Assignment 1: Workflow

Brief:

The purpose of this assignment is to explore the subject of workflow through a shooting assignment of my own choosing. Before completing the first two exercises for the course I felt I  had an established workflow which worked well for me, completing the exercises made me question this however - was my workflow too rigid? Was it preventing me from exploring alternative methods of processing? If my workflow was so good why did I have so many unprocessed images on my hard drive? With these points in mind I wanted to explore the subject of my workflow in an analytical way, carefully considering each aspect and spending time thinking about my choices and ways of working. I tried to put aside all of my preconceptions and at the end of the assignment I hoped to be able to use what I had learned to make practical adjustments to my ways of working that would be of benefit in the future.

Choosing a Subject:

I wanted to choose a subject that would provide many different types of image, would be of interest and would be accessible. I arrived at my choice of Penshaw Monument near Sunderland by chance - I took a number of photographs from the top of the monument on a family day out and felt this could be a subject worth exploring further.

Penshaw Monument is a symbol to the people of wearside (as important as say the Tyne Bridge or Angel of the North would be to the people of Tyneside) it dominates the local landscape and can be seen for miles around and is featured on Sunderland football clubs badge. It is a Doric style structure based on the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens built in memoriam of John George Lambton, the Earl of Durham, in 1844. The monument was given to the National Trust by the 5th Earl of Durham in 1939.

One of my areas of interest in photography is how the familiar can be transformed for example through viewpoint. Recognisable monuments are mainly represented through a 'chocolate box' aesthetic which is not a style I am attracted to - by choosing Penshaw Monument as my subject I wanted to explore this kind of 'tourist' view while also making pictures that are less typical of the kind regularly seen.

Preparation:

I began by brainstorming a number of possible approaches so when I arrived at the monument I would have some ideas of what kind of shots to take. I also began thinking of different times I would want to take the photographs:

• The 'tourist' view
• People included

• Abstract/details

• Night time

• Sunrise/sunset
• Context e.g. Local houses
• 'Chocolate box' view

• Light and shadow

Plan for shooting the images:

One of the factors that led me to choose Penshaw monument as a subject was that I pass it every day on the way to and from work. Not only that but the structure is so prominent that I can see it in the distance for most of my journey. I wanted my chosen subject to be reasonably accessible and felt that I could stop off at the monument often to and from work and would be able to take pictures in a variety of different times of day and weather conditions.

Usually if I am pursuing a long term project I review and edit my images after each shoot. I find that this can influence me in subsequent shoots - for example I might not take a particular image because I feel I have already taken something similar. As part of my research I was inspired by an article about Garry Winogrand which detailed his ways of working.

Winogrand was a prolific photographer, when he died he left around 2500 rolls of undeveloped film and is estimated to have shot around 5 million images in his lifetime. Winogrand believed that emotional attachment to an image led to poor editing choices and would take the extreme solution of waiting up to 2 years before even processing a roll of film. By doing this he believed he separated the act of taking the image from his selection process; by having virtually no memory of taking the picture he was able to make decisions based purely on the content of the frame and not influenced by emotion.

When I shoot I always download my images regularly and review them straight away - as mentioned this can influence what I shoot after this, I may choose not to take a certain image because I think I have already captured it. For this assignment I took the decision to shoot over a number of weeks (months as it turned out) and to only view the images and begin making my selections when I had taken them all.

Taking the pictures:

One of the main reasons I chose Penshaw Monument as my subject is that I thought I would be able to stop off regularly to and from work and take pictures in a variety of conditions. In reality things turned out very different: stopping off going to work never happened because the weather conditions often meant I would be a mess before I got to work or because I was worried I would end up spending to much time taking pictures and be late. It was also difficult to stop off on the way home, I work quite long hours and was often not in the mood to stop off or needed to get home for family reasons so it was not practical. In my head I thought I would be able to stop for 10 minutes or so and take some pictures, in reality I spent 1-2 hours each time I stopped.

A benefit of choosing Penshaw however was that I spent a great deal of time looking at the structure on my journeys and would think a lot about different images I might take. A downside however was looking at the structure when conditions were interesting and knowing that I either didn't have time to stop off or have my camera with me.

