Hanging.

This week we've gone back to continue progressing on with our first 3 weeks work. We learnt how we should hang work. The best positions, heights and the reasoning that goes with it.

Measuring the height of photos in relation
to wall space to work out distancing.

Using a LED spirit level to make sure the
work is hung in a straight line.

We spent time deciding how high to hang the images and the best heights for audience viewing to do with eye level etc. We then decided in terms of light that lights each wall which images should be positioned where and what goes next to each other in terms as narrative and tones.

After this we spent a considerable amount of time choosing pairs of images to be hung together. We decided upon this by looking at tonal qualities within images, comparisons of depths of fields and narratives and so on.

I'd never hung my own work before so didn't really know what was expected of me and the best way to go about the process so in this respect I found this lab very helpful.
It opened my eyes to not only the different ways of hanging, for example, using bull dog clips and nails or using glass headed pins. It also showed me all the different elements that need to be considered such as lengths of images and average eye height for people.

Copying.

This week we learnt about the process of Copying and the reasons behind it. We brought in items that meant something to us or related to our identity to copy.

We had to test the lighting with a light metre in order to make that the light was the same strength from both lights and flashes.

Adjusting the shutter speed to
match the light metre. 

Once we had done this we placed our items on on a board on the floor in order to keep the background the same. 

Arranging objects to be
photographed.

We photographed all of our objects but as we didn't have a macro lens they weren't as precise as they could have been and as were wanted. This however could be changed in the editing process.

I think this process is a useful one to learn about and will be helpful to know about for potential future experiences. 

Inspirations for Alice in Wonderland shoot.

Tim Walker.

Tim Walker's work has had an impact on me since I've started studying photography. I find his work innovative and expressive. He thinks about things in a way others fail to. 

The image below I feel has connotations towards Alice in Wonderland. The table connotes the Mad Hatters tea party and the items in the tree when Alice falls down the rabbit hole and is surrounded by falling objects.

INSIDE/OUT, Tim Walker 2008

More recent work I've seen of Tim Walker's also leads my mind towards thinking about Alice in Wonderland.

Lindsey Wixon, Northumberland, 2011 Italian Vogue

Lindsey Wixon, Northumberland, 2011 Italian Vogue

The 2 images above make me think of the part of in the story where Alice drinks a formula and becomes larger than life, stuck inside a house.

There are also deeper meanings behind the narrative that aren't visible to the eye. These include the idea of time, imagination/fantasy and the difference between reality and make believe. 

Pinhole Photography continued.

For our second Pinhole workshop we were told to construct an image around a narrative e.g. a book, film or a song. Our first idea was Snow white. This would have been a good idea as we could have all taken part, but then realised there wouldn't been enough of us for the seven dwarfs. So our idea changed to Alice in Wonderland. I thought this was a good narrative to try and represent as it is a well known story and there are lots of things that would make it easy to represent, for example:

• The White Rabbit
• Alice
• Playing cards/the queen of hearts
• Cheshire Cat
• Mad Hatter's tea party/tea cups

These were some of the things that we would use in our photo of Alice in Wonderland. Our shoot was more influenced by the recent film remake.

I was pleased with the outcome we achieved from only one photo. The weather was changeable so it was luck to get it right at the right time. 

In the end we only chose to have 3 people in the shot as we didn't want to overcomplicate the shot, sometimes simple is better. 

After we had set up the light was quite bright so it needed a shorter exposure than we originally thought. 

1 minute 40 second exposure.

The photo above shows our final image as a negative. 

Justin Quinnell

capercaille and fag. 

3 months in the death of Blance, Grace and Dorcus.

http://www.pinholephotography.org/

Pinhole Photography.

For the second week of image lab pinhole photographer Justin Quinnell came in to give us a pinhole workshop.

I had previously done a workshop with Justin. The last time I worked with him I made smaller scale cameras using beer can.

   

Large pinhole,
30 second exposure.

Small pinhole,
13 minute exposure. 

360° pinhole,  
short exposure.

The photos above are our first 3 pinhole photos as a group. They were mainly experiments due to the weather and the fact they were all different sized and kinds of pinhole cameras so their exposures were all different.  From these test photos we were able to adjust the exposure times to go out and create our own images. 

My group got given the long exposure pinhole camera to take our own photo with and got told to expose it for 7 minutes. 

Subject for photo.

We thought it would be quite an interesting subject to photograph, as there are so many different pieces that make up a bike. We decided to expose our pinhole for 8 minutes as we didn't think 7 would be enough. 

Final image.

When we processed the photo it turned out that it was still under exposed in places even though we added an extra minute of exposure. This was because the longer we left it the poorer the lighting conditions became meaning that a longer exposure time would be needed. However, I am pleased with the image that we produced seeing as it was our first attempt at this kind of photography. I also think that the trees and building in the skyline (which you can't see very clearly from the image above) were exposed perfectly and came out very detailed. 

Breakfast, Justin Quinnell.

Wet Collodion Photography.

Our first day of image lab was spent learning how to create photographs using the 1851 wet collodion process. 

I had never attempted to use this process before, nor had i ever been shown how it worked which meant it was a completely new process of photography for me. 

I found the process to be very delicate which required a lot of time and concentration. If one of the stages wasn't done properly or if it took too long to complete then your image may not work correctly. 

I think the way the process produces such clear and detailed photos is what adds beauty to this process. Personally I think it looks as if the person in the portrait is almost jumping out of the glass and I get that feeling even though our image wasn't perfectly clear. 

To finish off the process and to make the image more presentable we will at a later date paint the back of the glass black so that the photo becomes clearer to view.

Sisters, Robert J Szabo

http://www.robertszabo.com/

The wet collodion process is also taken into account by some writers when assessing the affects of new digital technologies on photography and the photographs produced.

I found this small insight into the Wet Collodion process an interesting one and would in the future like to try it out again with more time and better subjects as I feel it is an art that is worth learning how to do successfully.