Title: The W

Exercise: find a view that is open but that has some detail in the distance. Take a series of images without moving using different focal lengths, use a zoom lens or change from wide angle to telephoto. Study the impact of the different focal lengths on the character of the subject.

Approach: at a recent conference in Barcelona I became increasingly aware of the dominance of the ‘W’ hotel on the skyline. Almost anywhere you are along Barcelona’s harbour and seafront you can see the hotel. I had very mixed feelings about its monolithic presence but it was hard to ignore as a landmark. I therefore took a number of images from Barcelonetta looking back towards the hotel using different focal lengths.

Title: Return to The Public

Exercise: Choose an event or situation that involves people, preferably outdoors. Keep the viewfinder to your eye and record a series of images as you go. Do not wait for the single ‘composed’ image but record all the moments that are almost right.

Approach: I was really interested in undertaking this photo narrative but became increasingly frustrated by the incessant rain that meant a number of events I had in mind were either cancelled or scaled down. In the end I chose to record my journey to The Public in West Bromwich from the centre of Birmingham. As part of my professional work I had been involved with The Public but this was the first time I had visited it since the building was fully up and running. It was therefore a journey that had a personal resonance for me.

Title: Bike Circles

Exercise: This was another attempt at the fixed aperture/framing exercises undertaken at the beginning of the course. I wanted to try it again as this subject matter really appealed to me and I didn’t like the results I got at the first attempt.

Approach: I was undertaking the sequence of composition exercise when I came across these bicycle racks and they seemed to me a perfect subject for such an exercise.

Title: Robin Nesting and Urban Flowers

Exercise: Find a subject in a large, even background. Take a series of photographs that place the subject in different positions in the frame – centre, off centre, close to an edge or corner.

Approach: I think it is fair to say this exercise drove me a little nuts as I tried to find the right subject matter. I thought the nesting Robin would work but the combination of its movement and a very busy background meant the quality of the images were not as I would have liked. Some weeks later I was in Birmingham and spotted the flowers growing through the pavement set against the brick wall.

I have a definite preference for the off centre versions as I think they give more visual interest.

Title: Drought

Exercise: Fix the camera in front of a subject that moves several times or continuously across your view. Make a series of exposures, from the fastest to the slowest shutter speed.

Approach: I had been thinking about this exercise for some days before I attempted it. I knew I wanted to do something outside but it had been raining for most of the week. This was all during the period that a ‘drought’ had been declared and a hosepipe ban enforced hence the slightly tongue in cheek title.

My favourite images are those on the slower shutter speeds where the water appears to turn to a veil of gauze over the rocks. To get this effect I also had to change the ISO setting so i could get the slower shutter speeds in the bright afternoon sun.

Title: Yellow Orbs

Exercise: Decide on a subject that is clear in appearance and compact in shape  and that is easily accessible. Moving in and around the subject work from it being full frame to just capturing a small area. Then use a set of L frames to crop the original full frame image and develop different compositions.

Approach: I didn’t have a subject in mind for this exercise when I started and let it sit for a while before deciding. I was out cycling and came across the child’s playground with this climbing frame in the centre. I was really attracted by the shapes and colours and used my iPhone to capture the different frames. I kept my fingers crossed that this would be acceptable but also thought I could go back again with my DSLR at another time. I started by using a distance shot capturing the climbing frame and some of its surroundings. I then moved in to capture more of the detail of the subject. My preference is for these later shots where the colours and shapes are really emphasised.

Title: Flight

Exercise: Take the camera and follow a moving subject keeping it in the middle of the frame. Compare the results at different shutter speeds.

Approach: This was an exercise I wasn’t sure would work, I think I was slightly put off by the implication that panning comes naturally to most people as it made me suspect I would be one of the few who could not do it. I therefore put it off for some time and it was by chance that I caught a group of Magpies flying about. Although I didn’t have time to experiment with different apertures before they flew off I was relieved to find I could follow them with the camera. Initially, it was difficult using the camera screen to see if I had captured the shot or if I had camera shake.

Title: Parking

Exercise: Take a similar approach to the previous exercise for focus with a set aperture. Find a similar subject with a row of things that can been seen from an angle. Put the camera on a tripod so that each photograph will be framed identically. Focus on an obvious point somewhere near the middle.

Approach: following my less than successful attempt at the previous exercise I tried to take more care in executing this. The impact of the different apertures can be seen in each of the images although I am not sure that it is as clear as I might have imagined but that may be to do with my subject matter and the fact that the central point did not have a clear impact like Simon’s Cat.

I am already noticing the importance of subject matter to my engagement and motivation.

Title: Simon’s Cat

Exercise: Find a scene that has obvious depth. From the same place take 2-3 pictures, each focused on something at a different distance (for this to work use a wide aperture).

Approach:  When I read through this exercise I was sitting by the bookshelves downstairs. I wasn’t particularly inspired at the time so thought I would try it out on something close to hand at first. I knew I was going out later and could always do something different then if I wasn’t happy. I’m not sure quite what I was doing because for some reason I changed the apertures a couple of times. I had read several exercises at the same time and think I just muddled them up.

So, while I understood the principle of the exercise it’s execution was possibly not what was intended!