Places Brief-The City/Urban

Last week on the Manchester trip I had the chance to take some excellent shots of Manchester and Salford Quays. I took some shots from Old Trafford from close-up and from afar taken from the viewing platform at The Imperial War Museum North. I have some photographs that I am very happy with and that I definitely want to use in my final work.

The image showing Old Trafford needs editing but I really like how it looks. The image looks quite dark but when edited it can be made to look lighter. I also like how other buildings and the top of warehouses appear in the image. For me these surrounding buildings allow the stadium to be the focus of the image.

The other idea that I have is to show the front of Old Trafford. I like this image for a number of reasons. First of all the front of the stadium was covered by an image celebrating 100 years at the stadium. The image is also natural. The lamp-post and the people are in the image for a reason. I feel that it gives the photograph an extra edge and the image wouldn't look as good without these items in them.

This year 2010 Old Trafford celebrated being 100 years old. The image on the front of the stadium shows how the ground has developed over the years from the early 1900's up until the present day. Although I am a Manchester United fan I have to say that Old Trafford is steeped in history. Over the past century so many famous names have played in the famous stadium and I am proud to show the stadium in my work.

Places Brief-A significent place

A significant place to me over the years has been my former place of work and local pub 'The Old School House' in Bradshaw Bolton. I worked here for over 5 years and drank there for the same period. I had many happy times there but unfortunately it had to close down in November last year.

The memories that I had here and the friends that I made will be with me for years to come. Unfortunately the building that used to be vibrant and full of life is now an empty mess and has just been abandoned. I want to show the building and the mess it has been left in. I hope to also go inside the building which is now just an empty shell. The bar are remains in place but all tables and chairs have been sold. There is no lighting in the building only natural light that creeps in through the windows.

'The Old School House' is a grade two listed building and cannot be demolished. It is called 'The Old School House' as it used to be the local primary school and used to contain lot's of historical items that were used in the school. In the 1960's it was an aquarium and also supplied items for fisherman at the nearby fishing lodge. Eventually it became a Beefeater restaurant in the 1980's and became 'The Old School House' in the year 2000

This image shows the front of the building. Benches and a small beer garden have been replaced by a blue plastic sheet and rubbish.

Another place that is significent to me is my street. I have lived in the area for 22 years and I have seen many changes over the years. I plan to show my street maybe taken from one side and shoot the whole street from top to bottom. My other idea is to show the view from my back garden. I have a good view from my garden and can see right up the back streets. One idea that I love is to show the street on collection day when everybody's dustbin's are out. I think the image would look spectacular.

This is just a plain image of my street used just for experimental reasons, this will not appear in my final section of images

Places Brief- Manchester Trip

On Tuesday 22nd February the group enjoyed a day out in Manchester. The trip took in sights such as Urbis, The Imperial War Museum North and The Lowry. The trip was supposed to enable us to see the sights and get influence for shots in the spectacular setting of Salford Quays and the City of Manchester. I have visited Urbis previously and really enjoyed what I saw, each level is full of information and history influential to Manchester such as sport including sections on The Busby Babes and George Best, then there is a section celebrating the huge success that Manchester television has had and all the people who made Manchester famous such as Anthony Wilson and Steve Coogan, even Fred Dibnah, Bolton's famous steeplejack had a dedicated space.

Old Trafford in the distance taken from the viewing platform

of The Imperial War Museum

A typical back street setting in Manchester City Centre

(Below)

A shot overlooking Salford Quays

Outside we started snapping at the ski-sloped building and started prowling Manchester's streets looking for photographic influences. The Big Wheel was a target but I must say I found conditions tough and the lighting was a issue as it was a cloudy day and overcast. We eventually moved on to the Lowry Centre and took in the settings around us. The luxury apartments that surround the canal were ideal photo opportunity's but as a Manchester United fan the sight of Old Trafford in the distance became my focal point.

We each then paid 45p and bravely got in the rickety lift all the way to the viewing platform at the very top of the museum. The wind was blowing and the temperature must have been -0c but the views we had were spectacular. We could see all over the peak district and Manchester but once again my focus was on The Theatre Of Dreams Old Trafford which was only a stones throw away. I would have liked a longer lens as mine is only a 18-55mm so it is a distant shot. Not to be beaten I decided to go directly to Old Trafford and photograph the ground close up. I was pleased with what I got but I want to go again with a different lens and get better shots. Overall I am pleased with what the trip offered, I got some ideas developed and I am now going to put them to plan and hopefully develop some great shots.

We moved on to the Imperial War Museum and looked at The Don McCullin Exhibition. It was amazing and I really enjoyed looking at his work. It is incredible to look at images of war but also to think what was seen behind the lens and knowing that every image was real, some people were dead in the photographs and to look at death in a photo is always surreal. I was disappointed that we weren't allowed to take photo's in the exhibition but I understand why due to protection of images and copyright issues.

This Image was Don McCullin's first published photograph. McCullin sent it to The Observer in 1958 after one of the men in the photograph killed a Policeman. This image launched Don McCullin's career.

This image was taken during the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The image also earned McCullin a part time contract with The Observer

This 1964 image shows McCullin helping a woman to safety in Cyprus during the battles between Turkish and Greek Cypriots. This was McCullins first war assignment

This image was taken in February 1968 and shows soldiers running from Sniper fire in The Battle of Hue in Vietnam

Photography enabled McCullin to work all over the world for The Sunday Times covering Wars in Vietnam, Cyprus, Northern Ireland and Nigeria. But in 1982 McCullin was refused permission by the Government to photograph and cover The Falklands War. McCullin appealed and his editor allowed him to go, however the permission was denied by The Royal Navy. But why was McCullin not allowed to go? Is this due to times changing. It was acceptable back in the early 60's and 70's to cover War in such a way but maybe laws had changed and prevented McCullin going. Rupert Murdoch bought The Sunday Times in the 1981 and maybe that change in ownership had an impact on McCullin's ban from The Falkland's

I find Don McCullin's Photographs to be exeptional and i find it amazing that all these photographs were taken either during or just after conflict. The exhibition in The Imperial War Museum North is brilliant and i would urge anybody that hasn't been to go and experience it before it finishes.

Objects

These are the final 6 photographs that i have used in the Objects brief

Macro




Natural/Organic



Commercial



Reflective Image

Camera/Lens Technique

In this image the first rose is in Focus but the rose behind is blurred. This is because the focus is on the main rose and everything else is out of focus.
Drop Focus Technique

Shallow Depth of Field
This is the same image but this time i have zoomed right out as far as i can go. This is a shallow depth of field.

Wide and Telephoto Lenses

Here i have two images of the same object. This image is shot with the lens at 55mm and looks quite close. It is a statue.

This is the image shot with the lens at 30mm, it shows the image in full and the rest of what was in the shot

Location Photography

For part of the brief we had to find and Photograph an object lit by the following light souces. Sodium, Halogen, Incandescent and Flourescent. I used the same object and used these lights to
that effect.

Sodium
This has been shot using Sodium lighting. It has an orange glare. Examples of sodium lighting are Street lights. This image was shot using F8 and was shot at 1/60

Halogen/Tungsten

This is halogen/Tungsten lighting or a site lamp or work lamp. This was shot with f5 with 1/50

Fluorescent

This image was shot with a fluorescent tube and has a blue/gray color in the background. This image was shot at f7.1 and 1/15

Incandescent

Incandescent lighting is just like a bulb at home and offers a warm light in the background. This image was shot at f6.3 and 1/25

Magic Hour Lighting

photography, the golden hour (sometimes known as magic hour, especially in cinematography) is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day,^[1] when a specific photographic effect is achieved with the quality of the light.

Typically, lighting is softer (more diffuse) and warmer in hue, and shadows are longer. When the Sun is near the horizon, sunlight travels through more of the atmosphere, reducing its intensity, so that more of the illumination comes from the sky. More blue light is scattered, so that light from the Sun appears more reddish. And the Sun's small angle with the horizon produces longer shadows. The golden hour is a mild version of alpenglow, as described by Galen Rowell.

“Hour” is used here quite loosely. The character of the lighting is determined by the Sun's altitude, and the time for the Sun to move from the horizon to a specified altitude depends on a location's latitude and the time of year^[2] (Bermingham 2003, 214). In Los Angeles, California, at an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset, the Sun has an altitude of about 10°–12°.^[3] For a location closer to the equator, the altitude is greater (or the time less), and for a location farther from the equator, the altitude is less (or the time greater). For a location sufficiently far from the equator, the Sun may not reach an altitude of 10°, and the golden hour lasts for the entire day if the Sun indeed rises.

In the middle of the day, the bright overhead Sun can create too-bright highlights and dark shadows. The degree to which overexposure can occur varies because different types of film and digital cameras have different dynamic ranges. This harsh-lighting problem is particularly important in portrait photography, where a fill flash is often necessary to balance lighting across the subject's face or body, filling in strong shadows that are usually considered undesirable.

Because the contrast is less during the golden hour, shadows are less dark, and highlights are less likely to be overexposed. In landscape photography, the warm color of the low Sun is often considered desirable to enhance the colours of the scene.

John's Example

My Example

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www.jmg-galleries.com/.../

I did not take this image!

I did not acquire my own camera until after Christmas. Unfortunately the weather and me crossed paths and could not get an opportunity to take my own image. However the image above i think is a perfect example. I think it is a sunset shot taken late in the evening. The ground is very a very dark orange and the sky is a beautiful orange glaze as the dropping sun shines. The Photographer who took this image was Jim Gold stein. A link to his website is above.