Exercise 4: Editing

For this exercise I wanted to apply what I had learned about workflow, selecting images and editing to a real life assignment rather than something I had come up with myself.

The opportunity for this came up when my cousin asked me to take some photographs for his wedding. The only brief I was given was to take a number of group family shots after the service, apart from that I said I would take a number of pictures with the view to covering the day.

The day after the wedding when I downloaded the images I was struck by a sense of purpose that I do not usually feel - I mostly photograph for myself either pursuing personal projects or taking images of my family and children. Because of this I often suffer from not editing my images properly: I have files of hundreds of pictures on my hard drive which are either not started or only partially completed in the editing process. As I discussed earlier I think a remedy to this is to have an output source for my pictures. For this project I needed to select the best images from the shoot, edit in Lightroom and Photoshop, print the best images and produce a photobook to show the narrative of the couples wedding day.

Stats:

1171 photographs taken in total

Technical Edit:

697 Selects

38 Deselects

Approach - I examined each photograph one by one in Lightroom and selected with a flag images I wanted to explore further. Images that did not strike me as selects were not chosen (for example compositionally not very interesting) images that had obvious technical issues were flagged as deselects.

First Selects:

468 one star or higher

352 two stars or higher

208 three stars or higher

75 four stars or higher

Approach - I examined each selected image in more detail, removing the flag if the picture did not hit the mark technically and/or compositionally. I then edited each image in Lightroom - adjusting crop, white balance, exposure, contrast and saturation as necessary. To aid further selection I rated each image. As mentioned previously, I mainly use rating as a way of indicating that I have edited an image. I rate images with 3 stars to denote 'average' using 2 stars to indicate an image with something of interest but also some sort of flaw and 4 stars to show above average. I never rate images with 5 stars at this point as I believe you need time to decide which images are the absolute best and also because the highest available rating is not something I wish to overuse.

At the same time as rating images I selected images I wanted to print with a blue label.

Output for print (blue label):

205

For the final stage of the process I had 6x4 prints made of the 205 images I had selected for printing. The main output for the couple was to be a 100 page photobook. I find that seeing an image printed greatly aids selection at this point, with individual prints it is also useful to be able to move them around and play with the order or place pictures side by side to decide on alternatives. For the photobook I wanted to feature the images in chronological order to show the events of the day as they happened so choices were mainly based around alternatives for similar shots.

Producing these images for someone else combined with the pictures being of such an important occasion for the couple was quite stressful. In the end I know my final selection of 468 images that I gave to the couple on cd is too many - my reasons for including this many is that I wanted them to have as many pictures of their day as I could give. I ended up spending so much time looking at, pondering over, selecting and editing the pictures that I eventually found it very difficult to be objective. I do not know how much this feeling is driven by my relationship with the bride and groom and by knowing many of the guests. I wonder if I would have found editing the images easier if they were less well known to me? On reflection I should have asked for feedback and advice more - I pretty much made all decisions about which images to select and which to choose for the photobook by my self. Asking someone else may have been of great benefit, perhaps I should have asked the couple for their opinion about which pictures they wanted to include in the album? The biggest mistake I made however was taking too long to complete my edit. I really need to find a strategy to complete work quicker and recognise the distractions that prevent me from doing this.

Exercise 3: Histogram

Before starting this exercise I felt I had a good grasp of what a histogram is - a graph which represents the tonal information in an image in levels of 0-255. A 'well exposed' image has a full range of tones (no gaps either side of the histogram) with the majority being in the middle. A histogram bunched to the left suggests under exposure, and to the right over exposure. This however relies on the idea that there is such a thing as 'correct exposure.' In 'Perfect Exposure', Michael Freeman observes "the best we can say about correctness in exposure is that there are norms that are accepted and expected by most people."1 In 'Photographers Eye' however he points out that "shadows and highlights can contribute strongly to the mood and atmosphere of a  photograph."2 He gives examples of low and high key images that seemingly break the rules of 'correct' exposure and yet are powerful and atmospheric.

For the exercise I had to take images of a low, average and high tonal contrast subject. My first consideration was how I can do this to produce comparable results - I would need to produce a set up that I could manipulate to demonstrate the different conditions required. The exercise also calls for exposures to be taken at +/- 1 EV to compare.

As I was daydreaming one day staring into the distance in my living room I was struck by the way the daylight dropped off against the corner of my window. I was struck with the idea that this could be the subject I was looking for - the corner under daylight conditions I imagined would approximate average contrast and I could introduce artificial light to create both higher and lower contrast.

1: Average contrast

Window light and shadow

0 EV

+1 EV

-1 EV

2: Low Contrast

Light shone on dark side of wall to balance tones

0 EV

+1 EV

-1 EV

3: High Contrast

Strong light shone on dark side

0EV

+1EV

-1 EV

Observations:

The histograms in each sequence behave in the way I expected with the high contrast set showing peaks at either end of the histogram, the average contrast being closer together and the low contrast being bunched in the centre. The low contrast image shows little difference in either the + or - EV shots while the average and high contrast pictures behave in a similar way with the +1 EV shot having less contrast and the -1 EV sot showing more contrast.

The difference between the high and average histograms is less than I expected and when I compare the images the high contrast shots seem much more evidently so than is suggested by the histogram. This is perhaps due to the intensity of the light source used and also the fact that I relied on the camera's matrix metering mode - perhaps I should have metered for the average shot and then set the exposure manually after that. I also had the camera set to automatic white balance and maybe should have also set this to a standard setting. The average contrast appears much warmer than the high contrast image which could partly account for how they are perceived differently.

