Assignment 4 - A sense of place
November 2014
This assignment drew together all the learning from the previous exercises and the appreciation of what buildings and spaces mean to the people who live amongst them. The aim of this assignment was to produce enough images to fill a six page, intelligent, thoughtful travel publication (not touristic). In total 12 photographs were to be chosen with 6 to be selected as a first choice.
In the very beginning of planning this assignment I looked at working in Newark. I borrowed books from the library illustrating Newark's past inhabitants to enable me to understand the characters and what the important buildings were to the people who interacted with them. As my confidence grew, I looked at Nottingham because I could ask work colleagues to recall buildings and open spaces and what they remembered, and what they thought about the changes happening. As it was, I never took any photos of Newark apart from exercises I did. Nottingham made more sense as I could nip in after work if necessary.
So, what images did I consider that didn't happen?
Well, the left lion was not as picturesque as normal due to the construction of Christmas decorations and the Christmas Market, so I looked at the right lion which still had scaffolding around it. I returned the following week to reshoot but the amount of people and extra buildings prevented me from getting the picture I wanted. I felt the image would be too cluttered and would have to wait until after Christmas to take it without additional buildings. There would have been a view of people sitting in the market square or waiting by the lion.
Sneinton Market
Research on the internet and my memory bank recalled a vibrant market. Newspaper articles were focussing on the redevelopment of the square. Although these images set a sense of place, they did not show people in the place, so I abandoned the. In the 4th image, I tried to juxtapose the new onto the old and show the wasted space. having tried to lighten my camera bag, I eventually narrowed down just one camera and lens to use, settling on a 24-105mm as most of my shots ranged from wide angle to 75mm .A telephoto lens would have compressed the fourth image making it look like less wasted space. Eventually I settled for an image showing the clearance of the old market buildings. I felt there were interesting features to be shown - especially this old mens toilets full of gas cookers, fridges and beer barrels. Oh and no ladies toilets!
In the very beginning of planning this assignment I looked at working in Newark. I borrowed books from the library illustrating Newark's past inhabitants to enable me to understand the characters and what the important buildings were to the people who interacted with them. As my confidence grew, I looked at Nottingham because I could ask work colleagues to recall buildings and open spaces and what they remembered, and what they thought about the changes happening. As it was, I never took any photos of Newark apart from exercises I did. Nottingham made more sense as I could nip in after work if necessary.
So, what images did I consider that didn't happen?
Well, the left lion was not as picturesque as normal due to the construction of Christmas decorations and the Christmas Market, so I looked at the right lion which still had scaffolding around it. I returned the following week to reshoot but the amount of people and extra buildings prevented me from getting the picture I wanted. I felt the image would be too cluttered and would have to wait until after Christmas to take it without additional buildings. There would have been a view of people sitting in the market square or waiting by the lion.Sneinton Market
Research on the internet and my memory bank recalled a vibrant market. Newspaper articles were focussing on the redevelopment of the square. Although these images set a sense of place, they did not show people in the place, so I abandoned the. In the 4th image, I tried to juxtapose the new onto the old and show the wasted space. having tried to lighten my camera bag, I eventually narrowed down just one camera and lens to use, settling on a 24-105mm as most of my shots ranged from wide angle to 75mm .A telephoto lens would have compressed the fourth image making it look like less wasted space. Eventually I settled for an image showing the clearance of the old market buildings. I felt there were interesting features to be shown - especially this old mens toilets full of gas cookers, fridges and beer barrels. Oh and no ladies toilets!
Assignment 3 - Buildings in use
September 2014
This assignment looked at the design and function of buildings and whether they were used effectively. I found this an interesting assignment to do once I had narrowed down my choice. It helped in the beginning to define what a building was: it has to have walls and a roof.
My first "building" was therefore questionable. A World War 1 trench project had been created in my local forest by people who worked on the Steven Spielberg film Warhorse. I had taken an interest since the project first started and watched its development. It opened this year being the centenary of the start of the first world war.
I waited till just before dusk one evening and walked through the forest to have a look at it, hoping the lighting would be about right for the images. Access was limited, but I could ask for access if my trial images worked.
Building 2 Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirby, Lincs
I had been here before with my son to look at the Lancaster Bomber taxiing along the runway. I thought it could be a possibility with World War 2 recreated on an airfield. I dismissed this idea after walking around the hangar as I felt it was more of a memorial to different groups of people and found it difficult as what I initially thought was a good idea (a Lancaster in a hangar) was not there.
One of the selling points to me was recreated buildings, but I found these filled with plastic dummies which although dressed in period costume still looked very plastic. I think it needed a day when it was not so busy with people waiting for their family member to ride in the Lancaster.
