Exercise 46 - Juxtaposition

What: The brief of this exercise was to show the understanding of illustration and an understanding of illustration by juxtaposition by producing an original image either a still life or a larger scale shot.Where: In the house
When: During the afternoon
How: First of all I had to do was to reference some book and magazine covers and get an idea of what to avoid when coming up the image concept. I then decided to do a book cover

I went with a murder mystery novel as I thought the concept would be a good challenge as there are a vast number of murder mystery novels and they all have different covers all trying to avoid the same cliché potholes.

My book cover I decided on is for Agatha Christies Murder is Easy; I then sat with paper and pencil and scribbled rough drawings and thoughts until I had formed and idea or two. I then refined the ideas down into a workable format.

I worked on the idea that if murder was easy then a child could do it, I then played with ideas such as child blocks or a lego gun, before deciding on a simple design of cut out people in a chain and one of them being murdered with a pair of scissors as simply we teach children to use scissors quite quickly.

D80,Aperture f/3.5, Shutter Speed 1/125 sec, ISO 400, 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Hand Held, 18-55mm lens



What I learned

I learned from this exercise that is can take some experimentation and practice to demonstrate abstract ideas through illustration; however once the concept has been developed and it can be demonstrated.
I was unfamiliar with the concept of using illustration of portraying ideas, but I now understand the concept and also the concept of symbolism and the requirement to find the right symbol for the illustration of a subject or idea.

Exercise 45 - Symbols

What: The brief of this exercise was to demonstrate an understanding of symbols and symbolism which could be used to illustrate a concepts.
Where: Everywhere – I have been thinking about this a lot
When: All day
How: First of all I had to do was to jot down some notes on what I thought would be a suitable list symbols for the following concepts avoiding clichés

Growth – Building being raised indicating financial growth. A sapling or field of shoots indicating the start of botanical growth. A macro photograph of a shoot as it just bursts through the soil.

Excess – Glasshouse crammed full with a giant banana tree.

A large display of different coloured sweets and chocolates, something like the old fashioned sweetshop displays or on a market stall.

Collection of expensive cars together with their owner.

Crime – Especially after the recent events in London, broken windows come to mind. Vandalism, mugging, fighting in the streets.

Stacks on money beside bags of white powder.

A gun with some bullets beside it, a smoking gun?

Silence – A Victorian statue on a gravestone – statue looking downward in sorrow. These are usually found on children’s  graves or on war graves.

I did think about a hand or finger over the mouth, but I am concerned that could now be a cliché, it certainly was the first thing to spring to mind.

Poverty – First thing that comes to mind in the slums of Glasgow, so I thought about a poor child in the street.

A beggar stilling outside a large chain store or chain restaurant.

I found this quite a provoking exercise as it allowed me to exercise my mind allowing me to think up, note and sometime discard symbols for the concepts. I enjoyed this exercise as it did allow me the freedom to exercise my mind although it was at times difficult to decide if an symbol I had thought of was a cliché or not.

Exercise 44 – Evidence of Action

What: The brief of this exercise was to show the command of illustration by producing an image where something has happened. I took the exercise suggestion of something which had been emptied.
Where: In the house
When: During the afternoon
How: First of all I had to do was to jot down some ideas; at first I had been struck by the exercise suggestion of showing something which was broken, but after looking at what I had to hand which was just glasses and bowls, I could not come up with a good composition which I liked. It was while sitting at a friend’s 40th party that I observed someone clearing up a stack of empty beer bottles, I then re-examined the course notes and decided to change to the example of showing something as being emptied.

Since I do not drink beer and I was not going to procure a dozen bottles to pour down the sink, I examined a cupboard in the house where I stick empty bottles until we have enough to take to the bottle bank. In there were a couple of empty bourbon bottles including one limited edition bottle.

I remembered that the notes had mentioned advertising as an example of dealing with abstract ideas and I decided that I wanted to produce a single image showing several empty bottles of bourbon.

