30.04.2012

TAOP

Part Four: Light.

Project: The Colour Of Light.
Equipment: Canon G12.

Exercise: Judging Colour temperature. 1.

The timing of this exercise was fortuitous as I was due a break in Spain where I knew the sun would give strong, pure colours.  For my model I took along a white bear.  I have made no corrections to these pictures other than converting to jpg. and changing file size. 

I photographed bear in the three conditions requested and achieved the result one would expect.  

Full sun:  A nice clean white bear.

Shade Under a clear blue sky: A blue tinge to the bear that was stronger that I would have anticipated.  Not a very pleasing colour and one that would have to be corrected or avoided.

Full, low morning sun:  A gorgeous warm colour that although not true one would probably leave alone.

Judging temperature. 2.

The following three were taken in a shaded area with as neutral as colour as I could achieve.

The first was shot on auto to give a base line for the others.  The colour was pretty good.

The second was warmed up with the cloud setting.

The third was cooled down by using the full sun setting.

Again the blue image is the least pleasing as it has that cold feeling one attributes to blue whereas the warm yellow/orange of the second version is much more acceptable.  The neutral baseline picture is the truest but not necessarily the most pleasing.  

Exercise: Two pictures in sun and shade.

This is a pair of pictures of the tiles on the villa.  The one taken in shade is certainly less yellow than the one taken in full sun.  There was on a 1/2 stop difference between them but this can put down to the light nature of the cloud.

This pair is a beach scene. Again there is only a 1/2 stop difference but the cloudy one is now definitely bluer.

Exercise: Variety with a low sun.

I first carried out this exercise using the bear but decided I could do better by photographing some local trees.  Unfortunately I could not get all the required shots using the same trees but the effect of the different lighting angles is obvious.

The first is the image of three different trees rising above a building line.  This picture lacks any drama and is lacking in depth.  

The second is with side light.  It shows more detail and depth but still lacks any drama.

The third is a silhouette with the sun hidden behind the trunk of the tallest tree.  Much more dramatic than the other two.  The structure of the trees stands out clearly but all colour has disappeared.

The last is a rim shot and was taken from behind a side wall where the trees were back lit by a low sun that was out of my view.  The result is quite pleasing as it has the drama of the silhouette as well as the colour details.  The result is very different from the full back lit version yet from a light direction that is not that much different.  One to remember.

Project: The time of day.  

Exercise: Light through the day.

This series of pictures was shot from the roof of the villa I was staying in.  It’s more a village scape that a landscape but served its purpose.  The view includes the roof of the villa which shows nicely the effect of the sun on its undulating surface.  The trees start off being back lit and again show the effect of the sun passing overhead.  The first picture was at 07.25hrs and the last was shot at 20.56hrs on a 2 sec exposure.  The camera was set on Av and the sun setting.  I am not going to comment on each picture individually as I think this series tells the story of the sun's passage quite graphically, although I will pick on a few.  

The first was taken before the sun had risen.  I would normally expect the light at this time of day to be warm and either yellow or red but on this morning it was neutral allowing the blue of the sky to dominate.  The lighting is very flat with muted colours and little contrast.  The bright blue sky is giving a cold blue tinge to the white walls.  As the day progresses the contrast increases and the colours become more vibrant.  Different patterns appear on the tiles as the sun passes over.  


The mid-day images are lit by a near vertical sun that is throwing down high contrast shadows.  The roof tiles have no modelling and the general tone is one of unforgiving harshness. 

The penultimate shot has the sun coming from over my shoulder and the colours are at their most saturated.  What shadows there are appear very harsh and the warm tones associated with evening are evident especially on the tiles.  My shadow appears in the two shots previous to this one.  

The last shot was taken long after the sun had disappeared and again the contrast has dropped away and the colours are really muted.  There is the blurred image of a person walking through the bottom of the shot.  I have left this in to indicate how long the exposure was.


To my eye the most pleasing shots are the ones where the light is coming from behind me.  There is just enough angle on the sun to allow some shadow modelling and the colours are fully saturated. 

Exercise: Cloudy weather and rain.

Below is a picture I took of Brighton Pier early one morning.  All the elements were with me.  The sun was low enough to illuminate the underside of the clouds yet not high enough to be seen.  The extremely low tide allowed the clouds to be mirrored in the wet surface of the sand and their colour implies the fire that brought about the pier's downfall.  The gentle waves make a sympathetic curve round the sand and match the shape of the cloud.  The high flying birds make an implied triangle with the two lumps of pier.  Even the shape of the cloud follows the shape of the derelict pier.  I have seen many pictures of Brighton Pier that were shot on a sunny day and they are just that and no more.  In this image there is an air of brooding, tranquility and emptiness that full sun would take away.  The silhouette of this ruin is far more powerful than the full detail sun-lit equivalent.  This is an image I have always been proud of of but until I started this course I didn't know why it works so well.

Exercise: Three photographs on an overcast day.

I went out on an overcast morning and walked out into the salt pans at Lo Pagan near Murcia.  I took a hint from Perello's book and Chased the Light.  There was an even blanket of low laying cloud that cast no shadow.  The air was still and the water was glass smooth.

The first is of pylons marching through the tranquillity of this shallow lake.  The water was mirror calm and the light soft under low and even cloud.  The pylon at the left is in fact the last but by cropping where I did I have tried to indicate their continuation.  I also took the shot from right of the pylons but it didn't work.  There is a gull on top of the first pylon that I did not notice until I had downloaded the image.  

This is a long derelict house on a tiny island way out in the salt lakes.  The empty windows give it an air of total desolation.  The house makes a nice single point in the lake balanced by its own reflection.  The diagonal row of the disused fish trap forms a pleasing triangle with the strip of land and breaks up what would otherwise only be an image of subject and reflection.  It also leads the eye from left to right into the subject of the picture.

Another single point image of a moored boat.  In the background, beyond the the promontories, are faint outlines of islands.  Having the boat facing the opening hints at rowing out and visiting  them.  This could almost be a greyscale image were it not for the colours of the boat.  This picture best illustrates the softness of the light on that morning.

Exercise: Tungsten and fluorescent lighting.

I have had to alter this exercise as I live in an Eco house that has no tungsten lighting.  It has low voltage diode, compact fluorescent and energy saver bulbs but tungsten it has not.  What I have tried to do is cover both parts of the exercise in one experiment.

I did what I could with the lighting I have in my living room.  I waited until the light value inside and outside roughly matched and took the following.

Daylight.

Tungsten.

Fluorescent 1.

Fluorescent 2.

Fluorescent 3.

Auto.

The unevenness of both the illumination and the colour cast by these various sources is pretty obvious.  None of the inbuilt correction settings come close although the Tungsten get nearest.  The one that comes nearest is the camera's Auto setting but leaves the outside of the image very blue.  With a bit of fine tuning this would be a passable representation of the real colours.

Have decided to publish as the blog has become unstable.  Will continue the rest of the Light section in a new blog.

For the third part I have chosen very different pictures.

The first is a picture from m window on a dull and rainy day.  It is the sort of view a child would see on such a day.  I focused on the wet glass and allowed the scene to blur.

The second is obviously a set up but does nicely show the action of a drop of water falling on water.

The last is a picture I took a while age of a faint rainbow over Ularu in central Australia.  Not the best rainbow ever taken but to see one in one of the worlds driest places was worth recording.

  

08.03.2012

TAOP

PART FOUR: LIGHT.

Exercise: Higher and Lower Sensitivity.

Equipment: Canon G12 on Av.  ISO settings 100 and 800.

For this exercise I took pairs of exposures in each location, one at ISO 100 and a second at ISO 800.

The first was at a round-a-bout and included a town scape and slow moving traffic.  

ISO 100.  f5.6 @ 1/320.  No obvious camera shake.  Good depth of field.  No motion blur on the vehicle.  At 300% pixilation was clearly visible but fine detail was still seen. No serious noise.

ISO 800.  f5.6 @ 1/1,250. No sign of camera shake.  Good depth of field.  No motion blur on the vehicle. Even at 66% noise was becoming evident in the shadow and dark areas. At 100% it was intrusive.  At 300% pixelation was clearly visible and fine detail was being lost.    

I produce the two pictures as taken and two details from them.  What may not be obvious is the loss of colour saturation at the higher sensitivity.

Conclusion.  No advantage in using higher sensitivity on this occasion.  

The second pair was at Sainbury’s shop exit and involved people walking across  my line of vision.

ISO 100.  f5.6 @ 1/125.  No camera shake.  Good depth of field.  Slight sign of motion blur particularly on the legs.  Pixelation similar to the first pair.  The black interior of the open boot is totally free of noise.

ISO 800.  f5.6 @ 1/1250.  No sign of camera shake.   Good depth of field.  No sign of motion blur even on the small pram wheels.  The darkest area I could find was the rear wheel of a car.  This was very noisy.  The loss of colour saturation is more pronounced in this second pair, due possibly to the lower shutter speed of the ISO 100 image.  The loss of detail is well demonstrated by the steps detail that I reproduce.

Conclusion.  The controlling of motion blur was not worth the loss of picture quality on this occasion.

The third pair was taken at waist level with me walking towards my target.

ISO 100.  f5.6 @ 1/30.  Camera shake is very evident giving the whole image has an out of focus look.  There was no noise in the black of a door.  The other criteria are not worth commenting on because of this blurring.

ISO 800.  f5.6 @ 1/400.  Little sign of camera shake.  Good depth of field.  Small amount of motion blur but not sufficient to spoil the image.  There is some noise in the black areas of the image.  This image suffers from the same pixelation and saturation problems as the other examples but this time the drop in quality is more that compensated by the fact that the shot was only possible by using a fast shutter speed and high sensitivity.

Conclusion.  Well worth the loss of image quality to obtain the shot.

Back in the time of black and white film the limitations of the various products was paramount.  A change of speed meant wasting the end of a roll.  Pushing and pulling film was a regular procedure that required a whole arsenal of rapidly deteriorating chemicals.  Are Ilford Pan F, FP4 and HP5 still made?  Pixels and noise may have taken the place of grain but tools are now available to smooth out these problems, at least to some extent.  Noise reduction and filter programmes can counter these problems but as usual there is a cost, and that cost is sharpness. 

Noise does not have to remain a problem if saturated colours are more important than sharpness as noise reduction programs used either within the camera or in post production can limit its effect. 

03.04.2012
TAOP 


PART FOUR: THE NATURE OF LIGHT.
Project: The intensity of light.
Exercise: Measuring exposure.


Part 1.


I used spot metering throughout.  I was using it in a way that would give false readings so as to make life difficult.


While I was taking the first set exposure shots for Part 2 I noticed a yacht moored up off shore.  What I wanted from this shot was a near silhouette against the brightly illuminated sea.  Using what I had learnt from the seven exposures of the sea scape exercise I had just completed I took a reading and then over exposed by 2/3rds of a stop.  f14 @ 1/320sec.





The following piece of mindless graffito was inside a shelter.  I took a reading off the white area and then opened up by 2/3rds of a stop.  This was to compensate for the camera's software dropping the white to grey.  f4.5 @ 1/125sec.I did a double bracket but this was the best result.  It still looks to be in a shaded area  but the surface looks white.




The only illumination to my garden shed is a small window and the open door and I was filling the door.  If I trusted the camera’s metering the result would not reflect the dark gloom of the place as it would attempt to lighten it to the average daylight reading.  I took a reading off the back wall and then closed down one full stop.  The result is the one I wanted.  f4.5 @ 1/15sec.





After taking a series of pictures of The Winkle at Hastings I noticed the representation of a dab on the reverse side.  Using what I had learnt from the series I took two shots, one at, and another one third brighter than the meter reading.  The truer image was at 1/3 brighter.  f5.6 @ 1/125sec.  The camera’s meter had tried to compensate for the strong reflections and had recommended a shutter speed of 1/160sec.




A visit to Walmer Castle provided this image which is of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s garden looking back towards the castle.  I took exposure readings from the castle, the water and the grass.  All were different.  I tried the Castle reading but the result turned out to be too light as the camera opened up the exposure to compensate..  f4.5 @ 1/125sec.  I closed down by one stop and got a good result.  f4.4 @ 1/250sec.  The grass reading would have given the same correct result.  

The last of this set is of lobster pots at Deal.  As they are so dark I knew that the given exposure would be wrong and would give me an washed out image.  I took one shot as the camera suggested, f5.6 @ 1/80sec, and then one more at f5.6 @ 200sec.  The second one was still not dark enough  so I took a third at 5.6 @ 1/250sec.  This was the correct exposure to retain the deep blacks that were the pots. 

