16.02.2012.

TAOP Level 4.

Assignment 1: Contrasts

For this assignment I managed to assemble about 12 pairs of photographs that fitted the criterion from within my existing portfolio.  This did not feel very satisfactory so I launched forth into Deal to seek inspiration.

Each of the pairs I have produced have both a link and a contrast.  I was particularly pleased with the Liquid/Solid pair.

Straight/Curved.

I set out on this assignment to find two man made objects that would meet the criterion.  The two objects I found were Deal Pier and a 1920s shelter.  

The pier was built in the 1950s and replaces an earlier structure.  It has all the brutal design of the time with its unadorned concrete legs and bare deck leading out to the angular cafe at the seaward end.  There is not a curved surface to be seen.  Even the shore line seems to reflect this with its straightness.  The pier has a look of plain functionality with little warmth about it.

The shelter is also built of concrete but is from a different age.  The whole structure is built in the round.  The roof is a circle,  the outer edges of the supports are curved,  the  upper part of the central pillar is curving out like the branches of a tree.  The shelter has a welcoming feel about it the the pier will never attain.

Liquid/Solid.

For this I have chosen to compare the way light acts with different media.

The one is the shadow of an empty window cast upon a stone wall.  The picture tells a tale of decay and past glory but still manages to have a feeling of permanence.  Every time the sun passes the window the picture is repeated.

The picture of the light passing through the smoke is all about the passing moment.  The picture I took can never be repeated.  A similar shot my be taken but never that one.  It took many hours to obtain this shot.  If I waited for the perfect shot it had gone before I could react.  When I tried to anticipate the action of the smoke it often came to nothing.

Rounded/Diagonal.

For this I selected two aspects of the same feature.  The groynes on the beach are there to prevent the ferocious cross current from washing away the sand and gravel.  The mostly wooden structures are held in place by massive wooden piles that are driven into place by powerful machines.  Strong steel rings are placed round the tops of the piles to prevent splitting.  These round topped piles are a feature of the beach and are used as seats, tables and play things for children. 

Once finished the groynes themselves make diagonal patterns down the slope of the beach.  They break up the otherwise plain line of the beach adding interest to an otherwise dull scene.

Light/Heavy.

Who would feel threatened by the approach of the blue wheel?   The soft pastel shades and the roundness of the edges proclaim it to be safe and light.  When I was setting this up I was able to place the trike where I wished.  The wheel looks what it is, a plastic toy.  

The red wheel is clearly meant for business.  The polished steel coupling rods, the harsh red of the wheels and the size of the brakes all give a feeling of weight and power.  Even taking this shot I stood back in awe of what it represented.  This is not a thing to be played with.  

Few/Many.

Flowers can be beautiful as either individuals or en masse.  I have tried to demonstrate this in these pictures.  In the one I have photographed three orchids on one stem making the central one the feature.  The details of that one bloom are clear and is distinct.  The other two blooms act only to support it.  

The second picture is of a mass of flowers on an epiphyllem.  Here the individual flowers are lost in the whole.  The beauty here is in the patterns formed.  My aim was to have a flow of colour from bottom left to top right.  The shape of the green stems assist in taking the eye in that direction.  I have tried to balance out the black void in the top left by revealing the blue pot in the bottom right.  The beauty of a singe epiphyllem in a setting like this is nothing compared with massed colour of a group like this.

Smooth/Rough.

The two panels are sections from two doors.  Both are made of wood and are painted. What do they tell us?  

One has not seen a paint brush in many years.  What paint remains is dirty and streaked.  It speaks of decay and lack of care.  What would we find behind that door?  

The other is newly painted and washed clean.  It speaks of cleanliness and care.  What would we find behind that door?

I make no judgements but merely ask the questions.

Thick/Thin.

To express thick and thin I used the medium of the drawn line.  I used finely sharpened crayon pencils to demonstrate thin and square pastels to demonstrate thick.  I sometimes sketch out an idea for a photograph in pencil but I have not used artist crayons for years.  I was surprised how tactile they felt in use, not only leaving their own mark but also showing the nature and texture of the paper.  This interaction is far more pronounced that between ink and paper when processed through a printer.  

The thin line suggests a light touch and detailed work.  An outline perhaps to be filled in later, a sketch.

The thick line suggests boldness and a heavier hand.  The heavy hand is amply demonstrated by the two broken pastels.   Only a very confident artist would dive in and make an initial mark using these.

I had some problems lighting these sets as I do not have studio lighting.  I used the continuous strobe function on my Metz to paint them with light and thereby obtain the sort of flat lighting I was after.


When I printed out the pastel picture on matte paper the texture made it look as though the mark could still be smudged.

Pointed/Blunt.

Here I have chosen two vertical structures,  both are man made, manufactured from metal and dominate their surroundings.  

The first is the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.  This is a most imposing piece of art with a series of viewing platforms towards the top.  Its height is not truly apparent until one stands at the foot of one of the legs and then looks up.  It is meant to resemble, as its name implies, the billowing spinnaker of a racing yacht.  The spike on the top of the tower accounts for about a quarter of its height and, in itself mirrors the masts and rigging of the ships in The Historical Dockyard.  It was designed to look beautiful and impressive.

The second is the gas holder in Deal.  Its sits like a fat toad in a rather run down part of Deal, rising and falling to its own rhythm.  When full it can be seen from most of the town but when empty it slinks away beneath the roof tops and becomes invisible.  It was designed to fulfill a function and that’s what it does.  Tall it may be but a thing of beauty it is not.

Strong/Weak.  In one.

The last picture is of one my grandson holding his father’s thumb on the day he was born.  The contrast between the strong protecting hand of the father and the weak vulnerable hand of the infant is universal and eternal.  It doesn’t need too many words.  

  

17.07.2012

TAOP
ASSIGNMENT FIVE: Applying the Art of Illustration and Narrative.

Subject: Royal Marines Concert at Walmer on 15th. July 2012.

Each year at this time the Royal Marines Band plays a concert as a remembrance to the twelve bandsmen who were murdered by an IRA bomb nearby 23 years ago.

The concert is very well attended by local people and gives them an opportunity to reflect.

The sky was heavily overcast.

Equipment. Olympus E3.  14-54, (28-108 on normal 35mm camera), and 50-200, (100-400 on normal 35 mm camera), lenses.  Tight security precluded me from close access to the band or stage.  Knowing that I would not be able to get close to the stage I took along the 50-200 lens as well as my standard zoom.  I included a monopod for steadying the long lens.

My aim was to capture the feeling of the day from the excitement of the fly past of the Spitfires, the involvement of the cadets and on to the to band and its audience.

The concert was started by the concert leader introducing the band and giving a short speech about the significance of the occasion.

The conductor about to start the concert.

During a break in the concert the bandsmen themselves passed through the crowd collecting money.  (Wide aperture to narrow the D. of F.)

Passing amongst the audience throughout the concert were members of the local Cadet Force.  Here are a selection.  Not all the uniforms were a perfect fit.  (Wide aperture to isolate subject from background.  By shooting from slightly behind has magnified the appearance of the helmet covering his eyes and looking too big.)

Of all the crowd shots I took the following caught my eye.  The first is a general shot but features a man in blue who has become distracted by the sight of the boy in the preceding shot.  This single counterpoint makes it a stronger image than one where all the audience are facing the same way.  (Long lens used to both compress the crowd and isolate the man in blue.) 

The second is of a small boy who is mimicking a drum solo on his father's hand, demonstrating the excitement not shown in the adult faces around him.

The concert ended with a fly past by two Spitfires.  I captured this image of one.  It was the only one that showed the top of the plane.  

(High speed shutter and panning as it passed.)

08.07.2012

TAOP.
"The Decisive Moment".

Last Wednesday I went, with friends, to Ramsgate Harbour for an evening of photography.
The light had a warm evening glow and was nice and low.  The water was flat and harbour greasy.  I found some interesting boats and took a number of shots.  I was limited by the layout of the harbour to my position.  It was a pleasing image but there was something missing.  The trouble was that the water was too flat and was leaving an empty hole in the lower left quarter.

During the day I had read "The Mind's Eye", Henri Cartier Bresson's writings on photographs and photographers, and had been thinking about his "Decisive Moment".

While I was  framing this image I was trying to employ the various components of composition I had learnt through this course.  The lines of phi, the balance of high against low, the balance of mass against space, the use and placing of colour, implied and actual triangles, curves, and the mirroring of shapes within the frame.  When I saw the small boat manoeuvring in the harbour and leaving a curved wake I just had to wait until the missing ingredient was added.  I took shots leading up to this moment as well as some after but for me this was the decisive moment when the picture I had in my head appeared in front of me.

08.07.2012


TAOP
Part Five: Narrative and Illustration.
Project: Illustration.
Exercise: Rain.


Olympus E330. 14-54mm lens.  f5.6 @ 160th sec. ISO 200.


Third try.
I went to the Hastings Beer Festival this weekend, and like most events it was a was out.  Teeming rain, waterlogged grass, soggy burgers and lousy music just about sum it up.  I did however nail this exercise.  The rain was running off the roof of the marquee and onto the attached Union Flags.  This picture sums up this summers events.  Other than a bit of cropping and colour saturation this is as it was.  The flags had formed this pattern on their own and the wet surfaces were holding them together.

28.06.2012

TAOP
Part Five: Narrative and Illustration.
Project: Illustration.
Exercise: Rain.

