My choice for a specific subject was flowers. To achieve a unified visual strategy, these are all cropped to a square and use an aperture of F/4 to create a blurred background. These images were shot on the same day for consistent lighting. In Photoshop a fibres filter was applied at 50% opacity to bring consistency to the background. The images are all closeups rather than a wide view of the garden. To take this a stage further, the series could have featured different varieties of one type of flower. The presentation in a grid (see learning log post, Creating Image Grids in Photoshop, for the process) is influenced by the work of Michael Wolf’s My Favourite Things discussed below.
In preparation for this series I looked at Gerhard richter’s Atlas. In this collection, Richter assembled collections of images, sketches, and newspaper cuttings that are related on to loose sheets of paper. Searle (2003), describes Richter’s collection as images that shock, chill and amuse as they range from family images to cities to concentration camps. The collections of images provide an insight into Richter’s thinking and inspiration for his art. There are many similarities to a composer (such as Beethoven) keeping sketch books where themes are explored, elaborated, and revisited as part of the creative process.
Another collection of work that uses a series is Michael Wolf’s My Favourite Things. Here the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as collections of seeming mundane objects such as mops or string, provide a photographic documentary of the streets of Hong Kong. The uniformity of the grid and similarities of layout support a cohesive visual approach.
I spent a very interesting afternoon walking round Keswick with a camera in hand, Though I have visited Keswick before, I have never explored with a camera in my hand. Starting near Derwent Water my route took me across Crow’s Park towards Keswick, up the Main street to the church, back down to Derwent water, a walk through Hope Park, finishing back in the market square. Over the space of three hours I took over three hundred photos, following what ever my eye found interesting. Not surprisingly for the Lake District, there were many changes of light from bright sunshine to moody grey skies. Walking around, I found myself drawn to a number of different themes, such as shop window displays, landscapes, bikes, trees, and the courtyards of Keswick. Contact sheets for the selected images are presented as three collections at the bottom of this page. They are presented in chronological order, reflecting my journey around Keswick
Searching Part 1: Crow Park to Keswick
Searching Part 2: Derwent Water to Keswick
Searching Part 3: The Court Yards of Keswick
I also used this an an opportunity to experiment more with photoshop and also Nik Collection plug ins. The experience produced some pleasant surprises, with some of my favourite images capturing a completely unplanned moment. An example of this is the image below bringing to life an otherwise ordinary landscape image.
Photobomb
I found this an eye opening experience and quite liberating to be able to take the time to walk around freely. Walking round with a camera and a long space of time definitely changes how I view a place, and I am much more drawn to details that I would otherwise miss. This approach is a valuable technique to try out different ideas and find new sources of inspiration. For example exploring the courtyards of Keswick, each of which has its own character. As a bonus, I also found new areas that I did not know existed. The image below, The Archway was taken in a street at the top of Keswick
The Archway
After each exercise and assignment, I have always come away thinking I should take more images with a wider range of angles, exposures, different compositions etc. This way of working and allowing more time meant that I had a wide range of images to choose from. I found the exercise was also very good at generating different ideas for themes, and felt more creative that in some of the previous images. Conversely, I found the large number of images overwhelming to work with until I split them into smaller more manageable groups. I took the opportunity to use this exercise a vehicle to develop my Photoshop editing skills, there are some photos I am very pleased with (Serenity), but others that may be dramatic, but are over processed to my taste (At Peace). The image below, Serenity, achieves a softer, more fairy tale like look by reducing the sharpness. The starburst sun, was produced in camera with a small aperture.
Serenity
At Peace
Though the point of the exercise was to search and to be open to a range of ideas and approaches, the diversity of subject and processing means that the images don’t work as a cohesive group. The selected images have been presented in chronological order, representing three areas of the search, but could have have also been grouped into themes such as shop windows, landscapes etc. with a more consistent approach to processing. The last set featuring the courtyards of Keswick are all in black and white and work together more effectively with a shared subject, and visual approach.
