Self in Photography

Yesterdays lecture was  strange and at times unsettling.  Mike Simmons spoke about his research and work on the subject of Self and Photography.   It was an examination of how photography can help people cope with grieving.  He found it to be especially effective with young children who had lost a parent.  Some of the art work produced by the children going through this process was especially moving.

He then went onto explore some of the tragedies in his own life.  The series of images he produced for the death of his mother were at one level very ordinary and yet when combined with the use of Lenticular technology became far more than this.  However, this was also their Achilles heal - what part did the technology play in the power and aesthetic value of the work?   He also used this technology when working with grieving family and friends of an 18 year old boy who had died on holiday.

Whilst these were interesting examples of work and an imaginative approach to making pieces of work they did raise disturbing questions - especially topical given the reality TV ending to the life of the tragic Jade Goody.   Just how far should public art intrude into private grief?  Should photographers act as some form of therapeutic arm to allow people deal with grief?  What is the boundary between private and public grief?  

In preparing the work that I have done for my project I have also discovered that the boundaries between private and public grief is changing.   Todays 'cloud' generation expect to explore much more of their lives on line.  They make friends, develop relationships and hatreds on line.  The cloud would appear to be part of their internal as well as external being.   Given this approach it comes as no surprise that I found very public outpourings with the cloud for the tragic deaths that caused the memorials I had recorded.   Ten years ago these outpourings would simply not have been there.

So where does this leave the work of Mike Simmons?  I am not sure.  On the one hand the openness he has used in the documentation and interpretation of personal grief is very refreshing.   On the other hand I still feel that there is a need to keep certain matters private.  I am aware that we all have different approaches to these matters but there is a point where the boundaries between art and therapeutic support merge and what you have left is dissolution and devaluation of both.   Ultimately there is no answer to this question and it needs to be a matter for the individual, and, with the 'cloud' generation, it may also be a generational thing.   However,  it does provide a thought provoking lecture.

Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian, Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930

There has always been something smoldering deep inside me that from time to time comes to the surface (No I don't mean some by product of a curry I might have eaten the night before!).  What I am talking about is the attraction of Piet Mondrian.  For years I had some prints of his work on the wall of my house - much to consternation of my long suffering wife.   I have never really understood what it was about his work that attracted myself to him.  Having given it some thought I think it is the regularity of the shapes he used or was it the thickness of the lines?  Perhaps it was the bold primal colours or perhaps the orderliness appealed to my brain?  Who knows?  What I do know is that what ever subterranean influence was at work then is starting resurface know with my work for the latest project.

Yesterday I sat down and produced a series of images for today's session.  Initially I was going to print a number of single photographs.  I then decided to make them into some form of triptych.   As I played around these photographs I had an experience similar to Roy Neary in the Close Encounters.   I found myself arranging the photographs so that the arrangement became as important as the photographs themselves.   Suddenly, the borders between the photographs were important.  I then noticed that the colours started to leap out rather than the form of the photographs.   To date I have no idea why this might be but I have a feeling that whatever attracts me to Mondrian is also influencing my work.

Review of Practical Work in Progress (Group 1)

The rather formal nature of the title is what our second session at University is called tomorrow.   I am not sure what is required or who, for that matter, is in group 1.  I am not sure I was asleep at the time when this was mentioned.  I have emailed Mike Simmons for an explanation so no doubt I will feel somewhat embarrassed when the reply comes (I wish they would use Blackboard it would be so much easier!)

So just incase I am in Group 1 I have produced these three images/triptych to be going on with.  They are my latest thinking on the theme No Title/No Rules and represent three subject matters I am exploring at the matter: Self; Movement and Colour and Death.    Of the three the last is the most difficult - see previous posting.  However, I still feel it is an import aspect to examine when dealing with No Rules.   After all there are only two rules in life you are sure of Death and Taxes.

On a slightly lighter note I am still working with Flash but I have started to include artificial lighting as well.   I just love some of the bizarre colours you get.

Self

Movement and Colour

Death

The blogosphere - its all too confusing to me

Lost in the Fog

I've just spent an hour or so trying to workout a better way of navigating the blogosphere.  I am failing badly!   I am not sure whether it is my age or what but every corner I turn seems to lead to another dead end (Cliche alert!)

