Juxtaposition

The image is of the statue of Notre-Dame de France in Le Puy en Velay in South West France.

The statue and pedestal on which it stands is 22.7 metres high and the shot was taken from ground level. The statue in the bottom right corner is of a kneeling man praying. The position of the camera allows the viewer to follow the implied eye line of the supplicant to the face of the Virgin Mary who in turn is looking at the Christ child. The child is pointing to something in the distance that has significance because the town in which the statue stands is one of the starting points for the pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago.

Symbols

Growth - Something from nature; skyscraper next to a much smaller building; a simple graph.

Nature is an obvious choice offering an almost infinite number of images that would demonstrate growth the danger being that it may well have been used before. The skyscraper next to a smaller office block (perhaps the original headquarters of the company) would be an effective symbol for growth. The graph is perhaps the most used of all growth symbols so there would need to be something about it that was eye-catching, possibly created by using symbols rather than a straight line. One possibility that comes to mind is a graph demonstrating the rise in FTSE 100 executive pay by replacing a simple straight line graph by company logos.

Excess - a morbidly obese person; salt content of some foods; a drunk outside an establishment selling alcohol.

For the morbidly obese person a simple unclothed shot would have the greatest impact although there may be mileage in a close up say of the upper thigh or the 'love handles' just on one side inviting the viewer to guess at what they are looking. Salt content could be demonstrated by  piles of salt in front of the packaging of the relevant product or of someone emptying a salt cellar on to a plate of food. For the drunk shot decisions would have to be taken about the purpose of the written article - if it is about the degradation of the person addicted to alcohol then dirty ragged clothes with the person lying in the gutter may be the strongest image whilst to illustrate alcoholism amongst rich bored housewives a Harvey Nichols outfit with a Gucci handbag nearby may make the greatest impact.

Crime -  CCTV Cameras; Handcuffs; Prison Gate

Care would have to be taken with all of these shots to ensure that you don't fall foul of the authorities. Of the three handcuffs are the easiest and could be used in a still life either placed on a person or as a 'reflected'  image in a shop window displaying very desirable goods.  Another alternative is a pair of fur-lined handcuffs to illustrate the 'softness' of our punishment systems. The CCTV camera shot could be used to illustrate an article on the impact of crime on our right to privacy either as a simple straight forward image or a number of them 'ghosted' above a normal high street scene. The prison gate (preferably easily recognised by the general public e.g Wormwood Scrubs) is likely to have more impact if it is either fully open or the wicket gate open. Such an image could be used to demonstrate either someone being released into society or being incarcerated depending upon the article it is supporting. In Photoshop it would be possible to create a revolving door (there are no actual revolving main doors in the prison estate) image to illustrate an article on the re-offending and return to prison of many offenders.

Silence - interior shot of the reading room of a library;  ear protectors; a busy motorway.

The first shot for many implies silence but in many 'modern' libraries the idea of silence is a foreign concept. The same shot could be used to illustrate either concept. Similarly for the ear protectors that  offer silence for the wearer but also imply excessive noise. A busy motorway could be used to illustrate the underlying noise that pervades all our environments that there really is no place where absolute silence can be experienced.


Poverty - a simple wooden bowl; a shanty town; an outstretched hand.

Most would relate the bowl to the begging bowl that is an almost universal symbol of poverty as are the other two suggestions. Poverty is a relative concept because it depends upon how it is defined; what may be seen as a level of poverty in one part of the world could be seen as almost luxurious in another part. This aspect highlights the need to know what the article being illustrated is setting out to communicate.

Symbols in Advertising

In the second part of the project we are asked to write down five examples of concepts that are regularly depicted in advertising and publicity that cannot be shown directly.

Success - Advertisements selling goods that would be considered luxury items by many people are often depicted with other elements that suggest that the depicted person leads a successful life. The subliminal message is that by owning the product the purchaser will demonstrate to the wider world that he or she is a success.

Care - Recent commercials by the health provision company BUPA emphasise the high level of care that the prospective member can expect by joining BUPA. The hidden message is the implied comparison with the National Health Service and relies heavily on a belief that the NHS is impersonal, has long waiting lists and limited access to the really good consultants.

Increased competence - Here the message is that by buying a particular object the purchaser can achieve greater levels of competence. One has only to look at the advertisements placed by camera companies. Almost invariably the shot of the camera is given a background of a superb photograph that can only be aspired to by the average amateur photographer.

Anxiety Relief  - A fairly recent phenomenon is adverts by debt settling companies. It is suggested, indeed emphasised, that by putting your financial affairs in the hands of the company your worries will go away. They almost all start with an anxious person trying to sort out his affairs accompanied by an understanding other whose faces are suddenly wreathed in smiles when they realise that all their troubles have gone away.

Image - In a sense this concept underlies all forms of advertising whether it deals with the executive style of life or debt relief. Here the advertiser suggests that purchasing a particular product or service will in some way enhance your image in whatever way you think. Whether it be the latest luxury car, sea cruise or even many everyday things the advert tries to get you to believe that both in your own eyes and that of others you are will be a better person.

It is said that there only two concepts in advertising - fear and greed and all other concepts are subsets of these two. Fear is best exemplified by the adverts for cleaning materials that claim to kill most of the germs our children come into contact in their everyday lives. Greed is best shown by the Lottery that offers a fantastic lifestyle for the lucky winner.

Evidence of Action

Here the viewer of the photograph can see something has happened by the presence of the blood on the knife, the severed thumb and the dripping blood that links the other two elements. The assumption can be made that some unknown person cut off his or her thumb whilst attempting to create a halloween pumpkin.

Although fairly obvious in this picture I believe it is important to provide a link between the various parts of the image to allow the viewer to create the story. Disparate objects that have no apparent link can lead to a confused viewer or an assumption wide of the mark.

However the photographer has to assume a certain level of knowledge on the part of the viewer to get his message across. Here we require knowledge that the object bottom left is a thumb (or at least part of a digit), that blood only flows downhill like water unless pumped in some way and that sharp knives can, used improperly, sever a digit.

For those of a squeamish disposition the blood and the thumb are stage props. I still have all my digits!

An Evening with Colin Prior

I visited St Ives Photographic Club yesterday to hear a lecture by Colin Prior a well known landscape photographer. I had heard good reviews of his work but to put it mildly I found it disappointing. Although there were some very good images, there was a lot of repetition and some that were not so good. I left at the interval.

I wondered why the evening had worked out as it had given the reputation of the presenter. I came to the conclusion that it was the venue. The hall is a large room with very high ceilings and the roof trusses visible. Acoustics therefore were poor which made listening to the commentary very difficult. In addition the screen used was not of the best quality so that the images were not shown to their best.

Perhaps more importantly of all the placing of the screen meant that it was tiny in relation to its surroundings and most of the images were panoramas that filled less than a third of the screen. The effect was akin to trying to judge the image from a 6x7 en print that really does not work for the grandeur of landscapes. Interestingly the images that had the greatest impact were those that were almost full screen in size allowing the viewer to 'enter' the picture.

Lesson learnt - we need to be aware of the environment in which the photographs are going to be displayed to ensure the best chance of them having the impact desired.

A Narrative Picture Essay - Arroz Con Pollo

I decided to keep things relatively simple and more under my control so that the learning experience was greater. Anything lying outside your own control such as the Lord Mayor's Show or local equivalent means that you are at risk of poor weather, unruly (always getting in front of the camera) crowds and officials that view all photographers as potential terrorists.

We all eat and many of us cook our own food and I felt that there was a picture essay in this everyday task.

The first thing we have to do is decide what we want to eat, whether to go for the tried and trusted or venture into something new. For the latter we probably need some guidance from a cookbook. A browse through its pages may well find us looking at a recipe that looks promising.

Here we have come across the recipe for Arroz Con Pollo. (Note - I have deliberately blurred the pages to avoid any copyright issues) - primarily a chicken, sausage and rice dish.

Usually we have to shop for the ingredients so off to the local supermarket to return laden with all that we need.

Having unpacked the bag(s) we can then proceed to prepare the ingredients ready for the pan:

There is usually the need to weigh some of the ingredients and also cut some of them.

Happily some of them come in handy sized units so that eventually we have our ingredients ready:

The next step is to place them in the pan as required by the instructions in the recipe:

Tomatoes

Rice

Pimento

Everything else except

Peas

for the observant you will have noticed that these went in approx 1 hours later

Having got all the ingredients in the pan it is time to give them a good stir to ensure that everything is mixed together well:

Having ensured that all is cooked the only thing left to do is to serve:

General comments - This was a very interesting exercise and something that I had never done. I had cooked this meal before so knew the process and the order in which things happened. This knowledge helped enormously when I came to prepare the photo shoot script. Also in setting up the camera and lights so that they were not in the way yet offered the best chance of a good image.

Lighting was a problem particularly as the day drew on and the amount of natural light fell. I decided, after experimenting, to use flash without a diffuser. I found that it offered the best image particularly on bright surfaces and I also liked the deep shadows that gave a sense of form and depth to the various utensils and other elements in the image.

We are asked to print the pictures and to lay them out to enhance the story being told. I have to admit that I have not done this but did use the power of Photoshop to create a virtual layout. I tried a whole series of different placements of the photographs but found in the end that the most successful was the linear one that is followed in this blog. The other alternative was a setting similar to an algorithm with elements to the side dealing with preparation and cooking. However it only seemed to work if lines were included so that the process could be easily followed.

Becoming a Judge!

On Sunday 18th October I attended a Judge's Workshop run by the EAF. I have always been critical of those who judge Club competitions whilst recognising that there are some very good ones. It seemed to me that it would be useful to undergo the initial training both that I had some idea of what they are taught but also to be able to, if successful, to be able to judge myself so I at least know the pressures under which they work.

I also have to admit to a selfish motive as I thought it it would be a very real opportunity to learn more about photography and how particular genres came into and fell out of favour.

I found the day fascinating and also very informative as 8 of us 'judged' and then discussed a variety of images. What I found surprising, although I don't know why,  was the number of opinions that can be held within a small group about any particular image. All those things that I have learnt over the past few months from the Course and from years of experience are capable of a range of interpretations that sometimes cannot be reconciled. It raised in my mind a number of questions about the validity and strength of what is often seen as a 'given' in photography. One of the most interesting was when one of my imagers came up and listening to the comments I realised that what I thought was glaringly obvious, such as the point of the photograph, was much less obvious to others.

Much to think about.

Final lap for this Course

Began reading the material for part 5 of the Course "The Art of Photography". What a change from the earlier parts of the Course. From the relatively simple basics you find yourself faced with a totally different type of challenge where your interpretation and skills, or lack thereof, are the key components. Another series of firsts in my experience of photography and a whole new way of looking at photography.

The only time that I have put a number of pictures together on one panel was for my submission for the Licentiateship of the RPS. Whilst there was the need for the pictures to work as a whole they were not required to tell any story or to have a direct relationship one with the other.

On page 142 of the Course material we are asked to consider two different types of photograph.

Given the inquiry into the 7/7 bombings in London the Press have taken to showing again the images taken on that day by people who were present by chance. The image of the London bus with its roof blown off and the devastation revealed inside could not be described as a photograph where consideration had been given to composition or the effect of light or any of the other elements we are asked to think of as photographers. As an image that starkly tells, without words, the horror of that day it cannot be beaten.

I was browsing through the October 2010 copy of National Geographic when I came across the special advertisement "Expert's Eye  LANDSCAPES".  This invites you to visit the Web site of Michael Melford (www.michaelmelford.com) which I did. On the site there are a number of quite stunning images a number of which would qualify as a photograph where the subject is of little importance, but the image making skills paramount. The one which for me had the greatest impact was a 'LetterBox' image of a shore line in the foreground, a number of yachts in the mid foreground and a beautiful sky that was in the 'Prints' section. The section as a whole where the subject was of little importance was in the National Geographic section - "Grand Canyon". I have visited the Grand Canyon and seen photographs of it by the hundreds but these were just breathtaking and a offered a whole new perspective

Assignment 4 submitted

Sent my assignment to my tutor yesterday. It seemed to take a long time to finally get it ready for submission largely because of the amount of experimenting I did with photographic lighting sources. Had never used flash off camera so there was mistakes made (not least forgetting to switch the flash unit on!) and the results were not always those I had anticipated. Also had some difficulty in deciding exactly what was needed to meet the requirements of the exercise particularly whether to include background to the subject or to solely concentrate on it in the final image.

