Final Piece

The final piece is now complete for sending in.

The topic has remained the Fife defences, concentrating on those from WWI and WWII. These are coastal remains that fascinate me, as they are so rarely visited except by the local graffiti artists, and were so important in the defence of Britain.

I ended using a mix of monochrome and colour to show the feelings they evoked in me. Many were taken in poor weather, a few in bright sunshine. Most were taken using a Panasonic Lumix G1.The images were taken in RAW, processed via Lightroom 3, and the pages put together in Photoshop Elements 8. The font for all the pages except the title page is Ariel.

Title Page.

This shows the tank blocks that were made in their thousands and lined the coast. They are hardly visible today in most places, and many have been moved. Monochrome was used to emphasise the graphic nature of the cubes. The font is 'Day Poster Black', which was then outlined with a white stoke in Elements.

Page 1.

The castles along the seacoast make dramatic images, especially when seen on a stormy day. I choose to concentrate on the skies to show the often threatening nature of the weather in Scotland in winter. This was emphasised further in monochrome.

Page 2

The later defences are much less dramatic, and often much less visible. Here the lower image shows how the bunkers sits on the hill, and uses the hill as protection, unlike the castles which stand above the landscape. The colour detail image shows the overgrowth of ivy and closed over window.

Page 3.

The colour images here show the scale of the massive gun emplacements, and how desolate they are.

Page 4.

The use of colour shows how different the bunkers look in different seasons, but they are still overwhelmed by the new (relative to the age of the bunkers) tree growth.

Page 5.

This page uses a combination of detail (above) and landscape of the same building. The lower image is taken from where one would stand if operating the gun.

Page 6.

The graffiti, from inside the last bunker in the line, was taken with a slow speed rather than using flash, as the flash distorted the colours and made it look too 'new'. An alternative would have been to use flash and alter the colours in Lightroom.

Page 7.

The landscape image shows a line of blocks looking over the coast, here the alien nature of the blocks is emphasised by the grey against the blue, but in most cases the blocks are being slowly broken down by the elements and lichen.

Page 8.

Colour was chosen here to show the deserted, rust streaked, nature of the hangers. A similar image in monochrome also worked well but did not fit so well in the sequence when looking from the previous page (7) to this one.

Page 9.

Here the defences stand out from the landscape of the nature reserve, and are being slowly destroyed by nature.

Page 10.

I returned to monochrome for the final image to show my emotion when faced with the lack of care given to these monuments of war. This image also has the only human figure, a hardly visible person  sitting waiting in army dress.

The hardest part of this project was to cut down the number of image used from hundreds of possible ones. Initially I had several more on some of the pages, but the pages looked cluttered, and the additional images did not add anything to the story.  I also tried using all monochrome and all colour, but in the end decided a mixture told the story better and was more interesting to look at. I also tried a variety of fonts for the text, but they made reading it more difficult and proved an unnecessary complication.

Assignment 4 - redo

Encouraged by Alan (my tutor) I have done a rethink of this exercise and replaced a lot of the photos.

1.      Rollei shape 1 :           no change

2.      Rollei shape 2 :           no change

3.      Rollei form 1 :            no change

4.      Rollei form 2 :            new view from above with a partial side view

Rollei form 2: f/22, 90mm efl, 2.5 sec, ISO 100

5.      Rollei texture 1: monochrome image of whole camera focusing on the knobbly black metal case

Rollei texture 1: f/5, 90mm efl,  1/30 sec, ISO 100

6.      Rollei texture 2: partial view of top of camera showing the ridges in the viewfinder and the grain in the leather

Rollei texture 2: f/3.5, 90mm efl, 1/30 sec, ISO 160

7.      Rollei colour 1: back of camera showing colour in worn leather (natural light)

Rollei colour 3: f/3.2, 90mm efl, 1/125 sec, ISO100

8.      Rollei colour 2: side view of whole camera  colour in undamaged  leather (natural light)

Rollei colour 2: f/2.8, 90mm efl, 1/125 sec, ISO 100

9. Rollei colour 3: looking inside

ISO 250, f/2.8, 90mm efl, 1/60 sec.

Rethinking this assignment was an interesting exercise. It was hard to think of different ways to show such an iconic camera. All pictures were taken with my Panasonic G1, mainly with a 45mm (90) prime lens. The exposure was metered by the camera.

I have a single camera mounted flash, which can be swivelled to bounce light and no other photographic lighting so the still life shots were done with a variety of household lights and then colour corrected in Lightroom3 where required. The monochrome image was edited in Silver Efex pro 2.

