Down the rabbit hole of conceptual art…

A few weeks ago I watched a video on the OCA website of an interview with one of the tutors, Jim Unsworth, about his practice. One of his comments was ‘I’m not a conceptual artist…’ This made me think – ‘do I really understand what conceptual art is?’. So off I went to Wikipedia for some education…

I guess the title is quite explanatory really… In conceptual art, the idea is more important than the resultant piece of artwork ‘The idea becomes a machine that makes the art’ (Sol LeWitt). Wikipedia notes that it is important not to confuse intent with concept in defining a work of art. Duchamp is considered to have paved the way for conceptualists, with his exhibiting of ‘readymade’ artworks, most famously ‘Fountain’ in 1917. It only appeared as a real art movement in the 1960s (Wikipedia) and fits in well with the 60’s attitude of breaking away from the mainstream in life and art. Interestingly, Wikipedia says that ‘Conceptual art also reacted against the commodification of art’, which goes against the modern phenomenon of artists such as Damien Hirst who are playing right into the hands of the art market currently. In line with this thinking, conceptual art was often recorded through documentation – for example by photographing it. This is perhaps the start of conceptual photography, though not in the same sense as it is thought of today. I find it interesting to note that for conceptual art to be successful, it didn’t matter if it was not executed properly – that is, the ‘artist’ didn’t need to have any specific ‘artistic’ skills! I admit to having walked around many modern art exhibitions and commented with my husband that ‘I could have done that!’ – I knew enough at that time to also comment ‘but they had the idea to do it’, which was my basic understanding of conceptual art at that time!

Wikipedia has a great section on ‘Notable examples of conceptual art’ which is quite an amusing read and shows the large variety of ideas and concepts that have been executed as art in the last few decades. There were also some links at the bottom of the page – I have included a couple below that I found interesting, particularly Sol Lewitt’s “Paragraphs onConceptual Art” and the Stanford Encyclopaedia entry. So after doing some reading, I feel like I’ve got a somewhat better grasp of what conceptual art is, however, how this relates to photography I’m less sure. Many of the examples of photographs mentioned in the articles are _of_ the art, not the art themselves. So I chanced upon Source magazine online, which happened to have three short videos entitled ‘What is Conceptual Photography?’. Perfect. Notes below:

Part 1:

John Hilliard, taken from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/john-hilliard for personal study purposes

 

John Hilliard, taken from http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/john-hilliard-1453/artwork/large-study-for-scare-cat-14936.html for personal study purposes

• Not a commonly used term in art (conceptual) – not commonly applied to oneself.
• Most photographs have a subject matter.
• John Hilliard – video of him and fellow videographer spinning and filming each other and the background and shown together.
• ‘Idea art’ another early name for conceptual art.
• Less ‘critical’ industry around art in the 1960s – not like there is now. The artists had to do the thinking and writing for themselves – nobody else was doing it.
• The ‘documents’ were the important part – e.g. the photographs.
• John Hilliard – interested in the technical apparatus. Exposure, speed – how to incorporate means of production into image itself. The subject is the object. E.g, 60 seconds of light. Reducing the question of ‘what exposure do I use’ to different prints.
•  Hilliard – drafts up his ideas first (very prescriptive) – he draws it first, and thus is very conceptualised
• ‘Camera recording its own condition’ – the same image 70 times
• Point of view – e.g. the cat with dog/woman – two images overlain and flipped (i.e. looking at the cat from two sides) – i.e., why make this picture from this place or that place?

