first photoshoot

For the first photo shoot i am going to take the camera around the marina areas as this area most intrigues me.

Comparing rural landscape to urban landscape photography

Comparing two types of landscape photography

When i think of landscape i think of vast areas of rural land with little or no man made objects such as houses etc, and for the most part landscape photography is just that, but there is however other types of landscape photography. Such as urban landscape photography. 

Rural landscape examples:

Above you can see there is little visible representations of human life, there is vast amounts of greenery and sky/clouds. This images was shot by Nikola Runev.

This is an image by Paul Mannix. I like how there is something close to the screen, right in the foreground, i also like the separation of colours between the golden tones and the greens. 

Urban landscape photography examples:

Both of the images bellow were taken by Mike Curry, and the locations were all within Yorkshire. 

This images above are of Drax power plant in Yorkshire. There is an obvious mix between man made objects and rural landscapes i really like the strong contrast in both of the image above. 

Evaluation

Evaluation

My concept behind the images i captured for this project was to show something that best represents the urban life in Hartlepool, and for me this was always going to be the marina or areas surrounding the marina. Although this may come across like i'm stereotyping Hartlepool and i am well aware of the other attractions around Hartlepool I still felt that the marina played a massive part in a lot of peoples way of life there. 

Factors that influenced me whilst deciding what to take photographs of in Hartlepool were a mix of knowledge of the area and what is most known about Hartlepool and having visited Hartlepool marina a lot as a child and always liking that area. I also was not too keen on just getting images of buildings within Hartlepool because having seen a lot of photographers who take urban landscape images take photos of buildings i wanted to capture something different.

I believe my final outcome does meet the requirements of the brief due to the fact it is a urban landscape of the area within Hartlepool. I also believe it isn't the norm picturesque landscape image, the kind of image you think of when thinking of landscapes. 

 I think if i was to improve my work i would have taken the time to get to know the new equipment a lot more. As i was not familiar with the large format camera we used i felt at the start of my project i didn't capture the best images, therefore if i could go back i would have improved the quality of images i was taking by taking a few days to test run the camera and get used to how it works.

I felt for this project i used a lot more of my own knowledge of hartlepool instead of looking at how other urban landscape photographers photographed urban areas due to the fact i had an idea from the start on what i was looking to achieve. 

A new skill that i acquired whilst completing this project was gaining a new understanding for a camera and format i had not previously had the opportunity to experience, also gaining knowledge on a new developing process. Although the process was similar to 35mm it was challenging and insightful.

The most challenging aspect of this project was once again learning how to operate a new camera, and although it was challenging it was useful because it has given me more of an understanding about other cameras and has also given me more camera options when i want shoot some images. 

On reflection despite wishing i had taken a few test rung of the camera i am over all extremely happy with my final images. I found that as i used the camera more i captured better images. The last photoshoot i did i captured 3 of the 5 that i wanted to use as my final images, and were by far the best out of the 12 i did take.

Final 5

Final 5 images

Bellow are my final 5 prints. I am very happy with how they have turned out.

All images.

All images

Bellow i have included all of the images i have taken throughout this project:

Dark room process

New dark room process

For the previous film project using 35mm we used the chemical process in trays whilst enlarging, but for this project we used a slightly different process. 

Enlarging

Step one 

The first step involved us enlarging the images just the same as the previous film project the only difference was that we used a slightly bigger enlarger so that we could achieve the 12x16 prints we wanted for this project. 

Chemical process

Step two

The next and final step is the chemical process.

Instead of using the trays containing developer, stop and fix we got to use a machine that does all of the above and also brings the image out dry upon completion. This was a massive time saver although i did miss being able to see the image come to life in front of you. But for this project how convenient and quick the machine is it really helped with this project as taking the photographs themselves involved a long process which in some cases did not leave a whole lot of time for the enlarging process.

Last photo shoot

Last photo shoot

Today i went out with Elle. I had a couple more photographs to take until i reached my 10 however, to be certain as i knew my last photographs were not as good as they could be i decided to do 4 instead of 2 and, i am glad i did. I captured some of my best work from the large format camera with this shoot, minus a slight fog on one of my negatives. 

The images showed great detail in the clouds and waves in the water, this looked really good when they are  printed (as i found out through printing the final contact sheets).

I will scan and upload the finished negatives soon.

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!