Observations of stage photography

In the Guardian this week, I noticed this image of a performance of Mary Poppins, taken by a Guardian photographer.

I noted the similarities with images I've taken before and with some taken for assignment two. The similarities noted were the color cast by the stage lighting, I'd previously tried to exclude this in post processing with earlier images, but felt that something was lost by doing this and it wasn't a true representation of that moment captured in time. I also noted with the guardian image that some movement could be seen with some of the actors and 'Mary's' face isn't pin sharp, this made me feel quite encouraged as I'd been quite critical of my own pictures if a hint of movement was seen, after studying this image I feel an increase in comfort in making my own decision about how much movement is acceptable in an image and that colour cast is part of the package. I would really like to know what ISO was used with this image, I would guess at 3200, to get a sharp image with challenging lighting conditions a high ISO is required.

I imported the Guardian image into Lightroom to zoom in to make my own review. My image, complete with colour cast and minimal movement, I feel is a good representation of a captured  moment in a dance routine. I find that reviewing photographers work and comparing to my own not only gives me inspiration with my own work but also encouragement to progress.

Assignment Two : options for consideration

The object of this assignment is to plan and execute a set of images of people in some form of meaningful activity. This could be work, sport, a stage performance (music drama), or at a social event.

I need to produce a set of approximately 10 final, selected images, and I can choose between depicting the same person (or small group) at different kinds of activity, or different people at the same single activity or event.

I need to concentrate on two aspects:

• photo's that express a telling moment
• photo's that explain the activity

Options for consideration:

Option 1 - Eye assessment:

I work in an eye clinic in a hospital, the set of photo's could explain how part of the eye assessment is carried out and would go something like this:

• someone explaining to the 'patient' (I have someone who could pretend to be a patient) about the eye drops with the drops vial in their hand - mid conversation
• 'Patient' with head back whilst eye drops are administered
• close up of the 'tonopen' - instrument used to measure pressure in the eye
• close up of the 'tonopen' being used, actually touching the eye if possible
• pulled back image of the 'tonopen' in use
• the machine operator explaining to the 'patient' what they need to go - pointing at the chin rest
• the OCT test, where the patient sits at a machine with their chin on the rest
• the 'patient' being shown the image of the scan of their eye
• photo of the scan of the back of the eye
• photo of empty vials of eyedrops, disposable 'sheith' used on the tonopen with the clinical waste bin in the shot

Option 2 - Youth Theatre Performance

The annual performance from Neon Youth Theatre was about to be performed, this year the group are performing a different kind of 'interactive' performance which would include the audience in most of the shots, which might be very useful.

• getting ready - nervous cast
• putting make up on
• peeping out at stage
• cast singing and performing - several images 
• 'Eve' up a tree (made of people), smiling at the view
• 'Eve' homeless, with another homeless person
• audience watching the show
• reactions of the audience as will be interactive and close proximity 
• cast relieved and happy

Either of these options would be suitable for this assignment, the eye clinic images might be quite interesting, I would have plenty of time for these photo's and would be able to re-visit if not happy. As there are more than one performance of the youth theatre's show, I would be able to attend more than once. These would be more challenging due to the lighting conditions and the fact that I won't know where anyone is going to stand with the 'interactive' approach.

As I would be attending the youth theatre performance anyway, (daughter in lead role) I'll take images for the theatre, with a view to also using them for my assignment, if I'm not happy with them, I'll consider the eye assessment option.

Exercise: A public space

For this final exercise in need to transfer my attention from an organised occasion to a semi-organised public space. It needs to be accessible and usable from a photographic point of view ie public parks, a beach. Instead of a single event, there will be a variety of things happening & I need to capture a sense of varied use and how people make their own personal or small group activities within the same general area.

Initial thoughts: the park might areas where people gather in a space to have have picnics, ice creams, where they use space to play football. The beach might consist of people sat together in a space eating chips/ice creams, the way people designate their own area on the beach, children in that space making sand castles, donkey rides take up their own space along the beach.

I need to remember that not everyone will be happy to be photographed by someone they don't know and there could be some people who will regard you with suspicion, especially around children, it's important to be sensitive and avoid causing embarrassment or disquiet.

