Benches: 7th Shoot

After my last shoot in Nottingham City Centre, I wanted to go back and take some photos in some better weather. I wanted to see if the added colour of the sky would improve the look of the benches and the feel of the surroundings as there were much less people around in my previous shoot due to freezing weather conditions.

- Overall I found this shoot quite difficult in trying to find different designs of benches as many of them were the same brushed chrome benches. Images 50-53 and 59-65 are of the same sort however, I think that 59-65 display the design in a much better way as you can see both the main part of the bench and the detail on the side.

-I thought about the concrete slabs in Trinity Square (images 74-81) that are used for people to sit on but I did not like the outcome as slabs is all that they looked like. 

- I went back to taking photos of the long wooden bench in the Market square (images 82-91) as I wanted to see if the weather made a difference in the feel of the images. I was particularly fond of Image 84 mainly because you are able to see the Council House in the background, making the location identifiable.
- As I did not take my tripod out with me, I had to under expose images 0-10 and make sure that I increase the exposure in post production.
- Image 11 is a photo that was taken on holiday in France, as soon as I saw it I knew that it would fit perfectly with my coursework as the bench suits its surroundings very well.

BEFORE

-I chose to develop this further because I really liked the curved back and the logo that appears on the top left of the bench. It's location played a part in why I like it so much too as this is a very busy shopping street so you don't get the feel of absence because of the shoppers in the background.












AFTER
- I did not want to manipulate this photo massively as I like the original however, I felt as though the shadows on the curved back needed to be that little bit brighter. So I increased the exposure and toned down the blacks.
















BEFORE

- This was my favourite from the photos of this particular bench purely because of the location. Unlike many of my other photographs, you are able to put a name to where this bench is due to the Council House in the background.















AFTER

- I wanted to enhance the brightness of the image to reflect the weather conditions so I slightly increased the exposure and added vibrancy so that the sky and signs on the council house stood out more.













BEFORE

- Due to not having a tripod with me, I had to under expose some images as they were taken indoors. This bench caught my eye straight away with it's pretty, swirly metal work. I was also drawn to it's tattered, decrepit appearance. The mirror behind is another factor that made me take this image as it fits perfectly with the old look that is trying to be created with this bench. I favoured this angle more than the others because the low angle portrays the bench in a way that makes it seem as though it has some form of importance.

AFTER

- The first thing I did was increase the exposure and add more brightness so that the wallpaper was quite bright. I wanted there to be a strong contrast between the darkness of the shadows and everything else so I heightened the contrast a little. Because I increased the vibrancy so that the green ivy stood out more, I had to decrease the saturation as the bench ended up being a garish yellow and I wanted it to stay beige.

BEFORE

- This is one of my favourite photos of my entire collection of photos as everything about it screams nature. The moss on the stone bench is the first thing that caught my eye, this really shows that it is a part of the scenery. 








AFTER

- I wanted to make the texture of the stone stand out a little bit more so I increased the clarity to 23. This is definitely a contender for my final images as it looks on the design of the bench but you are also able to clearly see it's location.

Benches: 6th Shoot

I decided to go back in to Nottingham City Centre as there are some quite unusual types of benches there that some may not automatically are benches due to their design. My intention was to focus on little details rather than the subject as a whole because I wanted to look at the textures of wood or the metal work.

-I immediately discarded images 22-30 because I was not particularly fond of the design, it also seemed too plain and boring to me. 

-Images 31-33 caught my eye straight away. When I was taking these photos, I was not too sure on whether I would like the content due to the cigarette stub on the bench. However, I think that this gives it more of a used feel, making it clear that people do use the bench.

-I was torn between images 46 & 47 because I loved the detail of the wooden handle against the brushed chrome but I was drawn slightly more towards image 47 as it was more zoomed in on the handle and it took up more of the frame than image 46 did.

-Overall, I think that I have got two images that have the potential to be in my final images from this shoot.

BEFORE

-This photo was my favourite out of images 33-31 as you get to see the detail of the wood very clearly in the foreground. I shot it so it you are made to look all the way to the end of the bench so you are able to get an idea of how big it actually is. I decided to made the foreground in focus because I wanted the texture and cracks in the wood to be very clear. 





AFTER
- I decided that I needed to increase the exposure in order to be able to see the underneath of the bench better. Another key decision I made was to increase the vibrancy of the colours so that the blurred shop signs and the cigarette stub were more vivid. This also added more brightness as there is a lot of the same colours in this photo such as the bench, floor and the buildings. By increasing the clarity of the photo, the detail of the wood was made more prominent.

