Photoshoot 1:

Before:

Edit Settings:

For this photograph, I used highlights, temp ands hue to make the colours pop out more, with a vibrant mixture of colour, Blue, Orange these help bring the viewers attention from the darkened alleyway.

Final Result:

Before:

First Edits:

Due to the lack of colour in the buildings stretching across the landscape, I decided to make it into black and white to create a visual contrast between their tones.

Final Result:

Mobile Edits:

These Edits have been made on the App, Snapseed, Using their features of filters, and adjustment settings, similar to Lightroom I altered with the exposure, White & Black balance and other settings to improve them further.

Photoshoot 2:

Before:

First Edits:

For this image, I was Inspired from the works of Lewis Baltz, With his dead-pan shots of purpose built environments I believe I have captured that in this image, by adjusting the exposure, contrast and the WB balance I was able to create, what I think is a similar image to his work.

Final Results:

Before:

First Edits:

Like the previous image, I took inspiration from Lewis Baltz as well as Robert Adams. With Lewis Baltz’s restricted shot angle and as a conceptual basis of housing being photographed due to an increasing population which I believe fits the topic of New Topographics. Using the WB balance, contrast and highlights this is what created that dramatic tonal difference from black windows to the flat white walls.

Final Results:

Before:

First Edits:

Having the same conceptual basis of Lewis Baltz, the empty, dystopian sense of his images of industrial areas on a grandeur scale. Using tone setting such as highlights, shadow and whites and blacks I was able to create a shiny effect on the sun surfaced part of the building and big tanker.

Final Results:

Before:

First Edits:

Inspired by the works of a New Topographics photographer, Kieran Gosney, who I didn’t mention in my art reference, he photographs large industrial structures similarly to this one.

By altering the dramatic tones of the whites and blacks in the image, this is how I created the dramatic sky behind the brutalist tower. Like the previous image, I used contrast to have that shiny effect on the metal structure of the towers support beams.

(Kieran Gosney’s work)

Final Results:

Before:

First Edits:

By turning down the saturation entirely and highlighting the tone of the black and white parts of the buildings this adds much more volume to their architectural features as prior to being edited their colours are quite faded and muted.

Final Results:

Before:

First Edits:

Specifically inspired by this image of the New Industrial parks by Lewis Baltz, the use of space within the photograph shows the dystopian emptiness of industrial areas. In my image I feel I replicated that conceptual idea through capturing a large empty are where no people are in sight (despite the car).

Using effects such as contrast and tonal features like shadows I was able to create a deeper feeling to the image of the sites vast size, to further express this I also increased the clarity.

Final results:

First Photoshoot – Towns landscape: New and Old buildings

Green coloured:

These photos are rated 4 – 5 on the star rating, and are flagged: This means that they fit the aesthetic of ‘New Topographic’ photographers like Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz and Frank Gohlke.

Yellow coloured:

These images are taken well but lack the correct amount of exposure, need to be cropped or re-adjusted with their angles.

Red coloured:

These images did not fit the aesthetic because they where either blurry, poorly taken or did not fit the concept I was basing my photoshoot off.

Second Photoshoot – Walk Out across seaside and industrial area.

Green coloured:

These photos are rated 4 – 5 on the star rating, and are flagged: This means that they fight the aesthetic of ‘New Topographic’ photographers like Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz and Frank Gohlke.

Yellow coloured:

These images are taken well but lack the correct amount of exposure, need to be cropped or re-adjusted with their angles.

Red coloured:

These images did not fit the aesthetic because they where either blurry, poorly taken or did not fit the concept I was basing my photoshoot off.

Intro –

For this Photoshoot I took inspiration from Landscape Photographer Ansel Adams and based my images of his work. Mainly taking landscapes of storm damage, rather than expanses of areas with untouched natural beauty, I aim to show the natural effect of destruction caused nature.

Noirmont – Storm Damage.

I like how this image turned out as the depth of field covers largely into the details of damage, with a path of destruction stretching from foreground all the way to the background, The suns casting of light across the fallen trees creates a stark contrast in tone. What can be improved is the focus as Some parts of the image had blurs or out focus patches.

Although not technically a landscape, the detail of this image is what enticed me to adjust and edit this image. With a good use of golden natural light, the shadows hugging around the back facing part of the tree creates a engaging point of interest within the image when converted into black and white.

Having the same conceptual use of visualisation, like Adams I had an idea on how I wanted to create this image. With a good composition of trees, fallen debris on the ground, shrubbery and moody clouds in the background the mise-en-scene of this image was further improved with more definition being put on the lights contrast to shadow and reflection of sun on the blades of grass.

