Project 20: Busy traffic

The next series of images hope to show the busyness of a number of exterior locations including a church, suare and market.

The first photograph is taken within a chapel where people are busy looking around at the wonderful architecture.

The second photograph was taken in the main square of Prague at the start of the Prague marathon with hundreds of people preparing for the race.

The next image shows peolpe busy at a local market

Part four: People interacting with place

Project 19: A single figure small

I took this photograph some time ago and although there are more than one figure I think it illustrates the criteria.  A place which at the time of shoooting is for the most part free of people, yet with an occasional person passing through it.

The people on the beech are not immediately obvious and are off center creating drama.

The image was taken when I was flying to the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, approximately 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of the Isle of Lewis.

Assignment three: Buildings in use

Buildings in use:

For this assignment I visited ... different buildings:

• St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Glasgow
• Sannazzaro Winery, Isernia, Italy
• Saturn Sail Loft, Largs Marina.

First building I chose was St. Margaret's Church of Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church, Kilmarnock Road, Glasgow.

A special thanks to reverend Dr. Scott Robertson, who afforded me unrestricted access and time to photograph their beautiful church.

The thoughts when documenting the church were:

• an area, from where to deliver his message, which should be prominent within the space allowing him both to be seen and heard,
• an area where his choir, orchestra (if applicable), readers or other participants can be readily seen.
• an area for the organ, organist and
• an area giving an overall feeling of awe, space and reverence.

and secondly, design criteria I would associate from the congregation are:

• sufficient seating,
• good unobstructed view of the preacher or ongoing religious activities,
• good unobstructed access to seating areas.

I had taken images previously of South Shawlands Church but at this time I did not have a wide angled lens.  I acquired a 16 - 35mm which allowed me to capture the feeling of the vastness of the church.

I also used a tripod as the lighting conditions were low. 

I took advantage of a High Dynamic Range software program and took several images at + / - 2 stops and merged them using the HDR program Photomatix Pro.

The first image taken at Aperture setting f/22 at a shutter speed of 30.00s, ISO 100 using a Canon 24 - 70mm lens with a focal length of 24mm and shows the main aisle leading to the alter within the apse.

The second image taken at Aperture setting of f/22, shutter speed of 15.00s, ISO 100 using a Canon 24 - 70mm lens @ 24mm, shows a closer aspect of the apse.

The third image taken at Av f/22, Ts 15.00s, ISO 100 @ 42mm shows inside the apse.

The final image taken within the church is a reverse angle view sowing the reverse apse as this church has the distinction of being a double apse church.  The following settings were used, Av f/13, Tv 3.20s, ISO 100 using a Canon 16 - 35mm lens @ 35mm

The following HDR image created using three images, one at + 2 stops, one at - 2 stops and  a standard image then merged using the HDR program Photomatix Pro. This allowed the over exposure of the windows and lights to be rectified.

The second building I chose was the Sannazzaro winery in Isernia, Italy.  I  must admit that my intentions were to buy some wine but was overwhelmed when I was offered a guided tour of their facilities.  I asked if I could take some photographs as I went and was given permission.  I appeared to me that the manufacture of wine required a cool environment and sterile conditions.  The following photographs, I think, depict this with the sterile stainless vats and the cool dark cellars.

The problems encountered was primarily the lack of light, which normally I would overcome using as longer exposure, but as I was abroad, I did not have a tripod.  This meant I would have to use a higher ISO setting which in modern cameras is not as problematic in respect to the creation of noise as earlier cameras.

The first image is of the fermentation hall where wine is kept in stainless steel vats until ready.  The second shows the bottling plant.

Both images were taken at Av f/8, Ts 1/60s and 1/30s respectively, ISO 800 using a Canon 24 - 70mm lens at a focal length of 24mm.

One problem encountered was the over exposure of the window areas due to extreme sunlight entering through them.  This was partially rectified in Adobe Photoshop slightly reducing the exposure in the RAW format and increasing the recovery setting.

The next images were taken within the cellar area which is kept  in low light conditions keeping the temperature low.  Again it was necessary to keep a high ISO setting due to low ambient light.

Both of the following photographs were taken with an Aperture setting of f/2.8, shutter speed of 1/50s, ISO 6400 using a Canon 24 - 70mm lens at a focal length of 24mm.

The third building I photographed was the Saturn Sails' loft at Largs Marina. 

Thanks go to John Highcock (sail maker) for unrestricted access to their loft.

Saturn Sails was established originally in Ayr, by Colin McKenzie and John Highcock in 1979. They have increased their customer numbers gradually throughout the years and we are now servicing yachtsmen in a purpose-built sail loft, situated in Largs Yacht Haven.

