P&P-Assignment Four; Learning Log; A sense of place

Learning log – P&P assignment 4; A sense of place

My Thoughts

I think there are only so many times you can say that the assignments are frustrating and difficult before it starts to get boring and even by writing this much so far, I am board with the sound of my own voice.

Even in saying this, I have had aspects of difficulty and equally aspects of ease also, I have procrastinated a lot with this assignment. I had done my research and photographs quite a while ago and I have only now just got around to writing it up, knowing that the reason for my procrastination is fear of failure. Which is silly really as there will always be something that I am not going to get right and even if I do not get it right, I know it will take a few tries to get it right in the end. It is the perfectionist coming out in me I guess.  

On the plus side, there is a very special person who has helped me through this assignment, who gave me the nudge when I needed it and stopped me from procrastinating, for which I am eternally grateful.

Primary research

“When making photographs I first find the best light, then choose the background and wait for the right person to come along”

 

(Steve McCurry – Direct quote at “The Photography Show” - 3^rd March 2014)

I got the very rare and exciting opportunity to hear one of the greats give a talk about his work – Steve McCurry. Here is a photograph of him speaking at “The Photography Show” in the NEC Birmingham.

 

I was absolutely in ore when I saw Steve McCurry speak, it was truly one of the best moments of my life. I got quite emotional listening to him speak, as I feel that he is one of the true great photographers of our time.

He talked about the key points that he uses for his photography and he called them his “Maxims”.

 

1.       Surround yourself with good people

2.       Keep your travel days down

3.       Quality time with pix – If it’s good stay with it

4.       Be part of the conversation

5.       Follow your passion

 

He showed us his images and talked about where they were taken, how he took them and how he came to be on some of the assignments he was issued. There was also a question and answer session at the end but as there were a lot of people and no matter how long I kept my hand up I did not get chosen to ask a question.

It was intriguing to listen to what he had to say about the primary core of photography and how he saw the world through his lens, as well as the horror stories that sometimes come with travel photography.

Whilst looking at his images even without his words, I really believe they represent a “sense of place” his images are spellbinding and always tell a true story.

 

Exhibition

I went to The Photographers’ Gallery and saw the “What Remains” Geraldo de Barros exhibition.

Geraldo was primarily a painter, then, through his art he discovered photography. His exhibition are images that was taken in the later part of his life called Sobras which means “Remains” and had a subtle connection to his other exhibition shown in Sao Paulo in 1950.

That exhibition comprised of images that were used with multiple exposures, over-painting, rotations and scratching of negatives, which bled in to his current exhibition.

 

©Geraldo de Barros, Fotoformas, Tatuape, Sao Paulo, 1948

 

There were a lot of images at the exhibition and the way he merged and scratched the negatives over one another was ingenuous and I believe he was ahead of his time.

I chose to show this image as I felt serene whilst looking at it and although it is an everyday object it still felt like I was there looking up at the balloons on the power line, the way that he captured the clarity of the balloons and the angle in the way he shot this is well composed.

 

Secondary research

 

 “Parks and gardens are the quintessential intimate landscapes. People use them all the time, leaving their energy and memories behind. It’s what’s left behind I like to photograph.”

(Michael Kenna – in “Photographers Forum Interview” – Winter 2003 by Claire Sykes)

 

English photographer Michael Kenna is well known for his black and white landscape images, in which he uses extremely long exposures, sometimes up to 10 hours as he shoots at only dawn or dusk.

I chose to include this quote as I like what the quote represents. I also feel it fits in well with the assignment directive. When viewing his photographs I always feel at peace and that I am really there with him, I defiantly feel he represents a “sense of place”.

 

Magazine

I subscribe to the “Digital Photo” magazine, which is extremely useful for all kinds of photograph and has really helped me with my composition and sharp focus when shooting.

I found a section in the April 2014 issue of “Digital Photo” magazine, page 30 extremely useful, it was a complete guide on how to get “Sharper Shots” written by Ben Davis, including camera shake, focusing errors and movement of the picture’s subject, all of which I tried to incorporate in to the images in this assignment.

Please note this magazine was sent to me in February.

 

Strengths and weaknesses on my assignment

First set six publishable images

1

Strengths; - I think the directional light in the frame and where I have focused the camera on the woman are done well.

Weaknesses; - The image seems to be a bit hazy but I have no idea how to eradicate that when taking the image, nor do I know how to eradicate it in post production, also the corners of the image are dark and I know that can be a problem, however I think it helps due to where the directional light is, as it creates a slight vignette effect.

