Assignment 3 -another visit.

In my original submission I included this photograph:

In his response my tutor commented "..... contains very large area of very bright sky. And what that is doing is preventing us from appreciating all the fine detail in the low contrast bottom half of the image which are darker. A grey grad filter or an orange/red filter used when taking the images (not in post processing) would have decreased the overall contrast of the scene the resulting image would have been far more balanced".

It s obviously a valid point and something that I had not noticed when taking/processing the image. Obviously I cannot go back and take the same image again using the filters but I can post process the image to improve the overall tonal contrast.

What I have done is darken the sky and lighten slightly the area to the left of the picture. The effect has been to reduce the dominance of the sky and allow the viewer to see the fine detail in the cliff face and the broken concrete etc.

It is a matter of personal choice whether there has been an overall improvement.

It does raise another interesting point. In both of his books [The Photographer's Eye & The Photographer's Mind] Michael Freeman makes reference to something he calls 'delay'. Whilst inviting the viewer to look at the image other elements are included in the image in such a way that they are not immediately apparent.

It could be argued that in the original image the brightness of the sky immediately attracts the attention of the viewer as there is also detail and pattern there. The viewer then scans the rest of the image and begins to notice the subtlety of the detail in the cliff face and debris. The other elements of the picture. The alterations in the revised image make this progress less likely and risks giving equal prominence to all elements of the image.

DPP Assignment 5

Visited Norwich yesterday to add to my collection of possible images for assignment 5. I went with a definite plan in mind which was to walk through the market/main shopping area of the town and then follow the river to the Railway Station. The idea was to take a number of images in the streets for the assignment and then wander along the river side taking shots that simply interested me so that I could 'refresh' my photographic eye. It worked well.

The choice of the Railway satiation was based on the fact that it is a terminus so there is a relatively large concourse and places to sit down and take photographs as and when they happened. There was quite a bit of foot traffic but sufficiently spread out to allow for individuals and their actions to be noticed and photographed. The light was good and it was very pleasant quietly sitting and letting the world come to me rather than 'chasing' the action. Network Rail allow photography on their premises so I was not bothered by security.

There is an argument for going again for a longer period to establish the rhythm of the place and to suss out the best area to sit/stand so that passers-by are caught against an interesting background. There may also be an argument for going during the late evening so that advantage can be taken of the artificial lighting which is likely to be of different sorts.

I have begun to acquire a large number of images and there is now a need to go through them and establish 'themes' that would link 10 - 12 photographs in a coherent whole for the final submission. I am trying to keep an open mind but find myself being pushed towards two choices - 'waiting' (as in queues or for someone) or interaction between strangers such as contact between people carrying out surveys and their approach to someone that they believe meet their criteria. One other alternative is people and travel such as the images I took yesterday at the Railway station and combine these with similar shots at ferries, airports and other points of travel transport.

Still work in progress.

DPP Assignment 3 - Re-Visited.

In his response to my submission my tutor also suggested that I might care to visit Orford Ness where there were installations that I could have considered for my chosen theme of 'defences'. It so happens that I was fortunate to have paid a visit to the site approximately 18 months ago when I was able to visit the whole of the site including that part that is not normally accessible to the public.

Orford Ness is a National Trust Property near to Woodbridge in Suffolk. It is a Nature Reserve and is the largest shingle beach in Europe. It was also used for various purposes by the Military from 1913 including the testing of the forces that atomic weapons would face in use such as stress, pressure and vibration. Presumably so that they did not detonate early! It is this testing area that is not normally open to the general public but for many it is the most interesting part (my apologies to all shingle lovers and the lovers of nature for whom this area is a paradise.)

The most noticeable feature of the military area is the 'pagodas'

Why they got their name is fairly obvious from this image of one of them (There were 6 originally). They are designed to withstand/contain any accidental blast (note there was no nuclear fuel used during the testing) and, so I am told, the pagoda roof is supported by columns that would collapse dropping the roof onto the structure below thus sealing the area. As far as I know this was never put to the test.

There was a large number of staff employed on the site and their canteen that has all the appearance of a government building is now in a derelict state although it is not difficult to imagine it as it was in its heyday. The roll of razor wire in the foreground of the picture suggests that the decision to abandon the site was a fairly speedy one.

There is other debris around the site suggesting that there was very little or no effort made by the MoD to re-cycle any useable material on the site. One particular piece that caught my eye was:

I called this image 'ET'. I have never worked out exactly what it was.

