Condoleezza Rice visits Liverpool, protests ensue

[cyKey]

On Friday I was at the Stop the War protest in Liverpool for Condi Rice's visit. It was my first real war rally. I arrived at about 4:30ish, an hour before it started, so I could get a parking spot. There was already a line of police and about 40 protestors. I started getting some shots and testing out the conditions. Overcast skies, boo. So I put the flash on and experimented with the aperature. I wanted to try and capture the moody sky and the protestors to add to the drama. It was a good lesson in flash photography. I quickly learned that I should be using the flash whenever I'm outdoors just so I can compensate and get a balanced exposure. I know its obvious but when you don't do enough outdoor photography you forget these things. As you can probably tell this isn't exactly clever flash usage. Its a HDR styled image from 1 raw file. The settings I used were -1.2 exposure, 0 exposure and +1.2 exposure from Raw Shooter. I then used Photomatrix Pro to generate a HDR shot and tweaked the tones. Then I loaded it into Photoshop and applied some processing to it to get this final shot.

The second shot from the Condi Rice protest in Liverpool. I love this shot. Its got everything really. The tiny baby making eye contact with the viewer up to the dramatic sky behind the cathedral. I love the range that HDR processing gives you. Great detail in the photo from the ground to the sky.

This was a prop the protestors were using. I find it quite a moving shot. Just a coffin on the steps outside a cathedral. Makes you wonder what the hell is going on.

I believe this group of people were protesting about the Guantanamo Bay situation.

The group starting their march down Hope Street towards the Liverpool Philomonic Hall. There was a lot of activity around this. Photographers, reporters, camera men, and me. It was quite a rush to be in the thick of it. You always see these situations on the news and actually when they did show this on the news I saw myself. That was rather cool. You really don't have the time to compose the shot and check your settings. You kinda just have to shoot and hope. I'm sure the pro's there all had perfect settings and got great pictures.

 

[cyKey]

I'm not entirely sure of the significance of the doll in this photo. I'm sure you will notice from these shots that there were quite a few different messages the protesters were trying to get across.

An usual view of the aptly named Hope Street. Protestors hoping to make their voices heard as Condi Rice turns up for some performances at the Liverpool Philamonic.

One of the protestors rallying the crowd. This isn't a HDR shot. I tried it for fun but it didn't work.

Another non HDR shot. The crowd gathering on the steps by the cathedral. Really handy way of showing all the people and their banners.

 

[cyKey]

This shot gives you an idea of the amount of police that they had. 2 lines of police then a further line on horses. You can see why too as the crowd was quite vocal.

One of the more vocal protestors. She was wrapped in what looked like an American flag and was shouting various chants to get the crowd motivated. Some of the police found it funny and some of the time they went too far and had to be warned.

 

[cyKey]

Numbers 1, 3 and 9 are really fantastic! I am supprised by the amount of events held in Liverpool. I wish I had access to more of this stuff.

Capital of Culture n all that I'm rather tempted in using one in the religion theme. Theres a church, a coffin, and stuff. Just not 100% sure.

 

[cyKey]

I only like the last one - that's great. There's something about the early ones (HDR) just dont to it for me - somehow that style doesn't suit the subject matter in my view.

Fair enough I was going for gritty, drama etc. I wanted the sky to be as powerful as the message.

 

[cyKey]

That last one, are you stood the police side of the barrier, or just holding your camera out to take the snap?

I'm not that skilled in being able to get access to the police side of a protest with the most powerful woman in the world there I just leaned over the barrier to get the shot. Took quite a few goes to get it just right. The flash kept getting blocked by the signs.

 

[cyKey]

I'm not sure what to make of these really.

I understand that HDR is a new novelty for you at the moment, much like your 10mm lens - but sometimes I wonder if it's appropriate to use them so frequently for every photographic opportunity that arises (for example, you've used the same equipment and processing techniques for both your car and an anti-war rally).

The photographs do what you say, conveying drama with the moody skies, however they also look very "same old, same old" with the post processing techniques.

I suppose this comes from spending a lot of time recently looking at the work of Larry Burrows and seeing him capture drama and emotion in a true journalistic style, using fast black and white and colour film.

