Project 30- Wide-Angle Views - Near and Far.

For this project the aim was to study wide-angled views and put into practice methods such as the use of a tripod near to the ground level and controlling the depth of field so that the whole image is sharp and in focus.

My first shot above i didn't need to use a tripod to get the depth of field right as the light was pretty good so that at even around f/22 with a grad. filter attached it was still possible to shot at speeds which were more suited for hand held photography. I felt that the cows gave a good point of interest in the foreground and because of the downward slope of the river valley beyond and the raised position of the animals it made a very natural looking shot in which although there isn't any pattern or shape to the way the cows are positioned it just seems right.

My next shot needed a little more effort as i had to take into account the movement of the crops and poppies even thought the breeze wasn't really that strong it was still creating enough movement that if i hadn't got my exposure settings just right the whole shot would have been spoiled. In processing this shot i tried cropping it in a few different way but though this work best because first the sky was quiet dull and featureless meaning as mention earlier in the course it was best to completely remove it which meant i ended up with a very square shot but what it does do is focus the attention on the poppies while still drawing the eye maybe not as well as it could through the rest of the frame.

This is my personal favorite in this project as i liked the way the rock almost mirrors the rolling form of the landscape its sitting in, again with this shot i had to use a tripod as the light was so poor meaning a longer shutter speed was needed.

I do feel quiet competent with the use of wide angled views as explained in this part of the course as its something that I've been using already in previous assignments and projects but i understand that its best to go over all these points to make sure we're aware of how and when its best to use them.

Project 29- Re-photographing A Well Known Image.

For this project the idea was to choose a relatively well known shot and then try to recreate it as closely as possible taking in to account the lens used, lighting conditions and even the weather if relevant.

The shot below is what i decided to copy in the end after some time looking for something that was accessible to me while being an area that i was going to find interesting to study and re shoot. The image below is of Magpie Mine in Derbyshire near to the small village of Sheldon just south of Bakewell, it maybe isn't a well known shot or even a particular overly well known location other than to local people and photographers but i found the image in a book called Village Walks in Derbyshire and instantly was fascinated by the place and wondered how it would have changed since the shot was taken as the book was published in 1997 and the picture could have been older than that as the quality isn't that great.

So you can guess my surprise to find that when you compare mine to the original not a lot has changed other than the object in the foreground appear to have completely collapsed. To begin with i did struggle to find the spot the original was taken from because i couldn't get as much of the chimney in the background behind the engine house into the frame, then i found any area of higher ground that became instantly obvious that this was where the photographer had stood. When working out the lens that they'd used I'd guessed that it was probably around a 50mm because although the mine was a little distance away it wasn't far enough that I'd need a telephoto lens (i did fit it just to check and found there was no way i could get everything within the frame). From the original it isn't plainly clear what the light was like so i took a guess it was probable a little over cast as there doesn't appear to be any strong shadows other than within the doorway of the engine house and the sky seems very over exposed meaning it could have been solid cloud cover which i haven't completely replicated but i chose a day with as close to the same conditions as possible as up around this area the weather tends to be a little unpredictable.

What i enjoyed about this project was the similarity to assignment 2 in that i could explore the surrounding area to see what the photographer of the original hadn't included and whether i could find some better views. The first above was just a little away from where the original was taken, what i tried to do was create a silhouette of the mine in the background and the building in the foreground but i didn't want to completely loss the detail and have just dark outlines as the structures wouldn't work in this kind of shot.

The above shot i like because of the contrast between the delicate flower and the mine buildings behind, i kept the buildings out of focus by using a small depth of field (about f/10) but not so small that the buildings are so out of focus that there completely unrecognisable and you would see the contrast or understand how surprising it is to find nature retaking the old lead mine.

This shot was taken from near to my original copy but what i wanted to add was more of the surrounding area and show more of the landscape around the mine so i chose a frame it in this way to get the most within the frame and use a 18-50mm lens to accomplish this. Later i cropped some of the sky out because i felt it was a little to dominant in the shot and spoiled it a bit.

I like the way the contrast between the two buildings with the one being very rounded and flat while the other is very angler and straight, also i like the way the two figures near the mine building gives it added scale giving you more idea of the size of the thing.

I'm not a hundred percent sure about this shot because although the footpath leads you up towards the mine on the hill it feels a little small within the frame and doesn't work as well as I'd have liked, don't get me wrong i still think it has a really foreboding presents with the very heavy sky and the mine in the distance adds to this i just wish all the elements were a little closer together.

This view i thought was quiet interesting because of the stack of old pipes which gave even more of a feeling of disuse with the falling down buildings in the background as well. I shot it in black and white because i thought it would create a far more eye catching shot with all the different tones in the stone work,pipes and even the grass and corrugated roof, the colour version just seemed a little dull dew to the way the light was.

This again i found a very enjoyable project if a little difficult to begin with to find a photo that i could copy. It gives you a different perspective on other peoples work because of the way I've had to take someone else picture and make decisions about when they'd taken it, from what position they'd stood,what lens they'd used. What I've found is that now with any shot of a location i have some familiarity with i start thinking about these things.