I decided on the Quarry Park in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, a popular park of several acres on the edge of the town along the loop of the river. My aim was to take images of how people used the space.

not a good composition, but this area of the park is often used for informal kick abouts

The main promenade through the middle of the park, a popular loop around the park

chilling out, this extensive area of the park is used for picnics, playing etc. the Shrewsbury flower show is held in this park as are several concerts throughout the year. There is plenty of room for people to claim their designated 'area' whilst the spend time here

groups of people can be seen chatting, catching up etc

relaxing in the famous 'dingle' created by the late Percy Thrower

there are a great many benches around the dingle where people sit and admire the flowers or just relax, benches are dedicated to people who have passed. The bench allows for a natural designated 'area' that is just yours, while you are sat there, adding to the comfort of the situation

view of a space in the dingle, places to walk and sit

the Quarry Park has always been popular with people of all ages, there is always somewhere to talk 

from a distance, little groups of people can be seen spread out over the space available

Exercise: An organised event

For this exercise I need to research and prepare in advance. I need an organised event where there will be plenty of people and where I can photograph freely and with some variety. An event with people moving around is most suitable, not with spectators sitting in seats.

I will need to take a set of images, I'm aiming for around 10, that tell some sort of story.

Planning - look at what's on this weekend in my area:

Project: Public events, public spaces

There is a more definite focus when shooting public events and spaces and relates to 'space' in relationship to people and use. I must now begin to think of explaining through my photographs.

In addition to photographing people in telling moments, each one unique and self contained, I need to consider how a series of my photographs might build up into telling some kind of story, so that a set of photographs to some extent explains what is going on in a situation or event.

Theatre photography and voyeurism - research for assignment 2

After reading the entitled 'The subject as an object: photography and the human body' in 'Photography: A Critical Introduction, Liz Wells. I was interested to note the discussion on voyeurism in photography, where a Freudian approach considers the spectator's experience of visual pleasure, usually understood as an erotic pleasure gained in looking at another person or at images of other bodies. This pleasure is voyeuristic when it is dependent on the subject of the gaze being unaware, not looking back. To some extent photography, by the very nature of the medium, invites voyeuristic looking. (Sontag 1977: 11-14).

This then, suggests that voyeurism is only considered to be voyeurism when the gaze relates to the subjects being viewed in relation to eroticism. During my research for my next assignment, I came across a conflicting view:

David Greg, British Playwright, whose award winning work has been commissioned by, among others, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Scotland to name but a few. Greg creates works of extreme visual beauty and emotional directness in lyrical soundscapes. In an interview in June 2010, he discusses the themes of politics and national identities, language, music, and experimental forms; directors, directing, and adaptations; and watching bodies on stage. Grieg believes that theatre is a form of voyeurism, 'a consensual exchange' to 'look at people and watch how they behave'. In his work, the  act of watching thus acquires a new role surpassing the simple function of pleasure, and enabling the viewer to engage further with the theatre's mediation to comment, justify, explain, and promote a better understanding of the complexities of human nature - voyeurism in theatre being re-read as a new freedom of the gaze. Research article: 'I let the language lead the dance': Politics, Musicality, and Voyeurism, David Greig in conversation with George Rodosthenous.

With the discussion of voyeurism being from erotic in nature, Grieg's opinions differ with quite a contrasting approach, that voyeurism is something not erotic (although not discounting this is what most would think and what is historically the background), but a 'consensual exchange' suggesting that in theatre, the viewers are there to view the performers with the performers in full knowledge of this, in fact by the very nature of theatre, the performers objective is to be viewed, listened to with an overall objective of enjoyment, but not always in the same way Freud suggested. There is also the commonly enjoyed pastime known as 'people watching' enjoyed by many, although this isn't the 'consensual exchange' one enters into when at the theatre, still an activity of the gaze as an activity that results in general enjoyment based on curiosity.

For my next assignment, I intend to take photographs at a theatre production, one where the audience take an 'interactive' role, where they are part of the stage and move about freely to watch the performers in close proximity during the production. I will be particularly interested in assessing the gaze of those watching the performance.

Planning for assignment 2

Theatre production

Inspiring photo:

Rehearsals for Thomas Otway's 'The Soldiers Fortune'

Overall learning outcomes for part two - people unaware

This section has looked at developing confidence, this helped me get used to taking pictures of people out and about in 'people unaware'. What helped increase confidence was taking pictures in areas where people with a camera was a regular sight, these tended to be the tourist areas, comfort levels were fine, less so in other areas, especially when someone looks at the camera. When I had a look of suspicion I pointed the camera in another direction so it looked like I wasn't trying to get anyone in the frame.

Capturing the moment
This section required the development of 'powers of observation and anticipation' of what may be coming next, on the whole this exercise taught me the need for patience and the need for fast reflexes and shutter speed, I also needed to shoot freely as the 'moment' may have ended up being one not anticipated. Henri Cartier Bresson's 'man jumping over the puddle' is an example of his 'decisive moment' and that observation, time and patients pay off.
Man jumping over the puddle

Train Your Gaze, Roswell Angier p33.
'With human subjects, the moment is always decisive in matters of framing. The photographer arranges the information found in the camera's viewfinder, often intuitively and extremely quickly, in a way that seems appropriate to his sense of the quality of the instant. Henri Cartier-Bresson coined the term "the decisive moment."

Standing back
I especially enjoyed this exercise allowed me to be a guilt free 'nosey parker', I used a 75 - 300mm lens in order to take photo's of people from a distance. Whist the lens made it very easy to zoom in to people, the compression made it difficult to scan around the scene without having to look away from the camera, make it quite disorientating to scan solely through the lens. The selection of the subject was important as less inclusion of subject matter in the frame required more precision as there is less to crop out post processing. Using the telephoto lens allowed me to take more intimate images in a less obvious and intrusive way, taking candid images much easier and very comfortably as a result. The location and position chosen to take these photo's was important as it was easy for people to walk into the frame and with the compression of the lens this was hard to anticipate easily.

Exercise - wide angle
What surprised me about this exercise was the effect of using a wide angle close to people had. It reminded me of some of the work of William Klein, his work makes the view feel right in the surroundings of the frame. I was inspired to re-create the same kind of images. The wide angle really does place the viewer right in the scene. To avoid the discomfort of bringing the camera to my eye right in front of people, I held the camera on the neck strap at roughly waist level and took images by pointing roughly in the direction I wanted, sometimes tilting upwards, this was easier than I imaged once I'd got use to the shooting position of the camera. I found it very comfortable to take images as know one had any idea I was taking photo's. I was pleased with the results, I preferred them converted to black and white, which is how street photography should look to me, it shows a gritty edge whilst also showing the texture and geometry sometimes lost or distracted by colour.
Example of William Klein's work

Exercise - standard focal length
I was interested to notice the effect on the viewer of images taken at 50mm, whilst this gives a 'normal' view, one cant help but have a good look around the image to see what's going on, as nothing in particular is zoomed in on, or there are no graphic changes such as with wide angle, but a simple, ordinary view actually forces the viewer to look and take in the scene. From a photography point of view I feel that there is more observational skills required for this kind of image as an interesting scene or element is essential to make the image 'work', street photography is made to look easy by th

Exercise: Standard focal length

For this exercise I needed to concentrate on shooting with one focal length, between 40 - 50mm. The normality of the standard focal length keeps the attention firmly on what is happening in the scene without distraction, as these images show. I found that I was looking for something really interesting to fill the image with as when shooting at 50mm, it's a normal view, as if looking at the scene without the camera, so I felt I wanted to capture something special, which is where the art of street photography is, being observant and quick enough with a measure of luck thrown in to capture what I wanted. Without that special something, shooting at 50mm gives a fairly ordinary view, which at the same time forces the viewer to look within the image to take in the scene.

49mm

49mm

50mm

I think you can see the difference, although slight, between the 50mm and the two 46mm images below, they do appear slightly more compressed.

46mm

46mm

49mm

Project - Standard focal length

The concept of 'standard' and 'normal' in lens focal length is that the view approximates to what you would see with the naked eye. This is a very loose idea, as a camera image is fixed and framed, while our eyes are constantly scanning and we have an awareness of a much wider area around the part of a scene that we are paying attention to.

In street photography, 'standard' means with no special graphic distortion applied to the picture. Both telephoto and wide-angle lenses add their own graphic dynamics to the image, either flattening and compressing in the case of a long focal length, or stretching in the case of a wide angle. On the one hand, this means that you do not have the benefit of such graphic strength to help the images, but on the other hand, the sheer normality of a standard focal length keeps the attention firmly on what's happening in the scene, without distraction. There is no need to think about the special difficulties of working either at a distance or very close.

Project: wide-angle - learning outcomes

• using a wide angle lens brings more into the frame but when used close up out in the street a distinct feeling of being close up in the frame
• To achieve the desires 'close and involved' image, I needed to be withing a couple of feet of people, looking at other images I'd taken for this exercise, they just didn't work if too far away

Exercise: Close and involved

For this exercise I needed to switch to the lens with the widest angle I have. I usually keep a Sigma 17-70mm f/1:2.8-4 lens on my camera, I wanted to use a lens I've not really used much at all, a Canon 18-55mm EFS 1:3.5-5.6 IS STM, as the address the wide angle requirement of the exercise I set off to complete task.

A true wide angle, judged from its visual effect, is around 28mm or less. For this exercise I am to use it close to people, trying to achieve a sense of putting the viewer right inside the situation, when taking images with the viewfinder to the eye, this is quite a challenging way to shoot, I used the technique of shooting with the camera held down against my body to the length of the neck strap. I found this technique very easy to carry out as it was pretty much impossible to notice I was taking pictures, it was even easy to take pictures in shops, anywhere in fact, a very useful trick, but there was the danger of not being able to compose the image so quite a bit of practice was needed to guess the angle most likely to achieve the desired results.

The settings for my camera were (RAW) a shutter speed of 1/250 (so that I could shoot quickly through the moving people with minimal blur) which set the aperture automatically, the white balance was set at cloudy, ISO of 100.

Issues encountered during this exercise: I initially used bracketing to ensure a good exposure but found this drew attention due to the continual shooting of the 3 frames so removed the bracketing setting relying on the shutter speed to allow a good enough exposure, after reviewing the images I considered changing the ISO if I felt the exposure wasn't good enough but the natural light was fine. I walked through town from a busy shopping area toward the also busy but tourist area. I had a check at the images I'd taken every few shots and reassessed the angle I was using.

Project: wide-angle

A wide angle lens has two valuable functions: it places the person firmly in their surroundings, and it draws the viewer into the scene, I've noticed with extremely wide angles of landscapes that really do appear to draw the viewer in as is the edges of the frame are sliding into the scene. The focal length chosen for any particular shot makes a substantial difference, not only to the character of the image but also to how to prepare for it. Changing to the wide-angle or standard or telephoto is a framing convenience: from whatever distance you happen to be standing, changing the focal length either expands the view or drops in on it. Zooms have a clear advantage that the allow you to react more quickly than by stepping back or forward.

In a situation in which there are people moving around with a wide-angle lens you will be taking in much of the immediate surroundings, as in order to partly fill the frame with a figure, you will typically be shooting from a few or several feet away. This makes you fairly obvious to passers by, and one problem is having someone who is not your subject in frame and standing at the camera. The way to avoid this is to raise the camera only immediately before you shoot, then lower it.

Wide angle photography projects the viewer into the scene, the photographer is clearly in the middle of things, a style sometimes known as 'subjective camera', that conveys a sense of being there and of activity.

A wide angle lens makes it possible to compose the view in such a way that the person you want to photograph is off-centered, it will appear to them as if you are aiming the camera to one side, not directly at them.

Exercise: Standing back

For this exercise in am to select a medium-long focal length, ideally between 80-200mm, I must note what practical difficulties I have and what creative opportunities I find the long focal length with the distant position give me.

I used my 75-300 lens for this exercise and found a spot sitting outside coffee shop looking in the direction of the bottom end of a pedestrianised part of town. There was also a pedestrian crossing close to where I was sitting, where people unknowingly lined up for me! When thinking about practical difficulties, the possibility of camera shake was a consideration but sitting outside the coffee shop whilst taking the photo's was quite useful as I could use the arm of the chair to steady my elbow to reduce camera shake. Another practical issue was that of the difference between the telephoto view whilst still trying to look at what was going on with the other eye, so looking for shots through the lens needed me to reduce the zoom back in order to increases the view through the viewfinder or alternatively I moved the camera away from my eye but would have to move a little quicker if I thought a good shot was imminent. I felt quite comfortable taking the photo's and didn't feel that anyone had particularly noticed that I was actually taking photo's of them, and for those that seemed a little suspicious I just pointed my lens nearby at the building so that it looked as though I was taking a photo of something nearby. This is a selection of those taken, I will be taking the lens out and about with me when I can and take advantage of the 'inconspicuous' opportunities gained by using it.

Project - Medium Telephoto

Longer focal lengths make for objective 'across the street' compositions, and separate you from your subject, both physically in distance and in the sense of involvement. One of their strong advantages is that they keep you out of the way. This makes it relatively easy to shoot without being noticed. 50mm has always been considered standard as a focal length, and anything noticeable longer than this - basically from 80mm upwards - is classed as telephoto. Medium telephoto focal lengths are in the region of 80-200mm. In street photography, this helps you to isolate your subject from the surroundings, which tend to play less of a part in the image than they would with a wide-angle lens. Depth of field is relatively shallow, making accurate focusing important, but with the camera set to auto-focus this is usually not a problem.

Project: The moment - learning outcomes

This section required the development of 'powers of observation and anticipation' of what may be coming next, on the whole this exercise taught me the need to select the correct settings on the camera, for patience and the need for fast reflexes along with a fast shutter speed, I also needed to feel confident to shoot freely as often the anticipated 'moment' that I intended to capture may have ended up being one not anticipated.

Train Your Gaze, Roswell Angier p33.
'With human subjects, the moment is always decisive in matters of framing. The photographer arranges the information found in the camera's viewfinder, often intuitively and extremely quickly, in a way that seems appropriate to his sense of the quality of the instant. Henri Cartier-Bresson coined the term "the decisive moment."

