Photographing the commonplace

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Many enthusiast photographers, possibly the majority, spend a lot of time searching out extraordinary subjects for their camera, engaging in holidays and travel with photographic subjects in mind, studying the places and objects photographed by others, and even buying books and visiting websites that list the most photogenic locations for photography. By and large, that's not my way. Though I take my photography quite seriously, it more often than not comes about as a by product of another activity engaged in with my wife, be it walking, travelling, shopping, gardening etc. And, as I've said elsewhere in this blog, my photographic goal is not extraordinary subjects (though I'll photograph these if I come upon them) but an attempt at extraordinary photographs of ordinary subjects.

Photographing the commonplace and securing a good image of it is a very difficult thing to do, and if my experience is anything to go by, produces more failures than successes. But, when it happens, it is extremely satisfying because of the way the photograph reveals beauty and new interest in something so familiar. Seeing such subjects requires you to train your eye to notice them because, by their very nature, the commonplace is easily overlooked. What I find is that, for a while, my eye becomes attuned to seeking out these photographs and then, unaccountably, that facility declines for a period. I've been in a fallow spell for some time. However, the other day I saw this image (above) on the table next to me and, though I make no claim that it is extraordinary, I hope it's a sign of my return to this way of seeing.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm (90mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The year's first water lily

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It's a truism believed by many photographers (and ignored or disbelieved by even more) that your best photographs are usually shots of subjects with which you are deeply familiar. Many respected photographers specialise in places, subjects or genres and are acclaimed for their work within their self-imposed limits. I tend to be a generalist in all areas of my life, including photography. However, I do deliberately take many photographs of my immediate locality and know from years of experience that this is a rewarding and creative approach to picture making. Only by walking familiar routes repeatedly at different times of day and year, in different kinds of weather, do you see all the potential photographs that surround you.

My garden pond and the annual cycle of growth, maturity and decay displayed by its water lilies is a subject that I return to several times a year. As I've said elsewhere, I especially like the photographs that I've taken in spring and autumn over those when the beautiful yellow and white flowers are blooming. But that's not to say that I don't take shots of them. This year I watched the first leaves appear, then the stalks and buds emerge under water and slowly extend until they broke through into the air. The first bloom opened properly on June 4th and I took a few shots of it.

The main photograph is the obvious image of this subject showing the characteristic flower in its watery context. However, I'd earlier taken the morning shot against the light, after rain, before the petals were fully open. I think I prefer this one. For completeness I've included a photograph taken only three weeks earlier on May 14th when buds and blooms were nowhere to be seen, and the leaves had the characteristic brown that they exhibit when they are newly appeared.

photograph and text © T. Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 228mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Things that catch my eye

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I've said elsewhere in this blog that specialising - in photography or anything else for that matter - is anathema to me. I like to cast my net wide and take an interest in many things, none, I think, to excess. I have the feeling that this is a minority outlook and that there are more people who limit their interests and pursue them to a greater depth. Certainly that seems to be the case in photography.

Portraits, street photography, wildlife, motor sports, macros, landscapes, the list goes on with regard to the specialised subject areas that photographers concentrate on. I suppose that, just as those who specialise do it because they are driven in that particular direction, I too have little choice about pointing my camera at anything that catches my eye. In fact, that phrase, "catches my eye", sums up the reason for many of the photographs that I take: I simply saw something that looked like it had the makings of an image and I pointed my camera at it.

Today's photograph exemplifies this. I was walking in our hall when I noticed a vase of flowers caught in a shaft of light from the fast setting sun. It was throwing the shadows of the leaves and blooms onto the nearby wall. The combination of the actual flowers and their doppleganger appealed and so I took this shot. I may have been influenced in doing so by a similar photograph I took last October. That image is one that I especially like, and perhaps I was trying to achieve something similar. This time, however, I went for a slightly more abstract composition and produced an effect that reminds me of a cotton print such as might feature on a dress or curtains.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.2mm (48mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.6
Shutter Speed: 1/8
ISO:400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The marvellous mundane

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In life, as in photography, there is a great temptation to seek out the new, the sensational, the eyecatching, the exotic. Take food. In the UK we have embraced the cuisine of all nations to such an extent that the culinary delights that originated in England - black pudding, game pie, Bath buns, onion and apple pie, pork dumplings, brawn, Goosnargh cakes and the rest - have to be actively sought out, and frequently can't be found. The same is true of the British and holidays. I have worked with individuals who are more familiar with the Spanish coast, the Dominican Republic and the Italian Lakes than they are with the area within fifty miles of their home town, even when that area was one frequented by foreign tourists who marvelled at its beauty!

It seems to me that this sort of thing comes about because food and holidays are aspects of the conspicuous consumption that is a feature of western society. People choose the exotic over the familiar because it says something about them to others. The trouble with this attitude is that it can blind you to the simple joys that are part of everyday life. A glass of cold water on a hot day is often spurned for an expensive manufactured drink, yet "Adam's Ale" takes some beating as a thirst quencher.

Looking at my photograph of a very ordinary track across a not very scenic part of the Lincolnshire Fens prompted this train of thought. It was the beauty of the clouds in the clear sky, and the reflection of one in a newly formed puddle that caused me to take the photograph. The growing crops, the poles and wires, and the flat horizon are not obvious photographic fodder: in fact they are all very mundane. But the cloud and its reflection lifted the scene and made it appeal to me at the time, and it appeals still.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Semi-abstract blinds

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A while ago I was taken to task by someone when I suggested that photographs don't have to depend on their subject to be effective. My point was that a good photograph of a mundane subject can be as worthwhile as a good photograph of an interesting subject, and is always* a better image than a mundane or bad photograph of an interesting subject. If you follow my drift!

Today's shot is a case in point, though I'll add the disclaimer that I don't attach very great merit to it. The subject presented itself to me as I was undertaking my ablutions in a bathroom other than my own. It shows the morning light coming through a patterned glass window and falling on the slats of some wooden Venetian blinds and the nearby wall that is lined with textured paper. The varying thicknesses of the glass, as well as the multiple slats of the blinds, are responsible for the light and dark, and for the repeating patterns, which are the nominal subjects of the shot.

As I say, it isn't my greatest shot, but it is one that I think was worth taking. Any good qualities that it has come from it being a familiar subject given a a little dignity by being photographed in an unfamiliar way (or at all!), as well as from its semi-abstract nature. In retrospect I've taken better shots that make my point more effectively than this one does, but I think this will do!

Looking back I see that I've taken photographs of Venetian blinds before, including one that shares some similarities with today's. You can see them here and here.

* Unless it's an essential record or a family snapshot!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Razor wire arabesques

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When I took up bird watching at the age of eleven I didn't realise that for the rest of my life I was going to see the world in a slightly different way from most people. The filter that everyone has that stops them noticing every bird and bird-like movement that comes their way was removed from my eyes, and to this day it remains absent: I still, over four decades later, note, identify (where possible), and often comment on, the birds that I see as I go about my everyday business.

Seeing the world in a different way is also a trait that amateur and professional photographers share. Once the photography bug has bitten, views, objects and situations are scanned and considered for their photographic potential. A group of people standing against the light will be sized up for the silhouette that they make, for the way the light forms a halo of their hair, and for how the background interacts with them as a main subject. An angry sky with clouds of different hues forming and reforming in the wind, will be appraised not for the likelihood of it drenching everyone within the next few minutes, but for the contribution it could make to a shot of the landscape below. Some graffiti under a concrete fly-over will be seen not as a place to avoid for fear of being mugged, but as a potential source of gritty, graphic, and colourful images. And a temporary hoarding made of re-used plywood topped with razor wire, seen on a sunny day, will be photographed for the arabesques that the sharp wire and its equally sharp shadows throw across the flat surface.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 20mm (40mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photographic subjects

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A couple of posts ago I was waxing lyrical about the Beatles. My attempts at photo- graphing a mundane cauli- flower got me thinking about them again. Yes, really! At the end of 1967 the band released the single, "Hello Goodbye" with "I Am The Walrus" on the B-side. The latter song was a John Lennon composition, whilst the A-side was McCartney's, though as with all Beatles songs written by either or both, the writing credits feature both names.

When "Hello Goodbye" was released it seemed to me that it was a work through which Paul McCartney said to the world, "I can make a great song about ANYTHING!" And in those years you believed he could - even something as simple as a string of opposites. At a time when the great majority of popular songs were about love, romance, dating, etc, the Beatles were in the vanguard of the bands that were extending their subject matter into previously uncharted territory; and that sometimes included beautifully composed gibberish!

So, what has this to do with my photograph of a cauliflower? Well, I think there's a lesson for photographers in McCartney's "throwaway" song. Just as anything can be the subject of a song, so too can anything be the subject of a photograph. Moreover, a great photograph can have anything as its subject. It was with those thoughts in mind that I took a trimmed cauliflower some friends had brought when they came to dinner the other evening, and tried to turn it into - not a great photograph - but a reasonable image. My first shots were details of the leaves and veins, but I wasn't too happy with them. Then I tried for a large section of the vegetable, but once more rejected my efforts. Finally I placed it on a black background in a darker area with daylight coming strongly from one direction, and made images of the whole of the cauliflower. I was happiest with these. My final version isn't a great shot, but the curves, the veins, the near symmetry, and the way the light models the subject has produced something that I like. It also, for what it's worth, brings to mind the acanthus leaf that forms part of the decoration of the Corinthian capital in Greek and Roman architecture.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/40
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The water's edge

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When the Pre-Raphaelite painters turned their attention to nature they produced work that rejoiced in the minutiae of leaves, flowers, branches, rocks and water. They saw this verdant world like a child does, and examined it closely, marvelling at the nooks and crannies, insects and dark places. Paint was richly worked to show the detail of their subjects. Works such as "A Study, in March" (1855) by John William Inchbold (1830-1888), or the better-known "Ophelia" (1852 ) by John Everett Millais(1829-1896) exemplify these characteristics.

Critics of the Pre-Raphaelites - and there are many - see a lack of focus in this approach. They complain that the compositions do not direct the eye to a main subject (if one even exists). Camille Paglia talks about the "Keatsian ardor" with which the painting of nature was pursued, and compares it unfavourably with "High Romance energy" and "dynamic process", suggesting that it is only one step removed from the Symbolist decadence of Gustave Moreau. But, like many critics, she lets her preferences get in the way of seeing this aspect of Pre-Raphaelite work for what it is - a different and straightforward way of looking at nature, a reaction to "Sir Sloshua Reynolds" and what had gone before in English painting. And, whilst she is right to say that "part triumphs over whole", there is pleasure to be had in the simple revelation of nature and the decorative effect that this can produce. This is largely art for the eye and the emotional response: it isn't as completely cerebral as some painting. Critics of this aspect of the Pre-Raphaelites' work are like those who decry the unaccompanied folk song but praise the conservatoire setting of the tune, denying themselves the different enjoyment that each offers.

I was reflecting on this as I processed my image. Did it suffer from a lack of focus? It was taken on a walk that I regularly undertake from my house, part of which follows a stream that is reed-lined in summer. The other day only a few reeds were left standing, and the water was reflecting the nearby trees and the blue sky. I took a shot of the water's edge, to capture both the sharp foliage, and the softer reflections that were being distorted by the ripples and eddies. Does the image lack a main subject? Yes, but I think it offers distinct and the indistinct interest for the searching eye.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 98mm (196mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The wind that shakes the barley

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What are the most frequently photographed subjects. Well, if we're considering the average snapper, then it's probably babies and children, closely followed by holiday views. Amateur photographers have a fascination with sunsets, though people are also popular, as are landscapes. Birds and insects have gone from niche genres to mainstream, and some men (it's always men!) seem to photograph nothing but cars or motorcycles. All of these are perfectly reasonable subjects for the camera, and it's possible to take a perfectly good (or great) shot of each.

There is, however, a subject that attracts the casual snapper and the amateur in equal measure, and which is quite difficult to photograph well. I refer to running water! Many are seduced by the twinkle of light on a moving stream and try to capture it in a still image. They never do. Some place a neutral density filter over the lens and blur the water, making it look like fog flowing along. It creates an odd effect that some like. But the fact is, that what people see and like about flowing water just can't be captured on still photographs. To do the subject justice requires video.

A field of barley is another subject that also needs moving images to show the shimmering beauty of eddies of wind as they move across its silky green surface. However, that didn't stop me trying to get something of that flickering quality recorded on my camera sensor! In the absence of neutral density filters, on a dull day I selected a small aperture and low ISO, and photographed the barley as the strong wind whipped the seed heads back and forth. It took several shots to get something I liked. Does it capture that ethereal quality? Of course not. But it suggests it, and I'll make do with that!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 22mm (44mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f22
Shutter Speed: 1/5
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: +1 EV
Image Stabilisation: On