Continuing my Experiments

Continuing with the theme of experimental photography, I decided I would venture into the area of HDR (High Dynamic Range).

I decided to try and avoid the more common type of HDR images where they seem to be over saturated and slightly unnatural. That's not to say they don't look great, they do, but I wanted to try and maintain a more traditional (normal) photographic appearance but with a bit more depth.

The weather wasn't to great on Sunday, so armed with my camera and tripod, my wife and I went out for a Sunday afternoon drive to one of the many old churches in the area.

I decided to photograph the inside of an old church for several reasons.

1. It was dry.........

2. Old Churches tend to have a lot of ornate decoration which could prove to be            
    great subject matter.

3. There is a lot of contrasting light, there would be the bright light from     
    outside streaming through the old windows and there would be a lot of dark    
    areas inside the church, which would enable a large dynamic range, too  
    much for the camera to cope with in a single shot.

Instead of using the bracketing function on my camera, which only allows for 3 shots to be taken at a set exposure +/- 1, 2 or 3 stops, I decided I would take 5 manual exposures. One exposure at the nominal setting, then a further 2, either side of nominal, 1 stop apart, thus ending up with 5 exposures for each image.

Once I had returned home, I downloaded the images from the camera onto my pc and loaded each image into Photoshop Raw one at a time to ensure that I was happy with the white balance, vibrance, clarity and contrast.

Once this was confirmed as acceptable I then converted them into jpeg's for loading into photomatrix to create my HDR images.

Below is the contact sheet for all the images I used for the HDR's I created.

As you can see from the image above, I took a series of 40 images, 5 for each subject.

Once the HDR image was created, I then loaded each image back into photoshop, as I wanted to finalise each image using Nik Color Efx Pro and Silver Efx Pro.

The reason for this was to ensure that I had control over each image and as I said earlier I didn't want to over process the images.

Above, is one of the images I converted from colour to Black and White using Nik Silver Efx Pro. Hopefully you can see that the dynamic range is higher than what would normally be seen in a standard photograph.

The image above is entitled "The Book" and as I hope you can see, the colours and dynamic range are again greater than would normally be.

This one is called the Angel, for obvious reasons.......

Again dynamic range greater than normal....

So to sum up, I think there is certainly a place for HDR photography, both over saturated and just with a higher dynamic range......

Like with every other type of photography, it's subjective.......

People will make up their own mind.......

Photo Book Final Evaluation

Photo book project final evaluation

Having completed the first part of the course, Exploring Experimental Photography, I had decided to challenge myself and try something a little different, move away from my comfort zone, for the second part of the course.

To this end, my chosen experimental photography theme for my photo book was going to be painting with light.

The main reason for my choice of subject was that although I love long exposure photography, but this was normally conducted during the daylight hours. I normally photograph landscapes or seascapes which tended to be daylight subjects, so taking photographs during the night was again a different dimension to the normal photography I practice.

That’s not to say I have never tried painting with light, but rather I have never tried it for a prolonged period, or try to improve my technique, so I felt that this would push my knowledge and experience and help me improve.

It also meant that I would then be able to challenge myself and to place myself in different arenas such as the studio and outside in the night time.

Furthermore, the fact that I had to produce a book containing my images meant that I not only had to plan the book format but also plan what images I had to produce. This was to ensure that when the photo book was completed, not only did is serve as a submission piece for the final part of the course, but something that I could show other people and it become a point of discussion.

Quality of images and content were therefore extremely important on several fronts. I wanted to be proud of what I had produced, as I had never produced a book before.

Unlike printing and mounting images, which I do quite regularly when I take a photograph that I like, producing a photo book needs quite some consideration.

Understanding the best layout for the images that I have taken was important, but researching other photo books by famous photographers would also help me understand what the best layout would be.

Probably one of the most famous photo books that I reviewed was “The Americans” by Robert Frank and the layout of the book was simple but effective.

The layout, displaying a single image per double page was clean and simple, but it also meant that you looked at one image at a time. This helps you digest what you are viewing, rather than several images on a single page, which doesn’t help yours eyes rest and take in what you see.

This I believe was extremely important for my book, as the chosen subject was light painting and I wanted the viewer to study each photograph as a single entity and provoke questions such as how did you do that? What did you use to do that? Etc.

When you produce a single image for printing, it’s simply just that, a single image. When you produce a panel of printed images, there are different considerations, such as continuity of subject, colour (are they all uniform), do you have bookend pieces to force the eye from row to row? These are all different considerations to that of producing a book.

The typeface you use when completing the text for the book needs to have some relationship to the theme of the book or a particular image, this helps provide the continuity.

The physical size of the book also needs to be considered, to large and people won’t want to hold it, to small and you won’t be able to present the images effectively.

There are many facets to the photo book project, which, like a jigsaw puzzle have to be placed in the correct order and orientation to compete the final picture.

I have thoroughly enjoyed producing the photo book as I have now become the proud owner of a published piece of work, with my name on the front cover……..

Had I not enrolled on this course, I wouldn’t have even considered producing a photo book. I am now considering producing a second photo book containing some of my better daylight, long exposure landscape and Seascape photography.

 Hopefully, individuals will get the same amount of pleasure viewing my photo book, as I had producing it.

The Book...

It's done....

My book has been submitted for printing and has been returned.

I must say, I am happy with it.

You can view it here, just click on the link below the picture.

 

A Light Read (click here)

"Light" weight Racer.

After the watch shoot, it was time to try something different......

My son has a Ferrari.....

ok, he's almost fifteen and the Ferrari is a 250mm metal scale model, that came with his aftershave.........

Nevertheless, I thought that it would make a good subject to light paint.

I took 42 separate images for this light painting experiment. 

I wanted to systematically paint the car to produce an image that would hopefully make it into the photobook.

I set the camera up in the usual way, but this time chose, 5 second exposures.

I then proceeded to paint the table and the car in a clockwise motion. I tried to paint a panel of the car at a time, so that the light would be uniform.

Below is the final image.

I must confess, I am very happy with the final result. This image will definitely make it into the photobook. 

I love the highlights created by the torch on the paintwork, as well as the slight shadows on the bonnet and roof.

There are light glints on the chrome and there is just enough light shed into the interior of the car for you to see the seats.

I do have some criticism of the image however, it's not faultless by any means.

I would prefer a larger depth of field and the rear wheel is a little soft, as well as the rear bumper.

I should have probably chosen a better base for the image as well, as the brown fleece is probably not the ideal material to tie in with a car theme.

We live and learn.........

Dark Times......

I wanted to try and photograph a watch using light painting.

I hadn't tried it previously, so decided to give it a go.

Experiment........

Because a watch is a relatively a small item, I decided to use an even smaller torch to try and light the scene.

I have a single AAA (triple A) size torch that is basically a key ring size torch to light the watch.

I also used a much shorter shutter speed of 3 seconds, as I didn't want to light the watch all in one go.

I only took three images, as it quickly became apparent that photographing my watch wasn't going to be easy.

When I say it wasn't going to be easy, what I really mean was I could really make a success of it......

It's an ok image, but it didn't really turn out like I thought it would.

More practice is certainly required for smaller items, I haven't mastered this yet.

I think the stainless steel bezel and bracelet is fairly close to the colour of the actual item, but the watch itself wasn't as sharp as I wanted.

I would prefer that the whole bezel was sharp, instead of only half of the watch face.

Also, there was too much light being cast over the entire watch when I was lighting up parts of it, so a re-think on how I light the watch needs to occur.

I used a 40mm macro lens to take the images, maybe this was the wrong lens, and a re-think on how best to frame the watch and with what equipment needs to take place.

Not for the book, this image I am afraid....

Ain't experimenting fun!!!!!

A "Light" Bouquet

Well,

Back to the studio this week. In my previous post,(compiling my photobook) I said that I was almost ready to submit my photobook for printing.

I thought that maybe a couple of images could be replaced, as some were similar and some could have been improved.

I decided to return to the college studio and light paint some flowers.

I took a series 15 images (see above contact sheet) and combined them in Photoshop.

The usual tools for my work were present, a small "Maglight" type torch (2 x AA size), my D7000, 18-200mm lens, wired remote and tripod. My wife's brown fleece for the table cover, vase and of course the flowers, as the extra props.

I decided to use an aperture of f/13 for these images, with a shutter speed of 8 seconds for each shot.

My usual ISO setting of 100 was used for the image quality.

I choses 8 seconds for the shutter speed after a few trial shots at 4 and 6 seconds. The reason for 8 was that at 8 seconds, it allowed me to be not to bright at the foreground and not so dark when lighting the background that it didn't show up.

For anyone trying to light paint and produce these types of image, don't be afraid to experiment. There is no hard and fast rule. 

Just see what works best for you, the amount of light already available (is the room completely dark) and the brightness of the torch will all make a difference to the shots you take.

Here is the completed image.

I used the screen mode for this image, I usually use "lighten" but this is an experimental Photography course, so why not try something different?

I love the way that painting by light and stacking the images brings out the colours of the subject.

I think by having a black background, it makes the colours more vivid.

Painting by light seems to turn a mundane or flat image into something that has a lot more punch.

I do think however that the image could be improved further by having a little more light on the left hand side of the bouquet, just under the purple flower.

As ever, images usually can be improved to some degree.

I think I have one for the book though!!!!

Practice makes Perfect!!!!!

Ok,

They say that practice makes perfect, and I believe that's certainly true with photography.

As well as the light painting, I love to do long exposures, as I have previously stated.

Not a bad morning yesterday (Sunday 4th May) so I decided to pop out to Clydach Gorge, about 10 minutes drive away to try out my new little stopper.....

Lee brought out the "Little Stopper" a couple of months ago and I have used it previously, but practice makes perfect.

Armed with my tripod and camera bag I ventured along the gorge path to one of the waterfall areas.

After taking a couple of shots from the easy point of view I wanted to get some shots from the opposite bank.

To achieve this, it was off with my shoes and socks and wade across the river.... Good job I had my shorts on!!!!!

Below is the contact sheets of the shots I took.

I took a total of 59 shots and finally settled on 6 of them as my favourites.

The first image I decided I like was DSC 7385. This one was taken from the nearside and at a higher level.

Although I do have some foreground interest, the falls are side on and not shown at their best.

 

The shot above is my preferred shot, I love the rock as foreground interest whilst the waterfall in the background is shown off at it's best. My opinion of course.....

 

 

 

The one above is probably my next favourite, however, I do think that the right hand water fall is a little blown out. There is good foreground interest as well as good detail in the water.

 

 

 

Another nice shot is this one with the next waterfall in the foreground, good mid ground detail with the falls in the background, again, maybe the right hand waterfall doesn't have enough detail.

 

 

 

This one is taken from a different angle and has a different boulder in the foreground, I quite like this one, as the boulder has good detail. However, I do think that the pale rocks in the immediate foreground are a little distracting.

 

 

This one has a less messy foreground as it is taken with a different focal length from the image above. The thing that spoils it for me is the plume of spray around the fall, I feel it lacks detail.

 

All in all though not a bad set of images in my opinion, good detail in the river water and the left hand waterfall has good detail.

 

There wasn't much colour cast from the "little Stopper", a six stop filter, so not much adjustment to the colour was needed. The greens of the rocks were this vivid and lush.

 

 

I have definitely improved my photography since the last time I took an image from here (below).....

 

So although they're not perfect, practice certainly ensure improvement.

 

 

Below is one of my first attempts at Clydach falls.

 

 

I think my photography has improved quite a bit........





 







Compiling my Photo Book

Well,

I have almost reached that time where the Photo Book needs to be produced. Only a few weeks left before I submit it for printing.

Am I ready?

Good question, I think the answer to that is probably yes. If not yes, then almost.

I have compiled a number of images, 26 in total (if I use them all), but do I want to use them all?

Am I happy to use them all? I am caught in to minds at the moment. I want to ensure the book represents my best work in light painting, but I also want it to also be a sort of diary of a journey that I have begun, which shows my travel's along an improving path.

My later work is definitely a lot better than my early attempts at light painting and I also believe that the journey hasn't ended.

There is still a lot of ground to cover and I can still continue to improve my technique.

Not only can I still improve my technique, there are also different methods of light painting that I can improve.

I have tried to use several different methods whilst generating images for this book and these include ~

1. Normal vehicle light trails, which are probably the easiest way to light paint.

2. Using Electro luminescent wire to create light trails.

3. Using different types of torch to light either a large scene, or a still life.

I have also tried different methods to construct my image.

The most simple is the single image of car lights trailing a white and red streak across the photograph. This saved as a jpeg with virtually no processing at all.

The next type of processing I have done is again a single image loaded into Photoshop and parts of the image removed and replaced, as per the invisible man. He didn't really have no head or hands !!!!!!

The other type of image that I have processed is an image where I have lit the scene in a series of stages (bits of the scene, one at a time) and then combined them as layers in Photoshop, to produce a single image. This incidentally is Eric Curry's preferred method.

This is also my preferred method, as you have more control over the final image.

Onto the compiled book then.

The above image is of the front cover. I think it's an ideal image for the cover as there is space for the title and author name, as well as having a tongue in cheek representation of the book.

 

Next up is the half page, again a text page of the title and author.

 

 

 

 

Following the half page we have the copyright and Contents pages.

 

 

 

Following on from the contents page we have the quote page and foreword.

 

 







We then move onto the pages that contain the image title and image. The above image was taken with a large torch and lit all in one go.

 

 

This image was a 5 second image taken using a torch, an image taken as single shot.

 

 

 

 

This image, image no. 3 was taken as several shots, each with a different area of the scene lit separately and combined from layers in Photoshop.

 

 

Image 4 is generated using the same technique as with image 2, a 5 second shutter speed single image in a dark room (my kitchen).

 

 







Image 5 was a single shot, with the camera set up on a tripod, low down, using the headlights of my car to light the foreground whilst I had a long shutter speed to catch the cars as the travelled past.

Image 6 was completely different, this was taken using two bike wheels, one fitted with white battery operated fairy lights and one fitted with red fairy lights. I then asked to friends of mine to spin them whilst holding them in-front of them, then walking backwards and forwards, as well as sideways. This produced the "Spirograph" effect.

 



Image 7 was again a slightly different technique. In this one I asked my wife to sign the visitors book of an old church, whilst I held the shutter open. I then asked her to move away and I then lit the foreground with a torch. Having her move away whilst the shutter was open enabled her to become see through and hence I called this photo ghost writer. I thought quite an apt title for a church.

 

Image 8 was again something different. This one was of my daughter stood as still as she could for over 3 minutes whilst I ran around her with blue electroluminescent wire. This enabled me to produce an outline of her using the wire. A quite effective method and quite simple to produce. quite exhausting though when you are as unfit as I am.......

 

 



Image 9 was an image generated in a similar way to the garden shed. It's a number of images stacked and then flattened into one image. Although not one of my better images, I quite like it as I have captured cars travelling past in the background as well as a night time orienteer walking past. The wiggly line is his head torch painting a line as he walked and looked at his map.

 

Image 10 was again a single, 4 minute image taken using a large torch and my light wheels. I had my daughter assist me with this one. I opened the shutter and had her hold a black piece of card in-front of the lens whilst I turned on the white wheels and spun it. I then had her cover the lens again whilst I turned off the white one and turned on the red one. I then repeated the above step for the red one. After removing the wheels I then lit the tree with the torch.

 

Quite a satisfying image to produce, this one.

 

 

 

 

Image 11, I returned to the kitchen set up for this one. I used the electroluminescent wire again, whilst lighting the bottle from below. Again, an alternative method of light painting.

 

 

 

 

Image 12 was an alternative image to image 4, same method, just wanted to generate a different light trail.

 

 

 

Image 13 was again an image generated with two different colours of electroluminescent wire. For this one I wrapped the wire around the wine bottle to try and create a "Helter skelter" type effect.

 

 

 

 

Image 14 is entitled "The Invisible Man". For this one I had a friend stand in the middle of a quarry whilst I ran around him with the blue wire. I then lit him with a torch, to create the shadow and detail in his clothing.

 

I then loaded the file into Photoshop and removed his head and hands with the content aware function. I think this one works very well, and is a fun image.

 

 

 

 

Image 15, bit of fun this one. I set up the camera in-front of several strands of elwire. I then began to wabble the wire in-front of the lens whilst the shutter was open, hence the different colour trails from the origin point. I think having fun whilst trying to produce these sort of images is important.

 

 

 

 

For image 16, I returned to the most simple method of light painting. The car head and tail lights method. For this one I stood on a bridge above the motor way. I like this one as not only do you have the normal small vehicle trails but there is a faint line of high level lights on the right hand side from a passing lorry, as well as indicator flashes on the left from cars changing lanes. This image was a single exposure of about 20 seconds.

 

 

 

 

Image 17 sees a return to the kitchen and the aid of my children in this one. using a laptop and a torch, first my son sat at the table and was lit with a torch, then secondly my daughter. These two images were then layered in Photoshop and ran through several filters to turn it black and white and add texture.

 

 

 

 

Image 18, entitled "Light Exercise" is of my daughter sat on an exercise bike whilst I lit the living room with torch light. This image was a combination of several images, where my daughter, and various parts of the room were lit in turn then combined from layers in Photoshop.

 

 

 

 

Image 19 was a combination of a single 30 second image for the scene, lit with a torch, then a standard photograph of the lit candles, layered in Photoshop. I had to do it this way as I wanted sharp candle flames, and just using a single long exposure would have resulted in a blurred mess for flames.

 

 

Image 20 sees the return of the light pods, but this time they were placed in at the base of a quarry, the intention here was to try and get a dark enough image to produce good light pods, but light enough to get some detail and colure in the sky. I wanted the floor to be lit by the pods as well.

 

 

For the 21st image I used the red and blue elwire to produce what I hoped would look like a sunrise. I focused the camera on the static wire, then proceeded to move the wire up and down in-front of the lens. Entitled morning rise, I think the effect looks quite cool.....

 

 

 

 

Something a little different again for image 22. I used the spot lights in the roof of an old church to light up the mid ground of the image and a torch to light up the spaces between the pews. A like this shot quite a bit.

 

 

 

Created in the college studio, I assembled a few items on a table to produce the 23rd image. Taken in several stages, i.e. a number of images, then combined in Photoshop from layers, sees the final image entitled, writing "Light" riture, I know, very corny..... come together to form one image with lots of different light sources and shadows created from one torch.

 

 

 

 

Image 24 was again produced in the college studio. By now, I have decided that the best way to produce these images are from multiple lit images and combined. you have much more control when generated this way.

 

 





 

 

Image 25 is a night shot with added torch light. Taken very early in the morning before the sun rose, I used the lights of the buildings to light up some of the beach and water, whilst adding some torch light to lighten the waters edge.

 

 

 

Image 26 is one of my best studio produced images, if not the best. I love the colours in this image, the torch light has seemed to produce more vibrant colours, than with standard lighting.

 

A combination of 13 separate images, I think has produced a lovely rich image.

 

 

 

We now move on to the final pages of the Photobook. Above is the bibliography and index.

 

 



 

 

Finally an acknowledgments page, for my children as well as other people that have helped me produce some of the images in the book.

 

Finally the back cover of the book. I chose this because I think it lends itself to the purpose, I also like it.......

As I said at the beginning of this post, I do have a few weeks left, so this book may change slightly, but I think the bulk of the book is complete. An image or two may change, as may some of the words, but I am happy with what's there at the moment, so lets see what my tutor say's and lets go from there!!!!!