2

Strengths; - I really like the depth of field in this image and the focus on the first bike, as well as the persons feet in the background.

Weaknesses; - On reflection, I could have changed the angle and had more of the bikes in the frame as well as being closer to the floor.

3

Strengths; - I think that the shine of light off of the path in front works well and the shadows of the people.

Weaknesses;- As before, I could have chosen a better angle where I could have got more of a longevity to the shadows of the people and I am not sure of sun being so strong through the branches.

4

Strengths; - I like the reflection of the barrier off of the peoples backs and the light bouncing off of the trees and water.

Weaknesses; - Again I could have angled this a bit better and had the people more in the corner of the frame, so to create the lead in line a bit better.

5

Strengths; - As I said in the assignment, this is one of my favourite images, I think the lighting of the sky and buildings work well together, as well as the silver cab.

Weaknesses; - I could have composed this slightly better, so to eradicate the darker corners of the frame and maybe taken away more of the road out of the frame.

6

Strengths; - Another favourite of mine, I like the way the shadows of the crowd  and the break dancer bounce off of the pavement from the lights of Piccadilly Circus behind.  

Weaknesses;- I tried to eradicate the bright lights from the sign behind whilst shooting and in post production, alas they were to bright, I could not crop them out of the image as it made the image to long and did not give a sense like you were there.

 

Second set of twelve publishable images

1

Strengths; - I like the depth of field and the reflection off of the pole.

Weaknesses; - I think I should have got more of the reflection on to the pole of the rest of the street.

2

Strengths; - I really like the colours of the image and the amount of people in the frame.

Weaknesses; - I could have used tighter framing and solely used the shops in the image and less of the surroundings.

3

Strengths; -I like the longevity of this image and the framing of how I managed to get the writing and river in to the image.

Weaknesses;- This images looks a bit flat and hazy, maybe if I angled it better it would have a better contrast.

4

Strengths; -I like the composition of this image. I feel the focus on more of the bottom half of the frame works well.

Weaknesses;- In hind sight, I could have used a slower shutter speed to create more of a blur of the people, which may have worked better to show how busy the market was.

5

Strengths; - I love the composition of this image, the way the sign is angled and the people in the background, I also like the depth of field used.

Weaknesses; - The only thing wrong with this image is the colour, I feel it leaves the while image a bit flat.

6

Strengths; - I like the sun flares, the composition of this image and the negative space used.

Weaknesses; - Maybe the contrast in this image is too intense. The sun really blinds the top right hand corner of the image, which I could have positioned better.

7

Strengths; - As I said in my assignment, this is one of my favourite images, I like the way the long shadows are cast and the sun peaking through the trees, giving it the orange glow.

Weaknesses; - The image is not as sharp as I would have liked, I could have done a better job at focusing.

8

Strengths; - I think this image is composed well, with the people in the corner and the main focus of the composition is on the birds.

Weaknesses; - I really do not like the colour in this image, it feels really flat and I could not create this in post production without it looking abstract.

9

Strengths; -I like the solidarity of this image and the composition of the little girl being the main focus.

Weaknesses; - As with the previous image, I feel that it is really flat and colourless.

10

Strengths; - The colour in this image is lovely and vibrant, even in the dark areas as there are pockets of colour.

Weaknesses; - This is a high contrast image, but perhaps I could have shed some light in to the dark areas a bit more and dulled down the brightness of the signs a bit in post production.

11

Strengths; -Again, I think it is the colours that work well in this image. They are very strong and vibrant.

Weaknesses; - This image is poorly composed and maybe I should have made the people at the bottom lighter, or I should have cropped in closer.

12

Strengths; - The colour and the sharpness of the buildings are good, I think they are the powerful parts in this image.

Weaknesses; - The composition could have been better for this image, so to eradicate the dark corners and create better lead in lines.

 

Some of my research sources-Books, websites and documents

Visions of Earth: National Geographic photographs of beauty, majesty and wonder; By National Geographic; (This book is made up of images from National Geographic photographers and I feel represents a definite sense of place within the majority of its pages, it has a plethora of amazing images from around the globe of  different things. This book was given to me as Christmas present and it has really helped me gain inspiration through its images, it has also helped my composition as a lot of the images are extremely well composed)

The New Street Photographers Manifesto; by Tanya Nagar; (This book is a fantastic insight in to street photography with a great selection of different street photographer and history behind it. It helped me on how to choose different angles and how to shoot in different lighting conditions)

