Project 40 - coloured filters with black and white film

Decided to opt out of this project as I do not use film. If I take images that I plan to use as black and white I always shoot in colour and then use the range of facilities in the software that I use to make the conversion.

Project 41 - Grain

I do not shoot film nor do I have a film camera. Grain is usually described as 'noise' in digital photography and generally is seen as undesirable but not in all cases. The suppression of noise is part of the algorithms in the camera that I use (Canon 5D Mk II) and I have successfully taken images at equivalent ISO's of 1600 and in ideal conditions 2500. I normally shoot at ISO 400 although if doing street photography I can use an ISO of 1600 without obvious signs of noise. At the extreme limits (ISO 25000) normal viewing is not noticeably noisy but when zooming in to shadow areas there are usually problems with colour noise.

I use Lightroom 4 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 to enhance images and both, but particularly Lightroom, have noise suppression algorithms that work extremely well. In CS6 there is a filter that will add noise where it is seen to be desirable. I also use Silver Efex Pro 2 to create monochrome images where I feel noise can be added to good effect and the programme offers a range of opportunities.

Project 42 - man-made landscape

The first image is one that is well known to many of us and normally we would consider it a 'natural' landscape. Yet there is plenty of evidence that it is almost completely man-made. The fence in front of the image and the walls that divide up the scene are indicators of the product of the work of man. There is very little countryside in the United Kingdom that has not, in some way, been impacted upon by human beings over the centuries and it is often difficult to distinguish between what is natural and what is man made.

The second image was taken looking across Loch Eil in Scotland. It is included because the majority of what can be seen is the work of man. The Loch itself is a natural water feature but the boat is evidence of the presence of man. Perhaps not so obvious is the fish farm on the opposite side of the Loch and may not be noticed apart from the buoys and stage. However the main reason for taking this image is the far bank. Whilst the evidence of working is obvious where the forest has been cleared the reality is that everything from the waters edge to the tree line is man-made. Large swathes of Scotland have been forested to support the timber industry and whilst this may look natural at first glance the lack of variety in the trees and plants is a giveaway.

The final image is the 'obvious' landscape clearly showing the effect of man's wish to extract what is deemed to be valuable. Here the buildings and the adjacent quarry with its pile of broken or crushed rock can leave little doubt. However nature has a way of taking back land that has been abandoned by man and it is easy in some cases to not see that the landscape is man-made. 

General

This was an interesting exercise because of the need to find examples of man made landscape that on first glance was not self-evident such as farm land that looks, and probably has been, there for hundreds of years. We too often take for granted that something is natural because it is so familiar to us and apparently unchanging. We assume that it has been like that before man made his mark upon the earth.

Preliminary Work for Assignment 5

Hopefully I have got my head around the difference between "in the style of" and "informed by" although I still have some lingering doubts. Spent last week in the North of England and the South-West of Scotland on a trip to photograph shots that will be useful in meeting the needs of assignment 5. Spent most of yesterday sorting them and trying to reach a final 12 from this work and some earlier work that I have done.

I have decided that, as Adams never used colour in his photographs, part of the 'information' I wish to bring into my submission will be the use of black and white images. I therefore, whilst selecting the images, temporarily converted them using the black and white conversion available in LightRoom. Some images are better/worse in monochrome although as always this is a personal matter. Further the algorithm used adds contrast to give the image "oomph" so the results were slightly at odds with the second piece of 'information' I gleaned from the study of the work of Adams. The tonal range in most of his images is limited.  Such a limited range underpins his overall message about the damage caused by man to the 'natural' American West. I am still undecided whether to artificially introduce this element into the images that I have taken but currently my thinking is to test it on a image by image basis.

Adams also cropped his images, either in camera or later, without too much regard to the edges of buildings. I could not decide whether this was a deliberate ploy or something that just happened. It certainly 'jars' the eye of someone who has been raised on the principle that it is not something that you do. Whether it adds or detracts from the image is another matter. Examples of this composition are the photographs on the front covers of "What we Bought: The New World"; "The New West" and  "Prairie" all books by Robert Adams. Again it is something that I plan to test on a case-by-case basis.

Project 31 - Telephoto views - Compressing planes

The three images were shot using a 70 - 300mm lens at f9. Focal lengths were varied and respectively are 300mm; 108mm and 70mm. All were shot using a tripod from the same position.

The top image forces the viewer to focus on the windmill as it is central to the image. The distance between the camera (approximately half a mile) is compressed to such an extent that the hedgerow, the roof of the house and the windmill seem to be relatively close together whereas they are separated by quite some distance. By zooming in on the windmill the surrounding countryside is 'cut' from the picture giving limited information about the environment around it.

The second image still keeps the windmill centred in the image but now more of the surrounding countryside is included. However the compression of the planes continues. The white house that is close by the windmill appears to be quite close to the red roof in middle distance. In reality the two are separated by about 500 yards.

The third image continues with the windmill in the middle but includes much more of the country side. The foreground hedge and scrubland moves the viewer away from the windmill but the compression of the planes in the middle ground continues. A sense of depth in the rest of the image is created by our knowledge that the smaller an object is in comparison with its expected size the more likely it is some distance away.

The effect of the telephoto lens is created because of the way we 'see' images based upon our experience and memories. We make assumptions about the size of an object (say the house to the right of the windmill that can clearly be seen through the trees) and from that deduce that it is further away if it is smaller than expected. There is no real way to know whether this is true. The house may be a child's doll's house (it isn't as far as I know) and may be closer to us than we believe.

Project 33 - Using a Tripod

The first image was taken using at Tripod with camera settings of f8  1/160 ISO 400 using a 70 - 300mm lens set at 76mm.

The second image was taken within 1 minute of the first handheld with camera settings the same although shutter speed was 1/200.

Close examination of the two images show no discernible difference even at an enlargement of 300%. the main area of examination was of the vent grill to the bottom right of the image and the edges of the stairs.

I know from experience that, for me,  using a shutter speed of less than 1/125 when the camera is hand held will show evident signs of camera shake. I allow for this by normally using an ISO of 400 (there is no discernible difference in grain or chromatic aberration to those found at lower ISO) wherever possible which in normal circumstances gives the desired shutter speed. I will try a series of combinations of ISO, shutter speed and aperture value if a tripod is not an option constantly aiming to keep the shutter speed at 1/125 or above. 

For images that I know will be enlarged up to A3 size I will use camera settings that give a higher shutter speed or set the shutter speed and let the camera decide on the aperture value. If this does not produce the desired result I will use Manual.

It is impossible to make an accurate judgement of the amount of 'shake' by using the LCD screen on the rear of the camera so I rely upon experience and the bracketing of images to achieve the best image possible.

Looking Ahead

I have Assignment 4 in draft completed. Need to leave it alone for a short time before giving it it's final polish.

Now thinking about the final assignment. The subject of Assignment 4 was Robert Adams so I am committed to producing images in his style. Fortunately it is not too difficult to decide what his style is about being a look at the depredation of the American West through the presence of man. His style is to use a very limited range of tones in his black and white photographs, he eschewed colour photography, and almost without exception his skies would be considered to be 'blown out' in present day thinking.

He also has a distinctive approach to the 'cropping' of images cutting off the edges or roofs of buildings.   He does not include human beings in his images very often and those that he does often are facing away from us.

One of his pet hates is the 'tacky' housing so typical of the American West across the vast tracts of what was once wilderness. Almost invariable clapboard we have very few examples of the same thing in this Country. However there is a similar 'blot' on the landscape - the mobile homes, the residential caravan and park homes. It is these that I will look to for some of the images. I would assume that the nearest equivalent we have to wilderness and prairies is the moorlands in Scotland and the South West of England. Another alternative could be the sand dunes that are around our coasts that in some cases offer a very similar landscape.

I feel that I will have to develop a series of 'plans' as I find examples of what I am looking for in my journeys around the Country.