The future's bright...

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I read an interesting article this week about the 'death of photography', which asked whether camera phones were 'destroying an artform'.

It was prompted by a photograph of Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt taking a so-called 'selfie' of herself with Barack Obama and David Cameron at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela.

The article raised a few interesting points. It first of all asked whether press photographers would soon use cameraphones instead of expensive SLRs.

It went on to say that people simply do not remember the things they are photographing, 'making the snap-happy nature of modern photography doubly mindless'.

Workshop heaven

One enjoyable aspect of my photography course is being given the opportunity to photograph people and places not normally accessible to the general public.

Recently, I was able to access a workshop which is being closed down before developers move in. It was an amazing place, piled from floor to ceiling with every piece of equipment, memorabilia and junk imaginable. Not only did this make it difficult to walk around the place, but positioning a tripod became a logistical nightmare.

It's not easy to capture such a scenario on the camera, simply because there is so much 'stuff' available to picture. The lighting can also pose its own problems. This workshop was half lit by fluorescent lights and half by daylight streaming in through the large front doors. The photo above was shot in an area entirely lit by the artificial lighting, so white balance was not a problem in this case.

Punch and Judy

I have now visited the steam railway museum six times and there comes a point where ideas for shots are more difficult to come by.

But I like a challenge, and I think I need some practice in ideas generation. I do still sometimes behave like a rabbit caught in the headlights even when presented with a completely fresh scenario to photograph.

This part of the museum - a seaside mock-up featuring a Punch and Judy show and some fairground games - has proved notoriously difficult to photograph in the past, according to my tutor. So I thought that was a good starting point!

I had an idea to use my flash to add drama to the Punch and Judy tent, and shoot through a nearby archway to frame the tent and enhance the overall appeal for the viewer. A model helped to bring the shot to life.

I was quite pleased with the picture, although I am bothered by a sliver of black down the left-hand side of the archway, which spoils the smooth line.

What they said...

"If ever I took memorable pictures…it would have been because I insisted on seeing the clothes live – walked in, whirled and twirled in"

― Norman Parkinson

Family album

I turned my attention to a different project today, recruiting my daughter as a model in the process.

My blog entry on October 4 described a project concerned with the visual language of the photograph and my intention to use as an example a picture Norman Parkinson took of the model Anne Chambers in Bath.

I liked Parkinson's idea of using a pillar to emphasise the rule of thirds and chose to take my picture at the Pittville Pump Rooms in Cheltenham - a building blessed with a number of doric columns.

I also tried to employ some of the other techniques Parkinson used, such as using contrasts in tone to make the model stand out and trying to introduce an air of mystery by partially obscuring the model behind a pillar.

Lessons learned

This shot was taken on my latest visit to the steam railway museum and was subjected to hefty Photoshop work to make it interesting enough to post on here.

The truth is, I screwed up with this particular scene and am going to have to do it all again. I had much better shots than this, taken from behind the chap at the desk, but it was only when I was tidying up the best of these images in Photoshop that I realised I had left some of my kit at the back of the shot.

There are so many things you have to remember as a photographer - and only a fraction of these things involve aperture and shutter settings. One of my weaker areas is remembering to tidy up the scene before shooting. If I had a pound for the number of times I had taken a picture, then spotted later on that there was a piece of rubbish in the background, I would be a very rich man.

Anyway, not too much damage has been done. I'm back at the museum again this coming week, so I'll get it right next time.

Back on track

My apologies to anyone interested in these posts for the long gap since the last entry. Sadly, my father passed away two weeks ago today, which meant my photography, my studies and pretty much everything else came to a shuddering halt.

But I was back behind the camera on Friday for the latest in a series of shoots at the railway museum and I focused on the engine Caerphilly Castle, which can be inspected from a pit running directly underneath it.

It allowed me to have some fun with flashes. I positioned them at the far end of the pit and asked two models to stand midway between them and the camera. I exposed for the ambient light and let the shutter stay open for about half a second.

I was pleased with the result, which captures some of the atmosphere of the place. I particularly liked the starburst effect of the flash.

What the picture doesn't show are the groups of schoolchildren and other visitors to the museum I had to dodge all morning before getting the shot I wanted. These visitors understandably take priority over photographic projects, but luck was not on my side when it came to the timing of their respective tours around the museum. I think they call it suffering for your art!

Uncommon Ground

I visited an exhibition this week that, in a strange sort of way, brought to my mind the debate over Andreas Gursky's photograph and whether it was art (see October 13 entry).

The display was at the National Museum, Cardiff, and featured British 'land art', in which artists used the actual substance of the landscape itself as their medium. It was at its peak in the 1970s.

For me, the question again was 'are the exhibits actually works of art?' and was prompted by the fact that British land art was so much smaller in scale to that produced elsewhere in the world that many of the original works no longer exist.  For example, Richard Long's 'A Line Made By Walking' involved him walking a straight line in a field over and over again until the grass was flattened. The exhibition featured a photo of this line. The line itself is long gone.

By contrast, land art elsewhere in the world has been on a huge scale. For example, in Australia Andrew Rogers created a 'geoglyph' of a flying creature that was so big, the creature had a wingspan of 100 metres and more than 1,500 tonnes of rock was used to construct it. The work of art was created in the landscape and stayed there. It's existence is in the landscape.

What they said...

"Photographs do not explain; they acknowledge"

― Susan Sontag

Useful advice

As someone with hopes of forging a career that makes full use of my photography skills, I'm always on the lookout for useful advice.

And today I came across a series of tips attributed to London photographer Laura Pannack that I discovered on a blog by Irma Rose Pettitt. They are the result of a talk given by Laura to documentary photography students at Newport School of Art, Media and Design, in South Wales.

I thought there were some excellent nuggets of information in here that were worth sharing with anyone for whom photography is a passion. This is what Irma wrote of that lecture:

• Enter as many awards etc as you can, but be wary because a lot of them are set up just to make money. Make sure the subject of the award is something that interests you and it relates to the actual award
• Put yourself out there. Laura went on camps and joined groups to meet people and look for inspiration. Think about charity work, social groups, activities, teaching etc as a way to find what interests or inspires you and photograph everything and everyone that does
• A lot of Laura’s work is about stereotyping and preconceptions and challenging them. It’s really interesting and inspiring stuff

Ghosts from the past

Being a photography student sometimes has its advantages, one of which is being granted access to buildings not open to the general public.

Yesterday we were allowed to explore an old railway works that will soon be turned into a shopping complex. It was the second time we had been allowed inside and there was genuine excitement about being given two hours to capture the essence of the place.

Although the heavy machinery was removed years ago, the building still has remnants of the past. My favourite was an old blackboard that included managers' names in carefully painted white lettering.

There were banks of lockers, some still locked and with their contents emerging from gaps. Other lockers had messages scrawled on them and one set was numbered without a 13 ('12A' was used instead).

Strip of grass or work of art?

Rhine II by Andreas Gursky

One of my tutors was telling me about a discussion he had had with photography students about the most expensive photograph in the world - Andreas Gursky's Rhine II, which sold two years ago for 4.3 million US dollars.

The question he was asked was: "How can something that boring be worth that kind of money? It's just a photo of a strip of grass."

A sub-heading to a Guardian story reporting the sale seemed to suggest the same view: "Sum paid for sludgy image of desolate, featureless landscape sets new world record for a photograph".

But Telegraph journalist Florence Waters saw it differently. In an article on the sale, she wrote: "For all its apparent simplicity, the photograph is a statement of dedication to its craft".

Steam: third visit

Our project to compile a series of photos for the local railway museum is now in full steam, if you pardon the pun. On our third visit to the facility I concentrated on taking photos of two subjects in particular - one of which was a display showing a woman working in the smoke box of a locomotive (above).

Anyone who saw my entry for September 28 will have read that the overall aim of the project is to produce images that convey the atmosphere of the museum. It's not an easy task photographically, but I thought that one way of doing this was to use flash to communicate drama.

That September 28 blog entry also included a series of pictures showing promising locations, one of which was the smoke box exhibit. As soon as I saw this engine, I had a picture in mind that made full use of my flashes. I'm glad to say the end result was pretty much what I had imagined.

I positioned one flash inside the smoke box directly behind the mannequin, pointing away from her. I placed a second flash on a light stand high to my right, with the flash pointing across the mannequin's face. Both were triggered using radio-controlled Pocket Wizards.

Inspirational

Storm, Dyrholaey, Iceland, 2012

I have come across another photographer producing fantastic black and white images that just make me want to get out there with my gear. His name is Jonathan Chritchley and he shoots landscapes, frequently featuring water in some way.

There is a beautiful simplicity about his work and Chritchley masters the light so perfectly. If you like the shot above, check out his website for a gallery of gorgeous shots.

I read about him in a feature in the November 2013 issue of the excellent Black and White Photography magazine. The article's author, editor Elizabeth Roberts, reveals that Chritchley is a perfectionist and quotes some advice he gives to up-and-coming photographers: "Stick to what you love, shoot for you, only listen to criticism from those who are better than you, be a perfectionist and never let a photograph get out that you're not 150 per cent happy with".

Plenty of food for thought in those words.

Incidentally, Chritchley will be bringing out his first book, entitled Silver, next month. It will be published by Boom and Vang.

Film tips

I was sent a link to a website this morning that is well worth sharing with anyone exploring film processing for the first time.

It is a step-by-step guide to removing your film from the camera and loading it on a developing reel ready for the development process. We are promised descriptions of the later stages in subsequent posts.

The guide has been produced by photographer Chris Waller, whose excellent Bristol workshops are highly recommended. He holds them at St Paul's Darkrooms, which I understand are among only two or three community darkrooms in the whole country. They are a terrific resource, but need more public support.

You can find out more about the darkrooms by clicking a link on the same page as Chris's guide.

Try this...

The Guardian's Eyewitness series is a series of photos from around the world, each with a brief tip on how to capture the same type of picture. There are some gems in there, including one of a Brazilian family who keep tigers and are pictured with one at the breakfast table, and another of the streets of the Spanish capital Madrid filled with sheep.

Countryfile

I do wonder sometimes about the great British public. Tonight the results of the BBC Countryfile photography competition were announced and the main prizewinner in the public telephone vote was Bill Robinson with this picture, called The Dell:

It's a pretty scene and the curve of the bluebell glade mirrors the curve of the tree branches in a pleasing way. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Mr Robinson should taste success, having never won a photography prize before. But I couldn't help thinking that the following picture, 'Pier Sunset', was comfortably the strongest of the finalists:

For a start, it's a very unusual take on a sunset scene and has the most striking bands of colour. It also uses the rule of thirds well, with the two people at an intersection of thirds and the sun positioned in a strong area compositionally. When I first saw this shot I immediately said 'wow' out loud. And the judges who narrowed down thousands of entries to a handful of finalists made it their favourite (so photographer Tim Clifton came away with some kind of prize).

Steam Museum - first shots

The operation to take a series of shots for a new book for the local steam railway museum began in earnest yesterday. I concentrated on photographing the entrance to the museum - particularly a couple of scenes I highlighted in an earlier post.

I put my camera on a tripod and used long shutter speeds to capture visitors to the museum walking into the entrance area. I was using a Sigma 10-20mm lens - ultra wide angle - and this allowed me to capture the whole of the scene, including a number of television screens and the main welcome sign.

The slow shutter speed created motion blur as the visitors walked along - an effect I had been looking for mainly because it adds to the atmosphere. I had to experiment a little because if the shutter speed was set too low, the subjects almost disappeared entirely from the scene. The results are shown in the following shot:

However, I might have a further attempt on my next visit - not just because the man pictured is too static, but because I want to get the visitors' shadows on the facing wall.

'Parks'

Spring Hats in Bath (copyright: Norman Parkinson Archive)

I have been enjoying revisiting the work of fashion photographer Norman Parkinson with a view to basing one of my course projects on him.

I felt the picture above was perfect for an analysis of the visual language of a photograph. Parkinson has used a pillar to emphasise the rule of thirds and has positioned model Anne Chambers's face at the golden mean intersection. The road leads the viewer into the photo and the buildings provide leading lines pointing towards the model's face. I also like the way the model is a darker tone from the rest of the image, making her stand out even more.

Welcome to Steam

It’s always exciting when the opportunity comes along to carry out practical work - even more so when the work is for an outside client and will result in a book.

A local steam railway museum has asked the second year HND group of which I am a member to take photos that depict the atmosphere of the facility.

The museum has commissioned photography from the college in the past, but this previous work has had a different emphasis - focusing more on the minutiae of the exhibits. I think our task is particularly challenging because it demands creativity and a mastery of certain techniques to pull off effectively.

Today was our first visit to the museum, so we were given a look round and the opportunity to take test shots.

