The argument that I hear all the time from Israeli’s to justify this operation is; “What would the UK do if France had fired a couple of rockets each day in to London” – well of course any state reserves the right to defend itself and take the appropriate action.   The question I always ask in return is…”What do they think the UK would of done if France had blockaded all the ports, taken over the airspace and allowed no air travel and had built a huge fence around the country, limiting access to humanitarian aid (usually less than that required) and only allowing a handful of people to enter and leave each day?”   Not surprisingly, they never have an answer to that one – and that is essentially what the people of Gaza have been reduced to.  

There are 1.5 million people living in what is essentially an open prison.   Other than the tunnels from Egypt, nothing goes in or out of Gaza without Israeli say so – even diplomats and UN workers need permission to enter.   Nobody is saying that the rockets Hamas have been firing in to Israel is right – but surely the outside world can see that the rockets are a reaction – nobody ever bothers to ask what is the cause!!

The pictures below are mainly of areas to the North and North-East of Gaza City.   They are predominantly residential areas, and of little military benefit to anybody.

Sadly, for many of the people we talked to, they have no future and no hope.   To rebuild, they are reliant on the very people who caused all this destruction – without Israeli assistance and say so, Gaza will remain a pile of rubble.

Had this occurred anywhere else in the world, we would now all be shouting for those responsible to be brought to justice for war crimes – that will never happen here, firstly because if you criticise Israel you are instantly accused of anti-semitism and secondly because America will support and protect Israel no matter what – ah what a brave new world we live in!!!

A relatively straight forward project to finish off with really; cropping.   For this project I have decided to use one of my first attempts at HDR photography and then do a bit of cropping around that.   The picture is taken from the Jewish cemetary on the Mount of Olives, looking across to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.   The Dome of the Rock is a hotly contested site and is the third holiest site in Islam.   Its importance stems from the belief that the rock is the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven after his night journey from Mecca.   In Judaism, the site of the stone is venerated as the holiest spot on Earth; the site of the Holy of Holies during the Temple Period, although the exact location of the Holy of Holies is not known, hence the Western (Wailing) Wall now being the holiest site in the World to Jews.   The Dome of the Rock was completed in 691, making it the oldest extant Islamic building in the world.

The original HDR shot is actually 5 shots merged with Photomatix.   Basically I took one shot and then bracketed it with two shots either side, each one at 1 stop difference.   I am still finding my feet with Photomatix, so the final result looks somewhat over-processed, but I think looks pretty dramatic.   Not really something I would usually publish, but given that this project is all about trying different crops, I didn’t think the image itself would matter too much.

A good project which made me think more about cropping.   I’ve do a lot of cropping of my images, but have never concentrated so much on one image with a view to looking at how different crops work  – its good to try and find which is the best layout and to look for images within an image.

The idea behind this project was to compare portrait shots with landscape shots of the same subject.  I was supposed to initially take 20 photographs using the Portrait format, print them off and then have a look at them, and then go back to the same location and try and shoot the same subjects using the landscape format and then compare the two shots.   The hope was that this would then make you realise that there is more than one way to frame a subject…..or something like that (sorry am typing this without my notes, so will update tomorrow when I get back home).

I wasn’t really too sure how much I was going to gain from this project, and having completed it I am still none the wiser as to whether I have learnt anything.   The reason I say that is because I shoot a lot of my shots in portrait already.   Many moons ago I used to take pictures in Landscape format only, but then one holiday realised that the camera could be turned on its side – what a revelation.   Since then, I have tried to shoot most of my subjects two or three times using both formats, and then decided which was the more suitable one when they were printed off.

However, it was an interesting project to try and get landscape pictures in the small streets and alleyways of old Jaffa – which is most definately suited to the portrait photographer.   Anyway, below are some of my shots.

A pretty straight forward project really and one that was good to get back on the rails.   I will add technical data and comment on each picture over the next few days, once I get home.

