Assignment 3 Tutor Feedback

Email Hi Jennifer I have pleasure in attaching my report for assignment 3.  Congratulations on producing some very good examples. Best wishes Norman

Tutor Report

Thank you for submitting your 3rd assignment.  It is interesting to read the background of Lyme Regis and your account of the reality in winter when the season changes the look of the town and coastline to contrast with what summer visitors normally see.

Feedback on assignment

Image No 1

I believe you have dealt with this image objectively in the conversion process. The contrast levels are about right. The colour image was a little distracting showing the tinsel in the window even though there was some juxtaposition with the red anoraks.

You are correct to leave the cropping as it is, even though you had concerns with the arm in the bottom left of frame. It is now almost unseen and cropping further would spoil the effect. This was a suitable subject for conversion to black and white.

 Image 2

I have to agree to agree with you that the colour version is better in this instance. The blue colour of the sea and sky merge and the accent of red make this a nice picture that is well balanced in terms of the boats and shoreline. However, you have converted the image to black and white and used levels to improve the contrast and also carefully cropped the image. Incidentally you can also use PSD files to keep layers and be able to work on the files again without losing resolution, as would be the case with jpeg images.

Image 3

The sequence of choosing the correct image and consequential use of Photoshop tools, particularly levels, has resulted in an acceptable image retaining the detail in the cloud formation. Use of further contrast would lose the detail in the clouds. The overcast day and the bent tree indicate that this can be a wild spot with strong winds.

Image 4

The treatment of this image has worked quite well as a black and white alternative. You have placed the horizon in a position below centre that is more pleasing to the eye. The positioning of the main photographer in the foreground is placed off centre to line up with the other person in the shot where there is a strong line of vision. An implied triangle is seen between the two photographers and the far building that works well.

Image 5

De-saturating and importing a false sky has improved this image, which works better as a black and white image. There is quite of lot of interest shown here and the angle of positioning has created a three dimensional image that adds further to the composition.

Image 6

There is very little colour visible in the original shot for this image and therefore it works well as a black and white image without the need for drastic manipulation.

Image 7

This is a very good example of a silhouette. The camera has metered for the ambient light surrounding the couple and left them as silhouettes. As a colour image it is also attractive and equally the conversion to black and white reveals a good image with plenty of detail in the sky and sea. I like the emphasis you have given the post out at sea, where you have applied some artistic intervention. Well-done Jennifer!

 Image 8

This photograph has benefitted from the change from colour to black and white and the treatment given to the life buoy improves the contrast. Unfortunately the sky is a little noisy. You could selectively separate the sky from the rest of the image and just apply the levels to the remainder of the photograph to avoid too much noise. I could not show an example as the coloured photo may have been altered as it also shows quite a bit of noise in the sky?

Write up more difficult to complete than I thought

I haven't been on this blog for some time as I have been writing up the notes that accompany the images for this assignment.  I am finding it more difficult to put the notes together as I'm being asked to think about why I took these pictures rather than how did I achieve them.

The difficulty is putting it words the gut feelings I get when I have achieved, or even partially achieved, what I was trying to photograph.  Ithink I have finished and will post the completed masterpiece later today after I've proof read it.

Completed Assignment 3 on time

Briefing

For this assignment, choose a theme or subject that you will conceive, shoot and process in black and white, attempting to bring out the monochrome image qualities of form, tonal contrast and texture, perhaps also experimenting with key.  To accompany the final images, which should number between about 5 and 10, you should:
•  Write an account of why you chose this particular theme or subject,
•  What you set out to achieve from the point of view of black and white imagery,
•  And to what extent you feel you have succeeded.

-------------------------------------------------------

This assignment is about shooting and processing for black and white, attempting to bring out the monochrome image qualities of form, tonal contrast and texture. For this third DPP assignment I have chosen to show how different Lyme Regis is in winter when the tourists have gone.

Background

As I have described in a previous assignment, Lyme Regis is a small coastal town located in the extreme west of the county of Dorset and at the apex of the coastal area known as Lyme Bay.
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site is popularly known as the ‘Jurassic Coast'. The name comes from the best known of the geological periods found within it, but in fact the site includes rocks from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Together these periods make up the Mesozoic Era of geological time, between 250 and 65 million years ago. The World Heritage Site is a coastal strip of land, around 95 miles (155 km) in length and is the narrow strip of land, lying between the top of the cliffs and the low water mark. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001and stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of 153 kilometres (95 miles).  Chartered in 2001, the Jurassic coast was the second wholly natural World Heritage Site to be designated in the United Kingdom.

