Leave of Absence

After a period of about 6 months unavoidable pause in this piece of work I have now got back on track again. I haven't been totally stopped from learning as I have managed to visit several fascinating photographic exhibitions and art galleries, and also done some reading. The other thing I have managed is to increase my repertoire by taking some 'street photographs', and concentrating on monochrome.

How tall am I?

Just walking

Waiting

This is proving an interesting departure from my usual nature and plants theme, and one I clearly would benefit from extending.

Photoworks - Autumn/Winter 09/10

This issue of photoworks is devoted to relatively unknown Japanese photographers and their work, much of which has been produced in the form of photobooks rather than as prints for a gallery. This means that much of it needs to be looked a in context and in order rather than as individual images. It is therefore inevitable, that as only a small selection of any of the whole books are shown, some of the impact will be lost.

I have seen very little Japanese photography and am looking at it with an eye attuned to western culture which will effect the way I interpret the photos. I also became aware that I interpreted them differently than the reviewers, often in a more simplistic way. Next time I look at a book like this i think it is important to look at the images first – then read the review!. One picture where I had a markedly different instant understanding was in the work of Osama Wataya where the reviewer (Gordon MacDonald says ‘The most uncomfortable image……… is one of a man whose flesh seems to be melting from his body like wax’ (Gordon MacDonald, Photoworks 2009. p52. ). This image shows me a man who, in spite of his problems, walks down the street with his head held high. This difference may be because I work with people with a disability on a daily basis. Unlike MacDonald this man did not make me think of the atomic bombs, although I agree that it does show immense suffering.

Osamu Wataya - from Rumor

The images that I would most like to see more of were by Ariko, a Japanese photographer, who has taken pictures of Iceland to create pictures that are calm, with  a great sense of light and space. These images remind me of those by Dan Holdsworth ( seen earlier at the Baltic Gallery), which, although showing much more detail – have the same sense of light and calm.

Ariko - Swan Feather

Overall, this edition of Photoworks, although dedicated to Japanese photography shows a wide variety of images, some beautiful and others disturbing. It is clear that a simple label of Japanese does not immediately give an expectation of one ‘type’ of image, any more than British or American would. It is an area I will need to explore further.

Post Assignment 4

Feeling rather flat at the present. Not a very good response to my last assignment. Pictures too similar and lighting also too similar, both comments fair, but I had tried to take them inside and under artificial light deliberately, this is always something I find hard.

Wondering whether to start again completely – or to take some more and go outside (if it ever stops raining).

Also need to use more explanations of what and how, I tend to put it in this blog, but still not in enough detail. Not sure how to do this bit, self reflection  is not my strong point – so make a check list.

before:

• think about what you are taking
• why are you taking it?
• what detail are you concentrating on?
• what light are you using?
• shutter speed and aperture
• focal point

afterwards:

• did it work?
• if so – why
• if not – why not
• what settings did you use
• what lighting
• what post-processing

This should help. Less and better is the aim.

Artificial Lighting–Indoors

I do not possess any photographic lighting equipment, this is partly because of cost and also because up to recently I have found no use for it. The main photographs I like to take are landscapes and flowers, so mostly outside and in the daytime.

Up to very recently I did not even possess a flash gun and relied on the on-camera flash, although I preferred not to use any flash at all and made a lot of use of timed exposures.

My first foray into photographic lighting has been to buy a flash gun for my camera. My camera does not appear to support syncing with a flash that is not attached to the hot shoe – although I may yet find a way around that limitation so I can use the flash from away from the camera. However, at present I am still experimenting with the use of the flash and bouncing the flash of a variety of surfaces to give variation to the light and to use it as a ‘fill’ flash.

The exercises here have been carried out with a mixture of household lighting and the help of my son. he makes an excellent light stand! However the lights tends to be les bright than I might wish and also less focused. The new regulations for the type of obtainable light bulbs, (CFL’s using low power) are making the use of these lights less and less practical.

I have enjoyed working with ‘still life’ type images for this course, and am starting to feel limited by the equipment I can access so may acquire some more lighting, the difficulty is in knowing exactly what is needed.

ISO 640, f/5.5, 70mm efl, 1/10 sec

 Lit with overhead lighting from a large CFL ceiling light, and post-processed via Lightroom 2 and Siver Efex Pro 2 this old water jug with a pewter lid shows its complex shape well.

Graham Clarke–The Photograph

Graham Clarke has written a very readable history of the development of photography and its genres. He initially talks about what a photograph actually is – writing with light, and how this gives us an ability to order and record nature. Once the initial development of photographic processes had begun with Daguerre and Fox-Talbot there was continuing development of both processes and cameras throughout the nineteenth century. Over 60 years this allowed the photograph to become ‘one of the most accessible and accepted means of visual representation ……. the ultimate democratic art form’. (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p.18).

He goes on to describe how our understanding of a photograph is very dependant on its context, small or large, monochrome or coloured, and also the genre of the image, ‘an ‘art’ photograph involves an entirely different set of assumptions from a documentary photograph’ (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p 10). Photography also (by its very nature) fixes a moment in time and allows us to look back at the past.

Clarke then looks at how we ‘read’ a photograph. This is dependant on our own past experience and also on our assumptions about the meaning of the photograph. There are also different levels of meaning, the ‘denotative’, which is the literal meaning and the ‘connotative’ which is the underlying or implied meaning . Over time photography has gradually developed itself to  a place where the images in themselves are important and can become ‘visual essays’ (p37).

In the nineteenth century photography often followed themes that had been used in painting, such as The Open Door by Fox Talbot which bears similarities to Dutch interiors, and many of todays genres, such as portraits and landscapes follow on from this. Photographs were understood because people were very aware of the visual language and subtexts associated with various types of paintings. I wonder if this is actually reversed nowadays – with many people much more familiar with photographs than with paintings. A further new development was ‘travel’ photography, which allowed people to see’ wondrous images of otherwise only imaging culture’ (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997,p49).

Landscape photography moves between two poles, ‘the basic elements of nature,( trees, flowers and so on) and change (light, water sky and the seasons)…………or pastoral scenes of a postcard culture.’ (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p 56). In the USA much early photography was associated with the government expedition and surveys, but it often reflected a ‘sense of wonder’  and is associated with Transcendentalism  where every detail is significant, and fixes a moment as part of time and space. American landscape photographers, from Watson to Ansel adams choose landscapes that are empty of people, ‘sublime and pure scenes….. a mysterious otherness’  (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p65. British photographers tend to more follow the picturesque route, possibly because of the lack of grand landscapes that show no signs of human habitation. England is increasingly ‘cluttered… with space at a premium’ and this is often mirrored in the recent British photographers work such as Martin Parr.

Cities give a series of different possibilities to the photographer. One may use panoramic shots, look down from above or look up from below. Another possibility is street level images, which may be empty of people or be cluttered with items and invoke a threat of danger or violence. Photographers look at a variety of street form broad avenues (Steiglitz) to small alleys. As the century advanced cities were increasingly lacking in unity and fragmented and may become ‘an invisible, at times underground city , in which the sheer density of the human presence threatens to overwhelm the camera’ (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p 80).  Other photographers concentrate on the human figure to give meaning to the city (Hine and Arbus), Cities can be photographed both in daylight and after dark, where they may may show deep needs, and the underside of the city.(Brassai) In the end ‘the urban space is both insistent and unreadable….. a series of disparate elements…  which remain impervious to the photographer’s attempts to capture it’ (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p97.

Portraits in photography can be problematic. The photographer tries to express the essence of the person in one image, and show personality. This is then filtered though a series of stereotypes that are dependant on the age and sex of both the photographer and the sitter There is often a clear difference between photographs of males and females, for instance in the work of Margaret Cameron which ‘reinforce the myth of male dominance and individuality’ (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997,p 105). There is also a marked difference between those who use studio’s and those who take portraits in context, or use the situation to define the person, such as August Sander. Sometimes, in the end, the photo is more about the image and what is says about society than about the person.

The body has become a ‘pervasive’ image in our society, but it can still cause controversy. Pornography has been present as photographic images from very early on in the development of the use of the camera,(and probably simply took over from pen and paper drawings). This continues as an issue, and the majority of image of the female nude are taken by men, and are often passive or submissive in nature.  Pictures of the male nude tend to be represented differently even when overtly homo-erotic such as those by Mapplethorpe.

Documentary photography can be defined as images that give 'a truthful and objective account… of what has happened…. a series of discrete images which speak of the complexities of human experience and disaster. (Clarke, The Photograph, 1997, p 145)  The camera has often been used to expose and bring to public attention things that would otherwise remain invisible. This can be done either in a way that acts to work overtly on the emotions of others (the Migrant Mother by Lange) or, sometimes, in a very neutral stance that is the more shocking when fully examined (Bergan-Belsen Concentration Camp by Rodger). War, and its aftermath, is frequently a subject for documentary photography but one must not forget the possibility of censorship even today. The other area that needs to be considered is the possibly lack of veracity of a photograph. This has always been an issue, however is much easier to perform now. At the end, one is dependant on the honesty of the photographer for the truthfulness of the image.

Clarke then continues on to discuss photography as ‘fine art’, where the content of the image is often subsumed to the impact of the image and can make very subtle images from basic materials of life. Her also talks about images that have been deliberately manipulated to reveal the meaning of the photographer.

Overall this is a fascinating introduction to the theory and history of photography. Some of the types of image he discusses are ones I have experimented with such as landscape and portraiture, but others need investigation especially the body, and also documentary work.

The Photographer’s Eye

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman is the core text associated with this course, and many of the chapters are amplifications of the material in the course book. Two sections I found particularly helpful were Gestalt Perception and Reaction.

Gestalt perception discusses the theory that there is a holistic approach to perception, that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and the ‘ the mind takes a sudden leap from recognising the individual components to understanding the scene in its entirety.’ (Michael Freeman , The Photographer’s Eye, p38.)
The Gestalt Theory of perception stems from work by German psychologists in the 1920’s. Gestalt = ‘organised whole’. http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~kbroom/Lectures/gestalt.htm describes the original theory and gives examples of the 6 main principles of it. These principles act as a form of mental ‘shortcut’ to help with perceptual understanding.  Making a photographic image involves assessing a complex scenes and somehow organising it to make an image  that shows the main features.
Many of the activities in this course involve separating out he parts of the image making process so that we are Aware of them, however, it then becomes important to reassemble them into a coherent and rapidly utilisable whole when taking an image which one might only have limited time to acquire.

Reaction (p.164) discusses this further, and talks about practising ‘techniques ‘until they become instinctive, which then allows you to put them all together rapidly to take the shot. Freeman discusses the similarity of the concept to Zen thinking, especially as described in the book ‘Zen and the Art of Archery’ by Herrigal. ‘a lightening reaction which has no further need of conscious observation’. This clearly applies more to street photography rather than still lifes, but even here the less the brain has to consider techniques the more the brain can consider the image.

Therefore – practice, practice and more practice.

Exercise - Implied Lines.

The object in the exercise was to look at the implied lines within an image, that is, how ones' eye travels around the image and what you can do to influence that. For this exercise I first looked at my recent pictures looking for implied lines, then, as part of my recent photographic marathon while on holiday, looked at some specific possibilities.  I find it easier to see the lines 'after the fact' than to deliberately produce them whilst shooting.  This is clearly an area of composition I need to think about actively.

Example 1.

Ruined Gateway at Torryburn.

Here there is a clear implied line along the path leading into the old gate. The mind is lead into wondering what is inside.

Example 2.

Under the Abbey

Here the lines between the stones act as implied lines and send the eye back in  the image toward the line of light coming from the doorway.

Example 3.

Deserted Coastal Defence - Charles Point

Here there are two implied lines, the first looking down the stair toward the person beyond the doorway, the second following the persons gaze to the opening on the left.

The following are from the second set of images made while considering implied lines.

Example 1.

Street Cooking

Here there is a clear eye-line from the cook to the cup of squid that is about to be dropped into the wok.

Example 2.

Hot Noodles for Sale!

Here the two bright red ladles point directly at the centre of the dish of noodles on the market stall.

Learning Points:

1. Lines in a picture can be very obvious - but the more subtle implied lines are often more effective.
2. Most of the above pictures show an implied line from right to left, western people usually read a picture from left to right (like the lines on a page), so lines that lead in the opposite direction set up a tension in the picture and may make it more interesting.
3. Lines often lead the eye outside the image - therefore increase imagination of 'what is/might be'.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) is probably one of the most well-known photographers there is, many of whose images are instantly recognizable, such as the man at Gare Saint-Lazare jumping over a puddle. He made the term  ‘decisive moment’ a familiar one, and was one of the founder members of Magnum. In his early years he was involved in the Surrealist Movement, who believed that the main purpose of art is to show instinct over reality, which may be achieved by removing an object from its usual environment to give an unusual clarity to it. Throughout his long career he was involved in both still photograph and making films. He was a very disciplined photographer and would frequently look for the perfect position, move to it and then wait for the subject to move into it. ‘To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second,the significance of an event as well as the precise organisation of forms which give the event its proper expression’ (Cartier-Bresson, The Decisive Moment, 1952).

 Madrid 1953

Cartier-Bresson photographed an enormous variety of subjects, from Communist China to office workers in New York, to portraits of famous personalities. His portraits often showed a gesture that was representative of the person, as is shown here in the portrait of George Balanchine.

Cartier-Bresson was always more interested in where he was going next and the next photo than what was happening to photographs he had already taken. His work, by the end, reached across the world and though  a lifetime of major cultural changes. He wrote in The Decisive Moment ‘ It is though living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us.’

On looking at a large collection of Cartier-Bresson’s images very soon after looking at the images of Claude Cahun I was struck by the extreme difference between them, in spite of the similarities in their social class, imprisonment by Nazi Germany, time span (at least for the first half of Cartier-Bresson’s life) and early influence by the Surrealists.Cahun has ‘internalised’ her work, all is about self and changes to self, while Cartier-Bresson has ‘externalised’ his, all is about looking at the world with a clear, almost dispassionate, view.

I found Cartier-Bresson‘s images en masse  stunning. The range is fascinating, and the sheer clarity of his view amazing. Some are, inevitably, more engaging to me than others, but overall they are images I will return to regularly.

 Hamberg, Germany 1952-1953

(with thanks to my tutor  Alan Whetton for pointing me in this direction)

Reflections

As I progress though this course I am discovering things about photography and also about myself. Both are important.

1. I find it exceptionally hard to take photos ‘to order’. I think this is because I have spent so many years just taking pictures randomly, what I like, when I like, and lots of them. I am rather this way in my own work, in that although I have a very intense job, to a large extent I can make choices about when and how I do things.
2. Culling is hard. I still am bad about only keeping the best. I always think that I might find a use for the others. This is a mistake. The end result is that I can’t find the good ones, I was going to say the jewels in the crown, but that is definitely overdoing it at the moment. This is a skill I must learn. I only ever show the best to others – so why keep them?
3. Avoid repetition. I tend to go back to the same places, inevitably, but I need to think clearly each time about what is new, and why it is worth re-doing. Is it because I see something in a different way? Is the weather different? Am I thinking differently?
4. Look first. I don’t often carry a tripod because of the weight, so its too easy to just shoot. I need to learn to look and absorb the scene – then try taking just 1 or 2 shots only.
5. Reading about photography is interesting, but I need to focus on one book at a time!
6. Attending exhibitions is important, but so is absorbing the pictures and thinking about styles and learning points.

Most of these reflections are the same as those I made at the beginning of the course, have I changed at all? Have I learned to look critically at my pictures – yes , but not enough and not often enough.

