Il Cuore Siciliano 1:1

Easter in Sicily with the New Fuji's

Hey folks, I am just freshly returned from my two week trip to Sicily where I photographed the Easter festivals and celebrations. For the Sicilians this as an extremely important and often very emotional event for them and it culminated in following and shooting the highly charged 24 hour procession of twenty four alters through the regional town of Trapani. Just to add a little fun for me I managed to purchase the new Fujis (X20 and X100s A really useful review by Steve Huff)) specially for the trip and I will share my thoughts on them for this type of event based documentary photography. As anyone who has read my posts before will know, what I wont do is dwell on the image quality and technical aspects of the cameras as I find that most cameras nowadays can produce acceptable technical quality results and, given that all of the shots had some post processing in SilverEffexPro, the differences become largely redundant for my purposes. What 'image quality' means to me is how effectively can I create interesting photographs with these tools ? Not what do the files look like at 100% enlargement of stamps, bottles or walls. For that reason I wont even say which shots were taken with which camera (mainly because I can't remember and can't be bothered re-checking each one :) 

Before I go into some background on the shooting and make some observations about the cameras, I think it would be good to mention something important that emerged in my approach to some of the photographs.  Never having been to Sicily before or having previously attended an event of this nature, I was taken by the iconic imagery of the paintings and statues within the churches and halls that I was shooting in and I tried my best to imitate that look whenever it was appropriate. I did that by watching for the right light and compositions where I could remove background distractions and create a 'painterly' appearance to the photographs. I also used the Tri-X film simulation in silverefexpro2 to add to the feel of the images (more on the editing and PP later)

Background

I have been very lucky to meet many fantastic people on my travels and a few of them have become very good friends despite being from extremely diverse locations such as Costa Rica, Chicago and Geneva. As we share a joint passion for photography and travel we decided to try to meet up this year at a location that none of us have visited before. Also, having previously enjoyed attending workshops hosted by knowledgeable photographers who's work we admired, we decided to combine both and attend an Ernesto Bazan workshop in his home country of Sicily. This turned out to be an inspired decision and I will talk about the workshop experience later as I am beginning to think that, when wisely chosen, these are the best single photography learning and educational investments you can make to improve your skills and style.

The context for Ernesto's Sicily workshop was to locate everyone in a gorgeous traditional villa by the seaside and near to the town of Marsala as a base and then make the short trips to shoot the various processions and festivities that took place over the Easter week. I think its fair to say that Ernesto's approach is to encourage the search for emotional and poetic inspiration and as we all know, that is not so easy at the best of times and even more difficult when you are shooting in throngs of people with myriad distractions and 'shot-killing' elements. To this end he set a very high standard for everyone and immersed himself with us in trying to interpret the events as we individually and uniquely saw them.

As I said earlier, my own main focus was to try to use the light as best I could to create the iconic, painting look that I had observed in the many churches we visited. Additionally, it appeared to me that there was somewhat of a 'dark' and mysterious side to Sicily that I also wanted to try to incorporate without becoming cliched. Given this approach that emerged as to my interpretation of sicily and these festivals, how did the equipment I used help or hinder in achieving the results that I was looking for?

The Cameras (X20 & X100s)

Firstly, as readers of previous articles will know, I have been shooting  in a square 1:1 crop and in Black and White for some time now. I am at a loss to explain the square crop other than that I like the tightness and symmetry of the results I get. Although it could be argued that it is more suited to portraits and still life, for me (and many more superior photographers than me like Vivian Maier, Diane Arbus and any of the TLR users) it is not difficult to adapt to documentary style photography although you do lose the undoubted advantage of the 3:2 narrative style. Anyway, I have settled on this format in the meantime and now find it extremely difficult to frame outside of that and this is one of the major benefits of these cameras and in particular the delightful X100s, let me try to explain. The X100s has a marvelous optical viewfinder that frames like a rangefinder and when 1:1 crop is selected the frame lines adapt to a centered square with lots of space around the lines so that you can tighten your composition just like in a Leica or other rangefinder. I appreciate that the vast majority of people shoot 3:2 and the frame-lines are nearly as good in that format and are reasonably accurate. Additionally, the X100s now has an extraordinarily good manual focusing system that is deadly accurate. At first when I read about this feature I thought it was a bit gimmicky but believe me, this is the real deal. If, like me, you like to shoot with a lot of depth of field whenever possible, this manual focusing system is fantastic and lends itself very well to zone focusing at set distances. If you have ever used a split screen to focus (as in old film slr's) this is based on a similar principle with the added benefit of enlargement to aid and also a 'focus peaking' type shimmer on the focused area. I used this a lot and found the best way was to aim and press the AF button which is very conveniently located and then fine tune if needed via the light focusing ring on the lens. For my purposes I find this much simpler, easier and quicker than trying to change AF points and I found that I could get very nice tight results even in very low light.

Having praised the manual focus which I used a lot, the auto focus on the X100s is also vastly improved as well although, despite Fuji's claims and what I have read, I personally did not find it to be as fast as the Olympus OMD or Nikon V1, but it is more than adequate. On that subject, I still don't find this camera to be a speed merchant in any area however, I did find that for the type of shooting I do it worked an absolute treat and I was extremely happy with its all round performance. I wont bore everyone by re-iterating the key selling points of the Fuji X range but suffice to say that this is one extremely well made camera with exactly the type of manual controls that photographers who concern themselves with the final image rather than playing about with endless mode settings and menu trickiness will value. The ability to have a clear optical viewfinder with superb frame-lines, just the right minimal amount of shooting information required to make a shot and the the ability to use the nicely weighted exposure compensation dial with your thumb when you know the meter is going to make a mistake, is all that I can ask from a camera so well done Fuji, this is a classic. Of all of the camera manufacturers these are the guys that are really homing in on what real photographers want and need.

Just to round out on the X100s, like its older variant the X100 the lens is fast and sharp and the silky aperture ring around the lens is a joy to use. For what its worth my preferred set up for the camera is to use the square format, aperture priority, optical viewfinder, B&W film mode with yellow filter and manual focus. As I mentioned earlier, this gives me complete manual control of all of the critical photo making aspects of the camera as a creative tool and it all becomes extremely intuitive and very fast to use. The only other point worth mentioning is that I shoot RAW plus Fine JPG and this gives me the margin for error with the crop in the 3:2 RAW file if I need it (which isn't often thankfully) I hope you begin to get a sense of how much I enjoyed this camera and the pleasure I got from its ability to get out of the way when I was looking for interesting light, form and content to shoot.

The Fuji X20 is a very different but complimentary camera to the X100 (and nearly any other camera I can think of) for a few very key reasons. Like my much loved X10 before it, it is stunningly well made and is essentially manual in control of the key creative photographic functions. As you will all probably be aware, Fuji have updated the sensor and processing engine and critically added shooting and focus information to the optical viewfinder. This transforms the camera into a superb, compact shooting tool and I found it even faster than the X100s in practical shooting use as it seemed to me to focus more quickly. Although I very much liked the viewfinder improvements I still found myself shooting more with the rear screen on this camera to compose and this allowed me to shoot from higher or lower angles when I needed to. 

When the action was getting faster at the end of the parades, I found myself using the two cameras in tandem by using the X20 when I had to do something fast and reactively and the X100s when I had more room and time to compose. I also sometimes used the X20 at 50mm equivalent on the odd occasion when I couldn't get as close as I needed for the X100s' 35mm equivalent. Did I need two cameras to do this? Of course not but I did find that the similarity in controls, function and results meshed very nicely to the extent that I can unreservedly recommend these as a delightful and highly usable pairing for anyone in a similar shooting situation.

I don't want to go over all of the aspects of this camera that I liked again as they are identical to the ones I mentioned in the previous X10 article but the manual switch on and zoom which I can now guide to 35mm or 50mm by touch is exceptional and the exposure compensation dial which is similarly placed and functional to the X100s completes the control package. Because of the family similarity of controls and menus these cameras make using them together a very simple and attractive proposition. On that compatibility advantage, because I was unsure of how the lighting conditions would play out, I took along the wonderful Fuji EF-X20 flash unit which is a beautifully built but tiny marvel that works equally well on either camera. I did use it very sparingly but once or twice it got me shots that would have been impossible to light otherwise.

I know this will get me in deep trouble with the strobist community but I am personally very fond of the flat, shadowy, frontal look of camera mounted flash and that is exactly where I used this little marvel as it added so little size or weight to the camera. I kind of like the almost grotesque, paparazzi look that can be achieved with it. If anyone is interested in how this style can work as show by a master creative photographer, have a look at Jacob Aue Sobol's work with the Leica MM where for almost every shot he took he used on camera flash. I had the very good fortune to meet Jacob in Singapore and he explained to me that he had a very unique, high contrast processing style for film which up until that point he had used exclusively and to get similar contrasty results with digital he had to use the on camera flash.

I think by now you can all tell how pleased I was with the Fuji cameras and the ultimate functionality and simplicity of using them to make photographs. To finish off on the X20 my preferred set up is again RAW plus fine JPG in square crop (the square crop does not show in the X20 viewfinder but its not difficult to judge) B&W film mode with yellow filter and aperture priority.

Post Processing

Every shot shown here was processed in a similar fashion and here it is: Although I set up for fine JPG in B&W I tend to use that more for review to make sure I am getting the look I want and the actual PP images are taken from the RAW files. The process I used is ultra simple as I hate spending time on the computer. As the RAW files are presented in square in Lightroom, unless I need to change the crop slightly (and that is unusual thankfully) they go straight into silverefexpro2 where I normally apply the Tri-X film look filter and occasionally selectively darken or lighten a distracting area with the simple to use control points. I generally then add a little vignette using the lightest option unless something a bit more severe is required for the mood and that's it. If it takes more than a few minutes something is very wrong and I usually give up on the shot at that point. Despite never having shot film, I have become a huge fan of the Tri-X 400 look and the contrast and grain is gorgeous. In one or two of the low light shots here this has become pronounced and I love it as it creates exactly the look and mood that I am after. It never fails to astonish me how simple the modern processing tools have made it to achieve this look and this is the reason why I think conversations about the sensor quality and output in modern cameras are pretty irrelevant. To my mind the files output by both of these cameras are very robust and they seem to adapt to the Tri-X look beautifully. I would imagine that if you are a fine art or salon type photographer the X100s could be a dream for you with its sexy smooth looking images.

Photography Workshops

This has been the longest post I have written in a very long time as I completely lost enthusiasm and felt that I had run dry on photography as a subject. I feel the need to change topic here or I will talk to much about equipment rather than the creative photographic art and that is exactly why I lost enthusiasm in the first place !! :) A couple of events changed my life in many ways last year and they were both photography workshops with people that I consider to be at the absolute top of the game for the type of photography I like and it has now happened again this year and I consider it critical to share this with anyone who is reading this that has the drive and passion to try to improve their photography to both better understand humanity and express their uniqueness in their own style. As regular readers will know, I love travel and out of that developed a love of photography however I began to feel that the type of travel photography I was doing (even though it was commercially successful) was very unsatisfying and clearly not expressing any of my personality or thoughts on the world. I still wanted to travel to unique places but also wanted to learn from photographers who to me were credible and whose work I admired. With this in mind I travelled to Sicily, where these photographs were taken, to a workshop with Ernesto Bazan having researched his work and found myself admiring his work on Cuba very much. This turned out to be a completely inspired decision and the environment that Ernesto created and his out and out humanity, openness and passion made this a truly life enriching experience. I know some of you may think I am getting carried away here but its very true and I think any of the 10 other students would say the same. I am beginning to form an opinion that if you are open to it these type of workshops somehow give you better insight into yourself both from a human and personality perspective and from this comes moments of insight into the gorgeous diversity of this world and the endless visual richness that light reveals to us. Personally, I feel that it is this combination of personal insight and increased sensitivity to visual possibility that transcends technical competence and conventional structure to allow you to be more creative and to express yourself in your own way, this is what Ernesto enabled for me. 

In conclusion then, if you are thinking of a photography workshop I would advise going through the following simple thought process before you make your choice; firstly, select a location or event that interests you a lot, this is more important than you may think, secondly, look at which photographers run workshops there (I will add links of my favorites at the end), thirdly extensively research their work, it is vitally important that you admire their work greatly. I think if you follow these simple steps you will find the workshop to be the single best investment that you can make to improve your photography. Forget about new equipment, on-line training and college classes as a properly chosen, minimum 7 day workshop with a real creative artist will reward you with greater satisfaction and development than all of these put together.

If anyone is interested, I have a simple way of funding my passion to learn and develop (and to buy the equipment that I am addicted to....) and that is that I simply stick $50 every time I think on it in my Starbuck mugs that I have collected from the cities I have visited. I am continually amazed at how this accumulates and finances my photography :)

I am sorry if this has been a bit too much of a ramble for any of you but there was a lot in my head that I wanted to get out and writing doesn't come easily to me so apologies for any grammar, spelling and structural errors :) I do hope that you have found at least something of interest in here and even more hopefully, something that helps you to enjoy photography more.

the links:

Ernesto Bazan

Peter Turnley

Nikos Economopoulos

Best Wishes,

Colin

Forgotten Friends, the 'Year Old' Camera

Hey Folks, it's been a long time since I had the energy to write anything here but I thought you might like to hear about a trip I made to Bangkok recently with the now very unfashionable Fuji X10. I am continually amazed nowadays at how quickly cameras come and go and it only seems like yesterday that I was eagerly awaiting the launch of this super-sexy little cam and Fuji's nice ad campaign really had me wanting one. However, some major travel and expense came along at that time so somehow I passed it by but I never forgot the impact that the look and apparent usability of the camera had on me so when I got the chance of one recently for S$ 450 (US$365) I jumped at it, and believe me, what a bargain I got. Here is Steve's review for those of you that may have already forgotten it :) Steve Huff X10 Review:

So just what exactly attracted me so much about the camera given that it was picking up some mediocre reviews and some folks were making a big issue out of the 'white disk' sensor problem? Well firstly, this is one beautifully made and designed camera, it just oozes quality. The black finish is very understated and with the lack of front logos, very discreet as well. The metal lens cap is something I thought I would dislike but it turned into a key feature for me. I usually put a lens hood on my cams only to protect the lens from knocks as I don't believe in putting a filter in front of good glass. I quickly developed a workflow where I can whip off the cap, turn the lens to 35mm and start shooting very quickly indeed. which leads me on to the other key feature for me and that is the phenomenal lens which serves to switch on the camera and then manually zooms all at fast apertures if you want. I find that I have judged the 'twist and on' movement so that I end up spot on 35mm at which I can shoot at a reasonably fast f2.2 in low light. Really classy design, well done Fuji, none of that dreaded zoom hunting that plagues small cameras.

