Favourite set of 3 film images from 2017...

ChrisR

ChrisR

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I've started a couple of threads in previous years suggesting we share our favourite images from the previous year. This year I want to suggest something just slightly different. First, a digression as some background...

Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer blog has had a call for images out in his "bakers' dozen" series. He admits he made a mistake in asking for black and white images, without further qualification, and is now having to sort through some 400 images to choose from (including 3 of mine). He put out a little mild critique in this post, including this:

"Three pictures in a submission is almost like a mini-portfolio; one strong picture is weakened by being in the company of two weak ones, and three pictures that have nothing in common with each other suggest that the photographer has no coherent vision or style, no concerns that distinguish him or her from the crowd."

Now I'd have to raise my hand and say "guilty" to that one. So it made me think. Two or three favourite images is almost the same thing. So what if we asked folk here for a favourite set of images, rather than just 3 favourites. Set can be defined any which way you like (including of course no linkage at all). But perhaps try to find some favourite images that stand up well beside each other in some way. Of course, taken on film in 2017.

I haven't tried to do this myself yet!

Whatcha think?
 
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I like it, I read that blog yesterday and it resonated with me. I had considered sending some shots myself but then did my normal self-deprecating 'dont be stupid, your rubbish and will completley fail' thing and didn't bother.
I'm up for it, some thought is required. :):thinking:
 
Thought?


Hmm.
 
Why not for 2018?
Put some thought into taking 3 good, related images. 4 sets for the year...

:)
 
I think we should go with the 2017 date first, if it's a success then we can do the 3 related 2018 images when 2019 comes around... if we all live that long and no-one presses the nuke button!
 
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On top of trying to get organised for the poty I'd like to make a cohesive panel of 4-6 photos for the year. More likely if I get 4-6 rolls shot and developed it'll be an improvement on last year....
 
Phew... thought this might be a lead balloon... but I must say, it does require some thought. I've just had a scan through my "1 star or better" pics from this year and nothing's jumping out as any kind of set. Last year I'd just have looked at the 3 or 4 star ratings and picked a few with no thought for how they sit together.

Still, a new way of looking is the point, I guess!
 
To be honest, does it have to be a cohesive set? A portfolio of work can be many things, and one of these could be versatility. I'd argue that a portfolio of 3 photos don't need to have anything in common to be good, as long as they are each good photos in their own right.
 
Mr Badger said:
To be honest, does it have to be a cohesive set? A portfolio of work can be many things, and one of these could be versatility. I'd argue that a portfolio of 3 photos don't need to have anything in common to be good, as long as they are each good photos in their own right.
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But that then becomes just your 3 favourite images again, although in the true spirit of f&c shoehorning you could call 3 disparate images an example of your versatility it doesn’t really fit with @ChrisR s idea for images that work as a set.

I haven’t looked at my stuff from the past year with the idea of finding 3 images that work as a set but I’d hope that there are some that would work.
 
Mr Badger said:
To be honest, does it have to be a cohesive set? A portfolio of work can be many things, and one of these could be versatility. I'd argue that a portfolio of 3 photos don't need to have anything in common to be good, as long as they are each good photos in their own right.
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I don't think it has to be cohesive as such, at least in the sense of similar topics etc. But I think MJ's point was, if you present several images together, you have to be prepared for them to be looked at (and hence work) together. The converse, he suggested, was that if you don't want your images to be subject to that sort of comparison, just submit one; it might be stronger alone than in company. Not that there's any kind of competition here!
 
ChrisR said:
I don't think it has to be cohesive as such, at least in the sense of similar topics etc. But I think MJ's point was, if you present several images together, you have to be prepared for them to be looked at (and hence work) together. The converse, he suggested, was that if you don't want your images to be subject to that sort of comparison, just submit one; it might be stronger alone than in company. Not that there's any kind of competition here!
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Sorry Chris, I’m a bit confused, are you suggesting that we have a thread where we post our three favourite images or three that work and/or compliment each other?
 
RaglanSurf said:
Sorry Chris, I’m a bit confused, are you suggesting that we have a thread where we post our three favourite images or three that work and/or compliment each other?
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More the latter than the former really... or at least, suggesting that when we do post 3 or so images together, favourite or not, they get looked at as a set as well as individually, and reaction to some images might be less favourable in a set than on their own.

I'm partly just trying to work through my own thoughts on this idea; I'd not really contemplated what a "mini-portfolio" might mean before, or even thought of my sets of images as mini portfolios or mini projects. Though some presumably are...

And we could post the images here rather than a separate thread, I guess.
 
H'mm might have a few repeated shots as any good ones could have been posted in "show us your film shots then" .
 
But, something to think about for this year.

Some of us don't have three images to rub together. :)
 
This is really interesting, Chris. I sent some photos to The Online Photographer recently and they are all completely different! I definitely don't have a "style" (that I know of, anyway), but when you look at some of the great photographers in history, they all have their own unique styles that make them interesting and give them their own identity. 2017 was a slow photography year for me, but I'm going to have a look and see if I can find three photos that fit together in some way.
 
OK then I'll kick off with my selection of 3 related images. The question of what constitutes "related" is a difficult one. These three are related, in my view, in that:

a) They were taken at the same location and related subject matter
b) With the same camera (Intrepid 4x5), film (Fomapan 100), and developer (HC110)
c) Have similar toning applied to them.
d) I think they were all taken on the same day.