These images are different than the previous set, and, I think, improved. There is a wider range of lighting used and more techniques shown.

Exercise - Judging colour temperature 1

The colour of light varies and this is known as its temperature. As this is a scientific term it is related to the temperature that light is produced by the sun at , and, somewhat counter intuitively, the bluer the light the higher the temperature. We are attuned to light, and our brains 'see' light as the colour wee expect it to be, usually at midday, in the summer. Even when the light is a noticeably different colour to this we still 'see' it as this average colour, and have to concentrate to see differently. 

This is further complicated in my case, As with many other people, in that I where glasses that have lenses that vary in sunlight (photochromic), however these do not just cut down the amount of light but are also often coloured, in my case brown, rather than a neutral gray. I get used to seeing though these lenses and my brain interprets this view of the world as the 'correct' one. When in shade they are virtually clear, while in bright sun almost black (with a  brown tinge) - so colours tend to look very intense with the glasses on , and much less intense and slightly bluer with the glasses of.

The camera lenses 'sees' and therefore records in a neutral fashion - so if the colour of the light changes this is recorded by the camera. This can be very obvious with a film camera, but with a digital camera the internal software can compensate for this and  average the recording out (auto - white balance, AWB). The camera can also be set to compensate for specific types of light such as cloud, or shade. The accuracy of the settings will vary with the camera. This can further be varies by the type of files you take - if you use RAW files the RAW editing software again gives you a chance to change the settings for the type of light both via presets and intuitively via sliders.

In this exercise images were taken on the 'daylight' setting in the camera and not altered afterward. I took images of my husband and daughter, both were bribed into doing this. They were taken within a couple of days, the full sun and shade photos on the same day, and the other a few days later, in the south of England.

Full Sun.

ISO 100, f/5, 90mm efl, 1/1000 sec

Very bright sunlight, although with a cloudy sky. The colour appears neutral. The white t-shirt looks white, with slightly bluish shadows.

ISO 100, f./5, 90mm efl, 1/1600 sec

Again very bright sunlight, with neutral colours ( and a grumpy teenager).

Shade.

ISO 100, f/14, 90mm efl, 1/60 sec

This was in deep shade under a tree. The shutter speed has dropped from 1/1000 to 1/60. The colour of the image is much bluer generally, with slightly blue shadows in the t-shirt. 

ISO 100, f/7.1, 90mm efl, 1/200 sec

Again a picture in deep shade under a tree, the skin her has a markedly bluer tone to it.

Evening.

ISO 160, f/8, 1/60 sec.

This image was taken with a different camera, fairly late in the evening, with a low sun. The colour is definitely much more orange, and gives an unnatural skin tone.

ISO 200, f/8, 1/60 sec.

Taken at the same time as the picture above, but my daughters skin looks more natural because it has an olive tone.

Even though I was consciously looking for colour changes when I was taking these images they were not as visible as I would have expected. This was particularly true of the sun versus shade images, where I had to think to recognise the colour change. It was easier to see in the evening light - but I expect that to be orange.

Learning points.

1. Think about colour and the time of day
2. The mind fools the eye
3. Cameras don't lie ( but can compensate without you being aware of it)
4. AWB might not be the 'best' setting - depending on what is wanted.

Assignment 3 - rethink

Further thought on the colours assignments.
I am again trying to be too clever and not direct enough.
Points to remember:

1. answer the question
2. be as clear as possible
3. look for an interesting/unusual angle
4. explain ones thoughts and processes clearly.

 Complimentary colours - yellow and violet:

Railcar Door - Violet and Yellow. ISO 200, f/10, 102mm efl, 1/80 sec.

This was the original - the one below I have changed the door to a more obvious violet by using a different RAW conversion in Lightroom 2 and adding it as an extra layer to the original image to brighten and lighten the violet.

Railcar Door 2 - Violet and Yellow. ISO 200, f/10, 102mm efl, 1/80 sec.

This shows a much clearer violet / yellow contrast. The alteration in processing has been effective without loosing the bright yellow. The yellow remains the smaller proportion, but its brightness makes it stand out.

Accented colours

 

Two extra (and probably clearer) options for single colour accents.

Red on blue door. ISO 100, f/9, 70mm efl, 1/50 sec

This is a door of an old railway carriage. Very dilapidated and clearly 'patched up'. The red really stood out and makes the image much more interesting.

Red on yellow carriage side. ISO 100, f/10, 86mm efl, 1/500 sec.

A small rectangle of intense red livens the image and draws the eye

Very small red accent on a striking yellow background.

 The red contrasing colour stands out againt the background









On the same subject of small points of colour against a background, I came against this scene when exploring an old graveyard. 

