Wide angle distortion and innovation

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The flood of innovation in cameras and photography in general that occurred following the introduction of digital into the mass market continues, albeit at a slower pace than five or ten years ago. Most recently we've seen developments such as the Lytro camera that allows you to select a point of focus after you've taken your shot, or produce versions of the same shot with different points of focus. Interesting though that is, it's not the first new development that I would wish to see. In fact, way ahead of such things I'd place a means of controlling wide angle distortion.

I was thinking about this the other day as I photographed the church of St Botolph in Boston, Lincolnshire. I've posted shots of the exterior of this building before (for example here, here, and here). These distant views show the tower or details, but not the whole of the church. That is because St Botolph is one of the largest parish churches in the country, its tower is the tallest (that doesn't include a spire), and it is quite closely surrounded by buildings. The only "open" shot you can get of the church is from a space near the edge of the market place. However, from this location a wide angle lens is necessary, and with that comes distortion that changes the emphasis of the component parts of the structure. More specifically, the tremendous tower with its "lantern" top is diminished in size and the nearness of the chancel causes it to assume a bulk approximately equal to that of the nave. Such equality of size is rare in an English church and it certainly doesn't exist at Boston even though its chancel is bigger than that of some cathedrals. If the photographer was able to somehow adjust the distortion that the wide angle lens produces and could bring a building closer to its proper proportions I'd be very happy. You may well think that to do so would break the laws of optics. But wouldn't we once have said that about selecting a point of focus after the shutter has been pressed?

The sharp shadows produced by the clear sky of an early November day prompted this shot. I usually wish for a few clouds when the sky is clear, but the searing blue of this autumn day also had its attractions, and without it those sharp shadows wouldn't have been there. Incidentally, in the photograph Herbert Ingram standing atop his column once again has the indignity of a bird perched on his head. Whenever I pass there's usually a pigeon in residence. On this occasion it was a black-headed gull that had claimed the prized spot from which to survey the world and scavenge for crumbs.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

What is photography about?

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 People pursue photography for many different reasons. The best list of these that I've come across, at least in terms of the motivations of amateur photographers, is in the book, Photography: A Middle-Brow Art by Pierre Bordieu and others. You can find it quoted in my blog post, Why do we take photographs?, though I'll warn you that it is cloaked in academic prose and you have to dig to get at the meaning. Today, I thought I'd tackle a subject very close to this issue and briefly summarize what photography is about for me, and, importantly, what it isn't about (for me).

I'm a photographer solely for the pictures I can make. I could end there, but I'll expand a little. How the pictures are achieved is less important to me than what is achieved. I see photography as closer to the arts than the sciences or even crafts, though it does often produce work that is more craft-like than artistic. Visual creativity and the components that underpin it such as composition, colour, light, tone, space, shape, line, contrast, feeling, message, etc, are more important to me than the technical details of sharpness, noise, sensor type, etc. The technological and technical aspects of photography are not what I am interested in. I take it as a given that we've passed the point where a correct exposure is one of the main aims of photography: the computers in our cameras are pretty good at achieving that without our intervention. I don't have a great interest in cameras except insofar as I know enough to buy what I need for my purposes, and make them do what I need them to do. Consequently I aim to use a camera that is "good enough" for the purposes to which I put it, and I have no inclination to debate the merits of one compared with another.

It's for these reasons that I (and many others) take shots such as those above, images I call "semi-abstract". These are photographs in which line, pattern, colour, contrast etc. are more important than the ostensible "subject" i.e. windows and their  reflections. Not everyone's taste I guess, but I like them!

photographs and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 150mm (300mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Canary Wharf distortions

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When I tell people that I'm interested in church architecture there is an asumption in the minds of many that I abhor modern architecture. Nothing could be futher from the truth. In fact I'm genuinely puzzled why the one is thought to be incompatible with the other. Maybe it's because people see the architecture of churches as essentially decorative, and modern architecture as primarily functional. However, that too is a misreading of what is actually the case: Gothic buildings are wonderful examples of form following function (with added ornament), a point I made in this earlier post, and much modern building is functional, though increasingly the external appearance is important.

Today's photograph shows the reflection of another building's windows in the windows of a tower at Canary Wharf, London. Seen in its totality this building isn't anything special. It has an overall grid of glazing divided by black metal bars, brown vertical panels that accent edges and set-backs, and pediment-like structures at the top - a small version, if you will, of Mies van der Rohe meets Philip Johnson. Any aesthetic force that the building has comes from its overall shape and from the way it reflects its surroundings. Since the advent of reflective glass in curtain walls this device has been deployed with varying degrees of success across the world, to the point where it has now become a cliche. As I photographed this building I wondered if its architect had intended the decorative feature that caught my eye: that is to say, the way the glass (presumably under tension) had distorted what it was reflecting. I'd guess not. Yet, from my point of view this was not only the structure's most attractive feature, it was also the one that differentiated it from its neighbours - a sort of Mondrian meets Cy Twombly, if you will! I composed my image with only two dimensions in mind, and tried to achieve asymmetrical balance across the frame.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 110mm (220mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Self-portrait in overrider

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Today's post is the latest of my reflected self-portraits - a bit of photographic fun. It was taken at the recent Bicker Steam Threshing weekend, and features the overrider of a 1967 Rover P5 Coupe, a tank of a car, that was the limousine of choice for government ministers and captains of industry in the "Swinging Sixties". This particular model was being shown alongside several other vintage and veteran cars.

As usual, I'm hidden behind the camera and lens, but my wife features quite well in the image. In fact we both feature twice because there's also a reflection in the bumper at the bottom of the image. Interestingly, in the top reflection my wife has the elongated proportions reminiscent of a supermodel or a clothes designer's drawing, whilst in the lower one the distortion makes her appear to be of a size more akin to one of the Munchkins in the "Wizard of Oz". Happily, in reality, she is perfectly proportioned!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm (80mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On