looking at shadows

By sandy | Published: 30/01/2010

As photographers we are primarily concerned with light, but often the most interesting shapes come from the absence of light – the shadows.
We are usually instructed as photographers, that our exposures should be worked out accurately to ensure that we have plenty of shadow detail, but I often find that having a deep shadow, or even a solid black, can give a stronger picture. Using shadows creatively can impart a powerful compositional element, -the black areas give strength to the image.

hand shadowIn the photograph of the hand shadow, they lead the eye into the picture, but at other times they can frame, give scale and often, depth.

Jim BondDeep areas of black don’t necessarily have to be shadows, they can be silhouettes, as in this portrait;

amaryllis and shadowThe way shadows become distorted as they spread over an uneven surface is also very interesting to me and has been a very important element in many of my shots. In this one, the wall was uneven, so the shadow took on a more fluid shape.

Getting a deep black in the shadow area with film could be achieved by underexposing slightly, though I would prefer to expose normally and to increase the blacks during printing by giving a little extra Grade 5 after the ‘normal’ exposure. This would gradually deepen the shadow detail, depending on how much extra exposure you gave it.

I’m planning on covering this printing method in the next blog post on Split Grade Printing.

Boosting up the blacks in Photoshop is a simple matter of moving the left hand slider in ‘levels’ until the chosen density is achieved.

So to be able to spot this king of image, you need to be more aware of the shadows rather than the scene itself. To do this I find that whilst looking at a potential scene, squinting really helps. When you half close your eyes you reduce the light intensity to the point where the darker tones don’t register and appear black. You can then assess the strength of those shapes as regards the composition of the image. Here the shadow falling across the wall from a bay window gives a false perspective to the interior of this shop.

shop shadows

Here are some other examples of pictures where I have employed shadow as a compositional element.

table shadows

railings

plant shadows

Posted in Experimental, General, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Indecision

By sandy | Published: 11/01/2010

I’ve been thinking recently about how I see myself as a photographer/artist and how my students see themselves. They generally downgrade themselves with comments like; ‘I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be shooting this kind of stuff’ ‘Is this ok?’ and ‘I feel like I’ll never be as good as you’. The trouble with this kind of thought is that it keeps the student in a state of indecision and negitivity. How can this progress into ‘I am a photographer and I feel confident in my ability and vision, -look out world, here I come’.

At what point do we morph from indecisive blundering to confident artist? The technical stuff can be learned, but when do you consider you have got to a point where you can hold your poise in a room full of good or great photographers? For myself, I never thought I was good enough, and I used to think that was normal.

I assumed that all other artist photographers felt that their work wasn’t up to standard.

I tried hard, kept learning and trying new techniques, always pushing myself to be better. I mastered various techniques and then moved on to others like I was passing exams. I did nothing with the finished pictures, they just sat in boxes at home. I would occasionally show them to friends, but never thought they were good enough for anything else.

Then I was pushed into taking my work around various galleries and publishers in London by my just recently acquired first wife.

She booked a coach and arranged for us to stay in a cheap hotel, I looked up a few galleries and publishers and we travelled down for a few days. From that visit I got a few prints in a group show in a small gallery.

Chimneys, Rotcher, Holmfirth.

The boost that gave me created a greater urge to improve and learn, so I applied myself to a greater degree, but I didn’t try to be a commercial photographer or earn money from it, because I never saw myself as ‘qualified’ yet.

I was eventually persuaded by a good friend to enter the world of commercial photography and so I began to tout my folio around advertising and design agencies. By this time I had been doing photography seriously for eight years.

I couldn’t compete with the big boys because I didn’t have a big studio and at that time I had very little equipment. The work I was offered was often dull or pointless and I found myself working for people who were visually illiterate and who also had no respect for photography. They also ripped me off on many occasions, so I eventually pulled out of that area of photography and made money by doing non photographic work; Builders labourer, furniture removals, postman, lorry driver. I even worked on a pig farm, though that only lasted two days, as the smell was overpowering.

