Assignment 5 - Tutor Feedback

The set of images submitted for Narrative Illustration, and the technical and reflective notes posted in your Blog, are of the same high standard of the previous assignments.

You reveal, through the twelve images, a carefully considered approach to what might have been a fairly generic and stereotyped project. Once again, you demonstrate a strong technical knowledge with an individual eye, to produce an alternative take on both iconic NYC images, and those less obvious, but equally engaging.

Cover Shot
With OG in the background, the detail of the George Washington bronze statue is immediately recognisable. The reduced saturation of the background helps lift and enhance the texture and colour of the dark metal, and the angle of light – three quarter back – brings out the form. I might have been tempted to shift the position to the right a touch, to bring the statue detail to the right of frame, and capture the flag in its entirety, just to tighten up the frame.

Central Park
There is some lovely detail in this shot, which works particularly well for the composition, with the grain in the decking bringing an extra dimension to the vanishing point effect. Similarly, the cross shadows and the dappled light on the bridge draws the eye forward curving towards the small group of visitors in the background. It’s an image that speaks of place. There’s also a great balance of colour, light, and shade across the dynamic range.

Bethesda Terrace in Central Park
This is a difficult image to expose correctly, with what must be a six-stop variation between the interior and the exterior. Here, you’ve managed to get a good balance with a bit of over exposure outside, but a nice feel to the light in the foreground. The reflected light on the ceiling and the floor provides a good graduation, and a partial silhouette of the mid-ground figures. Of the possibilities that I would consider for composition, the movement of passing figures is one, and the other would be, as in the previous image, to focus on the details of the building. This works well.

Museum
This shot of the Asian sculpture in the Met, provides a complementary feel to the previous image, with a flat, natural light creating a spacious feel and, with the comparatively small figure of your friend, the monumental size of the figure. This shot works well to create a feeling of space and light; an alternative might be to look for some interesting (close) foreground detail, or perhaps get low an behind your friend to exaggerate the towering figure in front of her – all technical challenges.

Street Art
This following image of the bright Pop Art street sculpture is the perfect cultural complement of the formal Met exhibit. It shouts NYC, big, bright with saturated colour. It’s good that you managed to get a clear shot of the piece, and spent some time looking around I, and the background to get the feel that you wanted. I like the fact that you captured the buildings on the corner, with the diagonals running back and to the edges of the frame to give the whole mage a clear perspective.

Food
I think you’re right about the aperture; a more distinct brand logo would help sell the city here. While the detail on the cake, texture, colour form is very good, you do just crop the slice a bit, and the centred composition leaves (for me) too much negative space to the left of the frame. Maybe a piece out of it, and a fork across the frame would balance the shot?

Shopping
I like the balance of the composition here, the figure to the left checking out the goods, with the display of bags on the wall behind, and the way you’ve captured the natural action. The auto WB works well enough here – fluorescents can be horrible in mixed light situations. What it needs – and hard to do in a location, with an impromptu shot – is a bit of reflected light from low in front of the camera, just to lift the face, and get a bit more light onto the bag she is holding.

New York Bay
Interesting shot of the container ferry making its way across the bay. Maybe it needs a bit of a more recognisable skyline to speak ‘city’, docks, or a partial glimpse of the Statue of Liberty? I think the flat light helps with the complex internal structure of the vessel, with the sky and water nicely captured and providing regular textural surroundings for the rigid grid-like patterns on the boat.

Empire State
I like this shot very much. Both concept and execution are strong. The deco interior is beautifully captured with the model, flag, memorial, clerk and vase of sunflowers providing an interesting variation in subject. I think maybe either it needs to be a touch wider to capture the sign to the right of frame, or tighter to eliminate it. The top light gives it an almost otherworldly feel, an austerity or formality and gravity. Very nice.

Times Square
While it appears at first that there is no particular point to which the eye is drawn, and it does indeed reflect the movement and chaos of Times Square, eventually the eye does fall on the flag, and the young person standing to the left, and the group of people around her. There’s a good exposure balance here, with the street signs nicely exposed, and enough attention to foreground reflected light to see the detail of the people. I also find myself looking towards the right of frame, and what appears to be a group of musicians silhouetted against a white background – might be an electronic image…

New York Characters
Classic bit of street photography with the Naked Cowboy defined against the backdrop of daytime TSq – the use of the long lens softens the background and the strong(er) midday light helps define the figure’s anatomy. I’d be tempted to do a bit of a subtle mask job on this and throw the background out even more – or maybe experiment with a graduated blur. My enduring street character memory was the roller skating guitar playing Jimi Hendrix impersonator, amp strapped to his back.