Man jumping over the puddle

Exercise: Capturing the moment

For this exercise I am to find a 'comfortable' situation and concentrate on bursts of activity, from which I will hopefully capture a 'best' moment.

There are two parts to capturing the moment deciding what it should be and capturing it - not necessarily in that order, whilst I can shoot carefully and sparingly until I know I have it, I can also shoot more freely and choose the key frame later in editing. Moments are difficult to predict and reveal themselves only as they happen, or some later, like Cartier Bresson's 'Man Jumping Over Puddle, Paris, Gare Saint Lazare 1932' which involved some luck in addition to fast reflexes.

I plan to shoot images in the Bailgate/Cathedral quarter of the city where there is often something going on and an abundance of tourists taking photo's. I hope to find an image with a tourist maybe, hopefully with an expression of enjoyment.

The images I took were of some tourists talking to the tour guide on a horse drawn carriage tour, I took photo's freely hoping to capture an image of enjoyment with a nice expression on faces.

It was hard to capture an image with both people facing the camera smiling, I waited for a 'moment' which was quite hard, the best I could hope for in this situation was a pleasant exchange between the individuals, looking like they were having a nice time. The added problem was that of the tour guide wearing a hat which made his expression hard to capture.

I settled on this shot as the best of the bunch, the lady is smiling with her head tilted toward the tour guide, it looks like she likes what she hears, the tour guide is obviously talking and using his hand to express what he is saying.

Project: The moment

In un-posed photography the subjects present a fluid situation, whatever they do is without guidance from the photographer, certain moments will make better pictures than others, more dynamic, graphic, unusual etc

The moment does make the difference between a so-so image and a compellng one. The great French reportage photographer Henri Cartier Bresson coined the phrase 'the decisive moment' to describe this key quality in a photograph. In his 1952 book of the same name, he defined it as 'the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event s well as th precise organistion fo forms which gives that event its proper expression'. The moment normally hinges on what your subject is doing - the most striking expression, or action, or getsture - but in other situations it might depend more on how you choose to frame the composition.

Henri Cartier Bresson - 'the decisive moment'

Project: A comfortable situation - learning outcomes

This section has looked at developing confidence, this helped me get used to taking pictures of people out and about in 'people unaware'. What helped increase confidence was taking pictures in areas where people with a camera was a regular sight, these tended to be the tourist areas, comfort levels were fine, less so in other areas, especially when someone looks at the camera. When I had a look of suspicion I pointed the camera in another direction so it looked like I wasn't trying to get anyone in the frame.

Exercise: developing your confidence

For this exercise I was to choose an outdoor situation where there would be lots of people and activity, and in which I would feel confident using the camera.

The 'event' I chose to photograph was an open weekend in Lincoln, where usually fee charging venues are open to the public without charge. I started at the cathedral, where many people were looking upwards, which when in a religious location such as this, to capture people looking skywards, implies more than just locating the 'Lincoln Imp' which was about to be illuminated.

The main thing I noticed was that whilst looking for interesting images, I mainly found that my frame was full of either people walking away or toward me, which were on the whole, not very interesting, I think that I would need to situate myself in a cafe in order to people watch and see what goes by

Comfort levels were ok but I felt the need to take the image quickly.

On anther image, I cropped in to focus attention on these people independently looking upwards. I think the wider frame may work better as the context is clearer.

This group of people on a tour was reasonably comfortable to take

This on the other hand was uncomfortable to take and I question whether it was an intrusion of privacy, this was one of the chapels within the cathedral where people light candles of remembrance. I pretended to point the camera at something else, then quickly moved for the shot.

I took this photo from the top of an open top tour bus, I wanted to see if this angle would work for a 'street' photo, if there was something interesting going on then it would have been ok but on the whole I don't think the angle really helps this composition. I didn't feel comfortable enough to take photo's of the people on the bus, but they may have been really interesting.

This image again was taken from the open roof bus, it was really comfortable taking this image, one of those situation where taking a photograph is perfectly acceptable.

After looking for an interesting photo  to leap out at me I decided to just shoot as I walked as Daido Morayama walks the streets of Tokyo. I considered cropping out the people walking into the left of the frame but felt this would avert the focus solely to the person just off centre of the frame, I did though convert the image to black and white:

The focus is less on the blue sky and the cathedral although the lines still take the eye to that part of the frame, I prefer the monochrome version, I may return to this spot and wait for something interesting to occur

There is a little more interest in this image as the person on the left of the image is stepping out across the frame, there is often people sat on the left of this spot, maybe this is another future street location