WEEK 5 Landscape: Black and White

 Look for a scene with great contrast that will make a great black and white.

Today I learned a valuable lesson- if it's raining bring an umbrella.  Yes, it's a novice mistake but god-damn, the amount of times I had to stop to wipe the rain of the lens, or felt like I was waving through a pool to adjust my aperture. Anyway....

In many ways I've gone down the predictable root this week and gone for the graveyard shot.  I just felt that to get a good black and white contrast is with gravestones.  It's slightly more challenging that you would think, because even though a gravestone makes for an interesting photo, it doesn't necessarily make for an interesting landscape photo.  At least not one where it looks significantly interesting, or just like an other graveyard.

To get out of the typical ruts I would find myself in. i.e got to a high point and click, or find an angel statue and let it be the prominent thing in the frame, I instead tried to find lines.  Lines help to frame the picture.  So after a few random shots, one involving Fee looking like she was urinating on a grave (sorry Fee), I tried to line up the trees by the gravestones, which while it had an interesting effect, didn't do for me what I wanted, and still didn't achieved the landscape quota (don't ask what the landscape quota is, because I don't know till I see it.)

Finally I was looking through my lens, blind to everything else around me.  And this was after I was taking photos of the trees, and suddenly the path opened towards me, and it was there. The desolate graveyard, the over hanging dead trees in the background, the wet floor, it was exactly what I wanted.

Other notes: No tripod this week. It's probably effected the look of the photo, but I didn't mind a little tilt, because it was a lot easier to gaze around without the restriction of the tripod set up.

WEEK 4 Portrait: Headshot

You shot a selfie, now shoot a "selfie" of someone else!

Well, I've now done three shoots that I've not totally messed up and I'm feeling like I'm gaining steam.  But, with the last three shoots they've been solo, I've not had to tell anyone what to do, where I want them, and they would have to put up with me trying to work out my own train of thought.  Which is a nightmare on the best occasions.  But luckily I had Fee with me who was extremely patient. So thank you Fee.

Anyway, once again I made do with a make-shift studio, using two lamps, and a piece of thick white fabric to soften the intensity of one of the bulbs.

There was a point during the shoot where I felt I had the shot, and I kept retaking it, over and over again, because I had this amazing shadow effect on the wall the the lamp projected, and I just couldn't let it go.  Eventually after I filled my card, I looked at them on my laptop and even though they were ok, they were mostly cliche.  'Here's a girl looking at the light, here's a girl looking away from the light...' It was just too on the nose.  And there were some really great shots that just came up to dark once I transferred them on to my computer. So hey oh, on we went.

Once we went for the second take, we abandoned the chair and I moved around her, getting her propped against the wall, generally trying to move about a bit.  And lo and behold, after a lot of messing about with lighting I finally got this shot.  Which I think looks pretty-sweet.

WEEK 3 Artistic: Red Shoot

whatever inspires you. Red should be the focus of the image. Don't be afraid to be creative.

I never realised before it's bloody difficult to be creative without any instructions.  Here's red. Do something with it.  The ideas that came to mind were red roses, skull with red roses, red lipstick. sunsets, and then, I remembered a candle we had, it was beautiful, it was Japanese, it was barely used- it wasn't red.

But the flame!! Isn't that red? Not really.  It was symbolic, it was beautiful but it wasn't red.
Instead, what I had was a red table cloth in our kitchen.  I pratted around for about an hour playing with old xmas trees 'capturing' her in a moment.

I lit her, and I shot her with the plain red background. And it was there. That was it.  It was something I over thought to death then suddenly I had this really soulful picture.

Quite pleased with the end result.

WEEK 2 Landscape

Traditional Shoot a beautiful landscape and share it with the world. Find a nice foreground and don't forget the sky.

For this weeks shoot I took my camera out into the Marsden Moors.  I was semi-familiar to the old working class town and I love an excuse to half a wonder through its hills.    It doesn't take too long to find somewhere that's picturesque.

There were a few problems that I had getting this shot, that I'll go through as I encountered them.  At first I arrived a few hours before dark, normally this can be a great thing, the colours of the sunset would have made a great landscape photo but instead I had a sky full of grey clouds.  Not that I was complaining too much, as I love a bleak setting.

I parked by car briefly over the Tops, secretly hoping I'd wonder on some stray sheep (hold that thought...) that I could throw into the photo.  Alas, there was none.  I walked up the hill and I found the nearest peak I could, walking up a very ill-used car track I stumbled upon large black rocks that looked like a tomb of an abandoned soldier.


Walking a little bit further up the moors expanded in front of me, and all of its wind as well.  I felt like I was in a sitcom trying to balance my tripod while the wind was tipping it over, with the wind both blowing away the tripod carry case and then it carrying my rucksack.  Eventually I took a few shots, looking for lines in the grass and in the sky.  Fucking around with the shutter speed and aperture and eventually I got this.

I didn't realise just how dark it turned out but gave me an excuse to tinker with my macs editing suite (it's a little rusty, but it will do for now).

Anyway, I'm pleased with the end result.  Looking forward to the next landscape challenge.

WEEK 1 Portrait: Self Portrait

Start things off right with a "selfie"! Explore the self-timer setting on your camera.

This self portrait took two sessions.  I wasn't a stranger to taking a selfie on my phone, but transferring that to my DSLR was a different process.  The main problems I came across were focussing, as well as allowing myself to be comfortable in front of a lens.

When it came to focussing I found if I reached out to the camera with my arm the auto focus would just about find me. Solution: Get a Remote Shutter Release.  But seeing as this is the first of many weeks, I thought that could be saved to later.  After all, this is amatuer photography at its most amateurish.

When it came to being comfortable, well, the first session, I just couldn't do it.  I was either way too serious, or way too uncomfortable.   I did however have a nice make-shift photography studio set up in the living room after pulling out the couch, putting in a fold up chair that looks rustic (although never actually seen), and using a lamp that was so bright that it substituted quite well as a flood light.
Either way, I went through a lot of photos, that eventually I thought fuck it. And called it a day.

The next session I wanted to put a lot more emphasis on the subject, and inject some personality into the photo.  Changing rooms to the study, and once again creating a make-shift studio with a lamp/floodlight, I began to use more props. The only prop I retained throughout the shoot was a Batman dressing gown that I threw over a chair, that with the lamp behind it created a nice shadow, comicstrip effect I enjoyed and wanted to keep.

Every other photo I changed clothes, there's a lot of self-esteem issues involved when taking photos of yourself.  How many photos has someone taken of you and you've gone 'oh god that looks terrible'? That was about 2 thirds of this shoot for me.

The rest of the props included covering myself in tinsel, and looking like a twat, using some light guns I owned and shooting them at the camera, which made me look like a twat, and finally using the same light guns and striking a 'cooler' pose, with sunglasses, that at least looked intentionally funny.  Although, still making me look like a twat.  And also I felt, captured a bit more of my personality than the other photos I'd taken.

So there you have it, it doesn't look like much, but there was an awful lot of thought and effort behind this selfie!