This is my second attempt as, although I liked the image in my first attempt, I was not sure whether the first thought on seeing it would be, "rain".
This time I have been more obvious and gone for rain falling into a bird bath.  At least rain falling from a watering can into a bird bath.  There is now no doubt as to the subject.

The bird bath was set up with a black background and two flash heads, one each side. It was taken at just above level height.  Hardened in Photoshop.

I made a second version of this image, closing in on the water, but I feel it loses the context of the original.

26.06.2012

TAOP
Part Five. Narrative and Illustration.
Project: Illustration.
Exercise: Rain.

Rain has many effects on the environment, some constructive and useful and others destructive and harmful, some soothing and some frightening.  The sudden flash floods of recent years were the result of too much rain while the fearful dustbowl droughts of the American Mid West in the 1930s were the effect of too little rain.
To illustrate the beneficial effect of rain I have taken a picture of a local linseed oil field.  The rich, if seemingly unreal, colours tell of water being delivered at the right time and in the right place.   The fact that this is a man made scene is confirmed by the presence of the farm buildings.
The picture as taken had far more sky but as it was featureless above the top cloud I cut it off.  The change of aspect has given the image a pleasing width that the original did not have.  The slope of the field makes the image read from left to right and the expanding triangle of the patchwork of fields holds the viewer's interest.  In addition there is the cool colour of the foreground and the sky which allow the warmer centre ground to give added depth to the picture.

26.06.2012

TAOP
Part Five: Narrative and Illustration.
Project: Illustration.
Exercise: Juxtaposition.

I decided the book cover route would give most control over the image and its lighting.
The first image is only a work in progress but one that I found amusing.  It is based on Peter Benchley's "Jaws".  I produce the following but didn't carry it through to the finished product.

The book I finally settled on was, "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit", by Jeanette Winterson.  The book has lesbian overtones, although the author denies it is a book about lesbianism.  I have attempted to work in both a hint of the book as written and a play on the words of the title.

The background consists of two T-shirts of appropriate colours to represent the theme of the book and the fruit to give the title literal meaning.  I'm sure that the sexuality that is present in this depiction of the fruit is not lost.
The lighting was supplied by two flash heads with soft box attachments, one next to the lens and to its right and one high up to the left and slightly behind the subject.  This has given nice highlights on the fruit as well as providing good modelling.  

18.06.2012

TAOP
Assignment 4.  2nd Submission.
Applying Lighting Techniques.

For the first four pictures I have used photographic lighting employing two radio controlled flash guns fitted with soft boxes.  The crane and camera positions were not changed.  My aim was to change the lighting to bring about the desired effects

SHAPE.  I lit the crane from behind and to the right with a single strobe.  I avoided flare by using a rim light effect having the flash head out of line of sight from the camera.  This has given a silhouette effect with very little modelling.  It is so flat it is difficult to see which way the jib is pointing.

FORM.  I have used two strobes for this image.  The first is as in the silhouette picture but with a second at camera level and to the camera's left. The flat surfaces catch the light in different ways giving it depth and a feeling of being a 3d object.

TEXTURE.  For this image I removed the rear strobe so there was no fill in from the back.
I moved the front strobe further to the left of sharpen the shadows.  The result has picked out the patterns on the jib and the engine bay quite neatly and for the first time the gearing under the cab is seen in some detail.

COLOUR.  This called for flat full on lighting so I mounted the strobes close into and either side of the camera.  The effect was to flatten out all the detail and highlight the colour.

For the second group of images I used sunlight.

SHAPE. I used the transparent disc from my Interfit reflector, backlit by the sun, as my background and set the crane in front of it.  This threw the crane into silhouette and emphasised the shape rather than any other quality.

FORM.  I set the crane up in such a way that the jib was pointing sharply up in such a way as to emphasise its height.  I angled it to the light so as to give good modelling.  

TEXTURE.  To highlight the texture I set the crane up with the jib pointing very close to the sun and then photographing it from about 90* to the sun.  This emphasised the shadows on the jib and showed up its texture.

COLOUR.  This was the easiest one.  The green background highlighted the red of the crane.  I took the image with the sun coming over my left shoulder and giving maximum flat lighting.

I found this exercise was far easier when I had full control of the lighting and could move the sources around.  Working with the sun took a lot more thought and, with the exception of the last colour shot, the results were not as good.  

15.06.2012

TAOP

PART FIVE.

Narrative and Illustration.

Project: Illustration by Symbols.

Exercise: Symbols.

The concepts given for this exercise are, Growth, Excess, Crime, Silence, and Poverty.  The colours used in these conceptual pictures will express a message on their own.  The heat and vibrancy of red, the cold cleanliness of blue, and the the calm influence of green will put across a theme even before the viewer has taken in the subject of the image.

Growth. 

