Cream tea anyone?

With the summer months drawing closer I thought that it would be a good idea to shoot a tea party. I have recently seen a few images in several magazines of tea parties and wanted to create something along similar lines.

Over the last couple of days we have had some great sunlight and so I decided to use this to my advantage and shoot using this light.

Critique from a professional

Today we were asked to bring along the 10 chosen images shot for the Istock brief for a stock photographer to look at. As I mentioned earlier I thought very hard about the images that I wanted to incorporate into this portfolio and looked on their website for regulations and acceptance rule.s In doing this i stumbled upon what type of images they are currently looking for and what they are less likely to accept.
With this information I decided to concentrate on the area of food photography. I shot a wide range of different products and all were shot with natural daylight.

After completing the portfolio I showed it to the stock photographer and listened to his critique. This then enabled me to make my decision for my final three images to submit to the online library.

The following three shots are what I chose to submit.

Mini pizza breads



Afternoon Tea



Raspberry fool



Paul seemed impressed with my shots and said that , "They would be an asset to any photographers portfolio." Although this may have been the case when I received feedback from I stock they stated that my images had been rejected because they were too similar with regard to subject i.e. food and lighting i.e. daylight. I was then invited to resubmit a further 3 images which were accepted. These can be seen below.

Tomatoes




Christmas lights



Wheelchair

Sheffield on a sunny day!

This weekend I spent sometime in Sheffield shopping and happened to take my camera with me in my handbag. With the weather being so nice, I decided to try and do some architectural photography as I do not have a lot of it in my portfolio.
Close to Sheffield train station is a relatively new water sculpture. It is made out of curved stainless steel and looks great when the water runs over it. I chose to shoot this at various angles to show not only how different it could look, but also to see what interesting angles I could make using the same sculpted piece.

NDC - Northern Design Compeitition

The NDC was something that was introduced to us several months ago by one of the tutors. In order to show personal progression I have entered this with the images shown below. This is the first competition that I have entered and hope that I will be able to gain some feedback from professional within the industry.

Along with the picture we were required to write a short blurb explaining why we have chosen this image.



Blurb:

I have been studying the art of photography for about a year and a half and during that time I feel I have made some great progress. For me photography enables me to express myself though using my creative abilities on a variety of levels.
The image entitled ‘relax and unwind’ I actually shot for a college project where we were asked to shoot candles. I have chosen to use this as my entry for this competition for several reasons.
Firstly, I feel that it encapsulates my style as a photographer. Personally I feel that photography relies a lot on composition and is why I style most of my work myself. This is also true for this piece.
I have used a small aperture to give depth to the images so that the back is in soft focus and used a long exposure of about a second in order to capture the flame of the candles. This shows that I have learnt different techniques.
Furthermore I have shot this image using only daylight on the location. This gives the image a very natural feel which I think works well with the style of the shot.
I have tried to use a mixture of textures and a variety of similar tones within the image so that everything works in harmony together. I have also ‘built’ the image using different heights and various materials for example the smooth glass container and the fluffy towels.
In post production I chose to de-saturate the colours slightly as I feel it lends itself well to the lighting of the candles. I made a decision not retouch the shot too heavily for imperfections such as marks on the soap, because I think that it gives the image character and again appears to be more organic.

As I become more self-assured about my abilities, entering a competition has further improved my confidence.I have been able to produce am image that I am proud of and put it against other peoples work, which is quite a large milestone within my short photographic career. I look forward to entering more competitions like this in the near future.

Posters

For the personal and professional development unit we were asked to create some promotional material, one of which was a poster. In keeping with the theme for both my business cards and photocards, I have generated two A3 and an A4 poster. I have kept the images the same as the photocards so that if a person sees both, they will be able to identify both me and my business. I have yet to add the copy, however I want to write about why I am passionate about photography and why people should use me as a photographer.

A4



In order for my name to "stick" in peoples heads I wanted to create something on my promotional material that had a double meaning. The most obvious thing to me to do was to play on my surname and so that is what I did using the phrases 'the green green grass of home' and 'green with envy'. It is my hope that the play on words will remain in peoples memories when they see my work and will therefore remember me if they need a photographer.

A3

Poster 1



Poster 2

Black and white business cards

I have also created this file in black and white. I chose to use this image for two reasons, one that it shows my abilities and two because it works both in colour and in black and white

Business cards

I have created a business card in order to help promote myself. I have not yet decided on the back of the card and so have a posted a choice of two options which can be seen below.

Reflection of the Exhibition

Although all students were there on the opening night and could talk to the people at the exhibition we were not there all the time that our work was displayed. This meant that we may have not seen all of the people that may look at our work. In order to try and get around this we decided as a group that it would be a good idea to have a comments form to encourage people to write something down about the images. This worked to my advantage as I received some good remarks about my work and made me feel proud of my work and helped to boost my confidence levels.

As this was a group exercise, it was decided amongst ourselves the roles and responsibilities within the team and we were designated tasks to complete before the exhibition. I suggested in one of the meetings that we should produce an A5 flyer that could have been handed out in the city centre to promote the event. This could have also been sent out as an e-shot to all of the students at the three college campuses, as well as to people within the creative sector. The person allocated with this task did not complete the artwork for this and consequently not only did I fell that the exhibition suffered from this, I also felt that as though I had failed with this task, as it was a group effort. In the future when having and idea such as this, I would prefer to follow it up myself to ensure that it is completed, as I felt that this would have made a big difference to the event.

I also had the idea to produce a banner that could be put up in the centre of Wakefield in order to generate interest about the exhibition. With it being in a public place I had to get clearance from the council that it would be OK to do this, which was granted. Again this is something that I will in future push to ensure happens, especially if it were to be done for the end of year show.

I believe that the exhibition could have been marketed and promoted better in several ways even with a lack of finance. Earlier in the semester we discussed talking to the local radio and newspaper stations for coverage about the event which would have hopefully created interest; however for one reason or another task did not get completed. This is something that I would want to do if given the opportunity again, as I think it would have increased the amount of people at the event, and I will put a lot of effort into for the end of year show.

It is my hope that from hosting two previous events that we will be able to draw on our strengths and reflect on our weaknesses and make these stronger for the end of year show. I hope we will be able to promote both the event and ourselves better and improve links with the creative industry, so that we will be able to invite other photographers and clients to the event.

To ensure that there will be more people we have started a Facebook group for the end of year show and have sent invitations to family, friends and professionals. It has also provided us with another style of communication within the group. This is a bonus as there were several occasions where not all members of the group were there and missed out on important decisions. I also plan to use the database of contacts that the group compiled when setting up our media agency to invite people to the event.

Reflection on planning a media agency

Although I feel this task did not bring me any closer to fulfilling my own aspirations of becoming an esteemed photographer, I feel that I am somewhat to achieving some of my own goals and aspirations in a business sense. I still want to set up my own business and feel that this has been a great learning curve where I can understand the techniques involved in order to enter the creative industry.

I now know how to construct a successful business plan by using several key models i researched. In addition to this I believe that I have gained a lot of skills for example how to produce an effective SWOT analysis and how this it can be used in the planning stage. I am now familiar with the needs and requirements of planning and the stages and processes of how to become and fun a successful photographic business, and am confident that this information will be useful to me for the future planning of my business. I have also gained insight into new models for problem solving i.e. the Fishbone model.

I see myself as an entrepreneur in the making and although the media agency was not a success I see this as a learning process and am willing to accept all responsibility regardless of the outcome. Since studying this module I now have a clearer idea of enterprise, markets and how to be successful within them.

Exhibition task

The first task for the work related module in semester two was to host an exhibition before the Easter break. I felt a little bit anxious about this as we had hosted an exhibition in January and because of complications, the exhibition was not a great success. I was therefore a little hesitant when told that we were to host another one. In spite of my initial reservation, I thought that it would be an ideal opportunity to show what I have learnt from previous mistakes and have and produce a better exhibition.

After being told about the task we sat down together as a group and started to plan the exhibition. This part of the project seemed to improve on our previous performance and made me feel more confident about hosting the event.
It was important to identify who we wanted to come to the exhibition and know how to target them. It was decided that the target audience for the exhibition was the general public and although there was no specific group, I felt that it was important to try and gain some people from the industry to come along.

I contacted several photographers by both email and telephone within the local area but unfortunately none of them were able to make the event. This would have been beneficial as I wanted to gain some insight into the industry, ask for feedback from locally respected photographers and also market myself through my work with a view to networking with people in the creative sector. Fortunately other people within the group were able to invite their family and friends and I was able to gain some great feedback from them, as well at that from the general public who dropped in one the event.

Although this was a group task, there were some decisions that I needed to make individually, one of which was to decide what type of work to put up in the gallery space.
For the first exhibition in semester one, I put a mixture of portraiture food and architecture architectural photography on one wall. I did this to show the variety of work that I can produce. However, this time I opted for a more minimalistic approach and had a theme to my work. I decided to use skin as my theme and only used three images one of a white female, one of a black male both done in monotone and the final image was both high in saturation and in colour.

Furthermore in my first event I put my work on the wall without a boarder or frame. In hindsight I feel that this was a mistake as it did not look professional and for that reason I chose to frame my work using simply and stylish black frames.

After a couple of weeks of planning the exhibition and the issue with financing this project, I noticed that the morale of the group decreased and I found it very hard to keep people motivated. The work that had been designated to people was not being completed for unknown reasons and the deadline was looming ever closer. With the prospect of the exhibition turning out like the previous one, I really wanted to keep the morale of the group high as I feel it would have had a positive impact on the success of the exhibition.

Planning a media agency

As part of the work related learning module we were asked to plan a media agency in which all people on the course were to take part. Whilst we are all on the same course at college as individuals we all have different ideas of where we want to be and how to get there. Furthermore our aspirations, goals and targets were different to individuals within the group.

We have only had to work as part of a group on a number of occasions during the first year of our course and as I have a good working relationship with all members of the group I am looking forward to the task and seeing what we are capable of.

I knew that this challenge would require a lot of work both individually and as a group and looked forward to working with the other members. I would regard my ability to work in a team as strong, and this was shown in the questionnaire I filled in about my strengths and weaknesses during the first semester. However, communication and teamwork are skills that I am continually trying to improve, as working with different types of people helps me to be a more rounded individual and inspires me to think about problem solving in different ways.

Processed films

Today I went to pick up my films from my documentary photography of the continental market. As i mentioned previously on my blog I have not shot using Edith 120mm film of a Diana f+ before. The square format is also something that I am unfamiliar with.
After I received the films back I had a mixture of emotions, firstly I was pleased that the films had been processed and that they were not ruined. Secondly I was glad to see that the images turned out. I did however feel a little sad that they were not as bright as I thought they would be. This obviously is down to my error when exposing the film, but as you may appreciate there are only three settings on the very basic camera.
If I could re-do this project, I think I would have tried to order the camera and films a little earlier and had a practice session with the Saturday market. It was relatively close to the deadline (2 weeks) that I decided I wanted to look at shooting my images this way and with the camera having to be shipped and the weeks processing time for my films, it did not leave me much time to practice. Practising may have been able to prevent slight issues with things such as exposure as I mentioned earlier.
Film photography is expensive. It cost me £55 to have one black and white film and two colour films processed. As there are only 12-14 shots on a roll of 120 mm film it meant that I did not have the budget to be testing, processing and printing a lot of films. I am sure that in time my technique will improve as I continue to practice the art of Lomography in my spare time as it really is something that I have become passionate about.
I will be posting some of the images on my blog soon once I can scan them in.

Reflection on the design of promotional material

When reflecting on this task I realised that I thoroughly enjoyed it as it gave me the opportunity to show that I have other creative abilities aside of photography.I was able to take inspiration from several different sources and create something unique to show myself to the creative industry.

Although I currently work within a design agency in the photographic department, I rarely get the chance to see what people actually do with the images I generate. Now that I have completed this task I understand the processes of what some of the people I work with do. It has been a great learning curve both in understanding a different angle to the business I work in and also has shown that I have strengths in other areas.
I feel that I have gained valuable knowledge and learnt new skills by using in design, in how to co-ordinate promotional material so that it helps to create an identity for myself.

I plan to use the skills that I have learnt during this task to produce something similar to what I have designed when I set up my own business.

Promotional material plan

After spending some time looking at promotional material from other photographers and stylists I had a rough idea of what I wanted to generate.
The first thing I did was to look for an image that worked both in colour and in black and white. I spent considerable time on this, as it this may be the first time that someone sees material that links me to my business.I wanted something that was quite neutral and not too striking yet showed my abilities with relation to photographic practice and so chose a spa themed shot as it showed my skill with lighting.

As my last name is Green, I thought that it would be a good idea to use this as a base colour for my promotional material. I spent several hours playing around with different colours and saturation in order to gain the desired effect.
For the type face I wanted something that was both easy to read but yet bold and made a statement. I also wanted to create some depth to the text and so have used different percentages of colour to create this.

I think that it important not to put too much information onto postcards and business cards as they are relatively small and I did not want it to appear like there was too much text. Because of this I kept it simple and straight to the point and added my name, occupation, address and contact details both for my mobile and email.

Promotional material is a great way to become recognised and so I also included a web address. This allows potential clients to look at the type of work I produce before contacting me in person.
Furthermore it helps to show the type of clients that I am currently involved with. Some clients like to know that you can shoot their type of products for example fashion or food photography and by having a range of images on my website they can see what type of shots I produce within their area.

My first 120mm films

Yesterday I received my negatives and prints of the continental market back from the photo lab. Although I had managed to capture the essence of the market I was a little disappointed with the results as I felt the images were a little dark.
As there are only three settings on the camera, there was a little bit of luck involved when I exposed the films and although I am please with learning a new skill I feel it is something that I may have to practice with a little more.
With regard to personal progression, I have been introduced to a whole new world of photography and it is something that I would like to focus on in the near future.

When at the market I also took several captures using my digital camera (Nikon D300) and have tweaked the RAW images in capture One Pro. It made me realise just how much easier it is to capture events using a digital camera as I could see the shots instantly. whereas in contract i could not with the film camera.
I was relatively happy with the shots I took on my Nikon and have decided to include several of the images in my series of final prints because it shows that I can use a range of mediums to document an event. I will be posting some of these onto my blog this week.

Promotional material

For the personal development module we are required to produce creative and promotional material.I was quite excited about this task because I would get the chance to show how I wanted to be perceived as a photographer.

The first key element that I wanted to cover was to appear professional. The type of artwork, pictures and graphics used on promotional material can have an effect on the way both a company and individual is portrayed within the creative sector.
building a rapport with clients is important and before meeting a photographer face to face. They will usually look either on the persons website or have seen some of their promotional material.

Before starting the task of designing the promotional material I had a look at what was already on the market from competitors and other agencies. I spent quite some time looking at the different businesses and recognised one common trend, whether it was a sole trader, a micro business or a large agency. All of them had three ways in which they promoted their business which were posters, postcards and business cards.

Over the last couple of weeks I spent some more time thinking about what images I wanted to incorporate onto my material as this would reflect the type of work that I do. Currently, I so not specialise in any particular area of photography for example high end fashion or weddings, however I do want to become a recognised professional all rounder.
Because of this I decided that I would introduce different areas of photography onto my postcards including portraits, food, fashion and product photography. The main reason for this is to show that my skills are diverse and I can adapt for all clients. This became my second key point of focus to portray to industry.

Furthermore, I wanted my promotional material to have a theme. From personal experience I think that when information is sent out from a company that it should be instantly recognised almost as a form of branding. It is what the person stands for and helps to define the type of person that they are.
I also made the decision to keep the same colours and font styles for all of my promotional material, as I think this helps people identify with a company and will hopefully leave a lasting impression.

Lomography at the market

This weekend I received my 120mm film for my camera. By chance the Continental market just happened to be on and so I seized the opportunity to have a try with my new camera.
Loading the film proved to be slightly more difficult than first expected, however after some perseverance I managed it. The weather conditions were also ideal and I spent about two hours and three roles of film taking pictures.

As first experiences go I really enjoyed using the camera and film and tried suggested techniques like shooting from the hip so that people are not aware that they are being captured. It brought a degree of fun to the project and opened p a different angle to photography for me.

I have sent films off to be processed and cannot wait to see the results.

Diana F+ and lomography

I was recently introduced to the wonderful world of Lomography and decided as I mentioned earlier in my blog to purchase a camera. It finally arrived today and I have also purchased some 120m XP2 film. I plan to go to the market tomorrow to have a trial run at using my new camera for my genres project. This style of photography is very new to me so I am excited to see what images I will be able to capture and see what effects I am able to achieve. In order to add another dimension to this project I have purchased some expired f120mm film in the hope that when processed the colours will be slightly warped.







When looking at a lomography everything in the picture appears to be amplified and detail is enhanced. The saturation of colours appears a lot deeper, and the film gives a grainy effect and because of light leaks allows for a shadowy vignette that frames images. I have also bought a fisheye lens and plan to experiment with this to produce some interesting shots.

Brief for istock

I have decided that in order to stand the best chance of one of my images being accepted into the online image library that I will produce a number of different shots. I plan to shoot several food related shots, as well as corporate shots and finally some sports images.
This obviously will take a lot of planning and will be very time consuming and so like always my time management will be under pressure.
I want to create a range of shots that have different techniques for example the style of lighting used. Some I will shoot in natural daylight, others will be shot in studio with flash, tungsten or a combination of the two. I also plan to use a variety of angle and close ups within my selected images.

For the food shoot I want to shoot a variety of products using different backgrounds and props. I want to try and achieve 5-6 different shots and plan to shoot over several days to get the best that I can from my abilities and not rush the project.Because food photography takes some time, I have already planned what I will need and have started to assemble the props together. To ensure that the food is very fresh, I will buy it on the morning of the shoot and cook it in the studio kitchen. This will also take me quite sometime as I am fulfilling the role of a home economist as well as the photographer, and so I will have to factor this into my timing plan for the day.