https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i A collection of ideas for making our series coherent, even with different individual styles. en-us 2020-11-06 21:10:34 UTC 2026-02-21 18:20:42 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/2601.png cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899207009 Absence is the absence of presence.
Presence is the absence of absence.

Monochromatic photography is a visual manifestation of what is, and what is not.  
The Isle of Dogs lies in the shadow of the monolithic skyscrapers of Canary Wharf -- one of the wealthiest areas in Europe -- yet it contains some of the poorest communities in the city.  

How can we represent this contrast starkly through monochrome, but maintain the same feel throughout?]]> 2020-11-06 21:19:01 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899207009 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899214840 There is a balance to be found between contextual realism, and compositional abstraction.

Cinema feels the way it does in part because every aspect of it serves its narrative -- information is selectively revealed or withheld throughout to keep the story interesting, but not give everything away.

This can transfer to photography in that we can decide through use of sub-framing and shadow, depth of field and focal point, what information to reveal to our audience, and what to withhold.]]> 2020-11-06 21:22:41 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899214840 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899226793 Laozi in his Dao De Jing presents the idea that we should "be like water," for water flows easily, yet given enough time can erode mountains.  

This Daoist philosophy also included the concept of Wu Wei, or "action through inaction".  The basic idea here was that nothing should be forced, yet everything should be intentional.  

Forcing consistency through technicality is probably counterproductive at this stage of the project, so I think if we were to narrow down to the exact feeling we wish to create with out series, the technicalities will follow, rather than the other way around.]]> 2020-11-06 21:28:15 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899226793 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899244828 This padlet is mainly for discussing ideas on how we're gonna keep things consistent, but don't worry it isn't lots of rules or specific technical things.

You can add notes and comment, and there's currently a star system for rating posts, though I can change that to something else later if you want.  

This isn't like the other padlet either, so you can arrange posts however you like and categorise things that way, or connect posts in various diagrams and stuff.

If anyone has a certain thing they know lots about, you can put your specialism up as like a bio thing maybe so we can all ask each other questions we think someone else might know too. (If you know about lighting, someone else might need help with that, or maybe lenses or something idk)]]> 2020-11-06 21:36:40 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899244828 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899260386 This section is for any technical topics and questions.

I'll try to add as much of what I know here just to get started, but if anyone knows more or has questions, you can comment or post your own stuff too.
I'm no expert though, so pls fact check o_O]]> 2020-11-06 21:44:15 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899260386 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899280318 Street photography is where this dynamic is most difficult to balance.
Both Cartier-Bresson and Fan Ho spoke about the decisive moment and the necessity to be aware of one's surroundings to predict and capture fleeting moments, but there is also value in being thoughtful and proactive.

How can we balance deliberate creative choice and still capture candid moments?

I was thinking, if we got to know the area well enough that we could remember which exact spots had the best framing or something, we can wait around those parts until somebody enters the scene for us. I tried this for several of my images, and it does make it easier, but I suppose it only serves that specific type of scene.]]> 2020-11-06 21:54:24 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899280318 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899307728 I've always felt that creative decisions made in afterthought -- not those genuinely made through discivering a new way of doing things -- felt disingenuous, or like robbing myself of merit.

If an image turned out better than expected because there were no expectations to begin with, like shooting blind or taking hundreds of shots in the hopes that one will be alright, it's almost indistinguishable from being random.

To give genuine, meaningful thought to each image is to not only be in full creative control, but it also means being responsible for one's own work.  In full manual, there is no room for blaming equipment, but at the same time when the images work out, there is satisfaction in knowing you made it work.]]> 2020-11-06 22:10:04 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899307728 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899308016 I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately…
To put to rout all that was not life…
And not, when I came to die, discover 
that I had not lived…

Henry David Thoreau
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To be deliberate is not to be stubborn or stuck in one's ways.  To be deliberate, at least in this sense, is to be thoughtful and take the time to consider one's ideas before putting them to use.  

A thoughtful series of photographs will naturally form a sense of coherence without the need for preoccupation with its details. If the atmosphere and shared intent is there, all other factors fall under that by themselves effortlessly, just like with Wu Wei.]]> 2020-11-06 22:10:15 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899308016 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899340072 Any ideas for the how and why of each creative decision can go here.

Anything related to shooting styles, post-processing techniques, or specific ideas about how to make things visually coherent go here.]]> 2020-11-06 22:31:34 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899340072 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899345295 Longer format ideas about specific themes or philosophies can go here.

I've already probably gone overboard on this one, but feel free to add more or comment any other points / theories.]]> 2020-11-06 22:35:21 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899345295 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899354329 I'll get this section started -- it's already been mentioned in the philosophy column, but black and white has an entirely different timeless style associated with it than colour.