Part 2:

Suzanne Moody, taken from http://www.trajectorartfair.org/archive2010/gallery/Michelle_Deignan.htm for personal study purposes

• Suzanne Moody ‘Make love to the camera’
• ‘Dialogue around photography obsessed with representation rather than the mechanism’
• Sean O’Hagen (Guardian)
• Lucy Soutter – content can be recognised, but the ideas and historical references are not always recognised by the viewer
• Conceptual photography term can be a bit derogatory to other forms of photography – suggests that there is no thought involved in ‘other’ kinds of photography
• Paul Graham ‘the unreasonable apple’
• What was the driving force of art before concept? Response of the eye, poetic, tactile, emotional – these things are ‘out’ now!
• The idea may be obvious, but it may be held back
• One way of looking (photography) – given one point of view, and sometimes it’s deceptive. (Suzanne Moody) – ambiguity is interesting. You can never work it out.

Part 3:

Broomberg and Chanarin, Taken from http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2011/seeing_is_believing/img/broomberg_chanarin for personal study purposes

• ‘All photography is conceptual, and all photography is not conceptual – all photography is an abstraction of reality’ Oliver Chanarin
• Artist v Photographer
• A separate genre – closer to the art world than most other photography is
• All contemporary photography is conceptual to some degree (Lucy Souter)
• Difficult, obscure and meaningless work – and something happens and meaning is found
• What do you expect to see? What do you want to see? … a document in its true sense (Chanarin and Adam Broomberg)
• ‘photojournalism is being controlled, censored’ (Broomberg)

The videos gave lots of thought to the various aspects of conceptual art and conceptual photography, and I shall continue to look more into this as an interesting genre.

References:

Broomberg, A & Chanarin O (2011) Universes-in-universe Website [online], Available from: http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2011/seeing_is_believing/img/broomberg_chanarin [accessed 14 July 2013]

Hilliard, J (2012), Tumbler Feed John Hilliard [online], Available from: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/john-hilliard [accessed 14 July 2013]

Hilliard, J (2008), Artfacts [online], Available from:  http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/john-hilliard-1453/artwork/large-study-for-scare-cat-14936.html [accessed 14 July 2013]

Lewitt, S (1967), Paragraphs on Conceptual Art [online], Available from http://www.ddooss.org/articulos/idiomas/Sol_Lewitt.htm [Accessed 27 October 2012]

Moody, S (2004), Suzanne Moody [online], Available from http://www.trajectorartfair.org/archive2010/gallery/Michelle_Deignan.htm  [accessed 14 July 2013]

Tate Museum (2012), John Hilliard Artworks [online], Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-hilliard-1287 [Accessed 28 October 2012]

Source Photographic Review (2012), What is Conceptual Photography? [online], Available from www.source.ie/feature/what_is_conceptual.html [Accessed 27 October 2012]

Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (2007), Conceptual Art [online], Available from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/conceptual-art/ [Accessed 27 October 2012]

We are OCA (2012), Open College of the Arts’ blog [online], Available from: http://www.weareoca.com/fine_art/meet-oca-tutor-jim-unsworth/ [Accessed 27 October 12]

Wikipedia (2012), Conceptual Art [online], Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_art [Accessed 27 October 12]

Wikipedia (2012), John Hilliard (artist) [online], Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hilliard_%28artist%29 [Accessed 28 October 2012]

Exercise: Managing Colour

Aim:

To judge colour cast and correct using software. Both JPEG and RAW files can be corrected for colour cast, but the options for JPEG are more limited, and in effect it is ‘post-processing’, whereas the WB is not set for the RAW file and can be chosen from the drop-down list in Lightroom.

Procedure:

For this exercise I have chosen three images from my archive with noticeable colour cast.

The first one (IMG_1171) (which has a large area of known ‘grey’, but is only a JPEG) was taken during a photography course of a light-table with products on it. The test at the time was to compare WB, so this is a good example to use. I think the WB was ‘daylight’ and the colour cast is quite clear. It appears yellow. I select the ‘grey-dropper’ next to the WB selection pane and simply select a point where I know it is grey (the foreground in this case). The image immediately corrects to the right colour and no further adjustments are needed, though it is possible to use the WB sliders if further refinements are felt necessary.

Before and after images are displayed below.

