Unit 305 Theme 1 - Assignment Planning

Assignment Planning: Social Documentary, Kingston-upon-Hull 2010 

Background

Hull is a very diverse city. Because of its geographical location on the Humber Estuary it grew up as an important fishing port and trading point with Europe. After the Second World War, the area became depressed and sea trade diminished. Much of the city fell in to decline. By the mid seventies, the inner city areas started to be cleared and large estates grew up on the outskirts. The city was rejuvenated and today there is a great mix of old and new. Hull has a very unique feel to it, and there are many things that can be photographed that could only be Hull. I want to capture this uniqueness in my images, while still producing good urban landscapes.
Prior Planning

I have thought about how I should plan the images for this assignment. Because of the diversity of the city, I would like to show a mix of the old and modern. Then some scenes are better at night, showing off the vibrant city life, so I shall think about where this can be best used. Although not exclusively, I want to have people in some images, like the samples I highlighted from Iain Hutchinson in a previous blog. Finally, I will consider some indoor scenes. I hope that these different approaches will help to show the use of various lighting conditions and how different urban landscape images can be. Weather can play a big part in the selection of shots too. Indoor and night time shots can be more controlled as the light is artificial and more consistent, but requires careful exposure settings to get it right. At this time of year (November), there is only a short period in the day when daylight is effective. Without artificial lighting available, early mornings and late afternoons are very grey and produce little contrast and tone.


I have spent a couple of weekends walking around the city and looking for suitable subjects. Some subjects cannot be calculated. I hope to find some candid, unusual shots, so to achieve this I ensure I have my camera with me as much as possible. I have listed all the possible areas of interest that I have seen and inspired me to think of how I can use some of them for my images.


People

Phone box (unique - white)

'Big Willie' poster (Hull KR publicity)

Fireworks

KC Stadium

Princes Avenue (pubs and restaurants)

Buses/Bus stop

Cinema

Bridges

The Deep

Pubs

Church

Marina

Shops and Shopping Centres

Streets

Industry

Wind Turbine

Light ship

Markets

Theatre

Airfix building (derelict and graffiti)

Parks (Pearson Park and East Park)
Municipal Buildings


This weekend is Bonfire Night and there is a display in the centre of the city. This should give me a real opportunity to take some night time images, and at the same time capture some interesting 'people' images. I intend to go to the KC Stadium, where the local football team plays, and see if I can get some interesting crowd shots.


Generally, though I shall continue to walk around the various areas of Hull and keep my camera with me, looking for suitable subjects.
Choice of Equipment
For the assignment, I have chosen to use my Nikon D3000 DSLR camera body, fitted with a Nikon 18 -105mm telephoto zoom lens.

The camera has a good resolution and because it is a single lens reflex it makes manual focussing easy. The memory storage cards are capable of capturing several hundred images at a time.

The lens is quite versatile, because it has a good focal length range but is not too bulky. I prefer the flexibility of this lens over using several fixed focal length lenses, reducing the need to keep changing lenses, which also helps to keep the sensor clean.

Full detailed specifications can be found on the Nikon website;

http://www.europe-nikon.com/en_GB/product/digital-cameras/slr/consumer/d3000

Nikon D3000 DSLR

• Type: Digital single-lens reflex
• Sensor: 23.6 mm × 15.8 mm Nikon DX format RGB CCD sensor, 1.5 × FOV crop
• Maximum resolution: 3,872 × 2,592 (10.2 effective megapixels)
• Lens: Interchangeable, Nikon F-mount
• Flash: Built in Pop-up, Guide number 13m at ISO 100, Standard ISO hotshoe, Compatible with the Nikon Creative Lighting System
• Shutter:  Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter
• Shutter speed range:  30 s to 1/4000 s in 1/2 or 1/3 stops and Bulb, 1/200 s X-sync
• Exposure metering:  TTL 3D Color Matrix Metering II metering with a 420 pixel RGB sensor
• Exposure modes:  Auto modes (auto, auto [flash off]), Guide Mode, Advanced Scene Modes (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Close-up, Night Portrait), programmed auto with flexible program (P), shutter-priority auto (S), aperture-priority auto (A), manual (M), (Q) quiet mode. 
• Metering modes: 3D Color Matrix Metering II, Center-weighted and Spot
• Focus areas: 11-area AF system, Multi-CAM 1000 AF Sensor Module
• Focus modes: Instant single-servo (AF-S); continuous-servo (AF-C); auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A); manual (M)
• Continuous shooting: 3 fps
• Viewfinder: Optical 0.80x, 95% Pentamirror
• ASA/ISO range: 100–1600 in 1/3 EV steps, up to 3200 as high-boost
• Flash bracketing: 2 or 3 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1 or 2 EV
• Custom WB: Auto, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade, Kelvin temperature, Preset
• Rear LCD monitor: 3.0-inch 320×240 pixel (QVGA) TFT-LCD
• Storage: Secure Digital, SDHC compatible
• Battery: Nikon EN-EL9a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery 
• Weight: Approx. 485 g (1.07 lb) without battery, memory card or body cap

Nikon 18 - 105 mm DX lens

• Focal length: 18-105mm
• Maximum aperture: f/3.5-5.6
• Minimum aperture: f/22-38
• Lens construction: 15 elements in 11 groups (with one ED glass element and one aspherical lens element)
• Picture angle: 76° - 15°20’
• Closest focusing distance: 0.45 m/1.48 ft. (throughout entire zoom range)
• Maximum reproduction ratio: 1/5
• No. of diaphragm blades: 7 (rounded)
• Filter/attachment size: 67mm
• Diameter x length (extension from lens mount): Appproximately 76 x 89 mm/2.9 x 3.5 in.
• Weight: Approximately 420 g/14.8 oz.

I keep a tripod in the car, and also have a wireless remote control to fire the camera when it is attached to the tripod. To protect the lens from dust and scratches, I have fitted it with a clear UltraViolet filter. This not only helps to keep the lens in good condition, it also reduces glare from the sun.

I have 2x 4Gb SD memory cards to use as image storage. I leave one in the camera and keep the other one in my camera bag, cleaned of any images and ready at all times. After shooting some images, I download the images as soon as possible from the camera on to my laptop computer and back them up on an external hard disk drive. Then I will charge the battery, so it is ready to use at any time.

Along with the battery charger and download cable, I keep a cleaning kit in my camera bag. Especially useful is a soft, lint free cloth to keep dust off of the front of the lens.

Lastly I always have a pen and notebook to record details about the captured images.

Apart from the tripod, everything I need is kept together in a camera bag ready to pick up at any time.
Health and Safety
I like to consider what issues I might have when taking pictures on location. Wearing the appropriate clothing and footwear is important. Climbing over waste ground or along beaches, require sturdy, waterproof footwear. Clothing should allow for changes in temperature and allow for rain and wind too. I always keep a waterproof jacket in the car and a warm fleece, hat and gloves. Checking the weather forecast before going on a location shoot can prove very useful too. An umbrella can allow you to shoot in the rain without getting rain drops on the lenses.

You have to think about road safety, especially at night. I always have a reflective jacket in the car. 

You must consider the safety of others too, having a person to help you is extremely useful to act as another pair of eyes when you become distracted. Keeping your equipment all together in a bag helps to reduce the likelihood of something becoming an obstruction and protects the equipment at the same time.