NYPD
Along with the Empire State image, this shot of the giant policeman giving directions to the diminutive woman is my pick of the set. The body language speaks of lost in the metropolis, and as you say, the architectural lines enhance this, while the background masonry confirms the cultural heritage of an old city. The light adds a kind of ‘annunciation’ effect, like an old master painting, compressing and focussing the composition.


So, strong and well considered images, avoiding the cliché of the world’s most famous city, and offering a different vision. Technically, the exploration of and determination to deal with different and challenging lighting and environmental situations shows how much you’ve taken on board (and mastered) on this course.

Very well done.

Assignment 5 - Narrative and Illustration

Brief:
Imagine that you are about to illustrate a story for a magazine. You have a cover to illustrate and several pages inside (between 6 and 12). Write captions to explain and link each picture.


My chosen theme for this assignment is 'New York' as I recently visited the city for the very first time. I decided  that my 'magazine' would highlight things to see and do for anyone visiting the city, but I didn't want to simply replicate the numerous tourist guides that are already available.
In addition to scenery and architecture, I wanted my images to capture the quirkiness and uniqueness of the city and the people who live and work there.

Magazine Cover - New York

This is a statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall, opposite the New York Stock Exchange. I originally took a picture of the Stock Exchange building by itself, and spotted this composition while walking around the statue.

I wanted something iconic for the magazine cover, and they don't come much more iconic than George Washington and 'Old Glory'! This is also an example of juxtaposition.

I have given prominence to the statue by boosting the tonal contrast, which gives it form. I have also reduced the saturation of the Stock Exchange in the background which, together with a large aperture, helps it to recede and gives the image perspective.

Page 1 - Central Park

Most people associate New York with hustle and bustle, and even in a beautiful green space like Central Park people still travel at speed, running, cycling or roller-blading. Fortunately, the people on this bridge were strolling which allowed me enough time to set up the shot.

I like the converging the lines in this image and opted for a low perspective in order to exaggerate them. Hard light is not always a pleasant feature in a photograph, but I like the way that the shadows bisect the bridge, and the people have conveniently lined up at the point of interest.

Page 2 - Bethesda Terrace, Central Park

I stumbled upon this amazing terrace by accident and then struggled for ages with the lighting! It was impossible to correctly expose for the brightly light exterior and the dim interior, even using matrix metering. Ideally, I would have liked to have used bracketing, but I didn't know how to cope with the 'ghosting' that arises from moving subjects. I do now, so I'll be ready next time.

I experimented with various white balance settings, and finally chose the shade setting which I had to tone down as it was a little too warm. The ISO was set to 3200 and shutter speed was 1/40 to give the suggestion of movement.

Page 3 - Museums

This is a shot of my friend Janini in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The lighting in the larger rooms was perfect - lots of large white surfaces and minimal artificial lighting. In this image, I was trying to show contrast between the relative sizes of Janini and this impressive exhibit.

Page 4 - Street Art

In addition to museums and galleries, there are several examples of sculptures and paintings around the streets of New York. This was one of the more popular sculptures, and I had to get up early to get this shot. Not just to avoid hard light, but also the numerous tourists who were always crowded around it to have their pictures taken in front of it.

The subject had a reflective surface so I used an oblique angle to show some texture. I also tried the shot from the left of the sculpture, but the buildings and streets on the right made a more pleasing image.

Page 5 - Food

I took the opportunity to set up a still life shot of a slice of carrot cake that I bought from the Magnolia Bakery. This famous bakery is credited with starting the craze for cupcakes.

I set this up in diffused window light in my hotel room during late afternoon. I placed the cake box just behind, with the name of the bakery visible. I used a small aperture to give maximum attention to the cake, but looking at the final image, I would have liked a slightly larger aperture to make the name of the bakery more legible.

Page 6 - Shopping

This is my friend Janini browsing in the Fendi store. I took this shot without looking through the viewfinder - the camera was around my neck and I used a spirit level mounted on the hot shoe to keep the camera straight. Consequently I managed to capture a very natural looking pose.

I used an auto white balance setting because there was a mixture of fluorescent lighting and natural light, and a slight colour cast had to be removed in post-processing.

