Saturday 30 June 2012

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.


Tuesday 12 June 2012

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. 

Friday 1 June 2012

Zack Arias Blog: Editing Your Porfolio


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


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


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.