Jonathan Yeo

I recently watched an interview between Michael Parkinson and Jonathan Yeo. Yeo is a self taught portrait artist who has painted a number of celebrities. During the interview we were offered a glimpse into the way he worked and perhaps for the portrait photographer his most telling remark was that he does not start painting immediately but spends a couple of days getting to know his subject so that he gets to 'meet' the real person as opposed to the public face normally seen. For the portrait photographer this offers an interesting challenge. Usually photography is seen as an almost immediate art and it would be unusual for either photographer or subject to anticipate a session lasting more than a few hours at the most. How then is it possible to get a photograph of the 'real' person. My guess is that it is not possible. The photographer may shoot more than a hundred images in a relatively short period of time and then choose a selection to show to the client who generally has the final say. It may be the case that one or two do show the real person but that may not be what the subject will choose who is seeking the most flattering or representative of how he sees himself.

One of the most difficult parts of person photography, I have found, is to get the person being photographed not to adopt a pose. I recently spent most of a day at a re-enactment presentation at a local stately home. The periods covered was the Tudors, Victorians and the Second World War. All the re-enactors were volunteers some with previous experience in the roles they were portraying (i.e. they had played the roles before not actually been there!) Without exception every time I, or the other photographers, pointed the camera at them they would stop what ever they were doing and pose. They then became mannequins in a shop window or museum case - they lost their personality. I found two things worked. Firstly, if the chance was there, I would engage them in conversation as though they were what they purported to be - even to adopting their language style. (I can now speak fluent 'Tudor' and recognise and use the social divisions of the particular time). I would keep the conversation going until another member of the public started to join in the conversation then I would disengage and start shooting. The other method was to become inconspicuous which is quite an achievement for someone my size. Here I studied the interaction of the group (there is consistency because they are playing a role and have to think about what they are doing) and found a position where I would not be in anyones direct line of sight and then took the photographs.

There was one piece of good fortune. A family member (a young girl about 10 years of age) was having her photograph taken by her grandmother. Although the girl was not part of the re-enactment she was dressed as a maid of the Victorian period. I found through observing what was happening that the elder family member would take the photograph using an iPad and then show it to the rest of the family. Once attention was elsewhere the young girl carried on playing the part as she imagined it would happen. She was totally absorbed in what she was doing and so she was the maid and behaved accordingly. It was at that point that I took my photographs.

Two points of interest during the Yeo interview the first of which was his view that the eyes were the key to a successful portrait. Luckily for him he could paint them as he thought they should be - a luxury not usually open to the photographer. Secondly, in response to a question from the audience, was to say that the young and developing artist should not mimic the work of others but to paint in the way that made them most comfortable. I could not agree more. It always seems to me that the insistence on study of other photographers is a necessity in becoming a good or even great photographer. The logic seems to me to be faulty as you are most likely to achieve the best you are capable of if you pursue a course that gives you the greatest satisfaction.

Project 9 Change

I decided to keep the project simple and concentrate on the changes in light in my garden the period roughly sunrise to sunset.

Light is probably the most important element in the work of a photographer and much is made of the perfect time to catch the perfect light. We have no control over sunlight often our main source of illumination nor the weather that has a direct impact on the amount of light that reaches us. We have to work with what we have at any one time and having an awareness as to the changes during daylight hours can help us produce the best images from the available light and how it illuminates our subject.

The garden is aligned East/West and the camera is pointing approximately East.

The camera was set up on a tripod and remained in the same place throughout the day. The aperture was set to f9 with the camera setting the shutter speed. The ISO chosen was 400 to allow for a fast shutter speed to 'freeze' any movement in plants or trees. All images were shot 'RAW' and all received the same treatment.

The first image was taken at 0630 approximately 90 minutes after sunrise as I wanted the sun to be above the horizon line to cast shadow.

As can be seen the sun is positioned that throws long shadows down the garden but there is sufficient light to retain the detail in the walls surrounding the pond.