Digital Photo magazine: Editor John Adams; (This magazine has been a massive help to me with my photography, as mentioned in my learning log, how to take sharper photographs and many other items like night writing photography to post production work)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_place - (To have more of an insight as to what other people think “a sense of place means to them)

http://www.annadelany.com/ - (To research Anna Delany and examine her photography)

http://www.alexsaberi.com/ - (To research Alex Saberi and examine his photography)

http://www.thenec.co.uk/whatson/the-photography-show/ - (To see about the speakers at the photography show)

http://stevemccurry.com/ - (To research Steve McCurry and examine his photography)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kenna_(photographer) - (To research Michael Kenna)

http://www.geraldodebarros.com/main/?page_id=714 - (To research Geraldo de Barros and examine his photography)

P&P-Assignment Four; A sense of place

 

Assignment Four; A sense of place

 

Object of assignment four

This assignment draws together all of the various strands explored so far – including the skills in camera handling, observation, reaction and the underlying appreciation of what spaces and buildings mean for people who live in and among them.

I have to imagine that I am on an assignment for an intelligent, thoughtful travel publication that is demanding a considered, in depth treatment.

I have to create six final images, but at least twice this number of good publishable images, in which to make the final selection from. I need to aim to include a variety of subject matter and scale.

I decided to concentrate on areas that I know well, as the brief suggests. I chose three areas in London;-

·         Camden Town

·         Regents Park

·         Piccadilly Circus

As a collective I would say that these areas are North West central. Without people realising, these areas are a short walk away from each other, as is most of London.  This is the reason why I chose these places, also because they are diverse in their areas.

When photographing this assignment I realised it was quite difficult to get the feel of each place without the tourists.  As a Londoner I visit these places, as do many tourists, so I have tried to capture this assignment with both as it is impossible not to include them. I feel privileged that I live in such a vibrant diverse city and part of what makes it so diverse are the tourists, as well as the locals.

A sense of place

When thinking about “A sense of place” I thought about what it meant to me, did it mean buildings, people, and interaction with my surroundings, community, nature or landscapes?.

Then I realised it is all about what it means to me and how I portray that feeling through imagery, to be able to influence or provoke feelings in others in the way of how I see it. With this in mind there is a huge scope in which way to portray my feelings about these areas and what they represent in my eyes.

There is photographer called Alex Saberi who has taken a myriad of breathtaking images for National Geographic, he has published a book called “Richmond Park” which is where I got the inspiration from to do Regents Park, I chose to photograph Regents Park instead of Richmond Park due to the location.

Alex’s photographs have been taken over period of seven years, his images are breathtaking and certainly represent a “sense of place”, here is one of my favourites.

 (“Octmists-023srgbhome” – by Alex Saberi-URL http://www.alexsaberi.com/ - Date website accessed 28/01/2014)

Another photographer who helped influence my assignment is Anna Delany, she is an urban street photographer who known for her street photography in New York City and New Zealand.

I believe her work is a true and inspirational look at street photography. Her work is a gritty, up close and personal look at street life with her subjects and surroundings alike.

 

(Untitled – by Anna Delany – URL http://www.annadelany.com/street/ - Date website accessed 28/01/2014)

This image gives a great high contrast, which is what I have tried to achieve in quite a few of my images in this assignment, as well as the up close feel to some of my other images.

 Bibliography;

·         Visions of Earth: National Geographic photographs of beauty, majesty and wonder; By National Geographic; (This book is made up of images from National Geographic photographers and I feel represents a definite sense of place within the majority of its pages, it has a plethora of amazing images from around the globe of  different things. This book was given to me as Christmas present and it has really helped me gain inspiration through its images, it has also helped my composition as a lot of the images are extremely well composed)

·         The New Street Photographers Manifesto; by Tanya Nagar; (This book is a fantastic insight in to street photography with a great selection of different street photographer and history behind it. It helped me on how to choose different angles and how to shoot in different lighting conditions)

·         Digital Photo magazine: Editor John Adams; (This magazine has been a massive help to me with my photography, as mentioned in my learning log, how to take sharper photographs and many other items like night writing photography to post production work)

Websites used for this assignment;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_place - (To have more of an insight as to what other people think “a sense of place means to them)

http://www.annadelany.com/ - (To research Anna Delany and examine her photography)

http://www.alexsaberi.com/ - (To research Alex Saberi and examine his photography)

http://www.thenec.co.uk/whatson/the-photography-show/ - (To see about the speakers at the photography show)

http://stevemccurry.com/ - (To research Steve McCurry and examine his photography)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kenna_(photographer) - (To research Michael Kenna)

http://www.geraldodebarros.com/main/?page_id=714 - (To research Geraldo de Barros and examine his photography)

 

Camden Market

For the first two images, I tried to capture the hustle and bustle of the market. I have never seen it quite here, not just with tourists but the locals as well. I also wanted to incorporate the quirky feel of the market, not just of the market but also of the people who frequent it.

