Project Space and Light. Exercise 18 How Space Changes with Light.

What: The brief of this exercise was to visit one or two locations where I could return a number of times in different lighting and photograph on each occasion.

Where: Work

When: First thing in the morning as soon as the sun had risen and at the end of the day after the sun had set.

How: I had made note of these locations as viable locations as I was easily able to revisit these locations a number of times during the day and easily photograph the conditions.

The only slight problem I had with these locations are that I was unable to setup a tripod due to the space restrictions and the ability to transport a lot of equipment across the site to these places.

In the first location I really wanted to capture the difference in lighting conditions as although there was only a little difference in shadow there was a vast difference in the colouration of the light within the space.

During the day a lot of light comes in through the room which is then supplemented with the large lights around the roof of the workshop. When the sun sets the shapes in the roof supports are clearer and better defined but the shadows are coloured by the artificial lights giving them a yellow tint.

The floor also takes on the yellow tint making it more orange than in natural light.

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Nikon D50, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/30 second, ISO 1600, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

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Nikon D50, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/15 second, ISO 1600, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

I was surprised to find that I only had to half my shutter speed at the end of the day to capture the final image of the workshop. Even though I was in a slight different position, I can easily compare the light conditions and the shadows, the space looses height as it has lost the brightness from the skylights and I feel that the walls are slightly closer as they are not reflecting the light back into the workshop area.

I decided to revisit the link bridge to capture the differences in light even on a dull day. As the bridge runs east/west it captures a lot of light during the day and a lot of the shadows are completely lost in the brightness. Nearest the camera there is a small spot of shadow created by the building behind the bridge which blocks the sun coming in from the left hand side of the camera.

In the evening the bridge loses a lot of light as the darkness below and to the sides of the bridge creates a dark tunnel around the space and it spaces the space into a tunnel rather than a bridge. The inside of the bridge is light up by the small lights in the roof, as the main purpose of the bridge is to allow movement from A to B it is not covered in lots of light as a lot of light is not really needed, enough light is required to allow people to see where they are going and that is it.

There are small shadows created behind the supports of the bridge as they are thrown into relief by the roof lights.

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Nikon D50, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/1000 second, ISO 1600, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

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Nikon D50, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/45 second, ISO 1600, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

I was surprised to find out how much light was lost as the shutter speed dropped from 1000^th of a second down to a 45^th of a second. I had expected the lights in the roof to produce much more light that what they actually did.

When I was at the bridge in the morning I took a modified camera which allows me to capture a colour Infra Red photograph, as an experiment to see if I could capture a completely different point of view on the lighting conditions of the space.

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Modified Nikon D40, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm), aperture f4, speed 1/400 second, ISO 800, Manual white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 55-200mm lens,

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In the image I was able to capture a lot of repeating shadows which did not show up on the colour images. It also cast the other end of the link bridge into complete darkness making it a much sinister image, partially due to the image compression as I used the smallest focal length on a telephoto lens.

I am pleased to see that I was able to meet the brief and show that these areas changed with the lighting conditions.

Exercise 17 - The Users Viewpoint

What: The main brief of this exercise was choose two locations or spaces which are designed for a particular activity and to capture an image that attempts to capture the users point of view, taking into account height, orientation of the image and the lens focal length. 
Where: At the museum and at work. 
When: Two differing points in the day; at the museum it was mid morning and at work it was in the early evening. 
How: After making a couple of notes and examining a few locations I decided upon the two locations as they are vast spaces who are solely dedicated to movement of people from one location to another and they are almost ignored by the users on a daily basis. 

Museum Stairs Attending the museum I had to move in a non linear fashion into the buildings due to my limited mobility, therefore I get a unique point of view of the establishment as I am mainly routed through less used locations.

I wanted to capture these stairs specifically as they have been designed at an angle which you cannot see when you are using the stairs directly, it is only when you are about to descend the stairs that you notice the odd angle that the stairs have been built into.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm), aperture f9.5, speed 0.7 second, ISO 100, Fluorescent  white balance, Matrix  metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

I chose this location and angle as it is at this point of time as I approach the stairs that the oblique angle of the stairs first defines itself to my eyes. I did not use a wide angle lens as this pulled in too much of the background and when orientated into portrait the wide angle lens still distorted the final image. I wanted the aperture to be wide enough to show that there was something at the bottom of the stairs but at the same time I did not want to blow out the whites of the tiles nor did I want to lose the grain of the wooden steps.