The growth of a cloud can represent both the building of good and bad.  The promise of rain in a parched monsoonal area or the imminent arrival of a twister to a mid-west U.S. town.  To show “The Wind of Change”.

The growing foetus and the promise of life to come.  The promise of a better future.

The growth of a plant with its hint of fruit yet to come and opportunities taken.  Invest now and get rewarded later. The complimentary colours of the poppy make for a pleasing colour match making the most of the red flower.  The single point of yellow brings the eye back to the flower.  Placing the yellow highlight close to the thirds lines heightens this effect.  There is also the deep seated message the poppy carries over from its use during, and following, WW1 where it was a symbol for renewal and regrowth.  Natural light from an overcast sky.

Excess.

The mere commercial signs of certain establishments can be a short hand for opulence and excess.  The use of Harrods, Harvey Nichols, or Claridges is such short hand.  One does not have to see the store itself, the sight of a Harrod's bag is sufficient to hint at a certain class.

The mere mention of Rolls Royce, Bentley and Maybach shout excess.  To see someone exiting such a car and the message is clear.  Here comes money and power.  As above.  To illustrate greed and avarice.  Conversely it can show good taste and the better things in life.  Take your pick.

To come down market the excess intake of food and the rise in obesity can be illustrated by the use of the beer belly.  Someone needs to exercise more.
Lit with soft light from the front to increase the shadow area behind the stomach.

Crime.

The image of a room trashed in the act of burglary is one that has broken the heart of many property owners.  Used to sell burglar alarms.

The gap in a war memorial that is left following the theft of the list of war dead.  Used to tighten up the legislation surrounding scrap metal dealers.

Tattoo covered hands in hand-cuffs.  I like the matching angles of the hand cuff and the tattoo on the fingers.  They make two sides of an implied triangle that would complete outside the frame.  Use in anti crime campaign.
Camera mounted flash and soft box.

Silence.

The picture of a misty morning with still water and wraith like trees is used regularly for the concept of peace, tranquility and silence.  To sell the ideal of the out doors.  To sell air fresheners.

A still and frozen landscape is another image used to convey silence.  All life dormant or asleep.  To sell the concept of cleanliness in a product.  Use in climate change propaganda. 

The concept of an object that though normally noisy, has been rendered silent.  The contrast in textures between the potentially noise bell and the soft quietening earmuffs is well defined.
To show how things could be different.  To show change.

In taking this picture I was chuffed that despite the ultra shiny surface neither the camera nor I appear.  All done without use of post production tricks.   Natural light from right with large curved reflector on left.

Poverty.

This can be one of the most powerful images that the photographer can record. 

The picture of “Homeless Woman” by Dorothea Lange must haunt the mind of anyone that has ever seen.  The taking of, and subsequent use, of this image is too well known to repeat here.  Changed the way the USA viewed itself.

A beggar and his dog curled up in a doorway with the cold and wet pavement only inches away.  To bring about an awareness of the homelessness.

The image of a starving child from some forlorn part of Sub-Saharan Africa has been used for decades to elicit funds.  Still works and will be used for many years.

A run down house in an otherwise affluent area can be used to denote the poverty of the old or the burden of house ownership without the funds to run it. The missing window shutter and the pale blue door all add to the feeling of a cold house, even though neither of these would have any real impact. It can be the start of a before and after campaign or to promote urban regeneration.
Natural light under overcast sky hardened up slightly post production.

11.06.2012

TAOP

Narrative and Illustration.

Exercise: Evidence of action.

The following is obviously a set but none the less tells the fictitious tale of a past mishap.  The lighting for this was my newly acquired soft box which I was using for the first time. 

 

List of concepts that are regularly depicted.  Smell of perfume, taste of drink and food,  the feel of soft clothing,  the passing of time, and sex.

11.06.2012

TAOP.

Part Five: Narrative and Illustration.

Exercise: A narrative Picture Essay.

I start this exercise with a single picture that tells a story.  The picture is of two boys approaching the finishing tape at the end of a race.  The story is in their faces.  One is about to win and looking supremely confident in his ability and the other grimacing with determination and effort.

The picture essay is about cookery and follows my wife’s progress as she makes a jam filled sponge cake.

I drew out a story board and we spoke about how I could get pictures of the action.

The first picture is of the lighting I used for the set.  It consisted of two radio controlled strobes suspended from the cupboards with their light reflected first off aluminium foil and then up into the white underside of the cupboards.  This gave a controlled lighting area that allowed a little shadow modeling.

Story Board.

Add caption

Lighting.

Ingredients.

Weighing.

Sieving.

Mixing.

 Lining the tins with cut grease proof pater.

Filling the tins.

Setting the oven to correct temperature.

Removing the sponges from the oven.

Applying the filling.

The finished jam filled sponge.

Good enough to eat.