 

This series has been about the black cat in the coal hole and the white bridal dress against the white wall; problems where the camera's meter will try and average out exposure to the standard 18% grey card.  In these extreme conditions it is only by degrees of correction that a satisfactory exposure can be made.  Opening up for the bridal shot and closing for the coal hole.  Counter intuitive  but sense if one thinks about it.

Part 2. 

I carried out this part as directed but at 1/3rd stop increments as that what my E3 employs.  This gave seven images for each subject.

I images of white flowers against a dark background, white flowers against a bright sky, the sun's reflection on a smooth sea, a group of dinghies and finally The Winkle at Hastings. 

I reproduce the best of each set and how much under or over it is from the camera's suggestion.

+1 stop.

+1 stop

+1/3 stop.

+1 stop

+1/3 stop.

Spot metering is my normal way of working but I use it in a more intelligent and accurate way than I did for this exercise.

27.03.2012.

TAOP

Part Three: Colour.

Assessment Three: Colour.

For this assignment I have used a mixture of found and controlled situations.  The Hastings, Liverpool and bluebell shots are from my files.  The rest were taken for this assignment.

As I stated earlier in my blog I am mildly colour blind so my choice of colours may be a little quirky.  I can only use the colours I see.  For this reason I have used a colour wheel with a greater number of gradations.  I find it easier to differentiate colours when they flow from one to the other rather than when presented with a stark start and finish point.  The brightness of this wheel also helps.

Harmony Through Complementary Colours.

My first example is a scarf I noticed in a shop window.  The two colours, orange and blue, are opposite each other on the colour wheel.  The colours are subdued and further softened by the texture of the material.  There is an almost flag like movement in the scarf that takes the eye across the picture.  This movement is further helped by the presence of some detail in the secondary folds.

The pink lines represent the flag action of the scarf.

My second is a picture I took inside The Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.  The use of colour in this space is stunning.  The centre piece is the blue Crown of Thorns.  As if this is not bright enough, the walls feature paintings and iconography of complementary oranges and reds.  The aim of the piece is to focus the congregation on to the main altar.  The eye is constantly brought back to the altar and picture of Christ above it. I was chuffed with this shot as it was hand held at 0.4 secs @ f2.8.

The eye directed to the altar.

Number three is a blue and yellow complementary picture.  Mounted on a plinth in Ramsgate above is the Hugin, a replica viking ship, that was sailed across from Denmark in 1949.  The bright yellow figurehead makes a strong contrast to the cloudless blue sky.  The red features make for contrasting points of interest in the yellow head.  Was the eye left black to give an air of menace?  

Three lines of action running through the dragon's head.

I spotted this bowl of olives in a local deli whilst buying bread.  The green and mauve of the olives are complementary colours across the circle.  The two colours harmonise beautifully in the bowl glistening, as they do, with olive oil.  The small pieces of red pepper are in contrast to the harmony of the two main colours.  Lighting was from the window alone.

Harmony Through Similar Colours.

The first is similar to one I have used before but in this the crop is tighter and is more square on to the subject.  It is of Old Town Hastings as seen from East Hill.  The colours of the houses and their roofs are all of a similar hue and tone.  These are the colours one would more likely see in a brochure for Croatia.  There are two pink houses in the picture but these are such a soft unsaturated pink that they do not intrude.  

The second is again a building theme but this time a plain brick wall.  The use of Flemish Bond would suggest this is a Georgian wall.  The bricks are hand made London stocks and, as with all man made things, vary in their colour, shape and finish.  Some have glazing marks on them where they were over cooked in the clamp and others are becoming soft and friable because they were under cooked.  The bricks are all in autumnal hues and as such give the wall a pleasing warm look.

The third is a classic of this time of year and is one of a bluebell wood.  The top canopy is just starting to grow and display the pale green of its early leaves.  The branches with their contrasting shades of dark and light lead the viewer's eye down to the main event which is the carpet of bluebells.  There can be few more pleasing sights in the British countryside.  Blue and green sit close together on the colour wheel.

The eye is brought down from the canopy to the bluebells at the forest floor.