One of the criticism I always read about with small cameras and M43 is that there is no great depth of field possible for blurring backgrounds, I am at a total loss to understand this, I want all of the depth of field I can get !!!! Take the above shot which was taken underneath a motorway overpass in the Klong Toey slum area of Bangkok and the light was not as good as it might look in the photo. I was very close to this guy and shooting at a wider aperture than my ideal for the shot in mind, but I desperately wanted to keep the people in the background at least enough in focus to be discernible, particularly the old guy with the little baby. I almost made it but this kind of shot would be impossible at wide apertures on a DSLR, I know its not what everyone wants but I think its really important to show context and other important elements that make the subject come alive. 

While in Bangkok I was able to speak to Magnum photographer Nikos Economopoulos about this very subject and he told me that he only ever uses two ISO settings with his Leica M9, 640 for daylight and 1250 in poor light, the reason for this was simple, he wanted to shoot at F11 or at worst F8 as often as possible so that he could arrange the elements clearly in his photos. I know this will surprise many people but I also believe that for a documentary style its better to shoot at smaller apertures if you can and the more depth of field the better.

While on the subject of Bangkok areas to shoot in, all of the shots shown so far were taken in the slum area of Klong Toey which is easily reached by train from the central areas of Bangkok. Although poor I found the people to be very tolerant and gracious to me at all times (even when they were very drunk !!!)

Back to the X10 and its not my intention to re-iterate a review of the camera as, given its age, its been reviewed many times by people better qualified than me. What I want to do is let you know how I found it in terms of usability for documentary style photography and I have to say that it performed better than I expected and I have grown to really like the camera. Although I mess about with and own many cameras, very few of them make it into the 'loved' category but this little beauty certainly has. It is one of the few cameras that I like to use with a wrist strap and it seems to fit perfectly into my hand and, as I said, I have developed a shooting workflow where I can have the lens cap off, turned it on at 35mm and be shooting extremely quickly. This is very important to me and that usability factor along with the manual control for exposure comp really makes this cam work for me.

Surprisingly for such a small sensor, the X10 handles difficult light really well and the dynamic range appears to be better than I would have imagined. I also mentioned the exposure comp dial and it works seamlessly with the rear screen to allow you to see the result of your adjustments. This isn't unique to the X10 of course but is an extremely useful aspect of electronic screens and viewfinders. I used to use a Nikon D3 for just about everything I shot and I picked it up recently and was shocked at how stone age it felt with the DSLR mirror slap and noisy shutter.

I dont use it often but, as many reviewers have pointed out, the Fuji cameras are really classy when it comes to balancing light when you use the in cam flash. Take the above shot for example which was just completely impossible without a little help form the pop up flash on the X10. I think you can see how very bright it was behind the couple but the flash dealt with it very nicely indeed.

One of the other criticisms of the X10 was of the optical viewfinder and its slightly narrow view and lack of any shooting information. For me I have found that I mainly prefer to use the screen to compose and that allows me to 'grab' shots like the one above where I see something that is going to change very quickly but I can lift the camera to above eye height, frame and shoot very quickly. Its almost like using a giant rangefinder where you have complete visibility of everything around you but can frame what you want. The criticism of the VF is I think pretty fair but its not at all unusable and you quickly learn to trust the focus if you leave the focus point on centre and recompose so for me its no big deal. There is a somewhat strange effect here that I noticed in myself though and that is that I seem to adapt to the camera rather than have a totally fixed personal style. Let me try to explain, I also have and often use a Fuji X100 (another loved cam) but I very seldom use the rear screen and almost always use the viewfinder because it works so well. With the X10, whether its to do with size or whatever, I find that I use the viewfinder less and shoot maybe 75% of shots with the screen and I am entirely comfortable with this.

A final comment on the usability of the X10. Most of you will have noticed by now that I have shot all of these in a  1:1 or square crop. This is something that I struggle to be able to explain and it doesn't always work as you lose the narrative effect that comes with 3:2 however, somehow I find that I can get nice tight expressive framing with it and I find that it defines the main subjects better for the way I have been shooting. With the X10, like many other cameras, its so easy to set the camera to square and compose that way on the screen safe in the knowledge that you will have a 3:2 RAW file if you get it wrong. In terms of shooting approach then, I set the camera on square, RAW + Fine jpg and the B&W film effect with a yellow filter. This wont work for everyone but it certainly produces the results that I am looking for and gives me the RAW insurance policy if I need to re-crop.

I would like to pull this together now and one of the things I hope this little article does is make people think about the 'year old' camera if they are thinking of changing gear. Its very clear to me that models are changing so quickly now that the previous models are just nothing short of extraordinary value. I have now seen the X10 for sale in Singapore used and in exceptional condition for S$ 350 (about US$280) and that includes the good quality fuji case that came with the camera !!! Similarly the X100 is down to S$700 (US$560) these are incredibly good if not great cameras and they can be picked up for the price of a cheap DSLR lens !!!!

Having said that, I am as prone as the next guy to marketing and my mind is already a whirl at the thought of new X20's and X100S :) its such fun though to pay small money for a camera that can deliver great results for you. Just ignore the forum talk about image quality, lens sharpness and all of that guff, find a cam that you like to use and focus on the content, light and form of your shots, the results will be much more satisfying.

Well that's about it folks. I am very pleased to return to posting and I really hope this was interesting for at least some of you. If anyone would like to see more in this style I have three free ebooks that can be downloaded from Blurb here Colin ebooks. The process is very simple, just log in (or create a free account) add the books to your cart, check out (remember its free) and Blurb will send you the link to download to Iphone or Ipad. I have found that the app looks better on the iphone.

I have an upcoming trip booked to Sicily for the Easter festivals there and will be spending some time in Rome on the way back so I should have some more material and experiences to discuss soon.

in the meantime, safe travels and happy shooting.

Cheers,

Colin

Moments........and Intimacy

I mentioned in my previous post about the subtlety of the learning experience in the Peter Turnley workshop that I attended in Istanbul and, in response to some of the questions I received on it, wanted to give some simple examples by way of explanation.


One of the great learning opportunities in the workshop was the group sessions where Peter would review and edit the previous days work. The objective of these sessions was three-fold; firstly, to create a fifteen shot portfolio that explored a theme on the city, secondly, to provide a platform for Peter to provide feedback on individual photographs and to comment on technique and style, and finally, and I don't know how intentional this was, to show how the editing process works as demonstrated by someone who is enormously experienced at ruthlessly reviewing and editing down to the best photographs for publication. Initially this process was a little unnerving for me as I watched as what I thought were strong shots hit the cutting room floor. Why was this? well, for me and my personal style, it came down to what I think was the question of intimacy in the photograph. Let me try to explain.....

Personal Intimacy

The above opening shot was taken in a side-street that was a little bit off the beaten track near the amazing Galata Bridge. I had decided to wander around the back-streets while I waited for the rich, creamy, later afternoon light that I liked so much at the Bosphorus and I came across this lovely old gentleman sitting outside a cafe. I was immedeatley attracted to the setting and the obvious interest created by his appearance and in particular his face and eyes. Putting some of Peter's philosophy into practice, I didn't sneak around and try to catch a shot on the fly, but simply walked up openly and started to build some rapport and empathy with the old man. He couldn't speak English but that wasn't a problem, I showed him that I was here to take photographs and together we looked at some of the days shots. He recognized the locations and immediately pulled over a small chair so that I could join him for a cup of tea and also showed his willingness to be photographed himself.

I found that I liked the shots very much because of a twinkle that I could see in his lively eyes and a somewhat mischievousness in his expression. But here's the thing, although these are decent, interesting shots the intimacy in them is personal to me. Much of my liking of the shots is based on the overall experience and emotional connection that I had, the friendliness of the old man and the joy of sharing a tea sitting on the street with him and his companions in this wonderfully vibrant city. The problem really comes with the directness of the relationship, he is looking straight at me (and the camera) in all of the shots that I took and as Peter helped me to see, this destroys emotion and takes away the need for the mind to question and extrapolate on what is going on in the shot. Here is another example that works a little bit better because of the humor, but still has the directness of personal relationship that devalues the photograph. It was Peter's advice that more often than not when the subject looks directly at your eyes or the camera, the  photo will not have the same level of mystery or overall interest as a result of the personalization that occurs. 

Moments of Non - Personal Intimacy

By way of contrast, it became very clear in looking at everyone in the groups shots that the intrinsically more interesting photographs had captured a moment of intimacy that had no direct relationship to the photographer. This was also evident in the review of the masters of the craft. Here is a near miss of mine that got edited out for poor composition by clipping the hand of the accordion player but it definitely has a more thought provoking moment of intimacy as the mind looks at the expression and tries to assess the meaning of all of this and its hard not to see a sense of regret or sadness in the expression that is heightened as the mind looks for further detail and information to better understand what is going on. This detached intimacy is critically important to creating a sense of demanding the viewer to think and assess what is happening as opposed to the direct approach where the mystery and challenge is removed. 

This can also be seen clearly when there is more than one person in the shot and its possible to explore them together if they are interacting with each other, or to provoke a more poetic response if they are in a moment of personal thought or reflection. Something that I personally like that I sometimes think adds another dimension is to use mirrors or windows to show another perspective and here is a nice example of that in a simple cafe shot.

Its not the best composed of shots but I like the fact that the intimacy of the moment is explored from two angles and the girl on the lefts face is a little poetic when seen from both perspectives.

This can be seen again in the following shot from a card game in a cafe in the Tarlabarsi area of the city. This area is known for the interesting streets and is consider a bit of a slum being occupied by migrants to the city who come in search of work. I found the people to be very friendly though, and, when approached respectfully, were great fun. After speaking to the men outside the cafe for a few moments we were graciously invited in and furnished with a cup of refreshing tea while the card players laughed and posed for us. After a while the novelty wore of and, as Peter advised, the real moments of intimacy began to emerge as the directness of the relationships to be explored were removed as the men returned to the much more serious business of concentrating and winning at cards. Again, I like the use of reflection to create a little tension but then open up the story of what is happening. By the way, the men in this photo come from an area of the city that is often problematic and the scene of political disputes. I have to say that I have always found it better to view people as you find them and I can assure you these people could not have been nicer to me and my fellow photographic companion.

I hope this short exploration of moments of intimacy makes sense and, although the examples I used may not be the best, that the concept is better understood. It should be clear that there is a critical difference between direct moments of intimacy where the intrinsic interest is reduced, and indirect ones that create much more interest and challenge to the viewer.


If anyone is interested in learning more and taking their photography to a new level then Peter runs ten to twelve workshops a year in all of the most stunning locations for this type of photography. Peter Turnley Workshops

Istanbul Daydreams - Reflections on a Peter Turnley Workshop

Sometimes beautiful moments just appear and surprise you....sometimes you have to search for them......and persist.

Daydreams & Rhythm

I have just returned from ten days and nights in Istanbul, a week of which was spent in a 'Streets of Istanbul' workshop with Peter Turnley and a small but diverse group of fellow photography enthusiasts. This was my first visit to Istanbul and its rhythm, color and openness took me completely by surprise as did the workshop itself which I eventually learned is a lesson in humanity and creativity, not on how to take photographs. Peter should need no introduction to photography enthuisiasts and his powerful, emotive photojournalistic work is well known. What surprised me a little after having looked at this work was his creative, artistic side and out and out sense of humanity. I found his teaching to be subtle (for me) and nicely paced to create an overall learning experience that not only greatly enhanced my competence as a photographer but instilled a much deeper sense of the moments of beauty, surprise and meaning that are always all around us, waiting to appear or be sought out.

Having arrived in Istanbul with some wildly misplaced and somewhat negative perceptions as to its nature, much to my surprise, I couldn't have been more wrong. What I discovered was a vividly colorful, warm and unendingly fascinating city that welcomed me with open arms. I immediately fell into time with its pace and pulse, stepping easily into its rhythm and flow and, after a day of orientation, I found myself wandering aimlessly, walking the streets, resting in the mosques, and hopping on and off the many ferries that traverse the mighty Bosphorus. This might sound absurd but somehow I felt that I slipped into a dreamy state and found that my walking pace and movement slowed, I saw things more easily than normal and felt more attuned to the life of this wonderful city. I discovered that every aspect of the city seemed to be slower paced and more aligned to my own natural rhythm which I guess I have lost somewhat in recent times in the hubbub of Singapore, travel and the pressures of a working lifestyle. This pace extended through everything that I did from walking its streets and alleys, through the marvelously relaxed cafe and dinning experience until eventually finding its way calmingly into my photography. The idea of photographic rythm is an interesting concept and one of the key learnings that I received from Peter in the workshop is the requirement to create a sense of pacing and timing in your work to achieve a flow and avoid repetition and redundancy. This is something that I believe I have completely missed previously as a photographer and I like to think that with Peter's guidance, the work I created here is much closer to the reflection of how I see the world and I sincerely hope that at least a little of the dreamy mood I felt in Istanbul comes through in the pictures that I made.

Be a Photographer

The second important message that I had from Peter was to take on the mantle and mindset of permitting yourself to 'be a photographer'. This might be a little tricky to understand externally without having experienced the workshop and spent time with Peter, but it really hit home for me. If you want to capture and translate something of the world as you see it, and to crystalize your photographic ideas, its essential to adopt the attitude that you are a photographer, not a part time shooter or hobbyist (despite the fact that you are not making a living from it) This lesson is better understood by watching Peter waltzing into a shooting situation, charming and creating rapport, and more often than not, leaving with a worthwhile shot and some new friends. This is a challenge for most people and the ability to approach and gain the trust of an interesting subject is a skill that should not be underestimated and one that ultimately makes the difference between interesting snapshots and meaningful work. Nowhere did I see that better demonstrated than when I had the good fortune to watch him create the gorgeous reflection shot of the lady on the ferry that you can see on his Facebook page. I watched as Peter engaged with this shy woman and, without giving directions, shot and waited and shot and waited until he made the photograph he envisaged. Peter is clearly a master at this and although I can only aspire to his level of communication with people, I definitely learned the lesson and am now practicing moving confidently into situations with the authority of belonging there, because I am a photographer.

Humanity

I think the third enduring lesson that I learned from Peter was the most critical and important one for me personally. What Peter taught and showed me was that its not really about understanding composition or the technical side of photography, more importantly its about realizing that you are working with humanity. Through this I came to see that the most beautiful and interesting scenes are best appreciated and the critical moments captured when you become aware that its a human situation that you are in. Then, by both having insights into that situation, and the confidence and ability to enter it as a photographer in a constructive, patient manner, some unique moment will eventually emerge for you to capture using your photographic skills. I do firmly believe that the sequence or process works better once the photographer realizes this rather than the more conventional reversal where the technical skills are learned first before the realization that neither they nor any amount of megapixels or razor sharp, fast lenses will give you the images you desire. 

Persistance

One of the most delightful moments of the workshop came when Peter took us to the cafe and studios of the world famous photographer Ara Guler . Ara was once voted one of the worlds seven most influential photographers and it was a fantastic experience to meet, talk to and be photographed with the great man. By good luck one of our group Anja, had already bought a copy of his book and he took great pleasure in signing it for her while engaging in some good humored banter. I was very dissapointed not to have had a similar opportunity and all to quickly the moment passed and was gone.

Undaunted, I returned to the cafe at every opportunity while wandering the city and had lunch and dinner there with one or more of the group on numerous occasions. Unfortunately there was no sign of Ara. 

I guess the final lesson from Peter was that of being persistant and sticking with it until something happens. I would watch as he would often take some shots, appear to turn away apparently finished only to return once the situation relaxed to get the moments that presented themselves once his subjects thought the photo was taken and they could return to normal.

On my final day in Istanbul, once Peter and all of the group students had left, I made one final trip to the cafe climbing the  steep slope up from the Galata bridge and wandering along the thouroghfare shooting the buskers and cafe scenes. On arrival at the cafe and much to my delight, there was Ara sitting joking with his friends and what looked like some of his family. Without hesitation I sprinted to the nearest bookshop and bought a copy of his lovely portraits of the shapers of the 20th century and returned to spend a wonderful twenty minutes or so chatting to him as he graciously struggled with my Scottish accent and not only signed, but decorated the book with some little sketches. My lasting memory of this wonderful moment for me was when he paused after signing and decorating the title page and, disturbed by some lack of balance in the composition, flicked a little tick shaped bird onto the blank page opposite quickly bringing it into equilibrium.

Additional Information

The work created by the workshop group can be viewed shortly on Peter's Gallery page and it will serve to give some insight into the substance of the workshop output. I should mention at this point that this was the most wonderful and interesting group of people that I have ever come across and it was humbling to hear their life stories and to see them develop their photographic ambitions with Peter. Much of the enjoyment and learning in the workshop takes place at the review and edit sessions and I am sure we all benefited greatly from looking at and understanding the diversity of each others work. Peter runs the workshops in many of the Worlds most fascinating cities and the full list can be seen here.

Is a Peter Turnley workshop for you? Well, if you have a passion for people and a desire to learn how you can interpret your world better both photographically and in your relationship to it, then I can't think of a better way to spend a week:)

 

Istanbul Day 3- OMD on the Road

Good Morning Istanbul

I started yesterday with sunset from the terrace at the Rast Hotel where I am staying in Istanbul so I thought I would start today with sunrise (or nearly, I overslept a little). What a view, I could spend all day lounging about up there, but I didn't :)

I wandered the streets a little today but in all honesty I think the jet lag and overnight flight from Singapore is catching up so I decided to take it easier and have a more relaxed day. Having said that, I still came across some really nice people like this guy at Beyazit Square. When I asked if I could shoot his ringed hand and cane for a detail shot he promptly assumed I wanted a fully posed portrait and stood to attention. Not really what I wanted but I think the shot works because of the tight crop and the glance from the old man on the right. A quick word on the processing of these shots which is probably a bit more colorful and contrasty than my normal style but I felt it suits the vibrant atmosphere of Istanbul, I hope its not overdone as I am hopelessly color blind but it looks nice to my eyes. Out of interest its a very simple piece of Lightroom editing and I am simply adding a bit more presence and vibrance than normal, just about everything else is the same as usual.

I don't think that the above shot is very inspirational but I really liked the way the light was falling on the scene and it looked very rich and saturated, the coins, notes and paraphernalia the guy was selling was also interesting and I spent a very pleasant five minutes or so looking at his wares.

We all love barber shops, the light is usually good and there is always a mirror for that all important reflection. Its a bonus when the barber is waring the favored Turkish red and has a good tatoo into the bargain. This guy was also very tolerant and allowed me to shoot for a while.


The Turkish Wedding


Sometimes you just get lucky, the hotel manager recomended a restaurant to us and when we got there a wedding party was in full swing and the bride and groom very graciously allowed me to shoot a few photos. 

In looking at these shots I think I overdid the noise reduction as they are looking too plastic for my liking, still its too late at night now and I still like the smile anyway. These are very low light shots at ISO 3200 and while usable, it doesn't take much to push them over the edge.

As at the barbers shop, mirrors are your friend. There seems to be a tradition at Turkish weddings that the girls carry a small candle in each hand, not sure why but it made for interesting photography.

Here's the last shot of the day and although the lighting was poor and my exposure was a bit off I had to include it for the sultry look from this beautiful young Turkish lady....oh to be young again.

That's it for day 3 folks, the workshop with Peter begins tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how it progresses and what other delights this fascinating city has in store.


Cheers,


Colin

Istanbul Day 2 - OMD on the Road

Inspirational Istanbul

Hi Folks, and welcome to day two from Istanbul. Well thats not strictly true as I wanted to start with a couple of shots that I took from our hotel balcony last night at dusk, how's this for a view !!! The second shot was at ISO 3200 handheld so I had to give it a bit of noise smoothing in Lightroom, still it has a nice feel to it.

The hotel is called the Rast and is in a fabulous location right in the centre of Sultanahmet in the old city. Before I start on todays shots, now that I am fully rested after the overnight flight from Singapore, I wanted to show a few photos that I took late yesterday afternoon.

Regular readers of the blog will know how fond I am of backlighting and there were many opportunities to take these kinds of shots in the narrow cobbled streets in the old city. If you are trying this, you need around + 1.7 to +2 exposure compensation and shut down the lens as far as possible to help with the starburst effect.

Here is another nice example of a street seller who appeared towards dusk at Beyazit Square near the university. This is a very interesting spot that I visited a few times during the day and it seemed to change very time I went. I took a few shots of him before he got fed up with me and I can't make up my mind which I prefer, I like the feel and action of the first but can see his face and expression in the second.

Here is another backlit streetshot that I like a lot, the rim lighting is just right and as an added bonus I have another model in red in the top left of the frame, this wasn't intentional but I think it improves the photo immeasurably. Ok, Here is the last shot from Yesterday afternoon and its a cigarette street streetseller. In my enthusiasm I didn't spot that I was reflecting in his machine, never mind, I like the back-lighting and the pose. A quick word about the little Lumix lens, the 14mm F2.5 is a fabulous street lens, its extremely light and compact, reasonably fast, sharp wide open and very flare resistant when shooting these kind of backlit photos. Its become a firm favorite with me and is never off the OMD now.

For today, feeling totally refreshed after a long lie and very nice breakfast. I decided to follow the tram lines done towards the Bosphorus and see where I ended up. I personally love just wandering aimlessly and its amazing what you come accross. I found my way to Sirkecis Train Station and got a few nice natural light shots in the old waiting room area.

I am finding that most Istanbul citizens are pretty good when it comes to taking photos of them and they either ignore you or politely smile and let you get on with it. This was the former :)

You really can't go wrong with nice window lighting and its also hard to go wrong when you get a nice graffiti painted wall, all you have to do is station yourself and wait for the right actors to appear on your stage. I had only settled there for a few minutes when along came this guy in red trousers and i had a polarizer on the Lumix 14 so the result is very nicely saturated.

Galata Bridge


Following a refreshing afternoon nap I decided to try the evening light down at the Galata bridge which spans the Bosphorus and is a hive of activity in the late afternoon. The bridge itself is pretty big and has two levels, the lower of which houses restaurants and bars. With the OMD rigged with my favorite 14 mm lens and the GX1 over my other shoulder with the equally flexible 20mm F1.7 attached I was ready for anything. For some reason I found myself favoring the GX1, 20mm combo this afternoon and I quickly found a fascinating shadow opportunity.

I thought it looked cool to leave my own shadow in the shot it seemed to create a nice tension across the frame. I really liked this location and took a lot of shots trying to find the right subject and it turned out that timing was everything, it proved very tricky trying to anticipate and shoot at the right moment. Something I like about the GX1 like the GF1 before it, I seem to be able to view with my left eye and watch for subjects out of frame with my right rather like rangefinder shooters do.


Here is another shot that I liked of the avid fishermen on the bridge. These guys were really keen and some of them spend all day on the bridge and for some it turns into a kind of family affair.

Just to close, here is what I think is my favorite shot of the day that I took just as the light was going. I really like the feel of this and somehow it creates an 'end of the day' type emotion. This really is a gorgeous setting in the late afternoon and I am really liking the flexibility of the OMD 14mm and GX1 20mm set ups, they cover the perfect range for my style of shooting.

Well thats it for day two folks. I am off for some well earned sleep and have one more day to wander about on my own before the course starts. I am off to bed weary but already filled with anticipation for tomorrow.


Cheers,


Colin