I thought about the restoration side of the projects which was really the bit that interested me the most here and decided I needed buildings for my assignment that I could return to again and had more interest in. I thought along the lines of "If I was asked to shoot...... how would I approach it", and decided that research was the way to go so I could take an interest, ask questions and talk to people restoring airplanes. Having learnt this lesson, I decided to pursue more local buildings.
I took this image showing the emptiness and table tennis table. I decided to show the work in progress with cluttered walkway instead.
Papplewick Pumping station
Having decided to visit on a steaming day, I was prepared to spend time watching people and the machines and see how they interacted. My difficulty was narrowing my final selection. My selection criteria was decided by what fitted the design and function most closely. These are the ones which I left out.
In the first two images, I tried to illustrate the top of the engines.The synch of the machines was different and I spent time watching the sequence to work out when to press the shutter. I felt this image was more about the man at the end of the planks of wood. By taking it off centre,I felt was a bit crooked. I opted for through the engine looking down to the ground floor.
This gave me the impression of a steam boat with the wood and polished brass. It showed what happened, people standing around asking questions and others walking around taking photographs.
The shed housed a pit engine and the volunteers had it running and miniatures of it too. However, I thought it was not close enough to the function as it had been salvaged an brought here from a pit head rather than being part of the original design and function.
Greens Mill, Nottingham
This floor of the mill housed a TV screen with a display on the windmill and old pictures on the wall.This space felt quite empty as not everyone watched the screen or looked at the pictures.
The ground floor / entrance was dusty and cluttered. It housed the electric mill which is used at the moment due to one of the sails not working.
Southwell Minster
The Chapter House ceiling is unsupported. Even laying on my back, I was unable to capture all of it on a 24mm wide angled lens. With the drop off at each side, the ceiling did not look stable.
I tried to capture the height, width and emptiness of the Chapter house but found the lighting and composition challenging. I opted for a close up of the leaves.
The corridor which links the chapter house to the church keeps the Norman architecture . It houses a small exhibition on old manuscripts. I liked this image except fot the light shining on the right hand wall which came from the chapter house. This would be better later in the day.
I used bible on the lectern to look across at the altar. I took several attempts at this before dismissing it because the candles and neck of the eagle were offputting in the frame. The lectern was too tall for my fully extended tripod (the reader had a small block to stand on). This had to be hand held at a high ISO.
This image shows the outside of the minster during early evening. I captured a figure hurrying across the churchyard but I think she gets lost between the gravestones.
The Collection, Lincoln
I spent a long time deliberating over which images to use for this building. It is very different in use of space and design. In the end I dismissed the outside views and used the picture window which links the inside to the outside.
I liked the first image which linked the old buildings to the new. I also liked the second image because of the two men were both in opposite directions and spaced equidistance from the frame edges. I decided that people walking away from the building did not create a good impression for tourists to the art and history museum.
This image showed the interactive space. I tried to show the pillars being used for breaking up zones and advertising what was there to do.
This showed the large open space used for special exhibits. Different time periods radiated off from the compass on the floor.
Belton Orangery
This is a very formal shot showing the symmetry of the gardens with the orangery. By using a polarising filter, I cut out some of the glare from the glass and darkened the sky. The shadow across the path is distracting, and yet to crop the image by zooming in loses the pool and to stand closer (at the end of the shadow) would need a wider lens than 24mm. My other option was shooting later in the day. I found a Francis Frith image when writing up my assignment taken further towards the right hand side in line with the church. This still kept the Orangery flat.
I experimented with different shooting positions. This was taken lying on my back looking up at the ceiling to give exaggerated height and a different view. I dismissed this in favour of more formal shots as this made the orangery look untidy.
This view looked across the fishpond. Using a polarizer removed the reflected light bouncing back from the surface of the water and enabled me to view the goldfish. This would work better with a narrower lens , but I did not have much space to stand back.
This looked at exploring the shadows along the path and creating a walkway. I preferred the version I took at floor level.
This image explored shadows cast by the window and open door leading the visitor out into the garden. The leaves in the left hand corner are off putting but could be removed in photoshop.
Having started to read Freeman (2013) p58, I think the reason I like this image what Freeman explains as placing the viewer within the scene. They look out into the sunlit outdoors.
The sunlight on the flag stones add the texture and cures to the foreground. The image is divided so that the floor and trees sit on thirds and the doorway is glass, open door and shrub.
Having started to read Freeman (2013) p58, I think the reason I like this image what Freeman explains as placing the viewer within the scene. They look out into the sunlit outdoors.
The sunlight on the flag stones add the texture and cures to the foreground. The image is divided so that the floor and trees sit on thirds and the doorway is glass, open door and shrub.
