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. This gives them both a moments of silliness cided to try and concentrate on moments the wed- back up copy should anything unfortunate happen to • Image Capture – try to avoid all obvious angles ding photographer wouldn’t be looking for, or that he the prints. and scenes, and anything obviously album worthy would deem not worthy of inclusion in the wedding Overall my planned workflow worked exactly as • Post Capture – check in camera when time per- album. I had also decided previously to limit myself to intended, the one minor issue being avoiding the obvi- mits for obvious bad focus, light etc. a 50mm focal length, and the use of natural light only, ous angles and scenes of a wedding is quite difficult, • Download – wait until returning home before view- as a way of stopping myself getting drawn into any- as you are naturally drawn into them as the wedding ing the images on computer thing that could be considered stepping on the toes progresses. Trying to step away from the usual im- • First edit – check through images for bad focus, of the official photographer. Also, an event such as a ages into something a little more light hearted was an bad lighting, failed composition wedding, even with my limited plan for image taking interesting challenge, and hopefully is a step beyond • Second edit – remove any repetitive images that would produce a large number of images, and as such the current trend for reportage styled wedding pho- show the same thing more than once the editing procedure needs to be quite strict to cut tography. I think if anything the one thing I needed to • Third edit – Selection of preferred images, conver- them down to an acceptable number. do more of was in camera editing of the images that sion from RAW to .TIFF The main issue with this exercise was selecting were duplicates of each other, or miss focussed. The • Fourth edit – minor adjustments and crops to the images to use, from the large number of images total number of images recorded was 327, this was selected images taken, my workflow has a step were repetitive or simi- reduced to 309 in camera, after removing duplicates • Fifth edit – conversion to black and white lar images are removed in favour of the best single and images I found to be lacking, I was left with 172 • Sixth edit – sharpen for print image, this is an important step that saves a lot of images. The final selection numbered 55, some of • Final edit – archive chosen files and unused files time when we come to the adjustments steps. which are reproduced on the page opposite. This • Print and save .JPG copies to separate USB drives A slightly high key black and white format was may seem like a big cut of images, but I decided to be for sister and father. chosen purely because I know it is a style my sister overly harsh in my selection, as part of the workflow likes, and also by doing this I can mask some of the exercise.

10 11 Workflow

12 13 Workflow Histograms

The histogram can be an extremely useful tool as well bright image. A higher contrast image, will have higher exposure on the other hand, again pulls the histogram as a source of information about the properties of peaks at either end of the scale, with much lower into a tighter shape, away from the ends of the scale, the image. This exercise mainly concentrates on the peaks in the centre, or mid tones of the image. with all of the tones being much closer together. use of the histogram as a way of assessing the image The low contrast image starts as we expect with I mentioned at the start using the histogram as a after capture. Showing us how the shape changes the histogram being mostly in the centre of the scale, tool. I often find it useful when capturing an image to depending on the contrast within an image. Bunched with no peaking at either end. In this case raising the take one, and have a look at the histogram. From here up curves, squeezed into a small area show a limited exposure, also increases the contrast between the we can decide to add or reduce exposure, to control range of tones, where as an equal spread across the wet and dry areas of the sand, causing the histogram tones or bright spots and to even change the whole High Contrast + High Contrast High Contrast - range will show we have a wide range of tones. Of to move slightly to the side., and to spread itself a lit- mood of an image. For example an image captured course it is never as simple as that, the height of the tle wider. Even so, the range of tones is still quite lim- at night, with a brightly flash lit subject, can be given peaks also gives us a clue as to how bright or dark ited, and as such this causes the distinct peak, rather a different overall feeling by using the histogram to these tones are, and it is easy to replicate an image than a wider, more level histogram. Reducing the move the tones into the darker end of the scale, creat- where we have high peaks at either end with very lit- exposure here seems to have the effect of squeezing ing an image where the subject is a little less obvi- tle in the mid range, photographing something that is the histogram closer together. The limited tones on ous, and more hiding in the shadows. It is also worth a deep black and a bright shade of white for example. offer are much closer to each other, due to the under- briefly touching upon the often used phrase of expose To start with the high contrast images. In the origi- exposure and as such this makes for a much tighter to the right. This involves over exposing an image nal image the histogram is spread fairly evenly across steeper peak in the histogram. slightly, and correcting the exposure later in process- the range, with maybe a little less at the dark end of With the medium contrast image, the histogram is ing. The idea here being to stop highlight detail being the scale than I expected. Increasing the exposure fairly well placed in the centre of the range, and the lost as the cameras dynamic range is exceeded. This causes the histogram to spread out more across the the tail ends of the curve spread out fairly closely has the effect of initially creating a lower contrast im- range, giving a little extra room at the darker end towards either end of the scale. Increasing the ex- age, with a slightly squeezed histogram, although not of the scale. To my mind this suggests I had under posure here has the effect of again increasing the to the point of it being a tall narrow peak in the centre. exposed the original image slightly, and by increasing contrast within the darker areas, yet the lighter areas During processing the exposure is corrected, the high- Low Contrast + Low Contrast Low Contrast - the exposure I merely corrected the positioning of the do not change by a large amount. This is due to the lights hopefully retain more detail,, and the histogram histogram. On decreasing the exposure, the ends of way the image is recorded. Using average metering returns to evenly spread shape. the histogram have moved closer together, suggest- here, on what is a bright image with a lot of white, the Understanding the histogram is a vital part of the ing a less even spread of tones, However it has also camera has decided to underexpose slightly, want- digital photographers toolbox, as by manipulating moved somewhat to the right, mainly due to the areas ing to record the snow as the equivalent to 18% grey the shape of the histogram, we also change the way of extreme brightness, which are blown out, due to as opposed to being actually white. This is a common a finished image appears. Of course this understand- being beyond the dynamic range of the camera sen- problem when photographing snow covered scenes ing is equally important in analogue photography, but sor to record. The results I would usually expect will and as such requires a slight increase in exposure to there is no easy visual representation to refer to with tend to follow the pattern of, a balanced image having capture the snow as being white. There is of course each shot. This ease of reference enables us to make a widely spread histogram, covering all areas from the obvious problem, that doing so can easily lead changes as we work, correcting exposure or altering it light to dark. A lower contrast image will be peaking, to large areas being blown out if not careful. The to suit our will, so that we can do as much of the work either in the middle or towards either end of the scale histogram on this image shows a wider range being in camera as possible, making our time in processing depending on whether it is overall a mostly dark or recorded than on the unadjusted image. Reducing the both shorter and easier.

Medium Contrast + Medium Contrast Medium Contrast -

14 15 Workflow

Editing

Selection and editing is something that I often find from the set, I decided on the two final images, using myself being a little more strict on than maybe I a simple method. They had to convey the idea of the Full sequence should. I have often had people ask why, what appear original shoot, a 70s style advertising look. The faded to them to be perfectly good images have not been and bleached look of printed soft drink adds, or any used or chosen. I think this is more down to the way other number of lifestyle products. It was with this we as photographers view our work, than the people criteria in mind I decided on the final pair of images. that view our images actually see it. As an interesting experiment, I asked my partner to I used a previous exercise here to see just how perform the same task, with the exception of process- picky I could be, starting off with over 60 images, ing, to whittle down the images to a final set. At each these were soon reduced to 40, when I removed any step more images were retained, with the final choice that I considered duplicated, slightly out of focus numbering 5. The reasoning behind this being nothing or even unappealing. This is the first step, and the more complex than they were the images that were removal of anything obvious. most liked and most appealing. The next step is a little more involved, Firstly a As I touched on at the start, as photographers we closer inspection for any errors, less obvious micro are probably more harsh in the critique of our own blurring, blown highlights in small areas even down work than other people who may be viewing it. Where Selects to reflections or movement blur in the background. It we see a slight blur, or an awkward pose, other people is this step where I find myself being a lot more picky will see a pleasing image. Whilst I am in no way saying than maybe I need be. This reduced the set of images we should be any less thorough with our own stand- down to 19. This set was chosen as it contains the ards, I think we should realise that we are always images that come closest to my faded 70s advertise- going to be harder on ourselves than the non photog- ment idea. Each of the chosen images has something raphy obsessed normal people viewing the finished that brings it closer to the style I wanted, whether its product will be, and that sometimes the technically the pose or the dreamier look, the warmth of the back- prefect, beautifully lit, wonderfully composed pho- ground light or the expression on the models face. tograph we have spent time working on, will fall into All of these images are then processed into final second place behind a less perfect (to our eyes) im- images. From here I can narrow the selection down age, just because the viewer likes it or connects with even further. Whilst it is easy to chose 5 or 10 images it more.

First selects

16 17 Workflow Assignment 1 : Workflow

The aim of this assignment is to create a themed the beaten track, and require either driving off road Actual Photography > In camera checks Using Photoshop is something I generally try to keep some print companies prefer the smaller file sizes of much the same for everything that a photographer series of images based on a subject you feel comfort- or walking a considerable distance. Whilst this is no Luckily for me the weather was fairly reasonable, the to a minimum, unless I had already planned for the JPG. does, these rules will change and adapt as is needed able with. Then construct a workflow from beginning issue in the summer months, in the winter it poses heavy overcast skies had gone and it was a bright image to be heavily edited for creative reasons. After completion of work all files are saved into two The most problematic part of this exercise was the to end, and display the images in either the form of a numerous problems. Travelling through deep snow and crisp winters day. The temperature was fairly Minor adjustments are made to the TIF files, these locations, firstly an internal hard drive, and secondly need to change from the camera I would normally use, web gallery or prints. on foot, carrying equipment in minus temperatures high at minus 5 degrees, but there was a very strong usually involve slight tweaking of levels and curves an external hard drive. Every two weeks these loca- to one that is less of a work tool and more of a leisure Being based in Sweden, and having winter arrive is very challenging, the same problems occur when wind blowing which whilst making it feel much colder, to give a little contrast boost, and depending on the tion are backed up to an external hard drive which is time pocket camera. Whilst this did cause some slight a little early in the form of 30cm to 40cm of snow driving, and the chances of getting stuck in an area also had the pleasing effect of creating low level image some colour correction, to either give a slight not left connected to the PC. issues, it was less important than the actual workflow across most of the country over the course of a cou- where no one goes are very high. This led me to look clouds of very fine blowing snow. boost to vibrancy or to lower it slightly to give a more I store my images in a somewhat complex manner. aspect of the assignment. ple of days, some of my preferred areas of photogra- at the areas between Visby and Klintehamn, rural In total I created 134 images. 38 of these were natural looking image. Occasionally I will use the Each camera has a separate folder, within that there One thought that occurred to me whilst talking with phy had to be instantly removed from the list of choic- areas either covered in forest or with small farms, deleted in camera due to obvious issues, including shadow and highlight tool to boost or reduce, depend- are folders for each style of shoot, landscape, portrait non photographer friends, is that there is a general es. Classic car owners are not willing to bring their narrow country roads and a somewhat attractive ap- missed focus, incorrect exposure and bad composi- ing how I want the final look of the image. There are etc. and Post Processed. Inside these folders each misconception that photography is a short process. pride and joy out in such weather. Having contacted pearance. tion. no pre sets used for these minor adjustments, and shoot is sorted into a separate folder by date and lo- You take the photograph, do a little Photoshop and a number of local models it also appeared that the The initial preparation of equipment was straight depend entirely on each individual image. With the cation. All original RAW files, TIF and JPG conversions print it. People seem surprised when you tell them chance of producing portraits anywhere other than a forward. Make sure all batteries are charged the night Post Process Workflow snowscape images there was very little additional are kept in these folders in sub folders. All work that about the research and planning, the processes from studio were non existent until the weather warmed up before and that the camera has a clean sensor, and Download images to PC > Check and convert images work, with just some contrast added and a slight re- has been processed through CS5 is in Post processed going from a RAW file to a final print, and just how significantly. Street photography was a possibility, that all memory cards are formatted and in place. from RAW > View images in Adobe bridge > Select duction in the blue colour selection to remove a blue folder and again is sorted by subject, location and much time can be spent on archiving and cataloguing but living on a small island, I say small it is 3,184km², Clean and check the function of any lenses or flashes which images to edit in CS5 tint from the snow. date. While some may find this method slightly convo- your work. that only has one town of any size, and the lack of being used. Make sure the tripod is ready and that the After inserting the SD card into the PC and download- Sharpening is something that again is very indi- luted and clumsy, I find it works for me. people moving about due to the weather meant I de- bag contains spare memory cards and cleaning cloths, ing the images, I used the Fuji RAW editing software vidual, I find some images need it and some don’t cided to leave this for a later project or assignment. In rocket blower and in this case a large neoprene wrap to apply basic corrections to colour and sharpness when being viewed on a screen. However when being Thoughts and Conclusions the end I decided to produce a small series of winter for the camera to keep moisture off of the camera before converting the images to JPG and TIF. During printed all images benefit from a slight boost. By planning my workflow like this I find it easier to landscapes to be displayed as prints. whilst travelling to the locations. This is important due this any with obvious faults are deleted. The methods I use vary from a simple unsharp plan shoots, making sure everything is ready be- Initially I had intended to photograph these using to the very low temperatures, and a camera with some The JPG files are then viewed in Adobe bridge and mask to a more involved high pass filter based sharp- fore hand, with a clear direction on what is going to my Canon 1Dx and a 17-40mm wide angle lens. How- warm moisture from inside the car will very quickly a final selection on which to edit in Photoshop CS5 ening method. This involves creating a duplicate layer be done takes away any guess work, and then any ever, due to a break in the night before the planned become covered in ice once exposed to strong winds is made. During this process I am looking for much with the high pass filter, and adjusting it until you can problems that occur can be dealt with at the time. shoot, which resulted in 2 broken windows and the and minus 10 and lower temperatures. In this instance smaller issues. For example micro blurring due to see a fairly clear outline of the detail in the image, This in turn allows me to create the images I want, theft of only some alcohol, a handful of rechargeable it is also worth noting that in preparation for this, I also slight camera movement or subject movement, shad- this is not a fixed value, and will change with each and 9 times out of 10 to be happy with the final selec- AA batteries and my Canon charger, I had to change had to take into account having the correct clothing, ows obscuring detail and any unwanted flaring or image. The by changing the blending mode you can tion. There is always of course the chance, that I may my plans and use my Fuji X100s, with its fixed 35mm flasks of hot drinks and sugary snacks, and the prepa- colour anomalies. Of the 90 images I started out with see the sharpening being applied. I tend to use soft decide something is just not good enough, and start equivalent lens. Not the ideal solution, but it does ration of the vehicle. It would have been foolish to take this was reduced to 63 after being extremely critical light or hard light modes most often,and then adjust all over again. produce high quality images, and very pleasing colour the risk of being stuck in the middle of a forest for with what I considered to be faults. the opacity to a suitable point. The image is then flat- I am sure each photographer has their own pre- tones. several hours without any means of keeping warm. The final selection of images to be passed on to CS5 tened and saved. This method has the advantage of ferred workflow, and that whilst they will all be broad- I had planned a route using both local knowledge was 9. This process is perhaps the most time con- creating less obvious sharpening artefacts, and less ly similar, there will be slight differences here and Initial Workflow and google maps, this covered a wide area and was suming, as it comes down to very small differences halo effects when you are getting close to over sharp- there. These will be down I think mainly to personal Select subject > research locations > prepare equip- some 175km in length, using both country roads, and personal preferences for which image can be ening. preferences, archiving and cataloguing, software ment > travel to locations and unsurfaced forest roads. The idea was to leave best edited to provide exactly what I am looking for. The files are then saved for printing. The format and choice etc. are all in the ‘what works for you’ area. After deciding on the winterscapes theme it was time at around 9am, as by then the sun is more or less up, colour space of these files depends entirely on which Also the actual physical act of photography may vary to work out where to go. The problem I had was many and to be finished by approximately 4pm when the Photoshop CS5 > Minor adjustments > Cropping > printer I am using, adobe RGB, sRGB, CMYK are the with each person, and each type of subject. This leads of the more interesting locations are somewhat of sun has set. Sharpening > Saving for print > Archiving most common. I prefer to print from TIF files however me to the conclusion that whilst workflow plans are 18 19 Workflow