The other striking feature on the Ness is the lighthouse that is red and white striped. Clearly another form of defence; I took these two pictures:

The pictures have been deliberately under-exposed to give a sense of foreboding whilst at the same time drawing the viewer's attention to the lighthouse. The second one has been taken using the broken doorway of a derelict building to provide the frame.

All of the images were taken in Colour and subsequently turned into monochrome pictures using Nik Software's Silver Efex. The monochrome effect works very well for the subject matter creating very graphic and gritty pictures that helps concentrate the mind on what the buildings were used for.

Donovan Wylie

It was suggested by my tutor that I had a look at the work of Donovan Wylie who had had unprecedented access to the Maze Prison during the latter part of the prison's life before it was demolished. He also referred me to Wylie's take on the Watch Towers. I assume this, in part, was because I had spent 35 years of my working life in penal institutions in England.

I have to say that I was less than impressed. The images were common place, bland and largely uninteresting. Superficially there is very little difference between the architecture of the Maze and a number of other prisons in the UK so that the uniqueness of the Maze has not been captured. The interior shot of a cell seems to be staged and the walls surprisingly clean. The shots between the fence and the wall fail, for me, to provide any idea of what it is like to be incarcerated where your view of the wider world is limited by the exterior perimeter wall. I well remember the reaction when long term prisoners were transferred from a Victorian prison in London to a modern prison in Suffolk where the only external security was a wire fence which gave good views of the surrounding countryside.

I presume the problem for Wylie was the lack of any activity when he was there. Prisons are about people - those who are locked inside and those that keep them locked inside and the interaction between the two. The Maze had the additional tensions of the segregation of the prisoners by their connection with different military groups that was quite unique in the UK.  Then there was the extra-ordinary perimeter security that impacted on everyone's lives. None of this is made visible.

I think that this underlines the difficulty for all photographers. (S)he cannot control the audience. Everyone will bring with them a different history that will get between the viewer and the photograph. My experience of penal institutions and knowing a number of staff who had worked at the Maze necessarily impacts upon my interpretation and how I react.

Wylie's take on WatchTowers also left me unmoved. I have seen far better images of these Towers that give the viewer a sense of what they meant and the impact they had on the people who were constantly under surveillance.

John Davies

In his response to my submission for DPP Assignment 3 my tutor suggested that I look at the work of John Davies "whose B & W images of the natural and man-made British landscape have become fully iconic". So I did.

Most of them are well worth the effort as the composition, lighting and finish combine to produce some stunning images. As a personal choice my favourite was Birmingham New St Station where the combination of the variety of roof lines and the curves of the rails  produce a fascinating almost surrealistic picture. I was not too sure about the later picture of Easington Colliery that looks on first glance to be a rather bland picture of an open space. It only makes sense when one remembers the picture of Easington Colliery before the impact of the virtual closure of the mining industry.

In the majority of the photographs the sky is bland and perhaps uninteresting. I assume that this was deliberate because it forces the eye to return to the main subject and helps bring out the detail and tonal range in that part. Something worth remembering.

Overall the lesson learnt by me was that the best images are those where the subtlety of tones and the use of varying contrast bring out the very best in the image.

DPP Assignment 3 Tutors Response

Overall the comments were positive and encouraging. Individual comments on the submitted images were very useful. It made me realise that when doing an assignment there is a risk of narrowly focusing on the main subject of the image and forgetting the impact that the less important parts of the image have on the overall effect. There is a need to put the work on one side for a couple of days and return to it with fresh eyes.  Examining the technical aspects afresh probably would have led to a better image. Taking a critical view of the whole image can only be beneficial.

The comments also highlighted the advantage of bracketing the exposure of images that have a high contrast so that full use can be made of the software.

I have to confess that one thing I had never consciously considered was to have a common aspect ratio across images that are part of a theme. It seems so obvious when it is pointed out to you. In part this is because I never set out to view the images as a 'panel' that would have brought the irregularity to light. Whilst I do not see this as a rule set in stone it has a lot going for it.

On to finalising Assignment 4 - the book cover.

Student Exhibition

Whilst I was taking photographs yesterday (see previous blog) I was given a flyer about an exhibition by photographic students from the local College. I decide to go and have a look.