Link Bridge

I wanted to capture this space as it is a special space solely built to allow movement between buildings while still being a secure break between buildings to prevent fire moving between the buildings. Its design as a security feature as well as a transit space is ignored by most users.

I wanted to capture the amount of space dedicated to the “room” and I wanted to capture it in the dark as the sides are made of tough glass and during the day the amount of light coming into it can be blinding. At night however the space becomes a bright route between two dark spaces.

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Nikon D80, Exposure mode manual, focal length 11mm (35mm equivalent 16mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/10 second, ISO 640, Fluorescent  white balance, Spot  metering, Hand Held camera, 11-16mm lens,

I really wanted to use the wide angle lens to capture not only the width of the bridge but the length. The bridge space spans off into the distance and the exit doors can be faintly made out in the glare of the lights as they repeat off into the distance. I also wanted to capture the Fibonacci like repetition of the light reflections on the floor.

 I am very happy with the final choice treatments of the spaces, I had a few attempts at spaces which in my mind made good choices and examples but when I visited the areas I could not capture the final image treatment that I wanted. I also had a few problems with low light in a few areas as I could not always get to the locations when the natural light was best.

Project Space and Function. Exercise 16 - Exploring Function

What: The main brief of this exercise was to examine a space and think about that it is intended to be used for, has the design of the space as it stands, been a successful design; does it fit the function of the space. Transfer this thought process into an image. 
Where: At Home, Indoors 
When: Just after sunrise. 
How: After making a lot of notes about the idea of the space of the bedroom, I think translated the thoughts into a single image. 

Locate a space: After thinking about different locations and spaces I decided to use the one space that I practically function from on a daily basis. The Bedroom 

Who uses the space: I do. 

Intention of the space: The dictionary definition of the bedroom is a room furnished for and used for sleeping and for the storage of clothes. How many aspects are there to the activity: Sleep hygiene tells us that the bedroom and the bed should only be used for sleeping and that you should not read, watch TV, or eat in bed/bedroom and that the bed and the bedroom have to be associated as the a relaxing location.

However many of us do not adhere tightly to these rules and that the bedroom has become a multi function area where rest and activity overlaps. People will watch TV, read, use computers until they become tired and at that moment the bedroom and the bed returns to the intended function which is a room where people sleep.

In reality in this point in time, the bedroom here in this image has had the function changed;

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f13, speed 1/4 second, ISO 3200, Fluorescent  white balance, Matrix  metering, Tripod Mounted camera, 11-16mm lens,

It is a study spot, an office from where I work, a reading room, a cat space, a place to watch TV, read books, and eat and to listen to music. As well as the traditional function of a place to rest; especially when I am personally struggling to maintain a clear thought process due to chronic fatigue and pain. It can be clearly seen in the image that the area is cluttered with books, papers, magazines, laptops and cats and is clearly showing signs of occupation and a change of function from the definitive description and intended idea of what the space should be.

I decided upon a low light shot as I wanted to capture the room as intended, using the wide angle lens allowed to me to capture the space in a non architectural style, I wanted to converge the verticals and show that there was some form of human occupation of the space. I also wanted to capture the true day to day function of the space, I did not want to hide the fact that the space has had to become multifunction due to my condition.

Assignment 2 - People and Meaningful Activity

What: The main brief of this exercise was to photograph people in a public place, trying to capture them in a meaningful activity.

Where: Museum of Flight, East Fortune, Outdoors

When: Morning on sunny day.

How: While traversing a corridor at work I noticed on a social and recreational noticeboard that there was a “wings and wheels” event at the nearby museum of flight. Noting that it would be an ideal opportunity for the assignment I made arrangements to go along and photograph the local car and motorbike enthusiasts as well as some of the demonstration events by the white helmet motorcycle display team.

I decided to concentrate on the crowds rather than the demonstration as I wanted to capture the small group of devotees of all things motor driven gathered together in this one place. I felt quite relaxed as I started to photograph as one of the first people I came across was another “member” of the sons of arthritis and we had a chat about treatment and a complain about ailments.

I made my way around the field noting a photographing subjects that I found interesting and eye catching; I took more personal shots for myself than I did for the assignment as I was so comfortable and calm as I photographed.

A large number of the people that I photographed were together in a group representing the local motorcycle riders and the local steam engine aficionados. They were all standing together chatting and comparing notes on engines and machines. I also took a couple of comparison shots where I compared the photographic excitement and usage between current generations.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 185mm (35mm equivalent 277mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/250 second, ISO 160, Daylight white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 48mm (35mm equivalent 72mm), aperture f16, speed 1/90 second, ISO 160, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 50mm (35mm equivalent 75mm), aperture f2.4, speed 1/2000 second, ISO 160, Shade white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 50mm (35mm equivalent 75mm), aperture f2.4, speed 1/2000 second, ISO 160, Cloudy white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

I had been watching this subject for a while, he was animatedly talking to another classic car owner, and all the while his beard blew in the breeze.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/250 second, ISO 160, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I did perform a crop on this image to remove the white tailfin of the Cadillac, however I found the crop too severe and it offset the balance of the image.

Just along from the white Cadillac were a couple sitting beside their remodelled classic car. I had a chat with them before asking if I could photograph them. They were quite happy to be photographed.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 11mm (35mm equivalent 16mm), aperture f8, speed 1/250 second, ISO 160, Daylight white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I really wanted to capture the size of the car, as it was very small and I did wonder how they both got into the car.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 122mm (35mm equivalent 183mm), aperture f4.8, speed 1/350 second, ISO 160, Daylight white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 112mm (35mm equivalent 168mm), aperture f4.8, speed 1/180 second, ISO 160, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I like the comparison in these two images, both photographers were moving in and out of the vehicles and what I wanted to capture was the difference in style and technology of these two individuals. Both interested in vehicles enough to capture the beauty of the cars and bikes.

When the white helmets came out to perform the crowd moved across to the barrier area and settled in to watch the performance.

I wanted to get a couple of images of the performance as that was part of what everyone was there to see.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/320 second, ISO 160, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I liked the way that he is framed in the image with the people in the background looking directly at him.

I wanted to get a couple of stunts as that is what the white helmets are known for,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 200mm (35mm equivalent 300mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/1000 second, ISO 250, Cloudy white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 230mm (35mm equivalent 345mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/1500 second, ISO 250, Daylight white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f6.7, speed 1/500 second, ISO 160, Shade white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

Afterwards we walked around the classic car exhibition and saw a couple in an Old Zephyr, they had a couple of dogs with them who were constantly looking out the window at everyone that passed.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 180mm (35mm equivalent 270mm), aperture f5.3, speed 1/250 second, ISO 160, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

At the bike exhibition there were a group from the British Legion Motorcycle supporters, some of whom were driving modified motorcycles which looked like American highway patrol motorbikes and they dressed the part.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 70mm (35mm equivalent 105mm), aperture f4.8, speed 1/180 second, ISO 100, Daylight white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

Of course I could not resist the cliché of the American police officer with the doughnut in hand! I cropped the image slightly to take out the right shoulder of an individual who stepped into the frame just as I pressed the shutter.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 70mm (35mm equivalent 105mm), aperture f11, speed 1/180 second, ISO 100, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

In all of the 28 images that I finally chose, the 14 that I have submitted are the ones I am happiest with as they met the remit of the assignment. Again I used the lessons learned from the previous exercises to good use in both taking posed and un-posed photographs.

Exercise 15 - A Public Place

What: The main brief of this exercise was to photograph people in a public place, trying to capture them as they interact with their surroundings.

Where: North Berwick, Outdoors

When: Afternoon on a mild overcast day.

How: I decided at random to pick a nearby beach and visit hoping to capture more than people sitting in cars or walking their dogs.