Tutor Report Response to Tutor

Feedback on assignment So for example I have a Level 3 student who was a I must admit that on first reading I thought Clive’s You’ve completely met the aims of the assignment very experienced landscape photographer working in comments to be a little on the harsh side. This did with ease. As a pointer for future assignments once the grand romantic style and the basic intent of such only however last for as long as it took to finish read- one has achieved the base line of meeting the as- images is to titillate with the beauty of nature, it’s ing his feedback. I can understand exactly what he signment brief then one should always be looking for essentially saying the same thing over and over again means in regard to the repetitive nature of some ways to exceed what has been asked in terms of the and it becomes repetitive for an informed audience imagery. In that, after a while they all appear to be complexity and ambition of the imagery. and unfulfilling for the maker so the challenge is to pretty much the same, regardless of any subject The overall arc of the degree is about developing find a way of incorporating their experience yet mov- changes within them. Whilst obviously I would defend ones personal voice, this is just another way of say- ing their practice on. my choices here, I can see that they are a little on the ing one needs to be constantly exploring to discover Their solution is to look at the tension between our safe side. Concentrating more on the workflow side what ones work is about through making work. It’s reading of the landscape as an emotional repository of the assignment more than on putting any mes- the difference between penmanship and authorship. and its economic value to us as a means of produc- sage or meaning into the images themselves, other Someone may have beautiful handwriting but if all tion. than here is a nice snowy landscape. I am however they ever write is, ‘The quick brown fox jumped over Another Level 3 OCA student with a similar back- happy with the work, the final images are pleasing, the lazy dog’ then an audience will soon lose interest ground, when reviewing their past work to find a way and representative of a normal winter day here, even compared to reading an involving complex narrative of progressing, noticed that they often photographed if they may be more suitable for some kind of travel even if it’s scrawled with a pencil stub. paths going away from them and disappearing into brochure than for inclusion in a gallery display. The The assignments are starting points to make work trees and are researching into the symbolism and object of the assignment, the workflow methods, are from but the over arching aim should always be to mythology of paths to inform their ongoing work. clearly described and explained, as are my processes discover and refine ones personal voice so that the It’s never too early to start thinking in these ways and reasoning at all stages of the exercise. Body of Work produced at Level 3 is sophisticated in and future modules are built around the idea. its intent, personal understanding and relevant within the context of serious contemporary photographic Tutor: Clive White culture, against which it will be judged.

20 21 Digital Image Qualities

Linear Capture

When viewing the two images side by side, the first of noise. The shadows will retain a little less detail, but thing I notice is the darker appearence of the image crucially also contain more noise. This is most obvious with the linear curve applied, and the somewhat more when we try to recover detail in the shadow areas, and saturated appearing colours. On further inspection depending on the dynamic range of the sensor, as we it becomes apparent that the highlights have a little push the exposure up by more stops, noise will start more detail in them, even in areas that may appear to appear, and perhaps banding, much more obviously slightly blown on the image we would describe as nor- than it would were we adjusting the highlight levels. mal. This has the advantage of reducing the chance Whilst it is very unlikely we would ever view an iage of highlight clipping when the image is displayed in captured in this linear mode, it is worthwhile being normal mode. aware of how the capture of light and dark areas af- Linear Curve Looking at the histograms we can see that the fects the final image, and how if we are purposefully normal image is spread out as we would expect, the under or over exposing to change the level sin post wide range of tones from light to dark are fairly equally production, it can have a detrimental effect on the represented. On the linear image the histogram is overall image quality, even if we are just using pho- pushed up to the left hand side, all of the tones, from toshop to lift shadow areas. At this point knowing our light to dark sharing a much smaller area of the histo- equipment becomes important, the ammount we can gram. What this means is that on converting to normal lift shadows before noise takes, and whether or not mode the highlights will be given a slight priority in the we need to start thinking about other methods before retention of detail, meaning we can adjust their expo- we resort to post processing, ND filters, flash etc. sure with little risk of loss of detail or the appearence

Normal 22 23 Digital Image Qualities

Highlight Clipping

Highlight clipping is a problem we often come across, tinted brown or grey, and as such stand out as if they whether it be bright skies or reflections, or light and are floating in a patch of solid white. There are some dark items together in an image. We can combat this slight colour abarations along the edges of the off in a number of ways, underexposing will preserve white and solid white, but these are fairly hard to see highlight detail, and shadow detail can be retrieved in without pixel peeping. post processing. And in some cases enhance the col- As we reduce exposure we can see detail return our in a way similar to raising saturation. We can use to the image, but not quite as much as where it has graduated ND filters to artificially lower the bright- been correctly exposed for the white. It does however ness of highlights whilst maintaining other levels, show the texture in slightly more detail at -1 stop from -3 -2 -1 though this is only really effective in images where the slightly over exposed image, however this is not there is an obvious division between the two. A more enough to make it more worthy of keeping than the simple way is to expose with a slight move towards correctly exposed image. The blues and greens are a underexposure, maybe a third of a stop or so. This can little more saturated, but the darker colours, blacks keep detail in both the high lights and shadows, and and browns are beginning to lose detail. In the -2 stop save heavily adjusting either in photoshop. and -3 stop images the detail in the roof and shadows If we look at the images as captured, the normal is obviously lower. There are no areas of completely image shows enough details still kept in the white lost information in the lowered exposure images, I walls to see textures and form. Increasing this by a think this is more due to the fact it was a very bright third of a stop was enough to bring the white areas to day with very light shadows, than the ability of my the edge of losing detail. Increasing this by one fur- camera to record shadow detail. ther stop resulted in a very large area of pure white, We can see overall that by lowering the overall ex- with no detail at all to speak of. Other colours have posure we have retained a little detail over the image lost some saturation, most noticed in the greens and where we were on the edge of clipping the highlights. blues of the image. There is an obvious transition here However, the image where I exposed purely for the from the totally white areas, to the areas that are white walls, retains far more detail than by using the slightly off white, certain stones are ever so slightly method of exposure compensation.

Normal +1 Edge of clipping

24 25 ISO 50 ISO 100 ISO 200 ISO 400 Digital Image Qualities

Noise

As we can see from the images, noise will always ever still there. We just don’t notice it as much due to on the subject, but if I want to utilise the naturally begin to present itself as the ISO rises. This is some- the noise it self being slightly camouflaged within the occurring light, then I need to raise the ISO. Now we thing that we can not get away from, in film pho- lighter tones. are at the point of some noise being acceptable in the tography we had grain, and in digital photography The advantage of using higher ISO levels is that we portrait. If this portrait contains a never to be repeat- ISO 800 ISO 1600 ISO 3200 ISO 6400 we have noise. It is also obvious that today we can can maintain or increase our shutter speeds, allow- ed moment, something unique in someone’s life then work with ISO levels undreamed of in the days of film ing for the hand holding of the camera in conditions that noise level can rise even higher. An image I might photography, 6400 and 12800 are quite common- where lower ISO numbers would cause the shutter normally discard can in these circumstances become place on even what would be considered entry level speed to be slow enough to introduce blurring. Wheth- a valuable record of events. It is worth noting, that in DSLR cameras, and even available on compact and er this comes through subject movement, or the many cases where the people viewing the images are phone cameras. Obviously the level of noise will vary shaking of the camera the result is the same, usually not photographers, there is a much higher tolerance depending on the quality of the sensor, but for the an unusable image. for noise than we as photographers might have. majority of users, we can now easily capture images Obviously when we create an image, ideally the When we ask ourselves how much noise is accept- in conditions that would previously have been prob- lighting will be perfect, supplemented if need be by able, the answer must always be that it depends lematic. Even looking back and viewing images from a vast array of studio lights, equipped with various on the subject and the image itself. The images on ISO 12800 ISO 25600 ISO 51200 ISO 102400 my previous digital cameras it is easy to see huge modifiers and reflectors,and we can use the lowest the previous page for example, there is a little noise progress has been made, my first digital camera was ISO setting possible to create our perfect image. As creeping into the dark areas around ISO 6400, and at a Canon 350d, which had a maximum ISO of 1600. we are all aware the real world doesn’t work like this, 12800 this can be slightly more easily seen. However Noise was obvious in darker areas by ISO 400, and in and this is where the use of a higher ISO is of huge at these levels the images are still fit for purpose, we real world use ISO 800 was the maximum you would benefit. The ability to capture a moment is, for exam- can clearly see the subject, colours and textures. To feel comfortable using. Contrast this to today, where ple vital to photojournalists. Often the two options my eyes at ISO 25600 and above is where the images my Canon 1dX, a camera now considered dated, will available are a slightly, or even quite noisy image, or are no longer usable, the noise obscures colour and produce images that are noise free at ISO 3200, and no image at all. For anything of any importance, the texture, and at the two higher levels is obviously over- comfortably useable in most circumstances up to ISO noisy image will always be better than having no im- powering the detail within the image. 12800, before we begin to notice any major adverse age at all. If the final image is what we wanted to achieve, effects within the image. It is this kind of progress in In our normal day to day work we are used to hav- then surely this is what is more important than the ISO 204800 technology which is more beneficial to use as photog- ing clean imagery, but at times even normal pho- level of noise we can see. Some of the greatest im- raphers, than the never ending megapixel wars. tographers will stray into the higher reaches of their ages produced by the greatest photographers could Viewing the images we can see that noise is most available ISO levels, and as such will have to decide be considered quite noisy, Robert Capra ‘The Falling obvious in darker areas, and with any exposure ad- how much noise is acceptable. I find myself that this Soldier’ for example, or Neil Leifer and the image of justment in post processing this noise can become varies depending entirely on the image. A landscape Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston. The grain in these more obvious, the same can be said when it comes to for example I prefer to be noise free, a portrait is also images doesn’t make them any less impressive, a sharpening an image. The more we add sharpening, preferable this way. However, what if the portrait is good image is a good image, regardless of noise, the more we will see the noise within the image. Noise of someone in a dark setting? Sure I can use a flash, sharpness or any other technical picking point. appears to be less obvious in lighter areas, it is how- to either over power the darkness, or even just fill in

26 27 Digital Image Qualities

Dynamic Range 1: Your Camera’s Dynamic Range

Dynamic range seems to be the current darling of the 12 stops of dynamic range. This result was arrived at camera industry, with each new release boasting of after comparing the dynamic range in several of the improvements over previous models. This is a wel- images, where I metered from different areas and in come development, improving the the quality of both different modes. This conclusion compares favour- highlights and shadow areas, increasing the range be- ably with both Canons own claims, and various inde- tween a burnt out shadow, or blown out highlight will pendent tests available on the internet. always be of benefit to the photographer. Obviously In real everyday use, it is rare that I find myself run- this assumes everyone will upgrade to the latest and ning into any restriction, or problem based upon dy- Centre Weighted Average metering Evaluative Exposure Spot Meter Brickwork greatest model, just to gain that stop or two of extra namic range. Where there are issues they are usually dynamic range. In reality of course the majority of quite easily dealt with, either with the use of filters, or us don’t, we work with what we have, and adapt our by using multiple exposures to get the result I want. working practices to overcome or work around any Is more dynamic range desirable? Yes of course, is issues we may encounter. Precisely the reason why the answer. However, and it is a big however, the cost things like HDR processing, exposure blending and of gaining that extra stop or two of dynamic range is even ND filters, both normal and graduated have been prohibitive, and as such I think I, like most photogra- developed. phers, will make the most of what I have until such Upon checking the image, and assessing the values time as the camera itself needs replacing, and not in the shadow and highlight areas I have come to the change purely because of some slight technological conclusion that my camera has between 10.5 and advancements.

Spot Meter White Paper Spot Metered From Dark Interior

28 29 Scene 1 Digital Image Qualities

Scene 2 Dynamic Range 2: Scene Dynamic Range

An interesting exercise, to actively hunt out scenes obvious dynamic range, other than the lighter col- of high and lower dynamic ranges. I have placed the oured clouds there is little in the way of shadowed images in order, with number 1 having the highest dark areas, and not a lot of brightness. The clouds re- dynamic range, and number 5 the lowest. tain detail, and are not just white balls in the sky, the It is plain to see that image number one has a run majority of the other tones are more mid level, with no from almost complete darkness, through to a bright huge differences between for example the rock and white light at the end of the tunnel. This scene does the sea. exceed somewhat the capability of the camera to Image 5 is obviously fairly low in dynamic range. record it, however it does act in much the same way The over riding grey of the fog, hiding much of the as our own eyes. We cannot see in both darkness and colour and creating a very flat feeling to the light. This bright light at the same time, our eyes take a short flatness hides the highlights and the shadows very time to adjust between leaving a bright room and effectively, yet manages to create an obvious mood entering a darkened one, and we can often experience or feeling even with it being slightly unnatural looking. the effect of shadows being solid and black, or lights I don’t think this is something I would do other than being blindingly bright. It was this feeling I was trying as a specific exercise, while it is interesting to active- to recreate in image number 1. ly seek out the differences, I think this would tend to Image number 2 has a fairly high dynamic range, be low on my list of priorities for an image in my usual but mostly kept within the limits of the camera. The way of working. Maybe the exception here is in land- light and dark areas contrast pleasingly, and we can scape work, where it is beneficial to shoot during the see detail in both the darkened areas inside the room golden hour to maximise both the quality of light, and and the bright areas outside of the window. the dynamic range of the image. Images 3 and 4 have a little less in the way of the

Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5

30 31 Digital Image Qualities

White Balance and Overall Colour 1: Colour Caste and White Balance

One of the joys of working with RAW images is that ter to the face of the church buildings. The sky is also we can experiment with the white balance in the post a little deeper in its blueness, without taking on the A Auto Sunshine A Cloudy Sunshine A Daylight Sunshine A Flash Sunshine A Flourescent Sunshine A Shade Sunshine A Tungsten Sunshine processing stage. Doing this can bring a new dimen- look of something that has obviously been altered. sion to the image, adjusting the white balance has the With the Cloudy images, I find myself torn between power to either warm up or cool down the tone of an the image using the cloudy setting and the daylight image, it can even be used to suggest a different time setting. The daylight setting is a little more realistic to of day, with the tungsten setting often simulating the my eye, however it is also ever so slight cold in feel- effect of a time closer to dusk, which with some ad- ing. The cloudy setting has a little extra warmth to it, ditional work can be very effective. giving the illusion of softer more golden light. At the It is worth noting that in all three cases, the auto same time this colours the skin of the subject, just white balance setting did a good job of creating an ac- a little bit more than I would like, and as such would ceptable image, with no obvious colour castes. need some extra processing work to correct. From the selection of Sunshine images, whilst the Moving to the shade images. Here I am drawn to the auto version is more than acceptable, I find myself image using the daylight setting. The extra warmth preferring the version using the daylight white bal- of tone works well with the colours of the sandstone ance. Whilst the differences are not huge, there is just carving, and works to bring out the textures in a little B Auto Cloudy B Cloudy Cloudy B Daylight Cloudy B Flash Cloudy B Flourescent Cloudy B Shade Cloudy B Tungsten Cloudy a slight touch of extra warmth to the image, without more detail than some of the other settings. The au- going over the top. This makes the stone work look a tomatic setting is a little bit cool for my liking, making little more appealing, and gives a little more charac- the carving feel somehow more harsh.

C Auto Shade C Cloudy Shade C Daylight Shade C Flash Shade C Flourescent Shade C Shady Shade C Tungsten Shade

32 33 Digital Image Qualities

White Balance and Overall Colour 2: Indoor Outdoor

I think maybe this image didn’t work quite as well as feeling. I think perhaps waiting till way beyond dusk I had hoped. The outside light look far brighter than it would have been beneficial here. A much darker light was, due to the longer exposure time needed for the from outside, deeper blue in hue, combined with the somewhat shadowy interior. However, the fact that warmer orange light inside, would have made for a both light types are visible, and showing their own more pleasing image. The fact it was very grey out- colour castes has worked quite well. The natural light side might also not have helped. A cloudless evening is obviously different in colour from the light thrown would have been more beneficial and had less in the off by the two table lamps, and this allows us to see way of diffused flat lighting streaming in through the where the light from the table lamps falls. windows. There are no obvious colour castes other than the In some ways it worked as intended, showing the two light sources, and no strange tones present in light sources as separate colours, and giving the any other area. The resulting scene is fairly natural room interior tones and shadows based on those light looking, and does impart a somewhat warm and cosy sources, could be deemed successful.

34 35 Digital Image Qualities

Assignment 2: Seeing Like your Camera

Approaching this assignment I knew there would average the exposure over the whole frame. This for the metering, in order to concentrate en- out pretty much exactly as I had expected, what creating more obvious contrast between the shooting indoors, you cannot control the direc- and print lab technicians who really were mas- maybe the exception of photo journalism, even be a number of problems with anything that in- would allow me to create a balance between tirely on a bright spot, and create darker areas colours there are, are slightly richer than the area lit by the lamp and the hallway shadows. tion the light is coming from. For Lamp 3LC I de- ters of their craft. though these images can still be enhanced with volved strong or direct natural light. This time of the shadows and highlights, where neither is of shadow. As such the images are a little less eye would see due to the slight under exposure The standard power saving bulbs in images 1 cided top use several lamps with power saving Knowing how your camera will see a scene is very subtle changes (sharpening, colour correc- year in Sweden we tend to have a shorter span favoured, creating a natural looking image with shadowed than I would have liked, however they from the metered highlights. Evening Light 2 and 2 create a warmer feeling light, and I de- bulbs, these do have a slight colour tint which an important part of the craft of photography, tion etc). As such I don’t think I would ever use of daylight than the UK, not to mention a ten- enough contrast between the bright and dark work as they were intended as you can see the is probably my preferred image of the set, the cided not to correct for this in camera, as I think can be used to make the image a little warmer, and knowing how to achieve the results that an image straight out of camera, even knowing dency for cloudy dark grey skies, and as such areas. I think the most successful image is City obvious spread of light and dark areas. I think contrast between the darkness of the trees, it would look a little unnatural to be getting pure this in turn lowers the contrast between high you have for the image you have envisioned is that I had done everything I could to make it as the chances of getting the correct conditions St 3, where the view is looking out of a shadowy of the three I prefer Dappled 1, the areas of light and the brightness of the setting sun with just white light from such light sources. My pre- lights and shadows. Also by having less of the equally important. Of course these days with perfect as possible. I know that even in my work for a number of the choices were very limited. I tunnel into an area that is much more brightly and dark overlay the texture of the stone, and at enough light falling onto the snow to give some ferred image of the set is image Lamp 3, the Led background in view, the difference between such things as live view on the back of cameras, with film, I can spend large periods of time in would also say that I am never happy using Jpg lit, yet within the shadowed area there are vari- no point is it completely lost within a shadowed detail makes for quite a pleasing image. lamp creates quite a harsh light, even though the light coloured subject and shadowed back- which gives us both the view of the scene and in the dark room dodging or burning an image, or images straight from camera, whilst it is en- ous highlights and mid tones breaking up what area. The large shadow created by the corner of I think with all of the images it would have it is coloured to match daylight. This in turn ground is less prominent. In fact lighting the some cases how it will turn out, learning these adjusting the development time to get the result tirely possible to create the image you want this could have been one large dark area. the doorway, and the gaps between the stones, been possible to expose a little more for the mid gives a more contrasty feel to the image, being background to match the the foreground is an skills is a little easier, they are however skills we I want. way, I find there is more to post processing than Using the evaluative metering mode seemed give some areas of total shadow where there is tones without losing too much more from the somewhat helped by the darker area behind the effective way of reducing the contrast between need to learn for ourselves and not rely on what The important factor to take away from this the obvious enhancements, small and subtle to produce results as I expected, most areas no internal detail. This was expected as there highlights, which would have given just a little wooden skeleton. the subject and the surroundings. In effect mak- a screen or histogram tells us. In my opinion it assignment, is that you as the photographer enhancements can make a huge difference to balanced between light and dark, with very little is no way to expose for such a huge spread of more detail in the darker areas, whilst keeping a ing the subject stand out less. never hurts to experiment and try things, more decide on how you want the final image to look, an image, even you have done 99% of the work lost to pure black shadows or blown white high- dynamic range, short of creating an HDR image, reasonably high level of contrast. Part 2 so than ever now when we don’t need to pay for and that to do this effectively you have to un- in camera. As such I think I can safely say I lights. In the second image of the three, the blue which at best look slightly odd and at worst There are a number of ways to reduce con- Conclusions film, if the idea you have doesn’t work out you derstand how your camera will see the image, would not be happy with any of these images as of the sky has been lost, due to the longer expo- completely unnatural. Overall the three images Set 4 Lamp Light trast within an image, a simple way is a slight I will start out by pointing out again that this is haven’t failed, you have learned something new and then adjust this to your taste and vision. they stand, and would much prefer to have used sure needed in the darker narrow street, if I had maintain a balance between light and dark These images are possibly the least favourite overexposure, though this can lead to the im- not a method I would ever chose to use in creat- which will be of value next time you try some- The resulting image may not be right in the opin- my own workflow to create a final image I was exposed for the sky the street itself would have areas, whilst never losing detail due to clipped of mine, they are however the ones I decided age appearing slightly washed out and having ing an image. Whilst getting it right in camera is thing different. I find myself that this knowledge ion of everybody that sees it, it may not even be happy with. I think this has coloured my judge- retained very little detail or colour, as it would shadows or highlights. to recreate in lower contrast versions, purely blown highlights. Another way is by using flash, a worthy goal, in reality post processing offers becomes automatic with use. You have an idea an interesting or good photograph, but you have ment somewhat, and caused me to produce have been under exposed by approximately -5 due to the fact that they were the ones that I with large softboxes lighting the subject from a so much more. As can be seen from my images, for the image and without thinking will set the created it the way you wanted it to be, and once some images that are below standard because I EV. In this situation I would rather lose a little Set 3 Low Angle Incident Light knew to be available at all times. I used several variety of angles, with the same power to each all of which have been left as they came from appropriate settings to achieve this, it may not you can do that it is easier to improve on the am viewing them all as being equally bad. colour in the sky to maintain as much detail as This set of images were more interesting to lamps in this set, a slightly yellow floor lamp, a flash head. This will have the effect of removing the camera, a little cropping, straightening or be 100% correct first time every time, but it is other aspects of your photographic work. possible in the street scene. work with. Trying to find examples where the ceiling lamp in the hallway image, and a bright shadows, and creating a very flat looking image, colour correction could go a long way, the ability far more likely to be what you want than letting Set 1 City Streets light would be right was quite difficult, as this LED lamp for the image of the wooden skeleton. which in turn appears to have less contrast. to enhance shadows and highlights, to adjust the camera decide on it for you. There is also a On a weekend trip to Stockholm we were lucky Set 2 Dappled Sunlight time of year we have a very short period of time I decided to use partial metering mode for this Another method is to use good old fashioned contrast or exposure, even to localised pixel much greater sense of achievement knowing enough to encounter a reasonably bright and These images were obtained more by luck than in which to work, the sun can go from being well series of images, as it would allow me to meter daylight, on a bright but overcast day, some- levels is something that cannot be dismissed that you have created an image from a vision clear afternoon, making it a good choice for judgement. Whilst visiting friends the sun came above the horizon to below it in 20 to 30 min- from the brighter areas of the image, but not thing we have here in abundance, and this is lightly. Even those of us who regularly still you had, than merely capturing it when the shooting in the middle of the day. The main out for a few brief minutes, and it enabled me to utes. be as limiting an area as spot metering, hope- what I decided to use on images Lamp 1LC and use film cameras know that there is no such camera told you it was right to do so. difficulty here is that the sun is not as high in quickly grab a number of shots in the forested I decided to use spot metering here, to focus fully allowing for some of the shadow area to be Lamp 2LC. thing as an unedited photograph. The process Are the images I have produced representa- the sky as in more southern locations, and as area on their property. I decided for this to use on the brightest part of the image, and allow the metered for in the process. It has the effect of softening up the appear- of development was used to great advantage tive of my actual ability and knowledge? As I such may not even reach high enough to cast centre weighted average metering mode, to try rest of the image to appear somewhat darker The results were again pretty much as ex- ance of the image, the shadows and dark tones to enhance many images by the likes of Ansel mentioned shadows down into the narrow streets of Gamla and pick out a brighter area to darken the shad- than it actually was, adding in a slight exposure pected, brighter areas taking prominence over are less harsh, and the lighter tones are dulled Adams, and all of the tools we use in photoshop at the beginning I don’t think they are, they Stan. Due to the varying levels of shade and and ows around it. This has worked to some extent, compensation to retain some detail in the dark- the darker areas, in the case of image Lamp 2 a little. This can of course result in some prob- have evolved from those developed in the dark are coloured by my view that post processing colour I decided to use evaluative metering to but I may have been better using a smaller area er areas. This worked well and the images came exposing more for the light than the shadow, lems, reflections, glare etc as at least when room over may years by both photographers is an important part of a digital workflow, with

