Exercise: Control the strength of a colour.

My first choice for this exercise was a green painted door.  With the camera in manual mode I varied the exposure in half stops either side of the camera's metered exposure of 1/4sec.  Using f16 for the aperture, the shutter speeds ranged from 0.3 to 1/8th sec. Although the green door fitted in with what was suggested in the coursebook, I was sure that I could find a better subject to photograph.

When visiting relatives in the Herefordshire town of Bromyard we walk our dogs on the Downs, an area of common land.  It was here that I spotted this postbox and thought it would make a much better subject, not for its age and unusual location but because it is Red, my favourite colour!

I used an aperture of f16 for all the photographs and adjusted the shutter speed for each picture.  The exposures for the above were 0.5sec and 0.3sec, being 1stop and half a stop over exposed.  The colour in the first photograph is washed out, this is 1 stop over exposed.  Although the second picture is still half a stop over, the colour is good, not too far from the photograph below taken at the camera's average meter reading.

This is the average reading, 1/4 sec and shows how good the camera's meter is.  The red is rich and the collection sign well exposed being I think a true white.

The last two pictures are half and one stop under exposed at 1/6 and 1/8th sec.  Again the half stop photograph is not too far away from being acceptable but the last picture at 1stop under is much too dark.  I'm not sure if it's the colour I've chosen but I cannot see a colour change in any of the photographs, except maybe the last, which might have a slight blue cast.

Looking at Colour

                          Colour is everywhere.

At last I've returned to my course, unfortunately at this time of year the garden takes precedence.  Part three of the course is Colour, simple I thought, colour is everywhere.  As recommended in the introduction to this section I read Basic Colour theory on the OCA website.  Johannes Itten wrote that colours have a mystical capacity for spritual expression without being tied to objects so colour can be made the subject of a picture.  I don't pretend to understand all he is saying, however I now look at colours in a different way.  Hopefully my photographs will show that I have a better grasp of what he means.

This is Mr Abdull, he has a fabric stall on Birmingham's outdoor market, a part of what is known as the Bullring Rag market.  The colours of all the different materials were amazing, they were not in the proportions suggested by Johannes Itten but were more a kaleidoscope of every colour imaginable he looks very proud as he stands in front of his wares, his measuring stick at the ready.

The stallholders at the Rag market were all very friendly and didn't seem to mind me taking their picture.  Unfortunately I failed to ask most of them their names, something I must remember to do in future.  The flower seller above, caught my attention.  She was sheltering from the wind behind a home made wind break of cardboard boxes, I love the green hat with pink ear muffs, the following photograph taken from the back shows it better along with some of her flowers.

Alongside the fabric stalls there are a large number selling very colourful fruit and veg, all carefully displayed like the one above.  When I have time I will post more of the photographs taken on my visit to the market.

When starting this part of the course I looked around for colour, without giving it too much thought.  Nor did I do any research, a big mistake.  I believed that colour was an easy subject, after all colour is everywhere isn't it!  Before any of the above photographs were taken I noticed some fields of Oil Seed Rape, it was in full bloom and looked very yellow, or so I thought.  Depending on the light the rapeseed had a greenish cast, I used a polarising filter which helped to correct this.  Below are some of the pictures taken.

 

Both near Rhuabon

Leominster

Bottisham (Cambridge)

Both Bayston Hill (Shrewsbury)

Once I had taken (in my opinion) a good photograph of these amazing yellow fields, I looked for other colours  but soon realized that the landscape was dominated by one colour. Buttercups & dandelions covered any uncultivated land, so I photographed these as well.  Yellow certainly took centre stage at this time of Year. 

Shavington ( Cheshire)

Wybunbury (Cheshire)

Bromyard downs (Herefordshire)

It was at this stage that I re-read the course book, in particular the exercise Primary and secondary colours  and realized that I should have varied the exposure for each colour, ah well, start again.

Right place Right time

         My Tutor's report......but first!

The above photographs were taken last Saturday, July 7th.  They show the Alfred docks north bridge which carries Tower road across the dock entrance.  This and several others around Birkenhead docks are Rolling Bascule bridges, built between 1928 and 1931 replacing swing bridges which had been used prior to that.  I had been trying to photograph one of the bridges in use for some time, so was glad to be in the right place for once and to have such a perfect sky.


Assignment 2 response.

At the beginning of Clive's report he says of my second assignment;

'Overall technically of a very good standard; demonstrating thoughtful composition with attention to detail and knowledgeable control of exposure and focus'.

I'm very pleased to receive such praise at this stage of the course.  He also writes that;

'You've responded to the pointers I previously gave for this assignment, developing a theme to make a body of work that meets the requirements of the brief while, importantly, making interesting, progressive imagery'.