However taking "related" further than that is harder. I have a few picture frames with multiple apertures which are intended to take 3 5" by 7" prints. But whenever I try to select three images that go together well in one frame I usually fail. Even getting three with the same dimensions and aspect ratio is pretty hard. Then there is the question of how to order them within the set of three.

Of course, it is also possible to have three images which are of different subjects but have some underlying relationship in terms of themes, shapes, or lighting conditions. But that sounds too hard for me.

Enough rambling, here's my three:

2017-9-24, Intrepid 4x5, Foma 100, Tanfield, HC110 Dil b 20c 6m 30s, 003.jpg

2017-9-24, Intrepid 4x5, Foma 100, Tanfield, HC110 Dil b 20c 6m 30s, 001.jpg

2017-9-1, Intrepid 4x5, Foma 100, Tanfield, HC110 Dil b 20c 6m 30s, 005.jpg
 
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I really like those, Kevin, definitely have the feel of the time and place. And they do augment each other; the "ghost" in the second one helps explain the "flare" in the third. I did wonder whether the sequence would work better with the first one last, so context, detail, then the tools referring off the oil cans and nuts. But I do think they're great, and to get these on 4*5 is just amazing to me!
 
I guess I ought to have a go. When we went to Cornwall, my aims were to experiment with some slightly longer exposures with moving water, and to try some "golden hour" shots. The first of these is my very first moving water exposure (based on ideas from a vlog by @monkeyleader ); the second was a bit of quirkiness on the last day, and the third was my favourite from the Godrevy evening (despite the poor showing of the golden hour light). You might have seen all these before so it's a bit unadventurous. All Pentax LX; first and last on Portra 400, the second on expired Reala 100 probably shot at 64.

1)
R1-06518-008A by Chris R, on Flickr

2)
R4-06521-020A by Chris R, on Flickr

3) R7-06525-0032 by Chris R, on Flickr

(The sequence is illogical from a time point of view, but I thought the first and last clashed when together, because of the lines of movement.)
 
It is very hard to select only three from a whole year, here my selection from July 2017 :)

Camera: KIEV 60 + Carl Zeiss Jena 120mm f/2.8 + Fomapan 200 + Kodak XTOL

Location: Großer Brombachsee, Franconian Lake District, south Germany.

#1


#2


#3
 
ChrisR said:
"Three pictures in a submission is almost like a mini-portfolio; one strong picture is weakened by being in the company of two weak ones, and three pictures that have nothing in common with each other suggest that the photographer has no coherent vision or style, no concerns that distinguish him or her from the crowd."



Whatcha think?
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I completely get what he is getting at. If I think about all the photographers I admire, whether historically or modern, they all seem to have a style that gels their work together. Sure,t hey might shoot other stuff, but perhaps won't show it in their portfolio that the world can see. Now I have stopped shooting weddings, I think I have two particular things that I shoot more than anything else, the main one being people, the other photos from my travels. Neither is as coherent as I would like it to be with regards to style. perhaps I need to focus more (no pun intended)
 
Well we all know how tame Robins are, they can get under my feet gardening whilst digging..this Robin came down for his food:-
Helios (1).jpg

But the three shots I like was when this Goldcrest was either trying to impress his girlfriend nearby showing that his wasn't afraid of humans or he saw a reflection of male in the window. It started when I was at the computer and it seemed to want to get inside, but the funny part was when it was jumping up and down unafraid of my wife and me watching it a few feet away.
tfZJSYd.jpg


iFJ8OZr.jpg


vgHyYhk.jpg
 
I found this very difficult as for the first time in ages I actually have a few shots I like. I eventually decided to continue @Kevin Allan theme as I have shot quite a few steam train shots this year.

So here we go.
Rolleiflex Automat on HP5
Head-On by Andy, on Flickr

Mamiya C330f, 180mm lens on Fomapan 100.
Leaving Beddgelert by Andy, on Flickr

Mamiya C330f, 180mm lens on Fomapan 100.
WHR2 by Andy, on Flickr
 
Andysnap said:
I found this very difficult as for the first time in ages I actually have a few shots I like. I eventually decided to continue @Kevin Allan theme as I have shot quite a few steam train shots this year.

So here we go.
Rolleiflex Automat on HP5
Head-On by Andy, on Flickr

Mamiya C330f, 180mm lens on Fomapan 100.
Leaving Beddgelert by Andy, on Flickr

Mamiya C330f, 180mm lens on Fomapan 100.
WHR2 by Andy, on Flickr
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Liking the set Andy, all working really well although I'd like to see them presented in a similar fashion, so sort out the frame on the first one and match up your title position and font size and you'll be sorted (y)
 
I've had a look through and these are about the closest to a set I can find. Three cameras, three seasons, same film, same lane:

Spring with a Yashica 635 on Ilford XP2 400 shot at 200.

A Cheshire Lane in Spring by J White, on Flickr

Autumn with an Ensign Selfix 820 on Ilford XP2 400 shot at 200

Trees and lane by J White, on Flickr

Winter with an Ensign Selfix 1620 Model II on Ilford XP2 400

Snowy Lane 2 by J White, on Flickr
 
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RaglanSurf said:
Great set, the shadows shot is my pick of the bunch. You need to shoot more Woodsy.
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That's a very nice shot, but rough seas at Godrevy really does it for me! So much difficult but right about that shot!(y)(y)(y)
 
I'm really liking all of these, folks.
 
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