Bibliography
Freeman, M (2013) capturing the light, the heart of photography Ilex Press, Lewes, UK
Assignment 2 - People and activity
July 2014
Cartier-Bresson (1999) writes that “after developing and printing, you must go about
separating pictures which, though you know are all right, aren't the strongest” I halved my collection from 20 to 10 and these are the ones which I did not include. In my opinion this makes sense because when looking at these images on their own, they do not work as a collection although they illustrate a telling moment and activity.
I think the issue to think about is what telling moment to I want to present? How should the sport be represented to encourage people to take it up? With the Tour de France under way encouraging more people to buy bikes and become interested in cycling for pleasure, I would not like to discourage folks by presenting images of bored and tired people.
I think the issue to think about is what telling moment to I want to present? How should the sport be represented to encourage people to take it up? With the Tour de France under way encouraging more people to buy bikes and become interested in cycling for pleasure, I would not like to discourage folks by presenting images of bored and tired people.
This image shows small groups warming up pre race. I don't think the image says that without me including words.
This image shows riders setting off at the start. I remembered not getting the shot I wanted when looking at the wide angled exercise. I felt there were too many riders for this to be a small group, although they show determination and focus.
These spectators had cycled to watch the race, showing their interest in bikes. I felt this image may be more about the bikes than the people.
I originally included this image as it had a different viewpoint. The rider seemed to be staring down at the viewer, the background was uncluttered, colours were complementary, rider at a slight diagonal within the frame and eventually I eliminated this one because I thought it was too similar to the other riders. I still like this image.
This rider was really not demonstrating confidence with the technical aspect of the course which shows in his facial expression. Although I set out to look at people with different facial expressions, I decided that that was not how I wished to portray the race. I wanted confident riders to show how it can be achieved.
The local riding team competing on home territory. I removed this as it looked like it was posed although that was how I came across them. I liked the colours of the blue van and yellow jerseys which linked to the blue patch on their jerseys.
This rider looked exhausted and fed up. I removed him despite his expression in order to show pain and determination.
This amused me. Cycling plus athletes at the peak of their fitness who have trained hard to be able to compete and achieve reasonable times - still eat junk food! There was a burger bar in with the trade stands and the cafe at Sherwood Pines does sell very good sausage rolls! It didn't fit with the theme I eventually chose.
These lads were taking a well earned rest after competing. I eventually swapped them in favour of the bored lad picking the tree as he demonstrated more activity and more of a telling moment.
Assignment 2 - People and activity 1st attempt - Abandoned
- Weekend event - timetabled events happening but no definite start and finish
- Images did not feel cohesive - I should have chosen a small aspect of it such as the English troops to concentrate on rather than trying to show everything
- The wider angled shots did not make it into my final selection because they had other spectators in making them feel cluttered. This meant there was no idea of the layout, time or space for the viewer.
- Learnt that 300mm placed on full frame camera meant 300mm and saw what that looked like. Consider placing 300mm on smaller sensor camera for greater focal length = cavalry closer and can capture facial expressions.
- Although my images were acceptable, I did not think that they fitted within the remit of this assignment.
- idea abandoned as it was not worth salvaging.
Assignment 1 - A Portrait
May 2014
This assignment required 5-7 portrait photographs using the same person as a subject and drawn
together the learning from the course exercises. The aim was to take portraits
which differed in type and style.
Looking through my images which I had taken as part of the exercises, I had one sitting from which I had a photograph which summed up my daughter. I organised a series of shoots with Alex having first outlined what I wanted to achieve.
Inspired by the Mark Jacobs perfume advert, I had found an image in Edwards (2009) book with a girl blowing a dandelion head. He used the first light of the day - that was not possible at present as it is light at 4am. I adapted the look to use the light at the end of the day (8:30-9pm) which was more practical. We watched the weather daily, and on the third day we had a short burst of golden light. I rushed my daughter outside in the clothes she had on to practice.
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| 1/80 F4 ISO400 50mm |
At first, I was pleased with this image. As time wore on, I became dissatisfied with it and it did not make my final selection. I think the idea worked but the image didn't.
What worked well?
- Fairly relaxed pose- shoulders dropped
- Dandelion shows movement
- Golden colour of light made it more interesting
- Sun picked out hair highlights
- High contrast
- flowers on grass picked out by sun
- Mixture of shadow and sunlight
- No shadow on face apart from glasses
What could be improved?
- Colour of shoes distract from image and take focus off face - plan better next time
- Shadow is purple - unsure how to change this - needs further research
- Alex had sat 2 GCSE's and worked hard revising all evening - showed in her eyes- which is the reason I did not include it. I felt that to suit the image, she would benefit from being less tired.