Jurassic coast from Exmouth to Portland

Originally a Saxon settlement, Lyme Regis was first documented in AD 774, and was later listed in the Doomsday Book.  The town is often called “The Pearl of Dorset” and its harbour wall, the Cobb, is famous for being featured in the film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” which starred actress Meryl Streep. Today Lyme Regis is a popular seaside resort attracting many summer visitors, especially during the main holiday weeks between June and September when the population can swell to tens of thousands, but has a winter population of approximately 4,500 people.  Amongst its many famous attractions are The Cobb Harbour, Town Mill, the Lyme Regis Museum and the Fossil Museum.
 
When people who visit Lyme they always imagine it as a bright, thriving summer resort and would be completely surprised if they visited it in the winter and experienced the wind, rain and wild seas that are part of the town out of season.  In the summer season there are large crowds, lots of colour and plenty of noise.  In the winter there is wind, rain, a very noisy sea and deserted beaches and streets, which is the complete antithesis of summer.  The majority of these people never see the town in winter; whilst the reality of winter is that many businesses close down due to lack of trade.  Most shop keepers shut anyway during the month of January so that they can take their annual holiday or redecorate their premises as it’s not worth their while staying open.  This year, 2012, especially has been particularly poor trading as the main road into Lyme from the east was closed for 6 weeks so that the town council offices could be repaired after being damaged by large trucks and other essential work carried out that needed scaffolding support. 

 
What did you set out to achieve from the point of view of black and white imagery?

I wanted to show how Lyme really was in winter.  I also tried to capture a feeling of how the town could be cold and deserted one day, then bright and sunny the next.  The town has a certain feel of sociability to it that is missing in the summer.  This is completely the opposite of summer when the pavements are so crowded with holiday makers, their children and dogs that push past you and make you walk in the road. It’s so different; it’s a real pleasure to be here in winter. 

I found it very difficult to portray the wind which could be so strong that a person could not stand upright when it is blowing at 60-80 mph.  I had thought to use the image of a person holding an inside out umbrella whilst being blown across the road with a wild sea in the background but that seemed very clichéd as no one would put up an umbrella in the wind as it would be destroyed immediately. I opted to feature wind-blown trees and grave stones in a barren churchyard on a bleak hillside.  Even when the weather is bleak, people find the sea fascinating and watch and photograph it endlessly.  I’ve tried to portray this in two pictures, those of the photographer photographing another photographer and beach combers walking along the shingle beach collecting driftwood.
It’s virtually impossible to achieve the dramatic pictures that you were able to achieve before the reconstruction of the coast where the sea defences have been restructured to take the force out of the waves.  Before the coast was remodelled, due to potential coastal slippage, the waves would come into the bay with amazing force. 

 
To what extent do you feel you have succeeded?

I feel that I have succeeded in showing how the winter can be dark and cold one day and bright and sunny the next.  Whilst Lyme does have its fair share of bad weather, the surrounding hills manage to shield it from some the worst weather most of the time.  It’s easy enough to take a picture in colour, then desaturate it and say ‘look, it’s cold and wet now’ but to convey that feeling in the picture of cold, damp days was more difficult. 

My feeling is that I have created an interesting set of images. The combination of low key lighting and monochrome allowed me to show the key features in the town without the distraction of colour. It’s hard for me to gauge if I have hit the right balance and number of images showing the very different aspects of the town. That would be something that people who are not familiar with the town would be able to judge.

I tried several variations of subjects but found it difficult to portray nature in its wildest forms. There were some minor issues, such as rain and spray on the camera equipment, but some of the older images were taken with a waterproof, drop-proof camera which gave me some reassurance that my equipment would not be damaged and unusable afterwards.  I think that I have come up with a set of images that portray the feel of the town in its various aspects and are pleased with the results.

I’ve really enjoyed the whole project and assignment 3 as I feel it has challenged me to explore areas new to me.  I had a better than basic understanding of Photoshop but I found I needed to stretch myself to complete some of the exercises and put together a coherent assignment.

Taken all the pictures

I've had a real burst of energy and put together all the pictures I need for this assignment.  Now all I've got to do is write it up and submit it to my tutor. Hope to get it done by the end of this week or early next week as I am so far behind with my study timetable.

Assignment 3

I've made a real effort to work through the exercises in this part of the DPP module and found that I have really enjoyed them.  I've always been more interested in the display side of digital photography rather than the technical side so found a couple of the exercises a struggle to express myself.  The latter half of this part has been fairly easy, although I had to investigate further use of some of the palettes, it stretched me.  Now working on assignment 3 - monotone and want to get it completed in the next couple of weeks as I'm trying to catch up.