I then setup a light tent, correctly this time around, and after sorting out the background I experimented with different light setups until I got the shot that I wanted.
D80,Aperture f/4.8, Shutter Speed 1/60 sec, ISO 640, 48mm (35mm equivalent 72mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens



What I learned

I learned from this exercise that is can take some experimentation and practice to demonstrate abstract ideas through illustration; however once the concept has been developed and it can be demonstrated.
I was unfamiliar with the concept of using illustration of portraying ideas, but I now understand the concept and also the concept of symbolism and the requirement to find the right symbol for the illustration of a subject or idea.

Exercise 43 – Narrative and Storytelling

What: The brief of this exercise was to show the command of narrative and storytelling by producing a number of photographs which could be used to illustrate an event or sequence.
Where: Edinburgh
When: Last Night of the Festival
How: First of all I had to do was to jot down some notes on what I wanted to capture on the day,

The crowd – This is a well attended event every year
The picnics
The fireworks
The castle
The Ending fireworks – usually the biggest burst of the night.

I also had to procure the tickets so that I would be in the position that I wanted. I had decided on where I wanted to be, but in a event like this you cannot always book a position on the ground so I arrived early to that I could get a good position on the East side of the castle. I wanted the East side as I had seen the weather reports for the day and they said that the wind was going to be blowing inland to the west of the city.

Festival Fireworks Edinburgh 4th September 2011-09-06

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens



The traditional firework display and concert marks the formal end to the Edinburgh Festival, the concert and fireworks on the last Sunday of the festival take place on Edinburgh castle overlooking Princess Street and the gardens below.

D50,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/8 sec, ISO 1600, 40mm (35mm equivalent 60mm),Pattern Metering Mode, Daylight White Balance, Hand Held, 18-70mm lens


The event attracts a large audience who sit below in the Gardens and watch the display of 10,000 fireworks in the night, while the Scottish chamber orchestra play a series of classic pieces matched to the display.

D50,Aperture f9.5, Shutter Speed 1/10 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm),Pattern  Metering Mode, Daylight White Balance,Hand Held, 18-70mm lens



People arrive up to two hours before the concert many of them sitting on the grass banks and enjoying a quiet picnic; many were setting up cameras to capture the event.

D50,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/15 sec, ISO 1600, 52mm (35mm equivalent 78mm),Pattern  Metering Mode, Daylight White Balance, Hand Held, 18-70mm lens



As the sun sets, the castle which is usually light up is silhouetted against the sky

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 8 sec, ISO 100, 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm),Matrix Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 11-16mm lens




A flare is fired into the sky to test the wind speed and direction to ensure that the wind speed will not cause the fireworks to go out of control and drop into the crowds below.


D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


As the dark draws in the audience settle for the performance, and the lights are dimmed around the garden to allow the best view.


D50,Aperture f/11, Shutter Speed 2 sec, ISO 200, 55mm (35mm equivalent 88mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Shade White Balance, Hand Held, 55-200mm lens



The concert and as the orchestra plays the overture to Glinkas “Ruslan and Ludmilla” fireworks stream from the castle into the night sky.

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


Following Glinka, Borodins “In the steppes of Central asia” is played as the fireworks light the sky in colourful inspiration of the orient.

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


As the concert progresses through the harmonies, melodies and rhythms of each piece of music the audience are dazzled by the pyrotechnics.

D50,Aperture f/11, Shutter Speed 8 sec, ISO 200, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Metering Mode, Manual White Balance, Hand Held, 55-200mm lens


As the concert draws to an end and the castle is lost from view in the cordite smoke, the finale of “oriental procession” from Sibelius’ Belshazzars feast the night sky is almost brought back to its’ daylight colours by the final burst of fireworks

 D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


What I learned

First thing I learned from this is that I am not very good at writing narrative due to my dyslexia.

Planning is required for a photography essay in this style, unless you happen to come across a sequence of events like Robert Lebeck did at Leopoldville where he managed to capture a sequence of images showing a young man stealing the ceremonial dagger from King Baudouin, then planning has to be done. Otherwise you just miss the scenes you want to photograph and you end up just shooting and hoping that you will capture something.

I also did some reading up on fireworks photography before the event to see if there was anu goood guidance on white balance. I did come across one site which recommended setting the white balance to 4000K as this give the best representation of the colours. I did this and I have to agree that it does give a good representation.

I also learned that after the photographs have been taken; that they can be juggled around to make them out of sequence which can make for a more visual narrative. I have noticed that in some magazines that they start start an essay with a different photograph out of sequence and then they will follow with the others in as rear a sequence as the story will allow.

Assignment 4 – Applying Lighting Techniques

What: The brief of this assignment was to show the command of lighting techniques to bring out particular physical properties of the same object using daylight, available artificial lighting to photographic Lighting.Where: At various locations
When: Multiple days.
How: First of all I made sure that I fully understood the brief of the Assignment by reading over the text a number of times. As I progressed through the assignment I made notes at each shooting in my daybook in the style of a diary and included in the daybook some drawings and diagrams on some of the concepts that came to mind after reading the text and after looking at some previous photographs I had taken. I will include these notes and concepts in this assignment paper.

I looked at the main qualities for the images detailed in the assignment;

Shape – The outline or edge of the object, minimal detail visible in the object.
Form - The volume of the object, how three dimensional the object looks.
Texture - The quality of the surface detail
Colour - The Objects colour(s)

There is an allowance in the assignment to add in other interesting, unusual or attractive lighting.

In the beginning I experimented with a number of objects, a plain stone statue, a wooden model of a hand, a bottle of bourbon and a metal flask. In each of the experiments I found that I had a number of images which would work well within part of the brief, but were useless for the at one or two of the main parts of the assignment brief. In the end I abandoned all the ideas and after looking at a number of objects in varying lighting conditions, I eventually decided on a glass candle holder.

I then sat down and considered what kind of lighting I could use to create the qualities required in the brief, the glass candle holder had a unique texture, was colourful and was light enough that I could move it around into different lighting conditions and arrangements which would allow me to photograph the qualities I wanted by controlling the light. It also meant that I could sit with the object nearby and have it to hand if I wanted to suddenly experiment with a change of daylight or change in artificial lighting.

I also used Kevin Kertz lighting diagram Photoshop template to allow me to record the setup used when using artificial and photographic lighting.

Shape

1. Shape Number Three.

At first I wanted to reproduce and experiment with an idea I had seen described I a number of years ago which I had then used to photograph a glass object using the method of dark field photography. However I could not find a satisfactory shot which did not appear to be too dark.

This was the third selected image from my attempt to control photographic lighting through the use of a light tent. There was a single diffused flash off to the left of the subject which was further diffused through the white wall of the light tent. The object was sitting on the backdrop cloth of the text and I had turned the light tent around so that the back of the light tent was acting as a black flag soaking up any overspill of light from the flash. On the right hand side of the light tent was a white card reflector to bounce back some of the light for shadow fill. I did not want to make the object too dark as I did not want to lose the overall shape of the object entirely.

Nikon D80, focal length 38.0mm (35mm equivalent 57mm), aperture f19, speed 1/180 , ISO 100, Flash white balance, Pattern Matrix metering, tripod mounted camera, 18-55mm lens, Single flash.



The main idea of the composition was to show the simple shape of the upturned object, showing that the shape flowed from a bowl into a long stem. I wanted to draw the eye upwards through the shape and out the top of the frame. I really wanted the middle of the object to remain black and unfilled by light as I wanted the shape to be split by the darkness.

2. Form Number Three

I really wanted to use daylight for at least on one of by photographs as I wanted to show that I could control daylight as a lighting technique. At first I wanted to use daylight to produce the quality of colour as I knew that the glass object would light up when it was subjected to bright daylight. It was while I was outside waiting for a cloud to pass over that I started to experiment with the subject in non direct daylight. I started at first in complete shade, moving outwards until I was almost in complete daylight. In this image I was just on the border of shade and daylight and when I held the object up into the air I could see that the form of the object was well defined due to the lighting conditions. I went back to my camera and changing the white balance and ISO settings I took the image.

Nikon D80, focal length 46mm (35mm equivalent 69mm), aperture f11.0, speed 1/180 second, ISO 320, Shade White balance, Pattern matrix metering, Hand Held, 18-55mm lens, no flash.