It all started with this morning's paper.  I have been thinking about finding out a bit more on the subject of blogs and blogging.  I find this very addictive even though I have no idea how many people are reading this stuff.  I am wondering off the point.   The paper.   Well according to the paper it is a very simple thing to navigate and get set up.  Not for me it isn't.   I am blundering around not really coming up with anything that really makes my boat rock.   One of the recommendations from the article was to use Firefox.  

Now I used to be a keen Firefoxer but not anymore.  I love the Safari interface compared to Firefox - it looks much slicker and well developed.  I know that many of the sites are not optimised to run on Safari - when this happen I always copy the link into IE, which is the default browser for any site.  If something doesn't run in IE then the site is at fault not you.

I'm wondering again.   So what to do?  How should I try and resolve this problem?  I think the way forward is probably the best advice I have ever been given.  Do nothing.  This sounds like a cop out and in a way it is.  However, at least you can't make matters worse by continual tinkering and in many cases a solution becomes apparent.  Not very proactive I know but it does work.

Having just reread this I am not sure it is worth publishing.  However, I am addicted to bogging and so I will publish - well anything.

I need to do something a little bit more light hearted...

Over the past few days I feel I have been spending too much time on the latest project.  I need to produce some other photographs that are just for pleasure.  I was trawling through my recent photographs and found this one I hadn't worked on.  I don't think it needs any further introduction.  It just makes me smile. Enough said.

Developing a theme

As I progress with the project No Title: No Rules I am starting to understand a little better what I mean.   Not only am I thinking about what it means to have no title but perhaps more importantly what it means to have no rules.   Rules are all about boundaries.   We hear it all the time: he stepped over a boundary; he crossed the line; I drew a line in the sand and so on.  Boundaries are an integral part of Rules.  So by exploring Rules I am also exploring boundaries.

This brings me back to last night.  The ultimate boundary is death.  This is one rule we cannot break.  One moment we are alive the next we are gone.   It is becoming clear as I work at the project and problem that this is going to become a dominant aspect.  We may create rules for ourself but there is only one rule we can never break.   When this rule is applied it effects not only the person who dies but also the many people left behind and who we had great impact on.

I suppose rules also are what make us human.  We have rules about all sorts of things.  We give these rule titles and these titles are then applied to things.  This is the way that civilisation  starts and then more rules are developed and so on  until a point is reached when the whole thing collapses in on itself.  Am I making sense yet?  I am not sure whether I am but it is an intriguing exercise to and make order out of the chaos or should say develop0 some rule and give it a title?  

More nocturnal rumblings

Barn Owl - Major Gilbert

Whilst out and about last night making photographs I had my latest nocturnal encounter.  No it wasn't George Michael or anything like that but rather an owl.  As I was standing by the road side making photographs of the memorial for the crash victims I mentioned in my last post a Barn Owl was screeching and making an almighty racket in the field next to me.   It was a experience.   The location of the memorial is by a well used road.  Not too far away the M1 rumbled a continuous noise and yet these were drowned out by the calling of the Barn Owl.

I looked into the field which had no lighting at all and could see fleeting glimpses of a strange ghost like shape flying across the field.   The other worldlyness of the scene was enhanced by the passing car headlights.  In the past such screams have been associated with all manner of things - including an approaching storms.  Well as I write this it is a glorious morning outside with not a cloud in the sky - much the same as last night.

Strange Day...some good and some...well

The day started so very well.   I spent the morning with David Manley, a colleague from my course.  We spent a great few hours setting up his printer and then playing around with cameras.  We also found time to put the world right.  As usual we felt better but no doubt it had little or effect on the way the world worked - no butterfly effect here!

After dark I decided to work on some more photographs for my project.   There are two floral memorials for deaths around the village that I have found very compelling images to capture.   I spent more than two hours working on the photographs and felt I had captured something interesting and well in keeping with the No Title/No Rules theme.

