Ansel Adams

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.

A good photograph is knowing where to stand.

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.

Ansel Adams was a serious perfectionist, sometimes taking days or weeks over the taking and developing one photograph.  Much of his photography was black and white developing using gelatin silver.

Many of the quotes that I have been able to find are about photography being self-expression not use of rules.  The images all have incredible depth, almost a 3-d quality about them.  The tonal range in each image is very exact.  Adams writes about using the step wedge system to ensure that the tonal range for each image is as close as it can be to what was seen. 

Each element of the image compared to exposure readings taken at the time and measured against a known grey-scale - the step-wedge.

Having said that there are no rules it is still possible to see influence in some of the image compositions.  Placement of subject or horizons approximating to third lines.  For me one of the striking things is the shear scale of the image captured.

Theme 1 Community Buildings - Hilton Village Hall 30 10 10

Have been reading some stuff about photographing buildings and I will put some of the detail on here, but I figure that while there is still some good weather I should get out and take some photos

14mm, F16, 1/4sec, ISO 100

 Hilton Village Hall,
Half in Shade   

 

Out of the sequence this one stood out for me.  Kit zoom lens set as wide as it will go.  Still early morning so camera supported on a tripod to enable me to use a small aperture - F16 and a longer exposure - 1/4 second while using an ISO of 100.

This was taken from as close as possible to the building while still being able to see it all within the shot.  Unfortunately I was not able to get square on to the shot as the skate ramps were in the way.

I have seen this building many times, usually either early evening or late in the day.  This rear wall usually appears very dull, almost featureless.  It is the external wall of a hall that doubles as a badminton court and a performance space with the traditional village hall stage at one end. The early morning sun changed the colours of the brickwork, emphasising the red.  Long shadows have added a real difference to the appearance, highlighting the shallow buttresses and casting a series of shadows that cover half of the building.  The shadows only struck the top of the window arches for a short time as the sun rose.  Fortunately I was there to see it.

If I have another opportunity I think that it would be possible to improve on this by taking the shot from the top of the skate ramp.  This would put me square on to the building.  The additional height would also improve the image as the whole of the building would appear above the fence line.  All in all not displeased for a first effort.

I have added the images below as they place the wall in context.  The 16:9 image is taken from the north-east of the building.  Early shadows from the east.

 Hilton Village Hall                                                               Hilton Village Hall

Early Autumn Sun                                                                 Early Shadows

14mm, F22, 1/4 sec, ISO 200                                        14mm, F22, 1/2 sec, ISO 200

Hilton Skate Park

14mm, F16, 1/15, ISO 100

The image of the hall was taken while I was stood next to the large ramp on the right. 

If you enlarge the image above you are able to see the edge of a new building that was built for the Scouts.  During the development they had real problems with vandalism on site adding many £1,000's to the cost of the project.  Even after it was built there were a couple of attempts on the storage yard at the back.  One solution is captured below, not everything to do with the community is fluffy.

Warning, razor barbs!

25mm, F11, 1/8th, ISO200

This is the shot as taken.  Having just spent time looking at other walls I wanted to do more with this.  Taking the image on the angle, while focusing on the warning sign.  I tried the shot with a wider angle, which was not as effective - it was just a wall.  Filling the image and cropping in close was far more effective at producing a dramatic image.  Have still used 1/3rds, but on the diagonal.  The edge of the gate brings in another texture and reveals more of the spikes.

One of the filters that Olympus include with its' software is one called 'Grainy Film'.  While reducing the size of the file to upload to blogger I applied the filter, which made the image much more dramatic

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?

Adventures with a tripod

Go west young man, get a tripod and all will be well!

Actually no!  First a note on health and safety.  When using the clips to set the leg height make sure you move your fingers out of the way, otherwise, like me, you will bleed over everything for at least an hour.  It wouldn't have been quite so bad except that I was already out at the nature reserve.

Second note - always make sure you have tissue / plasters / hanky when you are out, they may just be useful.

Remember the jokes about men and instruction manuals.  How difficult can a tripod be?  Just set it up, stick you camera on the top and off you go.  Easy in the kitchen with the lights on, not so easy in the semi-dark with the instruction sheet elsewhere.

So the final note is practice for at least 10 minutes before you set off, it'll make a difference  and there will probably be less blood.

In planning this asignment I have previously visited the area to be photgraphed at a number of different times of day including early morning.  Having a clear understanding of the paths is an important element of safety around water.  The intention was to explore capturing images during the "golden hour" - time around dawn when lighting conditions cam greatly enhace the subject.  The actual day was decided upon after checking weather forecasts for the weekend - fortunately they were accurate.

Equipment is limited to that owned - camera + kit lens.  Will also be using a tripod to facilitate longer exposures.  When using the tripod the image stabilisation system built into the body will be turned off.  Details of eqipment can be found here - Unit 208 Statement of intent.  It would have been useful if I had access to a faster / wide-angle lens as this would have been of beneift with the low light landscape images that I was looking to capture.

14mm, F22, 1/60th, ISO100, tripod
Underexposed, but I like the effect.



Horizon set at lower 1/3rd and framed by the trees.  Underexposure makes it appear darker than it actually was.  There was no cloud, so very little colour in the sky.  The orange glow behind the trees giving just a hint of the day to come.

I spent last Sunday looking at the water and tree line so time to try something different.

 As part of the conservation at the reserve a flock of Jacobs sheep are allowed to roam the area.  They keep down some of the undergrowth and graze the clearings.  This is apparently good for specific types of flaura in the Spring. 

42mm, F16, 1/2, ISO100

Sheep, like people, move.  Next time need to look at a higher ISO

and / or wider aperture so that I can use a faster exposure to minimise blur.

The leaf just stood out from the rest of the leaf litter as the sun rose and hit the ground. 

First effort at longer exposure.  Exposure OK, but composition weak - not real focus on any one element - the image is busy.

Leaf

36mm, F22, 1 sec, ISO 100

Log & moss

29mm, F22, 2 seconds, ISO 100

Log & moss ii

42mm, F22, 4 seconds, ISO 100

Fern in highlight

14mm, F8, 1/4 sec, ISO 100

Fern in Highlight ii

24mm, F8, 1/4 sec, ISO 100

Getting there.  The idea is OK, but execution needs improving.  Fern leaf isolated by sunshine.  Too caught up with the idea of longer exposures.  Messy foreground - options include clear away if possible without causing damage or move in closer.  The better option would be to change the position that the shot was taken from as the trunk in the background is also distracting.  Other options wold be to use a larger aperture - f4 / f5 - which would have the effect of creating a shallow depth of field, blurring the background and potentially blurring the foreground as well.

Start of Autumn

14mm, F22, 1/4 sec, ISO 100

The way home

17mm, F22, 1 sec, ISO 100

Studio 21 10 10

Last week I spent a short time with Kev in the Studio.  It's not directly related to the themes that I am looking at, but it is certainly something that I have not done before.  A very controlled environment, I can see the attraction.

So this week when there was another opportunity to spend some time in the studio I opted to give it a go.  Still life.

Initial set up was undertaken by Steve. Camera to be used - Canon EOS 5D with 24 - 105mm lens.  Principle lighting from Bowens Esprit 1000W that can be adjusted for strength of light and flash - strong central light grading outward.  Light changed to a barn door light.  Camera and lens synchronised using a cable. The cable can be attached directly to the 5D, other cameras may need a fitting to attache via the hotshoe.

As well as an opportunity to look at still life the session gave me another chance to look at low light photography, taking images of the session - both as a record and as additional practice taking images of people.

My record of the session below.  Less conscious about taking pictures of people.  Almost enjoyed the candid shots, watching from the outside, recording action and process rather than posed images.

Had a conversation with Steve this evening about how I struggle to see pictures of people having avoided it for so long.  His suggestion was to work through a process of photographing themes that I can see, including people within the shot, gradually making them a larger part of the whole.   I am beginning to understand that as I reflect about the studio session.  It's not necessarily about staged shots of people.

Working without flash, using high ISO and large aperture, F3.5, has given rise to a series that almost have a sepia tone with colours emerging in areas caught by the spot.  Small images have good clarity, becoming grainy when viewed at full size resulting from the high ISO 1600-3200.

Studio i

14mm, F3.5, 1/30th, ISO 1600

Studio ii

14mm, F3.5, 1/30th, ISO 1600

Studio iii
14mm, F3.5, 1/30th, ISO 1600

Studio iv

14mm, F3.5, 1/30th, ISO 3200

Studio v
14mm, F3.5, 1/30th, ISO 1600

Studio vi

14mm, F3.5, 1/30th, ISO 1600

As well as  looking at an area of photography this has been a good lesson in using the manual controls of my camera in low light conditions and will be of use with soem of my planned low light sessions outside.

Hall at Hill Street Baptist, Swadlincote

So, Community Buildings, what are they?

They cover a wide variety of things.  I would see them as buildings that exist for the benefit of the community; usually operated by the community; sometimes owned by the community.  That has narrowed it down a little, but for the purposes of this project I will be looking at church halls, village halls and churches themselves.

Hill Street Baptist 20th October 2010 hosting a voluntary sector funding fair.  Attended by community groups looking to identify funders who may be able to support the development of their project.

34mm, F5.6, 1/30th ISO 400

All square.
The two squares just made me smile, both so different, both a little tired and both still used.






29mm, F5.6, 1/15, ISO 400


Did you know that the modern game of basketball was developed by Dr. James Naismith? While teaching physical education at the international YMCA training school, he was given the task of creating a new indoor sports activity that was skill rather than strength based.  So, not quite such a surprise to find a basketball hoop in the Chapel hall.

The walls really are a pinkish hue.  What struck me more was the geometric shapes formed by the panelling, the backboard to the hoop and the plaque commemorating the year the chapel was built.  Lighting was difficult - electric light overhead with srong natural light coming in through the windows.

28mm, F5.6, 1/15th ISO 400



Dawn at Hilton Gravel Pits sssi (17 Oct 2010)

The weather forecast had indicated a clear bright start to the day.  Little or no wind so the chance of mist in the early morning.

I do not possess a tripod yet so hand-held it is (mini-tripod will be taken with me just in case).  Will be using standard kit lens.  The gravel pits at Hilton are an area that I have walked regularly over a number of years, during the summer months I lead a walking group out of the village and we regularly take the route that I intend to walk this morning.  In preparation for this I have taken the camera with me to take a few images that will give me a feel for specific locations within the reserve.  Have only had the camera since June and have undertaken this course to get used to the equipment.  Lighting conditions will be mixed and changing with time.  The image stabilisation within the camera has been turned on to allow me to take hand-held shots down to 1/15th-1/30th with a reasonable outcome.

Forecast for a cold morning so need appropriate clothing.  Although I know the area well it will be necessary to be careful around the water as light will be at a minimum.

On arrival at the old gravel pits the mist had started rising off of the water.  The surrounding trees masked the changes to the sky and light. It was a cold morning, whoever had spent the night fishing must have been freezing.  The break in the trees gave me my first view of the lake and provided a frame for the shot.  The first pinks of the morning sky just appearing over the tree line reflecting in the water.  Need to work out how to expose a shot to record the mist accurately rather than just as a blur.

Pre-dawn fishing

Manual hand-held, resting on fence post

15mm, F11, 1/15th ISO200

Walking to the nature reserve before dawn gave me the opportunity to witness the transformation of the sky from night to day.  The change in colours as the sun rose became spectacular, with gold's almost looking liquid in texture.  Keeping the shutter speed fairly high kept the foreground in silhouette and prevented over exposure of the sky.  The bank of clouds in the east almost looks like a range of hills in the distance, providing a false horizon just below the bottom third line.

