A sequence of composition

TUC Rally at Chesterfield on 30 November 2011

I was taking part in the rally and decided to use the opportunity to take photographs for the 'sequence of composition' exercise. The rally seemed to match the course recommendations for an event involving many people out in the street. The objective I had in mind was to produce a small number of images that best captured the atmosphere created by a good-natured and gently protesting crowd. In the event, I found it difficult to take a sequence of shots one after the other that led to the images I wanted because the event was fairly dynamic and rapidly changing. Nevertheless, I identified themes to follow in the three phases of the event; the preparation, the rally and the march and I took images related to these at various points during the morning. I am presenting them as mini sequences even though they were not taken one immediately after the other. The images are in the order I took them and have had minimal editing; at most, some have had highlights and shadows balanced a little but there is no cropping, cloning etc. From each sequence I have chosen one or two that best represent the theme. They are not necessarily the last ones in the sequence as it was often the case that shots taken earlier were better. These summary selections have been edited to a greater extent in order to increase their impact. I saw this editing as an extension of the thought that went into the identification and composition of each image taken during the rally. To save space, I have presented the sequences as small prints and the final selection from each sequence as larger ones.

I used a 17-70mm zoom lens and the camera was set on aperture priority. I did not use continuous shooting as I wanted to give myself time to think about the reason for each shot. The weather provided strong low sunshine and a lot of shadow amongst the buildings so I had to use 1.5 to 2 stops of exposure compensation for most shots in which there was sky. Because of the fast moving nature of the event, I was not always on top of the camera settings and did not change aperture as often as I should have, therefore some of my shots have motion blur. A few are also a bit out of focus because I did not make sufficient use of the spot focus facility to pick out particular details in a crowded situation.

There were many rallies taking place simultaneously across the country and photographs of them appeared in newspapers the following day. I've included a couple I took from the Guardian with some reflections on how my images compare and what I learned from them. Finally, I have included a short set of photographs I took that were not part of a planned sequence, but were interesting shots of some of the characters at the rally.

Sequence 1; Preparing for the rally

General shot of the preparation, establishing the context in a square in front of the church, hoping that brightly coloured balloons and tabards will add impact, though there are not enough there yet.









I noticed a steward tying banners to a rail around an artificial christmas tree in bright sunshine. There seems to be the possibility of a strong and interesting image, especially in the patterns forming on the white banner.

I was attracted by group in discussion wearing strongly coloured tabards. There are too many people in the background for a strong image.

When I saw the steward kneeling by the banner with patterns formed by the sun shining through the artificial tree I rushed around to grab this shot. It is the strongest so far, enhanced by the orange high visibility vest giving the picture better balance.

I continued shooting, trying to make something of the juxtaposition of the artificial tree and the spire. I was also hoping that the police officers in yellow jackets and the stewards in orange would add to the image. The impact of the christmas tree and the spire is reduced by the natural tree between them and there aren't enough orange jackets around for a strong image based on colour.

I was attracted by the air of solitude of this early arrival with his flag sticking out of his back pack. The impact is reduced by the clutter in the background.

I really liked this image of the paraphernalia of protest and it could be enhanced further with cropping.

A potentially interesting group situation, with stewards being interviewed by the local radio station. I stayed with this situation for a few minutes to try to get a more interesting shot, with more faces and less 'overlapping' of people, but this didn't materialise so I gave up on it.

This is the image from the early part of the rally that I feel has the most impact. It perhaps does not reflect the busy-ness of the many people working but it gains from the simple composition and the striking light. Further cropping might emphasise the effect of the 'back-lighting' on the banner, but I'm not sure about the proportions of the resulting image.


Sequence 2, Erecting the banner
A feature of the preparation was the erection of banners and this seemed to pose problems for many people, as illustrated by one particular couple.

I was drawn to this scene by the discussion between the two people about what went where. The image is more a 'story' than a strong image because of all the people in the background.

To make a stronger image, I zoomed in and the interaction between the two main subjects is highlighted to a much greater extent. However, there are still distracting figures behind.

The couple were getting into some interesting poses as they struggled to attach the poles. The images are helped by the couple's total lack of awareness of the camera.

This is probably one of the best poses, very reminiscent of Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the Stars and Stripes at Iwo Jima (see below). The arrival of 'helpers' also adds to the human interest in the image.

 I think the flag was probably raised with much less difficulty.

The sense of triumph in erecting the red banner. I really wish I had got it properly in focus.

This is the image that best reflects the sequence; a tight crop of the second image giving greater emphasis to the struggle of the couple and the way they are working hard together. The triangle formed by the flag adds a strong graphic element, leading the eye to the main focus of the image, which is the faces and hands of the couple. The similarity of the colours of the flag and the couple's coats avoids attention being diverted. To remove the distraction of people in the background, I used selective lens blur in photoshop. The purple cap is still a bit eye-catching and I would have cropped it out if it had not meant leaving half a head.


Sequence 3; Vuvuzelas
Many people at the rally brought bright green vuvuzelas. I noticed a woman wearing a red anorak blowing one and so I tried to get some images enhanced by the impact of the complementary  colours.

This is the first shot on noticing the colour relationship. The green of the vuvuzela is rather overwhelmed by the amount of anorak in the shot and the contrast in the violet flag. I like the side shot and chose not to do a front shot which would place more emphasis on the face than the colour relationships.