This image, to me, turned out well. With a good composition the bushes to the left and trees to the right frame the larger trees in a suitable position to catch the viewers eye. With the trunks silhouettes against the white wall of clouds the top canopy emerges above them on a shade of grey. Coincidentally, this creates a interesting effect to the image. Furthermore with the cleared out area in the foreground, Tire tracks act as leading lines into the area, with the trees reflected in the puddle, it acts almost as a metaphor of what used to be there in that cleared out area.

Needing more space, I would still count this as a landscape due to the depth the picture has into the woods. With the camera centred into the pathway, I waited for the clouds to clear to allow more natural lighting into the frame. Like previous images the natural contrast of tones in light is what I find captivating in these images.

Although close the nature, I feel as if I have captured the concept of storm damage well in this image with the 3 tree trunks and pile of logs showing the extent of damage caused to Jerseys local environment. Shown to stick out like a fork the 3 tree trunks define themselves within the image against the greyer toned trees in the background. To me this exemplifies their importance as by dragging the attention with their altered shape, compared to the undamaged trees in the rear, their changed appearance conveys a deeper effect both visually and metaphorically.

St Brelade – Damage and landscapes

With the beams of pure light emerging in the crevices of the grey clouds, the landscape contrasts with darker tones and the seas lighter horizon line. With houses to the right and view of the rock face and sea to the left, this creates a balanced composition within the image. Lines in this image can be seen from the field below the houses, to their roofs, in the clouds and across the sea, acting like stairs, the viewers eyes can travel from these lines up the image.

With the lighter toned building, its presence is well contrasted through edits to stand out from the darker tones nature that surrounds it. Although more fitting for the next subject (‘The New Topographics’), I saw it as a fitting image to the concept of Romanticism, which Adams was inspired by for his shoots.

Sandwiched in the middle, the lighter tones of fallen branches is surrounded by the much larger, fallen and still standing trees from the bottom to the top. In this image, I find that the darker toned trees acts as representation to the fallen trees in the past, acting as a shadow to their former stature. The fallen trees and branches however, much more brighter in appearance show their present manner.

First Edit Plan:

For my Photoshoot I will edit my pictures in the style of Ansel Adams landscape photos. To replicate his aesthetic of dramatic tonal range I will use settings in Lightroom to do this, since Ansel Adams didn’t have the advantage of technology and having to use yellow and red glass panels I will use the Black and white mix to make these colours within in the image stand out more when converted in to Greyscale.

First Edits:

Before:

Edit settings:

Using an exposure brush I was able to high light some of the trees that I thought weren’t bright enough inside the picture. With the sky before being a nice bright blue, Once converted to grey scale I used the Black and White mix to make the sky seem darker like how Ansel Adams did in his Photos,

Final result:

Before:

Edit Settings:

Using a HDR merge, I was able to create a more artificially exposed image, although not natural looking to nature, it provided a vibrant tonal once converted to grey scale. Like in the previous image instead of darkening the sky, I thought it would contrast to much with the shadows in the foreground, instead I played around with the yellow and green to make them stand out more.

Final Result:

Before:

Edit settings:

In this image I tried to make a sharp contrast from the sky and the surroundings in the foreground. By Using large variations in exposure, contrast and highlights I was able to add more detail to the composition of the image that can said to go fairly unnoticed when not in black and white.

Final Result:

Before:

Edit settings:

Using tint settings as well as the contrast, I was able to create a more diverse difference in the shadows of the image. Using visualisation I saw the how the long path way could create an interesting depth to the image. Using Adam’s Zonal system, I was able to create a large range of tone. With darker tones being in the lower half of the image and gradually getting lighter towards the top.

Final Result:

Before:

Edit settings:

Due to the image being over exposed, I lowered it down and added some more depth by adjusting the tone with less highlights and more whites to make features on the old stone farm house pop out some more.

Final Result:

Before:

First Edits:

In this image, I edited this image to have stages on tone from top to bottom. With darker tones in the trees above I used a graduated filter to create that transitional effect of dark tones into the lighter tones of the thin branches.

Final Result:

Before:

First Edits:

With this image, I used a highlighting brush to increase the tone of the 3 trees, making a contrast from the trees in the background I completed this by altering a lot of the exposure, white and black balance and highlights.

Final Edits:

Green coloured:

These photos are rated 4 – 5 on the star rating, and are flagged meaning I believe they fit the right aesthetic for my attempts of creating a similar photoshoot of landscapes like Ansel Adams, however by using photos of storm Ciaran damage.