Even if all of our themes are different, monochrome might be one way of making them appear consistent without getting caught up in specific details.  
I acknowledge that monochrome can also mean shades of one colour though, so black and white is more accurate probably.]]> 2020-11-06 22:42:05 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899354329 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899358499 If anyone has layout suggestions or ways to make this more streamlined, please comment here -- I'm useless at designing this kind of thing...]]> 2020-11-06 22:45:04 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899358499 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899360300 As I explained in more depth in my workbook, focal length has two measurements: field of view, and absolute focal length.

The number on the barrel of the lens doesn't say anything about field of view, at least not across formats.  A 50mm lens will not look the same on a cropped sensor as it would on a full frame or medium format sensor, and lenses made for these different formats may not even cover the area of others.

At the moment, there are about five main types of sensor:
1. Full frame / 35mm
2. APS-C
3. Micro 4/3
4. Medium format
5. Large format

Full frame sensors have the same dimensions as 35mm film, and are generally considered the standard format for photography.  Most lenses are designed around this sensor size, and focal lengths look like they say they are on the lens.

APS-C sensors are usually between 1.5 and 1.6 times smaller than full frame, with the same 3:2 aspect ratio.  Full frame lenses will cover the image area of these, but not always the other way around.  Lenses will also be more "zoomed in" than when used on full frame, by a factor of whatever the maginfication ratio above is (like 1.5 or 1.6).  For Fujifilm specifically, their APS-C sensors are 1.53x smaller than full frame, so a 50mm will look like a 76.5mm -- the field of view is narrower because the image circle is smaller.

Micro 4/3 are smaller even than APS-C, with a crop ratio of 2x, so focal lengths are effectively doubled here.  M4/3 cameras do typically have a much shorter flange distance (distance between the sensor plane and the mount), so almost any lens can be adapted to it and still be able to focus to infinity.

Medium format is usually double the size or greater than full frame, so lenses are effectively wider when used on them.  One thing though is that only lenses designed to cover the massive area of these sensors will work without severe vignette, just like with APS-C lenses on FF.  

Large format is quite rare now, and only really existed in the film world.  At the moment there are a few niche companies selling large format digital backs, but they're so enormous that they need proproetary lenses and stuff.

A final overview (FF is standard, and focal length numbers are absolute):

FF -> APS-C:  multiply focal length by 1.5 or 1.6 
FF -> MFT:  multiply focal length by 2
FF -> MF:  divide by 2 or more ]]> 2020-11-06 22:46:21 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899360300 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899389299 ISO is the only setting that doesn't actually affect the amount of light entering the camera, it only amplifies the signal produced by light that hits the sensor.

When light hits the sensor, it is collected in pixels after passing through a grid of colour filters -- red, green, and blue.  Some cameras have different layouts, like Fujifilm's X-Trans and Sigma's Foveon, but the standard is a Bayer sensor, where there are rows of alternating filters that repeat, offset by one each time.

Anyway, after the light is collected in each pixel or "bucket," it gets converted into an analogue electrical signal and passed through one of usually two analogue amplifiers.  These amplifiers are just like stereo amplifiers, and all they do is increase the magnitude of the signal -- ISO is just how much amplification is applied.  

The reason noise is such an issue in digital sensors (not in the same way as film), is because these amplifiers will increase every part of the signal at once.  Noise isn't created by high ISO, high ISO just means that any noise that already existed --whether it was from stray light or electrical noise in the sensor -- is boosted with the rest of the signal.  

Once the analogue signal passes through the analogue amplifiers, it goes through an analogue to digital converter to make each value a discrete number for processing.  After this there is an optional digital amplifier as well, and this is what kicks in when you choose one of the extended ISO values, like H25600 or L100 on Fuji, and similar on others.  The digital amplifier just makes the noise even worse and should generally be avoided (except L100 or thw low settings, because they do thr reverse and decrease amplitude).

ISO invariance is a feature of some cameras, like Fujifilm and high-end Canon or other ones, where certain ISO values actually have less noise than others because they go through a different one of those two analogue amplifiers.  This means you can shoot at a lower ISO and bump up exposure in post to retain a greater dynamic range in the highlights, but keep the same level of noise as a higher ISO because you're using your computer's digital amplifier instead.]]> 2020-11-06 23:09:10 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899389299 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899405524 I've found that for most cases, shutter speeds beyond 1/1000 are detrimental in automatic or priority modes unless there is sufficient creative reason to do so.  
Unless the subject is a sports car within 100m of the camera, 1/4000 of a second is not going to freeze motion any more than a slightly slower one, but it will force the camera to either increase ISO or open the aperture wider, which affects focusing speeds and can reach a limit quickly with slower lenses. For things like planes, 1/125 of a second is usually fine even, because it's so far away that the effective distance covered over time is too small to require a faster shutter.]]> 2020-11-06 23:23:24 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899405524 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899412161 I don't know if this is a major thing or not, but autofocus points seem to enforce the idea that focus is radial around subjects, rather than along a plane.  This can sometimes lead to confusion about what it means to be in focus, and might be why the travesty of portrait mode on phones exists.

