Brads Choice Pics 1 - From A Roman Window

Being a teacher I gravitate towards creating posts that instruct, espouse, illuminate and hopefully elevate. The whole point of photography however is to create images, in my case I'm lucky that people pay me to take them but of course I also create a considerable array of images for a wide range of personal reasons.  Sometimes I am setting out to create art, sometimes to record events and places for future reference, often to tell a story and often just because I enjoy the challenge and processes involved.

My storage systems are bursting with images, both film and electronic, images that in the great majority of cases have never been seen by anyone else, unshared and unloved, tis a bit sad really.  I don't post many pics to Facebook, (basically I don't really trust Facebook, read the terms and conditions), I don't have a Flikr account, 500PX or at present even an Instagram account, so most of my non-commercial pics that see the light of day only do so in classrooms or in workshops.

I often I'm asked by my students, what pictures do you like, what do you prefer to shoot, what are your favourite photos and other related questions. Fair enough too, I often ask students the same questions in order to both guide my teaching provision and help them explore more deeply their relationship with photography.

Well I tell you what, it's about time I opened up and shared my favourite pics, laid it all bare and put them out there.  So this my friends is the first post of what will become a regular  series of articles, "Brads' Choice Pics". The articles will include pics taken on iPhones (such as todays'), film cameras, DSLRs, compacts, Mirrorless and even some that were actually resurrections of ancient family snaps.  Some will be out of left field, others traditional, there will be landscapes, abstracts and more....basically expect the eclectic!

But being a teacher who is unable to help but teach,  I'll include some words of insight to go with the images, these words may include some info on technique where it matters, underpinning visual concepts and ideas, challenges encountered or perhaps just insight into how the image makes me feel.

And now without further dithering lets discuss the image of this post.


From A Roman Window

Up front I'm going to tell you, I don't care how anyone else feels about this image, I love it and it image transports me back to a very happy moment where it reignites powerful memories whilst handily encapsulating several aspects of a single days adventure abroad.

It was created just a few weeks back when on holidays in Italy and Spain, which of course included Rome.  The window we are gazing through is on the top level of the "Castel Sant'Angelo" the original Papal residence before the Vatican became the Popes' abode. This was not the Popes' bedroom window, however the bedroom is immediately behind my shoulders and no doubt the Pope of the day would have gazed through this window towards St Peters, which is seen sitting in central frame.

The Castel Sant'Angelo is a truly amazing building and you could spend many hours there but without doubt it's the top levels where the Pope residence sits that literally are the crowning glory of the ancient structure.

The image was captured with an iPhone 6S plus using ProCamera in HDR mode and then processed on the spot in Snapseed.  I added a little extra fine tuning to it in Photoshop, but nothing major, mainly colour tuning the shadows and highlights. 

A single frame exposure would have been hopeless, the difference in exposure between the inside and outside elements is enormous, (especially for an iPhone) and even with HDR processes I had to take several few test frames using exposure compensation to find an ideal base exposure.

The framing was also a bit challenging, twas a fiddle to find the perfect point where all the elements lined up and the visual layers fell into place.  I can tell you however that it was a definitive  "Gotcha" moment, you know one of those when you just know as soon as you have pressed the shutter it's going to work...no questions, no doubts.....you got it!

I reckon the image has a painterly quality which echoes the art typical of buildings period, which is great because that was kinda of my intention. Oft times however a good colour image works well in the monochrome format, it has to do with the way colours map to tones and separate themselves out plus a whole myriad of other pesky little issues. Fact is, often what you think will work as a mono image doesn't and you can easily overlook some of the better candidates, I certainly didn't previsualise this image as a monochrome one. 

So below is a mono version of the image, it has been converted to monochrome using a gradient map in Photoshop and then tritone tinted.  To my eyes it's quite lovely, though I won't use the mono format option because it's not in keeping with the painterly interpretation I was seeking.

This image will not be seeing out its days unloved in my catalogue it's going "straight to wall" as a large scale canvas, in colour of course, but that mono version really is tempting me.

Permission Granted

(This is a reposting of a post from a few years back, I suspect the situation is still much the same)

A few days back whilst riding along on one of my not regular enough evening bike rides my mind began to wander to things photographic, which is a good thing as it takes the mind off the inevitable pain as hills and personal fitness targets are attacked.

The issue I was contemplating about was just what is it that makes a photograph appealing to people and what exactly are people prepared to hang upon their own walls.  Obviously we all have our favourite styles and decorating needs but in the back of my mind I have always felt it was not just a clear cut issue of personal likes and dislikes.  I feel that photographic appreciation and indeed the appreciation of any art is about much more than just personal preference. 

In a way photo/art appreciation is probably a bit like fashion, by that I mean I think a lot of people will profess to like clothing they have been conditioned to like by outside forces and  in terms of art are prepared to hang upon their walls works that they consider are safe, works that will not cause household visitors to question the taste and sanity of the owner and importantly works that have been given the seal of external artistic approval.

Lots of people like landscapes, going by what I see for sale in many galleries seascapes and sunsets in particular, yet many of the works people buy and assumingly hang are mind numbingly boring and lack any real artistic merit, many don’t even display half decent technique or creative flair.

But as a choice for the wall they are safe, they challenge no one, they hang there upon the wall never offending and creating a mildly pleasant backdrop for daily proceedings.

Nothing wrong in all that but is it any different to a testosterone laden “doof door" boy adorning his bedroom walls with images of Ferraris or V8 Commodores or some similar subject. In many ways I think this approach to what we hang on the walls is really a matter of conditioning, it’s OK to hang a car pic if you’re young and male, a pretty landscape if your more middle aged, or perhaps a portrait of a movie/music star if your young and female, no real strength of conviction is needed in such a choices.

We probably like to think that we make our decisions upon what is good or bad purely on the basis of what we personally feel is good or bad, we believe that we operate independently of anyone else, but I suspect that it is anything but the truth….a bit like fashion.

Fashion is all about telling people what is in, what is out, and what is going to be in next season. Fashion often bears little relationship to practicalities, matching climate needs to suitable clothing, ultimate quality or even being visually pleasing,  no sir, fashion is about following a trend created by someone else, and one that is more often created purely for the reason of financial gain on the behalf of the trends/companies creator.

Art and photography is a bit like that too, I propose boldly that if some unknown artist (or even perhaps non-artist) were to produce some pretty average images that were then hyped up by a group of art critics around the world as being the greatest thing since Ansel Adams, it would not take long for those works to be selling like hotcakes for crazy prices. The great unwashed would proudly hang them upon their walls to display their good taste, culture and financial success.  It would indeed be interesting to see just such a thing orchestrated as an experiment, in fact it probably has already been done many times without the general public being aware of the ruse.

The thing is I feel people tend to purchase art works which they have been given permission to like and purchase, in general they have permission to like and purchase seascapes, sunsets and landscapes, flowers and the Eiffel tower for example.  To hang a family portrait is of course permission granted, likewise images of expensive cars, flowers and most famous landmarks are all more than acceptable, (even if you have never been there).

In the painted art world abstracts are now also permission granted, providing they are not too challenging and preferably come with a name attached.

But what about photography, it is interesting really and I speak here as an observer of what I see all over the world and to a certain degree in my own work and the responses I get.

Many times I have had people looking at my work actually say, "I love that image, it is really stunning, but I could never hang it one my wall its too, "out there”.  

Funny really when you think about it, an example is the architectural images on the top of this post, (Sooley Dam Pump House), it is actually one of my personal favourites and I have had many people say they felt it was fabulous, they have even told me it was their favourite of my images, but as yet no one has ever bought a copy, they all say they couldn’t hang it on their wall.

I see the same thing in other artists work, images in galleries that are extraordinary, finely crafted, exquisitely composed, everything going for them, yet they are passed over for work of utter banality that were probably taken as little more than random pretty snapshots. 

In essence people may feel they have permission to at least appreciate the more artistic works but they do not have permission to actually embrace, pay for and hang those works upon their walls despite the fact that deep down they really love the images.

What a strange old world we live in.