Monday, October 31, 2011

Professional Practice - Competitions

As outlined in the introduction blog to the Professional Practice, part of the assignment is to enter professionally recognised competitions. I'm slightly at odds with this, my professional practice is following a route of alternative photography processes with a subject matter of organic objects and structure. When researching photographic competitions you get the sense that the judging panel are looking for the obtuse, strange and surreal. My choice of subject matter doesn't really fall into this category.


Of the many competitions out there the two main ones of interest are the A.O.P Student awards and the Fuji Student Awards.

A.O.P Student Awards


The AOP Student awards are arguably the most important competitions for students studying at BTEC and above. The good thing is there is no age limit as in other student competitions, so old gimmers like me can enter. Every year over 3000 students enter this competition to win the the coveted award which can take the winners careear way pass the next level. The deadline for this years comp is 27th Jan 2012 and there are four categories split into single image and series. So there should be a least one category that should create some interest.


Categories:


Portraiture & Lifestyle
Fashion & Beauty
Landscape, Exterior and Interior
Still Life                                            





Fuji Student Awards


Another competition particularly interesting to students who prefer film based photography is the Fuji awards. Like the A.O.P the Fuji awards doens't have an age limit, and is aimed at students studying above BTEC. There is only one category and the theme is EXTREME. The student have to interpret this word into an image but must be shot on Fuji Professional Film . The winner wins £200 worth of Fuji film but more importantly has a profesional portfolio produced and promoted. The deadline for this  competition is 29th February 2012.










Professional Practise - Siverbased Test 3

After reading John Blakemore's book "Black and White Photography Workshop" in the Uni library, and seeing a diagram for taking still life compositions, I thought I would give it a go and experiment with this set up. There was a range of subjects,  a composed basket of sewing items, series of organised buttons and finally three leaves from three different Acer trees. As with the two previous tests the camera was a Sinar F1 with two bellows to extend the focal length to capture enlarged detail. This camera was weighted down on a tripod due to all the weight being front loaded over looking the composition. The lens was a 210mm Schneider Symmar-S, Film Ilford HP5 Plus 400.  As these  shoots were part of a series of experiments, it was a case of the film being used, as what I had in, than going for  a specific creative look.

As with the previous shoot a lightmeter reading was taken and and two shots of each subject were taken with slightly different apertures to vary the depth of field.





 Side view as John Blakemore's diagram























View looking down from the camera at subject:







The final images:












Sunday, October 30, 2011

Professional Practice - Silver Based Test 2



Following on from test 1 I wanted to experiment with a homemade light box. This was simply a cardboard box from a well known supermarket, with the back cut out and a white piece of card stuck in place. The sides and roof had been blacked out with paper and the floor coloured white. The subject was a weed (Rosebay Willow Herb) that I had picked that morning, which was full of drift seed. As you can see from the images below I place the light box next to a window, the plant was roughly six inches away from the background clamped in position. As with test one I was using a 210mm focal length lens with two bellows for that macro composition. A homemade reflector with a hole in the centre for the lens to poke through to add those extra highlights. The camera was positioned roughly a meter away from the light box.







As with test 1 a lightmeter reading was taken.







Professional Practice - Silver Based Test 1


Before being able to test out new printing methods as previously described, it would be an advantage to have some decent negatives which to print from. Like the print experiment posts, I want to research  different capture techniques. The first test is using a teasel as subject capturing it in natural light. This basic set up can be seen below. By using a roll of lining paper as a back drop and positioning the teasel roughly 5 inches away attached to a barrel, with the camera positioned to the front. Natural sunlight is from above slightly to the right. Two images were taken after taking an incident light meter reading.























Meter reading f5.6 @ 500th Sec

Shot 1. was taken at f5.6 @ 250th Sec. One stop of extra light to counter the recipicale light failure.
Shot 2. was taken at f8 @ 125th Sec. (extended) depth of field. By using these speeds and aperture setting the same amount of light will hit the film plane. The only difference will be the extended detail on the subject - depth of field.

Camera had two bellows for a detailed close up of the teasel to fill the image plane. Lens was 210mm focal length. Film uses was Ilford HP5 Plus 400.

Lens was a Schneider Symmar-S 210mm

The image below has been scanned from the neg but no adjustments have been made. The reason is to show the true potential of the neg for printing in one of the alternative processes already described.








Sunday, October 2, 2011

Professional Practice - Process Ideas

In June of this year the class of 09 put on their '2nd year photographic exhibition' along with many other students from the Arts and Humanities depts. I exhibited 3 images produced in the wet plate collodion processes. These images had been digitized and enlarged to a meter and half by a meter. I was never quite convinced about the final printed process. Over summer, after a discussion with the lecturing staff, I researched alternative photographic printing processes. This was an area I had identified to further expand my knowledge of alternative photography for my Professional Practice assignment.

There are so many different processes that I would like to explore this year and specifically for this assignment, but with quite a tight deadline reluctantly some of these processes will have to be reined in. 

I have provisionally chosen 3 alternative photographic processes to experiment with:

Liquid Emulsion


Salt Printing


Gum Birchromate


Liquid Emulsion
The first process I wished to  explore was Liquid Emulsion. This process allows the photographer to use alternative surfaces which to print on, not being tied to manufacturers constraints. This can be handmade paper through to glass.


