The Brief.
For this
assignment, choose a theme or subject that you will conceive, shoot and process
in black and white, attempting to bring out the monochrome image qualities of
form, tonal contrast and texture, perhaps also experimenting with key. To
accompany the final images (between 5-10) write an account of why you chose
this particular theme or subject, what you set out to achieve from the point of
view of black and white imagery, and to what extent you feel you have succeeded.
I had
already looked ahead so I knew what to expect with this assignment and could
take my time in planning it. I started off thinking about what I could shoot
subject wise. My main choices were either a war reenactment or steam
trains/railway. I also looked at what other students had chosen as subjects,
and how they had interpreted the assignment. There was a wide variety of work
featuring landscapes and still lifes. I have to say that I had not considered
still life as an option before so I added that in to my possibilities. I
noticed that another student had already used a war reenactment as their
subject so that ruled it out for me as I wanted to do something different, plus
I could not find an event locally. I was very keen on my steam train idea.
Maybe this is because my dad loves trains and as a little girl we were taken to
railways for days out in the school holidays. I also felt that I was important
to photograph something that would of been shown in black and white in its day.
With my decision made I set about looking up railway and train photographers.
Research.
I was first
drawn to the work of Richard Steinheimer who was an American railroad
photographer. He was often called the “Ansel Adams of railroad photography”.
Steinheimer documented the railroads heyday and the transition from steam into
diesel motive power. A lot of his images depict trains in the larger geography
and culture of the time. He was known for producing photographs at night, in
bad weather and with a disregard for danger as he would perch on top of moving
trains.
You can see
that this image has been taken at night. I love the rich quality of the image,
how the angle of the train draws your eye to the light and how the steam moves
directly up the frame.
This photo
has to be my favouite of all the work I have seen from Steinheimer. I think
that the use of lighting really makes the image. I like how the train has been
illuminated but also areas in the frame have been backlit.
I really
like the misty quality of this image. To me it looks as though it was taken
early morning or late evening, as it looks like the sun in the distance either
rising or setting. This photo does not seem to have the deep tones that the
other images do but I still like the hazy, dreamlike quality that it does have.
I also
looked at the work of Ogle Winston Link, another American photographer. He was
best known for his black and white photography and sound recordings of the last
days of steam locomotive railroading on the Norfolk and Western in the U.S in
the late 1950s. Link helped to establish rail photography as a hobby. He also
spearheaded night photography producing images such as a steam train passing a
drive-in movie theatre.
I wonder
with this shot whether Link happened to be at the drive-in with his camera or
whether he was there purposely to capture this shot. I personally think that
the only thing that would of made the image better would be if the screen had
also show a train rather than a plane.
Much more
variation in tones with this image and I think that is what I particularly
like. The building has a similar brightness level to that of the steam which
makes for a move balance shot.
This
photograph seems to be shot in a slightly different style, other examples of
Link’s work that I have come across all seem to have much more brightness about
them. This image appears generally quite dark apart from the face of the
building being illuminated and a bit of light coming through the steam.
Planning the shoot.
The shoot
took quite a bit of planning as the station was only really operating during
the schools Easter break. I could not get any time off work so was literally
left with one Saturday as an option for photographing. This meant that I was
unable to go and view the location beforehand so I was left with the only
option of researching the station online in an attempt to pre-plan some of the
shots.
I was hoping
for a relatively bright day, but not too bright that everything appeared washed
out. The weather this year has still very much been hit and miss, so it would
be nice to have a bit of warmth.
I then moved
on to equipment. I selected my 18-105mm lens as from what I could see online,
the station and surroundings were quite compact so I felt a longer lens would
not be necessary. I packed the tripod in the car in case it was required.