Page 7 - New York Bay

I took this on the Staten Island Ferry. According to my New York city guide, "this 20-minute trip offers excellent views of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline".  The boats, yachts and other ferries sailing in the bay were therefore an unexpected photographic opportunity.

This cargo ship was an interesting mix of contrasting colours and I chose to shoot two planes instead of a side or rear view, to give it form. The lighting was generally quite flat, but the shadow cast by the underside provides depth.

Page 8 - Empire State Building

Most of the information about this building concentrates on its external features - the Art Deco design and its enormous height. I thought the internal features were far more impressive though challenging to photograph. There were reflective surfaces everywhere and the pop-up flashes of my fellow tourists increased the number of potential hotspots. I seized the opportunity to get my shot while there was a lull in photographic activity - several people were having their pictures taken in front of the replica on the left.

I had to push the ISO up to 3200 and shot wide open at f/2.8 to get a decent exposure. This was also taken without looking through the viewfinder so as not to distract the desk clerk.

The artificial light combined with an auto white balance setting gave the image a yellow cast that I removed in post-processing.

Page 9 - Times Square

I chose Times Square as a location for some night photography. This reminded me of the 'Outdoors at Night' exercise in the Lighting Techniques section of the course.

There isn't anywhere for the eye to settle in this image, but this is quite deliberate because that's exactly what being there was like. There are numerous sources of artificial light in Times Square, but I also wanted to get in amongst the people hanging around the place as they are just as important as the advertising billboards. 

This was also taken without looking through the viewfinder which allowed me to work relatively unnoticed.

Page 10 - New York Characters

This is the 'Naked Cowboy' who I encountered in Times Square. I think this is an illustrative shot representing the madcap characters who frequent Times Square and keep the public amused.

My original intention was to take shots of Times Square during the daytime, so as to compare with the atmosphere in the evenings. The Naked Cowboy provided  me with some some foreground interest and I chose an aperture of f/4.0 to lessen the impact of the advertising hoardings.

Page 11 - NYPD

New York is a place in which me and friends all felt very safe. I think this was mainly due to a strong police presence on just about every street.

This is the only shot I have of the police interacting with the public so it stands out from the others. I took this on Wall Street and particularly liked the lines created by the fence and the wall. When the police officer pointed in the same direction, this was an added bonus!

I also like the spotlight effect that the light has in lifting the subjects out of the shade.

What have I learned?

This assignment turned out to be trickier than it first appeared. As suggested by the study guide, I tried to incorporate everything that I have learned on the course so far. This was no mean feat with only 12 shots to play with.
I packed quite alot into my 10-day visit to New York and it was also difficult to narrow down the focus of the assignment. I toyed with the idea of concentrating on a specific part of the city, e.g. Central Park. I then thought about documenting an excursion, e.g. visiting Staten Island. I didn't think either of these were particularly interesting in themselves and there was so much more about this vibrant city that I wanted to get across.
I also wanted to experiment with different types of lighting and I could only do this by incorporating multiple locations.

Overall, this course has taught me that there is much planning involved in achieving good photography. I have started to pre-visualise, which increases the number of shots that I will eventually keep, and saves me time when processing the image since I have a fair idea about what I am going to do with it from the moment it is taken.

I have a much better appreciation of the quality of light, and I'm prepared to walk away from a location if the light is not right. I am also better at selecting and using appropriate light modifiers.

I am more confident in my approach and willing to experiment. I can see a distinct improvement in the quality of my images and I think I am starting to develop my own style.

Rain

Brief:
Imagine a magazine cover on one subject: rain. Produce a single, strong, attractive photograph that leaves no one in any doubt about the subject.

In order to avoid a really obvious image of falling rain, I thought about the things I normally associate rain with. I came up with dark clouds, puddles, and people with wet clothes or wet hair.

I decided to produce a strong image of dark clouds with an interesting foreground. I've always admired the design of the Lloyd's Building, but have never photographed it. I had to make a few return visits to get this shot as the weather kept changing, but my perseverance eventually paid off.

I took 5 bracketed shots to ensure that I retained detail in the building and captured the gloominess of the clouds. I have tweaked the contrast in the sky to make the clouds appear even more ominous than they actually were.

What have I learned?

This is an example of symbolism with more than one possible meaning. As a magazine cover, with the benefit of a suitable title or caption, the meaning is clear, but by itself it could symbolise many other concepts such as industry or architecture.

Juxtaposition

Brief:

Photograph someone with a possession, or the results of their work or hobby.

This was taken during a demonstration on 5 June. I came across this scene while walking down Whitehall, just outside Downing Street. The protest is in support of the emancipation of Gaza. I thought that the contrast between the noisy protesters and police officers sharing a joke was interesting.

What have I learned?

With hindsight, I should have taken a wider shot with a more shallow depth of field to emphasise the enormity of the demonstration and show greater contrast between impassioned protesters and this light-hearted moment, which was fleeting but significant in my opinion.

Symbols

Brief:
List more than one symbol for the following subjects saying how you might use them in a photograph.


Growth
I might represent this by taking a double exposure, having zoomed in before taking the second shot to show a relative increase in size. Another idea I had was to take a photograph of something small (eg a child) and produce a composite of it next to say a large building, but show the child etc as either equal in size or maybe even larger than the building.

Excess
For this one, I thought about showing someone surrounded by a huge quantity of food. The idea of excess would come across quite strongly if the food consisted of cakes and biscuits or something similar.
My second idea would be a shot taken from one end of a long bar in a pub, of someone at the other end with their head on the bar, surrounded by empty beer bottles.

Crime
I was walking through the East End of London recently, and someone had taped around the outline of the shadow of a street sign on the pavement as a joke. This reminded me of the crime serials from the 1970s, in particular the chalk outlines that used to be drawn around corpses at crime scenes. A photograph of such an outline would be a good representation of crime.
I also thought about getting a shot of police barrier tape, using depth of field to make the tape and background fade progressively.

Silence
I would represent this using a wide shot of a large group of people kneeling in prayer in a church or a mosque.  Another way to depict silence is using a Photoshop composite of someone's mouth either zipped or stitched closed.

Poverty
Again, using depth of field, a picture of someone holding a copy of the big issue. Taken with a wide angle lens so that it appears large in the frame, but the arm and features of the person holding it would be blurred.
The other idea I had was to get a shot of some coins in a cap on the pavement, using a slow shutter speed to blur passers by.

What have I learned?
Symbolism is an interesting topic, and not one that I'd really associated with photography until now, but I can see the relevance. One of the problems with symbols is that they can be ambiguous to those who aren't in the know.
The study material raises the point that symbols may be open to interpretation and this is something to consider in modern photography which is conducted more globally nowadays.

Evidence of Action

Brief:

Produce one photograph in which it can be seen something has happened.

I was on my way to photograph a salsa event on Sunday 11 July when I got held up in a queue of traffic. Just as I got out of the car, an air ambulance landed and everyone got their 'phone cameras out and started taking pictures. I went back to my car for my camera and took a few shots with this exercise in mind.

A bystander told me that a young man aged 19 had been stabbed by a gang of youths who had chased him from a bus. A local newspaper later reported that he was airlifted to hospital but, fortunately his injuries were not life threatening.

What have I learned?
The study material suggested taking a photograph including something that has either been broken or emptied.  In these examples, it is clear what has happened, but I prefer images which generate questions such as "what has happened?" or "how did that happen?"

A Narrative Picture Essay

This is the final part of my current course (Art of Photography) with the OCA.


Brief:
This project requires you to set yourself an assignment and then photograph it. Tell a story of any kind, in a set of pictures numbering between 5 and 15.

These pictures were taken on 10 July at the T-Mobile Big World Dance 2010 in Central London which was the finale of Big Dance, a biennial event. The Big World Dance was organised so that different parts of London represented the 5 continents, and a dance routine was posted on You Tube for each continent so that participants could learn and practice them in advance. Some of my friends were taking part and I went along to support them and document the day.

The morning began with practise sessions along the Southbank, led by a designated 'dance captain' for each of the continents. This was the West London group who were representing Australasia and was the group that my friends were in:

After the rehearsals, we made our way to Trafalgar Square where the choreographer (Luca Silvestrini), musicians and dance captains were introduced:

The dance captains get the crowd fired up and lead the dance groups through their individual routines:

I was lucky enough to be standing in a position where I got a good view of all of the individual groups, but I was closest to the west London section who were representing Europe. There was a group of Asian girls in this group who made a real effort to co-ordinate their outfits and looked really good performing their routine:

All of the groups were then encouraged to mix, and the event ended with a free-for-all:

What have I learned?

This exercise was very similar to the 'Sequence of Composition' images I took (see blog post dated 13 December 2009), so it feels as though I've come full circle.

There is a clear distinction between narrative and illustration but there is some overlap because a picture which forms part of a narrative can also tell a story all by itself.