Project 35- Using A Polarising Filter.

This project is pretty similar to the last but this time you're looking at how to use a Polarising Filter, this time i hadn't got alot of previous experience although i already owned one it wasn't something that i had ever had time to use and experiment with.

For the first set of photos you had to shot a seen at the lightest and darkest possible setting by rotating the filter. The first thing i noticed was that in the darkest setting you also increase the saturation of the colours producing very strong blues and greens. Another obvious factor was that like the Grad filter you can use it to sort out exposure issues that you can have with the sky, although you have to take into account how this will effect the colours in your shot.

Next you were asked to take a photo using your wide angle lens and to rotate your filter until you felt it was as dark as possible. What you notice here is how the darkening of the sky isn't even, where the light is at its strongest it remains pretty much white but the further away you move from this point the darker the sky becomes. Also by using this kind of filter i felt it also darken the shadows giving an added dimension to the shot.

The final part of this project was to show you how you can use the filter to make reflection strong or to pretty much remove them from images involving water. When turn to their lightest setting the reflections seem stronger while the alternative makes them seem less obvious. What i also discovered that i don't think it actually mentions in the course is that you can also use this kind of filter to remove glare coursed by the sunlight hitting a reflective surface such as water.

As this was a filter i hadn't used before i found this project again add knowledge and skills that can only add to what i already know, some of my photos aren't the best but they show you what the course is trying to teach you.

Project 34- Using A Graduated Filter.

In this project i was studying how a Graduated Filter can be used in different conditions and the effects that it can produce, previously I'd used a grad. filter in Assignment 3 so i was able to gain a longer exposure for my Waterfall shot so i had some experience already which i feel helps a little with this project.

UNFILTERED.

FILTERED

The first conditions i had to look at was a landscape with a overcast sky which appears featureless, now this is of course one of them grey days we sometimes get a lot of during this time of year. When i compare the two images i have to say i much prefer the unfiltered shot because in the filtered shot the sky feels very oppressive like it is baring down on you which in turn makes the whole shot feel much darker. In other circumstances this could be used to your advantage say like in my shots of Magpie Mine but in this example it just does nothing but darken the sky. Again i understand this can be a good thing because what you usually find shooting in these conditions is that the sky when exposed is just bright white because of the way the light is held in the clouds, this effect of course ruins perfectly good landscape shots but by adding the filter you can correctly expose the landscape while darkening the sky enough so that it doesn't spoil the shot.

UNFILTERED.

FILTERED.

The next set of shot that i was after was of a overcast sky with visible tonal differences, now the example I'm using doesn't maybe have the tonal range I'd have liked but you'll get the idea as i explain. In the unfiltered shot you have exposed for the foreground but by doing so you end up with the sky seeming a little bright and you've lost some of the different tones produced by the clouds, this is easily fixed by adding the grad. filter. In the second image with the filter added you see that the tonal differences are more clearer than before although because in this shot they weren't that great to begin with it doesn't standout as well. This would be more obvious in one of the skies you tend to get before or after a heavy storm in the summer months when you get the really good cloud formations that tend to range from very black though greys to white as the sun hits them. In this case the filtered shot is the one i most prefer because i like to make the skies feel a little more dramatic and by adding the filter you can achieve this.

UNFILTERED.

FILTERED.

The final set of images needed for this project was of a sunrise or sunset looking into the sun, in this instance the filter helps to pick out the different colours that are produced when the light effects off the clouds, while also if you can get the exposure right you can create a star effect of the sun when the filter is fitted. Again as before the better shot is with the filter because of the reasons I've already stated.

This project a found very informative because its show me there are more uses for a grad. filter than just to create movement within a shot which is all I've really used mine for before this point. Don't know whether its a good thing or not but I'm beginning to see that to create a good landscape shot it isn't as easy as just picking a scene and taking the shot you need to take your time and consider quiet a lot of options that are available to you that can vastly improve the overall results.

Project 33- Using A Tripod.

For this project i was looking at how using a Tripod can improve your landscape shots by providing a solid platform to shot from.

No Tripod.

Tripod.

No Tripod.

Tripod.

Tripod.

No Tripod.



From all these shots it clear that when using a Tripod you reduce the amount of blurring that occurs dew to the movement you would naturally produce when using the camera handheld from simple your own breathing or from say the weather conditions if its a windy day (although this can effect your shots even when using a tripod if it isn't a sturdy example.) By using a tripod you also open up some creative options that aren't available to you when shooting handheld. For example in my final pair of shots above when i try to shot handheld at a low exposure to capture the movement of the water its possible to do but the results aren't very good because i just don't have a stable enough platform to shot from. Introduce a tripod and this changes meaning you can gain the effect that i was looking to achieve.