I tried to close in with the zoom lens to remove some of the distractions in the background. Perhaps I lost too much of the Vuvuzela.

Then I looked in the other direction and was immediately caught by the contrasting colours, orange, green and violet, in this girl blowing her vuvuzela. I had one shot only at this as she immediately left. Fortunately, I chose to zoom in straight away and got what I feel is a strong image. It is obvious that this girl is here to make a noise. There is balance created by the relative sizes and positions of the whistle and the hat while the dynamic diagonal of the vuvuzela prevents the image becoming static.

Back to the woman in red and I closed in further to give more emphasis to the green vuvuzela. It is lost in the confusion of colours in the background.

I adjusted my position slightly to get more anorak and less background in. The hands are strong in this, as they are in the previous shot, but the impact is still lost because of violet, pink and ginger flashes in the background.

Overall, an edited version of the first shot is the best of the sequence, but not as strong as I'd hoped. Too much of the image is taken up by the purple flag which diverts attention away from the main subject.

The shot with the most impact, however, is the one which wasn't part of the planned sequence. I had one opportunity to get the shot and it required minimal editing. Hopefully, these are signs of progress in my ability as a photographer, rather than good luck.

Sequence 4; The assembly of protesters and the march
The main aim in this sequence was to find the best shot that represented the large number of protesters and the mood of the rally.

To represent the crowd I closed in on a fairly tight-knit group of people, hoping the preponderance of blue and purple in the clothing and banners would add to the impact of the shot. A single face in the centre looking straight at the camera, while most others were looking in different directions, provided a really good focal point. The image is spoilt by the partial face and the back of a head prominent in the foreground, both of which seemed to appear after I composed the shot.  So I decided to try again.

Much better and I still got the single person looking at the camera. Therefore, an early shot in the sequence gave an impression of the crowded nature of the rally. The smile on the face looking at the camera indicates something of the mood of the event.

Another scene showing how 'busy' the rally was; a mixture of tightly packed people and equipment.

Here, I am trying to focus more on the banners than the people. There's not really enough to convey the idea of a 'forest' of banners, which is what I wanted. However the impression of a packed, heaving crowd is enhanced by the squashed figure with a banner in the middle facing straight into the camera while the majority of faces and banners provide a left to right direction.

I was now trying to move away from small tightly packed groups to a more overall view of the crowd and decided a good way to achieve this was to gain some height. The only possibility was a public bench which just got me a little way off the ground, so the picture, while showing many people, doesn't convey a strong impression of crowd.

The march through the town centre has now started and I tried to photograph the 'line' walking away from me to show the large number of people attending. It is moderately successful, but would have been much better if more of the march was in view.

A photograph of the marchers coming towards me shows more of the fairly jovial mood of the protesters, but it is no more successful in showing the large scale of the event.

The aim in this picture is to capture any reaction from onlookers. There weren't many onlookers and the reaction was pretty muted.

The aim of this one is to illustrate some of the interesting characters taking part and the light-hearted mood. I feel the image successfully does this.

A long, open street with a corner seemed to provide a good opportunity to capture the length of the march line and the large number taking part. It certainly shows more people, but the distance from them reduces the impression of 'large crowd'.

I closed in again to try to capture a 'forest' of banners. A quick look at my camera screen re-assured me it was fairly successful, but I also noticed that the march was about to pass two statues of founding members of the local branch of the National Union of Mineworkers. It seemed fitting that they should have a more prominent place in a picture of such an event, so I took another photograph with this in mind.

A reasonable close view of a large group of TUC members protesting under the watchful eye of big names in local union history. The 'no-right turn' sign adds an appropriate symbol to the scene.

Towards the end of the march I had the chance to use a hill to gain some height over the line and show its extent. This is a much better illustration, without losing too much impact through making the marchers as small as they are in the shot of them turning the corner, above. It would still have been better if there were more people or more of the line in the shot.

The final gathering gave me the opportunity to go up onto the verandah of the local Miners' Welfare and take a shot looking down on crowd, which was still fairly tightly packed. The photographer from the local newspaper had the same idea. It enabled a reasonable crowd shot, but by this stage people were saying their farewells and leaving, so there was much less sense of a protest march.



I selected two of the images for editing in order to represent the scale and mood of the event:

Although there is little sense of everybody joining together in common cause, because they are all quiet and looking in different directions, there is a strong impression of a 'crowd' comprising people of different ages and genders. The preponderance of purple does give some impression of unity. The smiling face in the middle, looking straight at the camera, fixes the eye on the main part of the image.

I like the story told in this image of the protesters marching, banners raised, under the watchful eye of two of the great local union leaders of the past.

The day after the rally I looked at how Guardian newspaper photographers illustrated the scale and impact of marches across the country.

So they went for the tight knit group, as I had done, but were much more successful at catching subjects in the act of protesting. Taking the photograph from a low position looking up adds power to the image and this is a technique I would certainly use if photographing a similar event again.

And they also looked for an elevated position, as I had done, but they clearly got higher up at a point where there was a much larger group of people protesting in less of a linear formation. The picture much more successfully captures the 'forest of banners' impression than any of mine. The slanting of the picture gives it a stronger feeling of movement and this is another learning point for me.

Shots that are not part of a planned theme or sequence.

While focusing on sequences of shots around a particular theme, I occasionally noticed an interesting subjects that only presented themselves briefly and I didn't want to ignore them for the sake of the project. Here are a few: