Light - identifying it, writing about it as a technical aspect of your work in college projects.

Photography... It's all about the light, if there is no light there is no photograph. If you're at college studying photography, you're studying light as well and with 2 years of work free study surrounded by lecturers that are experts in the art of light you need to be leaving college with some basic knowledge of light.

It's usually the case on a level 3 course be it A-Level, UAL or BTEC there'll be some requirement at some point where you'll need to discuss your use of light and why you've made the choices that you have with regards the light.

So what decisions and knowledge should you identify when writing about it, analysing it and planning it?

(1). What is the light source and what are characteristics of that particular source. If it's an artificial source, is it trying to recreate something in nature... Sunlight or moonlight, reflected light, scattered light, fire light, dappled light, diffuse or point light?

(2). Direction - where's it coming from and why, why are you choosing to shoot in that particular light? What is it doing for your subject, is it moody, emotive, dramatic, objective, neutral?

(3). Does it flatten the subject or does it model the subject e.g. pick up the shape, form and texture, do you want it to do one or the other, if so why?

(4). Refracted, diffuse, reflected, specular, point?

(5). If it's an artificial facsimile of a natural form of light, how have you achieved it and how close have you been able recreate its properties and characteristics - be explicit in your explanations, draw floor plans and photograph the set-up.

(6). Colour of light http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/natural-light-photography.htm

(7). Lighting equipment - what did you use, why did you use it what are its pro's and cons.

(8). Inverse square law and its application in photography - how does it help you and why do you need to know about it, how have you used it?

(9). Reflected light - controlling light in the studio using zones and inverse square law.

(10). Artificial light sources, their characteristics and properties.

(11). Studio flash, modifiers, dishes, soft boxes, snoots, diffusing screens, reflectors, umbrellas all the equipment and its characteristics and properties.

(12). Studio space, heights, distances, widths and walls... why?

(13). Influence - whose lighting technique and style are you borrowing from, your analysis of their approach.

(14). Deconstructing and analysing other people's lighting using visual clues.

(15). Ratios - between highlight and shadow, masculine and feminine lighting.

(16). Masters of lighting - classic lighting techniques used by painters.

That's some of the easy stuff.

Use these prompts above and your notes from over the first year when all of this was covered, discussed and used in practice. (That's if you're on one of the courses I deliver).

Prompts - The background in the image

The background in an image is important. Sometimes the background can say as much about the person as their clothing and their facial expressions, it's often a part of the narrative of the image.

Back in 1988 when I was studying photography I was interested in Stock Photography and I read a book (Title and author I can't recall) on the subject. One of the most Important things I learned from the book and still use today was a formula that can be used when you're shooting images for picture editors with the intention of securing sales. The formula - which I still teach is...

Person + background + involvement + symbol = picture

All of the components are important, but the background element is very important.

For example have a look at this image here of my son...

You're told "Go and take a picture of the 14 year old kid that took six wickets for 15 runs in an adults cricket match". You come round my house, you look around and you see this wall and you shoot this...

If we examine the image and start deconstructing it what can we see and what can we start making assumptions about if we analyse it? (See prompts in the side bar).
We're concerned with the background at the moment, but we can't ignore the rest of the image. What can we see...

• He's a white westerner.
• From the clothes and the haircut we can see that he's not destitute and that he's possibly either working class or middle class.
• He's fairly tanned and the environment looks warm, so he probably lives in a temperate area of the world or warmer.

But can we say anything about the background? Well it's kind of fairly neutral as it's breeze block. Breeze block would be usually associated with basic forms of architecture, in my own experience - social/council housing as opposed to private estates or anything 'posh'. Looking closer there's no designer labels and he's wearing grey track-suit bottoms which kind of reinforce the 'Working class' assumption. But, there's nothing in this image that tells the cricket story, even though it is the kid in the story.

This image represents an improvement in that there's some visual clues although they're a little esoteric the style and colour of the shirt and the inclusion of the Slazenger brand name and logo indicates an association with a sport. If you have some knowledge of sport you might be able to recognise the kit as being related to cricket and the image combined with the text now makes a little more sense, but the plain wall doesn't.

This is the image your picture editor would liked for you to come back with if you couldn't get an action shot (Or a smiley version). The background in this image albeit still fairly esoteric would be recognisable immediately when combined with the text relating to story "14 year old boy takes 6 wickets for 15 in an adult crickets match" because of the detail on the background - the grass and the pavilion. The ball though is probably the clincher to the narrative as it's the 'Symbol'.

Could it have been improved even more? Could the background have been even more 'Crickety'?...

Something like this?

This image uses the formula mentioned earlier...

Person + background + involvement + symbol = picture.

Backgrounds therefore are important as they are integral to creating the narrative. You can simplify them and then make the narrative ambiguous.

Simple backgrounds e.g. a solid colour or black and white still have connotations that can be read and made sense of. Alternatively a simple background focuses the attention on the subject and in many instances the inclusion of the simple white, grey or black background is of little significance. But these colours can also be made sense of in complex ways -

White http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-white/
Grey http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-grey/
Black http://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-black/

Putting together your practical work

Old and out of date. 
New for 2020 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JK4VfqXBzY&t=975s

What do you write and what do you include when putting together a response to your practical work?

Here's a suggestion as to how you might go about it, needless to say adapt to your own methods if you don't like all of it, but if you're completely lost as to what to do and write, this may offer a solution. One of the key points of this approach is the use of a display folder, as it means at any point you can edit and remove pages to improve the folder in any way.

This method is ideal for your work at the developmental stages - test shoots, trials and experiments. Remember your work must be developed over a series of stages as your work out what you're going to do for the final product.

The Blue section should be your 'Planning' what you intend to do, your resources, where, when and who? Needless to say the more details the more indicates your levels of planning and organisation. The Red section is also 'Planning' but more visual - a lighting plan, showing where the light sare and included a key to explain what the components are. Generally most photography courses want 'Visuals' diagrams and sketches and if you can include these that'll be great.
The Green section is examples of images from the shoot, you can use contact sheets/thumbnails, but I've made mine slightly bigger and selected some of the images that were typical from the start of the shoot rather than all of the images, showing that I was working with poses. The text in this section deals with the colour of the background and the poses and the decisions I was making as the shoot progressed. Keep the details simple at this stage, just write about what you were trying to achieve or was expecting to happen.

Page 2 (below).

Top left - more images from the shoot either selected ones or the whole contact sheet, it's up to you, showing how the shoot comes together and ideas are developed. Right-hand side ringed in Green images of how you've set up the lights. Always step back and shoot images of your light set ups either with the camera you're using or a phone or whatever is at hand. This gives you the opportunity to add details about the equipment and is good for future reference if you use the lighting again and want to replicate the lighting.

Ringed in Blue is the image that influenced the shoot with the lighting we're trying to replicate. In this instance I've not done a lot of research into the image, but potentially you could find out who shot it and do some research into the photographer and possibly add additional images from the same series. I've written about the light and the exposure, but more could be added relating to the fact that it's high-key and the composition and a lot more (See prompts in side bar).

Page 3

This section is potentially the part where you're going to pick up loads of credits that meet the criteria. The way we advise you to do this is to structure the response to your own work using he Gibbs Reflective Practice Model which works with either 5 or 6 prompts (I've missed out no.5 "Conclusion" in this instance). Reflecting on your work making sense of it, criticising it with the intention of identifying areas of strength and weakness is an essential aspect of your work. Making sense of it and analysing it is essential too and Gibbs steers you through the process in an orderly manner and is a dream for your lecturers/assessors to mark!

Most of the sections can be relatively short and concise, the parts you do want to focus on and produce more written material around are the analysis and  planning sections. The planning part leads you into the next round of work.

Page 4
On this page, I've chosen what I felt was one of the better shots and I've taken the time to reproduce it at A3 set in a white surround. You could if you wished have it printed as a full bleed image covering the whole page. The choice is yours.

I would advise as when you produce these final shots you do so at the best quality you can stretch to and keep the approach that you use consistent.

* Note (For my students for 5135 - Fashion promo and WN25) if you do this as you go along and you engage with the process fully you should end up with a pretty useful folio of images as we'll be using some really top quality lighting techniques. The images will be massively improved if in each session your models are styled appropriately. I had to rush this example so wasn't able to get hold of a blonde model and make the images as high-key as the Kate Mosss Vogue cover.