Another explanation perhaps is that my perception of how much contrast there was in each set up was not accurate, that is my eyes and brain have compensated for reality and made me believe I have created the conditions necessary for this exercise but the reality was quite different. This indicates to me that the knowledge I think I possess is flawed - if I had looked at the histogram on the preview screen of my camera as I took these images I would have realised that I was not creating the correct conditions for the exercise. My belief that I was producing the correct conditions and my willingness to push ahead with the exercise have led to the mistake - the main learning I will take from this project is to consider more fully what is being asked in the brief and be less overly confident about where my level of knowledge sits. I also now realise I have much more to learn about the way my camera sees and records the world.

1 Perfect Exposure p.50, Michael Freeman

2 Photographers Eye p.110, Michael Freeman 

10 Things Garry Winogrand Can Teach You About Street Photography by Eric Kim

I found the link to this blog by street photographer Eric Kim via @BlurbBooks on Twitter. The piece is full of great information about Garry Winogrand and I find the personal, enthusiastic tone refreshing - Kim frequently mentions in the article how studying Winongrand has influenced and informed his own photographic practice and methods. The blog also provides lots of different suggestions for further research. At the time I read this I was researching workflow and thinking a great deal about my own ways of working and a number of points resonated with me.

Something that has stayed with me about Garry Winogrand for many years is a famous quote of his, "I photograph to see what the world looks like in photographs." I think I read this before I  was consciously aware of Winogrand's work and it is a simple sentence that I keep mulling round in my mind and often use as something to spur me on and inspire me. On one level the sentence can be read as a flippant aside, I believe though the truth is much more than that. For me it suggests the self doubt a photographer can face and confronts critical questions such as 'why did you photograph that?' It is a rebuke to such statements and asserts the right of the photographer to work as they wish - it says 'if you don't get what I do why should I explain?' I often feel uncertain about what I should be photographing and the Winongrand's words spur me on not to overthink but to get out and do - the words give me such a strong sense of his drive and energy. 

In his article Kim states that a conservative estimate of how many photographs Winogrand took in his lifetime is over 5 million. (He does concede that there is some conjecture about this however with a commenter challenging that the true figure is between 1-1.25 million, without getting drawn on this he recognises that even this lower figure means Winogrand took a great number of photographs.) Something I am becoming increasingly aware of is that I do not shoot enough, I tend to have periods high activity punctuated by days or weeks when I do not pick up the camera. I have thought long and hard about why this is and there are many reasons; often I have a sense of self doubt or I feel unsure about what I should be shooting, if I do not feel in the mood for taking photographs I tend not to, I feel guilty if I am taking photographs for 'fun' rather than for the course are a few reasons. While the 455 images a day Winogrand took is somewhat on the extreme side maybe if I set myself the target of going out to take photographs twice a week that would be a more realistic approach. Again I go back to the previously mentioned quote - Winongrand seems to be telling me to put aside all these doubts and just get on with taking photographs.

Of course the problem remains of how to edit and select all the images taken, Winongrand had had a radical solution to this - he never processed his film straight away but waited up to two years believing he needed to almost forget having shot the pictures. He felt that emotion was the enemy of good selection and that he could be influenced by the way he felt on a particular day rather than the strength of a particular image: "You make better choices if you approach your contact sheets cold, separating the editing from the picture taking as much as possible." I recognise this as being true - I often struggle with editing my images because I make too many selects and therefore take too much time reviewing and processing. I need to find ways to be more decisive - it strikes me that Winongrand was extremely confident in which images to select and I guess this is something I will develop too over time. Still the doubt remains that I might not make the correct selections so I include images that I really know are not working - I need to find a way to divorce my emotion as Winongrand did.

Kim's blog contains other similar articles about other photographers that interest and have influenced him such as William Eggleston, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Walker Evans and Robert Frank. All photographers that also interest me so I will spend time reading further. I am beginning to realise that looking at photographers work alone is not enough but understanding there ways of working is also very important - hopefully this will help me develop my own strategies and ultimately help me find my own photographic voice.

Exercise 2: Your Own Workflow 2

The brief for this exercise requires an approach that is the opposite of project 1: instead of conducting a photo shoot in a controlled environment in a planned way the aim is for a shooting assignment that is unstructured and open ended. A possible example given in the brief is street photography and this is a format I decided to use straight away. I have an interest in street photography, particularly candid shots, but rarely set out with the specific aim of taking street photographs. A lot of my photography fits around my family commitments, for example I may take a couple of candid shots when I am out and about with my children. This alleviates any pressure about pointing my camera at people I do not know but also works as a kind of security blanket which prevents me from developing my confidence.

For this exercise I decided to head into Durham city which is about 15 miles from my home. I chose Durham because the city centre is compact yet diverse in terms of locations. Durham also attracts a large number of tourists so I knew it would not be unusual for someone to be taking pictures and I would therefore feel comfortable walking around with my camera. I would only have a short amount of time (around an hour) to take the pictures as I needed to be back home, I decided to use only one lens for the shoot - a 24-70mm zoom, however I quickly doubted whether this was the best choice as the lens is quite large - perhaps the much more compact and less obtrusive 50mm lens would have been a better choice. The discipline of using a fixed focal length could also have been a benefit. My initial feelings when I took out my camera were a little unexpected, I felt distinctly uncomfortable and uncertain about what to photograph. I realised how rarely I put myself in this sort of position where my sole purpose is to take photographs, even when taking pictures that did not contain people I felt ill at ease.