One of the contributory factors for things that went well in this exercise was allowing enough time. I had a free afternoon from work with no distractions and being able to explore generated lots of ideas. Reviewing the results in camera also contributed to a more successful set of images. When it came to editing and selecting, this took place over three weeks, which allowed plenty of time for me to view things in different ways and experiment. The following image uses the Lightroom infrared photo preset, which enhances the contrast in the foliage.
Reach for the Sky
Having completed this exercise, I would like to follow up with a more detailed exploration of just one area. Though the photos work as a journey, they do not work for me as balanced set of images (though that was not the point of the exercise). This has been the most thought provoking exercise completed so far and has raised my awareness of producing a set of work in a series and having a consistent approach. I took a photoshop course two years ago and slowly working with layers and masks is starting to make more sense. I will continue to develop this. Reviewing the photos as a whole, they very much reflect the place, rather than the people, which is consistent with much of my photography (unless I am shooting bands or cycling).
My development points are
Create a set of photos focussing on one specific subject (exercise 3.2)
Plan a single visual strategy for a series
Plan in enough time for the next exercises, even if it takes longer to complete the course
Continue to develop Photoshop skills, particularly working with masks and layers
Here is my day of selfies, taken on a weekend. All taken with an iPhone and many made good use of the timer and whatever stand I could find. One of the purposes of the exercises was to discover if I use photography to tell the truth or to lie. Naturally, people (myself included) usually want to present a good image of themself.
The images are all shots of part of my day, but I did pick and choose, and redid the photo if I didn’t like it. It is also an edited snapshot of a day presented for public consumption. They do reflect my preference for photos of people to show them doing something rather than an obviously posed shot.
This exercise explores different methods available to the photographer for night portrait photography, producing three full length portraits. In preparing for this project I looked at the work of New York photojournalist, WeeGee whose work included shots from many crime scenes making use of flash photography. His images tend to be high contrast from the powerful flash bulb.
Long exposure
5 minutes at f / 9.00, ISO 200
This image used a long exposure of 5 minutes requiring a tripod. Finding the correct length of exposure took trial and error. The lens did need light to be able to focus correctly. Auto focus was then turned off. This approach is not something I would use for night portraits, unless I wanted a blurred effect.
High ISO and outside lights
1.0 sec at f / 4.5. ISO 16000
This produced a more pleasing effect and was definitely preferred by the subject who didn’t have to try and stand still for two minutes. It was quick to set up and produces a natural look. I like the effect of the solar powered outside lights, which bring out the texture of the background.
Flash
1/160 sec at f/9.0, ISO 200
The flash produced a different effect. After experimenting, the power of the flash was turned down to achieve a more subtle look. Flash photography is an area where I would like to develop my skills, particularly with on camera flash.
This exercise explores the use of flash to bring out a foreground subject. This is something I have previously used on my old camera, which had an on camera flash. An example of a self portrait is shown below. Taken in Times Square, NYC, the use of flash creates a better balance of subject and bright lights of the background. This was fairly straight forward as it only required reducing the power of the flash for a more natural look.
Times Square
My current camera has an external flash, which has rarely been used. Developing my understanding of lighting (including flash) is one of my areas to improve. After a number of experiments with the strength of the flash, shutter speed and aperture the following image was taken.
Small changes to the setting, particularly with the power of the flash made a big difference to how natural the lighting of the subject is. Images shot with the subject further back in the room needed the output strength of the flash turning up.
Having gained confidence with the settings on the camera and speedlight, the next step is to take more images outside.
The purpose of this exercise is to think about the different type of lighting conditions available and the effect they can have on the image. This is not limited to the variety of light at different types of day, and could also include different types and strengths of artificial light e.g. candle light, flash light, car headlights, street lighting, computer monitor light.
This will be an exercise to return to as not all the lighting conditions on my planned list were available to shoot due to availability of the subject, myself and the weather.
As part of the exercise, I also became more aware of the effect of the location, e.g. natural light outside is different from natural light indoors. Another example is the use of blinds to create a softer light. One area for further study is looking at the where the subject is in relation to the light source, and how light and shadow can create different effects on the face.