  

The fourth was taken in a friend's soft furnishing shop.  The window display of cushions is seen from inside the shop.  The mellow tones of the coverings give a very feminine feel to the place.  A place where women want to spend money and men feel intimidated.  I can see blue, pink and green in these cushions but still see them as close enough in tone to fulfil the criteria of this section.  

The various shapes and action lines drawn by the display and eye line.

Colour Contrast Through Contrasting Colours.

The first contrast picture is a house plant.  There are two main colours and a stand out additional third.  The red of the bract stands out strongly against the green of the leaves with the yellow flower giving an almost 3D effect.  Without the yellow the picture would not have anywhere near the impact.  It is almost a single point.

The implied line made by the yellow element of the flower.

The second is an example of why we keep fish.  The contrast of the bright red, gold and silver against the background of green weed if is a constant pleasure.  Not only are the fish painted in bright colours but their scales reflect and refract the light as they move. 

Three lines.  Two formed by the fish and one by the plant.

The third is a robin against a green and brown background.  The robin must be one of Britain's most photogenic birds.  It is designed to stand out and declare its territory against all comers.  The green of the feed ball is quite strong but only acts to highlight the red of the bird.  The sun was from the left and I used frontal fill-in flash which gave the neat glint to the eye.

The bird's back matched by a parallel twig.  The bird's leg is matched by the top parallel twig.  The bird is framed by a twig to the left.

For the last of this set I photographed four tassels that were part of a display in my friend's shop.The three colours are in the same half of the colour circle but in this set up look uneasy with each other.  It may be the slightly acid tone of the colours but I know I would not use this combination to add harmony to a room.  Used flash bounced off the ceiling with some reflected forward.  The black tassel acts as a stop to the left of the picture.

Colour Accent Using Any of the Above.

The Colour accent set gave me most thought.  The robin is a colour accent picture as is the dragon.  The fish make a double accent picture and had I isolated one of them it would have made a strong candidate.  Those, however, fitted better in the other categories.

The first is a traffic sign.  A red accent on a blue ground.  The message is clear.  This is a dead end.  The use of colour in signs is deliberate and is meant to convey a message on its own.  

Next is a set up in the shop where I slipped a dark red cushion cover in between pastel coloured samples.  Not only was the red much more saturated but there were no reds in the samples.  Same lighting as for the tassels and cut down the depth of field to concentrate the eye on the red cloth.  I placed the red just off from the right side third line.  I tried it on the other side and in the centre but this is the one that pleased me best.

As stated in the course notes there are few mauves or purples in nature.  This time of the year, however, is one when they are abundant.  I spotted this wild violet whilst out cycling.  The mauve accent in the green of the grass works well. 

I end on a discordant note with a picture of litter on the beach.  The blue bag stood out from a long way off as a beacon of man's carelessness.  The person who left it clearly did so on purpose as it was weighted it down to stop it blowing away.  An accent and metaphor for man's stupidity.

24.03.2012

TAOP

Reading.

20th Century Photography. Taschen.
A definite dip-in book.  Easy to find a photographer but difficult to research a period.   Such a book, no matter how good it is, can only scratch the surface of a photographer's work.  The web is such a great help, for having discovered the work of say Robert Doisneau or W. Eugene Smith, with their apparently disinterested observations of street life, one can go on to find other facets of their work.

The Photo Book. Phaidon.
Similar to the above but with fewer details.

50 Photographers You Should Know. Prestel.
Easier to follow the chronology of photography.  This book got me looking at Richard Avedon and Dorothea Lange.  Avedon for his insightful portraits and Lange for the way she recorded such terrible times in US history.

All three of the above books have introduced photographers and styles of photography that were unknown to me.  Mr. Bing and Mr Google are both working hard.

Photography. A critical Introduction. Routledge.
Current reading.  Heavy going.

Life. The First Fifty Years 1936-1986.
Been on order for three weeks from US supplier.

The Secret Code.
On order.

Within The Frame.
Bought on Kindle. Not started.

Chasing The Light.
Bought on Kindle. Not started.

Exhibitions.
Planning to attend the Jane Brown: Exposures exhibition at The Gallery, Winchester.
Will visit The Jerwood at Hastings sometime soon.

Almost completed Assignment 3.