Book Review, Huggins and Probert, Surreal Digital Photography

I picked this up at my local library as a bit of extra holiday reading a couple of weeks back and quite enjoyed it.

The book is as recent as 2004 but makes the mistake of having an initial chapter, The Digital Toolbox, where they write about PCs and Digital cameras. Once you start talking megapixels and megabytes of memory it dates the publication very quickly, I think they would have been best missing this section and moving straight to the main content.

Some guidance on potential software alternatives is given but all the examples are based closely around Photoshop. A chapter entitled Special Effects Workshop introduces some key concepts in image manipulation but I suspect the brief descriptions will not be enough to assimilate the techniques without further reference and some practice.

What the book does well is to then take a number of areas; landscapes, figures, studio etc and then take you through real worked examples of how images from professional photographers were made. In the Landscapes section there is rather a nice example called The Underworld where a ladder leads down from a green field into a flaming hellish inferno.

In the figure section there is a nice set from Barry Jackson called Fallen Angels where a churchyard stone angel walks amongst us, appearing on trains and in an elevator etc.

Here an example called Sofa from Todd Pierson is rather amusing:


The examples are based closely around Photoshop but even if you have a good knowledge of the software it is unfortunately still not possible to follow the examples directly as the book does not come with a CD or any downloadable images for you to process yourself. Instead this leaves the reader to take the ideas presented and try to apply them to their own images.

There is a follow on publication but I haven't seen it yet:

Historic Scotland locations on GPS

Historic Scotland have thought to provide a set of site locations in various popular formats for Sat Nav and GPS units. I wanted the data for a Garmin handheld GPS but had lots of trouble so this post is to outline the problems and provide a solution.

The problems include:

• The Garmin POI Loader will not recognise a GPSMAP 60CS as a device.


• Without the POI Loader something like MapSource is required.


• POI Loader offers an option to load data to MapSource but it does not actually work.


• MapSource will not load the POI file directly.


• In converting the POI file to GPX format the LAT and LON values are incorrectly transposed.

Here is what you need to do for a solution to get the Historic Scotland Sat Nav data onto a Garmin GPSMAP 60CS (and other similar units):

1. Download the site locations for your satellite navigation system, in this case the Garmin file


2. Unzip the download file


3. The README file talks about the Garmin POI (Points of Interest) Loader but this does not work with units such as the GPSMAP 60CS. Ignore the README and the bmp file.


4. Swap the first and second columns (lon and lat) around in the CSV file. I used the OpenOffice spreadsheet application to do this with a simple cut and insert of the first column. Remove any excess double quote characters (Find and replace). Save the result as a CSV.


5. Download and install GPSBabel if you don't have it already. Consider supporting them with a donation.


6. Run the csv file with the swapped lon and lat columns through GPSBabel (the GUI version is easiest, GPSBabelGUI.exe). Select the CSV file as input, select GPX XML format as output and run via the Let's Go button.


7. Start up Garmin MapSource and open your new GPX file up.


8. Transfer the waypoints to your GPS unit.

Bo'ness Children's Fair

The Bo'ness Children's Fair Festival was on Friday 26th June 2009 and so I spent that morning photographing some of the events and the parade. Click on the photo below to see a selection of my photos from this event...





Bo'ness received their 101st Queen as Shanagh Penman was crowned by Mrs Margaret Cuthell. Queen Eilidh carried out her final duties along with Chief Lady Carla Milne.

Find out more about the Bo'ness fair on the festival's web site.

Macro with Extension Tubes

I have recently added a pair of extensions tubes to my macro armory and have had a first pass at comparing some of the permutations and their results.

So what are extension tubes?

Well they are really just glorified spacers that sit between the camera body and lens. They don't contain any optical elements and don't magnify as such. They do however reduce the closest focusing distance of the lens and this effectively provides the magnification.

The Canon tubes come in two sizes, 12mm and 25mm, and have the advantage that TTL metering is retained. AF also works, though manual focussing is recommended. If you use EF-S lenses make sure you get the mark II tubes, if only using EF lenses then the older mark one tubes are just as good.





Unlike closeup lens attachments that fit a specific diameter of front lens thread, extension tubes have the advantage that they can be used with any standard mount lens (there are a couple of minor exceptions to this, like with tilt shift lenses).

You can read more about Canon extension tubes on CPN.

How do the results look?

I picked an old 1935 postage stamp to use as test subject matter. These images were all taken with a 5D II, tripod mounted, mirror lock-up enabled, at ISO 100. I used a hand held light meter to obtain an incident light reading and set the camera on manual.

This first shot is with a 50mm f1.4 lens, no adapters and no tubes, f13. The closest focusing distance for this lens is nominally 0.45m. The ruler is included just to help with scale:


Next was with the Canon 250D close up lens attachment fitted on the front. I have this in 58mm diameter so it fits the 50mm f1.4 but not my other lenses:


Then with the 250D removed and the EF12 extension tube fitted. Note that the image is similar to that produced with the 250D:


Now with the EF25 extension tube fitted, f16:


Finally with both the EF12 and EF25 extension tubes fitted together. NB Canon do not recommend this, not because it causes any problem but just a caution on the optical quality:


When using the EF25 tube (with or without the EF12) I found an exposure compensation of around +1 stop was required.

For some comprehensive data on how the extension tubes modify the range of Canon lenses check out the Bob Atkins Canon EOS Closeup Lens and Extension Tube Information.

Mixed Traffic Gala

The SRPS held a "Mixed Traffic Gala" event at the weekend. I did photograph the usual trains but for a change I also spent some time looking at the cars and thought I would just share a few images.

My first car was a Triumph so it was nice to see a few in such great condition, here a Herald:

From Bo'ness

This bus was stationary but that didn't seem to bother the young passengers on the top deck:

From Bo'ness

Golf ball gear knob in this sports car cockpit view:

From Bo'ness

And a classic hood ornament on a Vauxhall-Holden roadster:

From Bo'ness

Landscape Project 18

Landscape Project 18, sunrise and sunset

This project was to capture the changing light at sunrise or sunset.

I chose sunsets for two reasons; firstly I am not at my best very early in the morning and secondly with sunsets you can get your equipment setup while there is still some light. The latter was particularly helpful as I opted to set the focus manually because the shimmering waves didn't seem to give enough contrast for the usually very good Canon AF to lock on consistently. These shots are taken over three different evenings having set up every night for a week.

I used the usual tripod and cable release combination. I also used mirror lock up to reduce vibration, selected via a simple custom function menu setting on Canon's.

Here the sun and its red reflection on the water make an inverted exclamation mark shape (f14 for 1/10th s):

From OCA Landscape Photography

While this shot has a much bluer feel to it with creamy yellow clouds (f18 for 1/6th s):

From OCA Landscape Photography

Here a pair of shots taken only 1 minute and 14 seconds apart show how quickly the scene can change as the sun drops out of site (both f16 for 1/150th s):

From OCA Landscape Photography

From OCA Landscape Photography

Landscape Project 17

Landscape Project 17, adding light at dusk

This project is to add foreground flash to a dusk scene. The guidance is that this is an optional project as it somewhat depends upon what flash equipment you have access to.

For this I picked the same location that I had used for my earlier dusk shots, a view from Crinan over the Sound of Jura towards Scarba.

Here is the basic view with no flash used. I setup on a tripod with cable release, focal length 40mm so somewhere between standard and wide, and exposure of f5 at 1/8th s. The exposure is for the sky and the tree is in silhouette.

From OCA Landscape Photography

Now the same shot with some flash. This is what is sometimes termed slow synch flash, an ambient exposure with an additional burst of flash. This time still f5 but a 1/13th s. The flash unit had a slightly directional head but for ease was connected to the camera for triggering by a short TTL cable and hand held to direct it exactly towards the tree:

From OCA Landscape Photography

Having tried a few flash compensation settings around -1 and -2 stops it seemed the flash was operating near its limit (nominally guide number 58m at ISO100 with the head at maximum zoom). As I was using the low ISO of 100 and given the distance to the tree, here I opened up the aperture to f4 and you can see the tree is brighter:

From OCA Landscape Photography

Here three lighting options have been shown for the tree; silhoutte, partially lit and fully lit. In the context of presenting a subtle dusk or twilight scene the middle option of being partially lit is perhaps the preferable option here.

Landscape Project 16

Landscape Project 16, dusk

This project is to capture twilight, that is to say the light that remains once the sun has set (or just before the sun rises).

Although I used a tripod, exposure times were not as long as you might expect, the photos below range from a rapid 1/160th s up to 1 s. Focal lengths varied from 28mm through to 105mm. The location is Crinan, on the west coast of Scotland, with view over the Sound of Jura to Jura, Scarba and Mull. They were taken on a couple of favourable evenings having set up every night for a week.

This first one might not, technically speaking, be true twilight, the sun has dropped but is probably just behind the cloud rather than truly below the horizon. The light is shining upwards and then giving a lovely golden reflection off the clouds.

From OCA Landscape Photography

Here the sun has set, giving a strong orange glow to the sky and silhouetting the island of Jura.

From OCA Landscape Photography

The oranges have given way to more blues in this scene, taken once the sun has truly gone down and requiring a longer exposure. There is still a little light reflecting on the islands, in this case Scarba is central in the view, and the boats in Crinan Harbour are silhouetted.

From OCA Landscape Photography

Finally, one of my favourite images, looks out past Scarba to Mull in the distance and gives a good range of colour across both blues and oranges.

From OCA Landscape Photography

Landscape Project 15

Landscape Project 15, planning your portfolio

This project has a somewhat strange title as it only relates to one aspect of the portfolio and will only comprise a selection of 4 photographs when completed. It requires finding a location that will show seasonal changes and then photographing it repeatedly across the seasons while maintaining a consistent viewpoint.

Deciduous trees:

From OCA Landscape Photography

The project notes suggest considering deciduous trees and I started out with this in mind. I was looking for somewhere close to home that I could revisit and monitor without trouble and had an area in mind that I had been exploring as part of the one acre assignment. As you need to get back to the same spot having something like footpaths as a reference helps (though you could try using a GPS).

Trees and hedgerow:

From OCA Landscape Photography

So this sounds like a decision on the view should be easy but having done a lot of walking and taken a number of exploratory images I could not settle on one. In project management terminology this project is a critical path task, because you need images across 4 seasons effectively this project takes up to a year to complete once decided (and worst still to repeat it would then take another year, not really an option). So I was feeling a need to get on with it but also wanted to have a composition I liked and that could have the potential to work across the forthcoming year.

Crops:

From OCA Landscape Photography

A quick search across other blogs on this landscape course did not reveal any mention of project 15, does this imply that other photographers are finding this one tough or does it imply that they put it to one side, only completing it at the end of the course and therefore don't get around to blogging it?

My decision finally was to go with the following image as the first of the set:

From OCA Landscape Photography

This view is north facing and will have the sun behind me for much of the day. It includes trees, some deciduous but also has an element of arable farming with the crop in the foreground. It has the Ochil mountain range in the distance, these are high enough to carry snow for sometime in the colder months. It also has the Forth estuary in the middle distance, consistent with a water theme that I will be developing. The red roofs add a nice orangy colour to the more regular blue green combination of the typical landscape.

Ideally I will try to repeat this monthly to better catch some of the transitions.

Book Review, Susan Bright, Art Photography Now

Art Photography Now



Authors: Susan Bright
ISBN: 978-0-500-28641-8
Publisher: Thames & Hudson

I don't think this is a book I would have picked unprompted in the context of landscapes but came to it as a recommendation from my previous tutor, as a way of gaining more familiarity with a wider range of photographers and their work.

The first thing to note is that the the book looks at a number of genres, it includes Landscape but also Portrait, Narrative, Object, Fashion, Document and City.

And the book only considers contemporary photographers. So as you flick through the Landscape section you will not encounter the ubiquitous Ansel Adams or Edward Weston etc. You won't even find the more recent colour work from Fay Godwin, who died the year this book was published (2005 as a guide to what might be considered contemporary in this context).

So who do we find? Well, for example, the cover illustration is by Hannah Starkey and turning to the Narrative section this is followed up with a further 4 of her photographs. The book includes a very wide ranging set of photographers but the downside of this is that you don't get very much on each one, in many cases it is only 1 or 2 pages with only 1 or 2 images.

A good example of this is the well known Magnum photographer, Martin Parr, who only gets 2 pages with 3 images in total. In selecting some of Martin's more recent work taken in Japan the book completely omits much of Martin's wonderful UK seaside work that readers are more likely to have come across. In this sense the book can provide a diving board for jumping into more detail with selected photographers, for example readers may enjoy (I did):



So did the book introduce me to any landscape photographers I had not previously known and that I might like? Well one did stand out, Andreas Gursky, here's an example of a wonderful beach shot:



The author, Susan Bright, is a curator rather than a photographer and I feel this comes across in the book. The photos seem to have been assembled dispassionately, like some many dead butterflies pinned to the page, collected and cataloged but not loved. The book is mostly set out well with the photographs nicely produced. But whoever thought it was a good idea to use serif fonts combined with minimal line spacing to overlap text lines on the introductions should be taken out and shot.

In conclusion, this book works well as a list of contemporary photographers across genres but to get anything more than a slight flavour of each one will set you reaching for other works.

Tutor Transfer

It may have been noticed that I had not posted anything relating to my OCA course since May 26th. That posting, entitled Landscape Assignment 1 met with some criticism from my then tutor and this is what had put the brake on things. I was asked by my tutor to remove all tutor comments from my posting and so I did, though I was not comfortable with this.

As a follow up I made some inquiries with staff at the OCA Head Office. They were very helpful, suggesting that some formal policy or guidance in this area might be desirable but indicating a reaction that "It seems obvious to OCA HQ that you should be allowed to post tutor comments within your blog.", subject to the usual caveats of avoiding anything defamatory.

Consequently I opted for a tutor transfer in the hopes that I could go back to uncensored blogging. In swapping introductions, lesson learned, I was careful to raise the question of blogging with my new tutor up front. A prompt response indicated that he had no immediate problems with his comments appearing in my journals. So I can announce that I have just been assigned my new tutor, Peter Haveland, who takes up the role of tutor number 3 (you can read more on the history of the other 2 in my earlier post, entitled Tutors and Assignment media).

Interestingly he has a slightly different take on assignment media. I am always keen to avoid the lab costs associated with printing but can relay that the previous tutor's email based approach fell flat and needed to be augmented. Peter has suggested the approach of providing images on disc (CD/DVD) which should not be too expensive and provides the capacity to submit full size images, in this case I will be submitting the original raw CR2 files and the Lightroom post process exported jpegs, to give a before and after for each image.

Kuler colours

For those that like playing with colour relationships it is worth checking out Kuler from Adobe.

This web based tool provides an interactive color wheel where you can choose the colors in your theme by either using a color rule or individually selecting colors and then move markers to fine tune.



Colour rules to start with are:

• Monochromatic


• Triad


• Complementary


• Compound


• Shades


• Custom

It can also do cool stuff like extract a colour scheme from one of your photographs.



Find out more on the Adobe web site about Kuler.

I started looking at this because I had been commissioned to design and build a new web site. The site, JoannaRowsell.com, is for a world champion cyclist and so we decided to use the 'world champion stripe' colours as a theme.

By using Kuler I could communicate the colour scheme easily, here it is. Once done I could get colour values in hex for use in the CSS style sheets (it also gives LAB, RGB and CMYK values as required). I was then able to download the colours as a swatch into Photoshop for use when designing graphics for the site.

And here's the finished site for Joanna Rowsell.

If you fancy having a go then all you need is an Adobe ID to login with and you get this from a free registration process which is fairly quick and painless. Then just log into the Kuler web site and start to create.

Midget Submarines at Aberlady

I finally managed to see the midget submarines at Aberlady Bay. These XT class craft are only reachable at low spring tides and its about a 2 mile hike, out to them and back, so you need to be keen if you are going to get a good look at them up-close!

This is what they originally looked like:


And here is what they look like now...

Submarine to North:

From Nautical

From Nautical

From Nautical

Submarine to South:

From Nautical

From Nautical

From Nautical

Read more about the X Craft on Wikipedia and at Forth Yacht Clubs Association.

Landscape Assignment 1

12 photographs to "capture the feel of the current season". The season was Spring and the locations are all central Scotland. I have put them in a separate Picasa album to make using the slideshow option easy...

OCA Landscapes Assignment 1

My tutors comments included:

(This part of the post has been updated, 3-06-2009, in response to a request from my tutor to remove what they had written.)

Of course regular readers will remember that I spent a lot of time photographing sheep so there is a certain irony that in choosing these photographs I tried to find a varied selection including other non-sheep subjects but then get criticised for too much breadth of subject. This sort of woolly thinking could send me 'balmy' (puns intended)!

What do you think, please comment?