The second image (IMG_0437) was taken at last year’s BOGI fair and was photographed under a blue tent. This has given an obvious blue cast to the image. I used the WB dropper again and clicked on the back wall of the tent which looks to be grey to me. This does a good job – now the grass looks green and the jam jars look to be correct. Once again the dropper has done a good job and no more adjustment is needed.

Before and after images are displayed below.

The third image (IMG_0763) was also taken at the BOGI fair, inside the hall, the walls of which are yellow. This has resulted in a yellow colour cast on the image. I selected the floor this time, and the colour cast has disappeared. Skin tones look much more natural and the hat in the foreground (for example) looks white! The difference is great! I chose to slightly increase the green (decrease magenta) to make the skin tones and vegetation in the background more accurate.

Before and after images are displayed below.

Conclusion:

Whilst it is better to shoot RAW and avoid problems with colour cast, it is still essential to know how to remove casts such as those shown above, which are not caused by just choosing the wrong WB (but instead by coloured light from walls/tent etc.). Using the dropper is effective and generally accurate, though as the course notes point out, sometimes it’s necessary to search hard for a grey point! This is the first time I have used the dropper in LR, so it was certainly a worthwhile exercise for me!

Exercise: Managing Tone (Continued)

I processed a couple of other images while I was working on this exercise. The results are below, with both before (essentially straight out of the camera) and after images displayed. The results show how essential this work is for getting good images ready for further editing.

Exercise: Managing Tone

Aim:

The aim of this exercise is to optimise the tone and colour of an image as the first (vital) step in post-processing. The question is simply – is the image as technically good as it can be?

Procedure:

1. Set Black and White Points by adjusting exposure

Lightroom is the chosen vehicle for this exercise, and I have selected an image from my archive, taken at Womadelaide in 2011. I like the slightly dark feel to this image, and want to retain that feel whilst optimizing the image technically.

The image unadjusted (exported straight from the RAW file in LR) is below, accompanied by the histogram. The image looks a bit dark and lacking in ‘oomph’ (must learn a technical term for that…)

RAW File without any processing

RAW File histogram without any processing

I went on to first adjust the exposure, using the slider (increased by about a stop) and tweaked the histogram by squeezing up the whites and highlights a little. The image is displayed below:

Exposure increased

2. Adjust the brightness of the midtones

Next I looked at the brightness of midtones, first I tried adjusting the exposure… I pulled down the shadows and pulled up the highlights but wasn’t sure how else to adjust the brightness of the midtones using exposure (image below):

Midtones adjusted using exposure

I removed these adjustments and then used the vibrance slider which targets the midtones… I pumped it up which certainly increased the brightness of the colours in the background.

Using vibrance to adjust midtones

Then I removed that effect and used the tone curve (medium contrast) with similar effect.

Midtones adjusted using tone curve

I liked the tone curve, so then decided to add a little vibrance (less dramatic than before), combining the two effects to brighten the midtones. This is my go-forward point for the midtones.

Final midtones adjustment

3. Adjust contrast

Next we are instructed to look at contrast. I thought that I’d done that by editing the tone curve in the previous step, so I will try adding the contrast slider, though I think that boosts the contrast of the whole image. The image certainly has more ‘punch’ now (particularly that bright red hat!)

Contrast slider adjusted

4. Make corrections to localised areas

Finally, any choice of local corrections. I’m not sure any are needed. My main subject stands out nicely (white against dark background), even her hat stands out pretty well. The rest of the image is good for ‘scene-setting’ and the colour adds to the festival feeling. I think I will leave it at that and call this image ‘optimized’.

The final image histogram is displayed below:

It shows only one aspect of the optimization - but the dynamic range of the image is important, and this final image has a better range than the starting point.

Conclusion:

This has been another useful exercise for me to further develop my understanding both theoretically and practically of what can be done in Lightroom. In addition to reading of various magazines over the last few months, I’ve been watching some Adobe TV ‘how-to’ guides for Lightroom. This has been quite useful for me to learn ‘hands-on’ via the videos what can be done with the basics of LR. I will continue to watch more examples and also check out YouTube to see more examples of workflows and processing techniques.