When to stop became an issue as well - I initially intended to spend around 2 months on this assignment but it has actually taken me around a year! Even at this point I had to force myself to start bringing the assignment to a conclusion - my main reason for this was fearing I had not taken enough pictures and had not explored all of the possibilities I had thought of. With hindsight I should have set myself a strict deadline, something I will try to do for future assignments.

Selecting the images:

I used Lightroom 4 to catalogue and process all of my images: I had taken 832 images over 8 shoots. Firstly I applied the keyword 'Penshaw Monument' to each of the images and created a collection (Penshaw DPP Ass 1) for the images so they were easily accessible from the rest of my image library.

Next I viewed each image in turn and flagged any I wanted to consider further while rejecting any with obvious technical problems. For this initial select I ended up with 284 flagged images and 3 deselects. I then processed each image in turn which gave me the opportunity to view each picture in more detail. If I found I no longer wanted to consider the image for selection I removed the flag, at the end of this process I had a rough edit of 214 pictures including two I had processed alternatively.

I am conflicted about whether this part of my workflow is the right way for me to select images - on one hand this was a very time consuming process which has not resulted in me removing many sections, I felt an element of frustration that I could not be more decisive. On the other hand I think this part of the process could be the most important part of my workflow as it gives me the chance to spend an extended amount of time getting to know the images and aids my decision making process going forward. The unfortunate reality however is that the process takes time and that is something that is a luxury for me. On first indication taking Garry Winogrand's advice and leaving some time before reviewing my images has made little difference - I imagine that I would have made similar if not identical selections if I had edited the pictures straight after shooting

In the past I have always found having pictures to look at greatly aids my decision making process so decided to have 6x4 prints made of my selects. One of the principles of this project is that I wanted to present a group of different images of Penshaw. With this in mind my first action when I received the prints was to sort them into separate categories - I ended up with 18. Next I reviewed the pictures in their category selections by placing them onto a large table top and looking at them side by side. I then sorted them into three selection criteria - pick, maybe and reject. At the end of this process I had 120 selects, 24 maybe and 70 rejects. I was now feeling quite restless with the selection process and was coming to realise that I was been much too protracted in my approach. I viewed the pictures again with a more critical eye - if there was anything in the image that led me to think 'maybe' I discarded it as I now realised this meant the picture would not make the cut. Despite this I still ended up with a selection of 54 prints!

Final selection:

At this point I was keen to try an approach that I have read many photographers find useful - I decided to display the prints on my wall and leave them for a couple of weeks before making my final selection. I was still faced with something of an impasse however as to which of the pictures to choose. In the end I forced myself into being decisive and began deselecting images by taking them down from the wall - often my selection process was governed by a gut instinct rather than by analysis, in fact I made a conscious effort not to overthink at this point as I was beginning to recognise this was the main driver of my procrastination.

I was surprised at how quickly I managed to pair down the selection to 12 images (although I did have 10 pictures that nearly made it and which can be found here) was this because of the time I had spent 'living' with the pictures - had this aided my decision making? Perhaps I knew from the beginning which images were my favourites and I had been putting off the inevitable?

The final 12:

ISO 1250, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 56mm, 1/125 sec @ f5.6

The fields around Penshaw are used for grazing cattle (although the cattle are not always present.) On this particular occasion I took the opportunity to feature this cow as foreground interest. I have chosen to open the set of images with this because I can imagine something similar being used by the National Trust to advertise Penshaw - to me it offers a 'tourists view.' People are excluded and there is a sense of wildness about the monuments setting, the cow and monument have a sense of balance because of their relative size and positioning in the frame and the orange/ginger cow contrasts with the surrounding grass.

ISO 200, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 70mm, 1/90 sec @ f11

As I have mentioned, Penshaw monument dominates the local landscape so I was keen to show this in a number of images. Although the monument is quite small in the frame it is clearly the point of interest, the pattern of the corn and its positioning draw the eye. Some of the shots I discarded that were similar to this had tractor tracks in the corn as leading lines but I prefer the low viewpoint here that does not include them. The inclusion of the electricity pylon also acts as a reminder that of how modern technology transforms the landscape and seems to anchor the monument in the distance.

ISO 250, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 70mm, 1/350 sec @ f11

This was from the first shoot I did at the monument which gave me the inspiration to pursue it as a subject. I like the disorder in this image which contrasts with the horizontal and vertical alignment of the pillars and shadows. The high contrast tones add a graphic dimension, also, images of people taking photographs is a subject I am interested in pursuing as a long term project. The way the adults in the group are trying to create pictures while the children play has an interesting narrative quality about family days out.

ISO 400, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 48mm, 1/250 sec @ f9.5

This picture is all about the atmosphere created by the fog, I like the way the monument is just visible and the muted tones.

ISO 400, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 24mm, 1/2000 sec @ f9.5

I took many images of the monument in silhouette but kept coming back to this one. I think the tones work well here the sun just visible behind a pillar gives a strong sense of mood. I am not sure this would be placed as being north east England without prior knowledge of what it is.

ISO 1000, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 70mm, 1/350 sec @ f11

The composition attracted me to this image, through my research I cannot recall seeing a picture of Penshaw from this angle. The height of the structure is emphasised by shooting from the side and the tones pick out the brickwork which gives an indication of the monuments age.

ISO 1000, 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens @ 122mm, 1/1000 sec @ f6.7

This image was shot from about 10 miles from the monument. Unlike the corn image Penshaw is not the obvious subject here, the picture is about the way the layers of mist add depth and is evocative of early morning. This is also emphasised by the 'letter box' crop.

ISO 200, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 24mm, 1/125 sec @ f8

I imagine this image being featured in promotional advertising, the jaunty angle gives a modern feel. Although the composition is unconventional I think it is easy to read what the picture is of and the angle of view adds interest as the eye moves around different aspects of the monument. The early morning warm sunlight hitting the stonework complements the blue sky.

ISO 400, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 60mm, 1/180 sec @ f11

I chose this image because of the sense of wilderness in the scene. I also like the way the sunlight hits the top of the grass where the monument meets the horizon. The viewpoint isolates Penshaw from any sign of the modern world and the floodlights that surround it are also excluded.

ISO 400, 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens @ 125mm, 1/750 sec @ f5.6

This image is opposite to the previous one because it gives an indication about the environment around the monument. I have an interest in allotments and am attracted to the way their owners often build interesting structures. A lot of the other allotments I photographed in the foreground were more ordered than this but I chose this image because I like the way the slightly ramshackle shed contrasts with the order of the monument in the background.

ISO 2000, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 31mm, 1/250 sec @ f5.6

This abstract image of the monument has many similarities to the one chosen earlier but in the end is quite different. The orientation is portrait rather than landscape which emphasises height and the almost monochrome palate gives a cold and foreboding feel unlike the warmth from the early morning sun provided in the initial image.

ISO 800, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 24mm, 1/60 sec @ f9.5

I took many pictures using the steps to the monument as leading lines but chose this because of the strong way they lead the eye to the structure. This was taken at dusk and the floodlights have just come on, the darkness of the tones however give a sense of creepiness rather than warmth and the picture contrasts with the reassuring view that opens the set.

Conclusion:

I have found this assignment invaluable in understanding my own personal workflow. Before beginning I was quite dismissive about the learning's I would take from the exercise, however, it has highlighted both weaknesses in my approach that I was probably not confronting while making me realise that I very far from having an established workflow of my own. Firstly, I understand now better than ever before that I need to shoot more, however, I need to come up with a strategy to aid this as self doubt seems to be my main issue. I have plans for a number of long term projects and this is what I plan to concentrate on to drive me forward as well as forcing myself to pick up my camera more often - whether I feel in the mood or not.

For the purposes of this assignment I have taken a protracted approach to selecting my images. At the time I thought this was for the better good of the assignment and my development but really I was just putting off progressing. I have understood for a while that procrastination is a major issue for me and have thought I had this under control, clearly however it is not. If I am truthful I could have predicted most of the images I have chosen for my final selection at the initial stages. Again self doubt is the enemy here and I believe that the more I 'practice' the more my confidence will grow and the more willing I will be to trust my instincts.

In the end my understanding of workflow has gone full circle. Initially I thought this was one of my strengths, now however I understand that although I am confident in using the software I have a long way to go in being confident in my own selection and decision making. Everything I now read that comments on workflow now takes on a new resonance and meaning and informs my ways of working. Yes this assignment has been much more difficult to complete than I foresaw anticipated and yes I have spent much longer on it than I first wanted to. However, that could all be for the long term good as long as I put the lessons learned here into practice.