36 37 Digital Image Qualities

Tutor Report Response to Tutor

Overall Comments I don’t really have much to say on this assignment. You’ve shown an intelligent analysis of what you were The images I guess are close enough of the require- asked to do. ments of the exercise, I just cant help but fundamen- tally disagree with the idea that using a jpg file, even Feedback on assignment one with no user adjustments applied, is ‘seeing like I appreciate your frustrations with the assignment your camera’ but I suppose that’s what the assignment is about, the limitations of the process at the taking stage. There’s really not a lot more to say about the results. From an aesthetic point of view I think Lamp 2 and Lamp 2 LC had the potential to be an interesting dip- tych but they would have to have been both shot from a tripod in the same position.

Tutor: Clive White

38 39 Processing the Image

A Base jpg A Base RAW A Corrected Converted RAW The Value of RAW

Using the RAW file format can have several advan- images I had the camera set to record both a Raw file detail, texture and colour in areas it might otherwise tages over using the jpg format. The most important and a jpg file, with the in camera adjustments set to fail to do so. Whilst the overall look of the sky is fairly of these being that a RAW file retains much more data standard, simultaneously. similar in both images, there is a much harder line from the time of capture, than a jpg file. It allows post between light and dark within the jpg based file. Less capture adjustment of white balance, which can be Image A in the way of grey tones for the clouds, this is due to advantageous when not getting it quite right in cam- As we can see here there are slight obvious differ- the way jpg files discard data on conversion, meaning era, but also it allows for us to use the white balance ences between the base jpg, and an unaltered Raw the blown highlights are just that, the data that would in a creative way. For example giving the image a image. The raw image appears to be slightly darker be used to recover some of the cloud detail in these warmer or cooler tone. It also has advantages relating overall, holding more detail in the highlights of the areas, has been discarded upon conversion. to the actual exposure of the image, a RAW file will al- clouds. Applying the same level of adjustments to Overall we have a lightly higher dynamic range low us to alter the exposure to a higher degree than a both file types, we end up with a final image which within the RAW file, not a huge amount, but enough jpg file, more data is retained in regard to detail within shows quite obvious differences. Bringing up the to make a difference when recovering lost highlight highlights and shadows than in a jpg, where the expo- detail in the foreground has caused the jpg to become or shadow detail. Due to the subject matter the white sure point is more fixed in place. In the real world this somewhat flat, the lack of contrast, and apparent lack balance was fairly equal, both images recording can allow us to regain some detail in what may appear of vibrancy within the colours makes it look a little correctly under a sunny, if slightly cloudy sky. With to be blown highlights in the jpg image preview. This washed out. The converted edited Raw image on the reference to other adjustments that can be made. The can be of huge benefit in tricky lighting conditions. other hand has a much more natural look, when given latitude for adjusting shadows, mid tones and high- Raw files can also benefit from the fact that no in the lighting conditions. Where the jpg seems some- lights separately is much higher with the raw image, camera processing has been applied to the image, what flat compared to the obviously bright conditions, as all of these points have more data to work with. no contrast or sharpening, colour saturation or tonal the RAW shows more contrast and shadow. This is The RAW file also benefits when it comes to sharpen- changes. This allows us to the the one that decides on due to more data being retained in the shadow area ing the image, as it hasn’t already been pre sharpened these important factors, giving us another level in our for the RAW file, thus when we try to brighten the in the camera. creative input into the finished image. To create the foreground the extra data allows for the retention of

A Edited Corrected Converted RAW A Edited jpg

40 41 Processing the Image

The Value of RAW (continued)

Image B In concluding, this image has little or no differ- There are more obvious differences in the base files ence in the dynamic range between RAW and jpg. here. The jpg has a much cooler overall look, where as The automatically chosen white balance, whilst not the RAW file shows a warmer tone. This is due to the incorrect, was not what I wanted for the image. Colour camera using the auto white balance mode for the reproduction is good in both images, with the warmer jpg, and me deciding that the setting it had chosen image obviously having a slightly different look to the was not the one I would have used. colours. There was more latitude for all local adjust- Overall the jpg file was very nearly as good as the ments with the RAW file, due to them not being either RAW file in this instance, aside form the cooler white locked in place, or restricted by the loss of data when balance. With the image having less aggressive dif- the jpg was created. ferences between the highlight and shadow areas, I would say that it is of benefit to shoot in RAW as less data has been discarded during the conversion. much as possible. The only down sides are an in- Working with the image in post processing, there crease in post processing time, and the demand for are a couple of small differences, again the RAW file more storage space, or a more powerful editing com- benefits from having no pre sharpening, so doesn’t puter to cope with larger file sizes. begin to show signs of over sharpening as early, and There will be occasions when it is not possible to or obviously the RAW file allowed me to create a warmer you might chose not to use RAW, for example journal- image overall. This does not mean that the cooler ists may use jpg for the reason of speed in getting it B Base jpg B Base RAW B Corrected Converted RAW B Corrected Converted EditedRAW B Edited jpg image of the jpg was wrong, it has recorded an accu- to an editor, or for the fact news images aren’t edited rate view of the subject, The difference being is that I in the same way other images are, and so RAW is not wanted the image to have a warmer feeling, to repre- so beneficial. sent the colour of light we get in Sweden during a late afternoon or early evening.

42 43 Processing the Image

Optimising Tone and Colour 1: Managing Tone

The image I have chosen to use here is a night time from making the image a little warmer, they are also scene of a small village by the sea. In the original ver- of varying colour, and I wanted to retain this in the sion the colours and tones are all slightly off. There is finished image. a greenish hue to the sky and rocks, and the blacks The final steps were to straighten, sharpen and show up as mostly grey. crop the image. The first issue was to change the black and white By far the biggest change to the image can be points with a levels adjustment. Only a slight change seen from the adjustments to the contrast, this not bought about a darker sky and blacker blacks. Next, only gives the effect of slightly deeper shadows and using the curves adjustment I added a slight S curve stronger highlights, but also creates more definition to give a little more mid tone contrast, and then ap- within the image, making shapes forms and textures Edited plied a global contrast adjustment of +6. This gave a more obvious. Original little more definition in the tones of the buildings,and The finished image is much more representative quayside. of the scene at the actual time of capture, and is also It was also necessary to use the colour channel more pleasing to the eye. The slightly warmer feel adjustment to add in a little more blue to the sky, makes it feel more welcoming and homely. Annoy- removing the overall greenish look it originally had. ingly there is some slight motion blur on the boats, It would have been possible to remove the colour something which is impossible to avoid when using a caste created by the various lights in the image, long exposure due to the movement of the water. however I decided I wanted to keep these as aside

44 45 Processing the Image

Optimising Tone and Colour 2: Managing Colour

We can often find our images to have a strange colour colour temperature, so the majority of the time it will channel can effect another. Some contrast adjust- caste to them, usually this is due to an incorrect white involve trial and error adjustments to the slider. While ment is required to correct the colour changes causing balance setting, or lighting conditions that are erratic. this can sound quite hap hazard it is in fact an effec- the image to appear a little flat. It is worth noting, that Sometimes we will want to keep these images as they tive way of finding the absolute correct point that you whilst this image is now correct, as regards to the col- are, for example the effects lighting in a music venue want, in regard to how you envisioned the image. It is ours of the dress, the robes on the Vicar and the walls. or nightclub. In the majority of cases we will wish to also worth noting that the various adjustments, for It now appears a little cold. If I was editing this for a change this colour caste to more realistically reflect contrast, shadow and highlight, saturation, hue and print, I think I would have kept a little of the warmer what would actually have been seen when the image and also the individual colour channels can be used to tone in, just to keep it from feeling quite so harsh. was captured. modify the final image. In the second image everything is much easier. This Shooting in Raw our first stop is to check the white In the two images I have chosen to illustrate this, is because the image was captured in RAW. The overly balance. We can cycle between the available pre sets, there is an obvious problem with a colour caste. The warm tint can be corrected in this particular case to see if any are correct. Occasionally none will be first image we can see both the dress and the white simply by changing the white balance from automatic quite right for the image, at this point we can use two walls showing a pinkish hue. The image itself was to a colour temperature of 4300k. I know this due to other methods. Firstly, if there is an area we know to originally a jpg image, as a guest at a wedding just prior experience of working with correcting Raw files be white within the image, we can use the dropper getting some simple images of the day, rather than that have been created in the the low evening sun, of tool to select the white point. Doing this will then alter as the official photographer, where I would obviously a Swedish autumn. The warm golden orange effect the colour setting of the image, and show this se- only be working in RAW. Using Photoshop to adjust the is quite common on clear days, and is usually a wel- lected point as actually white, if the correct point has white point is relatively easy, and doing so gets me come addition to a portrait, as long as the subject can been chosen the colour caste will be removed from fairly close to where I want to be. However this cre- be kept to as near natural looking as possible. A slight the image. The second way to adjust our white point, ates the problem of the walls becoming far to bright, contrast boost helped the definition on the darker de- is by using the colour temperature setting, this allows and as such I need to start again using a series of tails, aside from this no other adjustments in regard us to enter a colour temperature via either a figure i.e. adjustments to the colour channels. This is a slightly to the colours were needed. 5500k or by moving a slider to select the result we long winded procedure, and requires both trial and A Original RAW A Corrected RAW B Original RAW B Corrected RAW want. It is pretty rare that we will know the correct error, and a little knowledge of how adjusting each

46 47 Processing the Image

Creative Interpretation

Changing the way an image looks for creative purpos- Corrections and black and white conversions tend after. However something didn’t look quite right. It es is possibly one of the first things everybody tries to be as far as I go on a routine basis. Anything more was necessary to add a little grain to the image, and when using editing software, this can easily been than this is usually for either the purposes of learning a slight vignette, that rather than adding a shadow seen when viewing photo sharing sites like insta- new techniques, or a project that requires this ap- gave the appearance of the image fading around the gram, where many images have simple filters applied proach. edges. I could have gone further by adding in some for no other reason than to change how they look. As I The base image here is a simple one, an old mining fake scratches and tears, but I was satisfied with the look back over a collection of images, it is often plain tower in the countryside. Acceptable as it is as a re- overall look of the image for this particular exercise. to see where initially I was tempted to overdo things. cord of the building, but not so interesting or creative. The final version of the image, I decided to go with A number of these images are obviously over satu- My first attempt was to create a detailed black and with a kind of retro feel. That faded desaturated look rated, some have various filters applied, some are white image. Using contrast adjustments and the you get from older photographs. This is simply pro- black and white with just once colour showing. We all slow process of dodging and burning highlight shad- cessed as I would normally do any colour image. Then learn as we go along, and it is both our own taste, and ows and mid tones separately and to different de- using adjustments to specific colour channels, vibran- exposure to the work of other people that leads us to grees. I wanted to bring out the shapes and textures cy and contrast I slowly adjust it until it sits where I the point where we settle upon a chosen style. This within the image. This has been reasonably success- feel it is correct. I think I came close to my goal, which editing style will be applied to most of our images, ful. The image works in the way I intended, making was to give the feeling of a faded magazine image, whether or not is for creative or aesthetic reasons, we it slightly more striking in appearance. It also gives but perhaps it could benefit from a little more work to tend to settle into something we as the photographer it less of the feeling that it is just a shot recording a the darker greens and shadows of the image. like. There are times when we also create an image building, and more the feeling of a being a subject in Of the three I prefer the black and white image. I am that is intended to be different from the usual body its own right. biased here of course, and have a preference for black of our work, something more obviously whimsical or The second attempt was to create an image that and white imagery in general. Not for some artistic heavily manipulated may be just for fun, or it may was antiqued in appearance. A conversion to black reason however, but due to the fact all of my early be the beginning of a new direction we want to take. and white, lowering the overall contrast and add- photography experience was with black and white I myself prefer to be a light user of editing software. ing a slight sepia colour filter,gave me what I was film, and as such it will always be my favourite. Original Antique look Black and white Faded retro

48 49 Processing the Image

Black and White 1: Black and White

Starting with two images instead of one, the idea here looks mouth like, with the supporting column above very easy to blow out highlights and lose details in was to create something that changed to overall feel- a nose, and the two indentations almost resembling the shadows, as such care must be taken to make ing of the image. I wanted to to give them both a feel- eye sockets. This would be easier to achieve with a sure we use an exposure that is considerate to both ing of foreboding, to be somehow ominous or create a darker setting, more shadows and some carefully ends of the scale. Often this is as simple as increasing feeling of unease. directed lighting. or reducing exposure by a stop or at most 2. Some- With the image of the ruins I wanted to give the The second image works better, it has more of the times we need to resort to flash or to ND filters, both idea of age, this meant recording the image in a way looming, foreboding feeling, a gate you don’t want to being of benefit in situations where we are working at that highlighted the structure itself. The image was go through. The perspective here was important, to the extremes of dynamic range. Secondly geometry initially exposed with priority given to keeping the give it the feeling of towering above you. Exposure textures and shapes seem more highlighted in black detail within the walls and the floors, as I wanted to was slightly more awkward, to keep the sky detail and white, usually because we have taken away the draw this out in the final version. The sky was also an would mean possibly loosing the detail in the metal confusion of colour that hides them. This can be both issue, thankfully upon converting to black and white I work, and vice versa. However by increasing the ex- good and bad depending on what we want to achieve, found there was more than enough wispy cloud detail, posure by 3/4 of a stop, I managed to keep the best of and care must be taken to place things just where we that couldn’t really be seen in the colour version. The both worlds, keeping enough detail in the dark metal want them within the frame. To some extent we can main work involved was the burning and dodging of work to bring it up later in post processing. The sky adjust the composition afterwards with cropping, but highlights, mid tones and shadows in the floor and has just enough darkness in it to feel oppressive, to it is always easier to start the process with as little stone work, to give more life to the textures. I wanted make it look angry, as if something behind the gate is wrong as possible. Finally at times black and white it to feel almost as if it was looming towards you, waiting. Of the two images I think it is the more suc- can often be overused, just to make something ap- somewhere you didn’t really want to go. This would cessful in relation to my goal of creating something pear more ‘artsy’. Converting an image to black and possibly have been easier to obtain shooting at night, uncomfortable or forbidding. white won’t always make it more worthy of keeping, but then the issue is that of access and lighting. The main issues when shooting specifically for the best black and white images are conceived that Maybe if I re shoot this image I will go at night, and black and white I find are as follows. Firstly exposure, way from the start. try to bring out more of the effect where the archway because we have such stark differences in tone, it is

50 51 Processing the Image

Black and White 2: Strength of Interpretation

Using the image of a ship trapped on a reef, I then subject of interest. The low key image again fairs bet- made both high key and low key versions of the im- ter. It looks much more like a stranded ship awaiting age, in both black and white and colour as instructed. the approach of nightfall. The tones and shadows are The results are successful to varying degrees. stronger, and even though the sky is a little empty it The high key colour image does not work at all. To still has a little gradient to it, and some slight detail. my mind the sky is blown and featureless, and the rest Of the two higher contrast images, the colour ver- of the colours and tones look washed out and faded. sion is the most successful, it has more in the way of The low key image fares maybe a little better here. definition and texture. You can see more of what the The dark tones at least give the feeling of some kind ship is. The black and white version on the other hand of drama, or an approaching evening. The sky is still a suffers from having areas that are a bit dark to make little pale, but this is made up for with the effect the out any detail, and the large bright areas have also low key look has on the side of the ship. It looks old lost any detail or gradient in the sky. and damaged, you could see these markings in the I think the low key black and white image is the high key images as well, but there they just show as most successful here, and works as more than just a some rust stains, the darker look of the low key image record of a ship on the rocks. helps them to blend into shadows and look a little It would be easy to improve this image, to re shoot it High key Low key Contrast more threatening. again later in the evening, perhaps even in full dark- To me the black and white high key image seems a ness, with a long exposure or by light painting the ship little flat, whilst it shows detail and texture the lack itself. Any conversion then would have a much more of shadow tones somehow hurt the image, as if it is a obvious mood, and a more pleasing result overall. record shot for an insurance company, rather than a

Original 52 53 Processing the Image

Black and White 3: Colours into Tones 1

The choice of the original image was due to the strong the yellow becomes black and the red becomes very yellow and red colours alongside each other, they are nearly black itself. The blue colour however becomes perfectly placed for the examples I had in mind. much lighter, changing to a light grey tone. The initial conversion to a flat greyscale has the These changes have interesting visual impacts. effect of making the yellow become a light grey, the The version where the car becomes very light in tone, red changes to a medium dark grey, and the blue and causes it to stand out and be much more obvious, grey tarmac change to a darker grey. This provides a it does however lose some of the definition to it’s relatively pleasing conversion, but it somehow lacks shape, and a little in the way of detail. The second ver- Original Standard black and white impact. As if the conversion has taken away any con- sion where the car is much darker has a more aggres- trast or weight between the various colours. sive feeling, we can see all of the detail and the shape The first conversion to the black and white image of the car clearly. The dark black appearance, whilst was intended to lighten the tone of the car itself. This not obvious in the way the lighter toned car was, is was achieved by adjusting the yellow channel. The still clearly placed on the track, and perhaps shows slider was moved nearly all of the way to the right. the intent of the vehicle to a better effect. This has the effect of lightening the areas that were It is worth noting of course that these effects can originally yellow, causing them to become a very pale be had in exactly the same way by using colour fil- grey, almost white. It also affects the areas that were ters. This was the norm in the days of film, where red, originally red, the become a lighter grey. The blue green, blue, yellow etc. filters would be used to change areas become darker, almost black. the final tones of an image on black and white film. The second adjustment was intended to make the Should we chose to we can do the same today be set- yellow area of the car darker. This was achieved by ting our camera to black and white mode, and applying moving the red and yellow channel sliders nearly all of one of these filters. Some cameras even have this built the way to the left, and the blue channel slider nearly into their systems. This also allows us to use a live all of the way to the right. This has the effect of making view mode, to actually see the changes as they occur. both the red and yellow colours become much darker,

Light tones Dark tones

54 55 Processing the Image

Black and White 4: Colours into Tones 2

I decided to use a portrait, taken in low light as this Firstly I tried adding a red filter, in Photoshop to had the advantage of already being slightly dark, and see how this affected the tones. It caused the face to of having fairly dark background tones. The initial become somewhat lighter, whilst also raising the light conversion to black and white gives a reasonably levels a little in brighter areas. I then used adjust- pleasing image. The face itself is slightly darker than ments in the red and yellow channels, and the blue I would like, and us such could do with bringing out a and cyan channels to adjust the face a little more, by little. The problem is to do this without overly chang- careful adjustment I was able to avoid changing the ing the other tones in the image. A simple change background of the image by any large amount. of brightness, exposure, or even using a curves or A little contrast boost gave me the final result I Original levels adjustment has a large effect on the rest of the was looking for. As can be seen from comparing the image, and as such this cannot be relied upon here. final image to the basic black and white conversion, There is the option to burn the mid tones of the face there is a slight rise in the brightness of the lights in slightly, this would however create unwanted noise in the background, overall though the tones within the just that area. image are mainly unchanged. The slight change is ac- I could use layer masks to selectively edit just the ceptable to me, and in my opinion is not detrimental facial area, but I think this is not in keeping with the to the overall image. spirit of the exercise.

Standard black and white Corrected black and white

56 57 Processing the Image

Assignment 3: Monochrome

This was an assignment I was looking forward to, I variable weather conditions, I had planned to com- would do this and hope that the textures in these im- enjoy working in black and white, and much of the plete it all within a week, however this was not to be, ages link in with the other images. work I do tends to be lend itself to being printed in as halfway through a surprise snowfall meant I had The images show exactly what I hoped they would, monochrome. I think this is because as a youngster to wait a further 2 weeks for it to thaw and for similar texture is somehow more obvious in black and white, I worked solely with black and white film, not being weather conditions to match the first sequence of with shadows and highlights standing out more than able to afford expensive colour film, or being able to images. they may do in colour. I also find that shapes are process it myself. The actual conversion of the images to mono- equally prominent when differing shades mark their I spent a fair amount of time trying to decide what chrome was reasonably simple, having used colour edges and outlines. It is also interesting to me, that to use as a subject for this assignment, I quickly filters at the time to accent some of the colours, I without the distraction of colour your eyes are drawn discounted the obvious ideas of pure landscape, knew pretty well what I was looking for in the finished to different areas than they otherwise might be, a portrait and street photography as I decided I wanted conversions. After a simple conversion to black and well defined texture may well be over powered by a to concentrate on showing texture and shape. Being white, with no major adjustments, the images were patch off bright paint for example, or a shadow that a big fan of abandoned places, I decided to look for treated with a mixture of dodging and burning on mid changes the way a shape appears may not have such something that might give me the chance to work tones and highlights to create a slightly metallic look. a strong impact. with rusted metals and buildings in a poor state of It does seem unusual for these type of images to be I find the works of Hilla and Bernd Becher, Mitter repair. This is somewhat easier in Sweden than it is in captured in black and white, the majority of work I see Bedi, Margaret Bourke-White, Maurice Broomfield, the UK, the abundance of space meaning that disused from abandoned places is usually processed to show Robert Häusser, Robert Adams, Ralph Gibson and industrial sites are often far removed from town, and the vast array of colours made by peeling paint, rot- Richard Avedon are all both interesting and inspiring therefore unlikely to be redeveloped into housing or ting wood and rusting metals. as reference tools for working in black and white, and industrial areas, and there seems to be little interest Whilst I am pleased with the final images, I can’t whilst between them they cover many fields within in closing off these areas to the public so it is possible help but feel that this is worthy of a much larger photography, each of their methods and styles can to enter them legally, and spend as much time as you series, 10 images seem somehow too little to show be applied to many different subjects. Monochrome is like exploring. the range of textures and forms found on such a site. a hugely versatile way of working, and does not have Studying online maps of the island, I found an One problem I have encountered is whether or not to to be used just because it is considered to be some- abandoned Limestone mine, and decided this might include a number of images setting the scene, show- how more “artistic”. It should be used as a choice offer a good opportunity. Knowing the project would ing the larger buildings or machinery in order to give when it is fitting and suitable for the image, and not take a couple of days, due to the driving distance and some kind of context to the other images. I decided I just to make the image seem more appealing.

58 59 Processing the Image

Tutor Report Response to Tutor

Overall Comments Overall I am happy with Clive’s comments. Perhaps he A pleasing set of images in response to the brief. may be right in the series needing a little more obvi- ous narrative, and this would possibly be achieved Feedback on assignment given a larger series of images, perhaps something The technical quality was of course vital to the aes- assessing the changing nature of the industrial face thetic and you had the ability to meet the required vir- of Gotland over the last few centuries. Changing the tuosity to convey the materiality of the subject mat- white point on the one image was a fairly simple task, ter and the visceral attraction of the tactile appeal. and understandable given the fact that work might I think it made sense to vary the scale in that way in be assessed on monitors with poor colour repro- order to activate that connection. duction. This does however make me want to ask In that way you’ve given them more visual appeal the question, If work is being assessed for a visual than the Becher’s, to my mind, rather antiseptic ap- component,should it not be viewed on hardware that proach but perhaps they don’t have the hard graphics is capable of displaying it correctly? Obviously it is of Ralph Gibson. not as simple as this, and costs, time etc. all have a Number 8 is almost Russian Constructivist. bearing on the answer. It was just the first thing that There could have been perhaps something more of came to mind upon reading the suggestion. an implied narrative. At the moment I’m getting ‘walk- ing around and poking about’ which may be enough. One small technical point I think Number 2’s white out sky could have done with a little more density to separate it out from the white of the monitor. The separation was just visible on mine but mine is a very good quality monitor and generally it’s the very lightest tones consumer monitors have a problem separating. Blogs are assessed on consumer lap tops which have notoriously poor screens for critical colour work. To cover all eventualities it’s a good idea to set very light areas adjacent to the edge to a white point of about 247. Overall you’ve demonstrated a good control over Unused images black and white conversions and an ordered focussed approach to making the series.

Tutor: Clive White

60 61 Reality and Intervention

Digital Photography and ‘Truth’ 1: Correction

The correction of dust of lens flare is something that Lens flare still seems to require the old method of I must admit no longer seems to occur as often as it sampling and writing over the image, gradually build- once did. Getting into he habit of regularly cleaning ing up a new version of what should be underneath. my camera, the sensor and lenses has reduced dust Sometimes it is possible to use very localised adjust- problems to an almost non existent level, and on the ments to exposure, colour and the like to remove odd occasion I encounter flare, it seems mostly due to minor flairs, I however have never found this reliable, being on a very wide lens, or forgetting he lens hood. and much prefer to create the replacement detail However both of these are issues that can occur myself from other areas of the image. and need to be dealt with. In my mind the removal of large dust spots is a Dust is the easiest problem to remedy. It usually valid and necessary technique. Lens flare on the appears when using high f stops, F11 and above for other hand is something I am happy to live with, it example. This is the point where the lens and the can work well within an image. If I find unwanted flare sensor work in conjunction to resolve the shadow or whilst in the process of creating the images, I would a dust particle on the sensor. I tend to use the clone rather re shoot the image, than spend time messing tool to remove dust, this sued to involve sampling about in Photoshop. Being able to Check your work as an area of the image, and copying it over to the area you go along is an advantage with digital photogra- with the dust. Being careful to make sure it matched. phy, and as such it allows to make corrections in the These days it is far simpler just to use the content field before we even have to sit down at a PC. aware clone tool, which will automatically fix it 9 times out of ten, even when there are quite complex shapes or patterns.