Before
setting out I reset my camera settings from my last trip, making sure that I was
shooting in RAW as well as JPEG so that I had a reference point and could see
how an image appeared at the time of shooting. I also set the camera to
photograph in monochrome. Obviously the black and white image only shows up on
the LCD screen and not when you are looking through the viewfinder. I would
need to get into the habit of checking both. I calculated the amount of space I
had left on the memory card and worked out that I would have enough. I also
made a mental note to order a new card as I would like to keep the images on
the card even though they are also on the computer. I also made sure that the
camera lens was clean, as well as the LCD screen as for some reason there is
often dust behind the screen protecter. I made sure to check the memory space
on the laptop to make sure I would have room to transfer the images over and
charged the cameras battery as well as bringing along another fully charged
spare battery.
The Shoot.
The shoot went
better than planned considering I was unsure of options for shooting until I
arrived at the venue. I walked around the site first to get some ideas and
would check potential shots through the viewfinder and on the LCD screen to
anticipate how they would turn out. I arrived not long after the station opened
at half 10 and there were already people milling around. Some people were
actually having a lesson driving the steam train so it kept going up and down
the tracks allowing for some shooting. As usual I always like to treat the
assignments as an extension of the projects and just further learning as
opposed to putting pressure on myself to produce an amazing finished piece,
however great that would be. In some ways creating the images was both easier
and harder than expected. I found that I enjoyed the whole shooting process and
was particularly interested in shooting areas of the trains/ station as opposed
to the whole thing. As the shoot went on I did relax and gain in confidence as
I started to realise the kinds of images I wanted to produce which in turn
allowed the assignment to flow much better.
Downloading
the images.
I downloaded
all of the images onto my laptop in the pictures folder and then viewed them
all using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. I have been trying to also use Lightroom
4 but I have not been getting on well with it. It either will not allow me to
open images as they are “not compatable” or I cannot save them to the laptop. I
am still happy with my labelling system and can quite easily find any images I
require.
Pictures> Digital Photographic Practice>
DPP Assignment3
Editing.
I took a
total of 71 images and chose to submit six images purely because they are the
shots I felt most strongly about, I did not want to have a predetermined number
as I did not want to feel restricted in any way. I knew that I would be able to
produce between 5-10 images that I would be happy with so chose to wait until
post production to decide. I had left it a couple of days before reviewing the
images and was able to reduce the number to 24 quite quickly. I then waited
several days before reducing the number once again and was then happy with my
final six.
Images.
1/500 f5.6 ISO 250 34mm
This first image of a train waiting to be restored caught my
eye because of the contrast in tones from the white of the wheel rims to the
dark shadows. I was also drawn to the texture which really stands out on the
image, I almost feel like the photo will have the same feel to it. I have
increased the contrast slightly as I really wanted to keep and highlight the
chink of light coming through the cabin. There is some shadow clipping present
but I do not feel that it is significant enough problem. I think that this
image works well in black and white as the texture is much more prominent and
it is the first thing you notice on the monochrome example.
1/500 f5.6 ISO 250 75mm
Monochrome has once again allowed the focus of the image to
be the steam. I found that with the colour shot you eye was immediately taken
to the colour of the train. The black and white also allows for a hazier feel
to the photo. Post processing I experimented with the exposure slightly. I felt
the image I shot at the time was a little too over exposed and so the steam was
not as obvious. Any more under exposed and you start to lose detail of the
wheels and the tracks.
1/500 f5.6 ISO 2500 26mm
Inside an old Royal Mail train the sorting area had been
restored. I wanted to try and use monochrome to highlight pattern and
repetition. Each section on the shelf has a place name underneath and while the
train was moving sorters would have to put each letter in the relevant section.
I had a go at doing this and it did not go well, I would of been particularly
slow. I tried to shoot this image so that you got a sense of movement and
repetition that would reflect what would have happened at the time the train
was used. I think that black and white has emphasised this point.
1/640 f5.6 ISO 2500 66mm
I have really tried to experiment with different ideas with
this assignment, more so than in the past. I am always worried about doing the
“wrong” thing. I need to accept that everyone will have a personal preference
when it comes to having an opinion on how an image is presented. With this shot
I have gone for a more high key/ over exposed look. This is because the train
was very weathered and looked bleached out .