References:

Adobe (2012), Adobe Lightroom TV [online], Available from: http://tv.adobe.com/product/lightroom/  [Accessed 15/10/12]

Exercise: RAW

Aim:

The aim of this exercise is to compare and contrast RAW and JPEG files of the same scene. I chose to take some photos on a family outing, shooting highest quality RAW and JPEG files possible by my camera. 

Artificial Light:

RAW Processing in Lightroom:

RAW processed file

RAW histogram showing image exposure settings 

Taken on a bus in a tunnel – the lighting is mixed – from inside the bus and also from lights in the tunnel. I have used ‘Fluro WB’ on the RAW file. The exposure looks good; the histogram fills the centre of the range, and there is some clipping of highlights. I used the highlight slider to recover some of the highlights and the blacks slider to pull out some blacks in the image. I increased clarity slightly (this is a kind of a sharpener for the image), and increased vibrance slightly. I used a ‘medium contrast’ tone curve to give the colours a slight boost in the image. I used quite a high ISO in this image (actually I used ‘auto ISO’ which resulted in a high ISO) so I have applied noise reduction in the luminance channel to this image also. Sharpening (with mask) was applied to this image also.

JPEG Processing in Lightroom:

JPEG processed file

Now there are fewer options with the WB processing. I have used the slider to add a little more yellow (less blue) to the image as I felt it needed to be a little warmer for the skin tones. I did similar recovery of highlights and blacks as with the RAW file. Vibrance, clarity and medium contrast tone curve were all performed in an identical fashion to with the RAW file. Interestingly the noise didn’t seem as bad as in the RAW file, so less noise reduction was applied. Sharpening (with mask) was applied to this image also.

For this exercise there is not a noticible difference between the two images. If I had gotten the WB very wrong, then fixing that in post-processing may be a bit tricky if I only used JPEG. However this example shows that there is little difference in the workflow in Lightroom when processing JPEG or RAW. Even the highlights recovered to a similar degree, though I think they needed more pushing in the JPEG version. The resultant images are quite similar in quality (though admittedly I have not printed them yet).

Daylight:

RAW Processing in Lightroom:

RAW processed file

RAW histogram showing image exposure settings 

This photo was taken at Brisbane’s Southbank, in full sunshine (thus strong shadows). Daylight WB was used for this image. The exposure looks quite good, spread across the whole exposure range, with no clipping of highlights or shadows. I have actually slightly increased the overall exposure a little, and also increased the contrast slider a small amount. There was minimal adjustment to the highlights etc sliders. Medium contrast was applied on the tone curve to help bring attention to the bright colours of the child. No noise reduction was required as the image was taken with ISO 160.

Selective processing for this image included a lighter exposure on the face area which was in shade from the hat. I also decreased the exposure slightly on the palm of the hand and tops of the feet as these were a little too bright. I used the adjustment brush for these changes.

JPEG Processing in Lightroom:

JPEG processed file

The procedure was similar for the RAW file. The image doesn’t appear to have quite the same ‘pop’ as the RAW file, but I can’t pin down exactly why that is – perhaps it is less contrasty to start with so requires a bit more contrast added in the final image to give it the same feel. I added some vibrance to assist with this for the JPEG image. The resultant final images are very similar, with only a few minor differences.

High Dynamic Range:

RAW Processing in Lightroom:

RAW processed file

RAW histogram showing image exposure settings (note this is a processed RAW file so doesn't appear to have any clipping as these have been removed in processing). 

This image was taken at the pool with some bright sky and the hat is overexposed. I used Daylight WB again, and used the highlight, shadows, whites and blacks recovery sliders. This time I learnt that you can click and drag on the histogram to do this, which seems more intuitive to me (and hold down ‘alt’ key to see where the clipping is occurring. This program is very interactive! Next I applied a medium contrast tone curve and visited the ‘presence’ sliders. I slightly increased clarity and vibrance. There is little noise (ISO not too high), so I didn’t apply any noise reduction to this image.