In the second shot which was taken at 0744 the sun is now higher in the sky and the shadows thrown by various elements are more distinct. The light remains 'soft' allowing for the retention of detail.

The third shot was taken at 0818 and although this is only about 30 minutes later than the preceding shot the garden is more brightly lit and shadows are quite marked. As can be seen from the sky the cloud cover has lessened allowing greater illumination from the sun.

Taken at 0848, again a 30 minute gap, the sun is now quite bright and once more the loss of cloud cover ensures the light is more direct and detail is more pronounced. However there is loss of detail in the 'Three Graces Statue to the left of the pond in the raised gravelled area although the 'loss' is not so great as to remove all detail.

A little over 3 hours after the last shot (it is now 1153) the sun is high in the sky and, without cloud cover, offers a bright light that is great for shadows and some detail but there is a price to be paid as the detail in the raised garden and the flagstones to the foreground 

The sun is now almost at its zenith (1251) and although there is some cloud cover it is not covering the sun at this moment.  Shadows are weak and highlighted areas have little or no detail 

This image was taken almost 3 hours after the preceding one and the position of the sun is lighting the whole of the garden and although there remains definition in shadowed or heavily detailed areas mucf what we see now looks 'washed out' particularly the elements of the raised garden. 

It is now 1736 and the sky is largely covered by cloud. The sun is casting the shadow of the house across the patio but still successfully lights the east end of the garden.

At 1920 the sun is now obscured by the house  but manages to light the far end which, at this position of the sun comes into its own. If there is a red/gold sunset the top of the silver birch ( the large tree in the top centre of the image) catches the dying rays and reflects the colour.

The whole exercise provided me with an opportunity to see and examine the subtle changes in light over a period of about 13 hours and to appreciate the 'differences' in the way that the garden appeared. One lesson learned is that studying the light changes in any particular area is well worth the effort. Two of my main interests in photography are landscapes and churches. Both change and benefit from the movement and light of the sun. Landscape is perhaps obvious but any church, but particularly those with stained glass windows, can become a 'magical' place, ever changing, as the sun makes its way across the heavens.

Project 8 - The Decisive Moment

As part of the work on my major project I have been taking photographs of Morris Dancers as they provide an example of the willingness of the British to wear costume that they would not wear normally, and may open them to ridicule, in order to keep alive our traditional heritage. Part of this work was to establish an understanding of what happens and whether there is a pattern to the activity that I can take advantage of to get the best images. As part of this study I began to notice that there were definable stages from the first arrival of the dancers at the place of their display to the actual dance. There was a noticeable shift from patiently waiting (sometimes there was an expression of boredom and irritation at any delay) to being fully involved in the dance to the exclusion of everything else.

After I had taken a number of 'sides' (the proper term for a group of Morris Dancers) I was reasonably confident that there was an identifiable pattern and so I returned to the images I had taken to see if this was confirmed in my photography. I was aware of the danger of 'seeing' something that I wanted to be there but feel that what follows strengthen my argument.

Where lies the 'decisive' moment. I would argue that it is at that point when the dancers are so absorbed in the intricacy of what they are doing that they are oblivious to what is going on around them. To use a modern expression  they are in "the zone". This is evident in their body language and particularly in their facial expressions.

In this image we have two of the dancers who have just arrived on the scene. The pose of the dancer on the right is one of patiently waiting as he leans against his stick and with legs crossed.

The group begins to gather together but their interest remains on what is happening elsewhere (actually another 'side' is performing).

The group begins to interact with each other as they foregather to begin their own dance.

The line up begins as the dancers move to their starting positions. Suddenly there is a seriousness and a sense of concentration about the group.

The subject of the first image is now fully involved in the dance and his whole demeanour and body language has changed as he concentrates on making sure he gets things right. I would argue that he unaware of his general surroundings.

The central figure facing us is again the subject of the first image as he is involved in what, to the general spectator, a complex and possibly dangerous sequence.