 

1; 1/160 seconds at f/8.0 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This image is one of my favourites. When I was wondering around Camden market, I realised there was an upstairs area that I could walk around. I wanted to get a different perspective to the images I had already taken so I went up to the balcony area.

Whilst taking photographs of people down below, the sun came out and shone this woman who was on the stairs which made her vibrancy visible. When looking at her I felt serenity come over me, she seemed extremely calm, almost as if she was watching over the people and basking in the sunshine.

I used a low aperture as I wanted to have more focus on the woman, rather than the rest of the scene. 

Contact sheets

 

I had taken a variation of images of this woman as you can see. It was a difficult choice to decide which one to include in my assignment as I was going to use one of the closes up photographs, as her stance and demeanour was interesting. However, I decided against it as I felt it did not represent the feeling of the assignments directive.

I wanted to get the feeling of the image I saw, which I feel included the people and market that are in the rest of this image.

I chose not to use image 7588 as the composition was slightly off and I felt the image used was better composed.

 

 

 

2; 1/30 seconds at f/3.5 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This is a fun image which I think represents the quirkiness of Camden. Anna Delany influenced me with taking this image as she is known for taking images which are up close and personal.

Whilst walking by the river a guy at a pizza booth was singing loudly which made me take a closer look.

I saw that these “seats” were acquainted with the pizza booth and were lined up along the river bank, which I think is a very novel idea and one that everyone else seemed to think so as well.

I was going to take the image with all of the peoples backs in the frame a bit more, but whilst I was composing the photograph, I realised this was not the best option as it took away from the power and feeling of the image.

I feel this photograph represents the “sense of place” by representing the area of Camden extremely well.

I did not take multiple images of this particular scene as I felt this image was the one I wanted for this assignment, hence the reason for not having a contact sheet.

 

 

Regents Park

For these two images I tried to capture the serenity and multifunctional use of the park, I felt extremely calm when coming here, which is ironic due to the park being situated in the heart of London.

Runners, families, locals and tourist’s alike visit the park but it still felt calm and peaceful.

 

3; 1/125 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

I wanted to include an image with a lot of contrast, dappled light and silhouettes. When I was coming in to Regents Park, the sun was low enough for me to be able to achieve this. I was walking up the path which was on a slight hill, then the clouds parted and the sun came shining through. This was fortunate as there were a few people on the path at the time and I was able to create the look I was trying to achieve. To me this represents the feel of the park well, especially with the runner and family’s being in the image.

As with the previous image there are no contact sheets for this image as I only took one image.

 

 

4; 1/50 seconds at f/5.0 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Still in Regents Park at the lake/river area, I wanted to achieve another high contrast image with the water. I took quite a few photographs of the actual lake, however they were solely images of the wildlife and I wanted to include people in this photograph.

I waited at the river for a while for people to come past, which they did, however I felt they were lacking something and I had to change my composition.

I like the lead in lines and slight shadows reflecting on the people in this image. I used a low aperture to keep my focus on the women and I had to use a slow shutter speed due to the low light.

 

Contact sheets

 

 

There were only a few images left that I had not deleted at the time and in hind sight I should not have done that, however here are the ones that I did take. The reason I chose the image above is because it is the sharpest image and it is the best image with the lead in lines.

The other images were not as composed as well as the one I used, I liked image 7698, however there is too much sky in the frame and due to the way I took the photograph I could not do a rotation crop.    

 

 

Piccadilly Circus

I wanted to show the twilight hours of London and the sheer power that London can project by a busy, popular and famous area.

Unlike the other two areas, there was a lot of people pushing and shoving, so much so I was include to think the many locals were here, rather than tourists. On second glance though, there were a lot of tourists in this area, due to the amount of people with their cameras.

 

5; 1/20 seconds at f/3.5 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

This is another one of my favourite images. I wanted to get the feel of the busyness of Piccadilly Circus in to the image, along with the public transport, advertising boards and people.

I crossed over to the crossing island and possibly put myself in little bit of danger by getting as close to the edge as I could crouched down and rested my camera on the dividing sign.

I wanted to use a higher aperture to get everything in focus, but to my dismay I could not get the sharpness and brightness I needed for this image by doing so as it was taken at dusk.

I think this is one of my favourite photographs as it encompasses the whole area by using my wide angle lens.

 

Contact sheets

 

 

Originally I wanted to use the original black cab images for this assignment, however when I looked at the images they did not translate very well and were extremely dark.

