Book Review: Context and Narrative by Maria Short

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basics-Creative-Photography-02-Narrative/dp/2940411409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346054453&sr=8-1#_

This book starts with a reminder that all photos are about the past in general. They are sometimes the only reminder we have of people and there are so many ways to use photos, such as using photos to tell stories and altered realities. They discuss the importance of context in photography.

There are many projects along the way, about developing ideas for example. Lots of images are used to illustrate what they are talking about, and case studies illustrate the main ideas of each chapter.

Consideration is given about who will view images, and how this affects what and how we shoot.

Narrative is then considered, how to ensure continuity and how to decide on how to present a story. Text is the last section, using text on or with images in order to tell a story or advertise a product.

Part 1:Write a Caption

The first caption was about the SUBJECT of the photo:

A young green turtle swimming around Pom Pom Island in the Celebes Sea, Sabah. Green sea turtles are drawn to the sea grass which forms a major part of their diet. Pom Pom Island has lost a lot of coral to bomb fishing, but the conservation group TRACC are working on coral replanting, attracting more marine life back to the island.

The second was a caption about the photographic elements of the image:

The angle the turtle is taken at indicates that the photographer must have been swimming alongside, and the all important eyes are clear in the image, despite the front not being the main focus. There is evidence of other marine life in the background, and of the deep sea being ahead, adding an element of mystery to the image.

Part 1: Describe a Photograph

I was out taking underwater photos of fish when I found 3 turtles at various parts of my swim. I wanted to swim with them and document them with both photo and video as they are amazing creatures to watch and I wanted to share the experience with my family. I have always been fascinated with turtles and the water around Pom Pom Island in the Celebes Sea has a lot of them. I wanted to take photos so you could see that I was swimming with them rather than being in front and getting the turtle head on as this may frighten them. I was almost swimming above this young green turtle when I took the photo. I have only taken photos of turtles once before, the other times I have seen them I have not had a camera with me. The first time I was pretty happy with the images but feel this time was better as I knew more about what to expect. The other thing I was noticing as I shot was that there is some more coral now and a lot more fish, this is an area where bomb fishing has killed lots of coral but replanting has meant the fish are coming back. Turtles like the area as there is grass for them to feed on and they also nest on the island. I used my Nikon coolpix underwater digital camera as this is waterproof to 10m.. I used it in the special underwater mode, then changed the levels slightly in photoshop elements 8 until I felt the turtle was the correct colour as I remembered it. The water was quite shallow and we were mainly over sand rather than a large coral reef. I also had to be quite mindful of what direction I was taking photos in as looking in some directions meant the light was terrible due to the angle of the sun on the water. I also had to swim pretty fast to keep up – turtle chasing is definitely a good form of aerobic exercise!

Assignment 1 - Final Version

The industrial estate, looking across the car park.

f20, 60s

The park, showing the way to go.

f7.1, 60s

The park from another angle.
f16, 60s

The arrow shows the way.

f20, 60s

The basketball court

f22, 60s

 
The shadow of the tree
f16, 60s

Traces of life in the industrial estate
f22, 60s

The barrier is finally open to the new part of the estate.

f22, 60s

Life but scarcely evident - the roundabout near Phase 5

f22, 60s

My street

f22, 60s

Security protect Phase 3

f20, 60s

The new furniture store stocks up.

f22, 60s

The entrance

f22, 60s

The roundabout at the entrance.

f22, 60s

The tree I like looking at.

f18, 60s

-          I did 8 night shoots and one day shoot in total for this project, and also spent some time driving around in the day thinking about shots and deciding what I wanted. I settled on the idea of night shots, and tried a few versions. I originally wanted to take the photos at twilight but this is so short in Borneo that it would have taken many more shoots over a long period of time to complete the assignment. I walked for some shoots and took my car for others (as I realised that for safety, if there was a power cut I would have more chance of getting home with my car!). A tripod was used for all night shoots, and I used my Lumix Gx-1 with a 14mm lens for all shoots. I took my time working out where to be for the shot, and also took some that I hadn’t thought of as I saw them.

-          For post-processing, I simply changed levels, then for some cleaned them with the spot healing brush or clone stamp tool, before adding unsharp mask. Two shots were not straight and so I used rotate to straighten them – I did attempt to take new shots but this was unsuccessful. I used Photoshop Elements 8.

-          I chose to use colour files as it seemed more relevant to the subject which is a current one – in the digital age, colour is more common and I like the effect of night long exposures more in colour. I have put them into a word file as requested by my tutor, but have also included a link to the larger processed files in dropbox if needed.

-          I have used web size files (72dpi, 500 px wide) to add to the word document as this is a size that can be looked at online easily and they will allow the word document to be attached more easily. I took the shots at a resolution of 4592x3448 px, 180dpi. This is the maximum resolution of my camera, and I wanted the file size to be large so I could do more with it if needed without losing too much quality. I used jpg files as I find this easier to deal with space wise – I use RAW occasionally if I feel I will need more control in post-processing. I use adobe sRGB colour space, to be honest as I was advised to a long time ago but I cannot remember the rationale.

-          After much thought, I decided to put the portfolio in shoot date order, with the post-processed shot before the original where each is on the same page for ease of comparison. I will also be putting the processed photos on my blog so they can be looked at together.

-          The finished portfolio is almost what I expected, but I am still a little unhappy with the lack of people in my shots. A few shots I had were almost added that had people, but they did not fit with the overall theme of the portfolio. I think the overall look is successful, although I feel like I could have re-shot some that have too much flare – this was more difficult to correct in post than I thought it would be. Some I did reshoot, but I was still not happy. I also think I should have experimented more with 10 second shot intervals with more shots before settling on 60 seconds. I am glad I challenged myself to stick to the 14mm lens and a relatively new camera though. I think if I reshoot, I will try to get more evidence of people living in my area, by being clearer about including traffic trails. I do feel, though, that the lights in all shots convey a sense of my neighbourhood being occupied.

Assignment 1 - Eighth Night Shoot

 The entrance to the estate. f22 60s

 Looking over to the furniture store on the industrial estate f22 60s

 Another try f22 60s

 The roundabout f22 60s

 I saw an interesting shot involving a hut, but with a 14mm lens it was impossible. The moon was full so it burnt out, I still like the trees though. f7.1 60s

 I love this tree, I always look at it when I drive past, the shape and the light catch my eye. f18 60s

The same tree from a different angle. f18, 60s

This time I finally got to shoot one of the 'Bandar Sri Indah' signs, a shot I wanted to give a sense of the entrance to the estate where I live. I also went to get shots of the tree I always look at when I am driving down to my road, the way it is lit always catches me eye at night and the shape of it during the day. My shadow is in the last photo, I tried to walk far enough away each time I tried the shot, but then decided that the tripod would be in there anyway, and it gives a sense of a person being there.