Assignment Five - Feedback and Response

Unfortunately, although the commentary around the puffin photography was very encouraging, I hadn't met the requirements of the brief, i.e. to produce a narrative.  There was a disconnect in my work between the workshop and the puffins, and the result met neither a narrative about the workshop, which had been my intention, nor a narrative about the life or habitat about the puffins.  Although I had tried to link the puffin photography back to the workshop, this didn't come across in the final piece of work, which I can see.  I think again, I had made subjective, rather than objective, decisions.  After discussion with my tutor, I decided to redo my narrative completely, rather than try to rescue the puffins and transform it into a wildlife narrative - I didn't have enough variety of type of photos taken to do that - and the season is now over.

My plan is as follows:

I am going to be walking the route to Scafell Pike, 978m in altitude, on Saturday 3rd August, so I am going to write a narrative about the journey from start to summit.  This is the kind of article that might appear in Trail magazine or in a Wainwright Society article.  The narrative element will come from sequence of the route photographs and although for me the story will be in the past, I want to write is a walking guide so for the reader it will be in the future - like a set of instructions.  Naturally, this will not therefore follow the 3+1 structure; instead each image will be a natural progression from one to another as the story follows the route.  Normally, a walking route would tell you how to get up and down, however, due to the limit on the number of photos, and the fact that there are many routes up and down Scafell Pike, I will focus on one route making reaching the summit the end of the narrative.  This particular journey would normally take around 3-4 hours from car to summit including photo stops.  The actual distance for this car to summit journey is just under 4 1/2 miles.

I have done this walk before, so I am confident about the route and technical difficulty.  It wasn't easy last time (and I was much fitter then than I am now), but since then I have had a lot more experience in scrambling, scree and other rocky mountain horrors, so my balance is better and nerve is stronger!  The worst thing that can happen is either scorching sunshine, which makes it physically difficult to keep going (and it's tough on the dogs) or torrential rain, which makes the path slippery, makes it hard to use my camera and keep it dry.  If the weather is the usual Lake District grey drizzle, although the light in the photos will be a bit flat, I will still be able to do the work.  And you never know, I may be lucky enough to get good light with a cloudy sky.  Anything is possible, and light/weather conditions change rapidly throughout the day in the park.  Mist is very likely, and inevitably removes the chances of getting a good view, but it can also add a sense of drama - particularly around ledges.  The other problem I'm likely to encounter is people traffic, being a summer Saturday in school holidays, so this may make it difficult to stop on ledges to take photographs.....I'll deal with that if/when it happens.

For reasons of comfort - backpack needs to weigh as little as possible, it is extremely likely that I will only carry one lens - my wide-angled lens.  This means that to photograph people/animals, I will need to be close and low to get maximum drama between the subject and the environment.

Having discussed the idea of making a narrative out of a walking route, my tutor warned me not to compile a series of landscape photographs but to ensure the images included an active element.  Fortunately I have a husband (Graham) and two dogs (Fred and Barney) who are willing candidates, plus there will be other people on the route.  In addition, there may be some grazing sheep in the lower parts of the journey.

So, looking at TRAIL, for ideas about the cover/key shot - this needs to be a vertical frame (portrait format) with room in the top third for writing.  For example, the August 2013 edition:

(c) Trail Magazine - August 2013 cover

the cover image of a person nearing the top of Great Gable summit taken from the summit looking down is a dynamic photograph of the final stages of the route, with the rocks and and valley floor leading to the view of the lake in the background, and then there is room for the lettering in the background.  Looking through Trail magazine, there are very few pure landscape photographs: they mostly show a person or people coping with the environment and its hazards.  The inclusion of a person also adds a sense of perspective and scale.  Some of the images show people looking into a view, others, show people leaving a view, or, like in the cover photo, images of people scrambling, climbing, camping, eating their lunch and so on; thus getting across the message of scenery, interaction with the environment, achievement and exhilaration. 