It was a difficult choice even when I had decided to use the silver cab. I was going to use picture 8016 due to the blurred bus as I felt it gave a perception of busyness, but I wanted to keep the silver cab in focus and it was too blurred in image 8016 for what I wanted to portray.

 

 

 

6; 1/15 seconds at f/4.0 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

This is another one of my favourite images in this set and a difficult one to achieve.

When taking this picture I thought it would be relatively easy. However, crowds of moving people and low light made it a lot more difficult.

I wanted to include this image as I thought how “London” and European this is, when the sun is out and even when it is not, there are always street performers, with viewers of tourists and locals alike. I think this is one of the reasons I love London so much, it gives you a sense of fun and culture which translates in any language.

I used a wide angle lens for this as I wanted to get the crowd of people in to the frame as much as possible, I had to use a low aperture and shutter speed due to the light and I also wanted the break dancer to be blurred.

Contact sheet

 

This was a difficult set to choose from, I really like all of the movements the break dancer was doing, so to narrow it down I concentrated on the composition of the framing and crowd of people.

I chose the image for the assignment due to the clarity of the crowd, all of the other images are slightly off, I liked the movement in the other images a bit better but I did not want to compromise on the quality.       

 

Twelve publishable images

The following images are the ones that I feel were strong enough to be published but perhaps not as strong as the first six.

I have chosen four from each area so to represent each area fairly.

 

1; 1/80 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

This image represents the shoppers and feel of Camden. I focused in on the pole to show the reflection to make it a high contrast in depth image and I wanted to include the posters that are dotted all around Camden.

 

 

2; 1/50 seconds at f/5.6 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

As above I wanted to represent the shoppers in Camden, but this time show the quirkiness and diversity of the actual shops. I wanted to the people in focus more so than the shops, however even with the low aperture, a lot of the photograph is in focus.

 

 

3; 1/25 seconds at f/18.0 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

 

I could not use photographs of Camden without including the river and the iconic entrance to the market, even though the image has lead in lines, I wanted to get everything in focus to show the area off as  a whole, I also wanted to have the people partially blurred in the image.

 

 

4; 1/30 seconds at f/3.5 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Inside the market this time, I wanted to get the enormity of the market and show that it is on two floors as well as the hustle and bustle of the market. I focused on the lights so the people were less prominent, I also wanted the people to be more of a haze.

 

5; 1/30 seconds at f/3.5 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This is a favourite image of mine. I wanted to get the focus on the board, hence the reason for the low aperture, with the people in the background getting their change for the mulled wine. I like that I managed to get their full bodies in to the frame.

 

 

6; 1/125 seconds at f/7.1 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

 

On to Regents Park next, as I said previously I felt serine here and I think this image depicts it well. I focused on the couple on the bench, but I wanted to include the rest of the park to show how quite it was. I also wanted to include the rays of light with the flare in the image.

 

 

7; 1/80 seconds at f/5.6 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This is another one of my favourite images, however I chose not to include it in the main set as it was not as sharp as I would have liked. I used a low aperture to focus in on the pavement and the shadows, I also like the longevity of the shadows and low sun creating a high contrast image.

 

 

8; 1/50 seconds at f/5.0 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This image did not turn out as well as I had hoped for. I focused in on the people feeding the birds but I feel the image is a bit flat even with post production work.  However I like the fun feel to this image as the birds are going a bit crazy for the bread.

 

 

9; 1/100 seconds at f/5.6 – Lens EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This is a nice image of the girl of the family above wanting to feed the birds on her own. Again I chose a low aperture to focus on the girl. I like the isolation of this image even though she is not on her own, I think this photograph depicts it well. As with the previous image the colour is very flat due to the lighting.

 

 

10; 1/30 seconds at f/4.0 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

I like the high contrast and silhouettes in this image. As I said previously I wanted to portray the power of the area and I feel that this image with the diverse contrast depicts it fully.

For this image I got knocked around a lot as I really had to crouch down to be able to achieve the photograph I needed.  

 

11; 1/30 seconds at f/3.5 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM 

This image is one of the weaker ones, but a famous one none the less. I actually focused more on the building on the left as it has fantastic lines and looks great when it has the most clarity. I wanted to keep all of the people anonymous in the dark.

 

12; 1/15 seconds at f/3.5 – Lens EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

For this image instead of focusing on singular points of the composition, I wanted to incorporate the entirety on Piccadilly Circus. With the bustle of people, the advertising boards, the beautiful buildings and the main transportation link as it has great lead in lines in the framing of the picture.