Gary Kirkham - Liquid Emulsion on handmade paper


The basic outline for using Liquid Emulsion:

Under safe light prepare the emulsion by warming it in a jug of hot water
Coat paper with a brush - vertical coat then a horizontal coat.
Once fully dry expose the paper (or other surface) with chosen neg. Contact print or enlarging technique can be used.
Develop paper as normal photographic paper.
Fix with hardening fixer
Wash print
Dry


Salt Printing
The second process I wish to try is Salt Printing. This is the very same process that William Henry Fox Talbot invented in 1834. By using smooth writing paper washed in a weak solution of salt, then coated with silver nitrate, dried and then exposed to the sun. He then fixed the image with a strong solution of salt. 





Bruce Rae salt print


I first became aware of the beauty of salt printing via the work of Bruce Rae. His preferred process is to use Adox film and then contact print the negative. There is something subtle about his work with the use of natural light on compositions of still life.

Basic Salt Printing Process:

Choose an appropriate good quality  paper
Salt the paper in a solution of sodium chloride and purified water for approx 2 minutes
Allow to fully dry
Sensitize (silver nitrate, distilled water and citric acid) the paper under subdued tungsten light but allow the paper to dry in darkness.
Contact print a suitable negative and allow the paper to be exposed in direct sunlight or a UV light source.
Fix the image with a solution of sodium thiosuplhate (hypo) and wash in running water
Allow to dry


Gum Bichromate


Mungo Ponton published a paper in 1839 on the light sensitivity of chromates. Many have developed this process further, Fox Talbot being one. In 1894 Rouille-Ladevez refined the process by using gum birchromates which provided an artist like view to his images. This inspired many other who where seeking stronger links with the art work notably the Pictorialist.









One of the most famous and expensive pictures to use this processes was The pond - Moonlight by Edward Steichen. Sold in 2006 for $2.9 million dollars.



Basic Gum Bichromate Printing Process:

Make up the sensitizing solution by mixing Potassium dichromate with distilled water. Mix gum solution - prepared bought solution.
Mix equal parts sensitizing solution to gum solution plus a colour (water colour pigment) if required
Coat paper with a soft brush. Allow fully to dry in the dark.
Expose the by contact print method in sunlight.
Develop by first washing the paper gently in  water. Then soak face down in a tray of water for 10 to 20 minutes. Repeat this two more times.
Allow print to dry
The image can be re coated with the same or other coloured solutions.







Saturday, October 1, 2011

Professional Practice - Inspiring Photographers


As part of the research into the Professional Practice assignment, students had to explore photographers that  inspired them. More importantly it was those photographers that they would like to take elements of their photo practice into their own - standing on the shoulder of giants time!!

Irving Penn



Irving Penn is someone I have admired for sometime now. Its not his fashion that I am particular drawn to but his portraiture and especially his creativity in still life. He has a way of make the ordinary look spectacular. This is created by  his use of lighting and compositional presentation.



Yousuf Karsh







I'm always amazed when in the past I have presented images of Karsh's work to discuss in tutorial groups. I always get a feeling that students don't understand him. He used the most amazing light setup I have seen in portraiture from yester year. Lighting the face and hand separately and specifically. He mostly used a 10 x 8 camera with film. His images seem to have an artistic like quality without trying to be art. However, one of his greatest skills is capturing the sitters unique personality and character within the composition.





Nick Night


















Yet again another photographer better known for his fashion but I'm drawn to his still life. This body of work was called Flora, working with the Natural History Museum and taking three and half years to completed. Knight selected the best of the Museums specimens of dried and pressed flowers. He brings a different facet to the capturing a forna and flora with this series of images. I was first put onto this work in discussions with lecturing staff. 


John Blakemore






Lastly but no means least is John Blakemore. This is another photographer that came up in discussions with lecturing staff. This may have to do with the staff member being one of his students back in the day. However, exploring Blakemore's work added a new dimension to what can be achieved with still life. He is renowned for being an expert printer in the use of silver based materials. However, as he and other great exponents of silver based it starts with a good neg. His still life work is a good example of this.



Professional Practice - Introduction

A beginning to a new academic year (the final one) and a new set of challenges and hurdles to face. The start to this year is filled with excitement, trepidation (the dreaded dissertation) and a touch of sadness (the beginning of the end).

There are two assignments for this semester, Professional Practice and the 8000 word Dissertation. The Professional Practice element has been designed to challenge the student to make decisions on the direction of their photographic practice. This is based on experiences to date and the direction the student is drawn to. Students are to undertake research, trends and forecasts into their chosen photographic discipline along with investigating in depth knowledge of working practices in their chosen field.

For this assignment I want to further explore original and alternative processes. However, you have to be mindful of the task set by the lecturing staff. In combination of exploring new working practices the aim of the assignment is to enter nationally and internationally accredited photographic competitions. This can be a bit of a minefield with a platitude of competitions from varying providers include a range of categories. So one of the first challenges is to sort the wheat from the chaff and identify the competitions best suited to your working practice. The next obstacle is to analyse the requirement from an external brief and find innovative ways to create a reaction from the judging panel. This is easier said than done!

So why have I chosen silver based and alternative processes? This is two fold. First and foremost is the fact that I'm drawn to the considered methodical approach of these disciplines, along with the tactile nature of these processes, actually creating a physical image. I'm also keen not to follow the trend into digital image capture, to stand out from an over subscribed market place. Secondly in my dissertation I am writing about the ways an audience views analogue and digital images. This task also requires cross reference between the two assignments.