It’s Victory for Harrison!

 

V FOR VICTORY !!!

They’ve all done it and we have admired them for it ! Winston Churchill…..Lewis Hamilton… John Lennon…Mahmoud Ahmadinejad….(?)

Ok maybe not the last one….

This week my friends, I can finally claim victory! My final piece for my college HND is finished, has been edited in Photoshop and Aperture and, as they say in Hollywood, in the can (not the can as in toilet, although the first few attempts have ended up there.)

And before you go scrolling to the bottom hoping to see it, well, I’m sorry to disappoint as you won’t find it there. Or indeed anywhere else on the blog. Not just yet anyway. I will put it on here after the final show has taken place, so be patient !

To say it has been a tough journey may be somewhat of an understatement. For those who regularly follow this blog (thank you, I love your faces), you may have read in previous blog posts that getting to this stage has been “eventful” to say the least. From starting out at the planning stage it was going to be an epic scene with forests and spotlights and American cars and great Hollywood lighting but it soon resulted in me having to come down from my lofty perch and the fantasy land that I live in most of the time (it’s great there by the way, you should stop by sometime), to the stark reality of a somewhat smaller scale scene with one camera, no lights, a very local location and my lovely neighbour as my model. Not quite Crewdson, but hey – we all have to start somewhere.

And here we are. I have a final image. I must say that I am very pleased with what I have. I find it very easy to be self-critical – name one photographer that isn’t – and throughout this project have constantly questioned myself; Is this the right idea? Have I chose the right topic? Am I good enough to do this? Should I have stuck with street photography? Why am I talking to myself……?

I think I have also learnt a lot about this type of photography too. It has certainly made me more appreciative of Crewdson. Sure – you could argue that he has an army of people to set up his locations for him and do his lighting etc. but he still has to have the initial idea, he has to perceive the first vision in his head of what he wants to portray. It may be why he is so meticulous when he on set. He know exactly to the millimetre how something should look because he has already seen it in his vision of the scene.

Going into my shoot, I had a vision of what I wanted my picture to look like and now, seeing the final version, it’s 99% spot on (it would have 100% but I hadn’t factored for a security light in the car park being brighter than the sun!). Getting to use a Hasselblad medium format camera was a blessing too. The picture quality is beyond expectation. (I’ll happily take a free one Hasselblad in return for this free advertising!)

Would I do this type of picture again? Absolutely. Definitely. In a New York minute. That’s not to say I would cheat on my first love of course! My first love will always be street photography but there is an overwhelming sense of achievement when working in this type of environment. Street photography gives you that hit of adrenalin when you are surrounded by people and the everyday but working on a landscape piece such as this is almost intoxicating. You have a this enormous blank canvas to work with and you control (almost) everything within it. I think I can understand why artists such as Crewdson and Jeff Wall et al. relish working with this form of photography. Every single item in the viewfinder is within your control. It is a mixture of still life and landscape photography coming together to make something truly incredible. What I wouldn’t give to be on set to see Crewdson at work…..

All I have to do is find someone with his mobile phone number….

Anyone?

“Meanwhile…at stately Wayne Manor….

….Wayne contemplates how to write this blog entry…”

Hello chums! Long time, no update. Apologies for that. But I’m back and with a new post. And this post is all about leftovers. Not of the food kind (mmm…food….) but of the photographic kind. I’ll explain…

At the end of my last college term, we were given a project about location photography and the highs and lows, the pitfalls and successes of shooting on location. One of the first locations was the rather grand building you see above. Sadly not Wayne Manor – however when those lottery numbers come up, you can be sure I’ll be writing a cheque for some palatial pile of bricks with numerous bedrooms and a marble bathroom with a heated toilet seat!

The building above is Witley Court, built in 1655 by Thomas Foley and later home to the Earl of Dudley. It’s current and rather dilapidated state is thanks to a fire in 1937 that started in the bakery of the house.

At the time of the fire, the owner of the house at the time, Sir Herbert Smith, only kept a skeleton staff and they heroically tried to put out the fire using a pump that was connected to the grand fountain.

However, this did not work as the pump had not been maintained for quite some time. The fire gutted only one wing of the house but the insurance company declined the claim to cover for the damage so Sir Herbert had to sell the property.

However, in its current state, the estate was not worth as much as Sir Herbert thought it was so it was divided up and sold in various lots. The house was gutted and left an empty shell. Everything of any value from Witley Court, including the marble chimney-pieces, the heavy plate-glass from the conservatory, statues that had adorned the gardens, and all the roof materials, were sold off. Dangerously close to demolition, a guardianship order was imposed on the estate in 1972 and, since 1984, the estate has been in the care of English Heritage.

They embarked on plans for restoration of the property with one of the first items being the Perseus & Andromeda fountain that still stands & this has now been restored to full working order.