My approach was extremely free form - I simply walked around the city centre taking pictures of anything that caught my eye. The exercise brief suggests editing images on the go for this project but I decided not to do this as my experience is that images can often look stronger on the cameras LCD than on the computer and conversely images which do not seem worthwhile can be found to have merit when downloaded onto the computer. With plenty of space on my memory card I felt no need to delete images as I shot, also, the process of reviewing pictures on the go would potentially spoil the pace of the shoot. My nervousness meant that I did not hang around in a particular location for long and the majority of my images have a 'snatched' quality about them. Potentially I would have benefited from staying longer in one location and exploring the opportunities. I also felt pressured by time, an hour seems like a lot of time to spend on a shoot until you are actually in the position of taking the pictures. I felt like I was just starting to get into a rhythm with the shoot by the time it had come to an end, I was also doubtful that I had been able to capture anything worthwhile. Towards the end of the shoot I employed a couple of strategies which I think with further work could have yielded results. Firstly, I stood on Framwellgate bridge which is the main pedestrian bridge through the city - I pretended to be taking pictures of the river Wear with the Cathedral and Castle in the background when I was really using these as background to my candid shots. Secondly, I took photographs around the statue of Charles Stewart on horseback in the market square. This is a busy area of the city with lots of movement and people interacting so I knew it would be a good place for candid shots.

At the end of the shoot I had taken 61 pictures. I knew that I would have little of merit from the shoot but felt I had learned a lot from the experience. Firstly that I am not as confident at street photography as I had thought and secondly that I simply do not get out with my camera enough. I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed the process of simply getting out and taking pictures and that too often it is my self doubt that means I do not get out more. I need to be less worried about failing and more willing just to get out experiment and enjoy photography in general.

Selections

I have discussed my process for selecting images at length in my write up for exercise one so will not repeat myself here. I used the same process for choosing the pictures with the aim of arriving at two selections.

My initial thoughts of the pictures were that they were clearly rushed - a number of images suffered from camera shake which resulted from me not spending enough time composing and not being careless with my choice of camera settings. After my first review I flagged 15 images as picks for further review and deselected 3.

Final selects:

My initial thoughts from my review of the 15 images I had chosen as picks was that I did not really like any of them! I left a couple of weeks between my initial review and selection before coming back to them but found myself feeling the same way - I was struck with a feeling that the images have no purpose. I guess this is the result of having no agenda for the shoot, the advantage of this is that I could have captured a moment that I could never have prepared for, and if I had solid and immovable objectives this may not have happened. The truth however is that nothing I had taken fit that criteria which leads me to the conclusion that for me having an objective is something I need - the trick I assume is working with some sort of purpose while remaining flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances.

An example of an image I visualised much more successfully in my mind than I managed to capture is this:

When I took this picture I was drawn by the reflection of Durham Cathedral in the window of the bar, I thought the reflection contrasting with the modern building and the ladies enjoying a drink within would make an interesting juxtaposition of old versus new Durham. My aim was to show how Durham is now a bright, modern cosmopolitan city while still retaining its historic routes. I also thought that the interplay between the reflection and the transparency of the glass would be visually interesting. I do not know whether the image I previsualised is possible from the various elements here, but I do know I came nowhere near capturing what I imagined. Potentially if I had spent more time composing the shot so attention is concentrated on the windows and been more careful with my exposure settings the image would be more successful. This is an example of a situation where I needed to slow down and think about what I was doing before pressing the shutter and also one where I should have experimented more and taken a number of shots of the scene.

Final Choices:

Despite not being happy with the images I produced for this exercise I have chosen 2 pictures which I think show ideas which can be explored further:

24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO 200, 1/60 sec, f9.5

For this image I was experimenting looking through the viewfinder from my high vantage point focusing my composition around the many triangles created in the frame when the two figures entered the scene. Their inclusion adds a point of interest to the image would otherwise be lacking. I like the purposeful way they are moving through the which adds a dynamism that is accentuated by the many diagonal lines, there is also a voyeuristic feel to the image due to the high viewpoint and the feeling the camera is peeking over the wall in the foreground which is a little unsettling. I am unsure as to whether the foreground being out of focus helps or detracts attention from the image - perhaps being a little more in focus while still being blurred would be more successful?

24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 24mm, ISO 400, 1/750 sec, f8

The most successful of my 'pretend to be photographing the Cathedral' shots! I like the way this image is bookmarked by the two purposely moving characters at either side of the central figures - their opposing directions also add an element of tension. The figures are also arranged in a pleasing diagonal, the Cathedral in the background provides a sense of location but is sufficiently obscured to not dominate the composition.

Conclusions

The main thing I have taken from this exercise is a better understanding of where I am at currently as a photographer rather than having produced a set of images I am happy with. Indeed, the process of having to look closely at pictures I would probably have discarded at first glance has been an interesting one. Firstly, I have learned that I am not as confident at street photography as I first thought. This exercise has made me recognise that the majority of my photography happens alongside other things I am doing in my life. For example, if I am on a family day out I will likely capture a few candid shots during the course of the day. Subconsciously being with my family (and therefore having a legitimate reason to be taking photographs) provides me a kind of confidence - before completing this exercise I would have said I am confident pointing the camera at strangers in the street but I can now see this is not the case. I also realise that this type of freeform photography probably benefits from exploring a particular area in more detail. I think if I had stuck with taking photographs on Framwellgate bridge longer I would have netted some better results. Lastly, I think I am someone who needs to be working towards a specific brief to be able to produce results. By that I mean that pursuing projects or series' of photographs is something I should pursue further - currently one of my main barriers to taking photographs is one of self doubt about the purpose of my photography. The main area I seem to be developing at the moment is finding excuses not to go out and take photographs, not having enough time, not feeling like it/being in the right frame of mind etc. etc. The biggest challenge I face currently is managing my time effectively, perhaps breaking goals down into manageable objectives could be a strategy. I also need to manage my self doubts and worry less about producing work I am unhappy with - the only way I am going to progress is through producing work , analysing whether it is successful or not and in turn learning from this.

