Assignment 3: Applying What You Have Learned So Far

 

Beetham Tower/Hilton Tower

My photographic prints seem to be a lot darker than when viewed on a computer screen, I have also uploaded them to my flickr account which can be seen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemoore88/ in the set “Beetham Tower”.

Being from Manchester I wanted to choose a subject such as a landmark that is instantly recognisable and known to be in Manchester. I decided upon the Beetham Tower for Assignment 3 as it is the Tallest building in Manchester. At 554ft it is the tallest building in the UK, outside of London, and the tallest residential development in Europe.

I live in Sale (a town within Greater Manchester) and when approaching Manchester City centre from here by car, on foot, cycling or on the Metrolink System, Beetham Tower is the first major landmark that can be seen towering above everything else.

01. ISO400 18mm 1/320sec f/8 (Portrait)

I took my first picture from Castle Street in Castlefield, Manchester as it is my favourite view of Beetham Tower having the Lock in the foreground for added interest. I also felt that the contrast between the modern tower and old buildings also brings extra interest. From this viewpoint the full unique shape of Tower can be seen. Admittedly the weather wasn't brilliant on the day I took this shot but I feel the blue sky, along with the mixture of the grey and white clouds is more interesting than a perfectly blue sky. I took the shot around 1 hour after the sun had risen and therefore the sun is very low casting a shadow over the foreground and lighting up the lower section of the Tower. The diagonal lines through the photograph created by the canal draw a viewers eye to the same level as the Tower and then to the Tower itself as it vividly stands out in the empty sky. I feel that had I been able to chose a different viewpoint to crop the building on the right entirely out of the image and that would place the Tower either further to the left or right I would have captured a much more pleasing photograph.

02. ISO400 34mm 1/640sec f/8 (Portrait)

This shot was taken at around 9am and although being overcast, it can still be seen that the sun is out of view on the right of the shot as the sky is brighter here. I decided to take this shot because the building in the foreground to the left is Manchester's Science and Industry Museum; I felt that, as I was shooting the city's tallest and grandest engineering achievements, the two would compliment one another within a shot. I under exposed this shot by one stop to ensure the varying grey and white of the clouds could be seen.

03. ISO400 25mm 1/400sec f/8 (Portrait)

With the sun on the left and behind my subject I took this shot as I felt the pattern on the AMC Cinema in the foreground added interest and the diagonals draw my eye from right to left towards the Tower and then up towards the top of the image.

04. ISO400 21mm 1/320sec f/8 (Portrait)

This is my first shot of the eastern face of the Tower. Blue sky is visible and the sun is shining onto the face. I feel that this is a rather mundane shot as there isn't anything particularly interesting about it.

05. ISO400 25mm 1/400 f/8 (Portrait)

This sun is behind the Tower in this shot. The visible face appears quite plain but the terraced building in the foreground leads a viewer from left to right through the shot, it's pattern adds interest. The contrast of old and new between the buildings shows how Manchester has developed over the past century.

06. ISO400 24mm 1/125sec f/9 (Landscape)

Another of Manchester's major landmarks is “Manchester Central”, formally known as the GMEX centre. This building was once one of Manchester's main railway terminals and then became a convention centre. I wanted to take a shot of Beetham Tower and another of Manchester's landmarks together. I chose Manchester Central as it also has a unique shape. This photograph shows two of Manchester's major landmarks together and displays both of their unique shapes. The arched roof of Manchester Central creates a curve through the photograph that takes a viewer's eye from left the right and towards Beetham Tower. It's a shame I didn't get a chance to take this shot when the weather was nicer.

07. ISO400 20mm 1/125sec f/9 (Landscape)

Later in the afternoon, I decided to attempt to capture a couple of dramatic shots by getting as close as possible and utilising extreme viewpoints. I feel that the overcast weather adds to the effect and helps to create quite a dark, eerie shot. A viewer's eye is instantly drawn upwards from the centre of the image as my chosen viewpoint creates a triangle converging towards the top of the scene. The top half of Beetham Tower sticks out slightly on it's West side, I placed this area along the top line of the golden section to improve the overall composition of the photograph.

08. ISO400 21mm 1/160sec f/9 (Portrait)

Another dramatic shot showing more of Beetham Tower's design. I slightly under exposed this shot and took it in black and white to further exaggerate the dark and eerie feel created in the last shot. Again, a viewers eyes are drawn towards the top of the image as the viewpoint creates another triangle. The multitude of diagonals throughout the structure and the pattern of windows on the lower part of the right hand face create a lot of interest.