Our subject now has his back to us as he moves away from the stick sequence and the determination of his stride and movement is reflected by his fellow dancers.

The above images are in strict time sequence as I took them with, in some, cases, only a matter of seconds between two images. I originally had 12 - 15 images that fell within the time band  but decided to reduce this to the seven shown. My decision was based on providing a sequence of events but to limit the number of images to keep the viewers' interest. 

My preferred sequence would be as follows:

Leave the first four images as shown but reverse the sequence of the last three giving:

This sequence better places what I consider to be the decisive moment as we are able to concentrate on the subject of the first image as he becomes totally involved in what he is doing and is oblivious of his surroundings.

Exhibition Debenham Suffolk

Visited an exhibition by a fellow student today. There were two other OCA students from the OCA there as well. It was most valuable.


The exhibition was entitled The City of Debenham and was a very clever combination within each print of shots from the village and of the very modern buildings in the capital of Kazakhstan. The producer of these montages gave a full and clear explanation of how he had produced the work and the thinking behind the project. It was his major submission for Photography3 Advanced which he has almost completed. What struck me was the huge amount of effort he had put in to do such things as 'cutting out' unwanted material from the many images he had used so that the various elements worked together. I had assumed that he had used some sort of masking software but when questioned he stated that he had used the eraser tool and then blurred the edges to make the joining elements seem to fit together. He had been impressively successful. One could but admire his patience and effort in completing such a task.

Of course the question has to be asked - "How successful was the outcome?" I have to admit to an essentially negative reaction on first viewing because I had taken the conscious decision not to read the caption card that accompanied each photograph. It followed that I could make little sense of what I was seeing. The juxtaposition of the very modern architecture of the capital city and the more ancient village architecture jarred and I found it almost impossible to make sense of what I was seeing. I succumbed to the siren call of the caption cards fairly quickly and at least I began to understand what was being presented. I still felt uncomfortable as I tried to take a view on what I was seeing. We had been asked by the author to tell him what we thought and whilst I recognised the considerable skill shown, both in the taking of the images and the way that the combined images were exhibited, I remain unconvinced that it had worked.

The exhibitor then gave us a short talk on each individual image and it was at this point that I realised what was bothering me - it was the relationship between the various buildings. In one image we are presented with a side view of the local parish church which is a large outstanding building with much to commend it. The other part of the image was a mosque complete with minarets whose size did not seem right. In talking later to the author he revealed that it was his intention to show the mosque as being some distance from the church and therefore would necessarily appear smaller. There were similar instances in some of the other images. What I believed to be wrong was the perspective within the images. Perspective and differing focus gives us clues as to how buildings are related in the two dimensional world of the photograph. In all cases the focus was equally sharp so that we received no clue and perspective lines did not exist .

Interestingly I had just completed a project in Photography3 Your own portfolio on 'separation' within an image so I was probably more than usually sensitive to these elements.

I raised this with the author but I have to admit that I could not think of a way to ensure that perspective could be incorporated in the images although I know that there is, within Photoshop, the ability to use it. In Edit >Transform there is the option to use Perspective'. There is also a Perspective Crop tool within the Tool Box but as I have never used either I did not feel able to suggest what could be done.

In summary I was full of admiration for the quality of the individual images used in the montages and awed by the patience and dedication shown in the creation of each finished image. However I feel that the final results would have been even more realistic if greater attention had been given to how the various buildings related to each other within each individual image. The metamorphosis of Debenham as a village to becoming the new capital of the United Kingdom would have been even more believable.

Project 7 - Eliminating depth clues

Although I have a zoom lens 24mm - 300mm I found that all the images I took of landscapes still provided clues as to depth. In part this may be because I remember the landscape at the time of taking and therefore interpret the image biased by my knowledge.

The major problem seemed to be lines that were not parallel to the sides of the image. They always seem to suggest that I was viewing something that was 'going away' from me. One wonders at what focal length the effect is most pronounced.

