The original draft, submitted to my tutor for feedback is here.
Reflection on tutor feedback here.
Although my tutor suggested that I could undertake further editing of the photographs from my original journey I was unhappy with the quality of the work and chose to re-shoot the whole assignment from scratch. An opportunity arose for a train journey from Birmingham New Street station to Gloucester, one I am less familiar with than Gloucester to Cardiff, so this seemed an ideal chance to start afresh. It was an overcast day, perhaps not ideal, but it meant I did not have the glare of the sun to contend with and although the train was busy, I was able to find a window seat on the right of the train, making taking photographs relatively easy. I set ISO to 400, using shutter priority at 1/13 sec which resulted in apertures ranging from f/16 to f/22.
Rather than setting lots of rules as I did first time round, I just kept taking photographs throughout the journey and felt far more relaxed and in control. The only firm decisions I made were that I would not worry about the dirt on the windows of the train, that was part of my experience and as far as possible, I would adopt my normal sitting position during the journey, so looking forward and to my right rather. This means that the train window and railway lines feature in many of the images. I also made some recordings of the sounds inside the train on my phone during the journey as it was my intention to make a short slide show accompanied by the train sounds.
Having edited the 200 resulting images to 127, then 60 and 50, 40 and finally 24, I explored different software for the slide show; iMovie’s for iPad, Lightroom for iPad, the first two whilst on holiday with only the iPad available. I then explored Lightroom CC and PowerPoint which I found quite powerful and flexible. As well as experimenting with the final 24, I experimented with 50, increasing the transition speed whilst reducing the time each photograph was on screen so as to give a better sense of the speed of the train. This worked well, however I had a problem saving the slide show as a video in PowerPoint once the sound was added so I reverted back to Lightroom, which, although not as sophisticated, did a reasonable job.
In my last report, my tutor commented that the sound track recorded during the journey worked well but he thought I could experiment more with transitions, which meant more practice with something other than Lightroom. I am glad of that extra push though because having worked out what I was doing wrong with the sound in PowerPoint, I have been able to select different and more appropriate transitions whilst also varying the length of time each slide is one the screen. For example, more slowly going into and out of stations and faster out in the open country. My choice of transitions may still be a little safe but I feel appropriate to this project, slowly ‘fading’ into the next slide whilst in the station and ‘wiping’ whilst the train is in motion. Initially. I thought that the ‘wiping’ option went the wrong way until I discovered a drop-down menu which allowed me to choose the direction of the ‘wipe’. I am now happy with the final result and will certainly consider slide shows as an option for presenting future work.
Technical information:
- Number of photographs: 48
- Software used: PowerPoint
- Transitions: Fade for first and last slides, wipe for remainder
- Soundtrack: Recorded in the train using a smartphone
- Duration of slideshow 1 min. 58 secs.
Self evaluation against assessment criteria:
Demonstration of technical and visual skills
I am very much happier with this version of Assignment 2 than the original one. Having freed myself from unnecessary constraints and accepted the randomness of the situation, I was able to relax and enjoy the experience. I have learnt that I get a better result for by using a fixed ISO and either fixed shutter speed or aperture than I do by setting the aperture and shutter speed and leaving ISO on auto. In this instance ISO was set to 400 and shutter speed at 1/13 sec and aperture on auto which resulted in apertures ranging between f16 and f22. The slow shutter speed demonstrated that the train was travelling at speed whilst still retaining enough definition to identify the subject. Arguably I didn’t need such small apertures but had learnt from previous experience not to start messing with the settings once they had been set. Photographs from the railway station, the train interior and oncoming trains speeding past are included as they add to the story and to my experience of the journey.
I have previously used Power-Point in a business environment but not for the presentation of photographs as a slide show and enjoyed exploring this. Although I initially had a problem inserting audio and then saving as a video, a little patience soon resolved this.
Quality of outcome
I have finally achieved what I set out to do, in that I have produced a series of photographs that reflect my experience of the rail journey, both in terms of images and sound. I have included a mix of rural landscape, edgelands, station stops and passing trains as well as shots of the interior of the carriage. I believe that the blur resulting from the slow shutter speed is effective whilst still retaining some definition in the images. From the beginning I felt that a slide show was the best means of communicating my visual ideas for this assignment and I believe I have achieved this very well.
Demonstration of Creativity
This I believe, is to be the most creative and thought provoking project I have undertaken whilst studying with the OCA and almost certainly the reason I was less than happy with the results of my first shoot. The following is an extract from my reflection on the work submitted to my tutor for feedback.
‘I had chosen to follow the example of Richard Long, Rolf Sachs and Yan Wang Preston, as discussing in my research post, where they decided in advance where or when to take their photographs regardless of what they would capture. This meant that the process became more important than the outcome and there was a randomness about the photographs I took. I initially had concerns about the dirt on the windows of the train and reflections of the inside of the train in some of my photographs but now realise that, not only does this add another layer of interest, it is actually part of my experience of the journey. This has been a very experimental project in which I have had to relinquish some control, and although that has not been entirely comfortable, it is something I will explore further’.
My re-shooting of this assignment has resulted in a less-risky but better quality outcome and I understand that this is a boundary I have to keep pushing. Getting both right has to start with confidence in my equipment (and myself) and a clear vision of what I want to achieve. My dissatisfaction with the first series of images was largely to do with my unfamiliarity with a new camera and how it would reacted under certain circumstances, such as the effect that having a barrier in the form of the train window between the camera and the subject would have on the light reaching the sensor. That said, Rolf Sachs took around 15000 photographs over a 12 month period for his work ‘Camera in Motion – Churn to Tirano’ ( Sachs, 2013)
As I re-read my draft submission I wonder if I sacrificed too much of my original bravery and inspiration in a bid for a better outcome, I fear I have but only time will tell.
Context
I researched this project thoroughly bringing into it, a range of different aspects of landscape photography explored in the course materials. I have drawn on a variety of artists whose work is influenced by journeys or aspects of landscapes not usually photographed; Richard Long, Yan Wang Preston, Rolf Sachs, Paul Fusco, Lewis Baltz and where possible I have tried to apply some of the practices and techniques used by these artists in my assignment. I reflect and analyse my work as a matter of course, perhaps over analysing at times but always wanting to improve my work as a result of my learning.
Sources;
Anne's Landscape Learning Log 