Manual focus forces a slower, more considered approach to photography where composition has to work around which elements share the same focal plane, and I think it generally allows for more growth and skill (I'm useless at focusing quickly though, but the thought is there... :'/ )]]> 2020-11-06 23:29:09 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899412161 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899416855 I don't want to force anything on anyone, but maybe one way of being consistent even if we each have different themes and subject styles would be to crush certain shadows in post.

If each persons' images have varying proportions of shadows present, like maybe one is mostly light and foggy while another is all black, we can create some kind of visual gradient with increasing amounts of shadow as the series progresses?]]> 2020-11-06 23:33:29 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899416855 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899419860 What if we stuck with one of our early plans to make a progression of aspect ratios as well, like either each person shoots one portrait and one landscape, but to varying degrees of extreme.

When they're displayed, maybe we can have the images go from portrait down to widescreen, or alternate like cinemascope and 4x5 or 2x3 and 16:9?

I might make a voting system for deciding these later.]]> 2020-11-06 23:36:12 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899419860 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899422893 I'll be trying to implement a voting system soon so we can all decide on which creative decisions to make for the series, like if we want to alternate certain aspect ratios, or which grain profile to use.]]> 2020-11-06 23:39:11 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899422893 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899430626
Mood, Feel, and Atmosphere
* Reflective of the Isle of Dogs.
* Contextual realism viewed through abstract composition.
* Darker and more isolated, but not gloomy.  The Isle of Dogs lives under the shadow of the Canary Wharf area skyscrapers, and the community feels suburban.

Framing and Angles
* Deliberate use of shadows and objects to sub-frame objects.
* Intentional use of unconventional aspect ratios, from nearly vertical 4:3 to cinemascope.
* Shooting through objects in a scene, not just to go unobserved and capture candid moments, but to get a unique perspective.
* Using both low, hip hight, and high shots to see if a different perspective adds anything (should really be intentional to drive the purpose of the image rather than a cool effect though).

Lighting
* Primarily ambient light, as influenced by weather and indoor lighting.
* Taking advantage of cloudy days for softer street portraits, and harsh sunlight to capture strong shadows.

Colour
* Primarily black and white, but monochrome or near monochrome colour schemes may work for certain scenes where colour would look better than black and white.
* Typically colour scenes in urban environments are distracting unless composing is done very carefully, whereas nature has far better colour consistency and flow. 
* Compressed colour schemes or limited colour spaces, such as a dyadic or analogous selection may work well for cinematic vibes in un-distracting environments.

Specialised Techniques
* Panoramic shots and post-stitched medium format emulation might work well for the abstract or final group image to represent the treatment, both for the vastly increased resolution, but also because you can get an effective depth of field which isn’t attainable using standard capturing.
* Long exposures, either containing people or illuminated and reflective objects in a scene can be both abstract and convey a sense of motion, which would give more life to the project.
* Use of variable ND filters for quick adjustments to actual light input without changing aperture / shutter to achieve more creative depth of field or motion blur choices in difficult light.
* Polarising filters and star filters to either shoot through otherwise distracting reflections, or create a subtle sparkle effect similar to an anamorphic lens in areas of wide dynamic range.  Polarising filters should be used intentionally too though, because reflections are often aesthetic and their removal should really be done out of necessity.

Group 8: Tennille, Ryan, Imre, Jordan, Cain]]> 2020-11-06 23:46:38 UTC https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899430626 cainlawrence2 https://padlet.com/cainlawrence2/ugpzujrpwdlwir1i/wish/899460125 "I don't remember the film either
But I remember the feelings."
-- Michael Haneke
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"Don't choose a creative profession if you are not obsessed by it.
You can only become mediocre.
It's all about work and obsession."
-- Michael Haneke
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"The cinema...
Whenever I see a film,
I "dissolve" myself in it
to such an extent that I reach the bottom.
I fade out and perhaps..
I get lost in it.
And this has played an essential role in my life.
Cinema is important to me.
It's like a prism.
A good film...is part of my life
With every good film I see, I am reborn
It feels as if I created it mysef, as if it were my own creation."
-- Hozzain Sabzian
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"You always makin' big plans for tomorrow.  You know why?
Because you're always fuckin' up today."
Down by Law (1986)
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Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
-- Walt Whitman 
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