Ethics


Doug Stevens. ‘Magazines and newspapers should not show dead bodies’. 
https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/tag/bloody-sunday/ 
 
In context, the link was emotive in itself. “BLOODY SUNDAY”
 
It was not what I knew as bloody Sunday, but a Revolutionary moment in 1905 – you learn something new each day.
 
The image itself in the article is a secondary historical source, and as such, has much more immediacy than the tertiary accounts that may have been made at the time.
 
BUT, death is part and parcel of life. It may come naturally, it may come violently. It may come as an instant, it may take years (Cancer / Concentration camps, etc., come to mind.)
 
It can also be used to highlight struggles and issues. One dead body or very nearly dead (The immolation on the monk / the child burned by Napalm, the child photographed by the Bang Bang Club) can alter people’s consciousnesses 
 
http://100photos.time.com/photos/kevin-carter-starving-child-vulture
 
The photographer got abuse for not saving this child. Alternatively, you can argue that he save many more by highlighting the issue in Southern Sudan.
(Kevin Carter – Bang Bang Club.)
Article about press intrusion and Sienna Miller http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16282985 
 
The article is about the Paparazzi and their relentless “hunt” of Sienna Miller.
 
Firstly, let’s look at Sienna Miller – CELEBRITY. Now look at the photographers in question – PAPARAZZI. 
 
Both of these are subsets of a much larger area. Most journalists do have ethics embedded in them from college / work / life. Paparazzi chose a style and utilise “questionable” tactics to get their shot. To them the shot is all. The Statement is secondary.
For Sienna’s part, I equally have very little sympathy. She is in her chosen profession. She years publicity.
 
A more important part of this the point:
 
“If the person in the photograph is in obvious distress or danger, should the photographer put down the camera? Are there circumstances in which the photographer should provide help or assistance? If the photograph is taken, after all these considerations, who will see it? How will its future dissemination affect the people in the photograph?”
 
Example: I was covering a food festival, taking panoramic shots from across the street. With my camera still up, I panned right and left, and saw the drama unfold. My camera is always on motordrive, so firing two or three shots per second is nothing.
As soon as I processed the incident, the camera dropped and I ran to help. Immediate Action comes before sensationalism.
After first aid was given, and Ambulances called, and I was sure no threat to life existed, I engaged Cathleen and spent the next hour and a half talking with her, before asking her permission to take her photograph. 
 
For me, there was no judgment call to make. The photograph is almost an accident. If I hadn’t got this image, I wouldn’t have cried in my milk.
 
In a more serious incident, my ethical stand would be similar. I’ve deliberately NOT published images that involve serious injuries in motorsports, and if I’m able to do so, I WILL get involved in the incident..
 
https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/tag/bloody-sunday/ 
 
It can also be used to highlight struggles and issues. One dead body or very nearly dead (The immolation on the monk / the child burned by Napalm, the child photographed by the Bang Bang Club) can alter people’s consciousnesses 
 Article about press intrusion and Sienna Miller http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16282985 
 
Firstly, let’s look at Sienna Miller – CELEBRITY. Now look at the photographers in question – PAPARAZZI. 
 After first aid was given, and Ambulances called, and I was sure no threat to life existed, I engaged Cathleen and spent the next hour and a half talking with her, before asking her permission to take her photograph. 
Both of these are subsets of a much larger area. Most journalists do have ethics embedded in them from college / work / life. Paparazzi chose a style and utilise “questionable” tactics to get their shot. To them the shot is all. The Statement is secondary.
For Sienna’s part, I equally have very little sympathy. She is in her chosen profession. She years publicity.


A more important part of this the point:


“If the person in the photograph is in obvious distress or danger, should the photographer put down the camera? Are there circumstances in which the photographer should provide help or assistance? If the photograph is taken, after all these considerations, who will see it? How will its future dissemination affect the people in the photograph?”
 
Example: I was covering a food festival, taking panoramic shots from across the street. With my camera still up, I panned right and left, and saw a drama unfold (See Picture). My camera is always on motordrive, so firing two or three shots per second is nothing.
As soon as I processed the incident, the camera dropped and I ran to help. Immediate Action comes before sensationalism.
After first aid was given, and Ambulances called, and I was sure no threat to life existed, I engaged Cathleen and spent the next hour and a half talking with her, before asking her permission to take her photograph.
 
For me, there was no judgment call to make. The photograph is almost an accident. If I hadn’t got this image, I wouldn’t have cried in my milk.


In a more serious incident, my ethical stand would be similar. I’ve deliberately NOT published images that involve serious injuries in motorsports, and if I’m able to do so, and if I'm needed to help, I WILL get involved in the incident.

I have been in many life-threatening situations, both in a situation where my life is at stake, and where others lives were. From these experiences, I perhaps see things with more clarity than some people who sensationalise issues.

So, did an "Open Day" for the public to come in and have their portraits done. 

The aim of it was to:

• See how I could work with members of the public.
• See how I could work under pressure.

​Had several people come in, and it was generally good.

These images are not particularly in any order. And certainly, they look quite bad online. The actual print versions are fine, although there has been issues with the "dark skies" ones.

The location is a beach called Uphill, North Somerset. About 1 O'clock in the morning. I used a wide angle (12-24mm Sigma.)

There is a mathematical formula (Often aided by a phone app) called the rule of 500. You take your focal length (Say 12mm) and you divide 500 by it.

This gives you a basic time of exposure (In this case, 41seconds.) This prevents the stars blurring as the world rotates. It may seem a very short time, but it is evident in many exposure, so - unless that is what you are looking for - must take that into account. You can adjust ISO and aperture accordingly.

Orion was in the skies, and more importantly, there was no moon. I played with the (plentiful) light pollution, and created many images. There are a few where the light pollution is not evident, and some where I've allowed it to overwhelm the image.

My final selection is a personal choice. The light pollution is not overwhelming, and creates a nice silhouette of the surrounding bay. I also like the fact that the street lighting casts a shadow of myself over the entire landscape, while still maintaining the starfield.

The exercise here was to explore light, and the way it can be used within the studio environment. Rogue (Her modelling name) was the willing participant.
I used several techniques here. Both traditional, and more experimental.

"Light trails"

These were created by creating a 15 second exposure in a darkened studio, during which, traditional studio flash was fired at the beginning of the exposure. The model was wearing a cloak, with coloured LEDs attached. As soon as the studio flash fired, she was instructed to flap her arms...

Numerous exposures were made, with a few making it to the final cull.

Halo effect

This was more long exposures (with studio flash firing at the beginning), but this time, I took a light and waved it behind the model.
One such effort made the cull.

The rest of the images were modifications of normal studio lighting techniques. I used various methods to create different moods, from romantic to erotic, to moody.

"Polorised" light is a concept I have been familiar with since my teens. I was pleased to find that the 6th Form at Weston College had a rig to show students the effect of polorised light. 
I borrowed the rig, and modified it to work with a camera. (see photo)​

The "Rig" from the 6th form is in the middle of the image. The light that came with the rig was too low powered, so I used one of the lights in the copy room to get any reasonable exposures. I then removed one of the glass plates and fitted a Circular Polorising filter to the front lens of my camera. For most of the shots, I also fitted extension tubes to allow me to focus closer. 
Placing various pieces of plastic between the static sheet, and the polorising filter, showed the stress patterns in the plastic. By rotating the filter on the lens, you could alter the patterns, and it also had the effect of changing the "Background" colour from white, to black.
​From these, I culled down to 11, then the final image, as shown. 

The section "Polly" utilizes the long exposure techniques mentioned earlier.

The basic concept is to have a darkened studio, take a 15 second exposure with the studio flash firing on the initial trigger point, or on occasion, I'd fire the flash simply by pressing the test button during the exposure (The 3rd image on the top row is an example of this.). The model is then instructed "To go crazy" with various light sources.

In this series, we used a cloak with LED lights on it and also some light sticks. I also used an assistant in some of these images to wave the cloak.
​ 

"Plasma" is a series of images based around those popular (in the 90's) "Plasma Balls."

For the uninitiated, they are clear globes, which pulsate "plasma" randomly - or directionally if something touches the plastic.

The first image in the "cull" is taken through a crystal ball (See other series), the rest at various ISO / shutter speeds. The final one was simply adjusted by playing with the colour temperatures.

I was lucky enough to get the Northern Lights while in Iceland. I had done my homework (Tripod, etc.) but I wasn't expecting the intense cold - -20 degrees!!!.

Again, apologies for the Web destroying the quality of the images.

I shot several with people in them, to show the movement involved with the long exposures, but settled on a more traditional image (Icescape / Northern Lights)

There is evidence of the fact that I broached the "500" rule" in the slight elongation of the stars, but it was always going to be a compromise.

From a technical point of view, "Green" Aurora is lower atmosphere (60-100 miles) when particles from the sun react with Oxygen and Nitrogen. Red aurora is rarer, and is when the particles from the sun reacts with Oxygen at higher than 150 miles. There is also a link to the fact that the human eye sees greens better...

Here are the culled images, and the final one.

​I am having issues printing these for exhibition, but online, they are adequate.

"Moon" is a form of print for the blind. Everyone has heard of Braille, but Moon preceded it, and rivalled it. It is still popular in some fields.

This "Moon Book" is of an Arthur Conan Doyle Story.

The "Moon Book" series is an exercise in two points.

Cost.
Lighting

Cost was minimal. ANY DSLR could have been used. And the light was an economy LED light (About £15)

Lighting (from the LED light) was used to create moods, textures and abstracts It worked exceptionally well with such a fomr - with the "Moon" writing standing proud. I turned over some pages, to provide concave, instead of convex patterns.

Another "Real Person" shoot, using differing techniques.

In this series, we created with:

A light bulb waved behind the model during a long exposure. Generic portrait lighting, "playful" 80's style lighting, and the cloak / long exposure lighting, as used in other sets.

The one different technique I used was for the multiple exposure ones.

I would make a 15 second exposure (with the flash firing in the initial phase). Then turn the flash units down, and repeat during the exposure. Some worked, some didn't.