Plan:

1. Be really harsh with the culling, keep only the best (family shots an exception).
2. Finish a book a week, then think and summarise it.
3. Critically evaluate 1 picture a week of mine.
4. Look at more of other peoples images and evaluate them, – off Flikr, out of magazines, off the news.

Exercise - The relationship between points.

This exercise is to show how points relate to one another and how having 2 points in a picture can alter the relationships, causing an implied line between the points.

Example 1.

In this image the orange buoy is clearly the stronger point as it is a more intense colour, larger and nearer the 'front' of the image. The dark weight acts to balance it with a clear visual line developed between them, which is echoed by the barely visible chain.

Example 2.

This image was initially taken to demonstrate the previous exercise - a single point. I tried to crop it to remove the small out of focus flowers on the far right and it instantly became a less interesting photo.  The main daisy is clearly the major point of interest, with larger size, brighter colour and a more central position, but having the small bright area (admittedly 2 tine flowers) acts as a balance. On alternativee crop would to have been a significant crop removing a large potion of the right side.

Example 3.

A more even balance is shown here, with both flowers a similar size and colour, the stronger point here is the flower in the bottom right corner which is 'nearer' the viewer.

Example 4.

The eyes have it!

Here it is impossible to resolve the image and ones gaze constantly moves between the 2 eyes, t6o an extent that is almost uncomfortable.

Lessons learned:

1. It does not have to be a very large 2nd object to act as a balancing point in an image
2. Being unable to resolve the composition is less restful, but potentially more interesting
3. Colour, size and position within the frame all have a part to play when considering what is the main point of focus.

Interesting Images

I have recently come across some interesting images online.
1. This comes from a BBC website and is a collection of photographs taken in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake, showing mainly the effect on the survivors.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-13014430
2. This is a photostream my husband (a military modeller) found on Flickr, the photos come from 1957 in Libya, and are a fascinating mix of wartime reminiscence, tourist shots and pictures of the local lifestyle.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8567152@N08/sets/72157605655522623/with/2585315801/

The Nature of Photographs

I have just read this book by Stephen Shore, a quick read, but a very revealing one, and one that helps illuminate this course well.

The author talks about the various levels of photography, ranging from the physical level to mental modelling and gives a few photographs; some famous, some less so, to show each level. There are a minimal number of words and he mainly uses the images to explain the concepts.

In the depictive level he states that photography analyses the world to make images in contrast with the artist who starts with a blank canvas. He describes  flatness, frame, time and focus as being the four areas that the photographer controls to ‘impose an order on the scene – simplifies the jumble by giving it structure’ (Stephen Shore, 2007, The Nature of Photography, p37).

The mental level reminds one that that what you see is interpreted by the brain, and that this interpretation is going to partially depend on previous experience, this may, for example, alter your understanding of the picture so that it might appear very flat or have great depth.

The mental modelling concept shows that photographers will have preconceived ideas of their images that might either be very restrictive, or very fluid, and that this will clearly alter the types of photographs they take. By being aware of this, and thinking about all the previous levels of image taking one can expand both ones awareness of the world and ‘accommodate new perceptions to …………. turn a piece of paper into a seductive illusion or a moment of truth and beauty.’ (Stephen Shore, 2007,The Nature of Photography, p122).

 

Reading, and re-reading this short book makes me think more about the how and why of taking photographs, it is far too easy to just shoot and hope. By the end of these courses I should have learned to monitor my thought processes enough and to improve my instinctive decisions.

Assignment 1 – Completed!

Well, I have managed to complete the first section on time. What have I learnt?

I take way too many bad photographs. Sometimes there is a point to this, the zoo was a good example. I was trying to get pictures of moving wildlife and often they did move! So – do I get rid of all the bad ones, sometimes yes and sometimes no, some are for memory rather than for good images. This is an important point to separate out, watching the black leopard play with a cardboard box, just like a house cat would, was fun and not something I want to loose the record of, even though most of the pics are out of focus, or his head is behind a tree or in the box. The zebra is another example, the baby trying to get mums attention was fascinating and made a great sequence, while lots of unfocused shots of monkeys doing not very much at too great a distance (even for my tele-lens) should probably go.

