Exercise 10: Moment and Gesture

I have enjoyed this exercise and get a great deal of satisfaction out of capturing the 'decisive moment' but have had as many if not more failures as success.



I recently took photographs at the wedding of the daughter of a friend of ours. I noticed one of the young bridesmaids blowing bubbles and took a series of shots attempting to capture the moment of bubble release. I am pleased with shot and like her expression as she gazes at the bubbles.







A neighbour and close friend of ours is a tree surgeon and I maintain a feeding station down there for some of my bird photography . I also enjoy photographing the life of the woodyard. In this picture I wanted to capture Stuart log splitting. I wanted the maul to be at the top of the swing and I also chose to use a slow shutter speed to give an impression of movement. I am pleased with this picture but I had to take a lot of shots with the camera set to continuous in order to capture the effect I desired.




In the photograph on the left I had been photographing my daughter whilst we were on holiday in Biarritz in the summer. I didn't have any particular effect in mind just a pleasing portrait. She decided to have some fun and I love the expression that I caught.

In the picture on the right we had been watching the surfers (who were better than we were!!!) and Beth was running in and out of the surf having great fun. I stood well back with my 100-400 zoom and photographed her unawares and I think that this is a super natural expression for a young lady who doesn't enjoy being photographed.











These were the surfers that we were watching above and that is what I had gone to take pictures of. I had in mind a classic surfing action shot and to this end I took many images with the camera set to continuous. Many were failures but several were just what I had envisaged with that decisive moment captured perfectly. The picture below right pleases me as it shows the relaxed but tired surfer in a reflective attitude at the end of a good session.













My daughter again. This time an opportunistic shot that again captures a super expression of her having fun with her brother who is out of shot.











The following three pictures were taken on a recent school visit from my wife's school where I was helping as a volunteer. I took these two pictures of Alan, the Deputy Head at lunch time. They are both examples of times when the decisive moment has just been missed. In the left had shot I have caught him with an unfortunate expression and in the second although in some ways I have captured the moment he probably wouldn't appreciate a picture of him about to put a crisp in his mouth. I am more pleased with the picture below of one of my wife's pupils playing on a swing. I had taken lots of similar images but was happy with this one where she is at the apex of the swing.

In the following pictures I had been fortunate enough to be able to watch and photograph the Tour de France. The first two pictures are taken during the prologue time trial and I happened to be standing at the spot where there was the only crash of the day. I had been photographing each rider as he came past with the camera set to continuous and each time managed two or three shots as they passed in front of me. As Stuart O'Grady came by he hit one of the central barriers and came off his bike. These two pictures show the sequence of the accident. Fortunately he was fine and climbed back on to finish the race. A case of being in the right place at the right time.

After the prologue we went on holiday to France and managed to watch two more stages of the race. 'The Devil' on the left is a well-known character of the race and I was able to take some portraits of him. Shortly before the race came through he performed his 'act' for the television cameras and I was able to capture the moment. I could see it about to happen and so was prepared for it. Even though it is a distant shot I think that it captures the essence of watching Le Tour!

This is a shot as the lead group come through and I was able to take only a short series of shots as the action is over in seconds. I was fortunate to capture the moment when Michael Boogerd looks round to study the faces of his breakaway rivals before attacking and making a dash for the finish.




In this shot the main peleton come through and again there was only a few seconds to capture the right moment. Here I have them as they spread out across the road and with none of the lead cars or other spectators too much in the frame - always a problem.

This final shot of Frank Schleck was taken during the final time trial of the race. I had been photographing the riders all day taking some time to judge the correct moment to press the shutter so that the rider was correctly positioned in the frame. Here I have caught it just right and I like his expression which is a mixture of pain and concentration.

