Continuing the theme from the 'Familiar Place' set of photographs, I continued with the influence of the Becher School of photography. The photograph above was taken by Simone Nieweg. She was a student of the Bechers at Dusseldorf Academy, but the second generation of students after Struff and Gurskey. She had all the characteristic of New Objectivity, taking images of suburban German allotments, an unspectacular subject but produced fascinating images. I particularly liked the image above due to the colour highlights that can be seen on the ground from the sunlight.
The image below is more typical of Neiweg's work.
With this in mind a had a trip organised at Easter to go to North Wales in and around Lake Bala. I had planned this trip to take the Wilderness section of the Places module. With the Familiar Place I had been looking for tonality within the composition so that it could be converted to greyscale.
With this module I was looking for colour that spotted/highlighted unusual natural shapes and form.
From where I was staying there is a fantastic woodland area with a small river running through it. On one of my many walks through it I saw this lime green moss growing everywhere in the undergrowth. This can only be seen at this time of year due to the wood's canopy allowing more sunlight through.
With this image I wanted to continue using the compositional technique of creating foreground interest that then leads the eye into the middle of the composition.
Its also worth mentioning at this point that I have applied a new photoshop technique with this set of images. I had been researching the use of HDR and looked at the pro and cons. I came across an article on Fake HDR and how this could be created quite easily in CS4. I have not applied the acid look that seems quite popular but looked just to give these image a lift with the use of the dynamic range.
The above shot was taken with a 18mm to 70mm zoom lens on a D300. The choice of camera and lens was taken to give me the greatest flexibility. As stated above I was looking for unusual shapes and colour but still trying to be objective. Due to the darkness of the wood I chose a medium ISO. The focal lenght for this shot was 40mm, I wanted as much of the background in focus so I chose f.stop of f10 speed 100th Sec.
This image was exactly what I was searching for. The sunlight just spots the ground. There is a strong contrast of colour between the vivid green moss and the reddish brown of the track. The track helps draw the eyes into the centre of the image, which is also helped by the light background that can be seen in the middle of the image before darkening towards the top. Focal length 30mm, f7.1 speed 80th Sec.
This image did remind me of Patzch work. The way the light was caught on each trunk was intriguing and brought the image to life. The HDR effect lifts the colour from the original and increase the depth of the whole image. Focal length is 18mm with a f.stop of 7.1 100th second.
I took this image for the highlights caught on the top of the bars of the metal gate. This then allows the eye to be drawn along the fence and road into the centre of the composition. The HDR effect really helps lift this composition, this can be seen in the fields in the background just before the sky, they have far more definition and generally warms up the whole composition. I wanted as much of the background in focus so I used a small aperture f18, this combined with a wide angle 22mm, speed 160th sec.
I found this odd looking piece of dead wood, the sunlight was catching the right-hand side. I made a slight mistake with this shot. I used a shallow depth of field to hide some of the background that is slightly confusing. However, the HDR effect as well as adding dept to the central image brings back some of the background. Sometimes HDR is not suitable for some images. Lens 18 to 70mm, length 20mm, f stop 2.8 speed 125th sec.
This last image was taken for the positon of the large rock in the foreground in relationship to the hill in the background. I wanted to capture the stream and wanted a different look from the other images. Yet again the spots of highlights captured in the stream make for a more interesting composition. It was also a misty morning, this has helped with the lighter tone at the top of the image. I chose a wide focal length of 20mm in combination with an aperture of f11, speed 100th second.
Learning outcomes:
1. HDR or Not HDR. For me the jury is out. The over use of this effect, fake or bracketed camera technique is all for here to see. My own belief is if the eye can not see this in the real world then what purpose does it serve. If the use is for clarity then I can see the reasons why you would want to use it in a subtle way. Yet again I can appreciate that if the reason for using it was to produce a more graphic lead image then HDR is ideal.
2. I enjoyed going out in search of spots of light and unusual shapes, along with trying to always take images with foreground interest that lead the eye.
3. At this stage of learning its so important not to restrict your image taking. There are great images to be had what ever genre of photography that interests you.
4. There are some very talented Photoshops practitioners. To come up with a very simple technique to convert a non bracketed photographer into a HDR photograph. Sometimes you will come across an image you believe would convert well to HDR but don't have a tripod or able to hold the camera still. This technique will help. Visit this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/kolnedra/2257529395/
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