It was an interesting experience and it was revealing to see how each student had tackled the assignment that was a visit to a local National Trust Property (Ickworth House) during its winter closing. Most of the images had been taken using film and development carried out by the student in the darkroom that in itself was surprising as it seemed to be using a system that is likely to disappear completely as the film manufacturers withdraw from the market.

I had the chance to speak to the exhibition organiser, one of the Lecturers from the College and a student whose work was on display. The organiser seemed very concerned that the students would receive a positive feedback from the comments in the visitors book. I am never very sure about this but the reality was that the work was good although you could argue about some of the technical aspects if you wanted to be particularly picky. The Lecturer told me that they actively discouraged students abiding by the rules of composition or placement and such things as depth of field and this was evident in the work shown. However there was something very refreshing in this move away from the conventional although at times it was jarring.

It was an interesting conversation with the student who was very much into film photography and the darkroom and felt that this was better than digital. Having heard this argument from photographers who had been raised on film and could not accept that anything else could be better it was something of a shock to hear someone saying the same thing who had only just begun on her photographic career. I can only assume that her lecturer is very much one of those that digital is a necessary evil although how much of a favour she is doing her students who wish to pursue a career in photography is open to question.

I'm glad I went. Like photographs produced by young children who have no pre-formed ideas about what is 'correct' so these students worked in a way that challenges many of the constraints that photography faces .

DPP Assignment 5 photographs

Went into Bury yesterday morning because it was market day and I hoped that there would be more people around. Also went later in the morning to increase the chances of  a crowd. My strategy worked and I was able to get a selection of images that I can work on.

I decided to place myself in particular areas and let the world come to me. Although the temptation is to keep walking around in the belief that you might miss something you could equally be walking away from something that you would have photographed. Staying still seemed to work much better (it helped that I know the area well so could make some informed guesses where the best spot was likely to be) and it also meant that I only had to raise my camera to my eyes rather than stop, steady myself and then move the camera. I have yet to analyse the results but am hopeful.

I have the feeling that the theme that will come from this work that will link the final 12 images will probably change as I am only now focusing on specifics. Whilst I had some idea at the beginning as to what it was I wanted to achieve my main purpose was to get out and about practising street photography. I took the view that restricting myself to a particular theme right at the beginning would not be the best way to proceed because of my lack of experience of this type of work.

"The Photographer's Eye"

I was given the book  [Author - Michael Freeman  Published by Ilex Press Ltd 2007] as a birthday present. Again I wish that I had seen the book before setting out on "The Art of Photography". Given that my work is due for Assessment this month I have mixed feelings about having all the concepts raised, discussed and tried throughout the Course explained in full detail.

I cannot decide whether I found the content of the book so much easier to read and understand because I had struggled to get my head around the ideas during the Course or whether there is a great deal more clarity and information in the book. Probably its a combination of both. Whatever the reason I feel much more confident in applying the suggestions and advice in my photography.

It is not my intention to precis the book I can only recommend that others get hold of a copy. One of the things that did raise a question in my mind is a comment on 'cropping (pp20-21). To quote: "Unlike stitching, however, it [cropping] reduces the size of the image, so demands a high resolution to begin with. I don't understand why. Cropping, of itself, does not affect the resolution of an image. It is only if there is further manipulation would the resolution be affected. I suppose if you cropped the image significantly and then wished to produce a large size print that problems may arise but it would have to be a large change.

In the Chapter on post production there is a discussion on the ethical questions raised by our access to the latest software. Whilst personally I think we worry far too much about ethics (it only arises if we set out to deliberately deceive someone) there is an interesting example given of where some 'cheating' in post production may or may not have happened. The photograph in question is of some Roman ruins at Ephesus in Turkey. Here the author wanted a picture clear of tourists. He tackled this problem by taking a number of shots, stacked them as layers and then selectively erased the unwanted areas. I have never done this but presume it is demanding and time consuming which would be enough to put me off doing the work so any ethical questions would not arise. However in Photoshop CS5 Extended there is now the opportunity for median rendering that makes life so much easier and therefore very tempting. As I learnt of this technique in the book "The Ultimate Workshop' [Martin Evening & Jeff Schewe  Focal Press 2011] I would be in breach of copyright to explain in full how it works so I suggest you borrow or buy the book.

You have probably worked out that I spend a lot of my time reading about the subject matter and have a reasonable library. Obviously nothing beats going out and actually taking photographs because that is the only real way to make progress. However knowing of other peoples approaches and the techniques developed by others to meet specific problems is of great help. I am not into re-inventing the wheel! Fortunately I have the sort of mind that remembers that I have read something even if I cannot recall the details and the most likely place I read it. Thus I can pull the book or article off the shelve and refresh my memory.

Derby Day Format

Joined a group of other students and tutors visiting the Format Photographic Exhibition in Derby. The exhibition itself has a number of venues across the City but it had been decided that we should visit just three. Clearly time was a constraint but I was left wondering why the particular three had been chosen Were they representative of the overall exhibition, more relevant to our studies, or simply because they were of more interest to the person who made the decision?

After a quick walk from the Railway station to the Quad we were advised to split into small groups and wander round the displays in this building. I wanted to experience my own reaction to the images and not have them coloured by the comments and questions from other people so I wandered off on my own. The first group of images I saw were taken from a Tram window. The overall impression I received was one of confusion and incoherence. The images themselves were not very good and things were not helped by the lighting in the building that was provided by large fluorescent tubes. The lighting was a problem in all areas, even the gallery, and did no favours to the photographer in presenting his/her work.

The most impressive collection for me was the group entitled Thirteen Twenty Lacuna by Katrin Koening. In brief this was a series of thirteen shots of different people walking through a spot lit area. My description does it an injustice and it needs to be seen. Unfortunately this group suffered particularly from the ambient lighting that in places put a large fluorescent tube behind the viewers head so that the dark areas of the image acted like a mirror so that the viewer became a distracting element in the image.

One other group consisted of 63 images taken from a moving train of the passing countryside. Each individual shot was approximately 4 x 3in and the group was arranged in 7 rows of nine images. I assume in sequence. Viewed individually nearly all the images were pretty poor and so I backed off and found a seat so that I could see them as a whole. Certainly this was better but an unfortunate combination provided a dark line (a hedgerow) across the middle row that had the visual effect of dividing the overall image into two separate blocks.

The Gallery was busy not only with my fellow students locked in earnest discussion but also many other visitors. It was difficult to get a clear line of vision for any length of time so that, for me, viewing the images was rather like seeing it in slices. I spent a lot of my time on the fringes listening to the discussions that proved very interesting and enlightening.

I wandered out of the building to get some fresh air and to ponder for a while on what I had seen and experienced. Overall I thought the general standard was poor with one or two exceptions. There was no single picture that I thought 'Wow I wish I was that good' although the Koening group as a whole gave me that reaction. Overall I thought it was very disappointing part of the exhibition.

And so to lunch. The idea was that the time would be used for a general discussion about what we had seen so far. Unfortunately we met and ate in the general public cafe so that the noise and the configuration of the tables made a general discussion impossible. However it was clear from the snatches of conversation that could be heard that what we had seen so far had generated a lot of questions and opinions.

Our next venue was a series of panels on street life showing work of the Magnum group. It is always difficult to judge 'old' photographs when you are conditioned to expect the quality that can be achieved by the use of all the technology that is available today. Should we be critical of blown highlights and blocked shadows given the difficulty the photographers faced? Are we fair in expecting that the blacks should be black and not muddy brown? How much has suffered in the printing process and how much of the slightly strange colouring is the effect of the film used and the original development process? You can guess that I was massively under-impressed. I was asked what was my favourite - colour or black & white -  to which I replied black & white (actually it is monochrome which is different). I was at the time looking at a panel of black & white images and was asked to comment. I thought that they were not good and lacked the range of tones that we expect today. (Is this fair?). My questioner pointed to one image (for those of you that remember it was the picture of the gentleman who had dropped a case of wine from his bike) and said that he liked it because it was 'high contrast'. Of course it was because the white of the cartons had ben blown completely and the blacks were indeed very dark.

He then took me to a panel of images that were in colour and again asked me what I felt. I asked him whether I was commenting on the panel as a whole or on individual images. In the first instance it was the panel. I have been fortunate in that I have witnessed on a number of occasions a very ordinary panel of 10 or 15 images (RPS Licentiate or Associateship) transformed by very careful attention to the placement of each individual image. If you ever get the chance to attend an Assessment day held by the RPS it is well worth going solely to witness this change. In this case every 'no-no' of the panel world had been incorporated.

He then chose one image and asked me to comment. It was a night scene and allowing for the limitations of the equipment used was good but I felt no emotional reaction to it at all. Apparently my questioner felt intimidated by it particularly the young man leaning on the building at the junction of the two streets. Here was a significant difference between the experiences of the two people judging the photograph. I spent 35 years working in prisons and on occasions with some very scary people. I am not easily intimidated in real life and never by a photograph. Obviously my questioner's experience was totally different. Both of us were right in our own world. Perhaps the phrase "My photograph is how I see the world; how you react is how you feel the world".

It was noticeable that whoever had put the images together of the individual photographers felt that there was value in providing some deep meaning quotation by them. I think there is a missed business opportunity here. Someone should provide a book of quotes for all occasions so that the poor photographer is able to show that he is really a deep thinker with meaningful pronouncements to be made. For example (in addition to the one I just made up in the last paragraph):

"My photography flips the finger at convention"

"Photography is an intellectual activity felt by the viewer"

"Photographic truth is what I want it to be"


"I don't care what you think; I do care what you feel..."


"I condition your thinking by telling you what I was thinking"

I am left with the feeling that the nothing should come between the photograph and the viewer. Even a title has a significant impact on our responses.

We then moved on to that part of the exhibition that was displayed in the Museum/Art Gallery. Here I found that the lighting was designed and placed for the job so that the images had a chance to be seen in the way that the photographer intended. Certainly it had a significant impact upon the way I approached the images and what I felt about them. Still none were outstanding and some were very ordinary. There was also the chance to see a couple of short films about the work of particular photographers. They were interesting but not that enlightening as the commentary seemed to be rehearsed rather than a conversation between two people when the shots were actually being taken. I subscribe to Kelby Training and one of my favourite training videos is "A Day with Jay Meisel". The camera follows him around the streets of New York which has been his work area for some 43 years. Accompanied by Scott Kelby he is commenting on how he works and there is a naturalness about it including the expletives as he misses a shot because he is talking.

Did I get anything out of the whole day apart from sore feet. Yes!! Meeting fellow students, listening to their take on the images and on general issues around photography and the Course was invaluable. The photographs we saw were the common means of providing a focus for the discussions. I only wish that we had had more time at the lunch break in better surroundings. Was I impressed by the exhibition No!! I recognise that how I see images is very much affected by my previous experience. I was fortunate in belonging to a very good Camera Club (Norfolk Photography Group) where the exceptional seemed often to be the norm. Successful in a number of competitions both Regionally and Nationally the standard of the Club, even in internal competitions, was always high. I have also seen work by Groups such as the Wigan 10 and the Beyond Group where again the norm is exceptional. With the one exception none of the work I saw was of that standard.

Perhaps like painters you need to be dead or very old to benefit from the 'halo' effect where your work is accepted uncritically simply because it has your name on it. It is as though you are incapable of taking a 'bad' photograph.

The whole experience left me wondering whether there is any real value in going to look at someone else's photographs. If I want to take images of horse should I go and look at the work of Stubbs or should I go and look at horses. When we look at someone else's photographs we are looking at something that has been through someone else's mind. Whilst there is an argument for training in the technical aspects I am not so sure that we should be bound by what is seen to be right or wrong in the subject matter.

A Quiet Period and an Amendment

Seem to be in the doldrums at the moment. Submitted Assignment 3 for DPP earlier this month and am awaiting my tutor's comments. I have completed the work for Assignment 4 and will send that when I get the reply for Assignment 3. Begun work on the final assignment and went into my local town only to find that there were very few people around at 9.0'clock in the morning. Got some shots but none were particularly inspiring. Decided to visit Snetterton (Norfolk) market that used to be a huge Sunday Market that was usually packed. The day I went it seemed deserted with only a scattering of people. Got some reasonable shots but not really what I have in mind. Still a number of places that I have earmarked for a visit. I am going to Derby tomorrow for the OCA outing and thought I would get there early and take the opportunity to get more images. As we are meeting at Derby Railway Station hopefully this will provide lots of material.

Been kicking around ideas about what Course to do next. Had been under the impression that we were only required to do two of the Level 1 Courses and could make up the rest of the credits by doing an extra Level 2 Course. I am sure that I read this somewhere. Apparently not! I thought it was wise to ask and got the reply that there is a requirement to do the three Courses at Level 1. May check if the alternative of doing one of the Creative Arts Courses still pertains as I quite fancy the Understanding Visual Culture Course. I have always been interested in the cultural aspects of what we 'see' and this may be a good way to get my head around the detail.

Amendment - In my recent blog on my visit to the Focus on Imaging Exhibition I suggested that it might be a good idea if there were examples of student's work on the OCA stand. Apparently there was a 'slide' show that could be viewed on a television screen. Never noticed it. Sorry folks I should pay more attention.

Focus on Imaging

Visited the Focus on Imaging exhibition yesterday (7.03.11). Been once before three years ago. Seemed to be less stands occupied than I remember but it was very much the same as before. Although it was busy round areas where lectures were being given and at those stands doing direct sales it was otherwise quiet. Only thing I purchased was a book on CS5 although came away with the usual carrier bag full of flyers.

The good thing, and my reason for going, was being able to visit the OCA stand. My specific purpose was to look at the Course material for the Level 2 Course 'Landscapes' to give me some idea of what it entailed. Quick read through and my heart sank when it said what was expected of the learning log and that it should be kept in an A4 folder. Fortunately our CEO (Gareth Dent)was there and he told me that this information was out of date and that they are encouraging all students to go down the blog route in all Courses. Aside - You would think that the material on the stand would have been up to date.

There were several fellow students there and it was great being able to chat to them and find that some of my feelings of isolation and concern were echoed by others. It was also interesting to hear their take on the Courses particularly those that I was thinking of taking. Most agreed that there was a need for at least occasional meetings of students and that the OCA should facilitate this not least by setting up a system that allows willing students to get in contact with each other. Although, rightly, much is made of the web site and in particular the forum these are not a substitute for face to face contact and for many are not a real option.

It was a shame that there were no examples of students' work. I know that Jose Navarro invited us to submit images for selection but this was only a few days before the actual event. Given that it is a regular thing for the OCA to be at the Exhibition perhaps we should start earlier in getting a selection of images together.

A good day out in which I was fortunate to achieve my main objective and have the added bonus of meeting fellow students that made the College seem a real entity.

The more we look the less we see

For a number of years I have been interested in World War I. I have visited most of the important sites and some less well known. I have also read a large number of books most of which had contemporary photographs. I have also seen TV documentaries and visited the Imperial War Museums.

The other day I started to browse through through the book The History of WORLD WAR 1 in Photographs.  [Parrogon Publishers 2009]. I was surprised that the photographs no longer stirred emotions that I had experienced previously with other works. It was not because of the book nor the actual photographs some of which I had seen before. After some thought I came to the conclusion that I had become sated and therefore unfeeling towards the images and what they attempted to portray.

Having come to this conclusion I wondered how much farther afield this effect had become. Perhaps this explains why fashions come into and fall out of favour. Fashions by their very nature have to attract a large number of followers so that the market is flooded with images from the same genre. Presumably at some point enough is seen to be enough and there is no longer the response that we had experienced before. We have looked too often. How much more this phenomena must affect judges and assessors and probably leads to the comment "Not another field of poppies" (or Tuscan landscape). Good photographs do not suddenly become bad it is that our emotions are so jaded by over-exposure that we no longer get a good feeling looking at them.

I presume the lesson from this is to follow your own thing and be yourself. At some point in time what you do may become popular and fashionable at which point it is time to try something different.

Benjamin Bracknell Turner - Victorian Photographer

Just finished reading Benjamin Bracknell Turner  -  Rural England through a Victorian Lens [Martin Barnes V & A  Publications 2001].

Turner was an early pioneer of photography and the photographs we see in the book are from the 1850's (most  from 1852 -54) just over 10 years after Fox Talbot first patented his calotype process in England. There are 46 plates (some are negatives) in the book and the level of detail and the quality of composition is outstanding. Given that this was the early days of photography and that his camera was a massive 75 cms square and,with all the rest of the equipment, required a large cart to move it around one can only marvel at the patience and skill of Turner.

It is interesting that for the most part he stayed with the calotype process despite there being other and quicker alternatives that had been developed on the Continent of Europe.

The photographic paper both for the negative and the positive were hand produced, by the photographer, a sheet at a time. The photographer needed good sunlight but even then exposure time was about 30 minutes so only a small number of photographs have any people in them although there are shots of Turner and one of his family. One effect of these long exposure times was to give water the milky almost gossamer effect that seems to be so sought after by modern day photographers. At the time the effect was almost universally disparaged being seen as unrepresentative of how people see water. There is an estimate in the book that creating a negative required about 45 minutes even for a person of Turner's expertise. Having got a satisfactory negative the photographer needed good sunlight to create a positive image.

What can the modern photographer learn from examining Turner's work. A great deal. It is clear that he gave a great deal of thought to composition and the elements within the photograph to catch and direct the viewers attention. There are four negatives shown in the book (pp 57, 58) all of the windmill at Kempsey in Worcestershire. Close examination reveals that Turner has taken elements out of  the picture and then replaced them. There is a figure in the doorway of the mill in one image that is not repeated in the others. It is also evident that he has shifted the position of the camera slightly to change the relationship of elements in the photograph. It is probable that in other images Turner has added to the scene articles that help stress the rural nature of the image and so placed as to balance the composition. Easy today with all the technology at our disposal but a major undertaking for Turner.

Turner's work indicates that he had a very specific view about rural life and he seems to have gone to great lengths to avoid including anything that jarred with this view. Although a railway line ran very close to his property at Bredicot Court it is not included in his photographs. Given that this the railway was still very much of a novelty at this time it is surprising that it did not figure highly in his portfolio. Other images of ruins such as Whitby Abbey give support to the view that he had a nostalgic longing for a past that probably never existed. This may be true but two of the most outstanding images in the book are of the Crystal Palace shortly before it was demolished after the Great Exhibition of 1851. His photograph of the 'Nave' is one that stand comparison with any taken by our modern digital cameras.

Turner was faced with the same ethical questions that are posed to today's photographer. In his decisions about what he would include and exclude in his photographs he created images that supported his views which is what we do today. Although he did not have the use of a computer or programmes such as Photoshop he was able to, and did, manipulate the negative to ensure a good print. He cropped the image in part to get rid of edge areas where the negative was not satisfactory but also to subtly change the composition of the image. He was as much a man of his own time as he is of ours.

The important lesson learnt is that the most important part of the photographic process is the photographer himself. Whilst an understanding of the technical side available at any point in time is essential only by developing an 'eye' for what is there to photograph will we be able to approach the standards set by this early pioneer.

DPP - Exercise 25 A Web Gallery

As I have no intention to become a professional photographer and/or sell my pictures I can see very little value in creating a web site. I keep some of my images on Jalbum but only those I need an easy way for relatives and friends to see them.

I did create a web site from scratch some 5 years ago purely for the enjoyment of doing it. However I never felt the need to constantly up-date it and as this is very important to keep people re-visiting I let it lapse. I have no desire to go through the procedure again. My time would be better spent on concentrating on photography.

DPP Exercise 24 - Sharpening for Print

Although I have done this exercise I see very little advantage in posting copies of the prints into this blog as the restrictions placed on downloading images onto the blog mitigate against showing clearly the differences in the images produced - not even the one that is supposedly over-sharpened.

I was surprised to see reference to the Unsharp mask in the Course material. Whilst it is still part of Photoshop filters I haven't used it for some time not least because I have never really understood the usefulness of the Threshold slider. What is more as I shoot all my images in Raw I first consider the use of the tools provided in the Raw converter. The first is 'Detail' that determines how much the edges are affected by sharpening. Personally I leave this slider alone purely on the grounds that there are, in my opinion, better tools for sharpening elsewhere (I have set the default amount of sharpening applied to the image to zero rather than the '25' that is the built in default). Second in the Raw converter is the 'Clarity' slider. It is not a sharpening tool but acts on the mid-tones to provide 'snap' to your image. The result is an image that looks sharper although sharpening has not been applied. I don't know why this should be the case but for me it works and is my tool of choice. There is a sharpness slider in the Adjustment tool dialogue and this can be very useful for local sharpening within the image that can be done without affecting the overall image.

In the main body of Photoshop are the sharpening filters. In CS5 Adobe have up-rated the sharpen tool and it is reported to work well. I have not used it because in previous versions of Photoshop using this tool was a recipe for disaster. Perhaps I should give it a whirl sometime. My own favourite is the Smart Sharpen tool and this is the one that I use most of the time on my images. Set to 'Advanced' I have no standard settings for particular types of image or output as there is a danger of just hitting the O.K. button without really checking. I have noticed the greater the amount of 'Clarity' I have used the lower the settings need to be in Smart Sharpen.

I did not find this exercise particularly illuminating. Sharpening and the amount applied is, for me, a case by case process depending both on the intended output media and most importantly the subject of the image. Architectural images can often benefit from a great deal of sharpening whereas portraits have to be sharpened with great care and often selectively.

DPP Final Assignment

I have proposed to my tutor that the topic for the final assignment be street photography. Whilst he agreed he did point out that street photography is a style rather than a topic. Of course this is true but I am reluctant  at this stage to limit myself to a topic even if it is in the general style of street photography. My schedule allows me plenty of time to collect a wide range of images and from those gradually refine the selection until I have a viable topic that meets the criteria given in the assignment notes.

Limiting the selection early on presents a very high risk of concentrating on a very limited area of activity and missing something else that could have greater impact. For example it would seem to be a waste if I was concentrating on taking photographs of bank staff taking a smoking break outside if just round the corner there was a bank robbery going on. I exaggerate for effect.

I trust that in the early part of the project a number of possible topics will begin to present themselves that I can gradually reduce to a small number on which I can concentrate later photography finally arriving at the selected topic. Happily I do not have the problem of a close deadline other than one that I impose upon myself which is currently early May giving me a couple of months.

I propose using this blog as a journal of my work on a regular basis so that I can review what I have done and refine what I am going to do.

DPP -Suggested Assignment Submission Dates

I asked my tutor how the suggested submission dates were calculated. He tells me that it is based on 8 hours per week of study etc. hence the suggestion that I submit Assignment 3 by the end of May 2011. Given that the submission was sitting in my pending tray since late February I was concerned that I was missing something although using simple maths I had spent slightly more time than the total indicated.

However he did stress that the date was just a suggestion and that assignments could be submitted at any time. I am not sure why it was a point of anxiety for me other than you get very little guidance on what you should be doing apart from the exercises in each part of the Course. I was concerned that the apparent speed with which I was submitting the work may be seen by the assessors as evidence that I was doing very little work and not tackling the subject in depth. Hopefully that is not a problem.

A day out

Spent today visiting a couple of exhibitions in the local area.

The first one was at Sutton Hoo a National Trust site near Woodbridge in Suffolk. The site, which is well signposted off the A12, is famous for the discovery of an Anglo Saxon burial ground discovered in the late 1930's. My interest was in the display of photographs taken in 1939 chronicling the archaeological dig. They are quite remarkable and a reminder that despite all the modern technology that is available to the photographer today our forebears certainly knew a lot about the skills necessary both in taking the photo and working in the dark room. The detail that has been captured in the sandy soil that surrounded the burial area is very impressive even by modern day standards. An additional bonus are some colour images and given that they were taken in 1939 on a Leica they must be a very rare example of colour photography of the time. Well worth a visit for the exhibition itself.

The second one was at Thornham Walks which is off the A140 in Suffolk near to the town of Eye. Again it is a well signposted site. The only cost is a £2 parking fee. The Beyond the Image group has seven members who simply love photography. They hold four different exhibitions (one following the other so there is always something to see) a year that are based on themes chosen by the group. The present one is "You wear it well" and one of the fascinations was to see the very different ways that each individual had tackled the topic. There was a mix of monochrome and colour images and varied from a study of an oak tree to a piece of crumpled paper (I'll leave it to you to work out how these fit into the theme just think of the alternative meanings of the word 'wear'). The standard of photography is high and there is almost always a member of the group on hand to welcome you and to answer any questions that you wish to ask.

The two exhibitions could not have been more different. The factual recording of the 1939 images was in marked contrast to the flights of fancy and interpretation of the 2011 images. The use of strong colour in some of the 2011 images asked for comparison with the gentler almost pastel tones of the 1939 photographs. Yet in each set it was possible to discern the enthusiasm and love of the photographers and their enthusiasm for the medium.

What did I get out of it. Certainly the 1939 images were a humbling experience and I was left wondering how I would have tackled the project and whether my efforts would have been better because of the technology that I can bring to bear. I have my doubts. The second exhibition gave me food for thought about how many ways there are to tackle any given theme. Perhaps I should be more adventurous in the way I tackle the Assignments in the Course.

DPP Assignment 3

Submitted the final version to my Tutor today. As it is some 3 months before his suggested date I have sought clarification on how the suggested dates are arrived at. I await his response with interest.