I applied some local processing (using the adjustment brush) over the hat which was a little bright, and a gradient over the sky to darken it slightly.

JPEG Processing in Lightroom:

JPEG processed file

I kept the WB the same as was shot for this image (Daylight), and once again applied the recovery sliders. As with the ‘daylight’ image above, there is not quite the same ‘pop’ as with the RAW file. There is quite a noticeable difference in the colour of the sky in these two images!

Conclusion: 

It’s hard to judge the dynamic range of the two images, but the JPEG does seem slightly harder to get a ‘good’ image out of compared with the RAW file. The RAW file seemed more amenable to tweaking to produce successful images. There are slight differences in WB and colour in all three pairs of images, but not to the detriment of the JPEGS mostly – the main advantage in this case to shooting RAW is if you get it totally wrong then it’s easy to fix in post-processing, compared with the JPEG where it is a bit harder (sliders are needed, or layers in Photoshop). Local adjustments can be applied to both the JPEG and RAW files in Lightroom, and there is no discernible difference between the two at the scale I am looking at. Interestingly with the high ISO pair of images, the noise seemed different between the JPEG and RAW, which I would not have expected. Overall, the JPEGs are easy to process, but without quite the same degree of options for recovery or WB adjustment. For the HDR scene, the RAW file is quite a bit easier to process, though the resultant final images appear quite similar. I think there is probably more ‘depth’ of colours in the RAW file, particularly in the HDR file than in the JPEG.

Learnings: 

Well I will continue to always shoot the highest quality RAW, but am now going to stop shooting high quality JPEG, instead either turning it completely off, or just shooting a small file which I could use for quick emailing if required (not that I do any professional work at the moment!). The more I ‘play’ with Lightroom, the more I realise can be done with images, so I should take an opportunity soon to step back and review some older images and possibly print them for a portfolio or simply for my record. I realise that I’ll be using Photoshop for less day-to-day work now that I continue to learn more about Lightroom. 

Artist talk: Gregory Crewdson

I managed to get along to a talk put on by the IMA (Institute of Modern Art) by artist and photographer Gregory Crewdson. This was a bit of a personal feat as it was my longest excursion away from my baby son. Lucky for me it was also a glorious day so I cycled in to the GOMA for the talk. In preparation for attendance of the talk I did some research into Crewdsons work, including listening to an interview with him on ABC Radio National. I also looked at some images online and recalled watching some 'making of' footage on the 'Genius of Photography' TV series of one of his 'Beneath the Roses' images, his epic series which was 8 years in the making.

This gave me quite a good feel for his work before I attended the lecture. I was quite surprised to arrive at the cinema in the GOMA and find it nearly full (it ended up being totally full by the start and people sitting on the steps!) of what I assumed to be students, photographers and modern art lovers. The talk was organized by the IMA and CCP (Melbourne) in conjunction with Crewdsons first one man show in Australia and New Zealand, titled 'In a lonely place'. The show is currently in Melbourne for the festival there, and includes 3 bodies of his work.

Crewdson spoke for about 50 minutes and then answered questions. I had to leave at that point, but afterwards the film documenting his 'Beneath the roses' series was being shown, I will attempt to see it at some point but it wasn't possible for me to stay away from home any longer. He seemed a bit shy/nervous initially but soon got into it and spoke quite well I thought. He also gave a sideshow starting with some of his earliest work and also some film clips from the documentary.

He said that he thought every photographer had a story to tell and retell in visual form, to attempt to challenge it, redirect it, change the parameters but that the story remained the same. To create a visual image of your obsessions, desires, fears and preoccupations. He started by showing his graduate body of work from his time at Yale in 1986-88, and commented that his core story remained constant since then. It was great to see these early images and feel some of the tension and drama in small scale images that his monumental works are known for now. He is interested in the intersection between life and theatricality, and blurs the distinctions between documentary and cinematic photography,  and also between film and photography. He is a storyteller who uses a medium to tell a story (photography) but it is a limited medium (unlike literature or film) as there is only a single moment - he uses this to find strength and narrative... A mystery.

Gregory Crewdson. Taken from www.littleredumbrella.com for personal study purposes

He showed early images shot in the same small towns where he still creates his images today, and uses colour and light to tell a story. He also commented on the voyeuristic aspect of his images (photographing strangers in the private of their homes and even bedrooms)... E.g. children watching TV seemingly oblivious to him, woman lying on the floor of her lounge room. A key image was one looking out through the window of a suburban home into a baseball field next door - the artificial light from the field transforming the vernacular to a place of mystery and beauty. He commented on how he often uses the window as a framing device - a physical barrier between the inside and outside and the tension associated with this (an interesting idea - I wonder which other artists do this?).

After this piece of work he was stuck with what to do next (time of personal tumult) and had a holiday where he built piles of dirt in the backyard (hundreds of them), and photographed them (but never developed the film) ... Described it as an artists obsession that he needed to follow,and to the maker it makes sense, but in the process it distances him from family and friends. He became more interested in the blurring of lines between the internal and external, normal and paranormal, and did a series of "natural wonder" studio miniatures, which gradually became more hallucinatory and focused on death and morbidity (not a happy time in his life!)

The next series of work was "hover", scenes of small town suburban life from an elevated position, eg. Woman planting roses down the street, man turfing over a road (with cop in background who Crewdson called!), a perfect circle of mulch on a lawn... That one had a good story - he found the perfect backyard, but had to leave a note explaining what he wanted to do to the owners backyard, and left his number. The owner called back and said 'do what you have to do' perhaps a good motto for all artists!

Next his work was more involving light as a narrative code ... the (well-known) project entitled "Twilight". He started using light in a more choreographed way, and used a soundstage and built sets for his interior work. This allowed much more control over all aspects of the image. "Beneath the Roses" continued this use of light and was equivalent in scale to making a small film. The photos are more psychological and open-ended, and he is once again interested in the moment between before and after (e.g. car doors often open), and regular use of doorways as framing devices. He also composites his negatives (combining multiple images together) to create the final image.

Some behind-the-scenes shots (and video) were shown which gave a sense of the scale of the production, and the detail to which Crewdson directs everything. The actors are told to make small movements, the fire crews spray down the street, lights get turned on and off, a house is set on fire (!) and everything is sketched out in detail beforehand (i.e. hand drawings of the final scene). Yet he says there is always something that happens by chance and that is part of the mystery of the work. As with Cartier-Bresson, there is a 'moment' when it all comes together - though I guess through the compositing of images there must be multiple 'moment's' that are combined together in post-processing.

Influences are Joel Sternfield and Stephen Shore (among others).

He has an obsession to create a 'perfect world', but this is not possible, and there is an inability to do so ... this creates a tension that is seen in the final images.

After attending this lecture I feel I have a much better understanding of Crewdson's work in particular, but also of how an artist works (and some insight into how he thinks). It was great hearing him discuss some of the influences on his images (for example the framing devices and interactions between different light sources). I think the tension in his images is really exciting and interesting, and it's certainly impressive to see his use of light and the enormity of scale. I feel like at this point in my studies I'm really beginning to think more like an 'artist' than I ever have before. Before I went along to the talk I was thinking about what it means to be a photographer (Crewdson doesn't actually push the shutter button), and I certainly come to no conclusion, but am thinking more about the making of art and photography in particular, in all it's forms (camera, pinhole, film, digital, scanner, phone!), and how 'everyone is a photographer' these days (Instagram/facebook etc.) and the implications on photography as art. It's not a simple thought, but I feel like just by thinking it I am moving forward with developing my own vision and practice. More on this to come as I digest my thoughts (and continue my reading).

References:

Artworks (2011), ABC radio national (online), Available from:  http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/artworks/artworks-feature-the-elaborate-moments-of-gregory/3658338 [Accessed 11 October 2012]

Books and Arts Daily (2012), ABC radio national (online), Available from: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandartsdaily/kate-champion-and-gregory-crewdson/4304760 [Accessed 15 October 2012]

Centre for Creative Photography (online), Available from: http://www.ccp.org.au/exhibitions.php?f=Gallery_1 [Accessed 15 October 2012]

Institute of Modern Art (online), Available from: http://www.ima.org.au/

www.littleredumbrella.com

BOGI 2012

Last weekend was the annual BOGI Fair which I photographed last year. I managed two short visits (family commitments notwithstanding), took about 230 photos which I have (fairly speedily) processed in Lightroom alone using some of my new post-processing skills which I am working on. I am quite happy in general with the results.

Technology:
Using my new camera on the day went pretty well, but I definitely need to read through the rest of the manual to get to grips with it more. I had trouble focussing in the portrait orientation a few times and I'm not sure why this is yet. Using high ISO settings worked well, and I shot in high quality JPEG and RAW, though plan to phase out my JPEG capture unless the exercise tells me otherwise. The camera feels solid and comfortable in my hands. A couple of the buttons seem to be in strange positions, for example the 'info' button which I use to check my histogram is a bit hard to reach. But I'll get used to that.

I'm feeling more comfortable using Lightroom now. I created a couple of presets for 'bright backgrounds' and 'boost contrast' to speed some of my work. Being able to adjust the images in the program I use for photo management is a real plus. Even things like cropping are non-destructive, and can be undone, so that is a bonus. I also have experimented with the adjustment brush and gradient tool to add selective processing to certain areas of the photo - similar to using masks in Photoshop, but much quicker and easier (and all non-destructive).

Shooting the event:
It was my second time shooting this fair. I found this time I had less time for photos (family commitments , but I still managed to take some good images. I spent more time talking to people - I felt more comfortable with this than I have previously (just shows what practice can do!) and feel that I was better at asking people if I could take their photos. This meant I could have a few goes at getting it right, adjusting position/framing etc. This is definitely an advantage. I used manual mode for most images, and this was more successful in the end (once I got settings I was happy with). I didn't experiment with different lenses, mostly because of limited time. And I meant to try some long exposures with people moving but I missed the opportunity in the morning with lots of people there to do this, and later on it seemed a bit sparse. Nonetheless, I feel like my images (the best are shown below) are generally quite good and capture the feel of the day. I certainly feel like they are an improvement on last years, though I didn't get any 'behind-the-scenes' shots which would have been nice.

The images:

Enjoying the treats on offer

Having a chat with the competition entries in the background

Chook admiration

 Ideally in the image above I would have included the chickens more carefully...

All welcome! (he was checking out the chooks!) 

 As seen in the above image - I'm loving having proper wide angle lenses again (full frame camera!!) (24mm)

A stallholder

Foodconnect storeholder

 Lots of blown-out backgrounds were hard to avoid with the strong contrast between the shaded area and bright sunshine behind.

A transaction in progress

Carrots to try

A punter

Interactions between stallholder and purchaser

Checking out what's on offer

Something looks good

BOGI Seeds for sale

The wide angle in the photo above shows off the range of seeds available and also captures the surroundings of the fair nicely.

Checking out the herbs and spices for sale

Late in the day people still rolling in

Tea for sale

Animated chatting

 Oops - shouldn't have cut off his hand!

The auction in progress

Auctioning off the competition entries

Serving food

 In the above image I would prefer to have captured her eyes in the photo

Paying for a winning bid in the auction

Pleased with her purchase of native raspberries

Overall I am happy with the way these images have turned out - they make a strong, colourful, diverse set of photos which capture the day quite well. I hope to do some more 'event' photography  soon.