Exercise 9: A Comfortable Situation

For this exercise I decided to visit Lincoln on a pleasant day during July this year. Lincoln is always busy with locals and tourists and I thought, correctly that the fine weather would encourage large numbers of visitors. I chose to concentrate on the old part of the city round the cathedral and Steep Hill, the main thoroughfare from the shopping centre up to the cathedral, as it would be busy with tourists. I felt quite comfortable in this setting as it would be easy to appear to be photographing the tourist sites while actually taking photographs of people. I also chose to use my canon G10 compact as it would be less obtrusive than a large DSLR with a large zoom lens.

In the above pictures I felt very comfortable taking the picture of the couple looking in the window and they are completely unaware of the camera and concentrating on the shop window. The gentleman in the centre image is, I think unaware of the camera but his head is turned to one side and the picture is missing something. I like the image on the right of the couple talking. They look very relaxed and it is nearly possible to feel part of their day.

The ladies in the left hand image above are engrossed in their conversation and not aware that they are being photographed. The young man in the centre image is also unaware but I have caught him in an unflattering pose. I really like the photograph of the three boys sitting on the bench talking. I wonder what they are looking at?

In the two left hand images the subjects do not seem to be aware of the camera and are involved in their own activities. In the right image, however, I think that this father and daughter (?) are aware that they are in the picture but they appear not to mind and to be totally relaxed.

The gentleman above may be aware of the camera and I do not feel he looks comfortable at all.

The images below were all taken on the same day during the interval of a concert at Lincoln's Drill Hall. All of the subjects are engrossed in conversation, presumably about the concert, and all look relaxed. I certainly felt comfortable taking these pictures.

This was an interesting exercise and one which I enjoyed. Although I felt in a comfortable situation, it was always at the back of my mind that someone might object and this is somewhat unsettling. All of these people were complete strangers that I have met before.

Don McCullin - In England, National Media Museum

"Don McCullin is one of Britain's greatest photographers. He has travelled the world, capturing raw powerful inages of war, famine and disaster but throughout his career he has also photographed his own country. This exhibition presents McCullin's portrait of England created over 50 years. It is a dark, often uncomfortable vision of a nation divided where the gulf between rich and poor remains as defined as ever. However, McCullin balances his anger at social injustice with great humanity, compassion, lyricism and occassional humour." (National Media Museum)

I love McCullin's work in this exhibition. His work is exclusively black and white and produced with tradional film techniques. He completes all of his processing himself. The contrasty black and white images are superb. There is a huge contrast between poor people in Bradford in the 7os where there is violence, protests and poverty and stunning landscapes. But even his landscapes are gritty and raw and he prefers to shoot in winter snow rather than the verdant conditions of spring and summer.

In a video clip he expresses anger towards the "haves" and is happy going back to the underprivileged. He came from a poor background and he says this made him tough and resilient. He says that studying the work of other photographers was his way forward and an early influence was Bill Brandt. He, himself, was self taught.

He says that if you cannot feel what you are looking at, then you are never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures. This philosophy shines out of his work. He obviously forges a close rapport with his subjects.


He photographed the gangs of his youth. In this image "The Governors", Finsbury Park 1958, he grew tired of his gangland friends constantly pestering him for snapshots of them in their Sunday suits. One summer Sunday afternoon, while hanging around on the street corner waiting for the start of the Astoria Cinema matinee in Seven Sisters Road, he persuaded them to pose in the skeleton of a bombed out and vandalised house

This image of a down and out was taken in The East End, London in 1973. He says "For six weeks in the winter of 1969 I appeared at dawn on the streets of Whitechapel in London's East End.............Communication was difficult at the best of times, for I was dealing with acloholics and schizophrenics who were sometimes violent and dangerous... Stealing pictures of these people with a long lens was not my style. I wanted to be close to them, to feel their plight and to convey the emotion of contact with them. I wanted their trust and to become their voice."




Towards an Iron Age Hill Fort, Somerset, 1991.
"I love the winter - not the climate, but the struggle, its abrasiveness, the nakedness of the landscape."

His landscapes, beautiful though they are, reflect the style of the rest of his photography.



