One of the things I find very challenging is produce a set of coherent images. I’m never quite sure what it means and found it particularly problematic for this project due to the differing nature of the images themselves. I do feel that the final set of images are coherent but I’m not quite sure why! I suspect it is the colour and tones but it would be good to get some feedback on what makes up a set of coherent images.

I  found this a very interesting project from several different perspectives. The realisation that I find it hard to see past lines and curves was something I was aware of but didn’t realise it was controlling my ability to see other aspects of a scene or subject quite so much.
Being able to go back to a location and re take a shot taught me how small changes can make huge differences. In particular, changing the angle from which I took the stair and abandoned machinery shots really improved the images. I really liked both subjects but it took me a while to realise it was a change of angle that was required. I trying very hard not to take “architectural” shots allowed me to start seeing other things. When I took the shot that I included in the final set, the feeling that it was better was immediate. I tried not to analyse why too much as I didn’t want to get back into a loop of not being able to see anything at all!

This was my first shot off the abandoned machine taken straight side on.

Changing the angle produced a much more interesting shot.

Abandoned

I had a similar problem with the shot of the stairs and although I quite liked the straight on view the angled shot was far more interesting, gave context and made the stairs look quite isolated which was what I was aiming for.

Dead end

Stairs to nowhere

I realised that spending too much time trying to work out why an image isn’t right can be counter productive,  taking a break and looking at them with a fresh pair of eyes often reveals the problem at first glance.
I had decided to use my small Canon camera rather than my more complicated Nikon as I had not used the latter for some time. It seems to have worked out OK, although there were times when I felt I needed more control. I think I now need to dust off the Nikon and remind myself how to use it!
I think this first assignment has been a great way to start the course and has helped me to remember why I love photography, reminding me of things I had forgotten about my own take on it all and that I need to challenge this.
I also learned that there is nothing wrong with going back and taking a shot a second, third or even fourth time and just because the first shots didn’t  make the cut, it doesn’t mean I can’t work out what will.