ARCHITECTURAL DECORATION (NAPLES ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM)

Whilst in Italy visiting the National  Archaeological Museum of Naples, I was inspired to photograph many of the exhibits.  These help record the daily lives of the inhabitants of the surrounding area right back to Roman times.  Many of the exhibits were taken from Herculanium and Pompei, Roman cities of great sophistication, and show how people lived, how they decorated their homes and the items they used and treasured.

Since one theme of my assignment covers architecture, I thought I would include these since architectural decoration and detail is covered by this.  In addition I feel that architecture influences the way people live and inhabit a space, therefore this translates into the items they use in daily life and treasure for decoration.

This is a detail from a sarcophagus carved in the 4th centure AD, of Roman origin and shows very find detail.

This detail is taken from the so called 'blue vase'.  It is a wine amphora depicting a Dionysiac themed grape harvest, made by adding a layer of white paste to a blue glass background.  Locally made in the Augustan period, 1st Century AD.

This must be where Wedgewood got his inspiration for his Jasperware, paste cameos on blue unglazed pottery.

This shot was difficult to get since the vase was in a square glass case with four tungsten lights inside attached to the top, shining directly down onto the vase.  Great illumination for viewing but not for photographs.

This is a wall painting taken from a villa in Pompei of Terentius Neo (a baker) and his wife. It was found on the rear wall so that anyone entering the house had an immediate view of it from the atrium.

Below are further wall paintings taken from Pompei and Herculanium and show how wealthy Roman families decorated their homes.

These animal head spouts were taken from a fountain and must have looked very impressive when in use.

Since they were lined up on a plain wall I liked the idea of giving an impression of the spouts but concentrating focus on one, I therefore used a wide aperture on autofocus and then recomposed the shot.

This is a silver drinking vessel decorated with olives and branches from the House of Menander where a silver hoard was found.  There were 118 pieces packed in wooden cases in the basement of the house and were placed there during restoration of the villa, after damage during the earthquake of AD62.  They had been wrapped in cloth and wool for protection.

The figures of athletes below were most impressive since they were in running position and not the usual erect pose draped in robes and holding spears, shields etc.

They were recovered from the Villa of the Papyri, with another 65 works in bronze and 28 in marble and more than 1000 rolls of papyrus.  They decorated the gymnasium  at the centre of which was a swimming pool.

These were difficult to photograph since  I wanted to depict the running action but with the striking face in focus.  The large windows behind let in bright sunlight and there were constantly people milling about.  I got as close to the runner as I could and used a shallow depth of field to try and cut out some of the distractions.

The final shot is part of the museum building itself, the building was originally a palace, constructed in the Renaissance period and renovated and restructured by Ferdinand IV of Bourbon around 1780.

This is the Great Hall of the Sundial and was begun in 1612/1615 and was intended to house the 'Studi' and the public library, so called because of a sundial built into the floor, lit by a shaft of light which enters the room at midday, through a hole from the south-west corner of the room.

Editing and Image Selection

Over the Christmas period I have been busy editing photographs and working towards the final selection of images.  In accordance with the 'statement of intent', I need to work towards a portfolio of 10 images for each theme, 'architecture' and 'street'.

I have included some screen grabs here to illustrate the type of editing which has been undertaken.

This photograph was taken around midday and you can see the high contrast results.  I wanted to capture the tunnel like qualities of the street and the Italian flags strung across, unfortunately, I did not have any filters to hold back the bright sunlight and this has resulted in the histogram having a high peak in the black end of the scale, the picture registering mainly blacks and dark colours.

I did try to work with this, as in Edward Swinden's work shown earlier in my blog, however, I felt this defeated the object to show this street as uniquely Italian.  I therefore used the burn tool to bring out more detail in the apartments on the left.

Here I worked on the 'raw' file using 'fill light', to bring out detail in the dark area in front, vibrance to improve colour in mid tones and clarity to sharpen it up a little.

Here little work was needed since there were no highlight or shadow  'clipping' warnings, other than to increase saturation by a small amount to increase blue in the sea and sky.

Here again, saturation was increased by a small amount to improve colour.

This was another high contrast situation with foliage shaddows falling on the scene.  I used fill light and saturation to boost colour.

This one had lost some detail in the highlights, recovery was used to bring these back a little, vibrance to improve colour in midtones and the contrast boosted a small amount.

Rocovery on this one improved some blown out highlights on the toys with contrast and vibrance to sharpen and boost colour.

With this one a sharpening tool from the filter menu was used on his face since it was very slighty blurred by his movement.  In addition the sky behind was blown out due to bright sunlight and this was improved a little.

This is a screen grab of an area which was improved using cloning.

I have also included here informtion from the internet with regard to Health and Safety.  When spending any length of time at a workstation it is important to be aware of  any health and safety implications.  These include correct screen height and lighting, comfortable sitting positions, no over-reaching or stretching, correct placement of keyboard/mouse and any other equipment, as well as regular breaks away from the screen to alieviate fatigue, eye strain, back, neck or arm/hand/wrist problems.

In addition to these specific considerations, the working environment should be assessed for light, ventilation, noise, dust/cleanliness, trip or slip hazards and safety of electrical equipment, as in regular testing.

Ensure the Safety of Everyone Using Your Equipment

What does the law say?

Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 [PDF], every business has a duty to minimise the risks in visual display unit (VDU) work by ensuring that workplaces and jobs are well designed.
The regulations apply to staff who habitually use VDUs as a significant part of their normal work.
Staff who spend more than a few hours each day sitting at a desk with a DSE/VDU may experience headaches, neck and lower back pain, sore arms and shoulders or a combination of these problems.
As an employer you are required to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who uses your equipment.

FINAL SELECTION/EDITING

We are now at the stage of final selection of images and have been looking at cropping and editing our photographs.

In order to obtain the correct crop we have set the editing software to A4 with 300dpi.  In addition, where needed, adjustment layers have been added.

Here are some screen grabs to illustrate the process and aid in judging what adjustments have been made.

STATEMENT OF INTENT - ARCHITECTURE

AN ITALIAN ADVENTURE

Intention & Professional application


For this module I intend to produce at least 10 architectural images, using material collected on my recent visit to Naples and the surrounding area.

These will form a portfolio of images which can be used in a professional application, for example to illustrate guide and travel journals, as art work for books, magazines or calenders, in photojournalism or as illustrations in architectural magazines.

Stimulus & Influences


My stimulus for this has been my recent visit to Italy and the desire to capture a photographic record of the amazing buildings I have seen there, with all the influences that have come from the peoples of ancient and modern civilisations, who have made a home in this part of the world.

I have been influenced by historians and archaeologists past and present, fist during my school years when ancient history was part of the curriculum and latterly by some of the excellent history programmes shown on television.

Equipment & Media

Since this trip to Italy is primarily a touring holiday, I have only been able to take one camera due to luggage weight restrictions.  I will therefore be using my Canon EOS 5D MK11 with 24 - 70mm lens and polarising filter where necessary.  I do not have a tilt and shift lens available and feel that this will not be needed since it is an artistic impression I want to achieve.  It would be nice to have a tripod available to enable me to take some shots in low light or at night, but unfortunately this is not possible.

I will publish the finished photographs in a portfolio available via the internet, either on a dedicated photosharing website or on blogger.  I feel this is more convenient since I will not have to carry around a bulky portfolio of printed photographs and can reach a larger audience without having to be physically present myself.

Techniques

Since my portfolio is not intended for illustration of technical journals, I would like to capture an artistic impression of architecture, rather than a technically correct photograph, showing no perspective for example.  On the contrary I prefer the exagerated, elongated look that is achieved by standing close to a structure and shooting upwards.