BEFORE

- I chose to develop this image further because It shows the whole of the bench but focuses greatly on the design of the handle and this is what drew me to it in the first place. Just like the photo above, I was interested in the detail of the wood and the outdoor, weathered look.







AFTER
- Again the exposure was the first thing that had to be increased but on this photo I heightened the colour temperature slightly so the wood didn't end up looking totally grey. Because my intention was to look at detail on benches in this shoot, I increased the clarity to 100 to enhance the weathered look of the wood.

Benches: 5th Shoot

My aim for this photo shoot was to look at different designs of benches as there are many different kinds situated in the area where I live. I wanted to focus on the little details in the designs of the benches or in their surroundings that make them different from each other.



 

 

As you can see, I shot the benches in many different ways to match each specific bench for example: In image 63 I chose to get close to the bench so you focus more on the texture of the wood and what's on it rather than the whole design. Whereas I chose to shoot the whole bench in image 91 as I like the composition of the window, door and bench and thought that they complimented each other nicely due to the different levels. I tried using the night time light however, I did not take much liking to this as I like to be able to see more detail in the surroundings and with doing it at night, I did not get that level of detail that I wanted. I didn't really take a shine to images 70-71 as I didn't like the fact that it was a dull concrete bench, it seemed too industrial and plain to me. 

-As the bench was in a very shaded area I increased the exposure to make the bench more visible. I was going to crop the left hand side of the frame but felt as though the bench would be to close to the edge of the frame.









-What caught my eye on this bench was the battered wooden beams as they give the impression that it has been here many years. The initials also added more interest as it shows  that it was made especially for the area.

-I increased the contrast so that the metal of the bench in the foreground was made much darker  than the brightness of the bench in the background. This makes the swirl arm of the bench more prominent.







-I focused on the arm of the bench as I was drawn to the swirl of the metal. I thought that it would be more important to focus on this aspect of the bench as this is the part of it that makes it seem slightly different.

-I increased the clarity to +70 because I wanted the cracks in the wood, highlighted by the frost, to stand out more and to make the whole photo seem more cold and gritty to suit the freezing weather conditions. I also increased the amount of black and contrast to get a dramatic difference in the colour of the wood and the frost.

- This image is more about what's on the bench rather than its design as I initially did not like it due to it's boring, ordinary design. However, when I looked closer I saw how the frost created a harsh, cold effect on the wood and that is why I chose to do a close up.

- This is one of my favourites from this shoot mainly due to the composition of the bench, door and window. I changed the warmth of the colours because I wanted the bench and the church to look quite welcoming. This also brought out the dark browns in the bricks of the church.

Benches: 4th Shoot

I went in to Ilkeston town centre intending to do a full shoot however, there was a market on that took up all of the market place so I only managed to get a few images as I did not like the look of the stalls because they look quite run down.

I found it quite difficult to get take photos without having the market stalls in the frames therefore I only managed to get one decent shot which was image 165.

- I decided to change the clarity of image 165 to see what effect this would give. This is with putting the clarity level to -100 which gave a soft, almost heavenly look as there is a sort of glow around the bench.

- I also tried changing the clarity to +100, this gave a very interesting result as every detail stood out dramatically. It gave it a very gritty, rough feel and in a way that did suit the area                                       

I preferred the -100 clarity version more as it makes the figures on the fountain seem almost angel like due to the soft glow. This is a photo that I will take into consideration for my final images because I like how there is more to look at than just a standard bench alone.

Benches: 3rd Shoot

Whilst in Nottingham City centre, I came across a church courtyard. This gave a very nice, pleasing setting as there were autumn leaves scattered on the floor and the church was in the background.

For me, these photos did not turn out too well as the ones that are in the courtyard are slightly out of focus. I did not like images 1-5 and 12-15 as I do not like the idea of having people in my photos because I want my photos to have the feeling that something is missing that should be there.

 

- I plan to go back to the courtyard to do another shoot as I think that the circular bench really stands out as it is very different from your average straight bench. I also think that the church in the background creates a calm atmosphere which suggests that this is a relaxing area to sit in.

Benches: 2nd Shoot

This shoot was done whilst visiting Cumbria, I didn't set out to take these however I loved the setting of Maryport harbour as it is very different to the rest of my photos as I do not live near the sea.

-Images 3 and 4 were my favourite ones due to the composition and framing of the bench with it being to the bottom right of the frames.

-I didn't really like images 9-44 because of the locations and the time of day they were taken as it was midday sunlight which gave it quite a flat look.

-Image 27 was the view from the bench in image 10. I felt as though this could be a strong image as there is quite a lot of shadow on the boats but it is bright all around. The reason I have chosen not to take this further is because I do not want to use views from benches in my final images as on a whole I don't normally find their views interesting.

BEFORE

-I chose to develop Image 4 further mainly because of the boat and the clouds. Because this port is full of fishing boats, I wanted to manipulate it in to a fairly harsh looking photo as being in the fishing industry is quite tough.






AFTER

-To get to this result I slightly increased the exposure to make the sunlight that is shining on the left of the bench brighter. Intensifying the blacks created more of a contrast between the grey and white parts of the clouds. I also toned down the saturation and vibrancy of the colours to give a weathered, harsh look. The last thing I did that I think really gives it the harsh look was increasing the clarity to the maximum to make every detail stand out for example, the chipped paint on the railings is much more pronounced.

Benches: 1st Shoot

I went on this shoot with the work of Anthony Hopewell in mind. His works on benches incorporated quite a few memorial benches and their views. He displayed the photo of the bench and its view side by side however, I had the idea that I would add one more aspect to the display of photos which would be the memorial plaque itself.

These photos were taken in a park and a cemetery and I found that the setting was too similar, the lack of variation of the design of the benches and the setting made it an incredibly dull shoot to do. Images 5-8 are the view from one particular bench and because there is not much to look at I would not consider using any of these for my final images as they are very boring to me.

-Image 73 (seen left) is one that did stand out to me most but it was mostly for the sections of the wood on the bench and the way they travelled across the frame. This is what I would like to carry over to my future shoots because I think that only photographing part of a bench can work very well in some cases when trying to approach this theme in a more artistic way.

By looking at the contact sheets I felt that the concept of memorial benches was quite restricted and bland as I like to look at the benches from different angles and portray them in a more artistic and abstract way. I want to create images that are pleasing to the eye rather than looking plain but having more of a story behind them.

Low Light: 2nd Shoot

For my second low light shoot, I was aiming to shoot in early evening light so it wasn't dark but so there were a lot of dark areas within the woods. However the shoot didn't go as well as I had planned due to my lack of interest within the topic and so I found myself taking photos of objects rather than landscape, the majority of them being of benches.

             

 -I immediately discarded images 893-913 due to the fact that they seemed very dull and empty, not in the sense of content but the feelings that they emit. Images 911-913 were more of a composition issue with me as i didn't like the way the bench was almost on a slant on the ground and so it became wonky within the frame.
-I chose to take 933 further and do some editing on it. To produce this image I had to lower the tripod as much as I could and lie on the ground in order to achieve this low angle shot. I created the strong sense of importance that I was aiming for as Low angle shots are generally used to portray power.
-Images 946-950 didn't turn out as well as I had expected and it was probably because it was difficult shooting them as I had to climb up a tree and try to steady my tripod on some branches in fairly strong winds.  
-I took a shine towards the Orchard sign because it is so unique in todays age to see something like that. 953 stood out the most to me as you have the brightness of the fields, trees and sky in the background and the subtle orange/red of the apple on the sign in the foreground.
-968 is one of my favourites because of the framing. I like how the picnic table is half hidden away behind the arch so it looks like quite a private and quiet area.

-I wanted to increase the warmth of the wooden bench so I heightened the colour temperature.
-To really make the bench stand out, I increased the shadows so the background was much darker.
-I felt that it still needed an extra bit of warmth so I gave it a 1960's effect which created a type of hazy, brown film of the top.





-To create this final image, I darkened the edges slightly and increased the saturation of the colours to intensify them slightly.
-I believe that by making the bench stand out more and with it being taken at a low angle, I have heightened the fact that it is of some form of importance.

                   

-Because the colouring of the wood for the apple had faded, I saturated it to make it more prominent as the carving of the apple is a key element in showing people what an orchard is. 
-By intensifying the blacks in the image, it has made the word 'ORCHARD' much clearer and easier to read.
-I am fairly happy with the composition, however I think that it would have worked better if the whole of the sign was in the frame with the orchard blurred in the background rather than a normal field.  

-For this image I wanted to bring out the colours in the red leaves and the moss that is growing up and around the arch of this tea room. First I increased the colour temperature so that the red leaves had more of a warm glow to them and darkened the shadows so it seems like the bench is even more hidden away.

-To achieve the final image, I upped the saturation of the colours in order to intensify the reds and greens more.
-I do like the end result but find that the area around the arch window could have used less colour saturation as it looks slightly too yellow.