I can say with all honesty, that each day I worked in these various trades I was thinking to myself that I wasn’t meant to do this, I should be doing photography. I knew I was in the wrong place and I knew I was wasting valuable photography time. This convinced me that photography was my calling, I had to take it more seriously and to see myself in a different way. Once I stopped seeing myself as a bumbling amatuer who happened to have a few strong shots, and to re-brand myself as someone who had a mission to be part of the real world of photography (at least the part of it that my style of photography fitted into), things really started to take off. I wasn’t snapping away, waiting to see if it came out, I was really thinking about how I saw things, actively looking many times a day in all situations for potential images which I felt were all around.

Colander, eggs

Some of the strongest images in my portfolio were taken in those years. My life was busier than it had ever been, with three small children to look after and a gallery to run, but I was on fire! That simple change in my perception of myself and my work improved my output in a really profound way.

Dad's lily

When my students have achieved a certain level of ability I tell them to see themselves as photographers, not students, even if they are still in the education system. I believe that self belief is crucial to your personal development. Not a deluded kind of self belief which shouts from the rooftops, but a sense that you are on a mission to produce something of value to the world.

Posted in General, Lecturing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Snow scenes again -the images.

By sandy | Published: 30/12/2009

I have been out on a number of occasions since writing the last post. Some of the films are processed, but not all. We have had days when I could get to my darkroom and lots of days when I could not. I have had to scan the negatives to show the results here, but intend to print them at some point on high contrast matt FB paper, as I think this will really suit the look of them. Hopefully, they will look like pen and ink drawings.

Untitled-5

Untitled-6

Untitled-7

Untitled-11

Posted in 35mm, Darkroom, cameras, landscape, processing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Snow scenes again

By sandy | Published: 21/12/2009

It’s almost a year since I started this blog and one of the first articles I wrote was about shooting in the snow on Ortho film (See ‘High contrast snow scenes’, Feb ‘09). I also wrote another article on achieving higher contrast by altering the film ISO and increasing the development time (see ‘Flexible film’ October 2009).

After doing the tests on these films I had a result which I was eager to take further, unfortunately the snow went rather suddenly and I could do no more (The images used in the October article were shot at the same time as the ortho tests in Feb). Here in the UK we have had heavy snow again and I’ve been wanting to continue my tests.

I like the effect of having black shapes floating in a white space, the images are abstract, but recognisable. Here’s one from last time;

square field

I prefer overcast days with white skies for this kind of shot, there are no strong shadows to distract from the forms.

To get high contrast the trick is to over process the film so that the heavily exposed areas become black on the film. The exposure is determined by an incident reading to ensure that the large areas of white don’t influence the meter too much.

With the Delta 100 film I rated it at 800 ISO and doubled its development time in Ilfotec DDX diluted one to four. The resulting negatives print well on a normal grade of paper, but will give more tonal separation if printed on a hard grade.

I’ll be going out tomorrow with the Delta 100 loaded, but this time I’m planning on shooting with a long lens so that I can pick out shapes in the distance and reduce the angular distortions that come with wider lenses. This hopefully will add to the abstraction.

We’ve not had great snow here for around twenty years, so this has been a great opportunity to add to my snow scenes. I’m going to continue with the high contrast shots on 35mm Delta 100, but I’ll also be taking other snow landscapes on medium format loaded with HP5 rated at 200 to give a beautiful long tonality.

This is a 35mm shot from 1983 (I think).
snowy gate

Posted in 35mm, Medium Format, Uncategorized, landscape, processing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Images on Glass

By sandy | Published: 01/12/2009

In the small town where I live, there used to be a company who became famous for making illustrated postcards. These humorous cards showed cartoon images of seaside holidaymakers and ordinary working people and often had double entendre meanings.

Picture 11



The company was known as Bamforths and although the cards they produce are famous worldwide, not many people are aware that they also had a photographic studio. In their early days they were leading producers of magic lantern slides on subjects such as romance, tragedy and the temperance movement. They also produced movies which were seen all over the world. According to Wikipedia, the films made here in Holmfirth, surpassed those made by Hollywood at the time!

If the company had not ceased the film making part of their business during the first world war (due to shortages), the place where I live could have been the centre of the worlds film industry. When film making finished they continued with postcard production up to the latter part of the 20th Century.

