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.

Assignment Five - Structure of narrative and reflections

Please see here for the final narrative that I produced for Assignment 5.

Structure

In this section I will explain how it is structured (following the structure recommended by Freeman):

Keyshot:

Image 1

This was my dream shot that I had planned and desperately hoped for: a puffin portrait with sand eels in its beak.  I was so pleased to have captured it and was thrilled with the detail of the fish, the almost transparent lighting in the fish tails and the texture of the puffin's feathers.  Unfortunately the light was behind the puffin, so I didn't catch a glint in the eye; the picture would have looked strange if I had added one later, so I have to live with that.  I used this shot to form the cover for the magazine, as I think this has the most impact of all the shots I took and would make someone want to read further.  Although I had originally cropped the photo I wanted to square format, I ended up extending it in the document I made for the narrative.  This image (the square version) is getting printed, framed and hung on my wall!

Openers:

Image 2

I had several opening shots to chose from, ranging from meeting Andy to being on the boat, but I had to be restrained due to the limit on 12 images.  I really needed something to get the narrative going so wanted to include the start of the journey.  The lighting in this shot isn't great - it's pretty flat - but I liked the composition of the image with the curved queue of people approaching the boat and the curve of the boats behind.  I cropped this to square format to exclude some divers on the beach that were a distraction in the photograph.  I retained the rocks in the top right corner as this is the corner of Marloes Bay so it adds a bit of context to the scene.  

Image 3

The next two pictures are a logical progression.  For Image 3 I wanted to show the "Welcome to the Island" moment.  I like this image, although again, the light is a bit flat, but there is a good triangle with the three people listening in the foreground and a further triangle between the listeners and the trust person.  In addition, the photo also shows a map of the island so setting the scene of what is about to follow.  Although I like the composition of both Image 2 and Image 3, these are the weakest photographs because of the flatness of the light.

Image 4

There were several stops for workshop activities during the morning.  Again, due to the restriction on 12 images, I had to limit this to one photograph.  I chose this one that was taken during the "landscape" part of the tuition, as it shows a clear fore, mid and background to the landscape in sufficient detail.  Andy the tutor is demonstrating the correct way to hold a camera, and the scene overall gives a good picture of what Skomer Island looks like, which becomes lost in the close up images of the puffins.  I also liked this because of the good colour contrast between pink and green.  By this point the light was very good and clear shadows are starting to appear in the images.


Body:

The body of my narrative is all about the puffins.  This was a challenge, picking photos!  I tried really hard to be objective about the quality of the photo itself; a hard task with such an endearing subject!

Image 5

Image 5 was a natural choice. I wanted to set the scene of the cliffs where the puffins nest, an area known as "The Wick".  This photograph is therefore the opener to the body, introducing both the location, the puffins and the fact that the puffins are comical.  The light is good in this image, with a strong shadow formed by the bird's stretching wings.

Image 6

Having introduced where the puffins nest, I found that for image 6, I was able to provide some natural progression and show a puffin in its nest. I took a few shots like this, but this was by far the best showing the full face of the bird.  I ended up cropping this to square format for the narrative document, but I do prefer the landscape format which shows a bit of green around the burrow.

Image 7

Having introduced the burrow, this gave me an opportunity to position image 7.  This wasn't a shot that I'd planned; I was watching the puffin with the fish in its beak snapping it as it went to its burrow, and I didn't notice the other two until later when I looked at them on my laptop.  There are two implied lines in this image - one from each of the watching puffins to the fish.  You can image this to be about puffin "food envy"!  Again, the contrast between light and shade is good in this shot.

Image 8

Image 8 was a more deliberate attempt at composition. Having had the reminder from Andy, I took this opportunity to capture a puffin stretching its wings, positioning the puffin on the left third.  This also gave me a chance to capture the horizontal lines of the pink campion, which I blurred in order to isolate the puffin.  The lighting in this image is quite harsh, but I think the blurring helps soften it.

Image 9

Having commented on the colour of the flowers, I was then able to comment further on colour relating to the puffin bills and their seasonal colour (like flowers), and also bring in some puffin behaviour as a point of interest.  I had to underexpose this shot to avoid burn out on the white feathers.  I had to crop this to square format for the narrative document, which I think works quite well as it really narrows in on the beaks, but I also like the landscape format of the original


Closers:

Very reluctant to leave the puffins behind at the Wick, I was pleased to find more resting on the cliffs back by the boat jetty at the end of the day.

Image 10

Image 10 provides a clear "two points" image.  Again, hard to photograph because of the harsh light, I am pleased with this shot.  The birds have adopted virtually the same pose, but are slightly, misaligned.

Image 11

Having brought the narrative back to the location of the jetty, I needed a shot to show leaving the island and thus closing the narrative.  I shot this because I was interested in the geology, but in the end I found it quite useful to show as a looking back to the island from the boat leaving.  It is also an example of horizontal and vertical lines in the frame.  In the Photographer's Story on pages 22-25, Freeman suggests that many narratives tail off, but remember the skeleton he shot for the Stonehenge article, and how the closer he wanted introduced a new subject, I thought this would be good to mention the end of my narrative, but introduce a further subject for a possible new one.  It also gave me the opportunity to refer back to the flowers, making the point that I'd gone in search of puffins, but actually found plenty more.

Finally, to round off the article, I wanted to include one more puffin portrait.  I didn't want the article to tail off...rather... it should end with something striking to show what a fantastic day it had been.

Image 12

Image 12 shows red/orange accents in what is mostly a green, black and white scene.  What is interesting though (which wasn't deliberate - I realised afterwards), is that if you lay out the pages of the narrative document, the image 1 and image 12 are like bookends facing each other (like Professor Yaffle from Bagpuss!).  Having made the bold statement of loving puffins, I needed to end on something stunning.


Reflections

Have I fulfilled the requirements of the Assignment?  Eventually, yes.  It took a while to get there trying different forms of presentation, but finally I did produce an article that could potentially be used in a magazine, with a keyshot to use on the cover, a beginning, middle and end providing the narrative, and an image to end the article on a fanfare.

Would people be interested in or want to read the article?  I think so, but then I'm biased!  Who wouldn't want to see pictures of puffins?  This of course is subjective, but I managed to include some scenery, facts about the puffins, and some shots of their comical behaviour, so I hope I've made it interesting on several levels.

Assessment criteria:

Technical and visual skills - I think I demonstrated quite good technical skills with managing the harsh sunlight (in Wales?) and potential burnout from the white of the puffin, using a wide aperture to make the puffin stand out, and compositions that are simple but effective.  As far as visual skills are concerned, well, I was spoilt for choice.  I tried to keep myself low (getting very dusty in the process) so as to make the puffins bigger in the frame, and I sought elements of composition/colour contrasts previously covered on the course to make the images more striking.  I also tried mostly to take pictures of the puffins doing something.  The harsh lighting was something I had to cope with.  Puffins are very active; they are constantly on the move, or they are sitting in places that are difficult to get to, so I couldn't control the position of the sun.  I had to move with the puffins, rather than move around the light.

Quality and outcome: I think this is my strongest assignment to date, although that may be a subjective view, because I enjoyed doing it so much!  But, all the photos produced are in focus and clear, I hope correctly exposed, and I think the narrative flows quite well as a document in its own right.  Where it is weaker is in the body, where I tried to make a logical sequence out of what were the best puffin shots of the day; these could have been in any order really, but I tried to move from cliffs, to burrows, to composition, to colours in a coherent way in order to construct some progression through the narrative.

Demonstration of creativity: I did hardly any post processing at all - mostly just increasing the exposure, where I had underexposed to avoid burn out, which then needed brightening afterwards.  The cropping to square format is quite creative - I think this worked particularly well with Images 2, 3 and 9.  Otherwise, apart from the use of wide aperture, and trying to get level with the birds, I'm not sure these photos are particularly creative; they are not original - thousands of people have taken images like these; my original inspiration was in fact someone else's photograph of puffins with sand eels in its beak, but this was new to me, and the first time I had done any wildlife photography - and I think I am hooked!  Although accidental, I think Image 7 has turned out the most creative, as you could almost imagine a story around this, about stolen fish may be!

Context: the context for this assignment is clear.  It is a narrative about a wildlife photography day, which also provides factual information about a beautiful location and its inhabitants. 

Mostly, the narrative had progressed as I had imagined it would beforehand; the only element I left out was the reviewing - because we didn't get to do that on the day, this being an activity reserved for rain.

I really enjoyed this exercise, from first thinking about it, to taking the images, to reviewing the images afterwards.  It was a fantastic day out and I would love to repeat this.  I didn't get the hang of capturing puffins in flight - they move very fast - so I would go back to work on this.

Assignment Five - Applying the techniques of illustration and narrative

The Photographer's Story by Michael Freeman

I managed to get a copy of The Photographer's Story by Michael Freeman very fortuitously about two weeks before I was due to take my photographs for TAOP Assignment Five - illustration and narrative (thanks to the author advertising its existence on Facebook!!).

Freeman explains the basic principles of a narrative - 3+1 and also describes different types of narrative.  The 3+1 means opener, body and closer and the 1 refers to the keyshot - the shot with the highest impact.  Essentially, a photo essay is like any other, it has to have a beginning, middle and end, and the beginning has to be sufficiently interesting to encourage the reader to continue.  The keyshot, being the most dramatic, might often be the one used as the cover picture, if relevant to the article.

Freeman describes the various types of narrative, from photojournalism types including travel, location, activities, projects and food.  In addition, he explains how the rhythm of a narrative is important. 

The examples Freeman provides of narratives he has created are extremely useful, and I imagine I'll need to revisit this book throughout my OCA courses.

Assignment Four - Applying Lighting Techniques - Corrections

Following feedback from my tutor and some rethinking about my images, here is my revised selection for Assignment Four:

Colour 1

Colour 1

Shot in the park in strong sunlight; the pink is effectively contrasted against the green with the sun light bringing out the full colour of the geode.









Colour 2

Colour 2

A mixed media shot, using a previously taken photograph as a background scene.  The pink colours on the mountains from the setting sun support the colour of the back of the geode.









Form 1

Form 1

Shot overhead using side lighting from a table lamp to enhance the curved shape of the back of geode.

















Texture 1

Texture 1

Shot using side lighting and black background paper, this image clearly emphasizes the texture of the back of the geode.















Texture 2

Texture 2

Taken in side-lighting from natural window light; this image emphasizes the shiny surface of the flat plane of the geode, helped by the reflections of the lighting that fell on the paper.















Texture 3

Texture 3

Macro shot of the interior of the geode showing the inner crystalline texture; this was achieved using a macro lens and shining a table lamp and a little LED head lamp right into the centre, to bring out the crystals all the way into the back.







Shape 1

Shape 1

Taken using side-lighting from a table lamp, which has picked out the shape of the flat plane of the geode with the side shadow further supporting the concept of shape.









Shape 2

Shape 2

The second shape shot was taken by trying to catch strong rays of natural light coming in through a bedroom window.  This shot was underexposed by four stops and used a very narrow aperture so that only the shape of the tip of the geode was picked out.

A narrative picture essay

Set yourself an assignment and produce 5-15 photographs to illustrate the narrative.  Well, I was BLESSED with the opportunity to participate in and photograph a helicopter expedition with some National Trust rangers transporting rocks and boulders in the Lake District for some Fix the Fells path repair work.  This event was actually for the purposes of producing two of the photographs for my sequence for Assignment Five, however I was also able to capture this mini narrative in the process.  My focus in this sequence is around the helicopter itself (obviously there were two runs, so I was able to photograph the helicopter both inside and out).  The people in the red jackets are the NT rangers. The photography on this day was very hard, the helicopter was very dark and the light was changing constantly.  I took around 2000 pictures for the two that I needed for the Assignment.... I also used this as a gratuitous opportunity to practice with my fish eye lens :-)

My original selection was 28 photos long, showing the journey there, the journey back, and a bit of helicopter doing its job.  It was quite hard to narrow this down and decide what wasn't really necessary to the narrative, or what had already been conveyed in a different photograph.  In the end I cut back on some of the shots of the helicopter getting up and down as once it was off the ground, it was obvious it was off the ground!  I ended up with a few more than specified, but I think these are all essential.

BIG BIG THANK YOU to Tanya Oliver and the National Trust for letting me join them on the two days of helicopter drops!

Here is my sequence: