I decided to chose Bury St Edmunds for my six page travel publication. I don't know the area well but do know that it will be instantly interesting - a combination of the very old and new, historic areas and modern shops all within quite a small area. It will be interesting for me to investigate and visit.
I have always wanted to visit the Christmas Market but had never gone, so one of my visits was when the Christmas Market was on. It was enjoyable but I think like many things, it didn't quite live up to my expectations, but I did very much like Bury. On further visits without the Market there you could see the real Bury St Edmunds. From a photography point of view it was a lot calmer - when it was Christmas Market time the sheer numbers of people made photography difficult.
I have found the winter sun hard to deal with, I tried to vary visiting times, and weather conditions. A reference book I have is full of lovely summer shots, but my assignment cant wait for the summer unfortunately. Also because the weather was so cold people were not relaxing in the parks and obviously no-one sitting outside cafes, and children were not in the park. I am happy with what I have produced but feel they would be a completely different Bury in the summer. I might return for a comparison.
I feel I have produced some good photographs for my 'client'.
IDEAS FOR PHOTOGRAPHS / CLIENT REQUIREMENTS
To tempt tourist
Encourage visitors
Christmas Market
Opportunities for children
Play areas
Shopping facilities
Eateries
Bars
History
Places of interest
Local people
Transportation
Prior to my visits I had looked at some reference books and made a list of picture possibilities...
Bridge
Great Abbey Gate
Red Brick at St Marys St
Brewery - Westgate Street
Corn Exchange
Whiting Street - Listed buildings
The Nutshell Pub
Keeping in mind....
6 page travel publication
Character of people and place
variety of subject matter and scale
record meta data and any lighting problems
I had a selection of ideas together before my visit to Bury. The visit when the Christmas Market was on was so busy, a lot of shots were obscured by pedestrian traffic. I really struggled to get unhurried shots, without people walking across the lens. It did give me the opportunity to look around and take notes for another time.
I have made a final shortlist of the following 12 pictures, taken from and initial larger choice which are on my blog.
My photographs as a publication can be seen here......Bury St Edmunds
I had been planning to produce 6 A5 pages, as you were to use a final selection of 6 photos, I have condensed to three A4 pages, and use this just as an example of how I imagined my work to look for the client. I have sneaked two extra inset pictures, but these obviously can be removed.. if need be. I was pleased with the outcome and did make an alteration to one of the pictures as it didn't look quite right when I put it all together.
Bury Ruins
Img 5513
1/500 f13 ISO 400
My first choice for this first picture was of the silhouette cathedral, which I like but after speaking with my tutor realised there was too much dark area to the base of the picture showing no detail. I have gone with this picture and now putting it on my trial publication, I think I prefer it. I have raised the brightness 40% and the shadows just a little. The ruins are an important part of Bury so I was happy to include them. The sunlight was quite harsh around the ruins and the low sun gave heavy shadows. My picture here the sun is shining on the ruins showing the texture, there are dark shadows in the foreground. It is a good shot showing the ruins of the Great Abbey Church. It is nearly impossible to take a picture here without shadow of some sort.
Arch
IMG 5609
1/160 f 10 ISO 400
I had taken a picture of these beautiful buildings which I was going to use in the first place, but then on a second visit I took this one through the arch to give a different feel and again hopefully add something a little different. The sun highlighted the buildings well, the sky and trees are interesting and the railings and bicycle add interest. This was taken through the Norman Tower, adjacent to the cathedral. I have cropped my original picture to reduce its weight.
Cathedral
Img 5544
1/500 f16 ISO 400
This is my second choice Cathedral picture. My first one I felt was very dramatic however the shadows were dark to the lower half of the picture (img 5527). The image looked heavy in the publication compared to this one. I have cropped slightly to remove some of the tree shadow and made a slight adjustment to shadows in Lightroom.
Rose Garden
Img 5747
1/200 f 9.0 ISO 400
My first picture choice was of a wall plaque, the plaque on the old wall, with twine crawling over and with a plant climbing up, with its autumn colours.
But I was advised not to use text, so I had some other choices and have decided to go with this one.
Even though there is no sign of roses, the bushes have been trimmed neatly for the winter. The box hedging leads to the sundial and the memorial beyond. The backdrop is of the Cathedral which is nice. The actual garden does run away to the right a little and the winter shadows were still quite harsh. I did twiddle with the brightness and raised the shadows to get a better image.
The Garden was constructed due to the generosity of an American friend of the Borough, Mr John Appleby, who was stationed near Bury St Edmunds during the war whilst a member of the United States 8th Air Force.
Small Pub
Img 5665
1/160 f 5.6 ISO 400
I wanted to include the pub as it is famous for being the smallest pub in the country, it measures 15 feet x 7 feet. I took a number of shots here of different crops, and this is my final selection. This part of town was very shaded with only a small amount of sun to the top of the building. The trees just softening the corners. The interior and exterior lights are on giving a cosier feel, letting you know its open for business.
In Lightroom I raised the shadows by 35% and reduced the highlights by 21. To balance the light top half and darker base area.
Reflection
Img 5661
1/125 f 8.0 ISO 400
I wanted to include shops in some form and the shops at Bury are very nice, new and traditional. The photograph here is of one of the old fashioned shops facing the Great Gate, the entrance to the Abbey Gardens. I took my first shot of the shop ( img 5660 ) where I had to be careful not to get myself in the reflection, so had to make sure I was standing at the correct angle. Then I noticed that the Great Gate was reflecting in the window, so I tried to combine the interior of the shop with the reflection of the Great Gate. The reflection was clearer when I was actually there at the time, clearer than it came out in the photograph. But I was satisfied with the outcome and wanted to include it.
Statue
Img 5534
1/200 f 10 ISO 400
Here I have taken this picture of the Statue of St Edmund by Dame Elizabeth Frink, it stands besides the cathedral, it was commissioned in 1974, and was originally intended for the town centre. I have noticed that it is used a lot in other publications and initially I wasn't going to use it, this is now one of my 'extra' pictures that can be removed, it is quite a good image to pop in as I have done on my publication.
I took a couple of shots of this - full length and half - and this I have taken with the flash, the shot I took on av came out with the body of the statue being a lot darker losing all the detail.
One Man Band
Img 5482
1/100 f 8.0 ISO 400
The One man band I have included as he was the spirit of the Christmas Market, everyone having fun. OMB always make me laugh, their out of tune nonsense. The lighting wasn't good here as the road was in shade, this was my second selection the first choice was a little too dark in the shaded areas showing no detail, so I have used this one which is a better exposure. I have cropped this slightly, along with a slight increase of brightness. He is another of my extra additions, who can be removed. Its very difficult selecting just 6 photos.
Pretty Houses
Img 5530
1/250 f5.6 ISO 200
I very much liked this picture and was in my mind for selection as the houses are so pretty. The houses are situated adjacent to the Cathedral and its a beautiful contrast of buildings, and styles. Firstly I was using a signpost picture, but was advised to not to use text for photographs. I must say I am quite partial to a signpost picture but understand what I am being told. So anyway I have replace the signpost with this. I have +25 the shadows, just to brighten it a little.
Gateway
Img 5657
1/50 f 11 ISO 200
This is the Great Gate, the entrance to Abbey Gardens. This was a straight forward shot apart from standing in the way of, luckily not too much, traffic. I like this because its of both the Gate and the gardens beyond, which are very popular. There is an unavoidable shadow to the right. The path leads you through the gate and down through the gardens. There was quite a lot of tweaking to this picture to recover the detail to the left of the shot, including shadows, brightness, blacks, fill light, highlights and exposure. Im quite pleased with the outcome.
Marks & Sparks
Img 5588
1/400 f 13 ISO 400
This wasn't in my first selection as there was a lot of pictures I preferred to this one but it did show the other side of Bury which is the relaxed shopping area which has all the regular shops and this is where all the people are milling around. This is a contrast to my other photos I feel. I did raise the shadows +69 here and cropped it further to avoid shadows on the floor.
Benches
Img 5757
1/500 f 10 ISO 400
This is now my final image 12. After tutor advice I have not gone with the silhouette Cathedral. The above image here I was pleased with as it is in Abbey Gardens, and these benches are little sun traps where everyone stops for a warm or rest. I had my lunch here on one occasion, sharing my sandwich with a robin, then a squirrel, then some mallards, then a whole gang of seagulls. The next time I kept my sandwich hidden, as the wild life became a little intimidating...
So this is an image that you will always see at Bury, people using these seats constantly. It was absolutely freezing on one occasion but it didn't stop people warming in the sun. There wasn't too much need for photoshop as it was quite a good exposure, I raised the shadows just a fraction.
Silhouette Cathedral - NOW CANCELLED
Img 5649
1/500 f11 ISO 200
Here I was walking through the gardens after lunch and the sun was shining strongly in my eyes. I had taken most of my shots by this time and decided to try something different, try to make the sun work for me rather than always against me. Once I was in the shadow I walked until the sun was in the correct position - just shining through the window.
I took a couple of shots here, the first one I set my camera to auto, just to see what the camera made of it. Then changed my camera settings to AV and took further shots. The picture taken in auto gave a darker sky, darker than I remembered it. This image that I have chosen I like as the sun has made a star shining through the window, the silhouette is perfect and the sky is more as I remembered it. Included is a well timed crow!
I did like this picture as it showed something different, I was advised by my tutor that there wasn't enough detail in the shadow areas, so I have cropped it a little removing some of this black area to the base of the picture. After changing this image, for the one of the ruins on the publication, I think I prefer how the publication is now after the changes. This picture looks better standing alone maybe not so good alongside others. ( THIS IS NOW NOT IN MY FINAL 12 )
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I feel I have achieved what I set out to do, I had an idea of the look of Bury St Edmunds and I feel that I have brought this home with me. I do feel you get a real sense of the character of the place. As I said before if it were summer time the feel would have been different again, but this doesn't take anything away from the photos.
There was no problem with access which was an advantage and I didn't feel like I was bothering anyone to get the shots I wanted. However the drive to get there was a long one so you wanted to make sure you used your time efficiently and there was no popping back to get a sunset shot. But this didn't hinder this project. Some of the ideas that I had before I left home I was unable to take. One example was of Abbots Bridge - I thought this was a dead cert.. but the wall was high, there was heavy shade, and the sun was shining straight through the arch into the lens - disaster. A couple of other things I couldn't actually find.. but it was fairly trouble free.
If I didn't have the project in mind I could have happily snapped at all the various sites, and I did to a certain extent, but you know you have a few special shots to work with, before you leave for home, so you work harder to look for good opportunities, concentrating more on whats around. Sometimes you find something that surprises you when you get back, but normally you know your winners.