I like the fact that the simple shadow from the other side of the object flows through the shape and that it helps to define the bowl shape at the top of the object. I also like the colours produced and I almost entered this as a colour example, but I preferred the way that the volume of the object is projected.

3. Texture - Monochrome

One of the reasons I had chosen this subject was that the glass itself had quite an interesting texture, not only around the rim, but also over the bowl part where it was ridged and patterned between the colours.

At first I found it quite difficult to capture the texture of the object without using a Macro lens as the pattern was difficult to see in certain lighting conditions. I feel that the colour was detracting from the image and drawing the eye away from the texture and onto the colours and the overall shape. Finally I decided to use artificial light; in this case I used a small torch shining directly at the bowl part of the object. I then took a number of shots with different exposure values, and also using exposure compensation of +/- 1 stop. I then converted all the images to monochrome as I wanted to extract the colour which I felt was detracting the eye.

Nikon D80, focal length 42mm (35mm equivalent 63mm), aperture f19.0, speed 1/180 second, ISO 100, Flash White balance, Pattern Matrix metering, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens, Single light source.



I feel that the final image shows the texture and pattern of the object and shows the definition of its shape as well. I was pleased to see that the light was distorted inside the bowl and has produced a distorted reflection of the light and of the texture.


4. Colour

In the beginning I had wanted to use daylight for describing colour, but as I had produced the image for Form using daylight I decided to have at an attempt at colour using strong photographic lighting.

At first I experimented with having the light direct and above the object but I did not get the colour from the shape that I wanted. In the end I decided to point the studio flash at the white reflected card which I was using as a background; I knew some of the light from the flash would hit the glass object and I knew that the reflected light would bounce straight towards the camera lens through the object if I placed the reflector in the right position.

Nikon D80, focal length 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm), aperture f32.0, speed 1/180 second, ISO 125, Flash White balance, Spot metering, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens, Single Studio flash.



I was pleased to see that the colour just popped out of the white background and that the blues and whites were not overrun by the pink and purple of the object. I was also please to see that the main hue of the object does not vary down the full length of the image.


5. EL Wire

I had a play with this type of lighting previously and I liked the effect that I could produce with it. Here I am using the electroluminescent wire (EL wire) in there different colours pushed up through a hole in the base of the object; the wire I used was coloured, red, white and pink, although when used in this style they are more of a red/orange, white/blue pink/purple. The fact that the white and the pink hues were close to the hues of the object was a pleasant surprise and the red really stood out against the other colours and produced an eye-catching effect.

You can almost see the original hues of the wires as they run up the inside of the stem, but once they intermingle within the main bowl they take on an almost neon effect.

Nikon D80, focal length 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm), aperture f7.1, speed 1 second, ISO 640, Auto White balance, Spot metering, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens.



I did not want the bowl too loose its entire colour and become too underexposed so I went for a longer exposure than normal at a higher ISO as I wanted the entire object to be defined not just the wires. In the end I feel that I captured a strange combination of light and shape which I am very pleased with.


6. Form Two

Here I return to the quality of form. This idea was based around the unsuccessful dark field attempts, I just decided to back off a bit and remove some of the more complex parts of the idea and setup and just shoot a straight contrast/shadow fill using one light and a reflector. With a single studio flash with a white umbrella for diffusion on the left of the camera and a white card reflector on the right of the camera I took a couple of shots moving the composition of the subject around until I had it was I wanted it.

Nikon D80, focal length 50mm (35mm equivalent 75mm), aperture f16, speed 1/180 second, ISO 125, Flash White balance, Pattern Matrix metering, Tripod Mounted, 50mm lens.



Using the 50mm prime lens allowed me to move in quite close to the subject and I relied on having the room in partial darkness to soak up some of the overspill light from the flash. While I am quite pleased with the final image and it defines the form of the object it was not the “first chosen” image but I wanted to see and to show that I could capture the quality of form using artificial light and with some experimentation on fill.