The company closed in the early 1990’s and the daylight photographic studio of the building was turned into homes. The rest of the building was left to rot and a few years ago plans were put forward to develop the site and build a large new development of flats. These were opposed by locals, but the work seems to be going ahead anyway.

IMG_0128

There are a couple of websites which give a little more detail here; http://www.bamforthpostcards.co.uk/ and http://www.bamforth.0catch.com/

About fifteen years ago I was approached by a local man who had been living behind the derelict Bamforths building and had discovered a pile of old lantern slides covered with pieces of carpet. The slides had suffered some damage from years of weather, but images could still be seen. He gave me the glass positives and I stored them away in my studio. I was reminded of them recently as I walked past the old Bamforths building and noticed workmen knocking down one of the smaller buildings (the little studio where the illustrations were drawn). I approached one of the guys and asked if it would be ok to have a quick search round the back to see if there were any more lantern slides hidden in the undergrowth.

He waved me through and I clambered over rubble and weeds to a little area behind a wall where my friend had located the glass images so many years ago.

Behind Bamforths

I hadn’t been prepared for the fact that not only had the whole area been left to go wild with creeping plants and nettles, but the nearby houses had used this ‘waste’ ground for years to dump all their grass cuttings, old pushchairs and broken pots. I struggled through and found an old iron bar which I used to dig around and lift rubbish, but all I could find was clear squares of glass and broken pieces of glass which had once held images. The emulsion had completely rotted away from these.

IMG_0094

It was quite depressing to find no trace of the photographic history, so I went back to the studio and dug around in my own collection for the lantern slides that I had been given years previously.

I found some really interesting images, not least of which, are three photographs of the Lusitania in Liverpool docks.

20091130-Untitled-1320091130-Untitled-1420091130-Untitled-15

Although the search had come to nothing, it had spurred me on to find the Glass lantern slides I had forgotten I owned. How many other great images had been lost to the damp and cold though? If only I had gone to search after I received this small collection..20091130-Untitled-420091130-Untitled-8

20091130-Untitled-1020091130-Untitled-6

Posted in General, Uncategorized, landscape | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Night Photography

By sandy | Published: 16/11/2009

Although the weather is turning much colder now here in the UK, I really want to get out and do some more night photography. I’ve not done any serious night stuff for a while now and keep seeing shots while I’m driving or at other inconvenient times. I try to make a mental note of the location with the intent of going back with camera and tripod, but you know how it is, it doesn’t always happen. So I’ve decided I’m definitely going out this week.

prospect road

I prefer cool, slightly misty Autumn nights for shooting. This is because it gets darker earlier, giving me longer to work and the misty air separates the tones as they recede into the distance (known as aerial perspective). This gives a better sense of depth and drama to a scene and suppresses the bright highlights of distant lights.

churchyard

Autumn also brings a colour change and the orange brown leaves reflect the street lighting better. This year I have missed the best of the Autumn colours as we have had some really windy weather, which has stripped many of the trees bare.

Coming back to night photography after shooting other subjects and styles for a while, I was thinking about approaching it in a different way this time. Previously I had shot mainly on 35mm and medium format. Now I think I would like to shoot on 10×8 using a 300mm 5.6 lens. This would be used at it’s widest aperture to give a very shallow area of focus which I think will accentuate the theatricality of the lighting, making each shot look like a stage set. I’ll post some images when I’ve done them.

copleys bakery

If you are thinking of doing any night photography and the lights where you intend to shoot are the common sodium type, then you might find chart 1 useful. These are the starting point exposures for Ilford HP5 under ordinary sodium lighting (orange lights).

The much brighter high pressure sodium lamps which are seen along motorways and in many city centres are paler in colour and twice as bright.

Use chart number 2 for exposures with such lighting.

As can be seen from the charts, the exposures increase dramatically as you use smaller and smaller apertures, this is down to reciprocity failure. This is a problem with exposures longer than one second, where extra exposure has to be added.

For anyone interested in taking night photography further, I wrote a book on the subject which has now sold out, but you should be able to find used copies on Amazon.