The aim of this assignment was to “identify subjects that best express the extremes of different qualities (contrasts) and take pairs of photographs, which bring out the essential differences”.   The idea was to end up with 8 pairs of photographs showing different contrasts from a list provided, then a final picture that demonstrates contrast ‘in one picture’.   My initial thought was that this shouldn’t be too difficult, once I could think of suitable subjects that gave suitable contrasts.   The difficulty however was then how to turn these subjects in to pleasing/interesting photographs!!!   This was brought home to me when I printed off my first attempts – I had picked a road to show the contrast Straight.   The photograph showed an extremely long straight road – it did what it says on the tin, but was hardly an interesting picture.   Thus I had to go back and revisit a number of my pictures.

Once I had taken a suitably large amount of pictures of different contrasts, the second problem then raised its head – which ones to select to send off for assessment.   It is this problem that is now vexing me to the point where I am suddenly questioning every picture I have chosen and whether it is good enough!   If the aim of the course is to make you more questioning and critical of the pictures you take, then I am close to becoming an A* student……the problem is i’m now at the stage where I don’t think any of them are good enough and thus aren’t sure that I should send them in!   Anyway, enough of my ramblings.   Below are the 17 pictures that I have currently settled on, with a brief description of what attracted me to that scene and what I was trying to show.   There are a couple that I am probably going to replace, and I will update this post once I have settled on my final selection.

It has taken me a good month to get to this stage of Assignment One, and i’m still not 100% happy with all the images.   I’m not sure if that is a good sign or not – am I now being over-critical of my pictures?   I will update this post in the next couple of days once I have finalised my selection and have sent them off to my tutor.

I have now finished assignment one and have settled on my final images.   I have replaced three of my initial selections above with new pictures.   The ones that I have replaced are Big, Low and Curved.   Although I was reasonably happy with my initial selections, I think these replacement images are a bit more punchy than the originals……but we’ll see!!

The aim was to find a view that gave a reasonably interesting landscape in which there was an unbroken and clear horizon, then take about 6 pictures with the horizon in different positions, ranging from top to bottom.   I had looked at a number of other blogs and examples of this project and decided to go for something a little different.   Israel has some wonderful sunsets that really light up the sky in the late evening, and I thought a picture of the Jerusalem skyline, with a wonderfully lit evening sky would make a good subject.   The photographs were taken from the roof of my apartment block and look out over to New Jerusalem…..not necessarily the skyline view that most people would associate with Jerusalem.

Although the landscape itself is in darkness, and therefore not necessarily the most interesting, I really like the contrast between the dark city and the lovely colours in the evening sky.   I also like the New Jerusalem horizon line, which has a lot of interest to make the view interesting.

Playing around with the horizon in different positions was interesting in that it really made me realise how much the placement can effect the picture.   Having the horizon too high or too low made this particular picture rather weak, whereas placing the horizon one third from the top or bottom made a real difference, giving quite a strong composition.

I know when I was taking pictures as a kid, it was always natural to place the horizon smack bang in the middle of the frame, without any thought for placing it somewhere else.   This project has certainly taught me to play around with the positioning of the horizon to get a stronger image.

I’m going to post my photographs now, although I haven’t finished them yet as I need to add a sketch alongside each picture of a ‘weighing scale’ interpretation.   I’ll come back and update this post later this month.

Photograph 1 – Castle Doorways. 

Castle Doorways

This is a photo of two doors in the inner courtyard of Heidelberg Castle. The left hand door, being the closest, is obviously larger, but the smaller door and the window add a nice balance to the photograph. The photograph is also helped by the colour of the grass giving a contrast to the brickwork and also the low wooden barrier leading up to the rear door.

Photograph 2 – Big Ben & Houses of Parliament.

Big Ben & Houses of Parliament

I initially added this photo to the list just to see what it would look like when printed off. Once printed off, you can really see how the balance between the two parts of the the Houses of Parliament & Big Ben work. The dark part of the building in the centre cuts the two sections off nicely, with the long horizontal houses of parliament adding a nice balance to the tall vertical Big Ben.

Photograph 3 – Early Morning Calm over Canal Wharf.

Early Morning Calm over Canal Wharf

Another early start to get in place for a 7.30am sunrise….I must be a glutten for punishment getting up early on my hols……or is this course starting to get addictive!! I actually went out looking for a photograph for Assignment One, and got lucky with this picture of the canal wharf and old warehouse taken from a road bridge. That early in the morning the canal was wonderfully still, giving a nice peaceful feel to the pic. Even with ND Grad filters, the sky was boring, so I decided to turn the pic into Black & White, which I think works well. The barge and the over-hanging awning of the warehouse, although very close together, balance each other out quite nicely and give a good calm feeling to the whole scene.

Photograph 4 – Llandudno Slipway

Llandudno Slipway

A simple but effective picture, with the slipway centred in the photograph and leading away from the viewer in to the sea. Obviously with this photo, all the weighting is in the middle of the picture, but because the slipway is exactly central with a reasonably interesting sky and middle interest with the pole, the picture works quite well.

Photograph 5 – On Parade

On Parade

The aim of this picture was to show the soldier in the centre in focus, framed by the two other soldiers with their backs to the camera. The balance of both soldiers close to the camera works well, especially as the main subject is central.

Photograph 6 – Museum Wall

Firstly some holiday snaps, in no particular order:

Heidelberg Castle, taken from the Old Bridge.   A classic view of the castle from the old bridge.   Heidelberg was shrouded in a cold mist for most of the festive season, and I have tried to capture that cold misty feeling.

Heidelberg Castle from Old Bridge

 The Old Bridge.   This is a view across the Old Bridge towards the Alt Stadt of Heidelberg.   As with the previous picture, I have tried to capture a cold misty view of the town, hopefully giving it a slightly eerie feeling.

Looking Across the Old Bridge towards the Alt Stadt

Old Bridge.   Heidelberg Castle and Old Bridge taken the same day as the previous two pictures, still trying to capture that misty feeling.   Whereas the previous two pictures were taken from the bridge, for this photo I have moved to the river bank to include as much of the bridge as possible with the castle adding background interest.

Heidelberg Castle and Old Bridge

Early Morning.   For this picture, I had to get up at 6.00am, so that I was in position as the sky started to light up from the early morning sun.  The picture was taken looking over the river towards Heidelberg Castle and Alt Stadt (both hidden in the shadows) with the Königstuhl hill in the background.  The river was surprisingly calm for this time of year which makes the picture a lot more successful than it would otherwise of been.

Early Morning on the River Neckar

Black Forest Church.  Although it was very cold in Germany, the air was extremely dry, so I decided to head off to the Black Forest in search of snow……I also got a lot of blue sky.  I quite liked the look of this church with the blue sky behind and the pointed spire reaching to the skies.

Black Forest Church

Shrouded in Mist.  Another cold misty day in Heidelberg and a slightly different perspective of the castle.   I’ve tried to balance the castle with the river to give a nice overall feel to the picture.  I think the mist in the valley and the smoke rising from the chimney at the castle add a certain something to the picture.

Shrouded In Mist

Sledging World Champions?   My two daughters sledging in the Black Forest and trying their hardest not to kill themselves…. I picked this picture because you get a sense of movement with the background being blurred. and also the sun falling on the face of Andrea at the front helps to draw the viewer in to the photo.

My initial thought was to do this sequence at christmas when I am back in Europe; probably taking a set of pictures of a christmas market in Germany.   However, I changed my mind yesterday when I went out to take a couple of pictures of Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem.   The aim was to try and take a picture of Damascus gate for a calendar we are producing, but when I got down there it was obvious that it would be the perfect opportunity to complete this project.

