Assignment 5 followup

I read my Tutor's critique with great interest. I certainly agree that the composition in some images suffered from the immediate response needed that came from the approach that I had opte to take. And with hindsight the very bright light of the cloudy weather that day caused me problems which I did not really successfully overcome at the time of taking the photographs nor in the processing of the images taken afterwards. Saturation and contrast were often not right.

It would be interesting to go back to the Pride event this year and maybe take a different approach e.g. taking a fixed location for shots in a number of locations rather than walking with and in the parade to see what kind of differing result I could achieve.

I did have a go at reworking some of the images along the lines suggested and the results are below.



Original magazine cover

Revised cover

My tutor suggested that leaving the above image to the last page of the magazine article was in a sense a waste of an image which could bring inevidence of serious local political support right at the beginning and in some resepcts it does. That said, I prefer the original image in terms of the composition. So we have  a pure visual image set against a picture which sets the scene i.e. a celebration of Gay Pride supported by the city council which has the added adjunct of a figure coming out from behind the poster board. Maybe from the magazine  news angle the revised cover is the more 'newsworthy' one.


Original layout - page 3

Revised version

I agree that the revised version works better with less images and a more straightforward layout.


Original layout  - page 5

Revised version

I chose some different images here for page 5 and cropped the image of the lady in the mask. This second version works better than the original.



Original version -page 6

Revised version

Again I changed one of the images and cropped the image of the two ladies more closely to arrive at a better interpretation of the post parade activities....avoiding tilting one of the images improves the  visual aspect of the layout.

Tutor's report : Assignment 5 Applying the techniques of Illustration and Narrative

Here are my Tutor's comments on Assignment 5:

Overall Comments

 

For this final assignment you chose to document the Brighton and Hove Pride Parade.  You document your approach to this project very well in your introductory notes.  You include in your submission the original images in hard copy, a mockup of the magazine (although you tend to focus on the images rather than refined design elements of publication), a set of detailed notes and accompanying thumbnails, and an additional DVD of the originals; comprehensive and thorough documentation.

 

One off events like this are not at all easy to capture, and as you pointed out in your notes, many photographers choose a vantage point to get a handful of good images; they of course probably only have to find one or two for publication. Your decision to be more mobile, ‘get inside’ the parade and move with it was a good one, and even though this presents a number of problems, technical, logistical and creative, you will get a better set of shots, a sense of place, a real feel for the parade and it’s atmosphere, and potentially a much more varied set of shots. It’s a calculated risk, and you were well aware of that, and prepared for it.

 

Indeed you do capture a good feel of the celebration and unity of the parade and community, and a set of colourful images, full of life and character, even though they may not be as compositionally considered or technically perfect as you may have wished for.

 

Feedback

 

Applying the techniques of Illustration and Narrative

‘United Colours of Pride’

 

Cover Shot

 

In this opening shot you capture the symbolic colours and sense of fun of the parade with this giant head leading a float, and the participant wrapped in the rainbow flag in the foreground. The composition is a bit of a squeeze at the tight of frame, but essentially the focal point is the eye of the figurehead. The print is slightly wider, and the rendition of colors and textures more vibrant and detailed.  On some of the prints, the saturation seems to be too strong and leaves the surrounding buildings looking pale and a touch ‘thin’, although I’m not sure why. I would go for a little less saturation and intensity.

 

 

On Page One, there is one central image that occupies two thirds of the page and introduces us to the participants as they make their way through the town. Ass you say in your notes, there is a good sense of movement in this shot, with the group holding a giant flag above their heads. You capture some of the context, those who have turned out to watch, and a depth to the march. A slightly wider angle might have provided you with more of this detail and a greater sense of place, but this image works well.  The description in the text is informative without being overly detailed and the caption works well.

 

 

‘Political Protest or Carnival’ is the title of the two images on the following page, with the top shot showing the strong left wing political support, banners and flags, and the lower image is about gay awareness. Here you explain in the text what we can see in the shots, unnecessary duplication perhaps, also, while both shots again capture the feel and energy of the march, they are quite similar. I would certainly favour a tighter crop on the lower image, concentrating on the QYN banner and the people carrying this.

 

 

On the following, third page, you offer three great shots which really bring across the eccentric nature of this event, the freedom of expression through outrageous and fun costumes. The top and bottom are very well composed and complement each other in terms of colour and activity very well; the middle image is a little less successful as it captures the backs of the subject and the eye is drawn to the EasyJet banner at the left of frame. My other comment here is about the layout, and the tilted and overlapping shots which I feel detracts from the power of the images; better I think to use just the two stronger images, perhaps.

 

Page Four, ‘A Community Event’, reveals and illustrates the level of support and engagement from local people, lining the streets, and getting into the spirit of the event both with costume and flags. This busy but well constructed shot gets that across well, with good foreground subject matter, and a great sense of depth and place looking following the marchers down the street. This is a good example of the strength of colour in the foreground and the weakness of definition in the surrounding buildings, which appear to have lost contrast.

 

 

The caption you use on Page 5, ‘Getting Nearer to Preston Park’ has little to do with shots and doesn’t really enlighten the viewer, so might be better left out?  The shot looking up at the open first floor window draped with flags and supporters captures a different side to the community. The central shot doesn’t quite work for me; the electronic road sign isn’t very interesting, and we already know what we’re looking at; but the figure in the mask below is good, although cropped here.  The third image on the page once again captures the mood of festivity and celebration and the volume of people who have turned out in support, but it is repetitive and I wonder if you can find an alternative and complementary shot – one which brings additional information to the set?

 

 

The final page, ‘The Park Event’ has a layout of three images at the end of the parade, and offer details about some of the other activities taking place. The first shot might be an alternative cover image or a final, closing one, with a sign advertising the vent and the local council support; it’s a shame you have only the back of this figure. The central image might be wider to reveal more of what is going on here, education about gay matters. The final shot – why the tilt? – show people at rest, and would perhaps benefit from either a closer crop of the two youngsters with their bright dyed hair; or wider composition with more detail and clearer sense of relaxation of people sitting outside the beer tent.  This subject would feel better composed in a landscape format, I think.

 

To sum up, there are pros and cons for taking a more mobile approach to capturing an event like this, essentially you can and you have captured much more of a sense of participant and community interaction, and also a better sense of place.  Clearly you have had to react and respond quickly to capture this set of shots and sometimes that means the composition isn’t as strong as it might be. However, the end result works very well.

 

Learning Logs/Critical essays

 

The exercises and research undertaken for this final section of the course is well documented in your online Blog, and this reveals a good approach to your preparation for the last assignment, looking at both the local area where your assignment will take place and the work of other practitioners exploring image and narrative. This also reveals some of your early thinking and considerations for suitable subject matter for the final assignment, and a good approach to reflection. You also write about recent visits to exhibitions and work that you find compelling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment 5 : cover and pages slides

United Colours of Pride - magazine cover and story pages


The finished assignment comprises one cover for a magazine and six pages which tell the story entitled the 'United Colours of Pride'. These are posted below as they would appear as the magazine pages are turned :

Images for applying the techniques of illustration and narrative

My chosen subject  the Assignment 5 project was this year's Brighton and Hove Pride event . The intention was to tell the story of the Parade and Park Event from the point of view of the participants and the community i.e. the residents and visitors to the city who watched or joined in the day's events. Capturing the parade was a real challenge as I wanted to not only represent the participants but also capture the effect of the parade on those lining the streets to watch it go by. While I knew the route in advance and could arrive before the start time to wander through those gathering to walk  or ride on the floats, much of what I wanted to capture meant walking in the Parade and taking photographs on the 'hoof' so to speak. Unlike the professional photographers who, I noticed were placing themselves at certain vantage points,I felt my approach, which while giving me quite a few headaches re composition and lighting etc., did allow me to capture some more spontaneous shots. That said, while I had difficulty reducing the number of images to what I needed for the story, the technical quality of some of the photographs were not the standard I would have wished. It proved quite a learning exercise and with hindsight I would introduce some 'vantage point' opportunities into the shoot to complement the pre parade shots and the 'en route images'.

The following images are then the final selection for my story and I include them here to allow me to provide the technical detail and the reasoning behind the actual image. The final result i.e. the magazine cover and illustrated story will follow in a separate post.






P436: f8 @ 1/60  ISO 200 43mm  cropped 

P436 is my favourite image taken at the end of the Parade when the floats were parked up. I was looking for an image to use to illustrate the colours of gay pride but avoiding the ubiquitous rainbow flag. This imaginative float does just that ..the composition made more interesting by being able to include the small figure at the bottom right...an echo of the rainbow image. I chose this eyecatching image for the cover of the magazine as the theme for the Brighton and Hove Pride was the 'United Colours of Pride'






P434 : f2.8 @ 1/640 ISO  4mm cropped

I really like the movement in the above image and that it represents very accurately the Pride Brighton & Hove theme itself i.e. the subjects  'united ' in carrying the rainbow flag, itself  symbol of gay pride. Perhaps it over eggs the the symbolic side of things but the sense of forward movement captured in the image does give a sense of gay pride and progress. Although taken at World Pride earlier in the summer, it represents the essence of what the parade  was all about and so fits well with the story.






P437: f8 @ 1/60  ISO 200  +0.3exp. 18mm cropped

  
With this kind of subject, obviously you cannot go back another day when the lighting is better or your vantage point better placed. Occasionally the parade stopped briefly though, allowing for this kind of shot. I like the different emotions on the faces of the two protagonists facing the camera lens. Excitement, contentment, a feeling of being in the moment and enjoying it perhaps?




P438: f8 @ 1/80  ISO 200  +0.3exp. 25mm cropped  WB daylight

I followed this group for a while trying to capture their enthusiasm and excitement and eventually managed this shot which freezes them in mid stride so to speak. It has vigour as an image but I really didn't get the lighting right at the time nor had the time then to really experiment with exposures.



P439: f8 @ 1/80  ISO 100 21mm cropped

Thinking in advance of using a double page spread to look at whether the Pride Parade was more about politics or carnival meant finding images which suggested 'carnival' on the day without relying on obvious stereotypes. This group posing for other cameras while waiting for the start of the parade caught my eye. Luckily I was able to capture them unobserved which makes for a more natural composition. The bright light on the seafront was difficult.




P440: f8 @ 1/80 ISO 100  18mm 



P441: f8 @ 1/100  ISO 200  +0.7exp. 34mm cropped

A second double page spread focused on the reaction of those watching the Parade go by.




P442: f8 @ 1/100  ISO200  +0.3exp.  34mm cropped 

What I was looking for were examples of individuals or crowds joining in the 'carnival' or 'protest' aspects of the Parade. Again it was more a question  of taking images on the hoof adjusting exposures etc. sometimes by way of trial and error.  As the roads narrowed towards the Parade's end i.e. Preston Park, many people watched from their homes often from upstairs windows which provided opportunities to show people enjoying the spectacle.




P443: f8 @ 1/160 ISO 200  +0.3exp.  55mm cropped

Originally I cropped P443 more tightly to focus just on the main figure at the window to highlight the greeting but in doing so the picture lost context in favour of a slightly larger and more exuberant wave. I reverted to the above slightly cropped version which I feel works better in light of the story I wanted to convey i.e. people in their homes watching and enjoying the parade.







P431 : f8 @ 1/50 ISO 200 +3exp. 55mm WB Daylight


The image above struck me as eyecatching....the flamboyant masked character in the foreground lifts the eye to the traffic sign, the yellow illuminated lettering of which links back to the gold mask while setting the scene and adding to the carnival atmosphere and glitzsyness  of the event.






P445: f8 @ 1/60  ISO 200  +0.3exp.  18mm cropped

This image captures a number of responses - the man at the front looking out towards the camera but not aware of it has a slightly quizzical/ bemused expression  though obviously part of what is going on as he wears a Pride whistle contrasts with the two women over on the right who aware of the camera lens are posing for me.


The last three photographs were taken at the Park Event where most parade participants and spectators ended up joining hundreds already there enjoying the venue.

Taken at the Park Event the image below makes an obvious reference to role of the city council in supporting the parade and event but what particularly struck me was the juxtaposition of the promotional board with its wording i.e. 'Coming out with Pride' and the two figures behind it - one more out in view than the other.




P435: f8 @ 1/200 ISO 200 25mm cropped

I made a conscious decision not to illustrate the organised activities but to try and capture both fun and seriousness of the day. 



P446: f8 @ 1/200  ISO 200  55mm cropped



P447: f8 @1/125  ISO 200  55mm 




Looking back now at these pictures, I feel that given the circumstances i.e. trying to capture a moveable feast so to speak, I did manage to get enough images to illustrate my intended story. With hindsight, I would probably approach the exercise differently on the day if I go back next year. It became very obvious  early on that a 70-300mm lens would have given a different and additional interesting dimension. I had decided to use only my Canon 500D with its 18-55mm lens to avoid having to carry a tripod around all day to give me more flexibility and speed of movement. I would take both lens or my bridge camera next time plus tripod and use the route differently. I also need to think hard about how to take better images in the weather conditions that presented rapidly changing lighting conditions.

Preparation for Assignment 5

Pride Brighton & Hove..


To help decide what I wanted to do for this last assignment, I spent some time looking at online photo essays e.g. http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com ; at some of the Guardian audio slideshows ( Neil Hall's photo of fog collecting in Chile - an example of not needing captions to explain the images) and the daily photos displayed in the online editions of the Times and Guardian websites plus some of the Guardian audio slideshows ( Neil Hall's photo of fog collecting in Chile - an example of not necessarily needing captions to explain the images. I also checked out the Foto 8 website ( www.foto8.com ) where I found Yanina Sherchenko's 'Being Strong' .amongst a number of photo stories ... I wanted to get a feel of what worked for the 'viewer' who came to the subject with little or no idea about it. How did the selection and composition within the images help address that; did the image satisfy or pose further questions? ; did the images need captions  or even text to help explain the content or purpose of the 'essay'?  At the same time, I mulled over possible subjects. I was drawn to capturing an event rather than a process or self contained task although this would bring the particular challenge of maybe having only one go at taking the photographs ( so vulnerable to weather and activities not under my control ). My experience of taking photographs at the Portsmouth International Kite Festival taught me that even having experience of the event from previous years only helps so far in that you roughly know what to expect in terms of location / layout / type of activities.  

That said, I decided to go for a story based on the Pride Parades that are held over the summer each year in different parts of Britain. The reason for this was partly the fun I had in July watching the World Pride  Parade held in London and taking photographs to capture the atmosphere and meaning behind the march but also the challenge of taking photographs that have to be taken with little or no time to 'stage manage' the shot. Thinking about this subject further I decided to concentrate on one Pride Event and chose the Brighton and Hove Pride Parade and Park Event as being local enough to reach easily and earlier enough (i.e. before the Parade started so I could capture the assembling aspect of it ) and having local knowledge of the city itself from living just along the coast for many years.

When I started to research the event I found the Pride Brighton & Hove website which not only gave the route and useful background to this year's parade but also details of the Park Event which is where the parade ends up This event was obviously a significant part of the day so I decided to cover both parade and park event. I also checked out local newspapers for references to the parade. This led me to realise that the parade was celebrating 20 years suggetsing that I research its history on internet. I found a useful series of articles on www.brightonourstory.co.uk  which led me to think about what I wanted to bring out in my images of the day. The parade has obviously become a huge event for the city over the years ( more than 100,000 people watching the parade last year ) and I felt it would be interesting to see how people responded to the parade from the point of view of being spectators as well as capture what it would like for those participating. This would  mean walking the Parade route as it progressed along so that I could see the kerbside spectators from the point of view of a participant as well as being there as people assembled on the seafront for the start of the parade.Bearing this in mind I decided not to take a tripod so that I could move around quickly to take any photo opportunity that might present it self.  I anticipated the Park Event would be easier than the parade as it had a fixed location and offered the attraction of entertainment e.g.music in the Calabash Tent and  Legends Cabaret Tent, the Fun Fair and market stalls in the Community Village.

In addition, I researched the symbolism and significance of the rainbow flag  which I anticipated would be in evidence on the day if the World Pride march was anything to go by.

So, at this stage I had a rough idea of what I was particularly  looking for to illustrate / tell the story of the 2012 Brighton & Hove Pride Parade and Event as it unfolded en route from the seafront starting point to the end at Preston Park, host to the 'Pride Event.







 

 

 

 


















Tutor's report : Assignment 4 - Applying Lighting Techniques

Here are my tutor's comments on Assignment 4 :

Overall Comments

 

You demonstrate a very good understanding and approach to lighting in this assignment and, following your thorough preparation through the exercises for this part of the course, and additional experimentation prior to the assignment, you chose to use (for the most part) artificial lighting for this set of images.

 

The object you chose, a small terracotta pot, small and mobile, has the potential for some interesting studies, as well as presenting a technical and creative challenge.

 

You explore each element in a well informed way in this set of eight images, and your supporting documentation provides a clear insight into your thinking, and reflection on the outcome. 

You don’t mention in your reflection, or in your Blog, if you carried out any specific research for the assignment, and I think it’s always worth doing this, especially when you’re working with a new technical area. One of the areas that you might have considered would be lighting for advertising for example, where a good deal of though goes into the production of the ‘pack shot’, the image that defines the product and brand.

 

Feedback - Lighting

 

Shape

 

P408: f9 @ 1/8  ISO 100  55m WB  tungsten

This opening image of the set, a silhouette of the vessel, works very well, with the lighting source illuminating the background to clearly define the shape of the pot. Only the base of the pot remains indistinct in the deep shadow, using a low rim light could help further define the outline of the pot. Interesting that you should choose to set the white balance to tungsten to achieve the bluish/grey tones for the silhouette.

 

P409 : f5/6 @ 1/5  ISO 100 -0.7exp. 37mm AWB

 

The following shot for this element, where you use a secondary reflected fill source to balance the backlight, produces a clear outline of the vessel with just a touch of detail on the surface, and crucially, enough to reduce any heavy shadows from the background source. This works very well. It’s a good exercise to look at the variation of key to fill ratio and the impact on the way the subject is rendered.  In both cases the background is nicely illuminated, soft and even.

 

Form

P410: f5/6 @ 1 sec  ISO 200  -0.7exp. 31mm AWB

The low angle desk lamp from the front left of the camera casts a hard shadow around the base of the pot and while it does the job of defining the curved form, it’s not very pretty. Maybe a diffuser over the light, or the source bounced from a reflector in the same position, would produce a better result. You can see how the shadows at the top of the pot, where the direct source falls away, are much softer.  Another option would be to use a softer fill source from the right. The lower level of illumination on the background works well with this set up.

 

P411: f10 @ 1/6  ISO 100 33mm WB Tungsten

 

The second image is much better, and this is partly down to the way you position the subject, on its side, as much as the use of a softer source and fill.  If you positioned the lamp a little further back, this would reduce the illumination on the background, and then a focused light on the opening at the top of the vase would offer some detail of the interior. This you could achieve using your desklamp with a ‘snoot’ made out of tin foil.

 

Texture

 

P412: f5/6 @ 1/500  ISO100  41mm  WB Daylight 

 

This first close shot for ‘texture’ is good, with the angle of light, from the side, picking out any surface detail and casting enough shadow to bring out the texture, and subtle markings on the surface. Because the vessel is round and glazed, it’s going to be very difficult to reduce any glare. The softer the light the better, but that reduces shadow detail and thus texture, using a polarizing filter is another option to reduce glare, with the light at the right angle, and finally the use of a ‘dulling spray’, which is a fine spray of oil, and not recommended for use on anything valuable. The other option of course is to go for much closer detail. I wouldn’t have known this was shot in daylight.

 

P413: f16 @ 2 sec  ISO 100 47mm WB Daylight

 

The second image also captures the detailed marking on the pot, but this might be better in a closer shot, where you would have much more control over the angle of shadow, reduce the glare and the blue light, and use the depth of field more effectively to create a strong focal point.

 

Colour



P414 : f5/6 @ 1/2 sec ISO 100  -0.7exp.  AWB



You can see the impact of using mixed light in this first shot for ‘colour’. The auto white balance is reading the tungsten light from the desklamp (which I presume is an ordinary bulb?), and the background soft fill from the softbox, with a daylight bulb, is quite cool. This enhances the warn tones of the terracotta, which is what you set put to do. It might have been worth exploring some of the manual white balance settings to see what difference this made to the final image – but that is something you’ll have explored in the exercises.

 





P415: f5/6 @ 1/5 sec ISO 100 180mm WB Daylight



 

The follow up shot works very well, with your intention being to pick out the lovely greenish markings at the top inside) the vessel. As you point out in your notes, this presents something of a challenge because you have to light a smaller area with a stronger more direct source, and avoid over exposing the rest. You do that very well here, and the colour is nicely rendered. The background is a touch on the bright side, and you could probably bring the whole exposure down a little to get a better result on the lower lip without losing the good detail or saturation.

 

The two additional images offer a variation in approach to lighting (for the ‘shape’ element), the first with a pool of light on the background which creates a nice compositional balance with the dark body of the pot. In the second, you use a practical light positioned behind the pot, which again produces a different balance to the composition – and a strong use of colour. I noticed that the prints for these shots look a bit on the soft side.

P416:  f4 @ 1/5 sec  ISO 100 +0.7exp  28mm  WB Daylight

 

P417 : f5/6 @ 1/5 sec  ISO 400  38mm  WB Daylight

 

The prints are good, but look a little on the dark side, and the colours are a bit muted. It may be worth selecting one shot and making a series of bracketed adjustments to the contrast and sending off for a test print. Alternatively, you could do this with a series of thumbnail images but they may be too small to judge the results well.

 

Learning Logs/Critical essays

 

Your Log is complete with all exercises very well executed and providing a strong foundation for the assignment. It’s good that you continue to engage with a range of photographic issues and research beyond the course with good reports here on Foto8 and using Google Streetview – Michael Wolf’s work is very interesting.

 

Suggested reading/viewing

 

The next assignment is Narrative and Illustration. I would recommend that you choose a subject or theme, which is local and at least semi-permanent, which gives you both an opportunity to research the place/setting, and a chance to return if you need to reshoot any material. 

 You might want to have a look at some photoessay links online,

 

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/

 

or even the audio visual slide shows in the guardian.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/audioslideshows