Chart 1

Sodium lighting

Chart 2

HPS lighting

star trails

old railway station

night mist

Posted in 35mm, Medium Format, Night Photography, landscape | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Lith Printing

By sandy | Published: 08/11/2009

I had a visit from a friend the other day while I was doing some contact printing. He was asking me how a real Lith print looked, as he had only ever seen them in books. I told him that there wasn’t much to Lith printing, it’s pretty straightforward if you are just playing around with it, the difficulty comes in trying to get repeatable results. His question made me remember how much I used to enjoy that particular type of printing, so I decided a demonstration would be the easiest way to let him see just what it was capable of.

I wasn’t that bothered about doing contact sheets that night, so I mixed up some old Kodalith dev which I’ve had for over twenty years (it seems to last forever) and chose a suitable neg. I couldn’t find any proper Lith paper, but remembered that old Kentmere Kentona worked well and Ilford Warmtone FB could be used too. The Kentona gives a very pink result which is very typical of Lith prints, but I’m not crazy about it. The Ilford warmtone produces a Lith type image, but isn’t ideal, it’s not really supposed to be a ‘lithable’ paper, the split isn’t as pronounced as with some other papers and you don’t get any pink tones. The image goes speckled in a nice way though and takes on a khaki sort of colour which I find attractive for certain images. The effect is often so ‘grainy’ though, that it can’t be used for large format negs unless you particularly want them to look like they were shot on Delta 3200 on a half frame camera.

One important point though, the RC version definitely doesn’t work, -you have to use the FB.

Here are a couple of examples, the first is on Ilford Warmtone and the second is Kentmere Kentona, both from a 5×4 negative;

Ilford WT FB

Kentmere kentona

Once we had a few prints I began to experiment with a few other papers. I tried Ilford Gallerie and Kentmere Fineprint VC FG Warmtone, which has a lovely quality when processed normally, -I think it has the look of a pencil drawing with the right image, it doesn’t have a deep black, but a deep pencil grey on a cream base. I was surprised to find that it worked really well as a Lith paper, out of the four non Lith papers I tried it was easily the best.

Here is an example;

Dummy

The Technique;

As the Kodalith developer is no longer available, I ran some tests with the Fotospeed variety to check my dilutions and times. There was no appreciable difference at the strength I was using it, though this differed from the recommendations that came with the kit.

My own preference is to mix 50ml of A and 50ml of B into 900ml of water at 20˚C.

To establish an exposure time;

Method A

Expose four pieces of paper (I cut a sheet of 10×8 into four equal 5×4 test pieces) to a range of times, one after another – 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes and four minutes under the same part of the negative and write the times on the back.

Start the clock. Drop them all in the developer together and keep them moving, but don’t be too vigourous with the agitation.

Look for the faint image, -usually around two minutes.

Somewhere between three and a half and six minutes, depending on paper type, the black will begin to appear in the deepest shadow areas. You need to keep a close eye on it at this stage, as the black areas will get darker and creep up the tonal range. When you have the shadow tone you desire, remove the test and drop it in the stop bath. Do the same for each of the other test pieces. make a note of the times you removed the tests -this is known as the snatch point.

Examine the tests after they have been in the fix (Ilford Warmtone has a milky coating which is removed in the fix, making it difficult to accurately judge a proper black).

You will notice that the most contrasty one is the one with the shortest exposure and the longest development time (think of uprating film, -underexposure and overdevelopment mean more contrast). The one with the greatest exposure and shortest time will have the lowest contrast and may look rather ‘muddy’. One of the tests should have the tonality and contrast which is to your liking and this is your indicated time for the main print.

Method B

Mix up a tray of Ilford Multigrade developer in a second tray next to the Lith developer. Do a normal test strip in the usual way, eg; 5 second increments.

Develop this in the Multigrade developer and choose the exposure which gives you the first appearance of black in those areas which were clear on the negative.

Multiply this exposure by 10.

Give the print this extended time and develop in the Lith developer. The mids and highs should appear around two minutes and the snatch point will be between three and a half minutes and six minutes. If the developer is fresh and at 20˚C, it won’t take too long, but as the solution ages, dev times can become really long. I did one the other night after printing for a few hours and it took half an hour!

Warmtone FB papers vary in their response to Lith developer and the 10x rule is only a guide, I know it works for the Kentmere papers mentioned above, and for Ilford Gallerie, but the Warmtone FB needs only about 5x extra exposure.