They use the latest computer design systems with CAD/CAM and lasercut panels, which are carefully stuck together before machining with our 3-step stitch sewing machines. All of our machines are in pits enabling staff to easily handle sails at floor height, with two machines having an extra-long reach under their arm to cope with large bulky work. Pneumatics are also used for several machines, giving extra speed, pressure and control with automatic pullers.

The following series of five photographs shows:

1. The sail loft floor
2. Close up of the floor showing four sunken sewing stations
3. Machinist working in the sewing pit
4. Empty sewing pit
5. View from the sexing pit onto the loft floor.

The first image was taken with the following settings:

• Aperture setting of f/5.6, shutter speed 1/125s using a Canon 16 - 35mm lens at a focal length of 16mm.

The second image was taken with the following settings:

• Aperture setting of f/2.8, shutter speed 1/80s using a Canon 70 - 200mm lens at a focal length of 73mm.

 

The third image was taken with the following settings:

• Aperture setting of f/5.6, shutter speed 1/15s using a Canon 70 - 200mm lens with a x 2 extender creating a focal length of 400mm.

The forth image was taken merging three photographs into a HDR.

The fifth image was taken with the following settings: av20 ts1_4 16mm

• Aperture setting of f/20, shutter speed 1/4s using a Canon 16 - 35mm lens at a focal length of 16mm.

Project 18: How space changes with light

In this project we were required to visit a space at different times of the day and in differing weather.

I decided the first place I would visit would be the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride.  I attended on a sunny day and took a series of photographs in the main display hall which at one end is dominated by a wall of glass.  I thought as a consequence the lighting conditions would differ markedly.  I was wrong.
 
I found the the orientation of the building, north facing, was such that the lighting conditions did not change from one part of the day to another.  This was a design criteria so that the exhibits can be seen under the same lighting throughout the day, whatever the ambient lighting or weather conditions. 

One set of images were taken at the start of the working day (1000hrs) and the other at the end (1600hrs).

Thanks to Ms. Marion Lawton for her unrestricted access and permission to take my photographs within the museum.

1000 hours

1600 hours

The second set of photographs is taken within my living room using the Canon EOS utility remote shooting allowing a set number of photographs to be taken automatically at a preset time interval.  The camera was set to take seven images at a hourly interval.

I feel that the photograph taken at 1134 hours, the forth image, is the most dramatic as the shadows cast from the vertical blinds are the most dramatic. I felt that this was a good exercise although the subject matter is a bit uninteresting.

0834 hours



0934 hours



1034 hours



1134 hours

1234 hours



1334 hours

1434 hours

Project 17: The user's point of view

The first building I used for this project was my house in Collemacchia, Italy.  I attempted to show, by taking two photographs of each room, one showing the room in its entirety and the other from a users point of view. 
For instance, there are two photographs of the living room, one showing the entire room and the other from the sofa, from the view point of someone watching the television.

Another shows the kitchen, again one giving an over view and the other from the perspective of someone sitting at the table and

lastly one in the dining room,  again one image gives an overview and the other a view from someone sitting at the table.



Living Room



Kitchen



Dining Room



Project 16: Exploring Function

I decided to pick a church for this project. It is obviously a public interior space, with an identifiable purpose, to provide a place of worship for its congregation.

I feel that I can look at its functionality from two ways, that of the preacher delivering his message and that of the congregation receiving his words.

The design criteria I would have associated with a church are, firstly from the preachers perspective:

• an area, from where to deliver his message, which should be prominent within the space allowing him both to be seen and heard,
• an area where his choir, orchestra (if applicable), readers or other participants can be readily seen.
• an area for the organ, organist and
• an area giving an overall feeling of awe, space and reverence.

and secondly,  design criteria I would associate from the congregation are:

• sufficient seating,
• good unobstructed view of the preacher or ongoing religious activities,
• good unobstructed access to seating areas.

 I took these three images from the pulpit showing the preacher's eye view.  You can see that he/she has an unrestricted view of the congregation from their elevated position.

The second image demonstrates several of the desired criteria: i.e

• an area, from where to deliver his message,
• an  area where his choir, orchestra (if applicable), readers or other participants can be readily seen.
• an area for the organ, organist and
• an area giving an overall feeling of awe, space and reverence.

The stain glass windows, within the church, also invoke a feeling of solemnity, and presence as show below.

The next image shows an interesting architectural phenomenon which comprises of the upper seating area and balcony being supported by cast iron cantilever trusses which negates the use of pillars and columns which would obstruct the parisioners' view.