62 63 Reality and Intervention

Digital Photography and ‘Truth’ 2: Improvement or Interpretation

I decided that it would be best to try and improve this form on the skin areas. Creating another new layer image, caused by a flash failure. I wanted to raise form the background to adjust shadows and high- the light levels on the skin areas, to make it look as lights allowed to reduce the initial areas of shadow though it had been captured correctly at the first try. slightly. Each layer was set to soft light blending, with Firstly I carefully selected all of the areas of skin and the contrast layer at 100% opacity. The layer which copied them to a new layer. Working on this layer I had had the skin tones dodged and burned was set first raised the exposure by approximately .75 of a to 65% opacity, and the shadow and highlight adjust- stop. The next job was to gently and slowly dodge and ment layer to 90% opacity. After flattening the layers, burn the various skin tones. Mid tones and shadows a quick check for any need for colour correction, tone first, followed by the highlights. It is important not adjustments etc. Finally the sharpening was applied, to over do it here, as the image will soon degrade in in this case 0.3 pixels at 100%. quality and become grainy. After several passes at I am quite pleased with the result here. The skin this, I then created a new layer from the background has come up well, without much in the way of noise or layer to use as a contrast adjustment. Adding in a loss of detail. Whilst it doesn’t look 100% natural, for little contrast back to the image fixed some of the my purposes it was more than close enough. slight washed out appearance that was beginning to

64 65 Reality and Intervention

Digital Photography and ‘Truth’ 3: Enhancement

This exercise is more of a question of ethics, and by images that have been heavily retouched, every when is enough enough, than it is of the actual day. We see adverts for shampoo fronted by famous process of enhancement. Lightening the face and people that say how wonderful their hair feels, only changing the eye colour are quite simple, that can be to find out that they have hair extensions. Models are carried out in a number of ways, from simple global Photoshopped to represent a fake ideal, if you are adjustments to exposure, hue and contrast. TO more removing or remodelling anything on the image of a in depth selective methods involving layer masks and size 6 model, then you are going beyond the limit. We selections of areas. I will brush over the technique, as are also entering a time now where CGI is being used I have mentioned it previously a couple of times and to sell products, we don’t even see real items in the the repetition of the method is not as important as advertisements. This may be straying a little from the question of when do you think you have interfered when is interfering with an image reaching the limit, with reality? but that limit has to be set by the individual doing To me the answer is simple, as soon as we change the retouching. They must use their best judgement the image in anyway from how it was captured we are and their conscience to decide on what is appropri- interfering. However, the usual interference of bring- ate. The acceptable levels applied to a product shoot ing out the best in a photograph is one thing. Applying will obviously be different from a whimsical fantasy the general techniques that have used in darkrooms shoot. News images for example should never be al- for over a century, I consider enhancement to be dif- tered above colour correction or sharpening. Even the ferent to interfering. The easiest way to explain this is simple act of cropping can be used to change the bias with reference to advertising, and in particular beauty of a story. Digital art can be a wonderful thing, it gives products. us the ability to create things in our own homes that We see many great claims for beauty products on we never could before, and any increase in creativity TV and in magazines, always accompanied by im- or the availability of tools to be creative with is a good ages showing results our eyes can’t believe. The anti thing for art as a whole. We just need to keep an eye wrinkle cream that makes your skin smooth in 7 days on our own morals, and be willing to reprimand our- for example. Using soft lights to enhance any smooth- selves if we go to far. I find that if I feel uncomfortable ing effect is one thing, having the images digitally with an image and the way it has been processed, smoothed is another thing entirely. We are bombarded then I have gone too far.

66 67 Reality and Intervention

Digital Photography and ‘Truth’ 4: Addition

I must admit to being a little at odds with this ex- ercise. The addition of a Photoshopped sky is not something I would ever choose to do, and even in the context of this exercise, using different exposure levels for the ground and sky, I still feel I would be more likely to use a graduated ND filter than to resort to Photoshop. I can understand the need behind the exercise, and that people will use this as a process to counter various issues, i.e. a lack of dynamic range, poor light etc. My main issue is that 9 times out of 10 the resulting images look somehow unnatural. The darker, dull skies should not be giving a well lit ground area. I know it is possible for this technique to be em- ployed with subtlety, it is just a shame that subtlety is often entirely forgotten when it comes to image processing.

68 69 Reality and Intervention

Digital Photography and ‘Truth’ 5: Alteration

There was considerably more alteration to this image ing vintage cars I tend to search out a location before than might immediately meet the eye. Most of the hand, so that problems with other vehicles, people work was done using the clone tool to copy areas and and any thing anachronistic can be avoided. Photo- replace over areas to hopefully create an image that shop is a very powerful tool, and can be used to great doesn’t look like it has been altered in any huge way. effect in many ways. I think however as photogra- Removing the parked cars at the rear of the im- phers we should be careful to use it when it is needed, age, and replacing the ground and fence with a tree and not just because it is available. It is very easy line, was one of the simpler tasks. The large patches to come to a point where the phrase ‘I’ll fix it in Pho- that needed replacing making it easier to find suit- toshop’ replaces good practice and technical skills, able textures to fill in the areas. The harder part was leading us down a somewhat lazy path. It is worth replacing the modern 4x4 parked in front of the build- pointing out that I am in no way against Photoshop ing, the window behind it and the railings in front of or the way it is creatively used, and have seen great it. Whilst suing the same technique of cloning areas work created using it, bothy from a photography from other parts of the image, there is the slight is- stand point, and what could be considered digital art. sue of perspective coming into play. This causes the I just find myself preferring to do as much of the work window to appear to now be the wrong size, and the at the time of image capture as possible. This could railings to also appear out of scale. Careful manipula- be due to my learning photography with a camera and tion with the free transform tool was required here to film, or it could be due to preferring to spend as little adjust the sizes of the window and the railings that time as possible in the post processing stage. were cloned, to then fit them in to the correct areas This leads us on to the question of just how much at the correct scale. There are a couple of other slight manipulation is required before the image stops being repairs to the background, a sign and some changes a photograph and becomes digital art? This limit is to the road surface. The back ground has also been something we as photographers must each decide for selected and a slight Gaussian blur applied, and in ourselves. In the case of wanting to represent some- finishing the image has been converted to a higher thing real, we would probably set the level lower, for contrast black and white, as this was how I had seen example a building or landscape image . If we are do- the image from the start. ing something with more of a creative basis to it, then This is probably more than I would ever normally I think it is acceptable to use as much as you see fit, manipulate an image, even when doing work involv- the final image is after all your creation.

70 71 Reality and Intervention

Assignment 4: Real or Fake

I am not what would be considered a heavy Photoshop CTRL + ALT +L. Next I selected the brush tool, with a To touch briefly on the subject of ethics. As this is user. Whilst I apply corrections and sharpening, con- size of 35 pixels,, hardness of 0 and opacity of 100%. representing a work of fiction, I think there is no limit vert to black and white and on occasion blend expo- At this point is important to make sure that make sure to the amount of manipulation one can apply. The sures or create stitched images I do not tend to head that the foreground and background colours are black only limitation we have is how realistic we want the into the areas of digital art, and heavy manipulation. and white respectively. Using the quick mask tool I image to look, or whether we want to create an obvi- For this exercise I decided to go with the idea of a selected the portion of the portrait I wanted in the fi- ous piece of digital art, that illustrates the subject in a cover for a fictitious mystery novel. This would allow nal image. Pressing Q to select the area and inverting powerful way. me to change an image to suit the title yet still hope- the selection by clicking Ctrl + Shift + I. It is cut and Were this a magazine article, or some journalistic fully retain a level of realism where the image is not copied into its own layer by using CTRL+J. Hide both piece then I would not have the same opinion. When too obviously manipulated. Having had a keen inter- of the new layers layers in order to wrap the texture we are representing facts with our images the amount est in history and mythology in my younger years I of the bark around the face. Next I made a copy of the of manipulation must be kept to a minimum, whether decided to base my idea on the Green Man, a pagan tree trunk image and applied a Gaussian blur with a this is colour correction or sharpening, or even a slight god most often associated with nature, the face of radius 2 pixels. I then duplicated this, and saved it cropping is open to debate depending on the subject. an older bearded man, often seen inside and outside to my desktop as a .PSD renamed displacement. The For example, in my opinion News articles should not Christian churches. image now called displacement was then closed as it be changed in any way from the original image, edito- In order to create the final image I would only need was not then needed until a later step. rial stories may have a little more leeway, but only to combine two images, a tree with some reasonably Returning to the main image, I used Filter – Distort. so much as is necessary to create the right image for rough bark for texture, and a portrait of an older beard- The horizontal and vertical scales were displaced by the article. As to advertising, I often find it distaste- ed man. Finding the tree was not as easy as might 10 pixels, and the displacement .PSD applied. This I ful the amount of work done to an image to make it first be thought, as many trees here have quite lightly copied by pressing CTRL+J and set the blending mode advert worthy, whether this is in the way of improving textured bark, the ones that did have the rougher to multiply, this darkens the background image of the the looks of models, or overly enhancing a product to textures tended to bee a little on the narrow side for bark a little, but adds to the overall effect. I then set make it look more impressive than it actually is. adding a face to. My partners father had already posed the blending mode of the face layer to overlay with The exercise was an interesting experiment for for some portraits for an earlier module, and his face an opacity of 100, and adjusted the brightness and me, as I have said I tend to avoid such heavy levels was more than suitable for what I had in mind. levels until it could be seen, not clearly, but enough of manipulation, but I can see how people are drawn Firstly I opened the image of the tree in Photoshop. to recognise it as a face. The whole image was the into the world of creating digital art. The final image I then opened the portrait image, this needs to be in treated to some selective dodging and burning of mid does appear as I wanted it to, and the idea itself has black and white. To desaturate it press CTRL + Shift + tones and highlights to get the face to be more in line worked in the way I intended. I think maybe with U and then save it to the desktop.. To move it into the with the levels of the bark. much more practice, and a deeper understanding tree image I had opened earlier, I opened the move I also made a back cover image, with a short syn- of some of the functions of Photoshop I use on very tool ‘v’ and then dragged it across to the image of opsis just to complete the idea for myself. I made 2 rare occasions, the image itself could be improved the tree. Using the transform tool Ctrl + T I resized cover images one with a darker background, which I on a technical level. I am overall happy with the final the portrait and placed it in the rough location where think is the one I prefer, as the one with the daylight image, even if I know an expert would have made it all I wanted it to be. Next I adjusted the levels, to make showing through makes the image a little too friendly just that little bit smoother. the darkest tones black, and the lightest tones white, for a mystery novel.

72 73 Reality and Intervention

Tutor Report Response to Tutor

Overall Comments I am quite happy with Clive’s comments. The cover A very professional result. itself came out as I had hoped. The text colour was something I had experimented with, using red green Feedback on assignment and yellow, and thought at the time maybe green For a light user of Photoshop you’ve shown yourself was a little bit in blending with the background, but to be very adept in those functions which you have cannot deny that it does work. The obvious typo was used. corrected, and the text on the rear panel made a little You couldn’t have found a better model even with a smaller. The rear panel itself could do with more work, model casting; he’s perfect for the idea of the Green however I am happy enough with it for representative Man. purposes. If I saw the cover in a book store I wouldn’t question that it was a real cover produced professionally. My only query would be the use of red in the letter- ing. Unusually for red and being green’s complimen- tary, it seems to be recessive. Against my expectations green seems to work bet- ter for me, anyway see what you think... Apart from that I don’t think there’s anything which you could or should have done differently. Perhaps the type on the back is a little large and maybe the overall impression which the back gives is a little garish and utilitarian compared to the sophisti- cation of the front. Also there’s a typo ‘Gree Man’.

Tutor: Clive White

74 75 The Final Image

Original image 100%+0.3 pixels 100%+1 pixel 100%+3.5 pixels 135%+2 pixels 135%+4 pixels 200%+6 pixels 500%+15 pixels

Finishing

The amount of sharpening an image needs sharpening to one degree or another, the Keeping the amount of sharpening the areas of the image at 100% and higher invisible in print. Increasing the radius monitor. In print whilst appearing a little of the previous images. This image is the skin tone and texture, with large areas is the knowledge that printing is a more as a photographer is through trial and er- can be dependent on several factors, the camera and lens combination I used for same but increasing the radius to 1 pixel, magnifications we can see that smooth to 4 pixels creates a more noticed effect artificial looking, and having the odd white first of the set to appear to be obviously being lost to artefacts from the sharpen- forgiving viewing medium than the moni- ror. Even using different printers can alter subject, the lighting, ISO, textures, camera this image usually only needs to be sharp- the effect is more pronounced, we can edges are starting to have a slightly jag- around the eyes. The lashes look overly spot in the skin areas for example, the over sharpened when printed, the darker ing process. On close inspection he edges tor. This can be down to a number of fac- how much sharpening in required, with and lens combination etc. all effect the ened to 100% at a radius of 0.3 pixels. see obvious changes in both the full im- ged appearance to them. When printed sharp, and there are some artefacts be- image does not appear to be overly terri- background tones are much noisier, the of details are extremely jagged, the image tors, the difference in resolution between high quality home printers, and profes- way the sharpness of an image appears This makes the image slightly sharper as age, and when viewed at 100%, and when this is not noticeable, the image appears ginning to form in the whites of the eyes. ble. It is beyond the point I would consider face and skin look unnaturally rough, the appears also to be brighter, despite having printed images and monitors, the viewing sional printing services giving different to our eyes. As we can see from the exam- we can see in the example, and at 100% printed the image appears to be slightly slightly sharper than the previous setting, Zooming in to 200% on screen, or view- useable, but this does not necessarily eyes have a strange effect clearly visible no adjustments made other than sharp- distances, even the way ink acts upon results to cheap home printers. As far as ple here, the original image is acceptably the difference is enough to be noticeable. sharper overall. Increasing the radius but with little adverse effect. Increasing ing the smooth edges with a magnifying reflect the view of someone else. We can in the whites, and the stitching detail in ness. I think it can be said that the printed paper as it dries. It could also be said that this exercise goes, I would still tend to sharp, even when zoomed into to 100%, Interestingly when the images are both again to 3.5 pixels creates an image that the strength of the sharpening to 135% glass on the print, and we can begin to see see the obvious effects of over sharpen- the jacket and scarf is overly visible. As image looks equally unpleasant. The tone in some circumstances printing requires stick to my sharpening at 100% and either showing each actual pixel as a pixel on the printed at A4, and viewed from a normal is starting to look over sharpened on my and reducing the radius to 2 pixels, and an obvious jagged appearance to what ing at 200% with a radius of 6 pixels. This a way of showing these effects at their changes being most obvious, and then the image to have a little more sharpen- 0.3 or 1 pixel radius. Through trial and monitor. Even when printed this image ap- distance we see very little if any change. monitor, small white spots are appearing, we have an image broadly similar to the should be a smooth line. This is the point makes the skin look somewhat rough and most obvious, the final image in the set we begin to see the strange exaggerated ing than is needed when viewing it on the error and various printers, and printing pears to be fine upon viewing it. However, Only when view under magnification can in areas where the sharpening is becom- previous one. Where slight imperfections where over sharpening is starting to really over detailed, and under close viewing we is sharpened to 500% with a radius of 15 levels of detail. screen. The amounts may vary, and the services, these settings have worked best each image can be improved with a little we see the changes. ing visible, and upon viewing the smoother are showing on screen, these are almost degrade the image quality, at least on the see more of the jagged edges than on any pixels. Here we can see huge changes to What we can take form this is exercise only way to find which works best for you for me.

76 77 The Final Image

A Web Gallery

To my mind the most important thing about any web- about me, gallery, contact etc. makes it very easy I would also suggest that anyone wanting a web site, be it photographic or not, is that it needs to be for the user to access the information they require. page and gallery look very carefully at their options. functional and simple to use. Convoluted structures Within the gallery page separate links for each project There are many free web services, many free page that require multiple page visits to reach the thing or subject, or in the case of a business website, links design programmes, the problem with these is that you are looking for are both annoying to the user, to samples from previous paid work, are vital to show not only do they tend to be quite generic, they also and unnecessary. The website itself should also be the viewer not only your past work, but to give them lack a personal touch. There is also the issue of pro- easy on the eye, bright garish colours, random ani- an idea of what you may be capable of producing in fessionalism again, in that they often appear quite mations and the like to not make for a pleasant user the future. amateurish. We as photographers will often tell peo- experience, and as such people will soon get bored The image I have used suggests a wedding based ple that ask us about doing their own photography for and moves away to something else. From a business web site, we are already within the separate page work based projects, or weddings or any other impor- point of view such things are also unprofessional, and for one of the weddings. The images scroll across tant function, to hire a professional to do it. That this would suggest to the viewer that maybe your servic- the bottom of the page in a small format, and can be will give the best results. There is no difference when es shouldn’t be used. moved along by using the slider. Clicking on an image designing and building a website. A skilled profession- Obviously as photographers we want people to enlarges it to give a more detailed view. al will always do a better job, and will always take into view our work, whether it be for business purposes, The background to the website can be just as account your input and ideas before creating a web self promotion, or for reasons of critique and learn- important, for galleries something neutral, like black, site for you. Your website is how you represent your- ing. Having a gallery is an obvious step towards these white or grey is quite common. Making the images self to people on the internet, and as such you want it aims, either as part of a wider web site, or as a stand easy to view when enlarged. For my example I de- to make the best impression possible, and to me, that alone item. cided to try something a little different, a faded, semi makes it worth the cost of hiring a professional to do As I have previously mentioned I like the simple transparent version of the image being viewed. Whilst a good job. straight forward approach, a clear link for each fea- this obviously will not work for text based pages it ture, for example having buttons linked to services, functions quite well here, being unobtrusive.

78 79 The Final Image

Assignment 5: Personal Project

‘Make sure it’s something you’re enthusiastic about ing at night, and to create the shadowed effect I This would have to do. The issue here being that images was not a problem, but I wanted that slight doing’ decided to use only one speedlight, rather than my even a 500 lumen Led torch produces less light softness that I can still see on some of my older battery powered studio lights. The next problem than a good speedlight. However for my purposes images. For this I decided to process in such a way This simple advice from my tutor caused me to to was to find someone willing to be the subject, and it would have to do. that viewing the images in A3 or A4 requires you sit back and think a bit longer about the subject to chose the location to fit in with this 30’s to 50’s My original idea was to produce a set of images to be at least 50cm-100cam away. Close up view- I would chose for the final assignment. I had a num- idea of a theme. Thankfully my partner had a friend that appeared to be stills from a film sequence. Of ing will reveal a softness or smudging of the image ber of ideas, some of which proved impractical and willing to help out, and the location was easily someone moving through a city at night, possibly that is as close as I could get to replicating the ef- others which turned out to be a little too similar found within the town of Visby. The main, and to be going somewhere, or escaping from something, fect of high ISO film stock. to previous assignments, and some which whilst fair only town on the island, it has the advantage of I didn’t want it to be overtly obvious as to what Overall I am very pleased with the final collection being perhaps a little more original or having more being enclosed in walls from the 13th century, and exactly was happening, so chose not to have for of images, they work as I intended and the film noir meaning in a social context didn’t make me feel the majority of the buildings are very old and the example, a figure following her in the shadows. The style comes across very well. I think if I was to re- excited about them as a project. streets only wide enough for one vehicle. A good images would then be cropped to a 16:9 aspect peat this exercise in the future I would have to take I finally decided upon something in a film noir style. backdrop for the vision I had in mind. As to whether ratio to simulate the view we would see on a mod- the more inconvenient studio lighting, because Of my childhood one thing that I always this theme would be considered a good choice, for ern television. although much heavier, and requiring more in the remember is the summer holidays from school. me I think it was. It gave me something to think on I think I managed to mostly stick to my plan. There way of support and modifiers, it is a much more Aside from the joy of being free to do as we wished and plan, to be a little more creative in my outlook are a few extra images which may not have been controllable and powerful light source, and whilst during these holidays, one thing I remember most than I might usually be. Other people may find it a needed, and a few that may be slightly outside the the results may not have been hugely different it is how television changed, channels started ear- little cliched, or uninteresting, but I can honestly idea of movement through a city at night. However would have been much easier to shape the light- lier, and there was always something new to see, say I enjoyed the whole process. overall I am very happy with the final images. ing using the inbuilt modelling lamps. The higher even though it tended to be in black and white and The actual process of shooting the images took From a technical viewpoint other than the problem quality modifiers would also have provided a softer usually from the period between the 1930’s and around three hours, dragging into the early hours with the speedlights, there were no huge issues in light without having to be as close as the speed- 1950’s. There were also matinee performances of the morning. There were no real problems with the actual photography. The issue I had was cre- light/torch combination, which would have made during the weekend at our local cinema, again of- locations or the subject, my partner taking on the ating the right feel in the images in post process- composing the images a lot easier. ten old movies, usually preceded by a serial again role of a mobile light stand made changing lighting ing. I wanted the look of old film, the graininess As a footnote, it is always interesting to see the in black and white and often about some heroic angles a lot easier. There was however one ma- and slight softness you would get when using reaction of people to images we as photographers detective or group of children saving the day from jor problem, the speedlight decided at that point relatively high ISO film. Obviously in the days of might view as acceptable. When giving a copy of a strangely implausible threat. These movies and to fail. This wouldn’t have been a problem, I had analogue anything over ISO 400 would be consid- the images to the model there were no comments serials have shaped my taste in film and television, bought a spare along with me, a few minutes later ered as high, and ISO 1600 almost exotic, which regarding the grain, or the close up softness, just even though things are now more colourful and it had also given up on working correctly. I was left means modern cameras shooting clean images at happiness with the way they looked. While this is filled with the kind of effects undreamed of when I with two choices, to either go home and get some ISO 6400+ will need a bit of work to look the same in no way representative of the technical merits, or was at school. In the movies I enjoyed everything heavy studio lights, which would also require us- as we might have expected from something like artistic merits of the project it is always good to see was suggestion, moods and meaning were con- ing very large clumsy modifiers to get the effect Kodak Tri-X or Fujifilm Neopan. a subject happy with the images of themselves. veyed with lighting, and I wanted to try and incor- I wanted, or to resort to something a little more With regard to the overall look of the images I de- porate this into the assignment. makeshift. A high powered LED torch, pushed into cided to try something a little risky, or rather to me To try and recreate this style would mean shoot- one of the small soft boxes I use on speedlights. it felt like taking a risk. Getting the grain into the

80 81 The Final Image

Tutor Report Response to Tutor

Overall Comments Overall I am reasonably happy with Clive’s comments. I think you’ve successfully evoked the genre. I would like to address a couple of points. Colour Noir - This is something I am aware of and perhaps it would Feedback on assignment have been worth investigating as part of the series, Of course the leading actress in a film of the period using colour and black and white images to assess might have been rather different but the chosen differences in how the mood and feel of an image model acts very well and as a secondary character changes with both daylight and night views, and almost refers back to German Expressionism. colour and black and white treatment. I discounted it Whilst recognising it as an exercise in mood one is the time as I wanted the exercise to be not only about still drawn to developing a narrative about what’s oc- the overall singular feel of the images, but about the curring, with whom and why. actual processing treatment as well. It made me think of the Italian detective series I have to agree with there being an issue with the Inspector Montalbano, which is a kind of noir, often narrative, whilst initially I had decided to go for a in the blazing sun, that reminded me that there are feeling of being followed by an unknown entity, the colour noir style films; which made me think that it series itself became more of a journey through the would have been interesting to see some contrasting town at night. There were a number of reasons for images in colour noir since we’re talking more of an this, firstly the weather was really not conducive to investigation than a coherent set of images. this kind of work, very cold and very windy, which is As far as technique goes I’m seem to recall that not something that can be avoided in Visby this time all the night scenes in The Third Man were lit with a of year. The second issue which I think had an effect single 10K tungsten lamp as that was all they had for on the narrative was the late time of the shoot, tired- the scenes. ness creeps in and decision making can suffer, as well Also there’s some fringing around the edges of as sticking to a plan that already felt like it was work- black areas in some of the images, that needs to be ing as intended. The decision to change the narrative addressed in the prints which are now required for all to a more open ended one was in hindsight not the assignments for assessment. optimum choice for the series of images. Also when it comes to the processing of the images, whilst I envi- Tutor: Clive White sioned them in a 16:9 format, on reflection it would probably have worked better to think of the finished images as being a 16:7 format. Whilst 16:9 is the for- mat of most modern screens, when viewing movies or TV we often have a black bar at the top and bottom, this would have allowed for the addition of the black sections to give the image a more ‘on screen’ feel.

< Unused images 82 83 Book Reviews

Abandoned Places: The Photographer’s Selection Henk van Rensbergen

I have a long held fascination with places and build- images themselves can be a long and drawn out pro- ings we leave behind. Things that once held great im- cess, requiring much more work than we first might portance left to rot and decay, as they are reclaimed think. by nature. So whilst this book is of interest to me on On a purely visual level the images are both striking a personal level, it also shows a great deal of skill and and interesting, showing not only the decay of the dedication by the photographer. The post process- places visited, but also how man is happy to discard ing is obviously of great importance, bringing out the not only amazing architecture and feats of construc- best of the images whether it be colours or textures, tion, but vast amounts of money in the name of pro- and to his credit it never seems to be overdone. The gress. Many of the buildings could have saved or re techniques required to capture the images vary from purposed, but it seems that such things are often of standard photography, to long exposures and light little interest to the people who own or control these painting, each chosen to make the most of the detail places. within the image. The time and effort spent research- It may appear to some people viewing that this is ing these places, gaining permission for entry and nothing other than a collection of well photographed then travelling to, and searching to find the best im- pretty pictures, to me it captures views of fast disap- age location is worthy of praise in itself, and shows a pearing history, of places we may never see the like great amount of dedication to producing the images of again, that will either be redeveloped into soulless he envisioned. modern office space, or left to crumble into nothing, a What I take most from this body of work is that shame considering not only the effort that went into nothing comes easily, we as photographers must their construction, but in how these places will possi- commit to both learning the skills required to make bly not be around for future generations to see. the best of our chosen fields, and that creating the

84 85 Book Reviews

Langford’s Advanced Photography Michael Langford, Efthimia Bilissi

To begin with I would explain that this work was The warning out of the way, whilst it may be an old the relevance of something originally written for originally published in 1969, the later editions being fashioned book, written in an old fashioned style, film photographers, as being out of date or no longer amended to include reference to digital photography it contains a wealth of information on photographic needed due to modern metering systems, high ISO and software. theory, that whilst not maybe 100% necessary in the sensors, fast accurate auto focus and all of the other This book can be very heavy going. It is written in modern age, is extremely helpful and useful to know. delights we have come to expect of modern day a the style of an old fashioned academic text book, It goes into great depths explaining such things as the equipment. What this knowledge does is give us the and as such contains many illustrations in the form of spectral sensitivity of film, darkroom practices, light- power to exercise more thought and control over what graphs and diagrams and equations, the writing style ing principles and a myriad of other subjects ranging we are doing, to step away from the automation and is to the point and educational, so if you are looking from A to Z. It would take an extremely lengthy review use our own vision to create the image as we want it. for something light hearted and easy reading I would to go through every section, yet every section, even In some ways it slows us down and makes us think, suggest you look elsewhere. Whilst the writing may those of producing images with film, or other ana- which in many situations can only be a good thing. feel a little heavy going, it is very well written, and the logue equipment contain little gems of knowledge It also encourages not only the practice of existing theory is presented in such a way that it is easy to un- that make the hard work of reading all worthwhile. skills, but the experimentation with new ones, and derstand, examples are given and explained in depth, Whilst most of us may chose to never use the zone new ideas, all of which help us to grow as photog- and you are left with a feeling of actually learning system, knowing how it works and the limitations it raphers. There are sections in the modern editions something, or in some cases remembering something has, is of benefit to us as photographers. Likewise covering all of the necessary aspects of digital pho- from a distant past. for many of the section on film photography, we may tography, but in some strange way I find these of less I think my main problem with the book is that much not use it having embraced digital technology, but use the the older more traditional theories. Remind- of this feeling of hard work comes from the format it the practices and theory are as relevant now as they ing myself of how I used to do something, and why I is printed in, a larger edition might make the images have ever been. would do it in a certain way, makes me approach the stand out more, and would take away some of the This is my main point with this book and many task of making images with digital equipment in a feeling you have of being presented with walls of text. books like it, is that people are too quick to dismiss much more thoughtful way.

86 87 Book Reviews

On Photography Susan Sontag

In my experience I have found On Photography to be room, more than adept at creating flase images and ences and tastes, and will not always be swayed by one of the most widely quoted books amongst the then printing them out as ‘real’ photographs. the view of others, and that the content of an image is more traditional of camera club members, students There are equally many points I agree with, and often enough for some viewers, without needing the and hobbyists. This is initeresting due to the fact that points that are just as relevant now as when the book story behind it. the book covers neither technique or style, it is low on was first published in 1977. For example the discus- Whether or not you agree with her thoughts and references to the body of work of many of the photog- sion of is photgraphy art or isn’t it? Whilst you may musings on photography, the book itself is worth raphers she mentions, and is, in essence a collection not agree with her decision, she makes a compelling taking the time and effort to read. Her approach and of her own thoughts on a number of points. The book and well thought arguement for her case. Her argue- reasoning giving an intersting insight into how she is broken into five short essays, each dealing with a ment of it being the content of a photograph that viewed the owrld around her, and what she thought specific area regarding her thoughts on photography. decides whether a viewer appreciates it or not, and important in certain areas. I take away more from this This book it must be noted is not an academic text, it not the form or style of the image, yet at the same book than I initially thought, a wider viewpoint maybe, is a work of polemic literature, and as such is some- time the form or style of an image still dictates some or a different understanding of how some people view what confrontational in the way it approaches each form of photographic taste, is oone thing I found and react to photography, and what may drive others argument. myself wholely agreeing with. The idea that there is to create the images we see in the world around us. Initially I found the book quite difficult to get into, some sort of accepted norm in the form of an im- As a footnote, in her 2003 book Regarding the Pain not so much for the way it is written, though this age, whether dictated by current trends or fashions, of Others her opinions on photography seem to have can feel quite heavy going at times, but more due to and this form alone can make an image more tsate- changed radically since 1977, and she even goes as the number of times I found myself disagreeing with full regardless of whther the viewer appreciates the far as rebuking some of the theories that she herself things she has said. The idea that a photograph is a content or not. An arguement I often see these days once supported. People of course change and evolve, collected piece of reality for example, whilst this may in respect to the art establishment and it’s favorite as does photography itself, and it is a welcome sight be true in some cases, in others it is far from being a artists, and how the general public view what is to see someone we would consider to be in perhaps fact. More so in our modern world, when editing soft- presented. The phrase ‘I like that picture’ is heard far a position of authority, supporting a change in ap- ware can be used to create any number of effects, or more foten than ‘I can see the turmoil within the artist proach, instead of being stuck in her own thoughts of evcn entirely construct parts of a photograph. It can as he struggled to bring his vision to life’. This is not to the past. be argued that when she was writing this software say that art is of any less value to people outside of did not exist, there were however experts in the dark- the artworld, just that people have their own prefer-

88 89 Gallery Visits

Anton Corbijn: 1-2-3-4

I think Anton Corbijn must rank as one of my favourite ing that today many of us would discard some of photographers. This collection of his music and por- these images, as being not up to standard. As if the trait photography spans many years working in the most important thing now was the technicalities of industry and covers a multitude of artists and bands, the image, instead of the actual content. I know these and many celebrities and people. images were captured on film, in the days when ISO The thing that I find most appealing is his ability to 400 was considered to be a high ISO, and that mod- get the personality and mood of the performers into ern technology would do a far better job of recreating every portrait, this is something I think many pho- these images. I think this would be missing the point, tographers lack, where a portrait is just an image of the little touches of imperfection we see in the im- someone. These all show more about the subjects ages, are often replicated in the people themselves, themselves, there is often a sense of humour pre- showing messed hair or wrinkles etc. and this some- sent, or a feeling of the photographer not just being a how all seems to add to the personality captured in person there taking their photographs, but of a friend the images. going through a period of time and catching them just My only real complaint would be the fact that the at the right moment. This to me is the magic of por- majority of the images are head and shoulder por- trait photography. traits, and that I personally would have liked to see There are other things that I find of interest here more of the full body images. This isn’t to say they as well. With modern photography we are so used were in anyway bad or uninteresting, it just left me to seeing pin sharp, noise free images. Yet many of wanting to see more of his work. these portraits are far from that. I find myself think-

90 91 Gallery Visits

Erik Johansson: Imagine Created Reality

I’m not sure whether I would class this body of work a photographic level, but more on the level of be- simply as photography, to me it is more in line with ing amazed by each image, by its content, and the digital art. That being said, I am amazed by not only clever and time consuming work that had been put the quality of the work itself, but by the imagination into them. It seemed to be easily accessible, with a needed to come up with the concepts themselves. wide range of people enjoying it, including some very There is an almost surrealist look to many of the im- young children, who were obviously struck by the ages, things that wouldn’t be out of place in work by visual impact, and the almost photo realistic nature Dali or Max Ernst. of the images. I think work like this is a good way to The images are both striking and beautiful, some bring in people to galleries that may normally be put almost haunting, many with a slightly dark feeling no off by the idea of viewing art, and the art world. Some- doubt created by the vast photoshop skills employed times it seems a little deep and meaningful, and the in their production. To me it seems many of the im- imagery whilst of amazing quality can be a little off ages show an endless struggle to complete some- putting to the casual viewer. Here the casual viewer thing, perhaps shwoing how we struggle though life seemed mesmerised by the strangeness of the im- as human beings. Other seem to illustrate immovable ages, and at times amazed that they were based on obstacles, again representing what life throws at us. photographic works. I enjoyed this exhibition, not so much much on

92 93 Gallery Visits

Patrick Demarchelier: Lumière

A collection showing the work of over 50 years in a little cold and uninterested, perhaps the constant the fashion industry by Patrick Demarchelier. This exposure to these kinds of images has led to us be- contained not only the usual editorial and fashion coming over familiar, and no longer impressed by the magazine style images, but some behind the scenes skill and the craft shown by the photographers. Every type work as well. Whilst I am not the hugest fan of magazine we see, our television advertising, external fashion photography, what I was amazed by was how advertising, all contain similar images, there are even much things have changed over the years, yet how TV shows dedicated to finding the models to star in much has remained the same. The clothes and styles the adverts, and editorials. Perhaps I am just getting are obviously different, even the trends on how mod- old, and this kind of imagery no longer excites me, els are preferred to look, however the posing remains or perhaps the day itself was wearing and tiring, and fairly consistent, the expressions on faces hardly has effected how I viewed and responded to the work. change, and the feel the images give off is one of obvi- As I have said, you couldn’t argue with the quality or ously the fashion world. the skill involved to make it consistent over a 50 year The work it self is of high quality, no one could time span. Technically it is perfect, the images are argue with that. The lighting, posing and composi- visually appealing, yet o9nt hat day, at that time I felt tion are all as would be expected, perfect for the job they did little for me. at hand. I can’t help feeling though that I came away

94 95 Gallery Visits

Arthur Fellig ‘Weegee’: EXTRA!

A collection of images from a legendary press photog- sation just simple clear images showing what has, or rapher. There is something about old press images is happening. Again as press photography should be. from the 20’s through to the 60’s that I love. Perhaps This wide variety of image types meant there was it is the fact it captures the normal workings of a time no becoming bored with the subject, his images of long gone, or the harsh flash and strong shadows, New York in the early 20th Century, are both a cul- either way this body of work held my attention in a tural record, and a collection of artistic pieces, cap- way that meant every image was worth taking time to tured at the perfect moment, framed and composed view, to read the description and think upon. There is beautifully. The work is both interesting and inspiring, everything from publicity photo’s, celebrity portraits, not from just a technical viewpoint, but from the view- through to what would appear to be illustrative street point of having the photographers eye. Of knowing photography and the recording of public events, it what to be looking at, and when to press the shutter would seem his passion was the documentation of button. If you haven’t had the pleasure of viewing crime, the victims, the survivors and the onlookers. his work, and you get the chance I would thoroughly Much of his work is based in this area, as I guess you recommend it. Even if you don’t enjoy it the same would expect from a press photographer. There is way I did, the view of a different time and place will no a lot to be said for his style of recording these as a doubt keep you interested. factual event. Impartial, there is no garnish, no styli-

96 97 Thoughts and Conclusions

Reference Reading List Thoughts and Conclusions on DPP

Digital Image Processing 3rd Edition – Richard E Woods, Rafael C Gonzalez Digital Photographic Practice was an enjoyable unit or unexcited about the knowledge we have and how to work through. There were a couple of minor issues we apply it. These little reminders here and there can Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing – A.K Jain I had where I didn’t quite agree with some of the ideas help bring new light into our work, can have the effect presented, however overall I found it to be a worth- of changing one small thing, which snowballs into Two Dimensional Signal and Image Processing – J S Lim while experience. One of the main reasons for this something else. was that in working through exercises and projects The sections on working within Photoshop were Multidimensional Digital Signal Processing – Dan E. Dudgeon and Russell M. Mersereau based on workflow and processing, I was looking interesting. Again not because they were new to me, in detail at something that I now do as a matter of but because I have always considered myself a light The Photographer’s Eye Remastered 10th Anniversary: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photographs – Michael Freeman routine. In other words investigating how and why we user, simple corrections or conversions here and do certain things, instead of just doing them because there, no in depth image manipulation, or composit- The Photoshop Workbook: Professional Retouching and Compositing Tips, Tricks, and Techniques – Glyn Dewis that is the way my work has developed over a number ing. It was fun to do some of these things again, and of years. to maybe consider employing them in future work. How To Cheat In Photoshop CS: The art of creating realistic photomontages – Steve Caplin Whilst this may not change my workflow or the The advantage being of course that I can do it as a way I work and process images, it does remind me project for myself, and not consider it as something Image Ethics in the Digital Age – Larry P. Gross, John Stuart Katz, Jay Ruby of options that I might have otherwise discounted overly vital for work. Maybe it will become more a part previously, and remembering these options are there of my body of work, and as such open up a new and The DAM book – Peter Krogh should I choose to use them is a useful thing. different way in which I express myself. There were also other points, for example the sec- The module itself has at times been hard work, not Photoshop Compositing Secrets – Matt Kloskowski tion on dynamic range, which served as a reminder on so much for the work itself, more the time of year why I do things as I do, working around limitations in at which I found myself having to do certain things. lighting or camera sensitivity, it is easy to get into a Something that can’t be avoided of course, but none state where you use what you know works, and forget the less I did find myself thinking on a couple of oc- there are other things you can try, even if it is just to casions, how I wished certain things could have been be using a different technique for the odd image here left until the summer, for example. It would also be and there. worth mentioning my tutor, Clive White, whilst coming I think it is important to remind ourselves of these across as a man of short words on occasion, his direc- basic things from time to time, it is not that we for- tion and advice always made perfect sense, and the get them, or the relevance they have, more that we comments he made always appeared to be justified. can become a little set in our ways, even apathetic

98 99 Sean Sweeney Student Number 510149 Digital Photographic Practice