Damascus Gate was the main entrance to the city of Jerusalem from as early as the time of Agrippas in the 1st century BC.   The gate itself dates in its present form from the time of Suleyman the Magnificent.   The scene in front of the gate is a microcosm of the Palestinian world – vendors heave goods in and out of the Old City, families have picnics on the steps, Israeli soldiers patrol the area, allowing safe passage for the ultra-orthodox jews heading for the Western Wall.   Yesterday (Sunday 7 December) was even more hectic as it was the eve of Eid al-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice.   This is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims and Druze worldwide in commemoration of the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God.   Because of this, the gate area was more hectic than usual, with people out doing last minute shopping; buying sweets for the children, getting fruit and veg in for the feast.

The aim of the picture sequence below was to try and record the hustle, bustle, smells and sounds of the market area surrounding the Gate.   To the outsider, the place looks complete chaos, and yet there is a rythmn and order to the proceedings, with people going quietly about their business in amongst the chaos.   I was hoping to capture the essence of the area, and was quite surprised by the two pictures that I thought said the most – they are at the end of this post.

The first set of 6 pictures was taken of the area immediately in front of the gate, hoping to capture a picture of this perennially crowded area.   The problem I found in this sequence was that the gate and towers are just so big and dominant; it totally dominates the surroundings.   I think the pictures show the chaotic nature of the market, but just don’t seem to work.

The second set of 5 pictures was taken to try and capture the scenes around some of the market stalls.   You can buy everything in this market, from shoes to carpets to food to clothes.   I wanted to give the viewer a feel for the interaction that was going on and the colours within the market.

I then moved on to the food vendors for the next set of 4 pictures.   The hope here was that the colours, steam and movement around these stalls would convey some of the smells and sounds that were all around.   As it happened, I preferred taking pictures of the vendors preparing their wares, and so there is very little interaction.   I quite like this set of pictures, although again not quite showing the underlying essence of the market.

Next it was on to the fruit & veg stalls, where a lot of the action was taking place.   I really enjoyed taking pictures around the stall with the vendor in his orange jumper – he did not stop moving the whole time I was there.   This is probably my favourite set of pictures as I really think they are showing the workings of the Damascus Gate market – constant motion, interaction with lots of noise and interaction.

The sweet stalls next, to try and get across some of the wonderful colours that adorned the market area, before finishing off with some general pictures from around the market, to try and capture some more of the atmosphere.

The dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, taken from the IX station of the cross

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.   The picture is of the Greek Choir area.

The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, taken from the Mount of Olives.   The picture was taken to show the grandeur and size of the building compared to the labyrinth that is the Old City of Jerusalem in the background.   This is one of the most hotly contested pieces of land in the world.

The Dome of the Rock, taken from within the grounds of the Haram Ash-Sharif/Temple Mount.   This picture shows some of the intricate detail of the tiles on the Dome of the Rock.

An evening shot of the Dome of the Rock, taken from the opposite side of the Kidron Valley.

More pics to follow of other areas in Israel and the Occupied Territories.

The first picture was with my telephoto lens, making a tightly framed composition of the apartment block from distance.   I thought there would be enough space to allow a bigger difference in perspective, but unfortunately , due to other buildings and major roads, this was about the furthest I could get away.

Picture 1 – 52mm, f11, 1/60, ISO 640

Because of the lack of open space, I was only able to move forward about 50 metres.   It does make quite a difference to the perspective, but not quite as much as I was expecting.

Picture 2 – 20mm, f5.6, 1/60, ISO 640

Although there is a change in perspective between the two pictures, it is not as dramatic as I thought – it would of been interesting to see what the difference would of been had I been able to take the first picture at 200mm focal length.   I knew what effect to expect, but wanted a more dramatic effect, so although I originally decided to go with the above pictures, I have found two more that show the effect better.   The pictures are once more of the minaret at Caesarea, although this time they have singled it out using a tight composition.

Picture 1 – 135mm, f11, 1/500, ISO 200

Picture 2 – 18mm, f8, 1/1000, ISO 200

I think these final two pictures offer a far more dramatic result of changing perspectives.   Although the pictures are taken at slightly different angles, I believe in this instance that doesn’t necessarily matter.   An interesting project, that shows how changing the viewpoint as well as changing the lense can dramatically change the perpective of an object.