 

Deserted and decayed. ISO 320, e/5.3, 60mm efl, 1/40 sec.

Red and broken gravestones pointed up by the intense blue of a piece of modern plastic waste.

Similar colours:

These needed to be more clearcut and show more definate colours.

Blue and green. ISO160, f/13, 46mm efl, 1/200 sec

Green hills against a blue (ish) sky, with some added storm clouds. A very Scottish picture.

           Blue and green ISO 100, 90mm efl, f/3.5, 1/80 sec

The back of the flower is a very intense blue which really stands out against the much more muted green foliage. The green is, however, emphasised by the bright green stalk leading into the centre of the flower, surrounded by an almost white area.

 Although the more intense blue looks as though it is a much larger area of colour it is not. The effect is given by the central placing and the colour intensity.








For the next image of similar colours I had intended to shoot raspberries, strawberries and blueberries - but my children have eaten them! I need to think again - or go shopping again.

ISO 1600, 84mm efl, f/5.6, 1/8 sec

An almost even balance of luscious red and purple berries. The colour points up the desirability of these fruits. There is slightly more of the brighter red - but this is balanced by the more central position of the purple blueberries.

 It is difficult to analyse this image as the colours are mixed - not in a single block.The fruit that stands out most clearly is the slightly incomplete raspberry at the top which is balanced on the blueberries. The position and colour makes me want to eat it first.

Assignment 3 - part 4

Colour harmony though similar colours.

Similar colours are those next to each other on the colour wheel and images made with these are often tranquil and soothing, rather than vibrant.

Example 1.

A peaceful day on the loch. The main colour visible for a long range picture is blue.

Lake of Menteith - blue and green harmony. ISO 100, f/5.6, 72mm efl, 1/1000 sec

A very tranquil scene with a large area of blue divided by a small band of green, which gives interest to the image.

Example 2.

Close to the shore the main colour becomes green, with the green also being reflected in the water.Still  a tranquil scene - but very different.

Sores of Menteith -green and blue. ISO 100, f/5.6, 50mm efl, 1/640 sec.

Small bands of blue shows at the top and bottom of the image These need to be enhanced with a filter, as the exposure contrast was so great that all colour would have been washed out of the sky if the green was correctly exposed. ideally this could have been done in camera with a neutral grad filter in place, but was actually done post -processing in Lightroom 2.

Example 3. 

A pile of vibrant and tasty peppers, polished and ready to eat.

Peppers. ISO 400, f/7.1, 156 efl, 1/40 sec

The balance is uneven, with a smaller amount of green to the highly saturated yellow, and, even though these colours are next to each other on the wheel they appear  as contrasting here.

Example 4.

Sweets on a market stall. Loaded with colourants, but highly attractive to young eyes.

Enticing?  ISO 100, f/9, 90mm efl, 1/100 sec.

The colours are evenly balanced, and mimicked in the trays of sweets to the back and the sides. The surrounding papers act a barrier and help emphasise the intensity of the colours against the pale cream.

Assignment 3 - part 3

Colour Accent.

The purpose here is to show how colour can work as an accent, using a small amount of colour against a background of another. This is the effect that catches ones eye to something in the distance, such as the red house roof against the fields (which I saw - but haven't managed to go back to photo because of endless rain), or the expensive item in the shop window!

Example 1.

Foxglove on a hill, the brilliant violet stands out against the green.

Foxglove - violet point on green. ISO125, f/13, 90mm efl, 1/60 sec

A single accent, a line rather than a point of intense colour which really stands out, a complete contrast of colour.

Example 2.

A flag flying on the shore at the edge of a broken and deserted pier. Who keeps it there and why? Is it a warning, and if so - of what.  This is full tide, so the pier is never covered.

Only the flag remains. - red on blue. ISO 100, f/10, 90mm efl, 1/200 sec

A very intense red on a background of blue dominates the whole scene. The colours contrast both in their place on the colour wheel and in their intensity, with the blue a much more subdued hue.

Example 3. 

This year all the fields of rape are full of poppies - remembrance of an old way of farming?

Poppy. ISO 400, f/5.6, 400mm efl, 1/125 sec.

The single point becomes the whole purpose of the image, partly because of the contrasting yellow colour and partly because of the depth of field.

Example 4.

An arrangement of beads and threads , all violets (although some very pale in saturation, set of by a vibrant yellow jade figurine.

Glass and Jade - yellow on violet. ISO 400, f/22, 90mm efl, 4 sec

The yellow of the figurine is magnified by the background of its complementary colour violet in the cloth and the beads.