Llangwnadl Church North Wales

This is a three image stitched HDR panoramic. The distortion in the image is a consequence of the extreme stitching process as each image has an 11mm focal length. Each individual image is made up of a four sequnce bracket taken at 2EV steps. It was processed in Photomatix Pro and Photoshop. I wanted to capture the sense of space and colour in this unusual church.

A single frame of the seat cushions which are had embroidered in Welsh. The wide angle shot gives a sense of space, while the cushions lead you and through to explore the interior and windows in the background.

Working the theme of the prayer cushions. The red as a primay colour catches the eye and is in front the alter denoted by the circle in the back ground. The cushion reads, 'Duw Cariad Yw', God I love Thee.

The simplicity of the reading table under the window caught my eye. The whicker cross in the window was a lovely detail.

I wondered if this would work in mono?

There is a certain mood in mono but the chair itself is an interesting element. The electrical socket on the wall is a little distracting in this version.

But more intriguing is the view form the sitting position at the table where you would read the bible.  Looking up to the window would guide you to the heavens.

The most pleasing element for me in its simplicity is the wicker cross in widow. The window itself has some broken panes.

This is my favorite image.

I will have to do some external shots to complete the set.

Time Team Photo Essay

I was privileged enough to go along to a Time Team dig in Rutland last week and took the opportunity to do a bit of documentary work and some portraiture.  It was a little intimidating to ask all of the principal figures on the show if I could take their portraits and of course given time constraints I got basic images. I have a series that encompass aspects of the shoot. Each image have different qualities that appeal to me.  From the perspective of simple shots I like those which have a sense of quality which is different to compositional  elements within the frame that tell a story.

These images of Tony Robinson are a fusion of place and basic portraiture. The colour version is a better representation for a number of reasons but in essence it boils down to separation of the subject. In the mono version Tony is caught up in the background which is quite cluttered but stand out better in the colour version which his helped by the primary colours of his shirt and skin tones.

The images of Phil are similar but the separation of the figure works in both, the first is helped again by the primary colour of the shirt.  The mono version is aided by the blue which becomes  near black.  The background is lighter and less cluttered and allows the subject to stand out more effectively.  The latter image  also partially captures a sense of place and tells you that there is an old building and that some archaeology activity is occurring.

This image for me tells the story of the production side of the event. It has fours layers of depth and human interaction.  In the foreground you have the director who has the attention of the cameraman in the middle ground as well as Tony in the background but critically it is the monitor which tie all these elements together in the form of the final result i.e. the actual shoot.

This image also exhibits the same qualities of depth and was the final scene of the shoot. But the production side is only one element as it is the archaeology itself which is the heart of the Tie Team. The following series of images hopefully tell their own stories.

The above image is Tracey working in her Trench while Connie a winner from the Time Team club who was allowed to experience the dig gives a sense that she might be daydreaming of being an archaeologist one day.

An integral part of the archaeological process is in the cleaning and identifying the finds that come from the trenches.  Here the finds are being cleaned and carefully returned to the trays which they came from which are numbered and identified by specialists so that they can be tied to a context of period by their depth of discovery.

The incident room plays an important part in tying together the different investigative branches of the archaeological process.  In the foreground Jimmy pieces together the latest geophysical results (ground analysis) to determine if any structures can be detected even before a shovel is put into the ground. This helps to identify areas that should be explored.

Interaction here between the producer Tim Taylor and the shows presenter Tony Robinson while some of the crew wait for the outcome of the discussion in the background. What the topic may be I will leave that to your imagination.

No series of images would be complete without the archaeological process in action. Phil Harding is caught in mid shovel throw as he excavates in trench one.

It is not all hard work for some there is a wait until needed. The digger operator who has been a part of the team for years catches a few zzzz.

The final image in the story catches the sense of place. This image should conceivably been first in the series but I have left this until the very end.

Aberystwyth Photography Festival the Eye

I have just got back from this weekends photography festival The Eye in Aberystwyth (http://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/theeye/). This was a fantastic weekend with inspirational photography and presentations. The topics were varied covering aspects of photography including the perspectives of picture editors, educators, photojournalists, documentary and natural history photographers.

While I could go into great depth about what was explored I will limit my blog to what I gained from the weekend personally. This focuses on three main areas, namely the so called crisis of photography, who inspired me and what direction I would like to take with my own photography.

Firstly much was made of the crisis in photography in the sense of maintaining a livelihood. This is based on the eroding of established photojournalists income because of the ease with which citizen photographers can flood the internet with work of a good standard. It appeared to me this was dependent on your point of view, certainly from the position of established photographers and editors such a Eamonn McCabe this was true. But as David Hurn and Abbey Traylor Smith and Sophie Batterbury pointed out the business model has changed and there are new opportunities available for those who can exploit the internet. From my perspective photography is not in crisis, rather it is in a new democratizing golden age with a plethora of authors with an unlimited audience. While the competition will be fierce those who shine within the crowd will still be noted and become successful. There was however a view that new graduates would need to be more adaptable and expand their knowledge to include video as future work would be media intensive.

The work I saw over the weekend was of an incredibly high standard. I was particularly impressed by the work of Andy Rouse, a wildlife and natural history photographer,who was himself an enthusiastic and energetic speaker. He is going for more expression in his photography by using back light to illuminate his subjects. While I can appreciate his images I doubt that I would have the patience to capture 'the shot' in a hide for 12 hours.

Chloe Dewe Mathews a young documentary photographer presented her work and I found it to be intimate in expression. This was in stark comparison to Marco Longari the chief photographer of AFP whose powerful work is high impact and raw that focuses on the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. While Roger Tiley's social documentary photography eloquently charted the decline of the coal industry in the South Wales valleys and the impact of the strikes of the 80's and the hardships that followed. His work has a particular resonance within Wales and an historically important piece of work.

The portrait photographer Cambridge Jones presented a series of high profile celebrity images whose attention to detail, lighting technique and ability to work with his subjects was astounding. But it was

John Downing's presentation that was a particular high point who was knowledgeable, interesting, funny and harrowing at the same time. He charted the changes in photojournalism as seen through his eyes over a career spanning 56 years.

How did all this new stuff affect my thought processes? I think for me it became clear that social documentary was the direction I would like to follow. This I think gives meaning to the idea that the photographer has to share the experience of life with their subject to be able to record it effectively. It means that you should interact but not manipulate or direct your subject as much as possible. It also became clear that personal projects must be driven by the photographer by investing time with the subject. But a clear idea of what the objectives of the project are will help focus on the issues you want to explore. In terms of composition, form and balance the movie presentation of Bresson's work and the capture of the critical moment helped crystallize these ideas in my mind.

I guess that has to be it for now as this is a massive blog post, but I guess the festival covering two and a half days was crammed with concepts and inspiring work. I am sure I have not done it justice and I have not mentioned all the photographers whose work was also impressive.

This is my new blog which I hope I can express some of my ideas and show some of my work.  Photography is the new democratizing expression of creativity which is now more accessible than ever through the advent of digital cameras and the internet.  The world is now our audience and I hope that some of my images may inspire others to take up photography as a means of expressing your world vision.