I have a love/hate relationship with fell walking.  On the whole, all routes lead to hell, and if you are unfit, it can be pretty painful plus exhausting, but the elation and sense of achievement, and the view if the summit isn't shrouded in mist, makes it all worthwhile.  In the Photographer's Story, on page 76 when discussing location stories, Freeman makes the point that capturing the character of the place is an essential part of the narrative.  But, if writing for what is an activity magazine, you would not want to put the person off!  So, the challenge for me will be to capture the character of Scafell Pike, which is a mountain that seems to suck you into the unknown (I'll explain that in a bit) and chucks a few horrors at you along the way, but will reward you with a fantastic view (if the weather is good) and the achievement of having reached England's highest mountain.

As the purpose of the narrative is to accompany a route description, the photographs need to be taken at critical points/junctions/The assignment requires 6-12 photographs, so aiming for around 10 (giving me the option of adding one on the day if an opportunity arises) and then an additional one for the cover/key photo, the plan is as follows (this may change on the day):

1. Head for Seatoller, take the turning for Seathwaite, park along that road and walk ahead through Seathwaite farm and out other side - image of walking into farm or sign from the farm towards Styhead
2. The path between the farm and Stockley Bridge - this is the point where you feel like you are being drawn in by the mountain into the unknown - flat valley - converging diagonals - Base Brown on right hand side - Glaramara to the left - Black Waugh/Aaron Crags/Seathwaite Fell directly in front - looking ahead from this point, it seems dark and mysterious
3. Over Stockley Bridge and take the right-hand path up the steps around Greenhow Knott on the left and Taylorgill Force on the right, the path then follows Styhead Gill to Styhead Tarn.  Take the image at the bottom of the point where path forks right and the steps begin (with the path to Grains Gill on the left) (this is where the hard work starts from a fitness perspective)
4. Sty Head stretcher hut - start of Corridor Route - there should be a long line of people walking by this point - view of a very long ascending path flanking the west side of Great End - this where you get the sense of fear and "what possessed me?" - where mental grit needs to kick in as you are already tired by this point
5. Along the Corridor route (this is where the horrors start) there are opportunities for ledge photographs with drops/views in background or an image of dogs disappearing over ledges/Graham climbing over rocks
6. As above but shot from the perspective of Graham or dog climbing up towards the camera
7. Photograph at end of Corridor at point where decision to avoid scree slope and stay on the path is best taken; alternative - photograph for this point can be taken later post-summit as the top of scree is passed in descent so should get a clear shot of people struggling up the scree
8. Photograph at intersection where final ascent begins with Lingmell Col behind - left turn from existing path (having avoided the scree)
9. Heading for the top - first view of summit - shattered slate - no real path - angled shot from low position to exaggerate climb perspective
10. Summit photograph - Graham's boot on summit cairn - or highest dogs in England (for a brief moment)

Key/cover shot - taken in descent - view of Scafell Pike from Broad Crag - although this will be facing south-west - so depending on how late it is by then - light could be difficult.  If too misty then an image of the memorial plaque at the summit, or of the summit cairn in the mist - usually lots of people gathered at the top looking relieved and worn out - or alternatively - shot 9 but from the perspective of Graham climbing towards the top towards the camera.

17 August 2013

Well, the walk did not take place as planned.   A number of things went wrong in the morning, which meant we did not have time to get to Scafell Pike.  So, we tried Great Gable instead, which is a shorter walk, only to get blown back by a galeforce wind halfway up the ascent to Green Gable, (lesser summit on the way up) - this was a great shame as the sky was incredible on this day with dark stormy clouds.  I managed to get a couple of shots though that I would have used:

So today, I put Plan B into action, which was to get to Northampton Balloon Festival.  Well again, this was thwarted by the wind (can you see a theme emerging....).

My intention now is to try the same idea of a route plan, on Great Gable again.   With intended shots as follows:

1. Leaving Honister Slate Mine - start of ascent
2. Through the gap as in top picture above
3. Turn left as in middle picture above
4. Turn left again behind a boulder
5. Over a stile
6. Through a morraine field (boot shot) or shot similar to bottom picture above
7. Start of ascent to Green Gable
8. Green Gable summit view of Great Gable
9. Down to Windy Gap
10. Windy Gap crossroads/ascent Green Gable
11. Great Gable summit shot - from summit looking down
12. Key shot - vertical view of Great Gable from somewhere on the route (needs to be impressive - this is my fourth attempt at "Getting up Gable"..

