Theme 2: RAF Cosford - The exhibition & the visitors

Statement of Intent:
Whilst at RAF Cosford I wanted to also combine Theme 1: Reportage and Theme 2: Aircraft images. The exhibition is designed to allow members of the public to view aircraft in the security of hangers and to collect information about those craft. By looking for images of public amongst the aircraft was an additional objective.

As the exhibition was quiet on the day, there were limited opportunities for photographs of this type. The images below offer a variety of means of capturing what opportunities there were.

My first image is of an enthusiast photographing a Mosquito. The image captures him directly in front of the nose-cone, camera held high for his photograph. The twin engines offer an edging to the picture providing an sense of power and size. In contrast is a lady in the foreground viewing another aircraft. There is a pull between the portrait perspective enhanced by the two individuals whilst the aircraft body and wings throw a horizontal heaviness across the top third of the frame.

Photographing the nose-cone of a De Havilland Mosquito

Using PhotoShop to enhance images is the next theme. The subject this time is the PBY-6A Catalina Flying Boat which offers the shapes of a plane plus the lines of a keel. My image captures an individual reading the information board. There is distance as well as the dark body of another aircraft in the left side of the frame. This image offers a line of sight which draws your eye across the nearby wing to where the individual stands in isolation. The bright orange markings of the nose is striking as is the high-mounted wings and engines.

Initial photograph of the Catalina Flying Boat (1/20: F5.6: ISO 100: Hand-held)

Using the "crop" tool in PhotoShop allows a more focused image to be produced. The main points of focus (coloured nose, high wing and engine, lines of the fuselage) offers lines of vision to a now portrait image. The viewer is in the lower third of the image and there is still a sense of looking over the barrier of the nearby wing of the other plane.

Cropped version of the Catalina

An alternative method is to modify the level of saturation in the original image. The two images are sequential of a mature family viewing the Catalina. The top image of the father and son is the original (1/20 shutter speed: F5.6: ISO 100). All the colours of the planes, exhibition stand, clothing and flooring are unchanged. This is a typical style of photograph taken in an exhibition setting.

Original image: saturation unchanged

 The photograph below is of a similar scene but has had all of the colour tones removed using PhotoShop. By creating a second layer and removing the hue you are left with a grey version of the image. By removing the grey tone from selected areas you re-introduce the colour of the original image held in the second layer. The final image offers a mixture of grey tones with selected coloured areas thus emphasising these tones. It draws the viewers attention to the coloured areas of the Catalina orange, the lady's red top with secondary focal on the information board and a slight clour tone of the flooring. Overall image remains grey and somewhat flat.
 

Image modified to emphasis blocks of colour.

The third option was to use the natural structure of the building as a dramatic backdrop. The two images below capture members of the public on a viewing platform looking down on to the Cold War exhibition. The RAF Buccaneer jet fighter is suspended from the roof of the hanger as though in flight.
My first image is a portrait photograph showing a single viewer on the platform. Through the position of the Buccaneer the line of vision pulls your focus across the image from left to right; the same direction of the viewers movement. Both the viewing platform and the plane are silhouetted against the massive window end wall of the hanger. The lines of the roof structure and columns emphasis the construction. It is a simple image which has a great deal of movement and power.

In contrast, the same platform and plane has been captured in a landscape photograph to produce a different feel. There is more of the Buccaneer in frame and three viewers on the platform. Both of these emphasis the landscaping of the image. Again the massive end wall offers a huge amount of light silhouetting both the plane and the three individuals on the platform. Despite the silhouetting effect there is still a sharp representation of the Buccaneer showing colour rather than a dark blocked shape. As in the previous photograph, the roof structure emphasises the line of focus travelling diagonally across across the image.
Both photographs offer powerful images which are simply constructed using the roof and column structures. By positioning myself on a lower walkway I could gain the height element of the images and allowing for set-up of the shots.

By using different positioning I feel that the mood of the exhibition has been portrayed using different methods of both photography and modification of images through fundamental methods within PhotoShop.