I must remember to categorise and keyword my images properly. I used to always do this but have got sloppy. Spending hours trying to find the shot I know I have is not fun and also a huge waste of time.  Elements Organiser works well, but keeps crashing, possibly sheer weight of images. Lightroom seems much more stable – but I need to keyword things properly so I can find them – at present mostly using date to find, not helpful a year down the line.

I am not good at taking pictures ‘to order’ – a symptom of an untidy mind possibly, so I found the contrasts assignment hard. I would have had plenty of images had I trawled my back catalogue but I am determined to carry out this course taking new images where possible so that I think about what I am doing from the start. It was also complicated by bad weather so I had to experiment with some set ups and some very experimental lighting, using a son as an extra tripod. A mixture of whatever household lights are at hand can give some very peculiar colour casts which then need corrected, a set of inexpensive studio lights may be on the purchase list.

The main object of Part One was to get you to think about what you are taking a picture of. This seems an obvious statement but it is far too easy with a digital camera to snap away without considering where or what the main point of the image is. It is also important to think about what is surrounding the picture, where the horizon is and what sort of crop one should use. This is definitely helped by looking critically at what you are doing and also by looking at other peoples images.

Howard Nemerov

Howard Nemerov was the brother of Diane Arbus, but is equally famous as a poet, a Poet Laureate of the USA and a Pulitzer Prize winner. Following the death by suicide of Diane he wrote:

To D-, Dead by Her Own Hand

^{My dear, I wonder if before the end}

^{You ever thought about a children’s game—}

^{I’m sure you must have played it too—in which}  

^{You ran along a narrow garden wall}  

^{Pretending it to be a mountain ledge}  

^{So steep a snowy darkness fell away}  

^{On either side to deeps invisible;}

^{And when you felt your balance being lost}

^{You jumped because you feared to fall, and thought}  

^{For only an instant: That was when I died.} 
 

^{That was a life ago. And now you’ve gone,}

^{Who would no longer play the grown-ups’ game}  

^{Where, balanced on the ledge above the dark,}  

^{You go on running and you don’t look down,}  

^{Nor ever jump because you fear to fall.}

Newcastle

Four days spent in Newcastle with camera in hand and no specific plans other than to see several exhibitions. Sounds magical and the exhibitions were impressive but the weather was not. It didn't often rain hard, but there was lots of drizzle and very little sunlight. This led to a lot of images in misty conditions, perfect for monochrome conversions, and several days of indoor images such as the covered market.

A misty view of the bridges. I tried several similar images but felt this ended up most evocative of the scene. There is little traffic visible and, other than the absence of boats, could have been taken any time in the last 50 years.

A contrast in the Millennium Bridge. Modern and covered with coloured lights reflecting into the water. Taken late in the evening and hand held so with some camera shake.

Playing around! Full dark and a deliberate twist to the camera to see the effect of the movement on the lights.

 

Inside the Sage. Reflections in the curved glass mixed with some lights from outside give an unusual view of Newcastle.

Learning points.

1. Make best use of outside time while the weather holds, exhibitions can be seen in the pouring rain.
2. Carry a tripod or a monopod, don't leave it in the hotel room.
3. Try unusual views such as window reflections.

Exercise – Focus with a Set Aperture

The aim of this project was to show the different effects obtainable using a set aperture with the lens as wide open as possible. These are caused by focusing on  a different part of the picture. Using a wide aperture allows for a reduced depth of field therefore you can have one part of the picture more sharply in focus than the rest of it. This allows the eye to be drawn initially to different parts of the frame.
In this instance I used a 14 – 45 zoom lens where the widest aperture was 3.5. A more obvious effect could have been demonstrated by using a lens with a wider maximum aperture. I tried a variety of possible scenarios including a row of baskets of crisps, a group of outdoor cafe tables and an ornamental stone wall. Both the baskets of crisps and the cafe tables showed the effect but I felt in both cases the photograph that showed the scene best was the one that had the whole area in focus rather than a limited portion of the scene.
Example 1.
In the stone wall pictures the effect is fairly subtle but definitely alters the way the eye is led into the picture.
                            