Project 6 Clear Separation

I have had some real difficulty in working on this project because I am not absolutely sure of what is required. I find it difficult to imagine any landscape image that does not contain a foreground, middle ground and background. In part this is because if the actual middle ground is 'missing' the natural thing to do is to imagine one or simply divide the image into three horizontal sections. Experience tells us that  there is never a situation where there is literally nothing between elements. (I am ignoring the rather esoteric philosophical discussion as to whether something exists if we cannot experience it.) Having said that I have taken the following photographs to meet the requirements of the project.

Foreground distinct from Background

In this image the middle ground is not visible because it lies within a valley. The hedgerow and trees immediately behind give the foreground and the latter provide a frame linking the foreground and background. 

Again the middle ground is not visible to the viewer. The link between background and middle ground is in part given by the similarity in shape between the two. There is also the presence of the sea in the image bottom right that is 'interrupted' by the foreground which strengthens the link.

Foreground, Middle ground and Background

Here I have used the isolated sun kissed rock as the foreground with the headland immediately behind that rock as the middle ground and the far distant headland as the background. The lighting on the foreground rock is mirrored in the distant headland whilst the middle ground remains untouched by the sun.

In this image I have tried something different. Taking the copse of trees as the foreground I have placed  lone tree in the middle ground and another lone tree in the background. The viewer is given the usual clues about relationships within the image by the difference in size of objects ( in this case the trees) and the depth of focus with the foreground providing the sharpest part of the image and the background offering a less clear picture.

There was a similar exercise to this in one of my earlier Courses. At that time I followed the suggestion that I look at the work of landscape painters and I refreshed my memory again on this occasion. Whilst this was useful, particularly 'The Sermon on the Mount' , I still have difficulty envisaging a landscape in which the middle ground is 'not there'.

Loss of previous blog

For some reason best known to Google I cannot edit or add to my original blog. However it remains accessible for read only at www.cedricsherwoodmop.blogspot.com so all is not lost.

I am presently awaiting a response from my tutor on how we proceed on the major project. The difficulty I have is presenting a breakdown of how I propose to carry out the Major project . There is a requirement on me to suggest 6 coherent elements but the nature of the project I have chosen and which was approved by my first tutor makes that impossible if the elements are to have any meaning.

So far I have been on five different shoots - 2 to different military re-enactments; 2 to Living museums and one to a performance by Morris Dancers [Note: My chosen theme is the many ways that Britains re-enact or present the past by involving themselves in wearing costumes of a bygone age]. Tomorrow I plan to visit a presentation by a village in Cornwall which will include Morris Dancers. I will take with me the lessons learned from the first Morris Dancer shoot and hopefully avoid the mistakes, largely due to messy backgrounds, I made. That is, I see the whole project as an iterative process in which I improve on what has gone before with the ultimate aim of producing the required number of images of a standard that is worthy of calling it My Portfolio.

Although I have diaried forward a number of events throughout the year it is inevitable that I will need unscheduled time to re-visit certain types of events where the images I took at the first (or even second) event were not as good as they could be. For example there is a stately home near to where I live that regularly holds 'Tudor Weekends'. I have already photographed one such event but given my experience of this I should be able to improve on what I have got. It is unlikely that the 'better' ones will be exactly the same as the originals as other opportunities will arise but I cannot know for sure what I will find.

It is probably not an insurmountable problem but at third level I feel that students should be allowed to work much more on their own whilst reporting regularly to their tutors on what they have, or feel they have, achieved  in the preceding 6 - 8 weeks. It also makes sense for the student to take cognisance of the tutor's response and be prepared to adjust their schedule to incorporate the suggestions made by the tutor.

I am also taking the opportunity of being in the South West to add to my 'possibles' for Assignment 2. I have taken a large number of shots in the local area but it would be interesting to apply the projects to another type of countryside.