Also in the grounds of the estate, but not managed by English Heritage, is Great Witley Church which survived the fire and is now fully restored. The church sits on the northwest corner of the house and is considered to be one of the finest Italian Baroque churches in Britain.

As for me, this location exercise was not only to get used to working on location but also to get shots of the house and grounds for use in a later stage of the location photography brief – to make English Heritage more attractive to a younger audience. Apart from pushing the social media angle – who wouldn’t love a tweet or a poke from a burnt out ruin? – I thought that I should look at other options and from researching stately homes, it became clear that many of these estates cater for weddings. According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2012, not only did 60% of all marriages took place in hotels, stately homes and historic buildings but the greatest number of marriages were for men and women between the ages of 25 and 29 years of age.

As the grounds of Witley Court have been restored and Great Witley Church is also within the estate, it made sense to follow this angle. On their website, English Heritage has already put into place the option for holding a wedding at some of their properties but not at Witley Court so after a bit of editing and Photoshopping here and there, I put together this mock-up for advertising for weddings at Witley Court –

As a first forage into location photography, it was a good exercise. And it was a glorious day to take photographs too. Witley Court and its surrounding gardens provide a stunning backdrop from which to get great location shots. I can image if you were a fashion photographer, this would be a terrific scene to shoot for editorial work for example.

 Planning is everything and although this particular day was somewhat pre-planned for us, it still pays to do your research.  So if I can give you, my lovely subscribers, any advice, it would be just that – plan, plan plan!!

Even if the place you’re going is just a pile of old bricks….

“We got stars directing our fate…Seleniuuummmm!!!”

 

Ok, so it’s not the EXACT lyrics to the song but not many words rhyme with Selenium so waddya gonna do?

Anyway chums, I’ve taken the foil off the photography cake, poked it to see if it’s still fresh (and it is), got the plates ready and am ready to serve up another slice of “Darkroom Vs. Digital”.

If you recall, in Part 1 we delved deep into cyanotypes, cross processing, infrared, tilt & shift and finished off with a smattering of diptych & triptych (it still sounds funny when you say it out loud!). If you’re reading this wondering what I’m talking about, well shame on you for not reading Part 1. Take a good hard look at your life and when you’re done, CLICK HERE and take a good hard look at Part 1. And then come back. And all will be forgiven. And you can have some more cake. Mommy loves you really…

So chums, lets start. Take your plate and I’ll give you a slice of gum bichromate. Mmmm….gum…..

Sounds all ‘chemically’ doesn’t it – ‘gum bichromate’…like you’d only find it on the back of a shampoo bottle or tube of toothpaste, hidden away amongst the other ingredients like fluoride and Phenofloxisetaloxabutanollythingy. Oh look – there is it…(apologies for the rather obvious edit!)

Here comes the science…

Gum Bichromate is a light sensitive chemical that can be printed on a variety of papers and other surfaces. Development of an image can take anything up to 30 minutes depending on the UV light source. After one layer has dried, the paper may be re-coated and exposed again.

The digital version of course, needs no exposure to UV – just a few clicks and tweeks from our old sparing partner Photoshop and ta-dah…a digital gum bichromate in just a few minutes.

Here’s my offering..

Have you finished your slice of gum bichromate? Or are you still chewing? No worries. You can wash it down with a nice glass of liquid emulsion…

Ah, liquid emulsion. What can I say that hasn’t already been said….?

What do mean “everything?”

Oh yes, that’s right. I haven’t said anything yet have I? Silly me…

Well, before you start jumping to conclusions and thinking it’s just a fancy name for a tin of paint for the back bedroom, it’s not. It’s a little bit more sophisticated.

In the photography world it is almost the same kind of emulsion you get on ordinary photography paper, but in a liquid form. So by using this way, it allows it to be painted on various different surfaces. Clever eh?

In the digital world, Mr Photoshop once again comes to your rescue if you don’t have access to the real thing. The same effect can be imposed onto various objects that in the real world, would take one hell of a lot of painting!

Move over Picasso, here’s my Photoshop liquid emulsion –

Now that’s what I call ‘vintage’. Take that Urban Outfitters !!

Oh..I see your plate is empty. Have some more of this luscious photography cake. Tuck in to this delicious piece of Polaroid lift…

What is a Polaroid lift?  Well it’s not the name for the new model of Stannah stair lift that’s for sure…

It’s actually a really cool photographic technique, which involves soaking a Polaroid picture in hot water so that its top layer lifts off the backing paper. The layer can then be stretched and manipulated by hand into different shapes and then transferred onto another surface or other piece of paper.

There is a downside though. If you’ve taken a picture of a loved one or a family member, they are not going to like seeing themselves all distorted and bent out of shape in the new Polaroid lift…

Anyway, the digital Polaroid lift allows you to be a little more delicate with your distortion and a little bit more sensitive to your subject. Here is my digital effort –

 

We’re getting close to finishing this cake chums. There is only one slice left. I’m full so I think you should have it. After all, you’re the guest. Give me your plate and you can finish off with this slice of selenium.

