Shoot 6- Work Diary

In this shoot I wanted to capture the urban landscape at night, so I therefore decided to shoot pictures from a bridge over the top of a dual carriage way on the A10, for the photos to effectively capture the scene at night I used a long exposure to capture the lights of the passing cars.

In this image I chose to get a view of both sides of the dual carriage way, I used a tripod for the entirety of the shoot, in this image I stood further back with the camera to capture the whole scene. The exposure time I used on this shoot was much longer than most, it was between 20-30 seconds in order to capture the journey of the cars for the whole stretch of the road, this is evident in the fact that the light carries off into the farthest reaches of the photo, and the light captures multiple cars that have passed. The leading lines of the image is the way in which the trees become closer as the depth of field increases until the lights from the cars stops in the centre of the image creating an interesting depth of field. I think I've successfully shown an element of the urban landscape, as motorways of Britain are an essential part of transport and what we see regularly.

In this show I wanted to focus on a single side of the dual carriage way, this shot has a much smaller exposure. From this image it is evident a large vechile such as a lorry has gone past to leave such a highs stream of light. I used a tripod for this shot also, however part of the image just tend to blur out and wobble, this could be a factor I could have controlled via the setup of the tripod or a longer exposure time. In focusing on just the one lane meant that I could really hone in on the essence of exposure photography, despite the imperfections in the composition. I like the dim lit backdrop of the grass, sky and trees it works well against the strong colour of the red lights, and makes for an atmospheric shot.

Shoot 5- Work Diary

In this shoot I went on a day trip to London, I shot the series around tottenham court road, I thought this would be a very rich place in architecture and the urban landscape, so I decided to focus on here. I am overall happy with the set of images, as they seem to capture the essence of the urban picture. As a result of not having a tripod with me whilst taking the images, the aperture is not small enough, resulting in some of the depth of field and crispness to be missed out as both images are taken at an F stop of 5.6, this is something I would change in the future. 

The main components of the shot are the strong set of lines which make up the structure of the image, the vertical and diagonal lines of the shops, flats and signs and the jagged shape of the tree against the urbanised landscape, all buildings set against a pale blue cloudy sky, this make for a contrasting backdrop. I chose to shoot these buildings specifically because aesthetically it's contrasting with different dynamics to look at, the image shows the historical relevance of the buildings and a reflection on the architecture, the sandstone coloured building in the middle is clearly old and has been standing for years, whereas the other two have sprung up in more recent years, they appear more modern in design and structure, this shows a reflection on the need for more housing in London due to the increasing population, showing the architectural significance of the street. 

The main elements in this shoot are the brightness of the image and the candid type style of street photography. My intentions in the series were to capture the urban landscape of London, and this captures another important element of this, the people and therefore their goings on, the shot shows two subjects outside a food stall. The light illuminates one side of the shot on the right hand side revealing a sex shop in the background, this reveals a dimension that Shoreditch in London is renowned for in terms of the scene scene attributing to the portrayal of the urban landscape. I like all the different lines and colours of the shot, showing a street with lots going on, the depth of field could be better with increase of aperture which would help to show the subjects in the background with more clarity.
  

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In the future I'd like to taking my photography at night showing a new perspective on photographing the urban landscape, as up to date I have only managed to show the urban landscape in the day time therefore I think it would help to add an extra dimension on to my series of images.

Shoot 4- Work Diary

In this series I chose to focus on the city of Norwich from different perspectives, including the buildings, architecture and the urban landscape from a distance as opposed to my last shoot the first person view of walking through the market and town. I am overall 

This shot is an overview of the market roofs, buildings in the backdrop and sky. I wanted to capture the image in this way to show off the fun colorful feel of the markets against the very old buildings and castle. The shot includes one subject of a woman's head looking off into the surrounding view. The image seems to capture the urban landscape of Norwich, without a very polished and crisp attention to detail, this is why it makes for such a raw, candid piece of photography. I wanted to ultimately show the juxtaposition and contrast with the small colorful market stools and the Victorian backdrop of buildings. The F stop of 14 meant that I could get a large aperture shot creating good depth of field within the image, this is evident in some of the clarity of the buildings in the far backdrop. The brightness of the image is fairly light without too much light taking away from the contrast in colors.

In this shot, I wanted to focus on the architecture making the vast majority of the urban landscape of Norwich, particularly the old Victorian buildings, churches and castles. The perspective I wanted to capture in this shot was a view looking up into the exterior of part of the church, this was too creative an impression of the size and structure of the building, as opposed to taking the shot from far away, I feel like this also helps to give clarity and depth to the shot, showing off the elements of the structure. An area of this that caught my appeal was the windows, I wanted to capture the intricacy of the glass and also the coloured emblem in white and blue on the top of the main section in the photo. The ISO being 400 allowed me to capture the light falling on the building and ultimately illuminating showing off the structure of the church. The frame of the shot includes the blue sky, this helps to contrast against the light tonality of the church.

