FMP DIARY - 28.4.17

So its been another week, but what have I been up to? Well mostly the boring stuff to be honest. I've been researching like a mad woman and frantically adding bits into my professional practise folder - I'm desperate for more than a merit on that!

I've also been scrapbooking and moodboarding like theres no tomorrow! I'm a very visual person and as important as research and write ups are I kind of just like looking at pictures sometimes. My visual diary got a good update at the start of the week with bits I've ripped out of magazines and stuck in there. You can find a little taster of my final major project visual diary below.

I've also been spending a lot of time gathering inspiration on Pinterest. I'm honestly so glad we were encouraged to start using it last year because its just full of ideas and images that I'm finding really helpful at the moment! You can find my street style mood board here which is currently influencing my future shoots.

As well as gathering inspiration online I've also taken out 4 books to flick through this week, I'm hoping to discover some amazing photographs and new photographers! The books I've picked out are; Street Style - British Design in the 80s, Surfers Soulies Skinheads & Skaters, The street Photographers Manual, and Street & Studio. If nothing else the books might stimulate a few ideas.

Right now I'm planning my second FMP shoot which will take place this weekend in Manchester. I won't talk about it too much as I'm still finalising everything but I will put the photos on here next week!

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JUST A BUNCH OF LESBIANS

Its only just occurred to me that I never got around to posting any of the photographs I took in Dublin at the Strike 4 Repeal march. These photographs are my finals for my Creative Process project which I started back in February. The nationwide strike was in protest of the law (the 8th amendment) which prevents Irish women from seeking safe and legal abortions.

I initially based the project around abortion rights, well the lack of abortion rights in both Northern and the Republic of Ireland. My initial plan was to interview and photograph women in an almost Brandon Stanton style to raise awareness of the issues. Due to a lack of time and resources the project developed and I moved away from this original idea.

Through my research I came across adverts for the planned strike and I knew I had to be a part of it. On the 8th of March this year I flew to Dublin to not only stand in solidarity with the protesters but to document the day and spread awareness. 

So you are probably wondering about the name of this post? Well it was how a male passerby described the gathering to his other male friend as they tried to figure out what was going on. I thought it pretty much summed up how ignorant people can be to the situation and so its what I just had to name this body of work!

As always I would appreciate any feedback you have on my images!

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FMP DIARY - 20.4.17

Its about time I started to record pretty much everything I do thats related to photography - gotta get that distinction am I right? So what have I actually been doing apart from scoffing chocolate like theres no tomorrow?

Well I went ahead with my first shoot for my MFP for starters! I finally settled on my third idea which was all about street style. I popped up to town with a friend for support and started approaching anyone and everyone who seemed friendly. I'm not going to lie, it was super nerve wracking at first but after I spoke to the first few people I soon got used to it and managed to photograph around 14 people. I know I will need to photograph a lot more in future shoots however for my first attempt I'm pretty pleased with that. Not all of the photos were great however and I do need to work on a few things but I now feel confident enough to pursue this idea fully! Here are a few of the images from the first shoot..

I also managed to see 3 exhibitions over the last week. None of them were solely photography based and they don't relate to my MFP at all but you never know where inspiration can come from! The first exhibition was at the IKON gallery. It was a showcase of the work of French photographer and filmmaker Jean Painleve. I'd been wanting to see this exhibition for a while as I saw it advertised maybe just after Christmas. His work mainly focuses on marine life and there are some superb prints of really detailed crab claws on show. Its wasn't clear whether these were actually taken underwater or not but that was definitely the vibe they gave off. A lot of his work was actually quite unnerving and had a really sinister feel to it. I did enjoy the exhibition however the 45 minute film of the toy circus just really didn't do it for me and I felt it was quite out of place. 

The second exhibition was also in the IKON but on the second floor. I had not previously heard about this mixed media exhibition of Oliver Beers work so I didn't know what to expect at all. The exhibition features several films and sculptures, with sound being another main feature. I'm at a bit of a loss to describe his work but the man is an absolute genius! From the display of his grandmothers lino floor which shows a map of the places she stood the most, to his sculptures of everyday objects sunk into plaster to make them look like paintings I was really quite impressed. I don't think I want to write too much about it because it was such a treat to discover an exhibit like this without knowing anything and I recommend anyone who visits to go with an open mind and no expectations. I enjoyed his work so much that I've actually booked in to hear him speak about it next month!