Having completed the previous exercise I was quite upbeat going into this exercise; having learnt that unless I give myself a time limit I will move about too much for too long and then end up in pain for two or three days. Again I gave myself a time window and an area to work in; this time at the beach which was luckliy for me quite busy.
When I arrived I found that there was a sailing competition on, but the boats were about a mile out from the bay as so were well out of range as well out of my remit. As I walked along the beach I regularly changed lenses and photographed in a number of different styles. Again shooting from the hip was a bit hit and miss but I had much for confidence in my work.
I was very pleased by a number of shots as not only was I looking for people interacting with the locale but I was also photographing them as they interacted with each other, I was also pleased by the number of different activities that I could spot.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 70mm (35mm equivalent 105mm), aperture f8, speed 1/180 second, ISO 100, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I spotted this couple walking past and what caught eye was that she was not wearing any shoes and she appeared not to be carrying any.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 98mm (35mm equivalent 147mm), aperture f4.8, speed 1/350 second, ISO 100, Cloudy white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

They appeared to be having different experiences of the beach whilst being together.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/125 second, ISO 100, Cloudy white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 75mm (35mm equivalent 112mm), aperture f4.8, speed 1/750 second, ISO 100, Cloudy white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I am really pleased with this shot, the subject is relaxed an unaware that she is being photographed even though she is only a few feet away. Her hair caught in the wind leads into the image and he stands out against the background without the lens bokeh being too much to distract the eye from her.

I saw this youngster walking along the beach behind his guardian and he would pick up and set down a handful of dried seaweed as he went. He was completely caught up in his investigation of what he had in his hands.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 195mm (35mm equivalent 292mm), aperture f5.3, speed 1/500 second, ISO 100, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

This child on the other hand was in full industrial mode, building sandcastles and hills of sand as he went.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/500 second, ISO 100, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I was slightly disappointed in this photograph of the dog "Rocky" and his owner, having used the wide angle lens at a lowish angle I had to try and straighten the perspective as the lens created a tilt away from me.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/250 second, ISO 100, Shade white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

Even when I “corrected” the tilt in the image, it still does not look quite right. However it does capture that happiness in the owner and his pleasantness.

I was a little happier with this image, although it is slightly cropped, as for some reason as yet unknown the conical petal shaped lens hood was shown at the outer corners of the image causing a vignette of the image.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/1000 second, ISO 100, Shade white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

As I moved along the beach I noticed that this person was wading along the breakers on the beach, not once did he come out of the sea but walked along with his waders in the water.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 70mm (35mm equivalent 105mm), aperture f8, speed 1/180 second, ISO 100, Cloudy white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I am pleased with the colours in this image as the sea reflects the colour of his waders and the sky reflects the colours of the shallow water. It was not until I reviewed the image that I noticed that he was wearing a set of headphones and was listening to something other than the sound of the beach

As we moved to the end of the beach, we reached the shallow pool built in Victorian times, which is now mainly used by dog owners for allowing the dogs to play felt the ball in the water.

There were however a couple who stood close by, who were picking seashells up from the beach.

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Nikon D80, Aperture Mode Manual, focal length 210mm (35mm equivalent 315mm), aperture f8, speed 1/250 second, ISO 100, Auto white balance, Centre Weight metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I could have spent all day in the area just watching and photographing people; what I have started to notice from the teaching from this part of the course is the number of different activities that people can partake of in one area and how the interact with each other and their surroundings.

Overall lessons learning as I go into the Assignment; relax, watch and photograph with care, do not photograph randomly and in a hurry and hope that something will fit the brief. It has been a good boost to my experience and confidence. I feel a lot happier and much more confident photographing outdoors than before I started.

Exercise 14 - An Organised Event

What: The main brief of this exercise was to photograph an organised event.

Where: Edinburgh, Outdoors

When: Afternoon on a mild overcast day.

How: I looked over a number of public events and chose one where there would be a number of people moving around and a number of varied activities.

I decided up on the Edinburgh Mela as it ran over several days and had many differing events on during the run of the Mela festival.

Armed with a number of differing lenses I wanted to use as many differing lenses as possible and in varying styles to capture the crowds and the performers.

Even as we approached the site I could see that people were rushing to get into the site.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/30 second, ISO 400, Daylight white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

Once I started to focus on the passersby, everyone was enjoying the day and meeting with their friends and family.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 46mm (35mm equivalent 69mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/90 second, ISO 800, Daylight white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

I almost abandoned this shot, but I feel that the branch obscuring the second individuals face gives the image a little bit of fun mystery. I also liked the look on the left hand subjects face.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 195mm (35mm equivalent 292mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/350 second, ISO 2000, Daylight white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 270mm (35mm equivalent 405mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/1000 second, ISO 2000, Daylight white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I then went to one of the main performance tents and caught the last part of the Chinese dancing. The girl on stage was performing the peacock dance.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 240mm (35mm equivalent 360mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/125 second, ISO 2000, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

After the dancing the stage was reset for the arrival of the local Chinese choir who sung traditional fishing and farming songs.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 122mm (35mm equivalent 183mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/60 second, ISO 2000, Flash white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 155mm (35mm equivalent 232mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/45 second, ISO 2000, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I was particularly pleased with the composition of this shot as I managed to get all the singers as they focused on the conductor.