The last image is of the church hall which was, prior to the present church being build was the main church proper.  The hall below was unable to hold the number of people attending some years ago, but sadliy,, however in the present climate may be able to hold the weekly congregation attending now. 

With thanks and gratitude to Laurie Crawford, South Shawlands Church of Scotland,  14 Redwood Street, Glasgow for allowing me unbridled access to their lovely church.

With the next image we can see that as said "the absence of people does not mean the space is unused".

Here the usable space of the Olympic Swimming pool at East Kilbride is projected outside with the water slides or flumes utilising the extermal space.  This can really only be appreciated by the passer by as the user can only see the structure from within the tube and the majority of the structure remains hidden.

On an other note this image reminds me of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

Assignment two: People and activity

The object of this assignment was to plan and execute a set of images of people in some form of meaningful activity.
I arranged to take photographs for the organisers of the Marie Curie Santa Dash fund raising run within Glasgow City Centre..  This involved 3000 people running 5km through the City Centre starting and finishing in George Square.  The event has been scheduled in December 2010 but due to the inclement weather at that time it had been postponed until January 2011.

After some thought I proposed to capture, what I thought were, the significant points of the day.  These were:

1. The Start
2. A feeling that it was a family event
3. A feeling that anyone could participate
4. A sense of the number of runners participating
5. A linked photograph to the charity
6. The finish

The first objective would involve taking images of mothers, fathers and children participating
The second would involve trying to capture elderly, young, fit, unfit, male and female runners
The third would involve taking a photograph at distance using a telephoto lens, creating compression and a feeling of the large number of runners.
The forth would involve a photograph taken of the runners behind a banner showing the Marie Curie logo.

During the race I took over 500 images, 10 of which of which are reproduced here.

I took the above photograph to showing the father and son to show that this was a family event.  I think that the moment is captured in this image with the young child giving, what looks like, an "OK" sign albeit, I think he is just waving.  The background however look a but busy to me and maybe a deeper depth of field, bringing the runner in the background into focus would have been better. In saying that the viewers attention is taken straight to the father and son as they are in focus.

The above photograph was also taken, showing mother and daughter, to portray this was a family event.  I feel that the depth of field is better in this photograph as it gives an appreciation of where it was taken.  It may be that the police office in the background may detract from the image and perhaps if it was taken before he came into frame the composition would benefit. 

The above photograph was taken to show that anyone could participate, young and old, and that it was a fun event.  The expression on the girl's face along with her cheeky smile tells all that need to be told.  I would have rather had the child on her right looking forward as well as the back of her head detracts from the overall image.

The above photograph was taken to show that anyone could participate, fit or unfit, and that it was a fun event.  I feel again for different reasons the runners smiling face really give expression and laughter to the photograph. I feel that the shallow depth of field works well in this case.

The above photograph was taken to show that anyone could participate, old and young.er to the photograph. I feel that the depth of field works well in this case but I think I should have encouraged a happier expression.  This gentleman told me that he was 71 years-of-age.

The above image was to show the number of participants in the run.  I had decided prior to the run starting I would go ahead of the runners as they would have to climb the hill giving me a vantage point above them.  I used the 200mm telephoto lens so that the photograph would be compressed.  I think the composition is good but the quality is lost as the image has been cropped to accentuate the density of the runners.  Also I think that the focal point is too far down the runners and should be focused on the leaders.

 As the previous image was to show the number of participants in the run.  I had decided prior to the run starting I would go ahead of the runners as they would have to climb the hill giving me a vantage point above them.  I used the 200mm telephoto lens so that the photograph would be compressed.  I think the composition is good but the quality is lost as the image has been cropped to accentuate the density of the runners.  Also I think that the focal point is too far down the runners and should be focused on the leaders.

The above image captured the youngest competitor as he and his father crossed the finish line. I feel that the composition is good with the  father taking up the right had side of the frame and the baby center stage with the "Santa Dash" clearly visible.

 This image was taken to show the cause for which the runners were supporting.  I think that I should have invoked some enthusiasm in the Santa behind the banner as they show the effects of a long day! The idea of incorporating the banner came too late and I think I should have incorporated it in photographs of people crossing the finish line rather than gathering these hard pressed volunteers.

The above photograph shows the finish line with the compare thanking the participants as the crossed the line. 

In summary I felt that I had achieved most of the goals I had set at the beginning of the assignment and had carried it out to a reasonable standard portraying the days events and capturing the salient points. 

If the oportunity came along again there is no question that the images I took would be better particularly with depth of field in certain circumstances and focal points. 

I also feel that on some occasions I shot my images too quickly and should have though more of the settings I was using.