John Schott

John Schott

When i first looked at John Schot's urban landscape work i instantly noticed the grey tones. I liked this because i am used to liking my images to be high i contrast but i think with the urban landscape this works better. I have chosen two of my favourites of his urban landscape work. I like the use of lines and simplistic surroundings in this. It almost draws my attention to the lines opposed to the buildings, sky, ground, cars etc. 

What to take photographs of? initial ideas.

Initial ideas

Initially i wanted to take photographs of buildings or something of that nature, some sort of structure but as the days went on and when i finally went out and looked around hartlepool with a camera, i gravitated towards the marina. I liked the look of the masts on the boats. How many lines were in the image all pointing in the same direction. I think this is really good on photographs when you wan to draw the eye to something or just to the lines themselves. I think this will be good my images as they will be primarily images of boats and that is my main focus point in the image the lines from the masts only add to this.

An additional thing i like about the use of boats is that if i get the water in the shot it reflects the image. 

I have since taken a few more images at the marina and i now know this is what i am basing my project around. 

I think this works also as this is a landscape project within Hartlepool and Hartlepool is well known for it's marina. 

Using the camera

Using the camera

This camera was a type of camera i have never used or had experience with before mainly due to me not having the funds of facilities in college to be able to. I was nervous at first whilst getting a demonstration on how to use it as it looked very complicated but once i got hands on and used it, it seemed to get easier and naturally does get easier the more times i use it.

The first image i took using the large format camera was a picture of courtney outside the college building. We did not know how it came out until the developing process was completed just like 35mm. 

Developing process

As it was our first time using the camera Steven decided he would develop all of our images the first time around, i got everything right with my first image and it did come out okay. When it came time to develop our own images i realised the process was similar to that of the 35mm films apart from it was all done in complete darkness not in a light tight container. 

In the dark room there are three square tanks, the first containing the developer the second containing the stop and the third containing the fixer. 

You had to clip the large format film to metal frames that then goes into a metal cage that you can place in the chemicals. Unfortunately you can only develop 12 at a time in these cages.

Depending on the temperature of the developer, the time you process them for cam vary from 7 minutes to 20+. So before you place the cage in the developer you must first check the temperature. 

Once you have you and you've placed the cage into the chemicals. You must agitate the cage for 10 second every minute. Once the negatives have been in the developer for long enough you must then place it into the next chemical. The stop. Similar to the 35mm chemical process you agitate for a fill minute then place it into the next chemical, the fixer. Like the developer you must agitate for 10 seconds every minute for around 5 minutes.

Once the chemical process is complete you cant then take the negatives into the light and rinse them with water for 5-10 minutes and then hang them up to dry.

Robert Adams

Robert Adams

The first photographer i looked up was Robert Adam's i'm going to include two images of his that i liked.

Large format camera

Large format camera

To the left is an example of the kind of large format camera i will be using for this project. We got a talk and were shown how to set up and use these cameras today, we also got shown the development process and even got a chance to take a photo, my first impressions on using this camera isn't bad but i do think the process may take a while to get the shot set up as there is a lot you need to do to make sure the image in right. 

But needless to say i think after knowing a little more about the camera i am excited to take it out properly!

A large format camera takes negatives that are the size 4x5, these are quite large compared the the more commonly known 35mm film that goes into more modern black and white cameras.

Assembling and using the camera

To assemble this camera there is a lot of things to know and remember. You need to attach a lens to the camera that is fixed to a plate. To attach the lens you need to place the bottom end into place and slot it in then pull a leaver down to secure it in place. On the lens there is the shutter, aperture and shutter speed. To zoom you can push or out the middle section of the camera and to focus you can use two knobs that are usually situated at the front of the camera at the bottom of the lens. At the back of the camera you pull a leaver and it opens up a section where you can slot the dark slide that contains your film for the negatives. Before you can reveal your paper you must make sure you have done a light meter reading and set the camera to the right settings and closed the lens to avoid light ruining the paper, you also have to look through the glass at the back to view the image to get the focus and zoom right. To look through the glass to see the image you more often than not need to have a black sheet over your head to stop the sun glaring on the glass. The camera reflects the image backwards and upside down and this can make it a little difficult to see what is in the image is really like. Once you have done this you can cock the shutter and take the image. 

Landscape photography - Hartlepool

Landscape photography

For this new project we are asked to capture the essence of the urban landscape in Hartlepool. For this project we are asked to use large format cameras. We need to produce 10 negatives(5x4) and five final prints (12x16). All developed in the dark room in black and white.

At the start of this project i found that i was a bit skeptical because i have not really dabbled in landscape photography before not as far as having a large knowledge on it, i have only really took landscape images during an art project in my year 12 applied art and design course. But that was not urban landscape it was rural and of countryside. So it is fair to say i am quite out of my depth but i am able and willing to give it my best!