Although this project doesn't introduce me to any new concepts it's still a useful project to illustrate the facts and to experiment with different settings on the camera so as to move away from just using the auto settings and to get more use to using the manual exposure settings.

Project 32- Telephoto Views- A Variety Of Images.

To begin with when i first looked at this project i thought it was very similar to Assignment 2 because you were being asked to study a small area once more but instead of moving around and studying the area you had to set yourself up in one position and then using your telephoto lens find as many different landscape shots as you could.

The first three images are pretty similar because on the one side of the hill I'd position myself on you had the village so naturally you're drawn to the way the house's sit in the landscape and how you can use them in some way. The black and white shot i particularly like because of the way the house are arranged in the foreground and then the countryside opens up beyond. The first shot i think has quiet a autumnal feel because of the variety of colours present in the trees.

Here i tried to use the hedges and trees to create a natural frame for the sheep in the field beyond but the only problem being the sheep didn't want to come any closer so as to be out in the open and to give me the effect i was looking for.

All in all i don't think this project has anywhere near my best work in it, i seem to have had a number of problems mainly that i just could find a position where i could produce enough shots of variety as the project asked for. I have tried to frame the views differently again as it asks but again they don't feel quiet right because I'm not happy with the content, definitely feel i should take another crack at this project in the future.

Project 31- Telephoto Views- Compressing Planes.

For this assignment i had to concentrate on producing landscape shots using a telephoto lens, taking particular notice of how they differ from a standard landscape shot taken say with a 50mm lens.


The first obvious point to me is the lack of depth that you can end up with for example above, i isolated this patch of woodland because of the way the colours of the trees drew my eye but because there is no point in the photo to give you and idea of perspective it seems very flat. On the upside though it focuses on the colours in the landscape and is still a pretty good shot although under different lighting conditions the idea of depth could have been created by the shadows cast by the trees.

The two shots above are very similar in the fact that you are looking for a small part of a distant landscape that you can focus on to make a good shot, this is maybe a little bit of a draw back because by focusing so much on a small part of the larger landscape you can miss things for example with the shot of the trees coming down to meet the water just out of shot on the right hand side was a boat with someone fishing out of it, this would have added to the shot but if I'd have included it it wouldn't really have been a telephoto landscape.

I did find this view where even though it taken with a zoom lens it has something that my other shots are slightly lacking DEPTH. This is created by the pools of water because of the way they are spread across the field in a similar fashion to the fence line in one of the shots in my 3rd assignment (diminishing perspective) so it is possible to get perspective in telephoto shots its just not as easy as with a normal landscape.

I think this kind of landscape shot does have its place which to me is when you want to really focus on a very small part of the overall scene because it allows you to get very close and intimate to the subject.

Looking at Stephen Shore, Martin Parr and John Davis's Work.

In my tutors notes regarding my work for assignment 3 he'd included some photographers that he thought i might find helpful to have a look at so here goes.


STEPHEN SHORE.

What i like about his work where he includes people within his landscapes is that they feel very unobtrusive for example in his photos called Runners and his People in the water- Yosemite Park although he is capturing a moment in time it doesn't feel staged it feels quiet natural which sometimes images including people somehow feel to me. I suppose my own shot of the couple lying by the river in assignment 3 is very similar and i can understand why my tutor thought I'd find his work appealing. Another thing i found different about his work was the way that while travelling in the 70's he like to photograph everything such as the furniture in his room or what he was having for breakfast along with the landscapes he was passing through, an interesting insight but I'm not sure i really understand what he's trying to get across with some shots.



MARTIN PARR.

I'm trying to find a copy of Bad Weather but up to yet haven't managed to but the few shots I've found online i do like, what appeals to me is his use of black and white photography to add to the moodiness of the already bleak landscapes. In particular i like the ones of the man in fog and the shot from the front cover of the people out in the rain. I don't find his work as good as others that I've looked at mainly because i think it feels a little depressing (although this could be the aim) and i don't like the way he does capture anybody face there always cover over or have there back to the camera, again this maybe the point to make you feel more detached because without a face the people are lacking an identity. (hope this makes sense)



JOHN DAVIS.

His work i found the most enjoyable to study for example i lied the Victoria Promenade and Trawsfynydd Power Station shots because of the contrasts hes showing with the first being between the old and the new with the church and Power station and in the second with the way he's used the light to highlight the station within the empty untouched landscape surrounding it. In a similar way i like how he's used the light to show the ruggedness of the landscape in his shot of the Great Gable, Cumbria. My tutor said to look at how he show the relationship between man and the landscape and i think this is best shown in his collection of work on the Durham Coalfield. He really captures how human activity has altered the landscape, showing what i would describes as beauty in disorder.