7. Candle

As the object was originally designed to hold a small candle, i felt that it was an injustice not to attempt at least one image where the object was light up using only candle light. I had to play around for a while to find a way that I could safely balance the object while getting above it to photograph it. I did not want to get too close for fear of burning either myself or the camera!

In the end I pushed the stem into a cardboard box and balanced the whole thing on a table. Under the box and extending off into a background in a large piece of black card as I did not want any reflected light coming back up into the stem or into the bowl. I just wanted to capture the light from the top as it shone out through the object.

Nikon D80, focal length 52mm (35mm equivalent 78mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/30 second, ISO 640, Auto White balance, Spot metering, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens.



In this case I had to plump for Auto White balance as I felt that both shade and overcast weather white balances did not produce the right hues. As it was I not had time for a two shots before the whole thing toppled over and almost set fire to the black card and a chair. At this point I abandoned the idea of taking further shots.

I am happy with the composition and colours within the image as I feel that it gives a good representation of the colours that the candle light produced.


8. Texture 2

I had been experimenting with a Macro lens with a ring flash on it and had produced some up close images of the texture of the glass. However I felt that the final colour of the image was being overcast by the colour of the object. I went out and obtained a large piece of yellow card and placed this behind the object. I then removed the ring flash from the front of the lens and set the camera up on a tripod. This allowed me to turn on the artificial light in the room and I decided to work by the tungsten light instead of using flash.

Nikon D80, focal length 105mm (35mm equivalent 157mm), aperture f19, speed 10 second, ISO 125, Tungsten White balance, Spot metering, Tripod Mounted, 105mm macro lens.



I again went for a long exposure as I wanted to capture the leaf like texture of the object and I wanted the yellow top break up the pinks and purple hues and make it more flower like in its shape and definition.

Additional Images – Fractal Candle

I am not sure that this can be a genuine submission as in this case the light was then enhanced in post production using a mathematical algorithm to distort the paths of the light. However I liked the image.



Summary

I have found this assignment a bit of a challenge to start with as I just could not find the right object. Once I had the right object then I feel things became better and I was able to freely experiment with differing lighting conditions and situations and take multiple images under these conditions. I also feel that I made the right choice straight away for some of my ideas and the lighting conditions just fell together and that I had full control of the light.

At the end of the assignment I have however started to re-examine the world around me for the way that lighting has an effect on shape, colour and definition of everything around me. I feel that I can now produce better images than before as I finally understand what is happening to the light around me and how that interacts with the camera lens. This part of the course has also reinforced the primary and secondary colours as well as composition as at times I had to move the subject around or move myself around to improve the final image. One of the main things to come out of this part of the course is that I now feel that I do not make enough notes and that I am going to have to try harder to make more complete notes as I think this can hold me back sometimes.

Assignment 4

Almost ready for posting out to my tutor. Only a couple of corrections!

Exercise 42 Shiny Surfaces

What: The main brief of this exercise was to make a covering for the camera lens so that I could photograph something shiny without reflecting the camera lens or reflecting the light back from the subject into the lens creating an overexposed image.
Where: Inside the house with the outside light blocked by blackout curtains.
When: During the evening.
How: I first of all I cut up some large sheets of tracing paper and made them into a cone, I then fitted the cone round the camera lens and mounted the whole lot onto a tripod, so that I could point the camera down at the shiny metal cup. I then moved the light around the cone and also move it towards and away from the cone to see what would happen when there was a lot of light or not enough light.

Shiny Surface 1

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 2

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 3

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 4

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 5

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 6

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 7

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 8

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens



Shiny Surface 9

D80,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/30 sec, ISO 100, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Weight Metering Mode, Flash White Balance, Tripod Mounted, 18-55mm lens




I can see that by moving the light around the cone that I can produce differing levels of contrast and that when the light is near to the cone that it overpowers the diffusing effect of the cone and it lights up everything including the background.

I can see that the cone is acting like an improvised light tent and that the cone is diffusing the light and not allowing it to concentrate in one area. Off all the images I produced on this exercise I prefer the lighting in the very first image as I feel that the image is neither over nor under exposed and that the amount of contrast is perfect for defining the cup.