Selective processing and prominence

So far no consideration has been given to post processing techniques and how they fit in with making people or place less or more prominent in an image.

I chose a photograph I took on one of my many photowalks for this section of the course and set about making the figures seem either more or less prominent in the frame.

For the post processing I used a Photoshop software and some very basic tools.  Firstly I selected the background and made adjustments to only that.  I increased the exposure and brightness of the background which made the figures stand out more.

I have read about the controversial opinions of post processing and purists believe it’s not part of the art of photography but if it makes the difference between a good photo and a great photo then surely the end result is what matters regardless of the process.

Balancing figure and space

I chose these photographs from two previous exercises to demonstrate how to control the balance of attention between figure and space.

In this photograph 1 the eye is drawn to the figure but in Photograph two the eye is focussed more on the landscape.  Both figures are in similar positions and both facing away from the camera although the balance of attention is different.

Photograph 1:

Photograph 2:

What makes the figure in photograph one hold more attention it’s his contrast in colours making git stand out more than the space around it.  However, the figure in photograph 2, struggles to take attention away from the landscape with its more muted tones.

Making figures anonymous

Anonymous figures can be used in an otherwise static image of subjects such as landscapes.  Using a figure that doesn’t stand out as the main part of the image can do one of two things, bring the place to life and give an idea of the scale of the landscape.

There are many ways to make a figure anonymous, that is unrecognisable as an individual, by using silhouettes, using many small figures, facing away, partly obscured or even blurring the motion of the person.

In this image, most of the persons face is obscured but also the clothing colours are neutral making the landscape the main feature of the image.  If the figure had been wearing red, for instance, the viewers eye would be drawn straight to the person.

Busy Traffic

Trying to find a scenario where there is busy foot traffic in a place that allows photography isn’t as easy as first thought.  I went out into town but I looked odd with my camera and felt uneasy as people were staring and being confrontational.  I didn’t have time to think about what I was shooting and ended up with a very unsatisfying set of images.

I then decided to try a local event where it wouldn’t seem odd to be pointing a camera at a group of people and despite the fact it was a children’s event I was able to give thought and consideration to what I wanted to achieve.

I found a composition I was happy with which showed a lot of children competing in a sports day which also had the Ironbridge pots in the background to give a sense of where we were.

Although you can see parents scattered about and children lined up, this particular image doesn’t clearly show the activity taking place.  When I found this pleasing composition it was the last race and I was adjacent to the start but the children have raced to the finish line away from me.  If I’d known it was the last race I would have been more prepared!

What I like about this image is the formation of parents changing, one mum is getting up others are heading for their children, and you can see a line of parents has formed.

4.13 Shiny Surfaces

4.13 Shiny Surfaces

Photographing shiny surfaces or objects presents its own problems as they will reflect what is placed in front of them to varying degrees.  So, if your photographing a shiny surface then it will reflect the camera equipment, the photographer and its surroundings as you will see in the picture below:

This particular object is hiding the camera reflection as it’s split in the middle where the camera would be.  The tripod legs can be seen, myself, the windows of the room and some artifacts.  If I was photographing a metal plate without any gaps then the camera would be visible too.

To overcome the reflection problem I made a large cone out of tracing paper with one end the same size as the lens and the other end larger than the subject so it’s not in view.  I placed the cone over the lens and encompassed the sunglasses.   Keeping the same composition the results are below:

All reflections are eliminated leaving the shiny surface clear.  You can see a slight line in the right lens which is actually the results of how I constructed the cone.  I didn’t have any tracing paper big enough so I sellotaped six A3 sheets together to make the cone.  This line in the right sunglasses lens is where the tracing paper is taped together.

This composition works for this subject because of the break in the middle as discussed earlier.  Using a different composition could result in the lens being visible even with the tracing paper present:

As you can see in this image, the change in composition has revealed the camera lens.  In some circumstances such as the example of using a metal plate, changing composition won’t eradicate the lens reflection.  If this happens then sometimes the only option is to add another object to hide the reflection.

Although the tracing paper was fiddly to construct into a cone and at times frustrating the results were worth all the effort.