Digital Photographic Practice
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Sean Sweeney Student Number 510149 Digital Photographic Practice Study Log Contents Workflow Processing the Image The Final Image A Sequence of Actions 5 The Value of RAW 41 Finishing 77 Your Own Workflow 7 Optimising Tone and Colour: Managing Tone 45 A Web Gallery 79 Your Own Workflow 2 9 Optimising Tone and Colour: Managing Colour 47 Assignment 5: A Personal Project 81 Histograms 15 Creative Interpretation: Tutor Report 83 Editing 17 Interpretative Processing 49 Response to Tutor Report 83 Assignment 1: Workflow 19 Black and White: Black and White 51 Tutor Report 21 Black and White: Strength of Interpretation 53 Book Reviews Response to Tutor Report 21 Black and White: Colours into tones 1 55 Abandoned Places: The Photographer’s Black and White: Colours into tones 2 57 Selection – Henk van Rensbergen 85 Digital Image Qualities Assignment 3: Monochrome 59 Langford’s Advanced Photography – Linear Capture 23 Tutor Report 61 Michael Langford, Efthimia Bilissi 87 Highlight Clipping 25 Response to Tutor Report 61 On Photography – Susan Sontag 89 Noise 27 Dynamic Range: Reality and Intervention Gallery Visits Your Camera’s Dynamic Range 29 Digital Photography and ‘Truth’: Anton Corbijn: 1-2-3-4 91 Dynamic Range: Correction 63 Erik Johansson: Imagine Created Reality 93 Scene Dynamic Range 31 Digital Photography and ‘Truth’: Patrick Demarchelier: Lumière 95 White Balance and Overall Colour: Improvement or Interpretation 65 Arthur Fellig ‘Weegee’: EXTRA! 97 Colour Caste and White Balance 33 Digital Photography and ‘Truth’: White Balance and Overall Colour: Enhancement 67 Reference Reading List 98 Indoor Outdoor 35 Digital Photography and ‘Truth’: Thoughts and Conclusions on DPP 99 Assingment 2: Seeing Like Your Camera 37 Addition 69 Tutor Report 39 Digital Photography and ‘Truth’: Response to Tutor Report 39 Alteration 71 Assignment 4: Real or Fake 73 Tutor Report 75 Response to Tutor Report 75 Workflow A Sequence of Actions Workflow routines are a very personal decision. Whilst prepare for, and actually work at creating the image. generally everyone will have the same steps within Some people will use minimal equipment, whilst some their routine, the order they go about them, and the will have everything they could possibly need and fine details of things like conversion, editing and more, just in case. I tend to be somewhere in the mid- archiving may be done either in a completely differ- dle, and like to have enough spare batteries and flash ent order or method, or even, in some cases not at all. cards, a spare flash and a lens or two, and camera What will always be the same is that we go from the that can stand in should the one I have chosen to use image we captured to a final image we deem suitable malfunction. for print or display. Software itself can be a very obvious bone of con- It is interesting to sit down and examine my work- tention amongst photographers. The accepted norm flow, as it is not something I have ever consciously being Adobe products, Lightroom, Bridge and Photo- constructed, it has more evolved over many years of shop. This obviously isn’t always the case, were some use. This evolution means that whilst it works per- medium format digital cameras have their own pre- fectly for me, it would most likely not suit everyone. ferred software, Phase One Capture One Pro for exam- This is something I have found amongst friends, their ple. There are also the free versions that come with workflow is always slightly different to mine, we may cameras, like the Canon Digital Photo Professional, have started out with the same simple steps, but over and computer specific software like Apple Photos. I time we adjust the way we do things to our own per- personally prefer to use the Canon DPP package, with sonal preferences. This doesn’t just involve the steps Photoshop for more involved editing. As a little experi- themselves but even the levels within each step. ment I did try using some of the other software to see Some people may sharpen or saturate more, some if it would change the way I work, and after several may have complex key wording, archives and back- versions I came to the conclusion that I am happy as I ups may be just one extra copy, or two or three. The am. Some RAW converters may offer greater versatil- colour space in which we work may be different, RGB, ity, be slightly more intuitive or even offer functions Adobe RGB, CMYK, and the actual file format we use that DPP does not. However DPP works for me, being can vary .TIF or .JPG or .PSD even .BMP or .PNG. These comfortable with what I am doing, and knowing the are all personal choices and whilst some are techni- limitations and advantages of a specific piece of soft- cally better than others, what becomes comfortable ware, is of more value to me, than changing just to fit and preferred tends to be what we will stick with. in with what is viewed as the normal or in the view of Our own routines will also have an effect on how we some people, correct way of doing things. 4 5 Workflow Your own Workflow 1 Approaching this exercise I decided to limit the time of in the form of one of my old cameras, we began the composition for example, was lost to allowing the the exercise to 30 minutes, and use an outdoor loca- shoot at approximately 6.00pm shoot to develop in its own way, the model moving tion to create a series of images inspired by some of The major problem with such a short time span from spot to spot, and the choice of close or full body the 1970’s advertisments I rememeber. The strong- is that I felt I could approach it in two ways. Firstly images becoming based more on the feeling at the est recollection I have of them, is that they always whilst calling direction to the model, take as many time, than any preplanned shot list. This may have appeared slightly washed out, the colours faded shots as possible. Giving me a larger number of im- stepped away from the spirit of the exercise, but it somehow even though they were often also overly ages to chose the final selection from. The second felt a more natural way to allow the shoot to progress. warm in the way they looked. To achieve this I had to choice, take things slowly and be carefull in the In the time allowed, around 66 images were recorded improvise somewhat with the lighting, and decided to choice of when to press the shutter button. It is worth and of these I pre selected 19 and processed them in use two portable studio flashes. The first, which was noting that whilst the model was a little shy due to such a way as to view them as final images. After do- to be used to create the background lighting had 2 never having done anything like this before, and of- ing this, I decided ont he final 8, as being the closest full CTO warming gels applied, and was to be set back fering to help out as a favour, she did a great job of possible to my original idea of a warm or washed out around ten metres and pointed more or less directly creating the feeling I was after. At this point the sec- 70s advertising look. at the camera, whilst always being just outside of the ond choice of slow and steady seemed to be the best The workflow I used is the one I always use, as was frame. The second lamp was equiped with a 90cm oc- fit, with both the subject and the model being taken illustrated in the previous exercise, and shown here. tagonal softbox, and would be situated around 1.5m into consideration. Whilst this workflow may not be suitable for every- to 2m away from the model, lighting her and hopefully A number of the full length shots gave the feeling one, it works for me, and having used it for many removing any effect the warming gels would have on I was looking for, a kind of 70’s hippy in the forest. years now it is second nature, rather than follwoing her appearence. There was however a larger number of images from a set of instructions. Having this feeling of comfort Limiting the time to 30 minutes would mean that closer that I prefered, and this can be seen in the in what I am doing makes the whole process a little not only would I have to work fast, but also be clear choice of final selected images. As we progressed less stressful, and depending on the imagery certain and precise in the diorection given to the model. Using through the shoot, I found that as usual some of the steps can be omitted or kept in as I see fit. suitably retro style clothing, and an impromptue prop pre planning was lost, the iudea of working to improve < Selected images 6 7 Workflow 8 9 Workflow Your own Workflow 2 As this exercise was supposed to be unstructured, I colour noise from shooting at a higher ISO in lower Planned workflow decided to use the wedding of my sister as the set- light levels. • Equipment choice - limited to 50mm and natural ting. Whilst wedding photography is usually a highly I decided to not only print the final images chosen light structured event, I had the advantage of not being for my sister, but to also supply them on a USB stick • Image Capture – try to capture expressions and there as the official photographer, and as such de- to both her and my father.