Assignment #1: Series

[matthew]

'Begin at the beginning,' the King said, very gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'
- Lewis Carroll

Creating a photo essay or series often doesn't come naturally to photographers, just as many writers make poor editors. But if we wish to tell a complex story, or to create a cohesive body of work, it is essential to go beyond the individual image. While the King's advice is an excellent way to tell a story, Alice didn't have to worry about mixing photographic style, content, and context.

For this assignment, try to great groups of images that tell a story or communicate something beyond the content of a single image. The precise form is up to you, but aim for 3-6 photos that need a minimum of text to tie them together. And while new images are always encouraged, also look for trends and themes in your archives. Sometimes the best series are the ones that are created naturally over time, and they're just waiting to be discovered.

While this assignment may be of particular interest for those in the Photographer of the Year competition, please remember that Tony has asked us to keep our work private. This is an excellent thread to share tips, refine ideas, and get feedback, but it is NOT the place to try out your PotY images and sequences. Please use different material. Also note that all I'm looking for here is the images to be posted in a message, so there's no need to create a page layout. And finally, all assignments are non-competitive ways to experiment, share images, and learn, so everyone's encouraged to have fun and join in.

[snaarman]

Hi folks..

I will give this a try :-)

I don't really count myself as a people photographer - landscape and abstract are more my thing. However I was asked to shoot our local production of the musical Godspell this summer.

So here is my Snapshot/Poster showing 4 weeks with the cast:

"Fooling around in rehearsal / Getting serious: Nerves and success at the final run through / The Big Finish!"


Pete

PS, Some background tech stuff: As you can see, the rehearsal was in a mixture of bright sun and shadow indoors. A case of snap and hope. I gave this the monochrome treatment so it sits it in the background relative to the other pictures. I had to use ISO 1000 for the performance and many of the shots needed my Nikon 50mm f1.8 (manual focus) to get a half decent shutter speed.
What would I do differently next time?? Dunno.. Shoot in RAW. Maybe buy a E-510, use IS and a Dandelion chip on my Nikon lens??

[matthew]

Pete, thanks for that. It's a great series, and I really like the thought that you put into the sequence and layout.

My camera has been giving me an EPITS error a lot recently ("every photo I take sucks") so I've gone back to a sequence that I shot last August. It's hardly "National Geographic", but the series does add some interest to photos that are fairly weak individually.

bird bath




(it's odd that all of my cameras suffer from the EPITS error at the same time.)

[NrthrnHrse]

A series of pictures of a ice sculpture. Taken December 2007.

[Luke]

This is a bit of a fun (silly) experiment.
I took a shot through the window with the 14-42 at 14 mm.
Next from the same position (tripod) with the 40-150 at 150 mm.
Then the experiment started: I mounted my old Tamron 300 mm 5.6 and consequently added one 2x converter and a second one and a 1.5x screw-on converter.
The 300 mm gave a good sharp picture.
With one 2x converter the result was ok.
With the second one it became almost impossible to focus with Live View, even with the LV-boost. The image was simply to dark and the result was marginal.
With the 1.5 added the result became very unsharp and I got a lot of CA.

Sorry for the text but I thought this needed a bit of explanation.
Luc

[Ted C.]

'Begin at the beginning,' the King said, very gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'
- Lewis Carroll


A walk in the woods....

[gregmacg]

Here's my series of photos that I shot at my daughters wedding last October. The reverend looks like Elvis.

Attachment 7177

[tspore]

Wow guys these are great.

[Blu-by-u]

[cuxton]

Here's my series of photos that I shot at my daughters wedding last October. The reverend looks like Elvis.

Attachment 7177

He also looks VERY stern. Nice shots though.
Dave

[jdal]

What a great idea this Assignment thing is.

My wife suggested that I do some web pages to illustrate walks around our holiday cottage, I'll take the liberty of posting the link to the one I put together recently. This breaks the rules I think, the shots are taken from different 'walkings', they aren't in the last 2 weeks, and there are too many shots, but I think they're all either E1/E300.

walk

[matthew]

Great series, everyone, thanks for taking the time to put them together. I really enjoy seeing the different approaches, subjects, and interpretations. And Revered Elvis made me laugh.

This breaks the rules I think ...

John, I've been really pleased with the warm reception the assignment has received, so thanks. This is a pretty high-concept one, and the results have been terrific. As for rules to break, like all good photography, they're really just suggestions. If you have a shot or a story that can contribute to an assignment it's always welcome.

Here's a very short series -- much like the experience. This is the playground for the apartment building where I grew up:





Both shots were taken with the E-3, 7-14, and needed live view to compose.

[jdal]

Matthew, those pigeon shots made me laugh. You always assume that dim though they are, in general animals know what they're doing. I have a shot somewhere of our sopping wet cat after failing to make the leap across the stream outside our house.

[Garry Frankel]

OK, this is really different for me but here we go.

I call it M-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-M

[srf4real]

Here is a series shot at the O'Neil Pro this weekend. Not a very long story, but still quite interesting!

[photo_owl]

Hello Birdy........Hello Photographer



Nice Birdy..........Get on with Photographer!



Whoa Birdy......... **** Off Photog!

Never done anything like this before so I hope I have read it right.

Interesting.

[Swandy]

Only two pictures, but I would imagine you can tell the story even without the text.
Steve
(From an Italy trip.)

[mostlypixels]

I went to a sharks game this week...

[Henk Peter]

I first want to thank Matthew for initiating the assignments, it will be very interesting to see the different approaches of the participants.

As some of you already know I have a (self-assignment) project to shoot a tree in different seasons/weather/light. Below is a selection of the series which can be found in larger size in my gallery on smugmug:

http://mordisco.smugmug.com/gallery/2376292#124499215

Attachment 7274

[srf4real]

I hesitated to submit this at first as it is sort of only one picture, I did a little photoshop magic to. Not sure if it qualifies as a series shot or not, but the story line is there!

[NrthrnHrse]

Wow you win. LOL.

[matthew]

There are some great images, and fantastic series, in this assignment. I love seeing the different ways people approach the problem of telling a story.

Henk, the tree series is fantastic. Thanks for posting the sample as well as the full link.

Rob, I really like the three-position composite. To my eye it's easier to follow than the individual photo series. I also find it easier to "read" the action when the subject's moving from left to right.

[JohnM]

Thought a trypych might be appropriate here:
Entitled "Beyond the grave (stone)"

[anwmn1]

[nalladj]

Here is my submission, I call it "Return to the nest"
Caught this guy watching me and slowly making his way back to the nest.
Qunfudah, KSA