The character of Great Gable is different to Scafell Pike - it's huge, monolithic, great hulk of a mountain, and a steeper climb (although lower in altitude at 899m).   I have now failed this three times (1st due to muscle fatigue after two weeks of walking, second due to heat exhaustion, and third due to gales), so it's now become a demon to be exorcised!  On this occasion, our two dogs, Fred and Barney will be with us, so it's going to be interesting trying to get them to behave and get my husband in the right place....

This is Great Gable from a previous expedition (the one where we had to abandon the final ascent due to heat/sun burn and very hot tired dogs....this was after 8 hours of rock climbing.....this is the view from the other side to the one that we will ascend:

And this is Green Gable taken on the same hot day (left-hand side of photo):

Our route will include the walk down the path from the summit towards the dip on the right-hand side - this is Windy Gap - and then up Great Gable to the right.

Bring it on....(really?)!
Sunday 26th August

It happened.  We made it.  With photos achieved.  The day was reasonably warm and sunny, but the sky was very hazy with no clear cloud definition.  This made the photography difficult in that the sky in my pictures isn't very interesting, but I think I have fulfilled the brief.  If I had to replan this, I would think more about where the sun would be during the day and work the shots around that.  As it was, I was struggling with a route heading towards to the south in the middle of the day.  I also should have made Graham wear a brighter colour so that he didn't blend into the background.

I had a dilemma in choosing my cover shot.  The picture I really wanted I couldn't get because of the position of the sun.  We even waited an hour for the sun to move, but this did not improve the potential for glare. 

This was about the best one I got; I really wanted to show the great hulk of the mountain - that is it's nature - it's a beast rising out from the ground below.  I had an idea of using the halo to make the summit seem like a religious experience, but I think the blown out section is just too big for that.   So I settled for a different photograph in the end, which although it does not show as much of the hulk as I would have liked, it does not have the glare.  I attempt this view again, I would try this early morning.

I have provided my commentary and thoughts on the final images below.

Cover

Cover showing Great Gable rising up; the idea of the hulk is still conveyed, and the composition has left sufficient room for magazine cover writing.  The glow in the foreground from the setting sun is warming.  This image also gives a much greater sense of the journey along the way with the summit of Green Gable visible to the left.

1

Triangle between the post, my husband and dogs, and the walkers on the horizon.

2

View of the slate mine as a central point - I like the sense of height that is now being conveyed

3

Pattern and converging diagonals; shot would have been better if I'd been closer to the crossroads

4

Sense of height and space gained; post is prominent; again - would have been better if husband and dogs were bigger in the photo

5

Strong diagonal across the photo leading to view of summit in the background; taking this was very funny - the dogs were not happen about being lifted over, but they refused to go through the little doggy hatch; this also adds some irony to the image

6

Single point composition, with a sense of drama

7

Again, problems with the light; but the idea of journey is conveyed here

8

This is the only image that I cropped; the sun was directly behind me forcing a shadow in the foreground.  Fortunately, you can still see the summit cairn of Green Gable, even after cropping.

9

Again, harsh lighting making the photography difficult; I like the division of the image into four sections with the Windy Gap intersection

10

Action shot - Graham clambering up the rocks on the ascent to Great Gable; single point composition - this in shot in particular would have benefited from a brighter colour in the single point....this photograph was actually taken in descent as the light was too harsh on the way up.

11

Again, single point composition; dog disproportionately large compared to the environment; sense of height and adventure - and mission accomplished!

All in all, I don't think this is fantastic photography.  I tried to think about the elements of design during the shooting, but with Graham wearing the same colours as the scenery, he doesn't stand out very well.  On several occasions I wasn't close enough to really make him stand out well.  Also the light in the south facing photographs is horrendous - a couple of photographs were taken later on in the day in order to benefit from the sun being in a different position.  I found it hard to combine the process of making a narrative, and also taking good photos at the same time.  My choices were dictated by the narrative; I wouldn't normally include people/animals in my landscapes, however on this occasion I had to choose critical points in the journey and use the subjects to show the route.  But I think I have now at least fulfilled the brief and provided a narrative.

See Assignment Five - Resubmission for the final version with the magazine annotation.