16/5/14 Rufford Abbey
Looked at location style shots. Still had not managed to capture the front of the Abbey as a portrait background due to the sun. The sun went behind a large cloud so I took the opportunity to position Alex on the wall.
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| 1/800 F2.8 ISO400 70mm |
What went well?
- Lighting is even
- Contrast between dress, stonework and background
- position of Alex's head and torso shows it is summery and the feminine side to her
- Depth of field good
What could be improved?
- Position in frame - needs to sit more towards the right hand side rather than her back being central.
- hand and arm position is wrong - would look better flatter / straighter
- Bush behind Alex is carefully positioned so it doesn't sprout from her head but looks odd coming from her shoulder
- Eyes too dark - larger aperture would allow for both to be in focus - reflector would brighten them or measuring light around eyes would overexpose the stonework
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| 1/320 F2.8 ISO400 70mm |
- Building lines run straight
- Use of profile rather than full head on shot
- soft lighting with a few highlights
- Composition - building bland, hole in wall acts as focal point - one finger bent, can only see glasses not eyes. - crop closer, change to other side of porch
- reflection across glasses - caused by light from behind me - unable to close abbey doors - change to other side of porch
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| 1/500 F2.8 ISO400 85mm |
What went well?
- Position better than above
- used golden reflector which improved colour of light
- Still some reflection on glasses - try swapping to other side of porch
- Using a larger aperture would allow both eyes to be in focus
- Dot of reflector in eyes - not sure how to avoid this yet - need to read around this still
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| 1/2000 F2.8 ISO400 70mm |
- No reflection in glasses
- Body position and angle of head - pose good
- Outfit works with setting - see below
- Too much archway showing - right hand side is overexposed, out of focus and detracts from image. Re positioning may help - Alex facing sun - had to be careful of reflections -otherwise look at crop - see image below
- Colour of cardigan similar to that of stonework. Need more contrast.
5x7" crop in Photoshop and removal of the railings improved this image. Alex could still do with being positioned on a third but focus has been taken away from the arch and onto her.
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| 1/2500 f3.2 ISO400 200mm |
- Liked the pose
- Uncluttered background
- Some of bench showing - adds contrast and diagonals to composition
- No harsh shadows
What could be improved?
- Left eye is in focus - should have focused on right as that is the one the viewer is drawn to.
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| 1/2500 F3.2 ISO400 200mm |
- Light even
- Good pose
- Crop is too tight
- cardigan does not provide enough contrast with skin tone
17/5/14 Village - shots with attitude, lying down pose
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| 1/250 f2.8 ISO200 85mm |
- Use of golden reflector worked. Face in sharp focus
- No harsh shadows
- background blurred - good depth of field
- Liked facial expression
- complementary colours
What could be improved?
- Pose needs improving
- Loose some background from top - carry around standing stool for shooting on a hill
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| 1/200 f4 ISO400 70mm |
- Idea was good - tried a range of facial expressions - liked triangle shape
- Feet tidied away to make pose neater
- Use of golden reflector to direct light towards Alex (garden was in shade)
What could be improved?
- Heavy rain left grass saturated so positioned on a picnic mat hoping it would blur with depth of field. Didn't work. Could fold up mat so it didn't show or use one to fill the frame.
- Larger garden or park would have more space. Difficulties avoiding fixed garden structures and angling Alex into best light.
18/5/114 Exploring Nottingham for a different feel to image / more modern backdrop
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| 1/640 f4 ISO200 70mm |
- Exploring different positions for Alex to sit on a bench
- Liked the bench - modern background, clean lines, good colours, lighting in shade with some dappled light from tree.
What could be improved?
- I thought cropping this would help but it took away the atmosphere. This told more of a story. Need to keep my eyes open for images of people sitting on benches and observe real life of how people sit on benches. Probably needed to stand further back too.
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| 1/125 f4 ISO200 70mm |
- Doors to New College Nottingham - provided good backdrop - thought they may be useful
- Setting in shade with a fair amount of ambient light
- No harsh shadows
- Hardly any reflection on glasses
What could be improved?
- Pose
- Depth of field to make backdrop more blurred
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| 1/1600 f4 ISO200 160mm |
- Found a good backdrop outside Nottingham Contemporary Art Gallery.
- Initially worked around composition, reflection from sun and art in a window to achieve composition
- Uncluttered background
- Time of day (shoot earlier or later), weather (cloudy day) or use a diffuser
- Shot needs to be landscape with Alex on right hand side to balance the image. Perhaps stand further back or shoot from higher position
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| 1/400 f4 ISO200 70mm |
- Liked the pose
- Uncluttered background
- No harsh shadows
- Take in landscape
Bibliography
Edwards (2009) Photographing people like a pro, David and
Charles Ltd, Ohio,
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