                                                                            Focus point  - start of line    
                                                                                             Focus point - mid line
I prefer the first photo where the pillar to the right of the frame is the point of focus. I find that this makes my eye settle on the photo and then I look across at where the line of pillars leads too. In picture 2 I am not sure which way to look first and find this less satisfying as a picture.

Example 2.
Two-tone versions of a close up section of the pillars.
                                                                                 Focus point in the pillar to the right.


                                                                      Focus point in middle of the frame.
In this pair of photographs I prefer the 2nd one where the focus is in the centre of the frame. This enables my eye to rest on one point and then look around the edges and it feels more balanced, however the first photo does have a tension that makes me want to look beyond the frame to complete the image.

This pair of pictures differ from the first pair in that one is looking at a specific and close point rather than into the distance. The change of viewpoint clearly effects where the focus should be placed and demonstrates that there is no ‘correct’ answer that suits all images.

Reflections

I have now fully committed myself and sent the money off for the first part of the course - so I think it is time to consider what my intentions are and where I want to take my photography. Obviously things may change over the next few years but these are my starting thoughts.

I am not planning on aiming to be a professional photographer, been there, got the t-shirt, at least, vicariously. My stepfather was a photographer in the long ago of film only. He took pictures for magazines and books of Europe and especially of sites of historic interest, with the occasional tree or landscape thown in. We still have files and files of slides and many thousands more are/were sitting in the archives of various agencies - this was well before digital or high quality scans, and the only thing that did was large format colour slides.

What did I learn?
a) patience. Film was very expensive - so you waited for the right light and cloud cover, or for that irritating tourist in the ugly jacket to move.
b) persistance. When you find a good view - go a little further to find the perfect one.
c) light. Evening or morning - there was little use of flash as it wasn't very portable.
d) recording. Take notes so you could remember what worked and what didn't. Lots of notes, there was no automatic details recorded with film so they were all painstakingly written down in a notebook after every shot was taken.

I have long moved to digital and fallen into the trap of shooting hundreds of photos to get a very small number of good ones. On reflection I an slowly realising that that does not work for me, I am a packrat by nature - and once taken find it very difficult to discard things. So the plan should be to think first!

What are my aims?
I have just embarked on a small (very small) experiment. I have posted 2 photos onto flickr on one of the groups which exist to gather comments and work though levels. One is a nice, pretty sunset, well OK , its a good sunset with all the right ingredients. The other is a simple monochrome, macro picture of a single flower. I think the flower is much the better photo, more interesting , and showing greater skill. The sunset garnered far more votes.

My photography is for me, sometimes for my family and occasionally for gifts. I need to be satisfied that each print I make, hang or give away shows something that is individual. This may not be the obvious or popular shot. It may not always be pretty - but something should catch my eye and remind me why I stood there at that time and took that picture.

I am hoping that studying the art and craft of photography will help me get there, a long term aim.

Learning point 1

Printing is coming along well. I need to be more confident and make larger prints (why else have an A3 printer). Monochome needs a wide range of contrast to look good and I need to remember to 'anchor' the subjuct to avoid an odd look.

Thinking hard about contrast and balance in these photos. Balance is definitely an intuitive concept rather than a measurable one. Large and small, dark and light, dynamic or static. One of the areas I need to concentate on is being more self critical and discarding files that are intrinsically dull in their concept.

Reading - 'The Photographer's Eye' by Michael Freeman - making me think about how I take and frame photos. I suspect my pictures may get worse before they get better, as I need to think about the concepts and try them out and they might look rather forced to start with.

Starting Point

I am planning to undertake a major learning process and do a university course in Photography. I hope that this will act as a focus to improve my skills and to encourage me to read and think clearly about what I am doing.This blog is to act as an online diary to go alongside a notebook, digital folders and prints so I can look back and check out progress.