Exercise - Evidence of Action

This exercise is to show that something has happened, something broken or emptied or finished.

Shattered Mirror - ISO 200, f/4.0, 32mm efl, 1/30 sec

I did not deliberately break this mirror, but heard a tremendous crash one night in a storm and it had fallen away from the wall and shattered. This illustrates broken as a concept.

Only one image was needed - but the house opposite is having its roof replaced before winter and another crash drew me outside to find this, the concept her is rubbish, thrown away or old and worn out.

Welsh Slate - ISO 320, f/9.0, 90mm efl, 1/60 sec.

Other concepts that are shown in magazines and on TV are: 

• wealth, poverty
• taste - food or clothing
• safety
• space (or lack of space)
• happiness

None of these are easy to photograph directly - so symbols are required. Some come so familiar that the symbol is enough to bring the concept to mind ,  a- castle = protection.  Some symbols give mixed messages and understanding depends on the context. Fire can mean warmth or danger, very different meanings, almost opposite in nature.

Exercise - Rain

In this exercise the idea was to show, in one image, rain. This sounds simple - but it isn't. The photo also needs to be original, and a 'good' photograph. I have tried several goes at it and am not yet entirely satisfied.

Attempt 1.

Walking in the Rain. - ISO 100, f/5.6, 24mm efl, 1/60 sec

This was taken in Edinburgh at Holyrood Palace while we were waiting for a break in the torrential rain. RAW edited in Lightroom 3, mono conversion in Silver Efex Pro, and some minor work in PSE8 (mostly removing a TV aerial).

Attempt 2.

Raindrops - ISO 250, f/5.6, 90mm efl, 1/125 sec

This was an attempt to show the raindrops bouncing up from the pavement. It was less than successful, although the paving certainly looks wet!

Attempt 3.

After the Rain - ISO 80, f/2.7, 47mm efl, 1/500 sec

This was after a very heavy rainstorm and the clouds are still lowering overhead. I love the picture - but am not sure that it really shows rain, maybe storms, or light.

So far I am not happy that any of these really fulfill the brief, however, the other day I was sitting inside the office at work and the rain was pouring down the window and everything outside was given a rippled effect. I couldn't immediately get up and take a photo, but - maybe it could be replicated with a hose pipe. An experiment is required.

Exercise - Juxtaposition

This exercise is designed to show how things work together to give an illustration of a theme. I choose to illustrate a book cover, partly because my narrative story is about a person and their hobby, partly because I find still life setups challenging, both to make and also to light and photograph.

The first challenge was to find an appropriate book, many of the books in our house are science fiction, and I struggled to think of a still life that would work. Eventually I remembered one of my favourite books of modern poetry - Of Rowan and Pearl - poems about rural Scotland.

                                                              'these berries

                                           that flare out in bunches

                                           enamelled in sheerest red..'.

                                                           ( Margaret Gillies Brown)

I set out by finding a rowan branch, they are full of berries at the moment, some seashells and strings of pearls. The arrangement went though many permutations, initially getting more complex, but I finally settled on a simple close up of the berries and pearls. I went though a slow process of setting up, photographing, checking images on the PC and then altering the arrangement. This meant I could leave the camera and lights in position and only change one variable at a time. I also carefully followed my checklist developed earlier, after assignment 4 feedback.

• think about what you are taking 
• rowan and pearls
• why are you taking it?
• for a book cover - therefore a portrait  shot is likely to work better
• what detail are you concentrating on?
• the colour of the berries
• what light are you using?
• artificial , lit from a slight angle, at the level of the berries and reflected via a gold reflector
• shutter speed and aperture
• aperture chosen to get as much of the picture in focus as possible, shutter speed not important as using a tripod, and cable release. ISO 100 to minimise grain.
• focal point
• the point at the middle of the berries and the top of the pearls, manual focus used to get this spot on.

ISO 100, f/22, 90mm efl, 2.5 secs.

• did it work?
• yes
• if so – why
• plenty of thought during the process!
• if not – why not
• what settings did you use
• as above, slow shutter speed, and small aperture
• what lighting
• artificial - but moved the light around until it really shined on the pearls
• what post-processing
• minimal, RAW processed in Lightroom 2, slight sharpening and enhancement of the red colour, levels checked in PSE8
•  

I then had some more fun making a book cover using the picture. I did try various more complicated layouts - but finally went for something simple. The title font is called 'Broken Ghost' and is available free online. The names are in 'Century'.

 

Tony Cragg and Old Aircraft.