Don McCullin to me is an icon. He may photograph the raw and ugly but his pitures are wonderful

Edinburgh Photographic Society International Exhibition of Photography.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Edinburgh Photographic Society's 147th International Exhibition of Photography. As with all exhibitions there was much that I liked and some I didn't. I was surprised by the number in the exhibition that had been digitally manipulated and some of these have a surrealist bent such as 'Gone for a Swim' by Reid Urquhart and the black and white "An Allegory" by Swanendu Ghosh.
























There were some stunning wildlife images, which is my favoured genre, and I particularly like this one of displaying Ruffs by Mick Durham from Scotland. I have photographed these birds myself in winter when they can be found on the Lincolnshire coast but without their fabulous breeding plumage.

I also liked many of the other wildlife images that I have not been able to show here. I thought that the standard was very high.

There were some excellent landcsape images as well such as the contrasty black and white Cryb y Ddysgle by Tom Dodd


Portraits were also of very high quality and particularly liked this one by Kwok Hung Gary Chan entititled "The Ball is Mine"


I noticed that many of the portraits had good eye contact with the photographer.

Gallery Visit: Dave Butcher, Buxton Dome.

Dave Butcher has been making photographic images since the early 70s. A chemist by profession, Dave worked for Ilford Imaging for 21 years until taking early retirement in 2002; indeed he cites Mike Walden and Terry Offord, the head printers at Ilford, in the list of key influences on his photographic enthusiasm and skills. Between 1993 and 2000 Dave managed the Ilford Printing Department. In the 1970s he ran a darkroom and photographic service at Unilever Research. Dave gained his Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1987 and has been selling framed prints of his hill and mountain landscapes for more than 15 years. His images have appeared in many books and magazines as well as his own two books 'High Light' and 'Peak Light'.

I was tremendously impressed by Dave Butcher's images. They are rich black and white utilising the full dynamic range of tones. He still works with traditional film stock and hand primts all of his own work, being an Ilfrod Master Printer. His work is very reminiscent of Ansel Adams and he, has in fact, been to Yosemite and other areas of America for phtographic inspiration. I have included a small selection of my favourite images here.


Loch an Eilein Castle in the Cairngorm Mountains is a favourite location for landscape photographers in Scotland. I love this image of Dave's though. I like the way the picture is framed by the pine tree and the foreground interest in the grass and rocks which lead the eye to the castle with its beautiful reflection.







This is a familiar view for me as I have been here many times and have my own images of the view. It is a winter view of Kinder Downfall in the Peak District. In some years it ices up completely and affords an ice climbing route. At other times of the year stong winds blow the water back up onto the plateau and it becomes known affectionately as the 'Irish Waterfall'!

Again I love the rich blacks and clear whites and the clouds have been reproduced to perfection. The tiny figure walking across the head of the Downfall just makes the image and gives it scale.



The North Face of the Eiger - an iconic mountain with so many stories to tell of successful ascents and lives lost. The snow and beautiful cloud formations make the picture for me.










Another iconic mountain; this time Buachaille Etive Mor at the head of Scotland's Glen Coe. Again. as in so many Butcher images, snow is a key feature and picks out the fine detail on the rock walls of the mountain.

Gallery Visit: Gay Icons, National Portrait Gallery, London.