09. ISO400 21mm 1/640sec f/14 (Landscape)

For the last part of the assignment I ventured out to Hartshead Pike at sunset. This is a hilltop in Ashton-Under-Lyne; a town in the borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester. From this location, the City of Manchester (5 miles away) can be seen. Beetham Tower clearly stands tall above the other buildings and the city is instantly recognisable in the centre of the image. The yellow and blue colours of the sky contrast and together with the many different cloud shapes makes this shot of Manchester in the distance much more appealing than a shot of the same scene at midday with a clear sky. Viewers scan the foreground and are drawn up to the exquisite sky and then settle in the centre over the city.

10. ISO800 34mm 1/500sec f/29 (Landscape)

On top of Hartshead Pike lies a Tower (rebuilt in 1863) and an unusual circular structure that could once have been the original Tower. I thought that the structure had an interesting shape so decided to create a silhouette and place Manchester City centre in the background. To do this I under exposed the shot by one stop. Beetham Tower is clearly recognisable as the tallest building within the City. This photograph can be easily separated into thirds both horizontally and vertically which creates balance and a very pleasing composition. I used such a small aperture to ensure the capture would have very distant depth of field.

11. ISO400 55mm 1/500sec f/13 (Landscape)

A closer shot of Manchester City Centre, again taken from Hartshead Pike. I particularly like the sky in this one. I feel that the small amount of cloud over the sun diffuses its brightness. Manchester can be seen in silhouette and in the distance, Fiddlers Ferry Power Station in Warrington can be seen (around 30 miles away). I placed the City and the sun in the centre third as the dark areas in the upper and lower thirds nicely frame the shot.

12. ISO400 300mm 1/200sec f/13 (Landscape)

This has got to be my favourite picture in the series. A telephoto shot of Manchester City Centre, just as the sun was about to set. I was very lucky to get to Hartshead Pike on such a clear day (very rare around Manchester). Just the right amount of clouds keep interest in the sky. The Power Station is still visible and the peaks of the Welsh hills can now be seen as the sun reflects of them as it is about to drop behind them. Beetham Tower clearly towers above everything else.

13. ISO200 135mm 1/160sec f/7.1 (Landscape)

My final shot is similar to the past few, however, it shows Manchester at twilight. I took this shot around five minutes after sunset. The varying shades of orange and yellow in the sky along with the cloud formations make for a very aesthetically pleasing photograph. Manchester is now in darkness and appears to have closed for business as not many lights are visible; this adds to the pictures overall calm and peaceful feel.

Overall I feel I have successfully captured Manchester's Beetham Tower in many different light conditions. The overcast shots give a more accurate representation of what the weather over Manchester is like for the majority of the time and therefore had to be included. I was lucky to be able to capture such a nice sunset here and included those photographs because out of everything I have ever shot they are some of my favourites.

Tutor Feedback

Please click the images below to enlarge them and view the Tutor Feedback for this Assignment.

 

Amendments

Upon receiving feedback from my tutor I took note of his advice and have edited some of my photos accordingly.

Below is a list of the affected images and the advice my tutor gave for each:

• Image 1 – Increase exposure by 1 stop
• Image 2 – Again increase the exposure by 1 stop
• Image 5 – Increase exposure
• Image 6 – Slightly increase exposure and move tower further into the frame
• Image 7 – Increase contrast to give more impact
• Image 8 – Again increase contrast
• Image 10 – Trim off some of the sky and some of the area below the tower to create a letter box style picture
• Image 11 – Trim a lot off the bottom of the image

During the completion of my amendments I will re-post only the affected images.

Shot 1 (Portrait) Amended ISO-400, 18mm, 1/200sec, f/8 The original shot was underexposed by approximately 1 stop. I simply altered this using Photoshop CS4

Shot 2 (Portrait) Amended ISO-400, 34mm, 1/640sec, f/8 Again this shot was underexposed and so I altered the foreground using Photoshop CS4 however, I kept the sky the same exposure as the original.

Shot 5 (Portrait) Amended ISO-400, 25mm, 1/40sec, f/8 This shot was also badly underexposed. Using Photoshop I increased the exposure by two stops. I feel it’s turned out quite well.

Shot 6 Amended ISO-400, 21mm, 1/125sec, f/9 As well as being slightly underexposed, this shot had a poor composition. Luckily I had another shot of the same scene but from a wider angle. I couldn’t use the shot as it was due to the tree on the right of the shot being too big, it covered quite a lot of Beetham Tower. To combat this, I cloned out some of the tree and pieced in some extra pieces of Tower. I also added an extra strip of sky down the right and shrunk the tree. This brought the Tower further into the photograph and ultimately improved the composition.

Shot 7 Amended ISO-400, 20mm, 1/125sec, f/9 High contrast photography is one of my favourite styles of the subject and therefore I wanted to include some of these types of shots. Following advice from my tutor I increased the contrast of this shot even more and I feel it has indeed increased its aesthetic appearance.

