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.