The exhibition of sculptures and drawings by Tony Cragg at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art is full of items that make me want to touch them. The surfaces look inviting, smooth and cool. They are made from metal, resin and wood, are sinuous and twisting. Tony Cragg says ' I describe myself as a radical materialist......... sculpture  ...is a study of the material world .... it permits a journey of discovery that gives us a glimpse at the myriad of forms as yet unseen.' (Tony Cragg, Sculpture and Drawing,National Galleries of Scotland, 2011).

Many look organic, or contain distorted faces that appear and disappear as you look from different angles. Others mimic strange jars or pieces of old machinery, but i found these less inviting.

This one I found particularly striking and it reminded me of a recent visit to Doncaster Air Museum where many old planes were left outside waiting on someone to rescue them. The texture and the feel of this fuselage of a Canberra was similar and equally sculptural.

Shapes, textures and patterns that are striking can be found in unusual places. Both exhibitions were impressive in different ways. A reminder to keep looking and not to make assumptions about relative value as a learning experience.

Exercise – Symbols

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. (Wikipedia).
Symbols can be large, small, complex or simple – it does not matter as long as they act to represent the idea. Some are common (a red cross), others are very culture dependant (a red crescent). The meaning of symbols can change over time, and changes within populations, for instance, across generations.

Starting thought:
Growth:

1.  The process of growing.

2.  Full development; maturity.

3.  Development from a lower or simpler to a higher or more complex form; evolution.

• a tip of a plant or a bud
  • a plant pushing though snow
  • a giant sunflower
• a wall height chart
• a child standing next to a wall chart to measure height
• or a teenager clearly overtopping the chart
• hands
• large and small together

Excess: 

1. The state of exceeding what is normal or sufficient

2. An amount or quantity beyond what is normal or sufficient; a surplus.

3. The amount or degree by which one quantity exceeds another:

4. Intemperance; overindulgence

• fat
  • a fat person (very politically incorrect)
• rubbish heaps
• left-overs on a plate
• something pouring over the edge of a plate - custard and apple crumble? 
• XS 
• very large and over a photo of something else - possibly people, or a pile of sweets

Crime:

1. An act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon conviction.

2. Unlawful activity

3. A serious offense, especially one in violation of morality.

4. An unjust, senseless, or disgraceful act or condition

• graffiti
  • sprayed walls,
  • gang symbols
• broken bottles – in a corner, kicked to one side
• broken windows
• boarded up houses
• police vans

Silence:

1. The condition or quality of being or keeping still and silent.

2. The absence of sound; stillness.

3. A period of time without speech or noise.

4. Refusal or failure to speak out.

• mist/fog
  • very minimalist picture just showing trees only just visible
• snow
• praying hands
• people kneeling in a church
• graveyard
• tombstones

Poverty:

Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation. (United Nations)

• empty hands
• a bag lady
• the big issue
• beggars in the street
• boarded up houses (again) 
• a cardboard box containing a few pennies

Light - and frustration

I was out walking along the coast path today looking for photos of WWII  defences (pillboxes and the like). The sun was in and out constantly - usually in though. We eventually gave up and went home as tea needed to be cooked. Life frequently gets in the way!
On the way home the sun suddenly broke though the clouds and illuminated the trees, which are just turning colour, with the most fabulous gold. The sky was stormy and the light was perfect - but - nowhere to stop safely, and and irritated motor cycle behind me so I couldn't even go slow to enjoy it. The next minute the sun went in for the rest of the day.

So when I got home I decided to convert one of the earlier photos to one with colours reminiscent of the trees, and this is what I came up with:

the original picture was much too blue (not sure why) so:

• RAW processed in Lightroom 2
• sharpened using high pass filter in PSE8
• extra layers made via the fractalius plug in with overlay and saturation blending modes

I then remembered coming home in similar stormy weather last week when the sun suddenly came out under the clouds for a few minutes  - and this was the effect:

Somehow I don't think I can really complain about the light in Scotland, even though it is frustrating at times.

Exercise–a narrative picture story

The story – building a model tank:
What happens
Pre-planning

• looking at references, books, on line, picture collection
• shelves and piles of books
• sitting at the laptop
• visiting museums
• watching tanks
• Bovington?
• Duxford?
• Muckleburgh?
• the real thing – but we haven’t seen one!

Building

• parcel arrives and is opened
• pieces spread out and checked
• spread on table
• gleeful looks -
• face, smiles
• pieces cut off sprue
• hands with scapel
• model built
• multi-stages
• early
• middle
• end
• model painted
• paint pots and brushes
• water tub

Finished and displayed!