At least I now feel confident in handling this form of lighting although clearly there are still lessons and mistakes to be made. Another bow in my photographic armoury.

Overall I enjoyed this part of the Course as it made me realise how little conscious notice I had taken of lighting both available light and flash. The hope is now that it has become something that I apply to all my future photography without too much thought.

On to Part 5.

Busy flashing

Apparently not an offence done in the privacy of your own garage although you get some very funny looks from your neighbours. Actually been working on the images for Assignment 4 trying to think of 8 ways to light an object. Obviously there is sunlight and its variations during the day, cloudy and shade plus available light which gives four. I am hoping that using photographic light i.e. flash will provide the other four. There is the naked flash, diffused flash, spot flash using a snoot and variations on these themes using a reflective surface to bounce the light back towards the subject that in theory offers an almost infinite number of ways to light an object.

Looking at the results of my experiments (over 70 images taken of the one object) there is often only a marginal difference between some variations although some provide more definition than others and meet the needs of the assignment more closely. Shape was not too much of a problem as I found that using a diffused light close to the object gave a satisfactory outline whilst softening the details and shadows. Form was something else. In part this was because I knew it was a three dimensional object so I 'saw' what I wanted to see. What I did find was that keeping the object within context, in this case a statue against the backdrop of the garden in which it was situated and leaving the stand in the picture provided the most clues as to dimensionality rather than any particular lighting.

Texture provided no major problems.

I was surprised at being asked to provide a shot that showed the colours of the object most strongly. One thing I have learnt so far in this Course that the 'colour' of an object depends very much on the colour of the light falling on it and being reflected to the viewer's eye. Is there a true colour for the object with everything else being a variation on one theme? In the end I decided that the best way forward was to take the image with a gretagmacbeth colour checker in the shot allowing for an accurate white balance.

Now on to putting together the Assignment for submission to my tutor.

Variety with Low Sun

At last some sun at the right time. The images were taken on 6th October 2010 approximately 90 minutes before sunset.

Frontal lighting

Managed to keep my shadow out of the picture by moving slightly to the side and lying on the ground rather than taking the shot head on. Bracketed the shot 1 stop either side using auto exposure bracketing on the camera and setting the drive to multi shots. Life was made easier by the fact that the camera automatically stops after the three bracketed shots. 

Side lighting

Same set up as the first shot. None of the bracketed shots alone was very good so I merged the three in Photoshop using Merge to HDR pro.. and choosing 'photorealistic'. 

Back lighting

Again used AEB but found difficulty in minimising the flare of the sun. The statue of the three graces was of insufficient size to block the sun completely and this was my most successful try.

Rim lighting

I waited for the sun to move so that it is largely blocked by the statue. Used AEB. There is some rim lighting but given the 'hard edge' of the subject it is not as great as I hoped. (Actually I was unsure as to what to expect. I have seen the use of rim lighting on studio shots particularly on female hair but this is when the lighting is totally under the control of the photographer).

The major lesson learnt was to deal with the frustration of the conditions not being ideal or totally useless and having the patience to wait for the right moment. Took over 50 photographs to get the final images trying different camera settings, camera position and the height of the camera relative to the subject. The whole project proved challenging and therefore interesting.

Outdoors at Night

I coud have combined this exercise with the one that asked for rain shots. Every time I decided to venture forth it seemed that it began to rain. Having said that it made for some good opportunities as the light drizzle partially diffused the strong lighting, say of street lights, leading to some interesting effects. (see, in particular the Cromer pier scene).

This first image and the four following were taken on a club outing to Great Yarmouth to photograph the lights (the hope was for a sort of mini Blackpool). Unfortunately the very few that had been put up were being taken down on the night we were there which, added to the bitterly cold wind, did very little to improve our mood. The general opinion was that it had been a waste of time but interestingly many of those that went got some memorable images. The lesson learnt here was that there are photographic opportunities even in in the most unprepossessing situations.

This is a general shot of Great Yarmouth sea front taken from the pier. The sky is attractive with the last light of dusk providing the pink/violet colouring to the clouds. The foreground provides enough information to 'set the scene' without being intrusive. The lights of the sea front are vivid and eye catching and are linked to the sky by the two buildings in the background whilst the foreground is linked by the reflected light.

