Evaluation

Evaluation

Of all the themes that I’ve worked with over the year, this was the one that I was most looking forward to because I’d spent most of the summer shooting traditional/commercial style landscapes and I had made significant improvements to my work. When I read through the brief and did some quick research into the photographers, I was quite disappointed because it wasn’t the work that I was expecting. Now though at the end of the section I wish I could take those thoughts back because I’ve learnt to appreciate the quality of the work and it turns out that I now prefer the work of Stephen Shore to say someone like Adam Burton.

As starts go, I think this was my worst because getting to grips with the camera was really hard. Assembling it and learning how to use the light meter properly was easy enough after a bit of practice and repetition. By far the hardest part of the project was actually seeing the composition in the back of the camera, especially in the corners and secondly, the fact that it’s all back to front and upside down. One of the things that made it easier was researching the area that I wanted to shoot before I went with the 5x4 camera. I did this by scouting the area with my 35mm film camera so I had a record of the compositions of the area so it would be easier and less time consuming. Despite doing the extra legwork, it turned out my best shoot was done without this method because my pictures in the area around Reeth exceeded all my others because they followed minimalism the closest, and I had more experience with the camera. As I mentioned before Stephen Shore was one of the most talented and inspiring photographers that I‘ve research for this section. He was one of the ones that inspired me to take up the theme of minimalism as well as Robert Adams and Lewis Baltz who influenced the subject matter.

Now I’m at the end of the project there’s definitely a few things that I would have done differently because as I wasn’t at my most productive I made a few mistakes. The main cause of this was my organisation, which has been less than good recently as I have worked to meet contextual and professional studies deadlines. I would have also liked to do more shooting of specific areas like the hills in Reeth and Holy Island if it was possible to spend a weekend there. This would have been perfect because I would have been able to fully document the area therefore producing a set of images that link perfectly. One of the areas of film photography that I keep neglecting is the printing stage. In College I have access to a range of filters that can make the best of the negative, so I wish I’d experimented more with them to improve my marks and gain experience for future work. Despite these point I still think I’ve produced some of my best prints to date, so I’m just happy that I’m still progressing, which I will continue to do throughout the summer holiday.

Final prints

Choosing the final prints

Choosing the final prints

When I started thinking about this, I quickly realised that prints would conform to the subtheme of Roads and be losely shot with a minimalist style. This left me with twelve. Next I got rid of the pictures that weren’t in rural areas because there are a greater number of photos with roads in them. Now I have eight. Some of the roads in the pictures were barely visible so they got removed. Now I have six. Getting to five is easy because one of the photos was shot so the point of interest is at a distance in the picture which is the opposite to the rest.

I am quite happy with the final five. They link well because of their subject matter and in the way they’ve been taken. The major criticism that I have of the prints as a group is the difference of tones, some have a dark look and some are light. I think with clever positioning of the prints, this can be hidden slightly but it will be noticed.  

5x4 Reeth

I saw the potential of this area when I driving back from looking at the Stang Forest. I liked it because It was very high up so there were only a few hills that could be seen in the back of the camera so this is great for the minimalism that I was trying to incorporate into my work. The reason I didn’t do some research photos was because I had no 35mm film left and I was sure that this location was perfect for the 5x4 format.

The picture at the top is my favourite because I think the exposure of the sky and the ground is pretty much spot on and it typifies minimalism.

5x4 Stang Forest

This is the picture I took when I when back to the Stang Forest. As you can see the light conditions are much better so I’ve learnt from my previous mistake. I took this picture just to the right from where I took the original research picture. I don’t think the 5x4 format suited this photo so I’ve cropped it in Photoshop to a wider format.

35mm Stang Forest

Despite the poor quality of the picture I really think the Stang Forest is a great location. I had a few other photos that were unusably because they were really dark and I forgot to bring a tripod, so to make up for that I will go back with the 5x4 camera and get the photo.

5x4 Paddys Hole

 The next step after doing the research photos is to get out there with the 5x4 camera. I was feeling pretty optimistic about these shoots because I obviously had the locations sorted and the weather was looking good.  Unfortunately as I approached Redcar it started raining hard and continued for forty minutes. As it lightened I got out the car, but I soon realised that almost all the locations I wanted to shoot were inaccessible because of the conditions on the ground I had to walk on to get photo. This left me with one option left. I decided to take two photos because I liked the location and it was getting really dark, which I know is difficult for the camera because I’d taken some photos in similar conditions with very poor results.

I decided to shoot in slightly different locations because I thought these were better for the format I was shooting with.

35mm paddy's hole

I took these photos so I could find some good view points for when I went back with the 5x4 camera. I think I was quite successful with finding locations to shoot but it all depends on the weather because it was a big factor in the quality of the outcome, but also the accessibility of the locations .For example the picture on the left because it will be boggy and it would be very difficult to get the camera and gear there.

So if the weather’s on my side I will retake the top three   

Evaluation of pictures so far

Evaluation of pictures so far

I don’t think the pictures have been of a great standard so far. The only decent ones have been of Holy Island. I think this is because I’d been learning the workings of the camera and getting used to the new format for most of the first five weeks.  I feel I can ignore almost all the pictures apart from the Holy Island and Dunstanburgh ones. I think that the images I’m focusing on are a good start to the style that I want to shoot with for the up and coming shoots. I’m particularly happy with the boat photo. I think if I cropped it down to make it into a wider format so I can lose a bit of the road, it would make for a photo with potential as a final print. After looking at the photos together I noticed that I’ve created a sub theme ‘roads’, which could be adopted into the photos I take in the future.

Dunstanburgh and Holy Island

I look these photos while on a camping trip to Dunstanburgh. While I was there I went to Holy Island and some of the surrounding area.

I think it was a reasonably successful trip because I think I came away with three out of five pictures that I could potentially use as part of my final five. Even though I have three pictures I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get five because it would have made a good set that would have linked perfectly; but you can’t have everything.

My best three pictures are at the top and I’ve put them there because I think the compositions are the best and I think the lighting complements that. The thing that’s annoyed me while I was taking these photos was the dimensions of the film. Preferably I would have wanted a wider format so I could get more in. To make up for it I moved myself as far back as possible so I could get it all in, then just crop the top and bottom during the editing stage.

35mm research

Second trip round Hartlepool

Second trip round Hartlepool

As these things usually go the second time round was more successful than the first and it’s clear that I’m making progress with operating the camera which you can see in the composition. For this shoot I decided to reshoot one of the first locations I went with the camera because I was disappointed with the composition due to the cars (on the left edge) that distract the viewer from the main points of the photo. This time I decide to shoot portrait to avoid those cars and to get more of the texture of the brick work. With these minor adjustments the quality of the outcome is increased and it has greater potential. Due to the fact that I only had two pieces of film, I decided that I would find the two best photos in the immediate area so that led to the creation of the second photo. I know the photo isn’t great but I’m sure this location has potential because you can feel the character of the area as you walk through it. With a bit more time or a different camera I could have given it justice.

I think I’m at a level now that I could go out with the camera and make a go of it, so I will plan different locations to shoot and start recording some good images for the theme.      

First trip around Hartlepool

First trip around Hartlepool

I thought my first trip around Hartlepool went well but when I came out of the deep tank room after processing I realised that it had been a waste of time because my only reasonable photo had light damage at the top. Therefore I don’t think it’s worth talking about further. My other photo is pretty poor because the car is too distracting. When I originally framed the photo I thought it was alright but there was a tiny bit of car poking in so I tried to involve it in the photo by bringing it more towards the centre. After spending ten minutes trying to get the best picture possible it started to rain so I didn’t spend much time after that trying get it right and I just took it. If I’ve learnt anything from this shoot it is not to get your hopes up until you’re holding a properly developed negative in your hand and to stay calm when you’re shooting, even if it starts raining. It’s not worth wasting a piece of film.