Exercise 1: Your Own Workflow 1

For this exercise I chose to conduct a short portrait session with my eldest daughter. The shoot would need to take place indoors due to weather conditions, I set up a plain white background (to eliminate distractions)in my living room. The main light source would be daylight from the windows behind me, although I planned to experiment using flash for some images.

Through experience (and making mistakes!) I have arrived at a workflow that seems to suit me. I have not really ever analysed my workflow so my intention for this project was to follow my tried and tested way of working and then analyse what works and what does not at the end.

Pre shoot planning

Before beginning, I considered the following to ensure the shoot would go smoothly:

Preparation:

I knew my daughter would have a limited attention span so the shoot would need to be quick. With this in mind I wanted to ensure everything was prepared so I could begin taking photographs straight away.

• I prepared the room, rearranged furniture and set up the background.

• Checked equipment - battery charged, memory card formatted, lenses and flash. I arranged my lenses and flash in an easily accessible way to ensure I could change quickly.
• Quick assessment of exposure required - I used the cameras meter to get an idea of the exposure settings that would be required for the shoot. I planned to shoot in aperture priority mode so I could quickly change the aperture to alter depth of field. I set the ISO high enough so I could hand hold the camera comfortably and achieve a fast enough shutter speed but as low as possible to maintain image quality.

• Other camera settings - I would shoot in raw format and use automatic white balance. Shooting raw I knew I could alter white balance easily after the shoot, also, since I would be shooting under pretty constant lighting conditions I did not worry about this too much.

Ideas brainstorm:

Before beginning the shoot I jotted down some ideas of different poses and techniques to try.

• Poses
• Full body
• Head and shoulders
• Close up
• Side on

• Limited depth of field

• Frame orientation - mixture of portrait and landscape

• Flash

• Lens choice
• Focus setting

• Camera settings

The Shoot:

I prefer natural looking portraits so my aim for the shoot was to achieve an image in which my daughter looked at ease and for her pose and expression  to be relaxed. I began the shoot using a 50mm f1.4 lens chosen because the focal length would give a 'standard' looking result and I wanted to concentrate on composition and expression so did not want to be distracted by using a zoom lens. The focal length also provided a comfortable working distance from my subject and the large maximum aperture could allow for very limited depth of field which was an effect I wanted to experiment with.

I started with some full length shots and moved in closer gradually. My daughter was quite stiff and tense, her expression on the main a forced smile. I directed very little and worked quickly, I changed composition to head and shoulders shots, I encouraged her to pose how she wanted - she crossed her arms and tried to hold back nervous laughter. I asked her to sit and began the same process of starting from a long shot and moving gradually in, this time however I started from further back. I took a few shots from above and experimented opening up the lens to produce a limited depth of field. I attached my flash and tried a couple of shots - this was mainly as an experiment as my preference is for natural light and I only really use flash when it is a necessity. I did however want to compare this to the other pictures.

At this point I decided to change lenses - again I opted for a fixed focal length, this time 105mm f2.8 macro, for the reasons already mentioned. In the time I had changed the lens Caitlin had adopted a strong man pose with her arm bent to show her muscles. Her messing about amused her greatly and I recognised she was now relaxing - but maybe also getting bored. I appeased Caitlin with some shots of her posing before moving in closer for some head and shoulder shots while she held the pose. I experimented with some alternative composition and tried to include only half of her face in close up. I realised the photo shoot was approaching an end as I was being asked "are you nearly finished dad?" So I finished with a couple of head and shoulders shots.

Import:

I imported the pictures from my memory card via Adobe Lightroom (LR) - I had taken 117 images. I always import my images into folders organised by date as I have found to my cost folders named specifically can be extremely difficult to navigate. The real difficulty comes however when your image library begins to run into thousands of pictures - how do you go about finding a certain picture? Using keywords is a great way to add extra searchable information to an image - it is possible for this to take over however. When I was first experimenting with LR I felt like the process of applying keywords was taking up more time than taking photographs! Now I add a set of simple generic keywords after import (such as date and location) I then add more specific keywords after editing my final selects.

I renamed the photographs to the capture date and added some keywords (Caitlin, the date, DPP, OCA, Exercise 1.) I then exported the images into a separate folder for my OCA work. The reason I did this is because I had a number of other general photographs taken on the same day which I did not want to interfere with the selection process. I did not view the photographs until they were all exported into the new location as I wanted to view them as a whole.

First Edit:

My initial impression when viewing the images was that the red jumper Caitlin is wearing is extremely distracting. I simply photographed her wearing what she had on at the time and did not really consider this which was a mistake, especially since the strength of the red is increased when pushing up the light tones for a high key effect which was my preferred processing method.

I viewed each image one by one selecting and deselecting the pictures with flags (either pick or rejected) the only basis for rejecting an image was if it was obviously technically flawed. After this initial quick review I ended up with 48 images flagged as picks and 10 flagged as rejected.

Second edit:

Next I filtered the selected images and examined each one in turn making adjustments as required in LR (for example crop, exposure, contrast, saturation) I find this part of the process helpful as it requires closer scrutiny of each image. During this analysis I sometimes decide that the image is not a 'pick' after all and remove the flag (for the photographs for this project I deselected 9 images leaving 39 'picks'.)

So I know I have reviewed a particular image I apply a star rating - usually this is 3 stars but sometimes I mark lower at 2 stars to denote a picture of interest but flawed somehow and sometimes higher at 4 stars to denote that there is something special about this picture and that it is a possible favourite. I never mark pictures with 5 stars at this initial edit stage as I think it is too early to place the maximum rating on an image at this stage. Every few months I go through my picture library and revaluate, at this point I may upgrade an photograph to 5 stars but I have very few at this rating in my catalogue.

Final selects:

Sometimes the process of arriving at final selections can be extremely difficult, especially as in this case I have a number of images that are similar. I often find it useful to leave a little time between the second edit and making my final selection. Also, it can be worthwhile making prints as this can often show up both an images strengths and weaknesses - I sometimes like to pin prints to the wall to aid consideration over a period of time. In real life after editing down a batch of images I might be left with a similar amount as I have for this exercise, around a quarter of the amount shot. The problem then becomes what do I do with them? Under normal circumstances I do not take pictures with an end point in mind - the discipline of this project has focused my mind on the fact that this is where my workflow is failing. Going forward I think my photography would benefit greatly from this. Two ideas off the top of my head are that I could use personal projects as an avenue of following a theme or simply upload a minimum of two images from each photo shoot to Flickr.

For this exercise there was quite a gap of time between the pictures being taken and my completing the editing process. With 39 images flagged I went back and reviewed each one by one, I also reminded myself of my original aim which was to produce a natural looking portrait. I used red colour labels this time to separate my favourites arriving at a short list of 12 pictures.

To choose my final two images I went through the pictures one by one and relied more on my instinct to arrive at a decision. I was also conscious at this point to choose two images that would sit well together, in this case that meant two pictures that differed in some way.

My choices:

50mm f1.4 lens, ISO 1000, f3.3, 1/60 sec

 LR adjustments made:

Cropped to concentrate attention on head and shoulders, auto tone applied, auto white balance applied, white balance adjusted (+155 to 4800k, originally 5150k) tone curve adjusted (+52 light tones, -31 dark tones), red saturation decreased (-14), sharpening applied (+37), luminance smoothing applied (+33)

Analysis:

Caitlin's smile in this picture seems natural and unforced which is what I was aiming for and something that led me to disregard many other images. The tonality of the image is bright and strong which gives a modern feel to the image. (Interestingly however, the image is significantly brighter when viewed on screen in LR versus the picture I have embedded in this write up) The eye contact is strong and I like the detail, saturation and catch lights in the eyes. The composition is uncomplicated but slightly quirky as although Caitlin's head is straight in the frame her body is at a slight angle - maybe it is this small detail that led me to choose this image over the others as they are all shot straight on?

105mm f2.8 lens, ISO 1000, f3, 1/125 sec

LR adjustments made:

Cropped to 4x5 aspect ratio, tone curve adjusted (light tones +75, dark tones -7), contrast increased (+24), sharpening applied (+32), saturation decreased (-7)

Analysis:

The lower key and contrast in the tones of this image along with the landscape orientation are what attracted me to choose this picture. Again, the eye contact is strong in this image and although the saturation is less the catch lights still add an extra element. The white balance has a cooler feel here and the composition means less of the picture is taken up by the red jumper and white background.

Conclusions:

On the surface this exercise is extremely straightforward and is about actions to do with my photography that are second nature to me. To my surprise however I have found a number of benefits in exploring my workflow. Firstly, I think I have potentially misinterpreted the exercise completely. I took the purpose to be an examination of post shoot workflow and did not really consider the most important aspect - the shoot itself. For this exercise I was so focused on taking the pictures to use that I did not fully consider the outcome. For example the impact of the red jumper in the pictures, the folds in the white background (which could have been eliminated by having Caitlin stand a little further forward and having the background thrown out of focus), how shots with a lot of white background would influence exposure, having a clear idea of poses and compositions and offering enough direction to achieve these. The way I shoot is to keep an open mind and to use my instincts. This can work well and can mean I can sometimes achieve an image through experimentation that I would not otherwise have taken if I had been rigid in my approach. I feel I need to work on being able to shoot within boundaries however and focus on my intentions. If I was taking these pictures as a commercial portrait photographer I would need to ensure I had captured a number of poses I know work before experimenting. After analysing these pictures I should maybe have completed a second shoot using the knowledge acquired and see how many more shots are successful.

Approaching the post shoot edit I felt quite blasé initially - this is a process I complete regularly so felt there was little I could learn. Working through the exercise however I was struck by how many images and files of images I have not finished editing - basically I know what an effective workflow is but I do not stick to these rules myself. I began to realise that often this is because I do not have a specific output for the images - perhaps having prints made more regularly or even uploading to Flickr will help with this. Also, I probably think I am more effective at editing than I actually am. I can often be indecisive which can lead to inactivity, by putting my work in a position where it is open for others to see either as a print or on line should help focus my attention - if I have doubts about whether an image is good enough for others to view or not then it is likely that it should not be in my final selection. 

Zack Arias Blog: Editing Your Porfolio

I came across this photographer and his blog via a forum post on the OCA student website:

http://oca-student.com/node/82174

As part of a discussion about workflow, Nigel Monckton provides the link:

http://zackarias.com/editorial-photography/editing-your-portfolio/

At the time I read this I was researching workflow and image editing as part of the early exercises in DPP. The piece hit a particular nerve with me because of this. Most other writing I had come across in reference to workflow I found quite dull and uninspiring as they deal with the 'nuts and bolts' of the process. Martin Evening discusses various strategies in 'Lightroom 3 for Photographers' and hints at his own workflow but eventually arrives at few conclusions - an indication that there is not a 'one size fits all' approach.

What I like about Arias' blog post is that he is unapologetically personal in his tone and extremely open and honest. Procrastination and self doubt (something I am extremely familiar with) are themes he repeatedly touches on. He talks about "kick[ing] the demons out of your head and get[ting] to work" ,because, "It’s never going to be perfect. It’s never going to be finished. It’s never going to be ready. If you wait until you are ready you’ll never accomplish a thing. Ever." I find the knowledge that a successful professional photographer has the same feelings of the work not being good enough that I do extremely reassuring.

I also like the way he discusses editing and photographic skills and the need to continually revisit your work: "You not only grow as a photographer but you grow as a photo editor in your life." This is a feeling echoed by OCA tutor Clive White in the forum discussion: "I still come across images that I shot and discarded 30 years ago that make a different sense to me now." This is very much my view and it is good to see it reaffirmed - simply, storing digital images takes up very little physical space and extra storage is extremely cheap nowadays so why would you not want to keep everything? Of course, the trick is being able to access this again - hundreds of MBs worth of image files that are not labelled in any way are just as unwieldy as piles of boxes of random prints.

At the point Arias culls his original 'big edit' down to the final 10% he makes prints so he can view them physically and most importantly explore their relationship with each other. This is a process I also find extremely beneficial and it can be surprising how much your opinions can change when faced with a physical print rather than an image on a screen.

I will leave the last word with Leopin, the OCA student who originated the discussion, as he ponders why there is so little written material on workflow since this is such an important part of the photographic process: "What shall I conclude? That it is a process too subjective, too intimate, too private to be disclosed openly?" I think he could be right in many ways and again I applaud the bravery of Arias to publish his ways of working in such an honest way. I think the majority of photographers would struggle with being this honest fearing self doubt shows some sort of weakness. Maybe there is also an element of not wanting to be challenged as well - OCA tutor Jose Navarro discusses his workflow in very practical terms on the forum, and while I very much respect his views and appreciate his ways of working would be highly tried and tested, his is not a system I would employ myself…..knowing about how he works does help me however.

"Its all in the edit (delete at your peril)" by John Macpherson on duckrabbit blog

I came across this article via twitter before starting DPP and when I was looking through my twitter feed realised it had a lot of relevance to the initial exercises of the course concerned with workflow and editing.

The piece was posted on Duckrabbitblog on 25th January 2012 by photographer and photography teacher John Macpherson. I like the open and personal tone of the piece in which Macpherson discusses what he believes to be the potential mistake of photographers deleting pictures in the field alongside his experiences of tutoring novice photographers.

He begins by explaining how he tries "to encourage a process of editing images on the computer"…."just like the contact sheets we used to make in the good old film days." He continues, "for many inexperienced photographers it’s actually quite difficult to determine what actually constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘successful’ image and that too often its the technical qualities that are the defining ones, overriding any other less tangible considerations."

He follows this with an anecdote of how one of his students failed to see the potential of one of her shots and apologised for not having deleted it at the time because it was "not sharp." Macpherson's experience and visual knowledge however told him differently -  to him the image was evocative and the lack of sharpness made the image timeless with a certain amount of 'emotional content.' This led him to conclude, "taking ‘good’ images is very easy, but the difficulty is that they are invariably surrounded by a mass of work of lesser value. How does one discern the good from bad? If you’re a novice photographer how can you tell the difference? I often wonder how many real gems never see the light of day because they are simply deleted?"

Another anecdote concerning a discussion about a students image that to her represented something very negative, (a photograph of her partners damaged leg after a serious accident which meant they were separated by hundreds of miles while he recuperated.) After discussion it was agreed that her feelings were based on the emotional force she placed on the picture and that disregarding this and focussing on the pictures actual content could lead to a very different reading -  that the image actually represents tenderness, caring and healing. After the discussion the woman changes her opinion which to Macpherson shows the importance of sharing your work:

"I think its vital that you share your work with people you know. Discussing why it was made, and what it makes you feel like, is a hugely valuable thing to do. It’s an even more valuable thing to do with people you don’t know, because they’re less likely to care about offending you by saying they don’t like a particular image."

After the article, in the comments section, Macpherson touches on a particular issue connected with digital photography - the ability to take hundreds of pictures at a time. He states that "It took me literally years to learn to ‘read’ and properly understand images in the editing process. It really is a skill to develop, separate from the button pressing that creates images." And on the subject of being able to "shoot 10 frames a second [and] to come back from an event with a huge amount of material" he adds this note of caution:

"[it's] a painful job if you want to consider every single frame, check the expressions on faces, where eyes are looking, all the little details that can make or break an image. I think a lot of people lose a lot of work because they just don’t have the time to carefully edit, and they probably miss some useful work. I know I’ve come across little gems I missed first, second and third time around because there was so much other stuff."

Lots of interesting food for thought for me in this article - I never delete images from my memory card (so a tick for me there!) but I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that my ability to edit successfully is something I need to work hard at. Often I am consumed with self doubt and disappointment when reviewing images. I have tried various strategies to combat this - editing as soon as possible after a shoot (which is not always practical) and also leaving a bit of time between shooting and editing as I sometimes find the cushion of time can help me be more objective about the images. The advice to seek feedback about images is one I will try to incorporate for example actively seeking feedback through Flickr. The problem with this however is that a certain amount of editing is required which does not eliminate the problem of good images being lost and not being selected at all. My overall feeling is that I need to create a schedule for both shooting and editing - I tend to have intense periods when I take a large amount of photographs which is often punctuated with inactivity. I need to arrive at a better strategy for managing my time which pushes me to photograph more regularly, however, this also needs to be reinforced with robust editing and taking my pictures to some sort of output - even if this is just posting on Flickr. 

The challenge of finding the time and the motivation…..

For the last month and a bit I have been extremely busy at work and home and simply have not had the time to take pictures. Today I forced myself to take my camera out as I ran a couple of errands and took a few pictures - no preconceptions, simply for fun. I did not shoot many frames but had the camera ready as I walked (for about an hour.) I am surprised at how relaxing I found this process of simply looking for interesting things to photograph and I have now started to question how truly 'busy' I have been: if I had really wanted to I am sure I could have found time to take some pictures, the problem here is not necessarily lack of time but lack of self motivation. On reflection I now realise it is a set of self imposed barriers I am setting myself that is leading to my inactivity. I have felt tired due to my busy schedule and this has led me to provide myself 101 excuses about why I should not get out and take pictures, chiefly that I am 'not in the mood', in reality I just cannot be bothered. Returning home today and downloading the images, I was shocked to discover I had not picked up my camera for 3 weeks. As I write this I have not even looked through the images I have taken today, and to be honest, their quality or otherwise does not bother me in the least - it is the process and the practice that counts. OCA tutor Clive White discusses on the OCA forums that students should treat photography like 'going to the gym' and practice every day. I can now see the truth in this - my period of inactivity led to a number of hesitations and missed opportunities today when I had the chance to shoot some candid shots in the street. There is no guarantee that the shots I would have taken would have any merit but without pressing the shutter I will never know. If I was more 'practiced' I am sure I would have had the courage to take those shots. The challenge now is to up my game, show more dedication and start to take this much more seriously. 

Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 28th April 2012

I visited the Scottish National Portrait Gallery as part of a trip to Edinburgh and found a great deal of photographic work to enjoy. Here are some of my reaction to works that caught my eye:

Stuart Franklin: Farmscapes

Stuart Franklin is a Magnum photographer and this exhibition forms part of a commission for him to document the diversity of Scottish agriculture. He is famous for capturing the iconic image of a student protester standing in the way of on oncoming tank duringthe Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989.

The introduction to the exhibition sums up the commission well:

"Farming dominates the Scottish landscape, with around three quarters of the nation’s land mass devoted to agricultural production. Woodland covers nearly a fifth of Scotland and the aquaculture industry is the largest in the European Union. Rural land use reflects a range of historical and environmental factors: large cereal farming is concentrated to the drier, east of the country whilst the majority of sheep graze on the poorer soils – and smaller farms and crofts – of the north west. Around 65,000 workers are directly employed in Scottish agriculture. New forms of agribusiness, such as a thriving organic movement, continue to evolve."

The images in the exhibition are impressive to view - printed large, detailed, probably taken with a large format camera, and on the surface this draws the viewer in to concentrate on the aesthetics of the work. On closer examination there is much more going on however and a subtle underlying commentary.

Take for example the image that is used to advertise the exhibition:

Oronsay,Scotland. Meadow with Oxe-eye Daisies, Yellow Rattle and Knapweed, 2008.

My initial reaction to this image was to feel impressed by the beauty and detail of the piece, at first I took in the patterns of shape and colour made by the countless flowers and then moved closer to look at the fine detail of the individual flowers. It took me a couple of moments to consider why Franklin would choose to photograph a meadow of wild flowers - what agricultural importance could this have? There was also the realisation that the picture is of a completely wild scene and not something manmade, the caption drew me in further explaining that wild meadows are increasingly being allowed to grow in an attempt to restore some balance with nature that has been lost through man's intervention with the landscape and provide a habitat for insects. This shows a shift in mind set and a growing awareness that there must be a balance between nature and man. I was left to wonder how typical this approach is however, especially when viewed alongside this image:

HarvestingBarley Along the Strathmore Valley, Near Coupar Angus

This is a dramatic image which more closely fits my understanding of what agriculture is. The combine harvester is a menacing presence in the landscape which is emphasised by its positioning in the frame and the dark approaching storm clouds. Although there is no indication in the notes there is a feeling that Franklin is against this form of industrial agriculture - or at least wary.

Reading the photographers stance on varying farming practices is complicated by this image of organic pigs:

Organic Pig Farming,Elgin, 2008

The received notion we have of organic farming is that it takes place in some sort of idyllic situation, this image goes against that however showing a lone pig pretty desolate surroundings. This image in a way is more critical than the harvesting shot - that just reaffirms what is known about farming, this picture goes against the marketing of organic produce; Franklin is showing here the reality of farming even in what is supposed to be the 'best' circumstances.

When I viewed the exhibition I concentrated more on the aesthetic properties of the images. It was only after when I viewed the pictures at home that I began to consider the intent of the photographer and his possible motivations. On the surface the set is comprised of visually appealing images, but this is just a device to draw the viewer in. Franklin seems to be challenging the viewer about the environmental impact any form of farming has on the landscape while challenging the notion that this is a natural process  - it is very much influenced by the hand of man.

Romantic camera - Scottish Photography and the Modern World

This exhibition features work from the collection of the gallery with the theme of exploring the relationship between romanticism and photography in Scotland. Full exhibition notes here:

At the time I visited the exhibition I must admit I found the link between some of the images quite tenuous, never the less, there were plenty of images that caught my attention. Here are a few of them:

Michael Reisch - Landscape 7/04

Reisch was commissioned by the gallery in 2007 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. He chose to do this by 'intervening' in the landscape, digitally removing any manmade clues from the landscape. I found the image featured in the gallery somewhat uninspiring; to my eye it was very obviously manipulated and had an unreal quality, it reminded me of middle earth in 'The Lord of the Rings' films - a fantasy only loosely connected to reality. The concept of the set intrigues me however, with only one picture featured in the gallery so I felt unable to make a definitive view of the whole. Viewing other images on Reisch's website the work seems interesting. Maybe the unreal end result was a deliberate strategy by the photographer?

Mark Neville - Port Glasgow Town Hall Christmas party(2004)

I was struck immediately by this image when I saw it in the gallery. There is a joy and abandon present in the photograph of people dancing and enjoying themselves at a Christmas party. I assume flash has been used to momentarily illuminate the scene, in reality I guess it would have been quite dark which would have led to a sense of comfort for the people pictured. There is a brilliant naturalness to the people here and a sense that they are truly letting their hair down - something that is probably an infrequent occasion. The lady at the front of the image anchors the image - and in some ways there is an element of cruelty that can be read from her inclusion. I doubt whether she would view this as a flattering portrait - you clearly get the sense that this is not the normal way she would behave. While I can understand why someone would be aghast at being included in such a way in an image I personally enjoy the sense of joy in the picture and the way the image is completely unstaged. The theme of truth and reality in photography is as old as the mediums invention and something that interests me greatly - I am fascinated by the way people can look so different frame to frame and strategies employed by photographers to get there subjects to appear natural is something that inspires me (for example Walker Evans underground series, Philip Dicorcia's Heads series, Rineke Djkstira YoungMothers and Bullfighters series)

When I got home and researched the photographer more I found the image was part of a wider project documenting the people of the town of Port Glasgow. 

In 2004 Neville spent a year as artist in residence in the town the output being a coffee table style book which was delivered free of charge to Port Glasgow's 8000 residents and which the photographer vowed would never be reprinted. The  concept for this approach was to subvert the way art books like this are usually disseminated and is a comment on class - one of the themes of the work being the difficulties faced by the residents of Port Glasgow in the face of economic decline of traditional industries. The reaction of the inhabitants is interesting - some saw the book as beautiful and honest, others that it showed the community in a negative light and a few protestant residents burned copies of the book behind the towns Catholic club in protest as what they perceived as pro Catholic bias in the work. Looking through Mark Neville's website it seems he has produced a number of interesting projects and I will have to note his name for further research.

Richard Learoyd - Agnes at table 1

This image is truly an example of how you can only get the full effect of a work in a gallery setting - on the computer screen the image looks interesting but nothing special but on the gallery wall it is life size and extremely detailed which makes the work quite mesmerizing and meant I spent quite a while viewing the portrait. Learoyd achieves this through a fascinating process - his 'camera' is a kind of camera obscura which projects the image of the sitter onto photographic paper meaning that the work is a positive image which cannot be reproduced - a comment on photography as an art itself.

Sze Tsung Leong - horizons series

This work again only really resonates when seen in the flesh. It is a series of panoramic images of four very different cities, the horizon being placed in the same position in each frame and arranged next to each other on the gallery wall. The effect at first is that from a distance the images appear to be of the same place, it is only when you begin to look closer that you realise they are of very different cities (Amman, Tokyo, Edinburgh, Essen) and begin to look at the differences between frames. The images were all taken at differing times and I admire the photographers self discipline to follow the project over an extended period.

Paul Strand - South Uist (from Tir A'Mhurain)

Paul Strand is a photographer that is held in high esteem but who I am only marginally acquainted. (Unfortunately I have not been able to find the image presented in the gallery on line) 'Tir A'Mhurain' his photo essay about the Hebrides is often citied as an exemplary example of the photobook - for this reason the one image featured in the gallery left me wanting to see more.

A few months after my visit to Edinburgh I came across this fascinating article by Fraser MacDonald in The Guardian written on the 50th anniversary of the books publication.

 The article details much that I had no idea about and has pricked my desire to research Strand more; he was a Marxist exile from McCarthy era USA, South Uist was a possible location for secret missile testing around the time Strand photographed and he insisted that the book was published beyond the iron curtain in East Germany - surely coincidental? The gallery showed only one image of Strand's from this series and I was left with a feeling if wanting more, of needing to see the entire work before it makes sense. This feeling of wanting to see a set together is something that has been on my mind for a while - when I first became serious about photography the books I bought were all overviews or history's providing only a couple of images by each photographer discussed. As my knowledge grew I bought titles about individual photographers but again they tended to be overviews of their work. A turning point came when I bought Robert Frank's 'The Americans', one of the most celebrated photobooks of all time. It was a revelation to me seeing many images I had by now become familiar with through other contexts presented in together as a whole and I was struck by the way Frank's sequencing of the images added so much. I am becoming increasingly interested in the photobook as an art form in its own right and the power that can be created through presenting a set of images together.

I left this exhibition with a strange mix of exhilaration and feeling unsatisfied - the work had whet my appetite for researching many of the photographers on show while I felt the need for a little more substance. Similar to my feeling about photobooks I want to see exhibitions by single photographers rather than this kind of group show.