I have included this image because of the dramatic sky which is the dominant feature in the image. I did consider cropping the image to reduce the foreground which does not, of itself, add a great deal as there is not a lot of detail. However I decided that it balanced the rest of the picture by providing a contrast to the main part of the image.

Having taken a large number of general shots of the sea front I looked for something that, for me, summed up Great Yarmouth and what it has to offer the visitor.  Both of these shots show the dominating use of neon lighting. In the first image 'The Mint' I concentrated the shot on the facia although one is able to see the slot machines that is the entertainment provided. In the second the 'BING' clearly is the first part of the word Bingo. The second shot was composed to take in the length of the street giving a hint of what the whole strip has to offer. The fortuitous inclusion of the lone figure sums up the success of the advertising glitz.

The final image from the Great Yarmouth series is of seating that has been included in an area that is going through a period of transition as efforts are made to upgrade the image of the town. Here the recent rainfall has offered the opportunity to take advantage of the reflections both in the seating and on the ground.

Keeping with the seaside theme the following 5 photographs were taken in Cromer. These are the ones taken in a steady but light drizzle which, I think, provides the effects on the street lights.

This picture was taken from the top of the high ground as you are leaving Cromer heading toward Sheringham. Almost inevitably it includes the pier that must be one of the most photographed piers in the Country because it is accessible from all sides apart from the seaward. However the attraction for me was the line of the railings that were glistening in the wet and the line of lights along the promenade. There is an argument for cropping the image so that the beginning of the rails is in the left lower corner of the image but I decided that I wanted to include the waves that added another line of sight and try to emphasise the unusual colour of the sky.

Rather than repeat the Great Yarmouth exercise I decided to go for the shopping area in Cromer using the lit windows as the area of interest. I am not sure that this image works. Whilst the large window offers interest having looked at the whole image again I wonder if it would have been more powerful to have cropped it at the right hand side of the door rather than include the next window that is distracting. My original thinking was to include it to give a sense of continuity.

This image of the 'Cromer Shopping Centre' provides a sense of perspective that leads the eye into the picture. The eye is prevented from going outside the image by the building at the right of the picture.  I included the road and pavement to emphasise the apparent desertion of the town.

Cromer church floodlit. Here the problem was to reduce the amount of street furniture that surrounds the church to a minimum. Signs tend to be lit more strongly than the floodlit church so that the exposure necessary to get a good shot of the church blows out the signs.

As a change and to show that I do go to other places than the seaside I include this shot of Tower Bridge.

I was standing on the deck of a Paddle Steamer moored at the Tower Pier when I took this photograph.  The lighting gives the towers a yellowish hue but if the image is corrected to a true white balance it becomes very 'cold' in appearance and oddly looks wrong.

Staying nearer home The following two images were taken on a footbridge that crosses the A14 at Bury St Edmunds. They were taken about 7.30.p.m. and the traffic was surprisingly light. the camera was mounted on a tripod and set to an aperture value of 9 with an ISO of 800. 'Bulb' was used for the shutter and the rest was judgement (is that the same as guesswork?).

I prefer this image because of the limited amount of lights and therefore its clarity.

Here there was more traffic particularly oncoming traffic so that the trails are more obvious.

I am not a great fan of  car trail photography. Only occasionally does it work successfully and I generally  find them a distraction.

General conclusion - I had done very little photography at night so my knowledge of how to do it and getting the best from the camera settings was limited. At the end of the exercise I am much more aware of the opportunities offered and how my camera works best in such conditions. I found the most difficult part was linking my perception of the scene with that captured by the camera. The most obvious case is the car trails where the human eye separates the changes in position of any individual car or cars. However the colours, say, of tungsten or fluorescent lighting are not evident in what we 'see' and this leads to somer interesting results.

Variety with a low sun

A week ago I set up a shot to meet the needs of this exercise by moving a heavy statue within my garden to catch the sun so it lit the subject with about an hour to go before sunset. Camera ready, I'm ready -go to the car to get a car rug to lie on to get the best angles. As I walked to my chosen position my shadow gradually faded and I turned to see a large black cloud starting to cover the sun. Haven't seen the sun since!!

This exercise may well have to wait awhile.