During the drying stage someone put their prints on top of mine so there are white tear marks on the prints; which isn’t a big problem because I knew that I wasn’t going to be using them before I properly finished processing.  So even though I couldn’t see the detail it doesn’t really matter on this occasion.

5x4 Practice Photos

5x4 Practice Photos

I took these photos to practice using the new 5x4 film camera that we have to use in the project and as you can see, I haven’t found it the easiest thing to use. The hardest part of it was trying to organise the composition because everything is back to front and upside down and to add to that, it’s really hard to see anything in the corners of the frame because there’s less light getting to them which adds to the difficulty of composition.

I decide to photo the car in the middle because I’ve walked past it almost every day of the year and I always thought it would be a decent picture. Even though it doesn’t look great I still think it has potential so I’ll shoot it again at a later date when I have some more experience with the camera and hopefully do it justice.   

Evaluation of research

Evaluation of research

My research has been really helpful in giving me a direction to take my work this time. From the work I’ve seen from the photographers on the list, I determined that keeping it simple is the best way to go. By this I mean I won’t spend too much time worrying about the location that I end up shooting. I will spend more time trying to find the best photo from it, even if its supermarket car park because I don’t want to revert  back to doing traditional landscape with the pretty flowers and mountains which I know I can do. So to keep it simple I will try to adopt a minimalist style so I can focus on the basics and do them well.

The photographer who has influenced me the most was Stephen Shore because he was able to create great photos from any location which you can see from the photos that I’ve posted. So I will shoot a range of locations and try to get the best out of it.

Lewis Baltz’s

 Lewis Baltz’s

I think Lewis Baltz’s work appeals to me because of its simplistic style. He tends to position himself head on to the subject or at 45degrees to give a structured and considered look to his work which he possibly does to mimic the content of the pictures. My favourite photo by him is the one at the bottom because he manages to position the camera in a way that makes the picture symmetrical which defies traditional ideas of what landscape photography should look like. One thing I have noticed about his work is that he tends to shoot on days where the light is harsh so it provides dark, contrasting shadows which are key to photos success (particularly the bottom photograph).

After doing this research I am keen to try and employ his style of shooting on some of the locations I am planning, which included some urban areas.

Frank Gohlke

Frank Gohlke

I chose to research Franks work because I think he’s documented the effects of ‘disaster’ really well by covering a large amount of the area with a range of shooting styles.

My favourite photo by him is the top one because I like how the trees are defined by the sky due to the contrast in tone, which highlights the point that he’s trying to put across. I also like the light that’s falling on the dozer which makes it a point of interest in the foreground, as well as the leading line of the road and the texture it has.

I was particularly interested in this forest section of his work because I recently drove through the  Stang forest which has a similar feel as Mt St Helen; so I will probably go back there at some point in the next ten weeks and try to work in his style. 

John Davies

John Davies

John Davies tends to use a documentary style when he photographs the landscape so he includes the most prominent object in his photographs to properly record the landscape. While I would like to do this in my own work, it’s hard to be original so your work will be always compared to others. Despite this there is still a lot that I can learn from his photography. For example the use of leading lines in the three architectural photos here. There is also the way that he composes his photos which normally contain points of interest in every plain of the photo.

  

Robert Adams

Robert Adams

Robert Adams is an American photographer who focuses on the changing landscape in west America. From looking at his work he constantly uses a minimalist approach which helps him to emphasise the small changes that have been made. One of my favourite characteristics of his work is the vast range of tones and the deep contrast between different sections on the picture. This is partially due to how he’s processed the film, but also how he’s planned his day so the sun will create shadows on the area of land he wants to shoot. This organisation is best seen in the picture on the left. In this picture he positions himself on the top of the hill and includes the dark face at the bottom to get that deep range of tone. If he hadn’t planned it this way, it would have been a flat monotone photo.

So from this research I have learnt that planning a photo shoot can completely affect the outcome of a trip. I am also quite keen to shoot in a similar minimalist style because when I look at his photos, I’m much more intrigued in the meaning of them compared to other traditional photographers work.