceiling, which worked well for contrast due to its stark colour against the neutral white of the rest of the ceiling. To emphasise this, I increased the contrast (surprise surprise) of the image, giving the damp-mark a rusty, metallic look instead of a wet one.

• Shapes - The interesting wheel configuration of this trolley (found next to its tyred brother - alright, I'll stop - above), made for a simple yet effective response to this word. I really like the combination of circles and triangles. The contrast was increased in this image also, favouring blue tones to give an inviting, sparkling look to the otherwise dirty trolley.

• Soul - Now we're getting serious. There's a speck of wallpaper upstairs in college which is peeling (or rather, has been torn) away from the wall, and someone has left some "art" on the wall underneath. For me this screams "soul" because it shows that the soul, a spiritual existence inside all of us, is hidden (or even buried) under a comparatively plain outer shell (deep). This is the raw image, by the way.

• Glass - From all colour to no colour? Yep, took it all away to put more emphasis on the subject of the image; the rainwater on the roof of the college really worked as an abstract approach to "glass". The roof was so clear I could see my face in it! Only that part though.

• Sound - Another tough one. How to portray sound with a photo? Easy - the canteen's bug zapper. I increased the intensity of the blue tones to strengthen the impression that the zapper was on full power and humming loudly, which I think this image does do. 

• Time - Argh, why did we have to choose such complicated words? Because reasons. Anyway, this image was the result of a quick walk to the canteen window. When I took it, I was thinking: "Clocks dull. Abstract good. But where to start? Hmm. How about time for doing things? What only gets used at a specific time?" - and from there I found the curtains. We only draw curtains when it gets dark, and only open them when it's light again. Clever, eh?

• Food - Thank goodness I wasn't hungry when taking this photo, otherwise it would have just been of food, and then I'd have just eaten the subject afterwards (ew, sounds messy). Instead I chose to put a spin of humour into this image (how original!). Food is, as you can probably guess, my main need in life (no joke) - hence First Aid. Bumped up the contrast and job done.

• Satan - Serious head back on. Showing that guy in an image is tough when your personal beliefs are involved - where to start? I went with a security camera - that chump is always watching, but can't directly influence our behaviour - just tempts. Raw image shown.

• Far - Aaaand you've made it. With this one, there was a chair just left on the stairs, as luck would have it. One might say it was very far from home, eh? There we go. To really emphasise this, I copied the image and took a clipping mask of the chair, leaving me with just the chair. This was then turned to black and white and layered carefully over the original image. Thankfully help was on hand with that one!