Assignment 3: Monochrome – Reworked full assignment following tutor feedback
Introduction
This assignment explores the creative process of monochrome; from deciding upon a suitable subject, photographing the subject taking account of the lighting / weather conditions and processing the image using software to bring out the form, tonal contrast, texture and if possible key of the image. To develop my understanding of the subject of monochrome, this assignment will investigate why I chose the particular subject, what I set out to achieve and how successful I think I was in my quest. Following feedback from my tutor, I have retaken some of the images and reworked the assignment so that it flows better.
Another photographer I was encouraged to research was Eugine Atget. I had heard of him but not studied his work. In my opinion everything seemed balanced, even if it was asymmetrical. His photographs always had somewhere for the viewers eyes to go, and on closer viewing found something you didn’t know was there immediately.
Berenice Abbott, when photographing New York in the 1930’s demonstrated use of tone and form, simplicity and few people on the streets. I like Abbot’s photograph of ““El” second and third avenue lines” taken between 1935-9 which shows patterns, lines, shadows and curves. In my opinion this image is very high in contrast and works because of the graphic nature and patterns of the image. I looked at using this type of image with Sutton Scarsdale Hall, and did not include it because I felt it did not fit with the rest of my images.
Why I chose this subject?
Considerations for this assignment were varied. I thought about a working model, pit head winding mechanisms, sculptures, pumping stations, cooling towers and historic buildings. I dismissed the model because there was no tonal colour, the pit head winding mechanism on access grounds, sculptures on tonal colour, pumping station on opening times and cooling towers on the fact that I was too late because it was demolished last year. This left me with historic buildings which would challenge me as I don’t have a tilt and shift lens.
Having researched images on the web of local historic houses with access and examined web sites for photographic policies, I recalled visiting a derelict house in the hands of English Heritage with access during the day and very few visitors. I had a few images which had been taken with a wide angle lens stored on an external hard drive so was able to experiment with black and white conversions and altering the perspective of the vertical columns on the house before my visit.
Sutton Scarsdale Hall, Derbyshire served a long history and has been rebuilt a few times since the 12th century. The last remodel was in 1724 when an architect named Smith incorporated his new Baroque style design into the existing 15th century house for the 4th Earl of Scarsdale. The stonework was carved by Edward Paynton of Nottingham and Italian stucco plasterwork for which the house became well known was detailed by Arturi and Vasalli. By 1919, the house was bought and the interior sold to asset strippers who rebuilt it as a film set in America. In 1946, to save the house from demolition, it was bought and later given to the Department of the Environment for preservation.
I decided that this would be a good subject to explore because I was excited by the classical columns and all three elements I needed for my assignment were present – form, texture and tones. There was a potential to experiment with key depending on the weather conditions.
What did I want to achieve?
I was hoping to show the grandeur and importance of the house in its previous life, but also how ethereal it looks now providing I could get it right. I considered revealing the remains of the inside decoration in high contrast so that the plaster detailing showed up brightly against the red bricks to portray the opulence that was once on show. The remains of the weathered classical columns and baroque style façade showed great texture, and the corridor style house revealed itself in skeleton with a series of archways providing volume. In all, I felt that this was a house waiting to be explored and offered potential especially with its melancholy feel and some of the images I found on the internet did not embody the atmosphere of the building. The limitation of this building was that some rooms were locked and images had to be taken through the railings.
The Rear Exterior
Image 1 Panorama
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| 1/90 f8 ISO400 focal length 20 (x1.6=32mm) |
Following tutor feedback, I revisited the hall and repositioned the camera in order to balance the image. The lighting was different as the day was overcast so there was not an area of extreme brightness in the frame.
I originally visited the property on a sunny day (which was great for raking light). However, it was not so good for the panorama which I wanted to include as an establishing shot. I decided to retake the image in more even light so I revisited the property on a dull day. My tutor commented that in my original, I had corrected the verticals in my image but not the horizon, and the image was unbalanced.
original 1/45 F16 ISO200 Focal length 18mm (x1.6 crop factor) =28.8mm
By changing my position and looking at the house straight on, I think I have balanced the image. As the tripod was placed on uneven ground, I took great care to ensure the camera was as level as possible by using live view before I took each image. When processing, I applied a grid so I could check that the ground was level and rulers to check that the house was placed with the same amount of space on each side. I think what remains is an optical illusion.
I cloned out the lights which were shining in the church; photo merged the images together in Photoshop and altered the vertical and horizontal perspectives. Using a new adjustment layer, I set the black and white points and increased the highlights and mid tones to increase the contrast on the building. I think the result is more balanced with better lighting and a better position although in my opinion it gives a more oppressive feel to the building.
In my opinion, this shows form and tonal contrast.
Image 2 Columns
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| 1/90 f4.5 ISO400 New focal length = 112mm (70x1.6) |
My tutor agreed that the texture of these columns was shown in the black and white image. Her advice was to include only part of the columns and use a longer lens to compress the subject. Using my 70-200mm lens (x1.6=112-320mm), I experimented with only part of the columns. I originally took this at an angle but straightened it because I did not want the columns to look like they were falling down.
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| original 1/350 F13 ISO200 32 (x1.6 crop factor)=51.2mm |
In processing this image, I cloned and patched an area where the window was missing. (I did not have these skills when I did the original assignment. I developed them subsequently as part of the exercises in part 4.) I corrected the lens distortion and opened an adjustment layer to increase the contrast. The texture and pattern is still visible. I was pleased with the resulting effect.
I think the new image works because it shows all three qualities of texture, form and tonal contrast. It actually showed more texture and form than I expected it to.
Image 3 Single column
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| 1/250 F11 ISO100 18mm (x1.6 crop factor) |
By looking upwards I gained a different perspective on a singular column to show contrast in the weathered sandstone column and the smooth baroque exterior.
Using Photoshop, I straightened and cropped the image to ensure that maximum graphical impact was gained and converted the image to greyscale using a new adjustment layer. I adjusted the values of orange and yellow to give more contrast and decreased the blue slider to darken the blue sky.
I considered this image successful because it showed:
· Texture of gritty sandstone column shown by using raking light
· Form shown by selecting one column and picking out the detail.
· Graphic image using converging lines
My tutor’s suggestion was that there needed to be more space to view this image.
Image 4 Low Key
Original assignment has now been altered to say low key instead of high key. I agree with the comments on the framing. I looked at the original image – I think it needs deleting as there is not enough space around it. Unfortunately the weather / lighting conditions during my revisit were not conducive to repeating this image.
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| 1/45 F5.6 ISI400 Focal length 40x1.6=64mm |
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| Original 1/10 F16 ISO100 10mm (x1.6 crop factor) |
I looked at the graffiti which had been etched into the darker areas of the concrete. I set the black and white point in levels and altered the slider bar to increase the dark tones. By increasing the yellow and blue tones within the image I was able to bring out the white writing and the area of wall which had been lit naturally. This made the graffiti stand out. When the image is magnified, the weathering marks from the rain running down the concrete are noticeable. I think this is acceptable, although not my favourite image. As the lighting conditions were completely natural and the day was overcast, I had to rely on small changes in the light for this image. It shows texture and tone.
Image 5 Rear of house
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| 1/90 f8 ISO400 18mmx1.6=28.8mm |
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Original 1/10 F16 ISO100 10mm
(x1.6 crop factor)=16mm
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My tutor had commented that the original image is taken at a rather odd angle. “You have some fall off caused by the very wide lens. A more straight on approach (if possible) would allow for the fall off happening evenly on either side of the building. The image may be better suited to a less wide lens. There shadows on the left hand side are dark (although detail can be seen and this further adds to the unbalanced feel of the image).”
The original angle of view was odd because the drive extended around the back of the house and past the church and the church’s flying buttress also protruding into the frame. As I had retaken the panorama to give a more straight on view, and was deleting the high key image, I decided to work on balancing the view with a using a wider angle lens and looking specifically at the balance within the frame. I cloned out the yew tree branches in order to balance the image and allow the eyes to wander into the image along the drive.
To process the image, I increased the red and yellow sliders and decreased the blue and green which brightened the house and brought out the detail and colours in the stonework.
I like this image which shows tone and volume.
Image 6 High Key
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| 1/60 f4.5 ISO400 70x1.6=112mm |
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Original 1/30 F16 ISO200
10mm (x1.6 crop factor)
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This is one of the areas where I felt I had not succeeded, confirmed by my tutor. I revisited black and white images in the text books. Freeman (2009) states that “there usually needs to be some smaller, darker elements that are integral to the image.” This image has some dark elements that the eye is drawn towards up the column, and the darker grey lines also direct towards the top of the column.
As the histogram was mainly to the right, I set the black and white points and used levels to alter the slider bar to the left to keep the mid tones values fairly high.
I think this image works because it shows form. If anything, the crop is too tight around the top because I rotated the image by 3 degrees to square it up.
The remaining images required no further work. However, following my tutor’s advice, I have combined the image and description with how successful I thought it was.
The Interior
Image 7 Relief work through opening
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| 1/350 F5.6 ISO400 70mm (x1.6 crop factor) |
This piece of plasterwork was hidden inside a locked room and visible through a hole in the brickwork. I considered using the same method as above for bringing out the plasterwork but there was too much brick and my image was slightly underexposed. By increasing the exposure values in RAW by +0.5 and setting the black and white points I was able to slide the orange and yellow colours to enhance the brightness of the plasterwork and contrast the brickwork against it.
This image shows
- · form (three dimensional shape visible through two dimensional shape)
- · Contrast between brickwork and plaster
- · No distracting shadows on relief work
I think this image works although I did consider creating more contrast between the bricks and plaster. Tutor feedback suggested that the area around the relief could be bigger; unfortunately access is limited and I was unable to improve on this.