Aproaching dawn, Lucas Lane

Manual, hand held

17mm, F4, 1/125th, ISO200

The sun not having risen above the tree line turned the sky golden, reflecting similar colours in the waters surface.  I need a tripod!  I need gloves!  Don't breath near a metal-bodied camera when it's this cold. 

Using the tree line as the horizon allows 2/3rds of the frame for sky, making the most of the colours and cloud that the morning has provided.  There is very little wind resulting in the lake surface being almost like a mirror.  Exposing for the sky allows the use of a relatively small aperture, enhancing the depth of field.

First Light, mist rising

Manual, hand held

18mm, F16, 1/250, ISO200

As the sun rose I stepped back from the shoreline to bring some of the foreground into the shot to act as a frame.  The winch adds to the composition as a reminder that this nature area is actually man-made, the lagoon resulting from many years of gravel extraction.  The increasing light levels increase the strength of the reflections.  The flare around the rising sun was not intended, but I like the effect.



Dawn sun flare

Manual hand held

18mm, F16, 1/250, ISO200

Time to change position.  As I walk through the wood I realise how lucky I am to live near this place, which this morning I have all to myself.  The trees frame the path with both the path and the tree trunks forming lead in lines.  The gold of the sun starting to streak through the trees adds to the atmosphere, enhancing something that would otherwise be fairly ordinary.  Still trying to stick to the rule of thirds, using the waters edge through the trees as the horizon line.

Early morning woodland

Manual hand held

34mm, F8, 1/60th, ISO400

A new waterfront site.  With the sun a little higher the rising mist becomes more evident.  More thought about composition of the shot.  Tree line at 1/3rd, sun through the tree at 1/3rd, good reflection and strong frame with the tree on the bank.  This is one of my favourites from the morning.  Throughout the morning I have struggled to capture the mist over the water accurately - almost there with this one.

Misty morning

Manual, Hand held

15mm, F16, 1/125, ISO200

Took more time to look at the composition in this shot.  Clear use of the rule of thirds with the mushroom itself positioned at the first 1/3 vertical line and the head of the fruit at the junction of the 1^st horizontal and vertical lines.  This was the first of three shots. Used the in camera macro programme to help identify potential setting for the following two.  This programme pushed the ISO to 800 which has allowed a very clear image to be taken.  The result of this is an image that is a lot brighter than the ambient, dawn light that was present.

The aperture is set very large, allowing more light to reach the sensor, but more importantly limiting the depth of field, blurring both foreground and background.

The red of the mushroom and the green of the moss stand out well against the autumnal colours of the leaf litter.

I did consider moving some of the leaf litter, but decided against it. 

This is the image as taken; the only change has been to reduce the size of the file to ease uploading.

Fly agaric

Macro programme, mini tripod

26mm, F4.5, 1/13th, ISO800 



First of 2 fully manual shots.  This Fly agaric was about 12 inches away from the previous shot, very close to the bank of the gravel pit itself - you can just about make out the water through the foliage at the top of the shot.  To cut out the relfection it was necessary to get in very close.

The colours in this image are much closer to those on site.  Early morning, Autumn sun, very gold hue.  Have kept the aperture open to narrow the depth of field.  Chose to use an ISO of 200 to increase detail captured.  As I was using a mini-tripod it was possible to use a longer exposure time to make up for the lower ISO.

The reds, greens and golds make the image look very warm, unlike the close to freezing air temperature that was the case.

Fly agaric, woodland floor

Manual, mini tripod

26mm, F4.5, 1/8th, ISO 200

While I liked certain elements of the previous image I wanted to get more detail of the mushroom itself.  Reduced the height of the tripod, moved in closer and reduced the focal length of the lens.  Have increase the detail of the Fly Agaric and the surrounding leaf litter, but lost some of the balance of the composition. 

Fly agaric, woodland floor ii
Manual, mini tripod
19mm, F4, 1/8th, ISO200

Woodland gravel pit

Manual hand held

26mm, F11, 1/125 ISO400 

Misty Dawn reflected

Manual, hand held

18mm, F11, 1/125, ISO100



Woodland walk

Manual, hand held

14mm, F4, 1/60th, ISO200