The pictures I have posted simply display scenarios I would like to explore further. I have in mind using off-camera flash and models, but today was not the day to experiment with these. Nevertheless, I was excited by the potential presented by some of the settings.

Frith Wood

I couldn’t resist getting out with my camera this afternoon. I had the intention of taking some of my own black and white images after being inspired by the Lacock exhibition a few days ago. 

However, when I experimented with cyanotone and sepiatone settings, I decided I liked their effect more than straight black and white. The image above, taken in Frith Wood, near Stroud, has a hint of sepia.

One important lesson I learned was that it was pointless selecting the camera’s own monochrome settings if shooting in RAW format. Once the image is imported into Adobe Bridge and opened in Adobe Raw Converter it appears in full colour. The camera’s monochrome effect is applied after the shot has been taken and the colour information already stored.

I also took my shots with the aperture too wide open, making focusing awkward. Another lesson learned (hopefully) was that in these scenarios it is important to have a small aperture, long shutter speeds and the camera on a tripod - otherwise you risk wasting a lot of shots. Oh, and to meter for the light.

Try this...

Film Episode 15: Old Penitentiary (first aired on framednetwork.com) 
This is a great episode from the ‘Film’ series on framednetwork.com, which shows how to use location, light, posing and lots more to get breathtaking shots.

There was added value for me because some of the photographers were using the Mamiya RZ67 - a camera I bought recently and am learning to use.

Framed Network has a number of different video series - the most popular of which are called 'Film' and 'Framed'. They are hugely entertaining and educational, and they are very professionally produced.

I am always recommending Framed Network to people because I have learned so much from watching the programmes. If you tune in, make sure you watch the earlier programmes, too - they have a wealth of information.

What they said...

"Although the world comes in colour, there is a feeling that black and white is closer to something real"

― Anthony Jones

'Arrangements in Black and Gray'

I am becoming more and more interested in, and enthusiastic about, black and white photography and a visit yesterday to an exhibition at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, provided plenty of inspiration.

Entitled Arrangements in Black and Grey, it featured the work of six photographers, who use a wide variety of equipment to capture their images.

The photographer who impressed me most was Mark Voce, of Yorkshire (markvoce.com). The top four photos above are by Mark and they show the wonderful tonal qualities of monochrome. As Mark says in the exhibition notes: “Without the use of colour the photograph, in order to be successful, depends upon the use of, and the relationship between, form and texture”.

He also says that black and white photography is “one step away from reality” and “allows a greater amount of freedom and artistic interpretation to help capture the true feeling of a particular scene”.

I like this enhanced ability to convey mood and feeling, which can also be seen in the photo of Versailles by Nettie Edwards (bottom right) and even in a still life by Trevor Ashby (bottom left). Interestingly, all three photographers use different techniques - Voce a digital SLR (and sometimes large format film camera), Ashby a film camera and Edwards an iPhone plus various apps.

Tony Ray-Jones & Martin Parr

I had never realised the debt that Martin Parr owed to Tony Ray-Jones, a photographer who died of leukaemia when aged just 30 in 1972.

Ray-Jones was a brilliant documentary photographer who often packed huge complexity into his observational photographs. The top image is by him and was taken at Eastbourne in 1968. Close inspection will reveal several narratives within the one image.

Parr is famous today for his highly saturated colour photos of the British at leisure, but earlier in his career he took black and white photos that were very reminiscent of Ray-Jones’ work. The second photo is a good example - showing the besuited Tom Greenwood cleaning in 1976.

But even Parr’s later colour-saturated images are strongly evocative of Ray-Jones. His famous seaside photos have strong echoes of his predecessor’s Eastbourne picture - capturing the quirky side of life and including different narratives within the same frame.

What they said...

"I was an amateur - I am an amateur - and I intend to stay an amateur. To me an amateur photographer is one who is in love with taking pictures, a free soul who can photograph what he likes and who likes what he photographs."

― Erwin Blumenfeld

Hello

This blog has two key functions. Firstly, it is a requirement of my HND photography course - a place where I introduce and analyse items related to photography that influence my specialist practice. Secondly, it’s for fun. I have long wanted a place to store my thoughts and file my discoveries in photography - whether photos, news items, links… anything! Now I have one.

The title ‘Eye to Eye’ not only invites the reader to agree (or disagree) on my writings, but deliberately references my current favourite photographer, Erwin Blumenfeld, whose posthumously published autobiography went under the same title.