You may argue that this isn't vietnam and the subject isn't nearly as intense, but the basic principles still stand...sometimes it's better to keep it simple if you wish to convey the strongest message.

But I didn't use the 10mm on everything, or HDR on everything. I wasn't the only one doing that either. There are similar shots on Getty using a wide angle lens to capture the people and the cathedral. I've only used this style twice in 3 days.

I dunno, without looking at who took the pics int his trhead you can instantly tell that cyk done them, they are his style through and through and that's what's important about a photographers images I think. They do have a gritty feel almost nocturnal but of course in daylight hours, it's the clouds that does it I think. Some of the semi colour semi mono ones are maybe a little too half and half but the rest work well on a more processed reportage level.

/me wonders when such things will take place in his town :/

I've always been trying to develop a style and I guess if you can spot it then something must be working

 

[cyKey]

I said you've used it frequently, which you've said - twice in 3 days. You've also only posted up your photos on the two occasions that you've used it, not when you havn't.

Dude, chill. In the past 3 days I've been out twice and used this lens. Its one of my favourite lenses so why wouldn't I?

You mention you weren't the only one using a wide angle lens as though i'm cricising you for doing so, which isn't my aim, I was suggesting that it would be good to get some variation - which admittedly you have done in a few of the shots, one of which is the one of the girl on the megaphone which stands out from the rest in my opinion.

Its a normal shot. I'm sure everyone got one. In fact looking at Getty's their photographer did get similar shots to mine. Not the HDR style, the normal person standing out in a crowd shot. You have to set yourself apart from everyone else in order to succeed. "Think different."

If you wish to forge your own distinguishable style, why not learn to master the technical side of photography, learning how to effectively use flash or natural light and capturing your images in a way that sets you apart from the rest of the people who can take a mediocre shot, then post process it to hell and call it a 'good' photograph?

You know, I could have sworn that I was trying to do just that. If you read the first post you will see that from the outset I tried to use the natural light and my flash to achieve the look and feel I wanted. However they were flat images. Looking at the papers and Getty shows exactly the same thing. All the pro's had the same issue. So I experimented with HDR to get something that would set me apart from everyone else.

I often wonder if you like to make comments for the sake of getting noticed, because on closer examination, the majority are incorrect or tripe.

Lets not make this personal.

 

[cyKey]

I'm finding it harder and harder the more I get into Photography to be really impressed by photo's...but these have blown me away. I feel they have captured the power behind these protests so well and I absolutely love every shot...I honestly was sat there glued to my screen picking out new parts to each picture I liked.

A favourite? I don't think I have one, I do think the earlier ones are very Sin Cit esque.

Cheers mate, very much appreciated

 

[cyKey]

Too many techniques, too heavily applied and too often for my taste.

Almost every shot is tilted and processed to an almost bw with patches of colour and wide angle. Used occasionally and moderately they can work but not when all applied to every shot.

It looks like you have discovered a few new techniques and are experimenting by trying them all at once. Obviously experimenting is good but I think you need to dial them all back a bit and be more selective.

just my opinion of course YMMV

I often do tilted shots though. Only 5 of the 11 there are tilted. Its also rather hard to try and compose a shot when you're holding the camera over the heads of protestors, or hanging over the bars. The only new technique is the HDR style. I didn't apply it to all the shots as I knew it didn't work. As for the bw with patches of colour thats also another style I do in gig photography. Its funny because i've posted gig shots before and they're far more samey than these. Same room, same band, tilted angles, desaturated colours etc. People haven't complained about them half as much as these.

The only new thing here really is the HDR bit. Thats 1 small step in the processing.

 

[cyKey]

Okay, so obviously you don't want to take on board the constructive criticism that people have to offer, which is fine I suppose, free world and all that.
However, i'd say that should you decide get off the defensive foot and start looking in to what people have suggested on here then maybe...just maybe...you might learn something new to improve your style.

Also, if you're getting flat images from using your flash, you've not learned how to use it propperly - you've got a few shots here where you could have done with dialling down the FEC settings in order to get a more balanced shot.
So there's something straight away that you can think about.

No I do want to learn and improve my shots. Its thanks to the people on OcUK that I've come this far. I just feel that you've singled me out for some reason. Using HDR twice in 3 days is a crime? Otheres here use IR every chance they get, or even HDR too. Why? Because its new. Its exciting, its different, its fun. I liked the style from my shots on Friday so I wondered if I could take that style and apply it to something else. You will see that the car shots are different too.

95% of people have enjoyed these shots so I guess the style worked. I am going to continue to practice with it. I do feel that there is a more balanced level of HDR that can be achieved that won't look too processed. I've only used it twice so I need to keep practicing.

I was able to achieve the style I wanted with the flash and setting the aperature but I preferred the style of the HDR shots to add that something extra to my work. Something to make mine stand out more than the next persons.

cykey...well you've done what I was hoping someone would do on here which is post some shots that get people hyped up about. Nice one.

my 2p's worth....powerful images dont need to much post processing...they speak for themselves. You have powerful images here but they are hidden behind a possibly needless layer of post processing.

however you look at his syle its got people fired up..thats what its all about. its good to rattle some cages every now and again

I know what you mean. Its good to post something like this now and again, but of course it doesn't exactly happen every week so we are forced to stick with our landscapes and buildings. It is possible that the HDR was taken too far, I've only used it twice I look at them and I like them so I'm happy. I always like to produce slightly different shots to the expected ones.

The idea for this style was inspired by a guy I met recently. Colin McPherson. He's been doing this project for 10 years now, capturing the decline of salmon fishermen in Scotland. His images are amazing. Vivid skies and the people stand out from them. Like in this photo or this one. I wonder if I was shooting film and this was 20 years ago, would people be saying the same thing? I've got a long way to go before I can use HDR to achieve results like his.

Thanks to all the comments, positive and negative Its good that people are noticing a style. I've always wanted to have a style that was my own. You look at mrk's shots and you know they're his. You look at Hoodmiester's IR shots and you know they're his. I've always felt too random to settle into a style but I guess if people can see it then cool I will continue to play with HDR. Yes it is a new shiny toy, but it needs to be toyed with to get the best from it. Looks like I'm getting up early for some of these shots I plan to do. Yey ¬_¬

 

[cyKey]

No, not harsh, just to the point - I've made the decision that this forum needs more members that give honest constructive criticism, instead of the sort that simply say "cool shots" or "I love these!".

I fully appreciate that as I do a similar thing. But it really didn't feel like constructive criticism and thats why I was defensive. Whenever I try and post constructive criticism I like to point out the good points. People often get defensive if you jump all over their work, especially if they rather like it. Haha how odd at providing constructive criticism on constructive criticism

Sorry, this is the final one...CyKey, i'm not singling you out mate, but there's no point in me talking about anybody else in a thread dedicated to your photos is there?

Well no but thats not what I meant. I meant that I hadn't seen you doing the same in other threads Thats why I felt a little persecuted because there are plenty of others who use certain techniques and I just felt like you were having a go at me and my new toys

 

[cyKey]

I'll admit that I like the HDR effect and I think that it works well here, in most of them anyway.

The thing I'm not so sure about is the potential market for them and the return on your time investment processing, after all, you're trying to make it as a pro.

If it's newspapers the guys just dumping the shots in unprocessed will beat you hands down, simply from a deadline viewpoint. Most of the papers just print B&W anyway.

Magazines often need editorial to go with the pics unless they've commissioned you in the first place. Just such a difficult area you're specialising in although I'm sure you'll get there.

Yer these shots were more for me than comercial use. I'm trying to capture more documentary photos as Liverpool gets closer to 2008. I'm realising that we live in historic times and that I should be out capturing that. At the moment this is more of a hobby side of things.

 

[cyKey]

All really good shots, you could enter some of them into this months OCUK photo contest 'religion'. Crackin shots imo

I was rather tempted to. I'm just not sure if it says religion or something else.

 

[cyKey]

Point taken, I do agree that I was a little insensitive and I genuinely apologise. As I said, I was going for the no BS route, but I suppose it's easily perceived (and rightly so) as being out of line - so once again, I apologise.

No probs man. The no BS approach does feel more like getting smacked in the face. Sugar coated BS often helps