Image 8 Plaster
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| 1/60 F6.7 ISO400 70mm (x1.6 crop factor) |
I deliberately left the plaster on this wall as bright as possible because I thought it should be reminiscent of its former glory. Once again the technical challenge was the optical illusion created by the corner and vertical columns of the plaster. I left the archways in this image to add depth and volume to the skeleton. I was unable to achieve my desired effect with the colour sliders so converted the image to JPEG and with a new adjustment layer for curves, I increased the contrast to make an “S” curve.
In my opinion, this image works because:
- · Rich tone of brickwork contrasts with bright plaster work
- · Volume shown with brickwork
- · Form (detail) of three dimensional plasterwork visible
Image 9 Down the corridor
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| 1/45 F8 ISO400 70mm (x1.6 crop factor) |
I aimed to show that this corridor ran through the house by distinguishing the different wall partitions as a series of arches. The concrete floor was different shades of green. After straightening and converting to black and white with a new adjustment layer I decreased the red and increased the yellow which lightened the path and added more highlights. I opened a new adjustment layer for curves and created an “S” curve.
- · Volume shown with a slight change in tone for each room
- · Lighting through windows and overhead enhanced brightness of corridor
- · Graphic image
I deliberated whether to remove the puddle but it adds interest and shows that the house is not watertight. I was pleased with this image and thought it successful.
Image 10 through the window
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| 1/350 F16 ISO400 28mm (x1.6 crop factor) |
I poked my camera through the railings to enable me to take the view through the window. I considered lightening the brickwork but I thought it detracted from the image. Once cropped and straightened, I converted the image into greyscale using a new adjustment layer, then a new adjustment layer for levels and set the black and white points. By sliding the mid point to 0.85, the edge of the window became darker.
In my opinion, this image works because it shows:
- · Volume shown in countryside
- · Tonal contrast in countryside contrasts with the window
- · Graphic image when window bars are used
This assignment investigated my creative process of monochrome; from deciding upon a suitable subject, photographing the subject taking account of the lighting / weather conditions and processing the image using software to bring out the form, tonal contrast, texture and if possible key of the image. I explained why I chose to illustrate this particular subject, explored how I achieved what I had set out achieve and what how successful I think I was in my quest.
Key learning points from assignment
As a starting point for monochrome, I have learnt what makes a good subject and what methods I can use to creatively process an image. I feel that I learnt a great deal from this assignment and am glad that I had spent time viewing monochrome photographs at the exhibitions I visited in the summer. I know that the next time I view digital monochromatic photographs I will have an appreciation for the composition and creative processes used. As this was an area relatively new to me, I have been able to look at the workflow I used previously and understand where perhaps I could alter my workflow so that the image was preserved rather than destructed.
Areas for further development
· Composition
I visited on a bright sunny day which is what I wanted for the columns and working in a dark, shadowy area using only natural lighting. I could revisit on a cloudy day and take a similar image to image 5 (rear of the house) and compare without the shadow. I could too, return on a day with clouds to achieve a different effect for image 1 (panorama)
· Continue working with monochrome to develop more of an intuition of what will work
· Continue developing creative processing skills
· Try out using 50mm lens for buildings
Reference
Freeman, M (2009) The complete guide to black and white digital photography, ilex Press, UK p162
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/sutton-scarsdale-hall/history-and-research/ accessed 11/11/13
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/raking-light accessed 6/11/13
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/atget/atget_articles3.html accessed 6/11/13
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/bernd-becher-and-hilla-becher-718 accessed 6/11/13
http://www.americanphotomag.com/article/2011/11/instant-expert-bernd-and-hilla-becher accessed 6/11/13
http://suncalc.net (accessed 6/11/13)
Beardsworth, J (2012) Advanced digital black and white photography, Ilex Press, Lewes, UK
Cartier Bresson, H, (1996) The mind’s eye, Aperture foundation, New York
Freeman, M (2007) The photographer’s eye, Ilex Press, Lewes, UK
Freeman, M (2008) Mastering Digital Photography, Ilex Press, Lewes, UK
Freeman, M (2011) The digital SLR handbook, Ilex Press, Lewes, UK
Heiting, M (2001) Edward Weston, Taschen, Italy
Williams, V (2012) What makes great photography 80masterpieces explained, Quintessence Editions Ltd, London, UK
Black and White Photography Issue 156 November 2013 GMC Publications Lewes, UK
Demonstration of Technical and Visual Skills – My research and analysis of my photos helped me develop visual awareness skills. By completing the exercises prior to the assignment, I developed an understanding of the technical skills required for creative processing in monochrome. There is much I can learn from this area and take forward to the next course.
Quality of outcome - I have increased my knowledge, and related what I have learnt to past images I have taken. I have presented this as coherently as possible so that it fits the assignment and also is useful for me to revisit when necessary. I have asked myself questions, read around the subject and previously visited exhibitions knowing that monochrome would be an area I would be studying, and relating what I see to my own work.
Demonstration of creativity – I thought about what I was going to take and how it may look once processed to enable me to use a variety of available methods. The photographs in my assignment include a variety of the methods learnt from the course exercises.
Context – I read widely around the subject of monochrome and what makes a good subject, looking at existing images to see if what I thought would work did work. I experimented with different creative techniques in processing and reflected on each photograph to see if I thought it worked.
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