I could not have wished for more rewarding remarks.  He has some negative comments about some of the images, no more than is to be expected, after all that's how we learn.  He seems to be a good judge, the photographs that get negative or somewhat dismissive comments are the ones that had the least amount of thought and care at the time of taking, they are bland.

Clive finishes his report with this sentence;

'I think you can feel very satisfied with what you've achieved in this assignment'.

What more could I wish for.

Assignment 2

Elements of Design.

I chose Street Details as the subject for this assignment because it had a connection with the photography I had been doing for the exercises.  It gave me a bit more freedom where I could go to take the required photographs.  Restricting myself to the Wirral coast has given me a challenge, one I have enjoyed, however being able to work closer to home would be an advantage.

The subject gave me some difficulty, I was uncertain what might be classed as street details.  Could it just be the street furniture, bus stops, manhole covers and road signs for example, or did it include people and buildings.  When I typed street details into Google the response was estate agents and street maps.  I then tried street photography which of course is something completely different, so I can only hope my interpretation is the right one.

Single point, dominating the composition.

This man was sleeping in a doorway, the hood of his coat was across his eyes, so I guessed he would not see me take his photograph.  Maybe this is street photography, I saw it as detail on the streets on Nantwich.  The man is the focal point of the image, so therefore dominates the composition.

Two points.

The archway is part of a sculpture in the center of Stoke called "Another Gift" by Liz Lemon.  The post box, being red, made a good single point, I was about to photograph it for that part of the assignment when along came the yellow van.  Fortunately I was using a slow shutter speed which conveyed some movement in the van, this adds a little bit of interest.  So now I have two points!

Several points in a deliberate shape.

This sign was on the front of a closed public house, the Guinness glasses and clock face form a triangle, a deliberate shape.  Might not the circles of the glasses and clock face be points?  Even though there was very little colour in the original image, for clarity, I converted it to monochrome.

A combination of vertical and horizontal lines.

Possibly the most difficult part of this assignment, I took lots of photographs, most were unimaginative.  Maybe had I spent even more time on this, something showing more obvious lines could have been found.  This is the best of a bad lot, the contrast between the very colourful sign and the near derelict building had caught my attention.  The type used for the text seemed to be of a vertical format also the coloured squares are formed of vertical and horizontal lines.  The most obvious line is the horizontal "red" arrow, that colour again!

Diagonals.

The tables and chairs outside a cafe, were all neatly arranged and casting perfect shadows.  I took several photographs from different angles, all have strong diagonal lines in them.  If only someone had been sitting at one of the tables, the image would have been a lot more interesting.

Curves.

Looking down from the top of a spiral staircase, the handrail and steps, were what I had been looking for, curves.  In fact if it was possible to see all the way to the bottom, they formed a perfect circle.  The steps are obviously part of a building.  They connect the top level of a car park to the street below, so the relationship to street details is somewhat tenuous.

Distinct, even if irregular, shapes.

Bin bags, a common site on our streets, not something I would have photographed before doing this course. They are distinct, they are certainly irregular and of course a shape.  Walking around looking for subjects, I have found myself considering everything, which must be a good thing.  I am now able to see past the mess and pick out shapes to use in my photographs.

At least two kinds of implied triangle 1.

This photograph taken in Stoke has the apex at the top, it has shadows, which complete the shape.

Implied triangle 2.

Since doing triangles in the exercises, I now see them everywhere, so this part wasn't too difficult.  The first image relies on the shadows, so may not have worked had it not been a sunny day.  The second, an inverted triangle, looks as if its been left behind after someone has had their lunch.  I could imagine them sitting there, bottle of Coke in their right hand, sandwich in the left.  Obviously they did not like the crusts, maybe the bread was stale or perhaps they hadn't listened to their mother when she told them to eat the crusts.

Rhythm

The design on this manhole cover is very much like the ripples in the sand on a beach, when the tide has gone out.  It reminded me of a picture I had taken at New Brighton, for the exercise on rhythm and pattern.

Pattern

This again could be classed as building detail, so might not count for this assignment.  The pattered tiles are above the doorway where the man in my first photograph was asleep.  This building has lots of ornate detail on it and used to be an old theatre, it is now occupied by a local bakery firm.


Assignment 2: Responce to Tutor's report.

At the beginning of Clive's report he says of my second assignment;

'Overall technically of a very good standard; demonstrating thoughtful composition with attention to detail and knowledgeable control of exposure and focus'.

I'm very pleased to receive such praise at this stage of the course.  He also writes that;

'You've responded to the pointers I previously gave for this assignment, developing a theme to make a body of work that meets the requirements of the brief, while, importantly, making interesting, progressive imagery'.