While the singing was going on I turned and started to photograph the crowds looking for suitable interesting individuals or groups.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 92mm (35mm equivalent 138mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/500 second, ISO 2000, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 155mm (35mm equivalent 72mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/125 second, ISO 800, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 18-70mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 13mm (35mm equivalent 19mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/30 second, ISO 400, Shade white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

Back outside the tent a couple stilt walkers were dancing to the tune played by a wandering obo player, as she danced and played the stilt walkers talked to the crowd and lifted children into the air.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 19mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/750 second, ISO 2000, Shade white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 210mm (35mm equivalent 315mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/1500 second, ISO 2000, Shade white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 220mm (35mm equivalent 330mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/250 second, ISO 2000, Shade white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

Towards the end of my visit I went over to the second performance tent where local musician were playing a combination of African and folk music.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/60 second, ISO 2000, Fluorescent white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/60 second, ISO 2000, Fluorescent white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I particularly enjoy watching musicians as they play, as you can watch them get lost in tune, the rhythm and the memories of the music

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 260mm (35mm equivalent 390mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/45 second, ISO 2000, Fluorescent white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 260mm (35mm equivalent 390mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/60 second, ISO 2000, Fluorescent white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 300mm (35mm equivalent 450mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/45 second, ISO 2000, Fluorescent white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 70-300mm lens,

I enjoyed this exercise as I had worked out in advance what I wanted to capture, the crowds and the performers. I was pleased that I was able to find location to photograph from that allowed me to observe and photograph without interrupting people.

I also enjoyed the challenge of photographing the performers in different lighting conditions as they were set for the performers and not really for photography.

Exercise 13 - Standard Focal Depth

What: The main brief of this exercise was to set the focal length of the camera lens as close to “standard” focal length as possible.

Where: Edinburgh, Outdoors

When: Afternoon on a mild overcast day.

How: I held my camera in portrait position and with both eyes open I moved the focal length of the lens so that the scene I was looking at the camera focal length matched that of my normal eyesight and they looked the same.

I think I may have had a slight problem here as due to my topic pupil the focal depth of my vision is abnormal, as the pupil is being crushed by the eye muscles I cannot focus my eye properly.

Using a kit 18-70mm lens on my camera I found that after a few adjustments that my focal depth is somewhere around the 40mm range on this lens rather than the expected 27mm to 32mm range.

While at a community gathering in Edinburgh, I went around the entire site looking out for subjects or actions that I found interesting, once I had spotted something I noted the location and came back later where I could find a position to be inconspicuous and where I could photograph without attracting too much attention.

The requirement to have little distance to the subject did not allow for clear and concise framing, by hanging the camera a lower position meant that the frame could be interfered with by practically anything from passersby and the simple fact  that I had to shoot and trust the I had captured what I wanted.

While circling back around the site I noticed someone trying to attract people to attend a nature event.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 44mm (35mm equivalent 66mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/180 second, ISO 800, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 17-80mm lens,

The subject made eye contact a number of times and I waited until they went back to attracting visitors before I fired the shutter. I wanted her to be relaxed and comfortable with being photographed.

I had noticed a person dancing to the various musicians and performers through the day, I wanted to get close and photograph them as they danced but they were just moving too fast and I could not keep up.

I waited until they stopped dancing around the site and had settled in one position and was dancing with a large piece of white cloth which caught the slightest breeze.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 44mm (35mm equivalent 66mm), aperture f5.6, speed 1/100 second, ISO 800, Shade white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 17-80mm lens,

 

I had to crop the shot down as I was still too far away, but I am much happier with the framing and action within the frame. The subject is caught within their thoughts and movement to the music and is not focussed on what is going on around them.

I am much happier with the second image as it really keeps the attention on the central subject. Using a zoom lens would probably have created a large amount to bokeh in the background and would have isolated the subject completely from their surrounds. Up close with a wide angle lens may have produced quite a dynamic image but it would have distorted the subject if I had tried to compose both the dancer and the cloth within the frame.

Exercise 12 - Close and Involved (Wide Angle Lens)

What: The main brief of this exercise was to get close and involved with the subject by the use of a wide angled lens

Where: Edinburgh, Outdoors

When: Afternoon on a mild overcast day.

How: I had a found already to my cost that using a small point and shoot camera would be of no use, as even thought the images were coming back as having a focal depth of 17mm or 18mm when in  fact the find image was nothing of the sort.

Example of the point and shoot at apparently 17mm

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Kodak Easyshare, Exposure Mode Auto, focal length 17mm (35mm equivalent 96mm), aperture f5.2, speed 1/250 second, ISO 250,Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera.

 

Possessing the widest angle lens for my DSLR that I had, I decided that this may be of better use as it was a 11 mm-16 mm meaning that I would have to get close.

I had already tested the suitability of close up photography with a visit to Jupiter Art Land where I took a number of closeup shots of statues in the woods using the 11-16mm wide angle lens and I knew that I was going to get within three feet of people to obtain a close image.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 13mm (35mm equivalent 19mm), aperture f16, speed 1/6 second, ISO 800,Shade white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

 

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 11mm (35mm equivalent 16mm), aperture f16, speed 1/30 second, ISO 800,Shade white balance, Center Weight metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 11mm (35mm equivalent 16mm), aperture f16, speed 1/45 second, ISO 800,Shade white balance, Center Weight metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

These images are from a visit to Jupiter Art Land, I found myself always within about 3 feet from the statues when I photographed them as it allowed the full statue to be contained within the frame.

I visited a community gathering in Edinburgh where I hoped that there would be a number of events and enough people where I could use the lens without attracting attention when trying to photograph someone within a few feet away.

I was again at the disadvantage of my disability so I knew that I to balance the twin objects of obtaining the photographs without being knocked to the ground by accident.

My first attempt to find a number of locations to shoot from did not work as I could not get close enough to anyone quickly and take the shot as they passed as the lens is very slow to focus. I managed to obtain a number of close-ups of subjects but they were all blurred.

 The second attempt was a bit more successful; I hung the camera around my neck and with one hand to control my balance on my walking stick I placed my left hand around the camera so that the tips of my fingers just touched to the top of the shutter release. This allowed me to move in and out of the people and first the shutter when I thought that I might capture and interesting image.

In the main I was pretty unsuccessful, most of the images were incorrectly framed, blurred or at a completely odd angle. I could get close enough to people but the lens being slow to focus meant that I mainly photographed them as they passed or they adjusted angle of approach at the last minute and I ended up getting a close up of their jacket.

The requirement to have little distance to the subject did not allow for clear and concise framing, by hanging the camera a lower position meant that the frame could be interfered with by practically anything from passers-by and the simple fact  that I had to shoot and trust the I had captured what I wanted.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/60 second, ISO 400, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/180 second, ISO 400, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

I noticed here another flaw with using the wide angle lens and that was that some movement caused distortion, here the subjects hand has “jellied” and distended.

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/250 second, ISO 400, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/45 second, ISO 400, Daylight white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/250 second, ISO 400, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

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Nikon D80, Exposure Mode Manual, focal length 13mm (35mm equivalent 19mm), aperture f9.5, speed 1/60 second, ISO 400, Auto white balance, Matrix metering, Hand held camera, 11-16mm lens,

Re examining the images I see that from the way I had decided to step up the camera and then use a kind of surveillance technique of photographing meant that I could not adjust the settings of the camera; once I had picked an f-stop and what kind of white balance and metering I wanted I could not really adjust anything while moving. Even the focal length was pretty much fixed unless the camera was bumped slightly knocking the lens back from 11mm towards 16mm.

The exercise was quite a challenge not only physically but also mentally as I had to trust my instincts and just hope that I had captured what I wanted.

I am not truly happy with the results of the exercise as I found that the choice of lens was too extreme, at 11-16mm a lot of the subjects were further away from the lens than I had hoped. I may revisit the exercise using something more like a normal kit lens starting at 17mm where I can work between 17mm and 24mm to obtain better framing and composition.