Interestingly, I preferred many of the images as black and white as this added to the character created by the different lighting. For example, in the shot taken using warm LED fairy lights, the reflective mood of the subject is enhanced by the conversion to black and white Four images are shown below, followed by a contact sheet of nine images in colour.
Exercise 2.6 combines portrait and landscape, emphasising the sense of space.
These images were taken whilst on holiday, and use the background of a Mallorcan garden. The subject was a cyclist so wore colourful cycling clothes and the first shots shows the subject riding their bike in the distance.
I planned for a range of images including full length and head shots, following the instructions to keep both foreground and background in focus. Something I wouldn’t usually do.
In the background, I looked for shapes and lines such as the curved arch into the garden, the path and the spiky sculpture at the back of the garden.
One of the aims was to take set of images with the subject in different areas of the frame and using the rule of thirds.
I like the variety produced by aiming to place the subject in different areas of the frame. Something I will plan into future portraiture sessions. With hindsight I would do more planning of the location in advance to plan shots and make note of potential distractions such as the power cables. As someone who rarely takes portraits where I have to do more to direct the subject, this was a new experience. I do prefer to take environmental portraits where the subject is actively involved in an activity, for example musicians at gigs, but found this useful exercise.
This image, featuring members of the Orquestra de Cambra de Mallorca was chosen for it’s many subjects
O riginal image
My eye is initially drawn to the steps that lead up to the violinists in the centre of the image, before looking at the performers on the left and right of the image Distractions on the edges of the picture include the family on the left hand side. To keep the focus on the performers I would crop this image (see below) on the, so the musicians are framed by the tree trunk on the left so the eye can follow the leaves overhead to the right hand side.
Cropped image to remove distractions at the edge of the frame
Dividing the image into thirds, the performers on the cropped image fall into the left hand, centre, and right hand sections, though they do not lie on one of the four points in the golden section. However, the eye is drawn to the violinist in the centre of the image.
There are still many however, distractions in the image such as the many instrument cases, music stands (a necessary distraction), shutters, and the brightness of the wall above the central arch. On the left-hand side a woman is holding the music on the stand to stop it from blowing away in the breeze. The image below identifies the elements that draw my attention
This exercise involves identifying the subject, foreground, mid-ground and back ground and background from three images for the People and Activity Project. I found this a thought provoking exercise as most of the images for this project taken at Go Ape did not at first glance have an obvious foreground as a typical landscape shot may have. The process of completing this exercise raise my awareness of these factors as part of the compositional process.
These approach for these images was inspired by Andreas Gursky with distant view of the activity. The subject chosen was people at Grizedale Forest on the Go Ape course. Though the final approach chosen allowed me to step back from the activity, the pre planning included research in to different approaches looking at photographers such as Tish Murtha, Diane Arbus, Susan Meiselas, Trent Parke, and Manuel Alvarez Bravo.
I am quite familiar with photographing musicians in rehearsal and performance and these are usually close ups, capturing interaction between players, so I wanted a challenge of a different more distant approach.
With the benefit of hindsight, I would have liked to shoot a lot more photos (as the instructions suggested). My aim was to capture images of people participating in the activities offered for people at Go Ape, from a distance rather than being at the centre of the activity. Providing a ‘bigger picture’ view, rather than a detailed closeup, shows the activity in its context.
Though Gursky’s distant approach appealed for this set of images, there is a crucial difference in the number of people shown. Gursky’s images, such as the Dance Valley Festival image, are packed full of people. This is approach, which works well for large sporting events and reminded me of an earlier photo taken at the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris and something I would explore further for similar images to this or a concert with a large number of performers.
My key learning points from this exercise are
Plan in advance, which approach to take
look at different approaches to generate ideas and try out new approaches
Consider the view point e.g high up, low down
Take a lot of images to then refine
Leave time between making the selection of final images
Karen Gourlay: Foundations in Photography 