Reflections

Well here I am again, new blog post and it's the first day off from work for what seems ages. I have just sent in my prints for assignment 4 'Applying lighting techniques' and contemplating Part 5 'Narrative and illustration'. I feel under pressure as time is running short to complete this module by May and with such little time spare from my work at Skyhook Studios in Stroud I need to make haste...
I have decided to make things slightly easier for myself in that I have opportunity through my work to do photography so rather than try and carve out separate time to do the course I need to apply and combine as much as I can with my workday activity. This does mean that much of my photography is going to have an element of music/musician basis. Rather than struggle I need to embrace that....

Here is the blog I do for my work at Skyhook Studios as a background to this and I do try and make it visual through use of photo's as far as possible;

http://mikecooling.blogspot.co.uk

My recent submission for Assignment 4 reflects this and here are some of the other photo's from the photo shoots I set up to do this. My subject was Stroud musician 'Cas Frazer' who is currently involved with music projects at Skyhook Studios. I will upload my submitted work for assignment 4 shortly.

I used low level lighting with a blue 'lighting gel' to contrast with the guitars Red

Low level light against black curtain

Against a white background with over-head and side lighting

Overhead lighting strongly onto background for a 'stage' look

Natural light from one side in a high contrast composition

Natural daylight from sides with subject in front of a colourful  background
of similar colour to Subjects tie for an 'earthy' natural look

Another high contrast shot with single sided lighting.

Subject with contrasting background and natural daylight from narrow source

Evening sunlight to cast strong shadows

So here's on to Narrative...........

Trip to Cornwall

Having just spent a long weekend in Cornwall with my camera with every intention of completing some more of the exercises on light I admit to being seduced by the beaches, sea, sand and lighthouses on distant horizons....

I have tried to incorporate my recent study into my picture taking and here are the results.......

Across the bay to St Ives

Being patient and waiting for the clouds helped me choose the right time to capture the stunning light of St Ives bay. Using the camera completely in manual mode I constantly re-adjusted the exposure settings for the ever changing light on this mixed weather day.

The stream at Gwithian

I was really pleased to get some light blue summer shots and some doom-laden dramatic shots all at the same time just because of the passing clouds and the different light looking towards and away from the sun.

Classic Cornwall Tin Mine

 In this classic Cornish tin mine shot I used an ISO setting of 800 to bring out a gritty texture which suits the rough edginess of the Cornish granite.

Looking back from the sea's edge

Light reflecting back up off the wet sand and diffusing through the clouds give these two shots a dramatic look. They work both in Portrait and Landscape. A one stop under exposure has brought out both the cloud and atmosphere.

Gwithian beach

Reflected Blues

 In these two shot I se the exposure exactly as the camera recommended,  and as a 'tourist' would feel really pleased with the results how Nikon intended with the inbuilt light meter

Gwithian Lighthouse

Gwithian

The Lighthouse Gwithian

Patterns in the sand

Rip-tide at Gwithian

 In this last of the shots I'm really pleased with the way the blue pool in the clouds reflects off the wet sand and gives this photo a nicely balanced look.

Pools of blue

Jay Maisel - a photographer I like

Jay Maisel is an American photographer whom I admire. His love of photography and unassuming character comes across clearly in his work. A short film biography about Jay can be seen here which will explain more than I could possibly in words;

Documentary on Jay Maisel (7mins long)

His passion for light and colour and the way the camera is part of his everyday existence inspires me. I feel I am struggling with the practical exercises in the Art of Photography course, not because I'm not technically competent, not because they aren't worthwhile, maybe slightly because I have such limited time, but mainly because I like to photograph what I want to photograph...like Jay Maisel...with no agenda....

Work of his I particularly like;

Boy and Inner Tube - Jay Maisel

You can feel the cool water and the imminent splash in this photo. Frozen action with the reflected edge light on the partially silhouetted characters. The focus in the mid-foreground really works for me.

Don't Walk and Red - Jay Maisel

 This photo reminds me of a Banksy mural........

Chet Baker - Jay Maisel

 I love the old black and white photos from the Jazz and Blues eras, this grainy monochrome image is ultra cool in it's un-posed subject and the laid back way the trumpet is held......

Red Wall and Rope - Jay Maisel

 The high contrast between the blue boiler suit and red background is awesome and the captured movement and energy makes this a great shot.

Statue of Liberty in Mist - Jay Maisel

This photo of the Statue of Liberty takes on an almost abstract form. It reminds me of those picture of Loch Ness and Nessie for some reason. The opportunity to get this shot with the low light and mist is amazing.

Exercise - measuring exposure part 2

In this exercise I have taken a series of shots for each photo using 'bracketing' for the exposure of +1 stop, + 1/2 stop, at the recommended exposure with the camera's meter, - 1/2 stop and then -1 stop. I am then going to compare the resultant images to see if the 'correct' exposure is what works best or if any of the 'under' or 'over' exposed images work in their own right.

Example 1. This first set of photos are of a cast iron fire basket set against the sky.

Camera 'correct' exposure

+1/2stop over exposure

+1 stop over exposure

-1/2 stop under exposed

-1 stop under exposure
 

I think for this 'silhouette' type image all the exposures work to an extent. The 'correct' exposure is OK if a little boring for this image. My two preferred are the most over exposed image which brings out the rust cast iron colouring of the subject and this works against the paler looking sky. The most under exposed image I like as it has a powerful mood with the almost black subject against a darker and ominous sky.


Example 2

This statue of an Angel in Ross-on-Wye cemetery is my next subject for this exercise. I chose this image as it has many elements within the frame, detail and form of the statue, some sky and greenery and much colour too.

-1 stop under exposed

-1/2 stop under exposed

Correct exposure

+1/2 stop over exposed

+1 stop over exposed

In this example I think that the best result is the 1/2 stop under exposed as the colours really come out and the sky isn't too burnt out. The correct exposure image works very well. I like what happens with the sky in the most under exposed image as the blue starts coming through. I am not keen on the over exposed images as the sky and wall behind become burnt out very quickly.

Example 3
In this next series of shots I have taken a landscape scene with some water reflecting light to see how that is affected by exposure.

-1 stop under exposed

-1/2 stop under exposed

correct exposure

+ 1/2 stop over exposed

+ 1 stop over exposed

I think for this image the correctly exposed image is definitely the best result with a nice vibrant image with plenty of colour. This would makes sense as the camera manufacturer would opt for a 'tourist shot' such as this to give great results from the cameras metering. The +1/2 stop photo has great colour in the foreground water areas. The most under-exposed image loses so much detail in the dark areas.

Exercise - Measuring exposure

In this first exercise I have produced 4 photos which are darker or lighter than average.

 This shot is nearly all dark except the light from the low evening sun bouncing off my guitar. I wanted to achieve an atmospheric abstract which I was pleased with. There is much more dark than light in the frame, I used spot metering to take the photo.

 This is a view of chimney and pylon taken from the sand dunes in Hayle Cornwall. I wanted to balance the chimney with the pylon and incorporate the technologies from different eras. As the horizon is low in the frame there is nearly all sky and I had to be careful with the exposure to keep some detail in the clouds which resulted in the foreground being underexposed. This photo is lighter than average.

 Helping a friend with an art project I used low level sun light to pick out the detail in this miniature ceramic tile. I wanted to get a crisp focus on this but had to use a wide aperture so the depth of field is quite shallow but this adds to the artistic look so I am happy. The frame is lighter than average as the is far more 'white' background.

In this final photo of a sunset over Gloucester there wasn't much light about except in the sky where you can see. The frame is much darker than average and as the light was coming from one particular place the foreground is heavily silhouetted which adds to the dusk atmosphere.

A sequence of shots for a work brief

Although this isn't part of my course I recently had to take a series of photo's for my work blog at Skyhook Studios where I am a recording engineer.

I am currently working on an Album project with Stroud based singer David Ireland, the album is called Cosmic Glue. You can find out more from my work blog at:

http://mikecooling.blogspot.co.uk

I was recording a drummer called 'Alan Tocknell' who makes beautiful and stunning sounding drum kits. To keep the 'techie nerds' happy and as an informative post I took a series of pictures to show how I set up the microphones to capture the sound of a drum kit. These photo's were taken quickly mid session in a dim studio so although they are not 'great' pics in themselves I think they communicate the information well. I think this is a very important area of photography.

Alan Tocknell -Drummer and Drum-maker

A Tee Drums Snare 

Tom from Tee Drums

Alan setting the pace

How to record a bass drum with 2 mic's
one inside the shell!

How to mic a snare drum with an SM57

Toms recorded with clip on AKG D40 mice

stereo mic's overhead 

A ride cymbal recorded with a Rode NT5 mic

A floor tom mic'ed with an AKG D40