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.

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.