A selection of infinite views

This project started out as an idea to occupy one spot, and then photograph everything I could see from this one location. Unfortunately as it has progressed I've realised it's not a very coherent idea and needs more structure to work. I've got 7 photos (below) that show different views from this one spot, but I'm not really sure what I'm trying to _say_. This puts me in a quandary  as I don't really want to produce images just for the sake of it. I was certainly thinking in mono at the time, and have spent quite a bit of time and effort in processing the images, and thinking about how they will look in black and white. However as a group of images I don't  think they hold together well and I don't really know what to do about it. I'm posting them here in the thought that it will help me consider what to try next.

They all show slightly unusual viewpoints, mainly resulting from the choice of lens (most with a wide angle). I have searched out lines and shapes that look a little 'different'.

Unfortunately since I started this project the area over the road (the field) has turned into a work site with diggers constantly there, so this will make further images difficult to get for the next few weeks I would imagine. I like how the black and white works for these images - it suits the subject matter, but I still feel uneasy about the point of it all...

In terms of my tutors suggestions for a successful project:
Succinct: the title says it all... one location, many images and viewpoints
Expansive: well there will always be something new to see wherever we look, depending on time of day, weather and people etc
Manageable: Once again it is close to home for me
Readily contextualized: Not sure about this one, I am yet to determine where this would fit in (more research needed)

I will continue to ponder this one, I am feeling a little apprehensive but think it might yet come together with some more reading on my part.

Assignment 3: thoughts

Assignment 3 is all about monochrome.

My problem is that I think in colour, I see in colour and all my creative ideas seem to be in colour! What to do?

The house project is a good one. It will turn into a substantial piece of work (my first) and is expansive, easy to explain and an interesting typographical study of the area where I live. I don't want to 'waste' it by converting a selection to mono and using them for this assignment, because i'm worried then the larger, colour project won't be as strong. So that idea is out.

Next  I thought about a personal project focusing on my elder son, who is almost 3 - a kind of a 'day in the life'. This would work except that he is so colourful and interested in bright colourful things (I have some great photos of him eating raspberries, playing with lego etc, not good ideas for a mono project), so that is out too.

I also had the idea of the 'selection of infinite views', but I'm not happy with how this is progressing (I will post some images on my blog soon) and I don't feel like the project is clearly defined and I'm not sure of the direction I want to go with it.

I have also thought about a portrait project, mainly of my husband. As we get older I can see we are changing and want to capture this. But I'm not a people photographer and I think this will result in quite a forced project that won't really be 'me'...

Then I thought about a documentary project of people working at the farm across the road from where we live. This idea has potential. I shot some images last week, though have not managed to get them onto my computer due to some technical issues with my card reader. I have probably got four or five good images from my first outing, and the advantage of this project is that it is close by and easy to access, though slightly challenging with a baby in tow... Thinking about my tutors suggestions of project definition:

Succinct: A documentary style portrait of the farm; volunteers and staff working.
Expansive: Well as long as I live here I can capture the different aspects of 'work at the farm'.
Managable: Good location and easy access for the public.
Readily contextualized: Well I should research similar projects and get some ideas of what to capture.

Documentary has a history of being captured in monochrome, which means that this idea is well suited to mono. This enables the subject matter to come across strongly and not be swamped with colours. I can concentrate on form and structure in my images instead of worrying about colour. Though I can use the colours carefully if I want to enhance part of my image and then tweak this in post-processing afterwards. I will continue to think carefully about this project and start some research and see how it goes. In the meantime I will have to think of other potential ideas in case this one doesn't work!

Houses (first mockup)

An example of a first mockup below for my house project:

I'm pretty happy with the first version above, it's a little awkward getting the sizing right but I have got it eventually.

I have avoided images with cars, and also carefully chosen houses with the sun incident on the front of them as this gives a more interesting image and the sky is a deeper blue. I have also slightly increased the saturation of the blue using the sliders in Lightroom.

I will probably take a break for a while on this project as I concentrate on thinking about what to do for Assignment 3: Monochrome.

Houses (colour)

I have had a (very helpful) suggestion from fellow student Eileen, to present these images in colour series instead of monochrome. Of course that would mean it was not appropriate for Assignment 3, but as I am trying to think beyond just the course and into my own personal projects, this is not a problem for me. I can see what she is saying - the bright colours of the houses contrast nicely with the brilliant blue skies so common here in Queensland, and it is bold and uniquely Australian. Of course I still think the mono images have punch, and the blue skies contribute to this also... Hmm, what to do. Below are two for comparison, mono and colour.

I think this second set of houses decides it for me - the colours of the roof and windows are just so vibrant! Though I still like the mono image too... decisions, decisions... I guess it comes down to the fact that I think I'm a colour photographer at heart. Though I quite like mono images, I'm still very strongly drawn to colour and all it's vibrancy.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board for Assignment 3 (no worries, I have lots of time!), but onwards and forwards for this exciting 'house' project! I am also busy doing research into this field of photography which I will blog about soon. I plan on re-shooting some images and starting to group them together in preparation for arranging them in a grid which I think will be the most effective way of showing them together - similarities and differences. Looks like I'll also need to bring them into Photoshop to correct some stray verticals that are still a bit wonky after being corrected in Lightroom. I don't  think you can do perspective correction in Lightroom, though the ability to rotate the image slightly is very useful.

Houses

I now have about 30 good images for this project. It is nice to finally have a coherent, cohesive set of images that really do tell a story about the neighbourhood where I live.

Below are the 21 images that rate above 3 star for my system. I am having some doubts about the 'labelling' of these images, that I was thinking of doing. I have the idea of labelling the houses with a self-attribute, such as 'mum', or 'photographer'. I'm wondering if this is a little clichéd  But it does mean something to me, and I recognise the feeling of identifying with others as being similar, but also different, but I'm worried I'm trying to put too much into it by adding the labels. Perhaps I should just let them stand on their own?

So far I have 'optimized' the colour version of each image, done some preliminary straightening (some of the hills are quite steep here) and done a little cropping. I have purposely tried to not choose houses with cars out the front (on the street) as I think it distracts from the image.

At the moment I have only done one version of the mono, in a high contrast dramatic black and white, but I need to experiment with this more.

I am feeling very happy with the images thus far, but am a bit unsure about the idea of the self-portrait... I need to do some more thinking over the next few weeks. I also will need to experiment with getting some images printed, perhaps on different paper for mono, and think about my framing...