Whichever paper you decide to use, remember that the exposure can vary tremendously and still ‘work’ depending on the effect you are after. Overexposure lessens contrast and underexposure increases it, -but you may have very long dev times. Because of the excessive exposure needed compared to conventional printing, dense, overexposed or overprocessed negatives are to be avoided. Choose negs which are normal to thin.

Here are three prints, the first is Ilford Warmtone FB in Multigrade developer, the second is the same paper in Lith developer and the third is Ilford Gallerie in tired old Lith developer.

Folly 1

Folly 2

Folly 3

Consistency.

There are so many variables in Lith printing that it is very difficult to get two that look exactly alike. If you expose two or three pieces of paper and put them through one after the other you will have pretty similar prints, but if you were to do three prints over an hour they would each be different.

The developer oxidises quite quickly compared to other developers and the temperature can drop (a problem in the winter months in the UK). Lith developer is sensitive to temperature changes, so a heating device under the tray is a better method of control.

When the developer has oxidised it creates ‘pepper fogging’ which looks like exaggerated film grain.

Here you can see the difference between the left side which is the Kentmerel FB warmtone paper in old dev, displaying pepper fogging and the right side which is a dedicated lith paper in fresh chemicals;

Comparison

I really enjoyed getting back into Lith printing and intend to do more. I’m going to shoot some winter landscapes with this printing method in mind.

Posted in Darkroom, Experimental, Lith Printing | 2 Comments

Digital is good/Digital is bad.

By sandy | Published: 30/10/2009

Nearly five years ago I was kindly given a Canon G3 on semi permanent loan. I had never used digital before and my first impressions were how advanced the technology had become and how easy it was to take pictures which were perfectly exposed and automatically colour balanced.
I particularly enjoyed the freedom it gave me to shoot anything and everything that caught my eye, as cost was no longer a consideration.
It also focussed very close and had a screen that could be angled in many directions, providing the possibility of shooting from unusual positions. All in all, I was seduced, and began using it more and more.
I knew that I had abandoned my friends, the film cameras, but convinced myself that the digital images I was taking were just for reference, and that I was still a ’silver-man’.
The truth of the matter was that I did not touch my film cameras for one whole year and during this time I became lazy. I was shooting hand held and not bothering about distracting, small details because I knew I could rely on Photoshop to tidy up after.
The pictures I produced were nothing special, but I was kidding myself that I was still a real photographer and contemplating the purchase of more and more gear to get the best out of the new technology.
The turning point came when I was trying to photograph a vase of flowers on the kitchen table, I could see too much of the background, even with the lens open to its maximum of f2. -This was because of the small chip size.
I remembered my faithful and trusty Mamiya RB67 which was languishing in my other bag and went to fetch it. The camera was heavy, the metal was cold and as I held it and looked through the viewfinder I was in ecstasy!
Looking into the LARGE viewfinder, seeing the crisp focus and the sudden fall-off in sharpness was like being given the chance to travel back in time! I was suddenly transported back to how I used to take pictures.

freesias

From that moment on, I realised that film cameras had a magic that modern cameras had somehow lost. Going back to rich, deep, fibre based prints was also a very satisfying experience.

I had invested in a good ink-jet printer and quality ‘fine art’ papers, but although the tonal range was there and the prints were sharp, the finished prints had no value, I felt that they were disposable because they could be repeated effortlessly.

Since then quite a lot has changed, digital has come on so much that no professional can afford to be without it. Commercially it does make perfect sense; no more worry about exposure, or the film getting damaged at the lab. No more ruined shots because of slight overexposure or unforeseen colour casts (transparency film).
You don’t have to send off your originals to clients and you don’t have to be tied to one film speed at a time.
There are lots of other reasons why digital has become so useful in commercial photography, but I don’t need to list each one here, suffice to say; I understand why professionals use it.
Amateurs on the other hand, have adopted digital for entirely different reasons. The main one in my opinion is laziness, the second reason is because of the (mainly male) obsession with gadgets and new toys.
The third reason is because it appears to increase ability – everyone looks like a brilliant photographer.
The wholesale acceptance of digital by the amateur end of the market has meant that film has become the poor relation in creative photography and all photographic magazines except for a very small few are just equipment catalogues peppered with poor quality pictures.

Why is it that the easier photography becomes, -the poorer the results? Photographers these days seem to be very pleased with second rate images, I’m constantly getting twitter messages which say ‘awesome shot by ….’ and when I click on it, the image is a pile of shit.

Untitled-19

In the five years since I first picked up a digital camera I have shot a lot of digital frames (although not a large amount by many peoples standards) and have lost quite a few of those due to broken laptops (3) and hard drives (1).

I don’t care.
The pictures were not for clients, they were just digi shots; throwaway and forgettable.
I still shoot a bit of digital, mainly for illustration purposes such as magazine articles or ebay, but I never print any of them. I gave up printing digital images ages ago because they never felt special, as soon as they came out of the printer I lost interest in them.
Does anyone remember the magic of watching an image come up in the developer? -Is it the same magic when a print edges slowly out of the printer?
I rest my case.lead animals 1

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Street Photography

By sandy | Published: 25/10/2009

Just over a week ago I found myself in the northern UK town of Bolton. I was there for two days with my university students who were doing a street photography project based on the ‘Worktown’ pictures of Humphrey Spender.
Spender was part of a group of people who were involved in a mass observation project which began in 1937. This was a large scale project which investigated the habits and customs of ordinary people. They observed how people worked, played, interacted and behaved. Their lives were scrutinised, noted, and photographed and this has become a rich archive.

There is a website which explains the project here;  http://spender.boltonmuseums.org.uk/

We were given a talk on Spender and shown his original negatives and some of his prints. The students were then instructed to spend the rest of the day walking round Bolton looking for images which were inspired by his work.

I decided to shoot a few frames for the fun of it, as I haven’t done any street photography for many years. We (my colleague Rene Lumley and I) sent the groups off in various directions and went exploring ourselves.

After two full days and four groups of students we returned home and I set about processing my six 35mm films as soon as I could. I had a feeling that I had a few strong images and I was keen to see the results. The contact sheets had many ‘almost’ images, where people had looked away at the crucial moment, or a car had entered the frame as the shutter was fired, but I did get some I was really pleased with.

car park

chipscar park 2
walking
eat first

Posted in 35mm, Lecturing, Street photography | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Not enough hours

By sandy | Published: 24/10/2009

Since starting back at university (I am head of traditional, analogue photography at UCLAN in the UK), l I have begun in earnest to apply myself to various projects which have been nagging at the back of my mind. The reason for my renewed self motivated drive is because I have been guilty in the past of letting too much time pass before I get things done. The trouble is, I always have about five or more projects on the go at any one time, the current list (and this doesn’t include commissioned jobs I have to do) is;

1. Getting the last four years of negatives filed in the order they were shot.

2. Printing up two 10×8 copies of every shot I have ever taken which I consider worth archiving. (Going back thirty years!!!)

3. Make more videos of my fellow photographers / printers here in the UK (four in the can so far).

4. Finish shooting all the objects I have collected in my studio for still life.

5. Make a big Blurb book of all my best family portraits (my family that is), for my wife’s birthday.

6. Make a 20×16 lightbox for exposing Gum prints and Cyanotypes.

7. Get out more and do landscapes and night shots.

8. Promote myself better and contribute to online forums etc

9. Get out on my bike more regularly.

10. Write this blog more often

11. Get an early night now and again.

As you can see, self motivation is not the only problem. Somebody keeps stealing all the hours out of the day before I’ve used them properly!

It’s a good job I don’t have a television, as I’d never get anything done.

One other job which tends to lag behind is keeping up with the images for this blog. Personally I don’t like the look of scanned, inverted negatives done in photoshop, I prefer to print the image in the darkroom and scan from the print. This way I can get the tonality exactly where I want it.

I am aware that photoshop has millions of ways of altering every parameter of the image, but the look of the middle tones never seems right to me.

Consequently, I need to be in the darkroom more to keep on top of the printing for this as well as the personal stuff I love doing. here is a scan of a recent print, appropriately called; ‘Never got round to it’.

never got round to it

Posted in General | 1 Comment