Shot 8 (Portrait) Amended ISO-400, 21mm, 1/160sec, f/9 Again I increased the contrast of this shot and I feel it too has benefitted from the amendment.

Shot 10 Amended ISO-800, 34mm, 1/500sec, f/29 Admittedly the composition of this shot wasn’t excellent therefore cropping was the best solution. To improve the shot I cropped some of the black area from below the Tower and some of the sky from above, this created an attractive panoramic style image.

Shot 11 Amended ISO-400, 55mm, 1/500sec, f/13 As in the previous, this shot suffered from having too much black area below the Tower, I simply cropped some off to improve the composition.

Amendment Summary

During the completion of my amendments I re-posted only the affected images.

Below is a list of the affected images and the improvements I made to each one:

• Image 1 – I simply increased the exposure by one stop using Photoshop CS4
• Image 2 – Again I simply increased the exposure by one stop using Photoshop CS4 however I didn’t alter the exposure of the sky
• Image 5 – I increased the exposure of this shot by two stops in Photoshop
• Image 6 – I had another shot of the same scene but from a wider angle. I couldn’t use the shot as it was due to the tree on the right of the shot being too big. I cloned out some of the tree and pieced in some extra pieces of Tower. I also added an extra strip of sky down the right and shrunk the tree. This brought the Tower further into the photograph and ultimately improved the composition.
• Image 7 – I increased the contrast
• Image 8 – Again I increased the contrast of this shot
• Image 10 – I trimmed off some of the black area from below the Tower and some above to create a letter box style image
• Image 11 – Again I cropped some of the black area from below the Tower

Overall I feel I have followed my tutor’s advice quite well and have managed to improve the shots that needed amending.

Thoughts and Feelings

The aim of "5: Natural Light" was to show the variety of outdoor light, how to make the best use of it and how to choose appropriate lighting conditions for particular subjects.

The sun rises in the East, so if a chosen subject is facing East a photographer would have to shoot it at Sunrise in order to light it from the front. The opposite applies for subjects facing West, they would have to be shot at Sunset.

Sunrise and Sunset are great times to take photographs as the sky has a much higher range of colours. The intense red and orange hues of the sky at sunrise and sunset are mainly caused by scattering of sunlight by dust particles, soot particles, other solid aerosols and liquid aerosols in the Earth's atmosphere. Sunrise colours are typically less brilliant and less intense than sunset colours since there are generally fewer particles and aerosols in the morning air than in the evening air. Night time air is usually cooler and less windy, this allows dust and soot particles to settle out of the atmosphere. Sunrise colour intensities can however exceed sunset's intensities when there are night time fires, volcanic eruptions/emissions or dust storms to the east of the viewer. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world.

Whilst completing Natural Light I have learnt to plan my shots in order to light subjects from certain positions and obtain a more aesthetically pleasing colour in the sky. I have also learnt that cloudy and dull weather doesn't stop me from taking impressive shots. Very cloudy and layered sky can provide a lot of contrast and ultimately produce some very attractive results.

Cloudy, Dull and Rain

In cloudy weather the light from the sun becomes greatly diffused, therefore meaning that the level of light is lower thus requiring longer shutter speeds and wider apertures to correctly expose shots.

Clouds also alter how a scene is lit. Shadows become much softer and subjects are lit much more evenly.

01. Dunstanburgh Castle

Cloudy1/60sec  f/9.5

Sun1/180sec  f/9.5

02. My Girlfriend Lindsay

Cloudy1/20sec  f/6.7

Sun 1/180sec  f/9

03. Dear in Snow at Dunham Park

Cloudy1/125sec  f/9

Sun 1/80sec  f/13

As we can see from the technical data of the photographs above, in each cloudy situation I have had to use either a slower shutter speed, wider aperture or both to correctly expose the shots (in comparison with the ones taken in bright sunlight).

Having kept my white balance on the daylight setting it’s clear that in cloudy situations, there is a slight blue cast on the photographs. To counteract this effect, a straw coloured filter could be applied to the lens. The effect is most visible in my third set of photos. Shot during sunset, their is quite a dramatic colour difference between the two shots of the same dear. The one taken under cloud is very blue whereas the one in sunlight is quite yellow, even slightly orange.

Rain

Many people would consider dull weather to be unsuitable for photography and therefore rain is thought to be even worse. If you’re careful with your camera, keep it dry and wipe drops of the lens, many interesting photographs can be obtained in rainy weather. If you’re lucky and it happens to be sunny and raining at the same time, rainbows can appear and improve the most mundane photographs.

My photograph of a rainbow isn’t the most attractive, however, had I been in a more scenic location it would have been a great addition to my shot.

