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” - 3rd 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)
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