I wanted to highlight that with this photo. When I tried to do the same
with the colour version of the image it did not have such a strong look about
it and the resulting image did not come out as well as I had hoped. I think
that with the monochrome I have achieved the look I was going for and it
creates a stronger representation of the train.
1/640
f5.6 ISO 200 105mm
I
have tried to show shape and form a bit more here. I think that it also shows
texture too. I purposely took a photo of this at an angle as I didn’t like the
look straight on and square in the frame made it appear too static for my
liking and I am trying to have a running theme of movement through the images.
I wanted the viewer to be able to look at it and feel the smoothness of the
wood and metal and feel the texture of the chain. To me there seems to be so
many shapes just in this one shot; squares, circles and the three circles also
make an implied triangle. I actually
found the colour version of this photo very distracting, the whole image
appeared too busy and as the viewer, I did not know where to look first. To me
having the image as monochrome forced a sense of order upon the shot.
1/640
f5.6 ISO 200 26mm
Trying
to show texture again here. I came across this shot by chance, while trying to
photograph the steam train I noticed the reflection in the corner of my frame.
I decided that this was a more interesting photo than the one I was trying to
take so I experimented with composition until I got the image I wanted. I like
the contrast between the glass which does not appear to of aged at all, and the
wooden sides of the carriage that seem to be peeling away. I had originally
felt that the colour version and the black and white version appeared to look
equally as good, but after increasing the amount of contrast between the
shadows and highlights I now much prefer the monochrome.
Conclusion.
Again I feel
that it works well treating the assignment as an extension on the projects
rather than a standalone exercise. I worked hard on the projects leading up to
the exercise and think that my technical ability as well as my ability to
anticipate how and image will turn out, has improved. I really made a effort to
thoroughly understand the concepts around each project which I think has given
me more confidence. I have carried on trying to link previous assignments with
this assignment for continuity throughout the course and I also hope it will
help me to keep improving. I think that I have experimented much more with this
assignment compared to the previous one and I think that this is down to an
increase in confidence. I have also made more of an effort to research other
photographer’s work which relates to my assignment, which I had not done so
much in the past. I have carried on with looking at other students work
throughout the projects and the assignment as I find it interesting to see how
others have approached exercises. Once I start shooting I have realised that I
know exactly the kind of shots I am going for and have an image in my head of
what I am trying to achieve. I feel that I have achieved what I set out to do
and think that I have successfully carried out the assignment brief. I have
realised that there is more of a place for black and white photography than I have
previously thought. To me it is important that you can justify why am image is
in monochrome rather than just because it looks more “arty”. A lot of black and
white images are also down to personal preference, which is really the case
with all the photography. What looks good to one person may not look good to
another. I think that I have explained myself well in justifying why I have
made various decisions. A standard conversion from colour into black and white
can look very flat but if you can anticipate how an image will look and set
your camera accordingly it is possible to create a much more interesting black
and white image with more depth than the same scene in colour.
Reflection
I
re-read the assignment criteria and have tried to assess how well I have done.
Demonstration
of Technical and Visual Skills – I feel that I have made some improvement in
this area as I am more confident in making technical decisions if I feel I can
justify them. I still think I am continuously learning new skills and do try to
apply them when it is appropriate. I think that I have good observational
skills but I still have more to learn.
Quality
of Outcome - I have I always trie to present my work neatly with well written
accompanying notes. Sometimes I get caught up with one idea and forget to write
about other concepts. I need to try and be more detailed at times when
explaining my technical decisions. I always try and relate the knowledge I have
gained when relevant.
Demonstration
of Creativity – I have been much more experimental with composition with this
assignment and need to carry on with this.
Context
– I think that I am good at reflecting on my work and can see areas I need to
improve on. I carry out my own research, visit galleries, work on my own
projects and undertake further reading. I have also tried to view other
students work more to see how others approach the same projects.
References.
http://www.linkmuseum.org/
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