Foggy morning

As part of the background research for this course I came across the work of a photographer called Brassai.  He undertook a projet photographing Paris by night.  The images are all sharp with great attention to detail. I was particularly taken with one image - foggy Paris (1934).

Although not at night the fog on Tuesday morning presented an opportunity to think further about images in difficult conditions. 

Foggy morning, Derby

14mm, 1/30th, F3.5, ISO400 

Strong centreground with detail in forground and back ground; the centre leading away from where the image was taken.

Foggy morning, Derby ii

21mm, 1 Sec, F16, ISO100 

No street lighting; the lights in the shop window have an old fashioned yellow/orange glow.  Strong foreground with the fog blurring bachground detail gives a greater feeling of depth to the image.

Melbourne Pool
14mm, 1/15th, F16, ISO200 

The sun had risen, but not burnt off the fog making the sky very bright behind the subject.  The colour image is almost sepia.

Melbourne Pool ii
17mm, 1/15th, F16, ISO200 

Foggy morning on the way to Leicester
34mm, 1/60th, F16, ISO200 

I wish! (Brassai 1934)

Gleam - Festival of light Derby

I read about the Festival of Light in a newsletter that I receive at work.  This is part of an arts festival in the city of Derby. It presented an opportunity for me to practice photographing buildings at night.

Specific techniques to be practiced include low light photography and use of a tripod.  Although image capture would be colour the intention was to look at the possibility of B & W conversion to look at replicating the feel of some of the works of Brassi that I had seen during research.

This is a public event so it will be necessary to be aware of the public as well as equipment when considering safety.  Weather is cold so warm clothing required.

The Gleam festival was using buildings within the Cathedral Quarter of Derby as the backdrop for a series of light shows.  In order to capture elements of the moving light show I would use longer exposures 15-30seconds.

The camera that I am using has image stabilisation built into the body.  As I will be using a tripod this is to be turned off. 

Derby Cathedral

Gleam event i

15mm, 15sec, F5.6, ISO400

The buildings were being illuminated by a series of moving lights.  By using long exposures of 15-30 seconds it allowed the overall pattern to be recorded.  I had read about a similar technique in a photography magazine where specific sections of a building had been highlighted by firing a flash-gun a different sections of the building while the shutter remained open.  It has proved very effective with these images.  The lenth of exposure has allowed a lot of detail to be captured, however the clouds have become blurred as they have moved.

Derby Cathedral

Gleam event ii

15mm, 15sec, F5.6, ISO400

Derby Cathedral

Gleam event iii

25mm, 15sec, F86, ISO400

Derby Cathedral

Gleam event iv

17mm, 15sec, F8, ISO400

Derby Cathedral

Gleam event v

14mm, 15sec, F8, ISO400

Derby Cathedral

Gleam event vi

14mm, 30sec, F8, ISO200

Gleam event vii

19mm, 4sec, F8, ISO200

Gleam event viii

33mm, 4sec, F8, ISO200

Gleam event ix

14mm, 1sec, F5.6, ISO400



Gleam event x

42mm, 4sec, F5.6, ISO400

Gleam event xi

26mm, 30sec, F8, ISO100

Gleam event xii

31mm, 15sec, F5.6, ISO100

Focusing the camera manually at night proved to be a challenge.

Gleam event xiii

31mm, 8sec, F5.6, ISO100

Gleam event xiv

32mm, 4sec, F8, ISO400

Ezra Stoller

 Last Thursday Steve suggested that I take a look at Ezra Stoller as an example of a highly influential architectural photographer.

Ezra Stoller, architectural photographer, was born on May 16, 1915, He died on October 29, 2004, aged 89.  His full obituary can be found here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article391853.ece

The first para says it all really:

EZRA STOLLER was the American architectural photographer whose memorable photographs of buildings by the 20th century’s leading designers popularised architecture for a whole generation. His striking black and white photographs, which are among the world’s most frequently reproduced architectural images, played a key role in the shaping of public perceptions of modern architecture. 

 www.timesonline.co.uk



Ezra Stoller, architectural photographer,  1915 - 2004

Many of the images taken by Stoller are very striking images of modernist style buildings, typified by clean strong lines.  At first glance the images look almost simple.

Reading through various articles about Stoller it becomes apparent that he took great care to plan the images that he took.  He would visit sites many times to explore the site itself, how it reacted to the light at differing times of day and as can be seen in this image how the building reacted with shade and shadow.

The image above is one of the few that had a person in it.  Then you realise that this is also planned, as without the person there is nothing to judge scale.  As you start to deconstruct the initial simplicity you see the adoption of rule of thirds, both horizontally and vertically, triangles, stripes, reflection, shadow, shade; all of a sudden it becomes less simple.

Whorls into an abstract form: A 1959 photograph by Ezra Stoller of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum.

TWA Terminal, New York, 1962

Why / how it this strong style appropriate to my theme of community buildings that cover so many periods of architecture?  As I look deeper, past the commonly occuring images the light begins to dawn.

This image from an earlier post has some similarities in perspective and composition, but is also a world away.  Need to reflect more on shadow, use of light and reflection and how they can emphasise different aspects of the subject.

Use of shadow to focus the eye adds real depth to this image.  There is incredible depth of field with both foreground and background remaining sharpe, but destinct. 

Bell wharehouse - How do you make a box interesting?  Add foreground, perspective and blocks of colour.

Although this is removed from many of the images I was able to find, taken by Stoller, this and the the folllowing image have made me think more about my theme.

Graham House, 1962

This is very different from many Stoller images -still the modern architecture, but the setting becomes almost as important.

And finally.................

While  looking for images taken bt Syoller I came accross this image by Balthazar Korab

Research starts in the pub

I was talking with a friend in the pub today and as the conversation meandered around various things it paused for a time around the background research that I am trying to do for this course.  Composition, perspective, light, my preference for landscapes all were covered including the need to identify individuals who's work I like/appreciate/want to learn from.  In the way that pub conversations do come back to subjects he later suggested that I had a look at Brassai, Caspar David Freidich and Andre Bretton.

First google search for Brassai.
Brassaï (pseudonym of Gyula Halász) (9 September 1899–8 July 1984) was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker.

Although he lived until 1984 most of the images that came up in an image search were black and white from the 1930's.  Immediately struck by several of the images.  All those shown were low light shots.  A mixture of candid people shots and night scenes from Paris.

Particularly taken by the images below.  Very atmospheric.  Taken 70+ years ago yet still incredibly sharp.

Foggy Paris - 1934

This shot is the first image that I found for Brassai, incredibly atmospheric.  Great detail in the trees and bench with the fog blurring much of the rest of the image.  Do you follow the path of the street lamps or the lights of the car first?  Simple street scene or something more?  The various light sources emphasise the fog.

Under one of the Seine Bridges - 1933

Great use of light and absence of light. The light on the bridge enabling details of tree and building to be captured, but the story is in the dark below. Almost completely dark, just the arch allowing some light into the scene with reflection in the river.

Use of thirds and framing in separate elements of the image.

Open Gutter - 1933

Another low light image, but still very sharp.

The eye naturally follows the gutter as it meanders up through the image.

Obelisk and fountains in the

Place de la Concorde   

1933               

The tiered fountain to the left occupies the first third of the image.  Initially the obelisk draws the eye until you start to follow the lines of water.  Long exposure evident from the way that the drops of water have blurred to form a translucent sheet.  Great detail on the statues.

Les Escaliers de Montmartre - 1936

This image is almost counter intuitive, the trees and the first of the lanterns lead your eyes upward, then you realise that he perspective on the steps is actually leading you downward.  There is a real sense of depth with this image.  The lack of people mad the lenght of shadow identify tha this was taken either very early of very late in the day.  I like this image more as I come back to it.



Seville - 1952-53

So what is the story here?  Just stopping for a chat in the street, confession, passing secrets, none of the above?