Don't like my approach? Have a look at these here - some of the best from all around the world.

http://www.studentartguide.com/articles/art-sketchbook-ideas



The Prompts - Responding to and writing about images "Body langauge and facial expressions".

This is one of the easier prompts that can be written about when analysing and deconstructing images of people. We're almost all aware of how people communicate their feelings through their facial expressions and body language, so the way that we incorporate this aspect of making images has a significant impact on the way that the image is perceived. Similarly it's probably one of the most productive options when using the prompts to deconstruct and analyse images.

When doing this we can't discount the surrounding factors - backgrounds, props, clothing, body language, semiotics, location, relationships and accompanying text. All of this is rich in potential meaning allowing you write and comment about the images. What do the expressions or body language tell us about the person and their environment, how has the photographer used this aspect of their photography? Is it intentional, natural or constructed? How significant is the facial expression or body language, is it subtle or is it a massive part of the image narrative?

How to put together your research for a photography project

Here's my current thoughts and suggestions as to putting together a photography research project.

It's an essential part of your studies on any level 3 photography courses (UAL, BTEC or A-Levels) that you study historic and contemporary photographers. Over the years I've suggested all sorts of different ways of doing it, but this is my current suggestion and I reckon it's the most efficient and easiest way I come up with and I'd like to think that our students will recognise it and adopt it.

Almost without exception the units and assignments on photography courses require that you put together research prior to shooting your images. Your images need to be informed or influenced by the work of other 'Significant' photographers. We advise that your starting point for finding such photographers is the British Journal of Photography, books such as 'Photography The Whole Story' or my list of contemporary and historic photographers which you can find here . It's important that you list your sources in a bibliography and all examination bodies and lecturers like to see and sometimes require that you identify the use of books.

 

Anyway down to the process. We'll assume that you take the correct approach to your research and research all the time using the right methods.

 

(1). This is a visual subject and you need to make your work look as though you're interested in images. Therefore the balance between written work and the use of images in your research should be 50/50.

(2). I advocate the use of A3 display folders...

There are number of reasons for this. (a). You can edit the work easily, so many students change their minds about the way they work and produce work out of order leaving blank pages with the intention of filling them in later and then they run out of time. With these folders you can swap and change and omit work easily/ (b). Most colleges have photocopy machines with A3 paper and you're probably allowed to take a few sheets of paper if you ask your lecturers and this reduces costs. (c). I recommend as below you use one side of a two page spread almost exclusively for the images you find associated with the photographer you're researching and on the adjacent page a key image about A5 size surrounded by your written work. (d). When you hand in your finals they look impressive as A3 images or surrounded by a white mount affect when printed as A4's on an A3 mount. If you spend the time and money acquiring high quality finals as you complete each of your projects these can be removed and added to a final portfolio at the end of the year.

 

 

So this is the way I would suggest that you compile your work

 



So this above would be an A3 double page spread. The recommendation is that you do make it visual and have it so that 50% of the work is made up of images.

 

So the image above is the 'Image page'. When you find your initial or key image you'll probably find associated images collect them all together as files and then print them off - print off about 8 or 9 approx. A6 in size. If you use a PC (proper computer) in windows select four images to print and windows will neatly nest four images on the page to print at a time onto A4.

 

At the top of the page you'll see a couple of images that are associated with the Testino images by virtue of the pose. The pose looks to be inspired by Jan Van Eycks 'Arnolfini Portrait' and interestingly I noticed that it also was similar to David Bailey's photograph from the 1960's of Jean Shrimpton. It maybe that both photographers were inspired by the work of Jan Van Eyck and realising that this image has stood the test of time for several hundreds of year was a pretty safe bet to use as stylish pose? Where possible and as much as possible look for these kind of links and identify them (This is the reason you're encouraged to look at images constantly).

 

Include on this page if you wish some written work. As I developed this approach I started to use this page to write up my initial observations and immediate thoughts about the images. On the adjacent page below I then wrote up the facts rather than opinion and speculation.

 

 

 Make sure both pages (Ringed Blue) have a big clear title including the name of the work/images. From your initial research where you collate all of the images pick a key image that you feel you can write about - possibly the first one you noticed or the one with the most interesting features. * As you collect the images from the website, save some of the HTML addresses to include in your bibliography. Also look at the website in case there's some written content that gives you more information about the images. If there's not then start to look around for written content that is associated with the artist or the images. The best way to do this is type in the name of the photographer pre-fixed with "Interview with" so I would have tried a number of searches using...

 

Interview with Mario Testino

Vogue masterclass September 2011

Vogue master class interview Mario Testino

 

I'd have repeated the same searches on Google but with a video search enabled. This generally brings up some really good resources and it was through watching the video of Testino shooting a Japanese shoot for Vogue that I identified his own research methods and the equipment and lighting he uses on set. All very much worth looking at.

 

Two interviews is generally enough, along with videos and the original sources from the BJP to get enough information to write about the image/s using the prompts (Circled in Red). If you're struggling generate written responses to the images use these prompts (see the sidebar to the write of this blog page).

 

Try and generate for your Final Major project at least ten pieces of research like this independently. You'll get the chance to practice this in class with help, but to push the work on to Merit level you need to be seen generating your own research more specific to your own needs.

 

A very similar approach can be used in conjunction with your practical sessions and another video and series of images will be added after I've made the resources.

Why research photographers all the time and why use the British Journal of Photography and books?

Since the advent of digital photography the studying of photography at college has had to adapt and change. Prior to digital when we all used to have use film it was difficult to do the basics  such as make an exposure that was correct, focus the image so that it was sharp and make choices about what films to use. It would be the case that most people would shoot a roll of film and to be really brutal 30 of the 36 frames would be appallingly bad. So when you went on a course a significant part of the teaching and learning was around these basics. Therefore the other aspects of the course - visual language, historical context... the more academic components had a lesser significance.

Then 'Auto-focus' and digital came along and the whole thing got a lot easier. You only have to go on-line now and you'll find gazillions of images that are well-exposed and sharp, every numpty on the planet can now do what used to take some people a life-time to do. One of my students made the point...

"So that means all the crap that used to be hidden away in shoe boxes and family albums is now all over the internet... how on earth are we supposed to separate the two"?

Well, that's one of the things we aim to teach you - how to research properly and the bottom line is keep it simple and only source your photographers from journals such as the British Journal of Photography and books such as Photography The Whole Story - (Juliet Hacking and David Campany).

Things have changed...

So now when you're at college, one of the key things you need to do alongside learning how to make pictures is learn about photographers... Study photographers and Photography. Why are images made, what purpose do they serve, how do they communicate to their audience, who is their audience, how is visual language used to communicate the message and how do we generate ideas and concepts to produce something that is fresh, new and informed.

So at the end of the course one aspect of your learning is that you should be able to confidently speak about your images explaining what and who they are influenced by, and how you use visual language to communicate the message within your image/s. Your images unlike all the millions on Google images will be about something rather than of something your images will be rich in content and informed by the work of others.

The way this is done is through the study of other significant photographers and your first port of call for such study to be affective is journals such as the British Journal of Photography or Hotshoe. You are strongly advised to subscribe to the BJP whilst on the course and use it as the starting point of your research and studies. Make sure you compile bibliographies of your sources and include books and journals.

The Prompts - Responding to and writing about images "Meaning and message".

For this one you're looking to identify what the images are about and what they are trying to convey - what is the meaning and the message within the image/images?

If you're accessing the right kind of sources for your research - journals such as the British Journal of Photography or books, the chances are you're going to be able to get a sense of the meaning behind the images because you're looking at research material where this aspect of the photography is discussed and identified.

When you're looking at images some of the key questions you need to be asking is what are these images about and what are the images trying convey? It's easy to identify what they're of, but the deeper questions are more complex and difficult to identify what the meaning is.

The process you should adopt should be one of initially offering a suggestion as to what the images could be about. But, then you must do the research and look for reviews and interviews and try and ascertain the facts. Generally in interviews the photographer will be asked about and will explain the meaning behind the images. Another good source for such information is the photographers own websites. Look for the specific body of work or series of images and they'll be accompanied by an introduction and explanation to the work. Look also for links to reviews on the photographers website, have a look through these too.