As well as photographing buildings as a whole, I want to show detail in the architecture by taking close-up shots of interesting decoration and fittings, internally as well as externally. In order to isolate detail, I want to use, where possible due to lighting conditions, a wide aperture in order to throw surroundings distractions, out of focus.

Lighting

I do not have any flash equipment available and could not carry it with me due to the nature of the trip, so I will be relying on ambient light.  This may be problematical since many churches and museums have small windows which let in only a limited amount of light.  However, this can provide some dramatic shafts of light which will give exciting results.

If light levels are low I will have to increase ISO, I have up to a reading of 6400, which can be expanded to 12800 and 25600 in very extreme cases.  I anticipate keeping the iso to 2500 and lower where possible, since at higher readings picture quality deteriorates.

Health & Safety


Since I am taking photographs as a tourist on holiday and in public places, I should not need any special permissions.  The general public and authorities seem to be well used to tourists snapping away and I have never been challenged as to what I am doing.  However, I would not try to take pictures in a sensitive location, such as a police station or army barracks for example, unless I was commissioned to do so.  I would then have to obtain the necessary permissions from any authorities involved.

I am always sensitive as to the reactions of other people whom I may capture in my photographs, if anyone objected I would discontinue and would not try to photograph children unless given permission by their parent or responsible adult.

The other considerations relate to personal safety, trips or falls, traffic and obstructions, climbing or making myself a hazard by obstructing others, or personal safety as in being attacked if out alone or threatened in a robbery.

LECTURE - EDWARD SWINDEN

I attended a lecture at Burton College today given by Ed Swinden a young photographer, based in Manchester, who has recently won the first  'Shoot the Street' competion run by British Journal of Photography and the Format Photography Festival in Derby.  He has a solo exhibition of his work running till April 2011.

He is exhibiting a series of photographs featuring a single person, going about their daily lives, caught in a strip of illumination, creating an almost abstract image. 

Using the strong contast between light and dark as a metaphor for our daily lives, often oppressed by the system, as in the towering surroundings.

Ed came to photography after dropping out as a physcology student and going into journalism, writing for various newspapers and the BBC.  He soon found out he preferred photography and went freelance about 6 years ago.  He has worked as a photographer for the BBC on Doctor Who, NME magazine photographing various bands and Haymarket magazine photographing celebrities and various work for University  of Manchester.

Ed enjoys street photography because it is fast, discreet and interacts with people, which I find a bit difficult to understand, since if you are fast and discreet you do not have much time to interact with the subject, surely the purpose is to capture the image before it changes, unless of course you have set up the shot, you would then have to interact with the subject to get them to repeat their actions.  He says he does not use image manipulation in his photography, for example he has not inserted the figures, however, he used one photo to show how a mundane shot was turned into something more graphic and exciting, by underexposing a large part of the image, giving it a large black area.

However, I do agree that street photography is a good way to train your eye as a photographer, searching out the juxtaposition of objects and illustrating the comedy of everyday life.  Ed wanted to capture the in between times, when nothing much was happening, which is often most of the time, and looking at this series of shots, I agree, this is what he has achieved.

I admire the technical expertise and discipline needed to achieve a set of images in this vein, but for myself I prefer more information in my pictures.  I could benefit from being more concentrated and training myself to be more disciplined and paring things down somewhat, but I just find everything so inspiring, especially when I am travelling, that I just want to capture it all.

Ed offered some good advice for people wanting to make a career of photography;

- look at lots of good and rubbish work and remember the names of the great photographers,

- practice, so that technical stuff is automatic,

- know what is current and 'in' but don't copy everyone else,

- try every technique and genre to see what you are good at and enjoy,

- use yourself as a model to practice lighting techniques,

- learn how light works,

- have projects going forwards,

- network, make the most of your contacts.

SOURCES - Lecture by Edward Swinden at Burton College 20/10/10
                   - web sites, photo.net
                                     edswinden.co.uk
                                     formatfestival.com
                                     bjp-magazine.com