I could not have wished for more rewarding remarks.  He has some negative comments about some of the images, no more than is to be expected, after all that's how we learn.  He seems to be a good judge, the photographs that get negative or somewhat dismissive comments are the ones that had the least amount of thought and care at the time of taking, they are bland.

Clive finishes his report with this sentence;

'I think you can feel very satisfied with what you've achieved in this assignment'.

What more could I wish for.

Project: Rhythm and Pattern.

Exercise:   Rhythms and Patterns.

Produce at least two photographs, one should convey rhythm, the other pattern.  Remember that in rhythm there needs to be a sequence in the picture, so that the eye will follow a direction and experience an optical beat.  Patterns work strongly when they fill the frame, so that the eye can imagine them continuing well beyond it.  

Percy the pigeon.

Taken at the same place as the photograph of "Percy".  They are both sections of the Tower road bridge at Birkenhead docks which I have used as a subject in other exercises.  I think the rivets and shadows make a very good pattern, had it not been sunny I might not have seen this image.  I will include a photograph of the whole bridge at the end.

I found it difficult to come up with pictures showing rhythm so I've included two.  Sometimes I look at this and see what the course book says, that there should be a sequence within the image.  The same applies to the photograph below, looking at the highlights running from top to bottom, I can see a sequence, but looking horizontally I can see a pattern.

Tower road bridge.

Now for assignment 2, which will be sent to my tutor on a memory stick, if I have the time I will add it to this blog.

Project: Shapes.

Exercise:  Real and implied triangles.

Spot the triangle!!!

Produce two sets of triangular compositions in photographs, one using 'real' triangles, the other making 'implied' triangles.

Real:

• Find a subject which is itself triangular (a detail of something larger will do).
• Make a triangle by perspective, converging towards the top of the frame.
• Make an inverted triangle, also by perspective, converging towards the bottom of the frame.

Taken at Birkenhead, this steelwork forms part of the lifting bridge that carries Duke Street across the entrance to one of the docks.  Once I started looking, there were triangles all over this structure.  It would have been better had I used a slower shutter speed, some movement in the car might have given the image a bit more impact.

This was taken with my 70-200mm lens, looking down Atherton Street towards the promenade at New Brighton.  I realise now that I should have used a wide angle lens, using a telephoto has compressed the scene, so completely changing the perspective.  Lines have been added  to the image below, I hope they show what I was trying to convey with the photograph.

Until I started doing these exercises, I'd no idea how many shapes could be seen in everyday situations, like this one of dog walkers on New Brighton beach.  It was not a very good day, weather wise, but when taking this photograph I knew it had worked.  Just at the moment the shutter was pressed, the dog walkers moved into position, almost like formation dancers in a ballroom competition.  In actual fact only two of the groups are moving, the people on the right are stationary, they appear independent of each other, but at the same time there is a connection.  They are all talking, they are all in a line and will probably all go the same way down the beach.  Again I have included a picture with a diagram showing the relevant shape.

Implied:

• Make a still-life arrangement of five or six objects to produce a triangle with the apex at the top.
• Make a still-life arrangement as above, but so that the triangle is inverted, with the apex at the bottom.
• Arrange three people in a group picture in such a way that either their faces or the lines of their bodies make a triangle.

For the still life I chose a few of the things that I take with me on my trips to get images for the course, therefore  keeping to my theme, the Wirral.  The camera is obviously not the one used every day, but one that I am fortunate to own.  It is a fully working replica of Oskar Barnack's O-series camera, it was re-produced by Leica in 2004.  The triangular shape to the set-up can easily be seen, however a diagram is included alongside each photograph.

I then rearranged the components of my still life, so the apex was at the bottom.

For the last image in this exercise, I photographed my grandchildren, Izzy and Jacob with their mum.  The set up is a natural one, all I had to do, was to get them to sit against a black background therefore keeping it simple.  There are several triangles within this picture, so as with previous photographs I have included diagrams.

Before starting part two of this course I was aware of how important composition was to a photograph, but not to what degree.  Shapes, I now know are a vital ingredient in any picture, I'm sure they will become the norm in my photographs from now on. When reading through Elements of design, I thought finding photographs of triangles, for example, the most difficult, in fact it turned out to be a lot easier than I had imagined.  I now see triangles in lots of things, and along with implied lines, the pictures I am now taking seem to be full of them.  Out of all the exercises I have done, curves gave me the most trouble, despite thinking that it would be one of the easier ones.  Still life has again given me a challenge, I can see how it can be very satisfying when done correctly, also how the shape of it is so important to the final result.