My next shot, taken at Dunstanburgh Castle is quite plain but the contrast in the sky keeps it interesting. I applied a graduated filter to my lens when taking this shot so that I could expose the foreground and the sky equally. The rain can be seen splashing in the lake and the contrasting dark and light clouds draw us towards the horizon.

My shot of a leaf is similar to one that I used in Assignment one to portray “Wet”. The texture of this specific type of plant’s leaves allows water droplets to remain on it’s surface after it has rained. This is a very interesting effect and is intriguing to look at. Viewer’s eyes constantly flick from one droplet to another as each one is the same yet quite different.

Rain hitting water leaves very attractive ring patterns if only for a brief moment. Capturing the patterns are very difficult to do but I feel I’ve acquired a couple of quite pleasing representations.

For my final shot, I layed a piece of glass above a dark green background and captured some very fine rain splashing onto its surface. On viewing this shot a person would instantly think of rain.

Graduated Filters

To demonstrate how useful graduated filters are I have taken the shots below.. For my first test, I found a room that was lit by a window on one side. I set my camera on a tripod and aimed the lens at a wall perpendicular to the window. The window is on the right hand side in my shot.

No Filter

We can see that without the use of a filter the right hand side of the shot is lighter than the left.

Graduated Filter

Keeping the shutter speed and aperture the same; applying a graduated filter so that the darker half is on the right and the soft edge is vertical evens out the exposure across the wall.

Next, correctly exposing a shot for landscape will leave the sky very bright, we can see an example of this in my first shot.

No Filter

To counteract the bright sky problem a graduated filter can be attached to the lens.

Graduated Filter

Again the shutter speed and aperture need to remain the same. With a filter attached, it should be positioned so that the darker half is placed over the sky and the soft edge is slightly above and parallel with the horizon. This should help to both correctly expose the sky and the landscape.

The Edge - Alderley Edge

The Edge itself is a wide red sandstone escarpment situated above the village of Alderley. It is a ridge of land which separates a narrow and short valley from the higher ground of south east Cheshire and Derbyshire. It rises gradually from the town of Macclesfield, until, at a distance of 7 or 8 kilometres, it terminates abruptly, having reached a height of nearly 215 metres above sea level, and 110 metres above the Cheshire Plain below it. From its highest point, the Edge offers panoramic views across Cheshire and the Peak District. There are walking paths through the property and one to the nearby National Trust property Hare Hill. From the Edge, the Cheshire Plain can be seen extending from the area of Macclesfield Forest (on the south east side with its undulating land and woods) towards the extreme easterly point of the Derbyshire peaks and northerly to Manchester and Blackstone Edge in Yorkshire. The area was once mined for copper and tours of these caves are available. It is also home to numerous myths and legends. The woodland offers peaceful walks but if you like a challenge then you can be a little more adventurous and walk on the sloping hillside.

View from The Edge aka Castle Rock

View from Stormy Point

Below I have added a couple of my photos, taken at Alderley Edge

Lindsay sat on The Edge

The Mythical Wishing Well

A shot of part of the woodland

An enormous strangely cracked rock

Choosing the Moment and Twilight

Whilst visiting Hartshead Pike in Ashton-Under-Lyne I decided to try and take the photographs for a lot of my projects. I even used the location for a lot of my photographs for Assignment 3. It has stunning views over Manchester and when the weather's right, a photographer can take some excellent shots.

For Project 46 (Choosing the Moment) I decided to use the sun as one of the main subjects in my shots as it moves through the sky. Upon arriving at the location I had plenty of time to decide upon my favourite viewpoints.

As the sun began to set, I took my first shot in the series. I feel this is a good photograph however I wanted something better, something with a little more interest in the background.

After switching my angle of view so that I was looking directly towards Manchester City Centre I took my next shot.

Still not happy with the result, I attached my 75 - 300mm lens to get closer to the City.

After taking two similar shots, I still wasn't happy.

Five minutes later the sun had come from behind the clouds and the sky was blazing orange. Having rather stupidly left my tripod at home, I used a nearby fence post to keep my camera steady, set the focal length to it's maximum of 300mm to get some close up shots of the sun setting over Manchester.

Another similar shot.

Not quite right.

I'm very proud of my final shot and feel it is some of my best photography yet. The colours are incredible, the composition is balanced and overall it is a very pleasing image.

Twilight

Keeping in the same location as earlier, I waited for the sun to disappear further behind the horizon.

My first shot isn't true twilight as the sun is still slightly visible.

After changing to a wider focal length of 135mm I took another shot, this time of the entire City. The colours that twilight bring to a photograph really make for an interesting shot. I would have to say that this is my favourite out of the twilight shots.

Over exposing the shot slightly at 205mm much more detail is visible in the City but the colours are less dramatic. This is quite a surreal image.

My last shot is a silhouette of the tower on top of Hartshead Pike. It has quite a eerie and sinister feel to it.