The final exhibition I visited last week was quite small but no less enjoyable. The exhibition; We Built This City is based right at the back of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and tells the stories of several Irish immigrants who moved to Brum in the 50s and 60s. I'm quite fond of the Irish so I was always going to find this interesting however it really did give a detailed insight into the times and conditions they lived in. There were several photographs on display as well as personal objects and a short film showing interviews from some of the said immigrants. I'd really recommend popping in to see this short exhibit if you have absolutely any Irish links in your family.

So thats what I've been up to for the last few weeks. I've also been working on some write ups and research but no one wants to hear about that really do they? I'd love to get some feedback on the images from my initial shoot!

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FINAL MAJOR PROJECT - 3 INITIAL IDEAS

So I’m coming to the end of my studies, but before I can sign off and go collect that diploma I have one last final assignment, my FMP. Right now I’m still in the planning stage. I’m not really sure which route to go down but I have managed to narrow my ideas down to three very different possible projects.

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Idea 1 

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The first idea is to carry on with my creative process work. For the last couple of months I’ve been looking into women's rights, abortion rights in particular and trying to create a body of work that highlights the issues surrounding it. Earlier this month I actually flew to Dublin to walk in a protest against the law that prevents Irish women from having abortions, regardless of the circumstances. 

At the start of this project, inspired by Emma Campbells work and the Repeal movement in Ireland, I wanted to interview women and photograph them in a sort of Brandon Stanton style series. This never actually happened but I would really like to go through with it for this project. The main issue with completing this idea how I would like is actually finding women to talk to. I didn’t managed to contact any that were willing to talk to me last time and I now only have till mid may to take these photographs. I've created a mood board of feminist art/ Pro Life art/ documentary style images on my Pinterest which can be found here.

Photos from emmacampbell.co.uk

Photo from the Humans of New York Facebook page

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Idea 2

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My second idea came to me completely out of the blue if I’m honest, I’ve never done anything similar in the past. I love to travel and I love to eat so why not put the two together? I thought I could create a series of food photography images based around food tourism. I’m always jetting off here there and everywhere and I love to get my munch on while I’m abroad so to try and capture that would be great. 

For this idea I've been quite inspired by food photography on Instagram; I like the sort of snapshot style and the square crop. I thought maybe I could create 3 or 4 series of photographs each based on a different country.

I’ve never really tried food photography before however so my lack of experience within this genre could be a problem. I would also probably only have time for one or two trips which again, might hinder my work. 

Food photography is something I would really like to look into though, after browsing through the absolutely fantastic work of David Munns, Clare Barbosa and more I’ve been left feeling quite hungry to take my own tasty snaps. I've created a mood board of some fab food photography over on my Pinterest which can be found here.

Photography from Tamron.eu

Photograph from haasandhaas.com

Photograph from nyfa.edu

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Idea 3
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My third idea is something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while now. As a teenager I’d always spend hours in Urban Outfitters flicking through the street style books on sale there. The 16 year old me was fascinated by these quirky photos and for years I’ve wanted to go out and take my own but I’ve just never got around to it. I thought that maybe this final project would now give me a reason to get out and do just that. I’ve looked at the likes of Scott Schuman, Candice Lake, Bill Cunningham and more to once again fire up the interest I previously had in this style of photography. 

To set this series away from the rest, I want to focus on photographing plus size women. Being a plus size girl myself, body positivity is something I love to promote through my main blog and other social media platforms. I'd like this series to be all about celebrating fashionable women who carry a bit of extra weight.

In all honestly I feel that this would be the easiest the of the three projects to choose. I could shoot the majority of my images over just a few days and I now have the right equipment (50mm Prime Lens) to take great portrait shots. The main issue with this is building up the confidence to approach strangers. This is something I have struggled with over a number of shoots in the past but I would have to get over that fear if I wanted this project to be a success. I've created a mood board of some inspirational street style photography on my Pinterest which can be found here.

Photograph from margaritakarenko.com

Photograph from ellahphotography.com

Photograph from letstalkchic.com

So those are the ideas I have right now, but which project will I choose? I guess you’ll just have to tune in next week to find out! Ooo suspense…

Thanks for reading!

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOLIHULL COLLEGE STUDENT - CLAIRE SEVILLE BOUDOIR WORKSHOP

Last Wednesday we were all lucky enough to take part in a workshop lead by the boudoir and pin-up photographer Claire Seville. The workshop started with a presentation from Claire showing us her portfolio and giving us a real feel for the type of work she regularly creates. After the short intro we all filed into our on site studio which had already been set up. 

The set up for the day was very simple but effective - one red duvet and a few pillows to act as a bed and one studio light with a large beauty dish which was stood just at the side of the model pointing down on her. Claire then proceeded to show us how she works, giving us tips here and there on how to make the model feel comfortable and how to get the perfect shot. One trick I found interesting was that if your model/ client is a bit nervous her mouth can look quite tense in the photographs, so you should get her to make an ‘a’ sound which will make her mouth look more relaxed and natural.

After this it was our turn to try our hand at boudoir photography, something most of us has never tried before, so were understandably a little apprehensive. We took it in turns to take our shots, positioning our model in several different ways with Claire in the back offering assistance and answering our general questions. We each managed to get a good amount of time shooting the model and I think the majority of us came away with photographs we were happy with. 

I was the last one to shoot and even after watching how the others worked I was still a little bit nervous. I don’t tend to shoot people in my day to day work as it’s a lot of hassle and models can be expensive to hire which is why I’m glad I can participate in workshops like this at college. I managed to take a few decent shots and also learn a lot about becoming a self employed photographer. Although pin-up and boudoir photography is not something I plan on going into, I think it’s important to explore different genres of photography especially while in education. 

Above are a few of my final images from the day. To edit them I used the Floribella action ‘Natural Skin Smoother’, to give the models skin a more finished look. I also used the Floribella action ‘Musette’ to give the images a subtle ‘Instagram filter’ vibe to them. To finish I cropped the images and turned the contrast up very slightly.

Overall the workshop was well worthwhile taking part in and I’m looking forward to the next one. 

Thanks for reading!

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Barry Island Final Images

Here are my final images from my Barry Island shoot. Honestly I am really disappointed with this shoot, and I really struggled throughout the day to capture the images in my head. Although I am very pleased with my final images, I'm unhappy that I only have 6 and that they are all very similar.

 

I spent all afternoon shooting along the coast of Barry Island and these images have been taken at various points along the beach and cliffs. I faced many problems during this shoot, the worst being the wind. Although I expected a breeze on the beach I didn't anticipate the gale force winds I was faced with all day. Because of this some of my images are very shaky and the long exposures I experimented with were a disaster. Even on my small Gorillapod tripod the camera shook, so all of my long exposure images are blurry. Even when I managed to find some cover from the wind my polarizing filter didn't go down enough stops for me to have a shutter speed of more than 1 second in the lighting conditions. Next time I want to take long exposure images I will make sure I've got the appropriate polarizing filter.

Another problem I came across was the amount of people on the beach and walking along the cliffs. The majority of my usable photographs were taken in the late afternoon when many people had gone home. This is also the reason many of my photos are taken in portrait as I was cropping people out. I do however quite like the look of Landscape photographs taken in portrait so I'm not too bothered about that. 

As usual I've tried not to edit my images too much, just a bit of cropping and turning up the contrast slightly. Before taking the photographs I had plans to change the colours in the sky to look more appealing but I didn't really feel like they needed it.

I am very happy with my final images, despite them not being particularly traditional. I would like to do another Landscape shoot as its something I really enjoy and I think I need some practise. 

I'd love to get some feedback on my images!

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Belbroughton Scarecrow Festival Final Images

So these are the final images from the Belbroughton Scarecrow festival and if I'm honest I am disappointed I only have 5 which I think are of a good enough standard to share.

I arrived just after the festival started and stayed until the end, running around trying to capture every element of it. If I had been a professional photographer hired specifically to photograph this event I think I would have gone on both days it was running as there was just so much going on.

If I were to photograph events again in the future there are several things I will do differently. I would definitely apply for a press pass or at least have some form of ID/ business cards on my to put the public at ease. There were several people who turned their backs on me or looked visibly uncomfortable as I was photographing around them. If I had a press pass or something similar to show them and explain why I was taking photographs they may have allowed me to take their picture or even pose for one. 

Along the same sort of lines I would approach people to take their photograph. It would have been nice if I had taken some photographs of people, families in particular enjoying the festival. I didn't really feel comfortable doing so and because of that I don't have many photographs with festival goers in.

I was pretty happy with the equipment I took with me, the only thing I wish I had was a superzoom lens to capture the air show in more detail. I didn't manage to get a decent photograph of the airplane and as that was a main event I probably wouldn't be hired again if I was a paid photographer. As these lenses are very expensive and I am not proffesional I don't own one but that if something to consider if I plan on shooting something similar again. 

I didn't really feel the need to edit these photographs too much. Apart from a bit of cropping and turning up the contrast slightly I havne't done anything else as I didn't feel that the client would want any 'unnatural' looking images.

I'd love to get some feedback on my finals!

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