This exhibition was put together by ten selectors, coordinated by Sandy Toksvig. Each selector is a prominent gay figure in contemporary culture and society. They include: Sandy Toksvig, Washeed Alli, Alan Hollinghurst, Elton John, Jackie Kay, Billie Jean King, Ian McKellan, Chris Smith, Ben Summerskill and Sarah Waters. Each selector had to choose six people, who may or may not be gay, whom they personally regard as inspirational, or an icon for them. These people provide a fascinating range of figures - some heroic, some very famous and some that I had never heard of. They include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney; writers Daphne du Maurier and Quentin Crisp; composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Benjamin Britten, musicians k.d.lang, the Village People and Will Young, entertainers Ellen DeGeneres, Lily Savage and Kenneth Williams; sports stars Martina Navatilova and Ian Roberts and political activists Harvey Milk and Angela Mason. I was also very interested to note that they are not just contemporary personalities but also historical figures - with the proviso that photographs exist. Their diverse and inspirational stories are shown alsonside over sixty portraits by photographers such as Andy Warhol, Lord Snowdon and Cecil Beaton. The portraits of the selectors were all taken by Mary McCartney, daughter of Beatle, Paul. These, in fact were the images that I found most inspirational. All are in colour but vary in style from a formal studio portrait of Elton John to much more informal ones along the lines that I have taken for my first assignment. Interestingly, thinking of the work that I have been doing, most of the subjects have maintained eye contact with the camera although three haven't. I wonder if this was the choice of Mary McCartney or the subject. Fascinating. wether there is eye contact or not definitely affects the atmosphere of the portrait.

Gallery Visit: Andre Kertesz: On Reading, Photographers Gallery, London

I was delighted to be able to take in this visit to the Photographers gallery in London this July. Firstly I had never been there and I have long been fascinated with Andre Kertesz since I came across his work when researching for the level 1 course'Intro to Digital Photography'. At that time I was fascinated by his images of Mondrian's Pipe and Glasses and The Fork. I also love seeing in real life original prints form years gone by that look as though they were printed yesterday. The more I get into photography the more I love black and white images and have already begun experimenting with them again. It is many years since I dabbled in traditional 'wet photography'.

As a young man Andre Kertesz found a photographic manual in an attic and decided to become a photographer. In 1914 he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. One year later he began to work seriously as a photographer. He was wounded and for a year was paralized. All of his negatives were destroyed in 1918 and he returned to work in the stock market. Undeterred , however, he persevered with photography and had his own solo exhibition in 1927.

On reading is a celebration of of the absorptive power and pleasure of reading. Over the course of his career Kertesz captured readers of all ages in various locations - on balconies, in parks, on crowded streets, in libraries - creating a poetic study of this solitary but also shared human activity.

The earliest photograph in the exhibition taken in Hungary in 1915, shows three boys huddled together on a street absorbed in a book balanced on their knees.
I loved looking at this image and trying to take myself back to that 1915 street. Were the boys reading or looking at pictures I wonder.





In another image, a man examines a book closely with a magnifying glass on 'Book Row' - a street with a succession of second hand bookshops in 1950s New York.
What a superb photograph - the man was totally absorbed in choosing his book. I wonder if he was looking for something in particular. I wonder if the book shops are still there fifty years later or is it just the photograph that has survived.



Kertesz's characteristic use of high vantage points often shows people reading on rooftops, seeking out a quiet space to enjoy a private moment, far away from the city's daily life below.
I like this photograph for the fact that the subject is a very small part of the whole image, something that may be useful for Exercise 19: A single figure small. I also like the fact that the fact that the subject is reading is implicit - we cannot see the book, a technique I employed when photographing my wife for assignment 1.





Another image taken from a high vantage point and also when the subject is small in the frame.











I love this image of the girl reading where the focus is on the book rather than the person. Other photographs also celebrate the book as object - through paintings, still life compositions and photographs of bookshelves and library interiors.









A again I like this image because the subject plays such a tiny part in it yet is obviously absorbed in a book.











I think that this photograph shows great sense of humour - a photograph of a painting of a person reading!








at a point in history when digital technology appears to be rendering the printed page obsolete, Ketesz's 'On Reading' is a timely reminder of the impact of the book and the culture of reading. On a personal note I hope that we never reach the stage where the book becomes obsolete. A few years ago a local secondary school 'got rid' of its library and replaced it with an IT suite. Thankfully the decision has since been reversed. Books are one of the great joys of life.

This is a wonderful exhibiton and I shall treasure Kertesz's book 'on Reading'. I love the rich black and white images, the pleasing compositions and the stories that each image tells.