Photography Planning - Ruraltopia (3)

"You don't take a photograph, you make it."  Ansel Adams

I have learned that indeed there is a difference between taking and making a photograph, mainly to do with photography practices and having a plan for and structure to the creative process.  As an educationalist, I groan internally and think of forward planning, which the majority of teachers dislike because teachers wish to teach and therefore photographers like to take pictures.  But just as planning class lessons has clearly a positive point, so does planning for photography. 

From my research on Yousuf Karsh, the world's greatest ever portraiture photographer, I find that he clearly highlights his meticulous preparation and research before his photography shooting.

 "It was in London, I started the practice of doing my homework ......."  Yousuf Karsh
(Ref.    http://www.karsh.org/#/the_man/biography)

So in order to make photographs for 'Ruraltopia'  I need to have a plan. I hope to utilise some of  of the techniques used by my chosen photographers - Gus Wylie (documentary genre) and Yousuf Karsh (portraiture genre) -  following my research on their photography.

AIM:  

• To visually interpret Ruraltopia through a range of photographs which demonstrate careful planning, creative composition and technical competence;
• To use the subject matter of crofters working in their local crofting environment and portray them in the documentary genre;
• To use the subject matter of indigenous people and portray individual crofters in the portraiture genre;
• To use the model of planning, shooting, evaluating for photographs in order to select final images for assignment.

TECHNIQUES

• Make contact with individuals beforehand to fix ideal location of shoot, eg their working environment;
• Tell the story in documentary by shooting what happens naturally, remembering to capture the details - set the scene;
• Capture the true essence of the person in portraiture, focus on the eyes/hands;
• Use an effective focal range, wide end of 24mm - 120 mm Nikkor lens (shooting with Nikon D600)  for documentary - smaller aperture to give larger depth of field to include detail;
• Use 70-300 telephoto lens with Nikon D600 for portraiture to create blurred background and give a comfortable working distance -  wide aperture/small DOF to give shallow focus;
• Establish social interaction with subject to put them at ease;
• Use tripod for better quality and to get more creative and sharp images;
• Use natural light (outdoor environment if possible) - consider the available light and use fill flash and ISO adjustments as required;
• Prepare to wait and see what happens naturally for a good documentary capture;
• Produce monochrome images in the style of both Gus Wylie (documentary) and Yousuf Karsh (portraiture); shoot in colour and use processing for monochrome conversion;
• Use post-production techniques for image files using iPhoto and Photoshop Elements 13 for completion of the task;
• Produce contact sheets for test images - to be presented in folder along with final six images.

EQUIPMENT

Nikon D600 camera body 

24-120mm kit lens (Nikkor)

70-300mm telephoto lens (Nikkor)

MeFoto Travel Tripod Kit

Props were not pre-planned but subjects were photographed using recognisable props as they were used in the natural working environment

SUBJECTS/LOCATIONS

• Arrange photo shoots with four different crofters, to allow choice in final selection
• Location 1 - Crofter A -  new farm steadings - Knock Farm, Sleat
• Location 2 - Crofter B - Crofthouse kitchen and croft land - Tarskavaig, Sleat
• Location 3 - Crofter C - Ord moorland and Sheep Fank, Sleat
• Location 4 - Crofter D - Crofthouse interior, Ardvasar, Sleat

Mt next blog post will feature how I achieved the aims of the plan, the techniques used and the challenges encountered along with my evaluation of the selected photographs.  My assignment submission will include test prints and contact sheets as well as hard copies of final six images.

The images below are from each of the locations from where the photo shoots took place.  (Click on each image to view large).

"You don't make a photograph just with a camera.  You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved."   Ansel Adams

Knock Farm Steadings

Tarskavaig Croft

Ord Moorland

Ardvasar crofter at Crofthouse

My Photography Journey

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst"

                                                                      Henri Cartier-Bresson

Well, there I was on Tuesday 27th October, clutching my photography quote nicely printed out in large font on A4 paper as requested, and attending the first photography class for session 2015-16 at West Highland College UHI.  This first meeting with fellow students was a gregarious affair with lots of opportunity for talk, and of course I talk, though usually too much while not wholly focusing on the icebreaker task in hand!  Perhaps I subscribe to the quote from photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) "It is important to click with people than to click the shutter". (This quote being reassuringly given to us by tutor Simon Larson when sharing the Course Overview for SQA Higher Photography.) We are lucky to have a photography tutor of Simon's calibre to mentor us through the course - check out his Photography FB page Simon-Larson-Photography

Simon also shared these SQA Higher Photography objectives with us:-

• to communicate personal thoughts, feelings and ideas
• to develop problem solving, thinking and reflective practice skills
• to develop technical and creative skills and
• to develop knowledge and understanding of photography practice

Now my problem with being a reflective practitioner is that my self-criticism usually leads to feeling of negativity.  I question my own limited attainment of the skills, knowledge and understanding in art and design having been a class teacher who relied on classroom support from the visiting Art specialist (now sadly withdrawn from classrooms).  Thankfully my awareness of the mindfulness training which is an initiative prevalent in Scottish education at present kicked in!  I considered that subscribing to this philosophy could enhance my own well-being and performance so I follow it through.

 I need to direct my attention to my experience as it unfolds in the Photography class; I will aim to not dwell on past deep-rooted emotions of lacking creativity and also not worry about what might happen on this photographic journey.

Therefore, focussing on the now:-

1. I have already learnt and researched at some length two well-known photographs (my claim being that I could only name Ansel Adams and have vague knowledge of a few others;
2. My resolution is to discontinue my practice of clicking the shutter a lot (500+ captures on a recent weekend shoot!
3. I have purchased my journal and a book entitled Light, Gesture and Colour (Voices That Matter) by Jay Maisel, which means that I have researched a third famous photographer!
4. I have a Personal Development Plan stating my development objectives for the next three months.
5. And finally to quote Imogen Cunningham:-                                                                              "What is my favourite photograph?  The one I'm going to take tomorrow". 

                                         Imogen Cunningham's notable Magnolia Blossom