Nicola Callaghan's Photography (North East England UK): January 2015

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Portrait - 20 x 24 Image(s)

These are the two images I decided to print as my big exhibition pieces, sized 20x24 paper with borders on both. I used these images for my smaller 9.5x12 also.

(excuse shine on top image, it's in a sleeve)

Portrait - Black & White Film - Depth of Field

For my 3 small black and white photos I had to use three different depths of field, where one was completely in focus (person and background), the next the foreground was in focus but the background was somewhat blurry, not quite clear enough to see detail or what it was but that there was a visible enough background (person in focus, background a bit blurry) and lastly this photo the person was in focus but the background was completely blurred.
For the 1st photo I took, where everything was in focus, I set the F-stop to f/22 (thought the man is slightly out as he moved). Notice the background is in focus and clearly visible as to what it is.

The second photo I took, where the background isn't so clear, I set it to f/11.

The last photo I took I set it to f/5.6, which is supposed to completely blur out the background and only keeps the person in focus.

Here is some literature from Cambridge in Colour, the link is below;
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm
Here is another link for some advice and a read up on depth of field from Digital Camera World;
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/07/17/what-is-depth-of-field-how-aperture-focal-length-and-focus-control-whats-sharp/

Thursday, 22 January 2015

Portrait - 22/1/15 3rd shoot (Black and White)

As most of my photos hadn't worked out due to various reasons, i.e, not quite in focus (because people have moved or I haven't focussed it properly), the exposure isn't quite right and even one case were the image, I think, might have worked but it got dropped in the 'stop' tank before being put in the developer, so it became ruined. I had two films ready in the negative holder, so I took out a 5x4 field camera, light meter reader, loop to check focus, a cloth to help block out the light whilst focussing and a tripod.
I set up the camera in the same spot as my first shoot, which was outside the Art Gallery, that is a converted former church. I placed it in front of the entrance as I wanted it to match my other image I took and to try and get it fairly symmetrical also. A friend from Uni helped me with the shoot, reminded me how to set up and use the light reader. I wanted it to work as the other shots, in my opinion, especially in the first shoot, should have worked a lot better than they had because everything was done right that I recall and I had someone there as well to help me and we matched up the light meter reading with the camera, set that up correct however something can't have been right or worked as not all the photos worked. The same happened with the second shoot as one of those images was dropped in the stop tank so I don't seem to have too much luck. This third time I did everything correct, with help, and the first photo seems to have worked pretty well which I am pleased with but on the other hand unfortunately my second image I wasn't so lucky. Through an amateur mistake in the rush of it all and just basically happy that the gentleman we asked was happy enough for me to take the photo I forgot to close the lens before pulling out the slide to take the photo. This resulted in an image were there is a visible mark across the bottom and I think it may have been salvageable though through putting the dark slide back over the film to cover it and protect it from being exposed to the light, so I could close the lens I knocked the camera slightly, as it was a little loose, which made the top of the image blurry and unusable. I am disappointed with this as I think the photo would have been a good one to print, and the man even confessed he used to develop photos himself and has always been interested with photography.

Thursday, 8 January 2015

Portrait - 4/12/14 1st Group Critique - 20 x 24 photo

After I printed for the first time, the same day, we did our group critique for our 20 x 24 photos. We all sat around the table and went through a few people's photographs in general, just as everyone got to see each others' work for the first time all together. After the initial start we began by pairing up and writing a little about each others photos. We then proceeded to go around and talk about each one individually around the classroom, were the teachers would prompt us as they may, for example, mention something about the image then people would speak up on what they thought about it. There all were really good photos and everyone enjoyed each others photos, which I think helped boost people's confidence over it as some weren't too sure over their photos. A few of the group had taken the shot in front of a brick wall, making quite a lot of them with a very similar, if not the same background and this was pointed out by one of our lecturers. I do like the brick wall as a background and it is quite a popular choice for photographers, especially I'd say for fashion shots as well as using studios. It can create a great background and even contrast. The contrast being the models wearing these high fashion, expensive items of clothing at the backdrop of a simple but effective red brick wall. There is also something about it, it adds a form of grittiness and grunge/dirt look to the photo, it makes the contrast more dramatic. Over all it was actually quite fun as we even made a few stories up about some images. We looked at the images and said what we thought the person, or people, either did as a living, what they would do in their lives, their past or where they have just been or are going to. We tried to guess the information by simply just looking at the photo and trying to work out what the information could be from these photos. How have they been photographed, why? What do they portray across the image? How has the photographer decided to shoot the person/people?

Portrait - 2nd time shooting.

For the second time shooting, I went with Donna and we just stayed inside and shot in the main entrance area, reception part of the building, as the weather was't that great outside. We set up facing a wall, that at that time had drawings on the walls as Illustration had displayed there work by actually using the walls as their canvas. I chose to have this as it was't just a plain wall and was something different to use as a background. I took two shots of the same person as I stood him under a light that was coming from the ceiling, therefore the light was directed straight down on him, which wasn't quite enough however I thought I would try this, as thought it wasn't quite enough light although looks okay on the negative, when I developed the film and could see this. Nonetheless at the time I was unaware but just incase took another shot this time using the hand held flash. This seemed to be slightly too bright and overall I wasn't too happy with the outcome of either of these two shots, most likely because it was inside and didm't match up to the ones I had taken outside of the church. I did take a third photo though this was damages/destroyed as it was dropped in the stop tank whilst developing (not by me) and therefore could not be used.

Portrait - Technical Theory, camera used, method and technique.

One of the Cameras I am using for this project is a 5x4 field camera. I am using this for my black and white portrait shots of strangers, as my brief asks. Along with this equipment I am using a light meter reader to see what setting is best for the ISO and camera shutter speed. To help you see through the lens, especially on a bright day, there is a black cloth to put over your head and camera to block out the light allowing you to seed clearly, as he last picture demonstrates. Before I take the image I manually focus, set the ISO, the camera shutter speed and close the lens once I am ready to shoot. I then proceed to open the back section and place my dark slide in, which contains my film. After I am happy with everything and I have checked my settings I then proceed to remove a thin part that covers over the film. I then pull back the silver mechanism, which you can see on this first picture (just to the left of the square) the after having done this first I click back another smaller, silver mechanism to actually take the photo.

The two images above don't belong to me and are found on the link below;
http://kenichiosuga.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/toyo-field-45aii.html
Another front view of the camera when it is pulled forward.

The image doesn't belong to me and can be found on the link below;
https://www.edwardmoss.co.uk/news/entry/5x4_toyo_film_camera/

Monday, 5 January 2015

Portrait - 1st time printing for this project

I went back into the dark room for the first time since the last project which was Landscapes where we used a 5 x 4 camera with black and white film, which we are also using in this project too. I got all my equipment and started to print on the enlarger known as a deveer, as this is the one I needed to use due to having 5 x 4 film. The other smaller enlargers wouldn't have allowed me to print 20 x 24 either. I had a few little hiccups at first but that was mainly, if not entirely, because of memory. I just had to get back into the swing of things. I only had one decent photo to use/ work with really, which was the old man outside the church with his eyes closed. I was able to do a contact sheet of this and another photo I took of a girl, in front of the church, in the same spot. Of the older man image I was able to print a 9.5 x 12 photo as well as the 20 x 24 print out that we have to do. Both turned out pretty well and I am pleased with them as I think both look good and that I have managed to get the timing right on the enlarger. I had to try a few times to get the right amount of seconds for the gentleman in front of the church shot as it was either too light to begin with then ended up slightly too dark. I used the contact bored first and did those then printed my 9.5 x 12 and printed the 20 x24 last as I waited for the bigger bored to be able to do so with the larger paper. These images below are the test strips I did.

Sunday, 4 January 2015

Portrait - 27/11/14 First shoot 5x4 Black and white film (& two contacts done)

Today I went out and shot 3 images first. I chose to go in front of the church, which is now converted to an art gallery and information centre, that is right outside of our main building. I decided to shoot towards the front of the entrance facing the doors as I liked the look of the detail in the architecture but also so it was symmetrical on either side of where I asked the people to stand after already setting up the camera to the settings that I needed, with help, and checking the focus on one of my classmates that I went out to shoot with, then double checking when the person I asked stood in the spot. After taking the photos I went to develop the negatives in the processing room. The developer was 19 degrees which me and Donna put the film in for 13 minutes, which Grant did just previously, then stop for 30 seconds and fixer for 5 minutes. We do all this in pitch black darkness. First before even taking any pictures on the film you have to load it in the neg holders in the dark to be able to use in the camera then, again, in pitch black you have to take them out and put them onto metal holders to then place those in a metal rack and use this in the 3 chemical tanks to develop, stop and fix your image on to the film. Only after this are you able to open the sealed light tight door and see if your photos have worked. Once you have developed your photos you then proceed to wash them for around five minutes and then place them to dry.
These 2 negatives (and their contact sheets below) from the first shoot are the ones that worked best and the third didn't come out at all, I think it must have been exposed to light at some point.

Portrait - David Bailey

David Bailey is another fashion and portrait photographer, like Rankin and also a very well known English photographer who has created iconic photographs over the years which many people are familiar with. Such as his famous photo of Jean Shrimpton, which he photographed many times. He is known for his black and white portraits of celebrities. The majority of his works are close ups of the subject with very few too far below and past the shoulders. Like mentioned, he is well known for black and white photos however he does shoot in colour also, where I think there is good reason too and sometimes within his black and white photographs he will introduce the slightest of colour sometimes, for example by using a red lipstick.
The first image is of Jean Shrimpton and one of his most well known and famous photographs. Also out of his black and white photographs is his other most famous photographs which one are of the Beatles, particularly a certain image of Paul Mccartney and John Lennon, another is of Mick Jagger and is a great example of his style of cropping of a photograph. Michael Caine, which is, again another quite specific image because of the rule of thirds, this image as well he shot again in the sense of he shot Jude Law in nyon the same pose and style. Another good example of his use of rule of thirds and cropping is the portrait of Andy Warhol.
The following photos are all perfect examples of Bailey's cropping style. Apart from the first one they all crop near enough the same, half cut of heads for example. These are all great examples of his earlier work in the 60s. The top image, of Jean Shrimpton, is slightly different to the others, his crop is still tight though in this image as you can notice her hands and elbows are just in the crop, they will have been his border line.