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The act of photographing a city has worked well in the last two shoots, and so I'd like to further my endeavors, in shooting other cities. I liked the alternate perspective I focused on in this shoot to show another side to the city, this helped to portrayal an overall view and series of the urban landscape of Norwich.

Shoot 3- Work Diary

For shoot 3 I took a series of images from my perspective view; walking around Norwich, particularly around the market, I wanted to get my eye-level view of the urban landscape, the market was one area I particularly focused on as I wanted to get candid photos of people in their urban environment.

This shot is from outside the market looking in at all the private cafes and people shopping at them, the main parts of the image which I like about the shot is the depth of field, the aperture is an F stop of 13 and so you can most detail of the total depth of the image, also the bright red and yellow shutters and the contrast with the metallic grey shops and opaque roof of the market, it makes for a natural, candid feel. Also the people all in the market getting their food and drinks, socialising is very typical of a Norfolk scene. The image depicts the urban landscape of Norwich, the market being a very important, culturally rich part of the city. The shot is also from my perspective walking in to the market and so gives a natural, un-staged feel. The image has an all over light, airy feel to it, however the lighting could have been improved with increased ISO and aperture.

This shot is very similar to my last one, however there are elements that I really like. The overall tone of the piece is really light and airy, I like the mute colours of the grey shops and transparent roofs, the angles of all the shapes of the shops and diagonal roofs jutting out makes for an interesting image. The depth of field in the image is really effective due to the large aperture, you can see near enough all the way to the end of the market where the light comes out, the people are all with their backs turned, socialising or walking away in the distance. I think the photo is a candid piece of street photography showing the urban environment of the Norwich market, including the people, businesses and everyday goings on.

Progression- 

In my next shoot I'd like to explore different perspective views of the urban landscape, and buildings in Norwich to get a broader sense of the city and makeup of the place. I think this shoot was effective in showing my perspective of walking through parts of the city without focusing too much on the different elements of the urban landscape.

Shoot 2- Work Diary

 For this shoot I decided to go to to an old WW2 bunker along the lee valley river, I wanted to focus on the architecture of the building, as it is built very unlike most modern day structures, also I was aware of the graffiti, I thought the urbanized influence therefore made for other interesting parts to focus on.

In this image, I wanted to get a perspective of the entirety of the building, I wanted the whole structure to be visible from a view, Shooting the building from this angle meant that I'd be able to show the different dimensions and parts of the bunker, and therefore showing the architectural value that the bunker played in defending from the enemy and being the shape and material it is to hold up from imposing opposition, due to it's cement material and grounded structure. The graffiti is a part of the new urbanization of the WW2 structure, showing the change and evolution of the use of buildings and landscape. The backdrop of the blank sky sets the bunker standing out and therefore contrasting with the sky.

This image shows off an upwards view of the structure of the roof of the building, showing how robust and strong the building is and the use it once had to serve in WW2. The choice in taking the shot looking up was due to the light coming through between both walls of the bunker, this has been effective in illuminating the graffiti on the left building, and the tone of the image is very light and airy with the dark contrast of the green mossy wall on the right. , Shooting the bunker serves as an example in the makeup of the urban landscape, it is a very small part but makes for an interesting shoot due to the interesting architecture, and graffiti.

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In the future I want to incorporate the perspective I have used in the last two shoots of going out and finding interesting examples of the urban landscape, and info structure in these places, but I would like to shoot a broader range of locations, buildings in one series as opposed to what small building or place, hopefully making for more of an eclectic portrayal of the urban landscape. 

Shoot 1- Work Diary

In this shoot I decided to take a series of images under and around some arches in my local area, I wanted to focus on the architecture, the urbanisation of the landscape, the graffiti etc. I am overall pleased with the result of the images. 

This shot is take from the inside of an arch with the whole width and most of the length of the arch, with the vegetation visible at the end of the arches, I wanted to take it form this perspective to capture a clear view of the entirety of the archy, focusing on the shape and architecture of the structure, the angle is looking up from the ground trying to encompass as much of the arch as possible. In the majority of the series I used flash because of how dark it was underneath the structure; the camera settings therefore all came out the same; 1/60 Sec ISO 400 F 3.5. The light from the flash captures all the little details such as the limbs and branches of the trees and the brickwork and graffiti on the tunnel, showing clarity and contrast.

In this shot I focus on the graffiti under the tunnels, the flash is visibly illuminating the wall and therefore the art, I wanted focus on the urbanisation of the landscape, due to how dark it was I needed to use flash 1/60 Sec ISO 400 F 3.5, and therefore my was struggling to focus however I think it has captured the scene clearly including the depth of field of the curve of the arch and the wall in the far left corner. The colours are clear and contrasting with the wall and the art work, the bright and dark tones are shown in the dimly lit setting.

Progression-

I am overall pleased with the way in which my photos have come out, due to how dark the setting was, the majority of my images are used with flash, a lot of the ones that didn't have flash on came out blurry, I would like to come back to the spot or one which is similar in the day time to capture a series of images in urban settings without the use of flash. I would also like to incorporate graffiti into more of my shoots because it is a big part of the urbanised landscape.