Selenium you ask? Yes, selenium. ‘Selenium’ by L’Oréal.

No I’m joking!

Selenium is a toner used in black & white photography that was created to increase the life of photographic prints and reduce fading. It gives an image a purple, brownish tone. It does this by attaching itself to the silver particles in this image.

And yes, you’ve guessed it, Dame Photoshop of Adobe has bestowed upon us the gift of a digital equivalent and here is my offering –

Phew…that feast was hard going wasn’t it? Thanks for coming over and sharing this photography cake with me. I really couldn’t have eaten it all by myself. And don’t worry about that washing up. I’ll do it later.

Shall I call you a taxi or do you want to open these Street Photography cookies?

No colours any more, I want them to turn black…

…..or cyanotype….or gum bichromate…..or infrared….or even solarised…..

No chums, I haven’t been at the absinthe or smelling the ether…..They are merely descriptions of various photographic techniques you can use either digitally or manually to create fantastical and wondrous images.

I’d better explain myself….

So there I am, sitting in my college class when my tutors introduce a new topic with the heading “Darkroom vs. Digital”. At first thought, I was thinking it was the latest Pay Per View on Sky Sports, but no – it was a different battle. A war between the paint and the pixel; the computer and the chemical; Steve Jobs & Bill Gates vs Edward Steichen & William Henry Fox Talbot…(although that last battle would have needed one hell of a team of doctors, some witchcraft and a tremendous amount of portable heaters).

So this topic was to find out which method was the best, which one could cut it, which would stand the test of time. The process would involve testing technology against alchemy and then standing back to admire the result. In the red corner, good old reliable Photoshop; maker of worlds, rescuer of blemishes, saviour of over exposures. In the blue corner, many concoctions of various (dangerous and sometimes noxious) chemicals, painted on blank paper and left in the sun…

There are quite a few processes to tell you about so I’m splitting these posts into two parts. Rather like an enormous photography cake. You would be quite sick if you eat the whole cake in one sitting and quite frankly, I’m not cleaning up your mess half way through, so here are the first few slices….

Lets start with a slice of cyanotype.

So what is it? Cyanotype is a mixture of ferric ammonium citrate & potassium ferricyanide (wow, look at me being all sciencey!) and mixed together. When painted onto something like water-colour paper and exposed to UV rays, it produces a strong blue image. This image is my Photoshop equivalent.

Next, let me tell you about cross processing. Not to be confused with cross dressing. Or cross contamination. Or even Criss Cross, the short-lived, pint-sized 80’s rap duo…..

Cross processing is the procedure of deliberately processing a certain type of film in a chemical solution intended for another type of film. Yes. You read it right. Deliberately. Now, before you start doing this –

the process is intentional because it produces unpredictable and interesting combinations of colours. Like this –

That’s cross processing. Pretty cool eh? I would imagine those of you familiar with Instagram (or “Instagramers” I believe you like to be called) are high-fiving each other right at this very minute….

Next, I’m going to peel back the curtains and let you into the world of infrared. Turns out, infrared isn’t just for the likes of MI6 and the C.I.A. You can use it to take some quite fantastic photographs! The human eye cannot see infrared so when you use it in photography, you open up a while new world, new colours that you would otherwise miss.

Here’s my offering –

BTW – he’s not laughing at you…rather than “with” you…

If I said to you “tilt and shift”, would you lean to one side and then move out of the way? Probably. But if you know your photographic terminology, you would know that I’m talking about the process that mimics miniaturisation. Some call it the “toy town” effect. But it gives you much more that just some fancy toys in your picture. It gives you some really quite good shallow depth of field effects too.

Now if you know your lenses, you will know that some tilt / shift lenses are V.Expensive but thanks to your old friend Photoshop, the effect can be replicated digitally and at a fraction of the cost. And now even smartphones are getting in on the act. Here’s my digital delectation –

A miniature Birmingham. Like a little toy town. Not sure if Noddy and Big Ears would get the same reception if they moved here though!

My last slice of this rapidly melting cake of part one deals with the somewhat comically named diptych & triptych. Now before you ask, they are not Slovenia’s entry for Eurovision 2015. Or indeed are they a couple of breeding Chinese pandas. I’ll explain..

A ‘diptych’ is a presentation of two images that have something in common or tell a story with their imagery. A ‘triptych’ is a presentation of three images that do the same. Simple. What’s that? You want an example? Oh, go on then….

A ‘diptych..’

And a ‘triptych..’

So there we are. Are you full? I certainly am. I couldn’t manage another bite. I’ll wrap the rest of the cake in foil and we’ll have the rest later. There’s quite a lot left. There’s some gum bichromate, liquid emulsion, Polaroid lifts and a bit fat piece of selenium!

But for now, I’ll settle for a cup of tea. I think it’s your turn to put the kettle on…..