I then started to work on the files in my study and then read one of the notes left on the road sign of the scene of one of the fatal car crashes.   This had a deep effect on me as I read it.  I cannot see all the text but I will repeat some of what I could see here:

It's been a long year without you

The pain still lingers

Our heart ache for the person

As the pain gets harder

You light up our days with a smile

In my heart the pain is raw

No one can ever take you away.

Now I don't know who wrote those words, if they're lyrics to a song; a poem or what but they have had a profound effect on me.   It makes you question what you are doing and why.  This is someone's deep felt heartache that you are examining and I suppose to a degree manipulating.  It is also a tug at the heart to any parent - the raw pain on show can almost be tasted.

So will I continue the work?   I think the answer is yes - but now with greater humility.  This commemorates the death of a real person.  This is not some abstract that you can debate. I don't have the stomach to be unaffected anymore - my Weegee protection has gone and the sadness and hurt is felt all too easily.  A sad end to the day.

Ever tried to focus in the dark? and some sad news

Focusing in the dark.

It's my own stupid fault.  I should know better and as my late father would have said, "...you're old enough and ugly enough to know better..." but I didn't.  I tried to focus in the dark.   For those of you who have never done this before it involves using a manual focus lens,  yes such lens made are still made, and then trying to focus on a particular object.   It is next to impossible!

So why was I doing this contorted and near impossible thing?   Well I was playing around with my Tilt and Shift lens of course.   I was not trying to correct perspective but rather to use the distortion of focus that is produced by the lens.  Now usually I have no problem making this happen but in the dark it was a different case.  Perhaps I should try and use the lens always in the dark and I wouldn't have any problems.  In the end I managed to make this photograph.  So I suppose all's well that ends well.

Some Sad news.

I received some sad news of the passing of a treasured member of Ian's, a colleague on the course, innermost circle.   His Mac G4 is to be replaced.  I spoke to him Wednesday about this impending departure and tried to console him and I think I did I managed to cheer him up a bit with my anecdotes of the anarchy that is running Windows Vista, still can't get the internal CF drives to work! and in the end I think this worked as he was able to pass some comments about Windows that you would expect a dyed in the wool Mac fan to say. Ian has sent all colleagues on the course an email lamenting this passing and I passed on my condolences in the only way that I know how, by pointing out how out of date Apple technology is compared to the latest Windows PC and it is just a shame that Apple are always having to play catch up and you pay through the nose for the privilege.  I think this will lift his spirits.

Now for any passing Mac fanatic that might think that the last item was some serious views please don't.  I love Mac's design and if I was starting out from scratch I would no doubt go down the Mac route.  It is just that to do so now would be too expensive in time, effort and money.  The only thing I would say is that I have used both and I don't really find there is much difference between the two when using Photoshop - so for me this is an added point.   There I have said it.  I too love Macs but not enough to replace all the PC's in the my house.

Now comes the hard work

Tilt and Shift

Having come up with an idea or concept now comes the hard work of trying to make sense of it and converting it into 7 - 10 photographs.  I have to say that the ideas that are running through my head at the moment are more graphic design than photography but this is not a bad thing.  I am trying to develop a new look for my work.   To get this new look you have to try and remove the barriers that the old put into its place - No Rules.   Also you need to ensure that old labels are not preventing this exploration - No Tiles.  I have ideas and funnily enough a lens is coming again and again into my brain.  Tilt and Shift.   I have never really got to grips with this lens as I could never get it to produce the parallels that it should.  However, this inability could now become an assist.  I have some ideas which is good.

I am not sure if this last paragraph made any sense - I have reread it and I am not sure it makes any sense to me but by simply writing it down has helped.  

Saul and the road to Damascus

If week is a long time in politics clearly 12 hours is an eternity for me.  I went to university this morning thinking that I knew where I was going with my project.  I had sorted out in my mind what I was going to do - there was harmony in my collective (Sorry another Star Trek reference!).  Then bang.  A thought struck me.  Bad things thoughts not usually good things - tend to rock the boat.

Isn't it funny where ideas come from.  I was sitting in the journals section of the DMU library paging through back issues of Photoworks.   I came to some work by TONK and this idea plopped out...

'why not break the rules of flash photography?'

I thought about this for a while longer then I thought 'No titles/No Rules'  Suddenly everything started to fall into place.  Last week Paul Hill had asked my what I now called myself as I was no longer employed.  "Student but I don't really feel the need for any title anymore.  I have had 32 years of that" was my reply. No Title.   My previous work was all to do with rules and I am sick to the back teeth of that. No Rules.  It made sense.  No Titles/No Rules.

I know this sounds a little anarchic but what better way to experiment.  No Title/No Rules.

This is a little much to compare this to what happened to St Paul.  I am pretty sure I will not be motivated to shape a new religion but it does make sense to me at least.  So there it is No Title/No Rules.

Display 2007 - Helen Sear

Interestingly we had a talk by Helen Sear, much of whose work would appear to be challenging perceptions.  For me the lecture could not have come at a better time.

One final thing.  The photograph is of the rather excellent  cake that  David Manley brought in.  Paul Hill asked me to take a photograph which I did.

Some initial thoughts on long exposure

WARNING:- These are initial reflections and they may well not reflect what I finally feel about the subject (I suppose you could say that about most blogs - especially this one!)  plus This post does contain traces of Star Trek

That's the warning out of the way I thought I would now set down on the screen some initial thoughts about the experiments I did last night.  I suppose the main thought that comes to mind is that of controlling exposure.   I suspect that this is not as crucial as sub second exposure.  There is a world of difference between 1/1000th and 1/100th of a second but I suspect that is not the case in long exposures.  This does give you certain leeway.  Obviously there is a difference between 30 seconds and 90 seconds (one is 3 times as big as the other so you would assume that 3 times more light is exposed).  However, when you consider the difference between 390 and 420 seconds the orders of magnitude are tiny.  This does give you more leeway.

The 7 minute barrier also is an interesting concept to work with.   Is the photograph you are trying to make capable of being captured in the 7 minutes?   If it is not why not and what will the effect be?  These are all creative decisions that you, as the photographer, need to think about when considering what you are trying to make.

And what about the photographer in all this?   This might seem strange but what do you do with yourself in the seven minutes?  Now some times you may be trying to illuminate a certain area, however, other times you are just left there standing waiting for the time to elapse.   This can lead to a temptation to tamper, to try and rush matters - all things that could impact on the photograph.

In the end I suppose we are entering the strange world of electro magnetism and space/time.  These are subjects that my son would no doubt love to talk about, being a physicist and start trek fan, but they are not the usual topics of conversations between photographers.  I suppose it always comes back to e = mc2

Some very long exposures

554 seconds at 19 mm f8 - 50 ISO

I am trying out some long exposures tonight.  The subject matter is a little boring, the view from a window.  So far it has been interesting.  I set my camera at 50 ISO and f22 just to see what I would get.  Needless to say after a couple of minutes I got very little.   I changed the settings to 5 minutes.  A bit better.  I then changed to f8 at about five minutes.  The results got a little bit more interesting.  I changed the time to around 8 minutes.

I then gave the sensor a rest and a chance to cool down.  This, apparently, may be the cause of the noise that comes with long exposures on a digital camera.

Disregarding the subject matter the results were interesting.  Clearly, there is a limit on the amount of time a sensor can be exposed before noise becomes an issue.  From the results I have got it would seem that the limit is somewhere in the region of 7 minutes.  Having briefly read some of the view/experiences on forums and websites about the noise problem this would be about right.  So what does this mean about the development of the photographs for the project?  Well for a start it means I have to set up a photograph with the time restrictions in mind - no Michael Wesely for me - well not with digital anyway.  This is a balancing act as increasing the ISO will no doubt increase the noise at a much shorter exposure.

Ultimately this has been an experiment.   I will have to think about the results over the next day or so.  But one thing is for sure, this is a fascinating way to make a photograph and so long as you know the restrictions then you can use these for creative purposes.

Thinking about a theme

A number of people have said that I need to make the next project about more than 'flash photography'.   I have been somewhat resistant to this suggestion as I don't feel that either I am not explaining myself too well - not unknown - or that other people have not got what I have been saying.  I am not sure whether this is helping or not so I have decided to modify what I am doing.   Instead of just ploughing on regardless I am now going to slightly change my approach.  It is still going to be around flash photography or painting with light but instead it will be in support of the 4 project I have on the go at the moment.   These are:

Leicestershire Landmarks - an exploration of the landmarks that have a significant impact on Leicestershire

Park and Ride - Documenting the building of a new park and ride at Enderby

Jubilee Park - Documenting a local park

Varsity - Documenting my life at University

Very Long Exposure - Michael Wesely

Michael Wesely is a photographer that was suggested by Nick Lockett.  Apparently, the work involves extreme exposure times - measured in months rather than seconds.  His most famous exhibition to date has been at the MOMA in New York in 2004.

Not just long exposure of buildings - 

this one took from the 26th October to 6th November

New York - from the Open Shutter exhibition at MOMA

Michael Wesely

Michael Weseley - very long exposure

Flickr - this link shows the contents of the catalogue from the MOMA exhibition in 2004

Michael Weseley website - this is in German

Google Images Search

New York Times

26th September 2004 - By JEFFREY KASTNER

22nd August 1999 - By WILLIAM ZIMMER - Mentioned when discussing portraying flowers

Some relaxation

Apart from the hard work of the project work I have found time just to produce some work of my own.

Experimentation

An Experiment - Frankenstein's Monster?

One of the things we are trying to be doing in this module is to experiment; push the envelope;go beyond our comfort zone.   This weekend has certainly done that for me.   I started trying to work with different settings with the flash gun.  I used my own magnificent??? features as the subject.  As with all experiments there were some successes and some failures.

After this I decided to try some different outdoor shots.  Near where I live there is a small shrine set up to two young lads who died in a car accident.   One is very formal, with a plaque and tree planted.  The second is a road sign next to where the accident was.   They both offer great opportunities for experimenting with flash and painting with light.   Unfortunately when I got around to photographing them the snow was falling and I didn't feel like freezing my...off again.   Perhaps this is the reason why the photographs were not very good.  I'm not sure but it has got me thinking about how I could do the shot better and in the end this is what the module is all about.

More interesting flash links

[No Image - the images address will no copy]

This link was suggested by Kate Luck.  It is the work of Night Photographer.   His work appears to be centred around very long exposure and then painting with light.  Still some interesting images - especially those on the railway line! (Sorry I can't include this in the post as for reasons beyond me the image address won't work??)

Interesting Video

Warning - this video deals with the boring aspects of photography - equipment and kit that someone uses for flash photography.

More Flash Photography Links

My colleagues on the course have been very helpful in suggesting links and leads to follow.  These are the latest Sian Hedges:

Tim Simmons

Norway 2007 - Tim Simmons

Gairloch Lightpath #2 - Tim Simmons

Playing around with flash

I spent yesterday thinking about how I could use flash to make some interesting self portraits.   I have to say that I enjoyed the experiment and have learnt a great deal.   The main aspects that I looked at was strobe lighting and using my flash gun as a spot light a la Nick Turpin.   Both have had differing results.

The strobe light was my first attempt at anything like that and to be truthful it wasn't too successful.  However, I learnt a lot and have realised it is not as easy as I might have thought.  Clearly I need to work at this.

As for the spot this worked a lot better.   When I used flash before I was not in control of the light it produced.  The flash gun just went off and I might have bounced it off of the ceiling but that was about it.   However, using a piece of a black paper to focus the light in just one spot was a revelation.  It has made start to think a lot more seriously about what can be achieved with just very simple equipment.  In fact, it is more rewarding to see what I can produce using this type of set up than any fantastic studio set up.

In the end, I suppose, this is the point of the module.  It is to make work in areas that you have never worked on before and learn new and exciting things.   It should also open up new possibilities that you just didn't know where there.

Shooting tethered

Perhaps not the best self portrait in the world but it is a start.   The real reason I have posted this is not show off my wonderful face but rather to celebrate that I have got my camera to shoot.   The story is really quite boring and so will fit in just right on this blog (I hope that is not the reaction of the reader but I just don't know!)

Anyway, the story.   As part of the flash development I decide I needed to shoot tethered as this would give me greater feedback than the small LCD on the back of the camera.   I tried to set it up last Tuesday.  However, whilst the software installed it kept failing.   After a frustrated hour or so I decided to call it a day.  I duly reported my frustration at the course meeting the next day - much the the amusement of a certain Mac user(You know who I mean KL!).

I gave this matter some thought on Thursday and decide the only way forward was to uninstall the software and install the latest software that had come with one of my 40D.   I checked the software and yes it was for Vista - the other software had come with me aging 5D and didn't support Vista.  I had tried to down load the latest software from the canon site but clearly this didn't work.

So there I was today (Friday) surrounded by camera boxes, CD, cameras and my laptop.  It took a while to uninstall the previous versions, I had installed all the packages on the disk.  I then installed the new software and after a few false starts it worked.   The I am using Adobe Lightroom to view the photographs on the laptop and this works really well.  I have to say that it is not exactly straightforward setting up Lightroom to shoot tethered but once you have gone through all the steps it does work well, apart from the fact I cannot get the software to convert into DNG.   If you want to see who to do this then view the excellent video on this from Lightroom for Digital Photographers.

So now to making best use of this new skill/set up.

Nick Turpin - is this the way forward?

Youth #2 - Nick Turpin

I have spent a short time looking at the work of Nick Turpin and I have to say I find his work fascinating.  I love the way he is able to coax fairly ordinary equipment to produce extraordinary results.  However, this has started me to think about what I want to produce during this next project.   Do I want to produce photographs that enhance the day or are they going to be control the night? 

Ray Bolger - Gjon Mili

To explore this a little further I need to explain one of the influences I have had on this journey.  I found a marvelous book in the library - see posting 21st Jan - by Gjon Mili  Many of the images were black and white the predominant colour is black (I know black is not a colour but a lack of one).  Now when you compare these to Turpin's photographs you start to see my problem.   Both photographs are of their time and so reflect this.  However, they do show the different styles, one , Turpin, uses the flash to enhance the colour of the street.   His ability to place light in a very specific area of the image is as impressive as it is imaginative.  The second, Mili, use the flash in a totally different way.  Here he explores the ability of a strobe to isolate and enhance the action.  He freezes that split second that we are never aware of.  In a way it almost entering the quantum realm.

So which is the way forward.  Well I think at this stage the answer is both and neither.   To be aware of these influences and experiment with them.  The hope is that at the end they will help me produce some impactive photographs.

More Flash Photography

I am not sure what this is saying - perhaps I am starting to, sub consciously, to create photographs that meet other people's perceptions.   Anyway, another in the series of photographs experimenting with flash photography.  

"... beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression...they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will…" - Yoda to Luke Skywalker

More Flash Photography links

The following links were suggested by Nick Locket:

Strobist

Nick Turpin - Arena Shoot

Nick Turpin - Fashion Shoot

The following links suggested by David Singh:

Magnum Photo blog

More reflections on my project

Having had time to sleep on yesterday's feedback I think it has helped me clarify what the theme of my project is going to be.  To produce impactive photographs based around flash photography..what does this mean?  Well as I write this I think it means using the technique I have acquired to produce a series of photographs that don't necessarily have a recurring theme but rather are examples of how I have used flash photography.  

An example of this would the photograph above.  This was shot at dawn this morning in the remnants of a snow storm.  I used flash to 'paint with light'.  I then applied a significant amount of post production techniques in Photoshop to produce what I think is am 'impactive photograph'.  Now whilst this is a similar to other photographs I have made in style, content and perhaps interpretation this is not the point of the work.  The point is produce variations upon a theme or in other words '...an area new to you ...that should challenge your existing experience and knowledge..."

I got mugged

This seemed to have quite an impact

We had a session today when we talked about our work on the project we wish to do for the next module of the MA course.  I showed a couple of photographs I had made as part of the experiments I am undertaking with flash photography.  The photographs seemed to go down well however, for whatever reason, most people seemed to think they were something that they not i.e example of something - in this case darkness.  I tried to explain that they were just experiments, which is what we are supposed to be doing, but to no avail.   I am not sure where this experiment in flash is going to lead me, but clearly it has already produced some provocative photographs which has to be encouraging.   There were some useful feedback but I think it is far too soon to restrict the process to some theme or topic.  For now I feel the best way forward is continue the experimentation.

Woman Reading Possession Order - Tom Hunter

Tom Hunter

On a different subject  we had a great talk about counter culture photography by Tom Hunter.  His work developed in trying to counter act the stereo types of people on the margins of society.  Most of the images were interesting but I felt that as he got more mature he had lost some of the edge and anger of his youth, something I suspect we all fall foul of.  Perhaps it was the increased wealth that his work is no doubt bringing him.  One final thought on Hunter, and his world view,  he seems fixated with double glazing  as a mark of the Bourgeoisie.  Many of his references to people with money and paid employment, mortgages etc  seemed to reflect their ability to fit double glazing to their house - which if memory serves me he now has fitted to his house.

Reflections on Painting with Light

I have now been through the photographs I made last night and a few things need to be said.  The first is that they were not that good.  This is not a bad thing as you tend to learn more things from failures than success.  Indeed the road to success is usually built on the broken bodies of your failures.  So why were the photographs failures?  Well, the first things was that I wasn't clear what I wanted to do.  

I set out to record the snow and the strange night light caused by an exotic mix of snow and neon lights.  Halfway through this I decide to try out some ideas that I had about painting with light.  The idea was to illuminate one area of the photograph with flash whilst leaving the rest to burn in by a very long exposure.  Now this may have worked if it hadn't been for the excessive light caused by the snow.  Just to give you an idea of the amount of light around I was able to shoot at f8 for as little as 4 seconds with an ISO of 200.  This was in the middle of the night in the middle of a park with no lighting!

The second was the weather.   This might seem a strange thing to say but I forgot it was snowing!   It wasn't a problem when I shot with the snow on my back as I didn't get any snow on the lens.   However, when I shot into the snow well guess what - I got snow on my lens - Dohh!  I didn't notice this until I got home.

The final thing was the otter.  As soon as I had my encounter I sort of lost interest in photography and so my photographs started to show this.   So what to make of this?   Well, it was a very positive experience in the sense that I learnt a great deal about what I want to do.  I also learnt that I need to be more single minded and plan what I want to achieve and then go for it.  I just hope I don't encounter another otter as this will blow all my plans out of the water (if you don't mind the pun!)

Otters and Flash Photography

Night Time by the River Soar

So there I was standing in deep snow at night trying to work out how to paint with light when this strange sound came from the river.  I look around and wonder what on earth the noise was.  Was it bird?  It certainly wasn't any bird call I had heard before.   I looked again and there in water not 10 feet away from me was a dog otter barking and calling.  At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  As I stood there the otter disappeared under water then reappeared and kept barking in my direction.   Normally, I wouldn't have been able to see what was causing such a noise as it would have been very dark.  However, with all the snow on the ground it gave the area a strange, luminous glow which was the reason I was standing by the river in the first place.   So there I was looking down on one of Britain's shyest wild creature and still it kept barking at me.  Eventually, the otter swam off leaving me to wonder what this was all about.

Otter Tracks in the Snow

I continued to make photographs.  As this was night I had plenty of time to look around between takes and I soon found tracks in the deep snow that were not made by the local dogs being walked in the park.   I followed the tracks and soon discovered that there hadn't been one but three otters near to where I had been standing.  This put a whole new completion on the matter and suddenly the dog otter's barking became all the clearer.  Instead of an act of aggression of a lone male this was probably the call of a frightened mother looking after her youngsters.  She was in fact telling her young to stay put whilst the threat, i.e. me, passed.  

Whether this was actually the reason or something totally different I doubt I will ever know but it was a real privilege to stand there so close to a truly wild animal.  Truly truly wonderful.

As for the photography this was a mixed.  I wanted to capture the strange light of night in the deep snow.  This I did.  I also wanted to start to practice 'painting with light'.   I had mixed results but then this is part of a larger experimental project for my Master's Course.  The most interesting thing I learnt this evening was that it is actually more difficult than it looks and I will have to think a lot harder about the set up etc.  Over the next day or so I will work on the images and see what they look like.  I will then be in a better position to judge how successful the evening's photographic exertions were.   However, they will never beat the nocturanl encounter with the otter.