With good texture and tone within the images, these best contain what I feel could be used to create a similar set of images that Ansel Adams created in American national parks.

Yellow coloured:

These images are taken well but lack the correct amount of exposure or may be salvageable.

These images, although containing some good and bad photos, can partially relate to Ansel Adams work. Not taken in the similar style I believe they still show some elements of romanticism.

Red coloured:

These images did not fit the aesthetic because they where either blurry, poorly taken or not what I had in mind when I saw the results.

These images outcomes were not what I wanted in terms of exposure, aperture and shutter speed and were either taken poorly.

Best Images –

I like This image as like Adams’ work, it includes a large variety of detail in its composition, with different areas of nature through its fore, mid and background. With a nice tonal contrast with shadows and sunrays it creates an interesting mise en scene for the image.

Using the building and equipment as a frame, I believe I made an interesting composition and space, with a variety of texture on the stone brick wall and the wooden trees and patchy grass, it contains, to me, a rural aesthetic, similar to what Adams strived for with his work.

Although not massively similar to Ansel Adams landscapes, I still like this image as it contains an interesting angle on the landscape at Noirmont.

This picture in my opinion covers the landscape well including large elements of nature such as: Hills, Sea, Cliff faces and fields. With a good texture in the clouds and beams of light spreading across the horizon it creates an interesting composition.

Conclusion –

In conclusion, I find that there is a fair majority between the photos have been rated and that there is some both good and bad outcomes with my images.

Who is Ansel Adams?

Born in San Fransisco, 1902, Ansel Adams was a famous American photographer in the 20th century, most known for his landscape photography capturing Americas natural beauty. His photoshoots specifically were devoted to capturing the remaining fragments of untouched American landscapes and preserved wilderness. Mainly taken in national parks and areas of remaining beauty in the American West, Ansel Adams first captured his signature style of landscape in Yosemite National park. After summating a mountain peak carrying a heavy camera, tripod and additional gear, he reached a place called the Half Dome this is where he would first use ‘visualisation’, this started of his career in photography leading on to him creating numerous famous photographs such as:

‘The Tetons and Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942’

‘Denali and Wonder Lake, Denali National Park and Preserve, 1948’

Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, c 1937

His love for the American West came from his love for nature, quoted by Adams the national parks he visited such as Yosemite and Sierra Nevada were “Coloured and modulated by the great earth gesture”. His first trip to Yosemite, in 1916, started his love for the place and his passion for photography. It was there his father gifted him his first camera, an Eastman Kodak No.1 Box Brownie.

What is Visualisation?

Quoted by Ansel Adam’s Visualisation is “to see (an image) clearly in the mind prior to exposure, a continuous projection from composing the image through the final print”. Put simply it is the concept of being able to see the scene prior to shooting and using your mind to make the that scene as a final product. In addition to using visualisation, Ansel Adam’s alongside his fellow photographers in their group F/64 developed the ‘Zone System’.

What is the Zone system?

Using a chart ranked from numbers 0 to 10, this could be used to determine which areas of the photograph would fit into these zones of tone. Combined with visualisation this is helpful in deterring what the image would turn out to look once printed from film.

Using a Kodak Brownie Box Camera, Adams carried two filters: One red, one yellow, these where used to pick more detail in tone on certain parts of the picture. For example, the Yellow made the brown hillsides and tree bark for visual, standing out better, the red was to darken the sky and create that dramatized appearance.

Group F/64 –

Being an environmentalist and conservationist, he helped found the group F/64. This group consisted of photographers advocating “pure” photography, this consisted favouring a sharp focus and the use of full tonal range within an image. This group saw the invention of the zonal system and produced some other often overlooked photographers who’s work slowly grew into the spotlight like Ansel Adams. Some of these include Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange and Imogen Cunningham. The name of the group stemmed from a suggestion by Adams as a nod to the F-stop there photos often used.

Edward Weston, like Adams has now become far more recognisable for their work, this can been with his still life pieces of vegetables in dramatic detail of visuals.

(‘Cabbage Leaf’, 1931)

“I can’t tell you how swell it was to return to the freshness, the simplicity and natural strength of your photography … I am convinced that the only real security lies with a certain communion with the things of the natural world“

— A letter from Edward to Ansel in 1936

Adams links to Romanticism –

Composing some of the 20th century’s greatest pieces of landscape photography, Ansel Adams can be said to have modernised transcendentalism, the idea that society and its institutions spoil the purity of the individual, with this in mind it can also be stated his work brought about the American revision of European Romanticism from the 18th and 19th century through the use of photography albeit in a visual composition similar to the paintings from the past.

In comparison to the paintings from the Romanticism Period, it is more clear to see where Ansel Adams possibly took inspiration from with his photoshoots.

Ansel Adams (Cathedral Peak and Lake, 1938)

Wilhelm Bendz’s Berglandschap (mountain landscape, 1831)

Inspired by Alfred Stieglitz, who he met in 1933, and held a one-man exhibit for in 1936, the influence of his work is visible when shown in comparison to each other.

(Stieglitz)

(Adams)

Image analysis –

In response to looking at Ansel Adams work, I will use his technical skills to help improve upon my landscape photoshoots and try to create an interesting set of photos based similarly to his visual style.

What is Romanticism?

“Romanticism is beauty without bounds-the beautiful infinite.” – Jean Paul

Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement which stemmed from the rich and wealthy within Europe, around the late 18th to early 19th century. It consisted of attitudes, Ideals and art pieces that expressed a large emphasis on the romanticized rather than realistic celebrations of nature. Creating a falsified utopia out of the unsophisticated countryside. Romanticism generated from the individualism of the wealthy people in the 18th and 19th century’s conceptions of nature.

The Romanticism movement in art is highly associated to the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. This was an intellectual movement from the 17th and 18th century that consisted of ideas concerning God, Humanity, Nature but most importantly Reason due to its primary source of authority and legitimacy. The reason for its connection came from their similarities in their philosophies.

Coming from the Era of Enlightenment, The art form grew out of the disillusionment of values regarding reason and order after the French Revolution in 1789, where the French people revolted against their oppressive wealthier population and monarch. Brining an entire change to the nation neighbouring countries such as Britain, Italy and Spain adapted to these new ideals through theory and art.

What is the difference between Bucolic and pastoral?

Bucolic often refers to the pleasant aspects of country life and its nature. Pastoral is similarly defined, positively as the working elements of country.

The Art of the sublime –

The art of the sublime, which took place at same time of the enlightenment, is understood to mean a quality of greatness and grandeur, that inspires wonder and awe. This is specifically with regards to landscape. This can seen with this image for example.

Romanticism artist –

“I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, – light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.”

John Constable, a Romanticist painter from the 1800s, painted his conceptions of the countryside like many others of the bucolic art pieces made by other artists at the time. Although still representing the exaggerated elements of nature, John constable drew directly from nature within most of his art pieces. This was due spending his childhood, in a small Suffolk village where he lived and witnessed the rural economy in its workings, this would later go on to inspire his artistical career and illustrate this through his romanticist paintings.

What?

For my photoshoots I will photograph the damaged landscapes of Jersey due to Storm Ciaran. Throughout the night of Wednesday November 1st 2023, Jersey and the other channel islands, Guernsey and Sark, experienced a tornado ravage across their landscapes. With Jersey hit the worst, every parish had received some extent of destruction. Examples of such include trees falling onto homes and entire buildings have roofs and walls ripped off. Waking up to the damage, islands found out that many roads were impossible to traverse through and walking paths were blocked. The railway walk in St brelade, had become entirely covered in fallen trees and branches making it hardly able to recognise.

The neighbourhood in the area of FB fields had received the brunt of the storm, with many windows, roofs, gardens, car severely damaged to a point of unrecognition of what it previously looked like. Photos of street looked like an image of a war zone.

In comparison to the previous storm in 1987, that Jersey islanders nicknamed the ‘Great Storm’, the damage to the island was caused by much more violent and strong winds. Islanders alive who have experienced both reminisced to the time and have said the severity of damage it caused was similar to as it was now.

(The ‘Great Storm, 1987)

Who?

• I will capture images around island of damage caused by storm Ciaran as well as some of Jerseys urbanised areas.

Where?

• Town – old areas in St Helier’s urban area such as the brewery, abandoned buildings, alley ways are a good example plus show storm damage. Houses around town are also being worked on with roof patching etc.

The top of car parks, provide a good height over towns urbanised topography. This is how I will create similar images such as to these. Places like fort regent will be useful as well.

• Noirmont – fallen trees are still populating the area and is a good way to show the impact on the woodland area and farm surrounding it.
• The railway walk – Numerous trees are still collapsed in that area and will provide a good example of regularly used pathways damaged.

When?

Over the half-term I will attempt to photograph a variety of different areas affected by the storm. By having photoshoots of different areas effected it will help create a good contextual basis on what happened like how Frank Gohlke did with the tornado damage to his home town, Wichita Falls in Texas.

Mind Map –

For my photoshoots I plan on creating at least 3, capturing different areas of damage caused by storm Ciaran. The idea I had in mind was to have them capture: Urban damage ( Town area), Environmental damage (walk paths, fallen trees in woods etc) and property damage (specific cases of peoples homes and what types of damage has been done, such as cars, gardens, roofs, walls, etc).

(Idea of general location – Town)

(Idea of general location – Noirmont, railway track, St Catherine’s woods)

(Idea of general location – houses in states effected heavily by the storm)

With these general locations in mind, this will be a starting point for my conceptual basis with my photoshoots.

Mood board:

Artist studies:

Robert Adams –

Born, May 8th 1937, Robert Adams is an American Photographer apart of the ‘New Topographics’ , were him and other photographers captured the aesthetic of rapidly urbanised landscapes such as parking lots, warehouses, and suburban houses. His work is said to explore and reveal the effects of human impact on wildness and open space, furthermore it is spoken that his work also shows the hollowed out idea of ‘Manifest Destiny’ when expanded in the 19th century and that this once rapid expansion has led to after effects of consumption of the landscapes. With these images, i feel as if this is best shown as a once, large peaceful expansion of calm has been converted into a populated area of both busyness and desolation of urban sprawl.

Lewis Baltz –

Born, September 12th 1945, Lewis Baltz can be seen as one of the young prodigy’s of the baby boom generation to capture the aesthetics of the ‘New Topographics’. Like Adams, his work exposes the vast Urban sprawl, now left desolate and unused post second world war. With the grand scale of industrial output during the second world, large structures as seen in this image sit unused and worn out from a past, once busier function. Now, numerous areas like this, are captured by Baltz.

Frank Gohlke –

Born, April 3rd 1942, Frank Gohlke was another photographer apart of this aesthetic. Photographing urban areas such suburb neighbourhoods and old factories within towns, Gohlke, differed slightly from the rest as his photos also consisted of cases of destruction in urban areas. Such as the aftermath of a tornado hitting his home town Wichita Falls Texas, in 1979, as well as the destruction of property surrounding mount St Helens following its eruption in 1980.

( Tornado aftermath, Wichita Falls, Texas, 1979)

Frank Gohlkes’s work is significant to me as his photographs are highly similar in comparison to our project for this topic. Our project is to compose photoshoots of the damage caused to our islands landscapes following storm Ciaran in November of 2023.

All of these Photographers have had their work featured in numerous Art galleries, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Most importantly, all 3 were apart of a group of 10 photographers who were selected to be a part of the “New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape” and featured in the 1975 exhibition at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House.

Quotes:

No place is boring, if you’ve had a good night’s sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film.

– Robert Adams

If you read what, say, Weston was writing in the 1920s he talked about an industrial medium, reflective surfaces, contemporary subject matter—it’s a straighter line to [Ed] Ruscha’s 26 Gas Stations than it would ever be to Ansel Adam’s pictures of Yosemite and their kitschy calendar sensibility.

– Lewis Baltz

The best landscape images, whatever their medium and whatever other emotions they may evoke… propose the possibility of an intimate connection with a world to which we have access only through our eyes, a promise containing its own denial.

– Frank Gohlke

Image analysis

For this image analysis, I have chosen to look at Frank Gohlke’s work as I believe it will be the best point of reference for my photoshoots.

What are Rural Landscapes?

“ Any landscape is a condition of the spirit” – Henri Frederic Amiel

Rural Landscapes are the vast geographical features of anything that consist of large expanses of nature. This includes Croplands (Farms), Forests, deserts, swamps, grasslands, pastures, rivers and lakes. In photography, Rural Landscapes genre focuses on the countryside, its people and the unaltered beauty of the world.

Unlike Urban landscape photography which focuses on the activity, volume and tumultuous visuals, Rural landscape photography captures mainly the secluded and soothing peace of nature.

With an F-stop around F11 to F16, And and a shutter speed around 1/100 to 1/200 these setting are best suitable combined with an a correct ISO depending on lighting,

Rural Landscapes can establish a sense of nostalgia, with familiar landscapes becoming a lasting place of home. Either for good or bad reasons rural landscape photography captures a indissoluble image of a place in time.

(St Peters Village 1912 – Now)

Rural Landscape photographers with their work try to target spaces within the world, where both tranquillity and chaos co-insight, grandeur or pocketed locations lie and prepossessing sights unfold .

Mood Board: