Official Blog

Come have a look at my official blog please 🙂 This one is just for this module! 
http://shmsearphotography.blogspot.co.uk/

Reflective Report…

The portfolio I have been creating for four months has been part of a module to create a 10 piece portfolio that entitles a range of ten different genres of photography.  It consists of a  broad array of styles including from sports action to a group photograph. This variety of genres challenged my skills and my potential to create an image of any style. I came across techniques that I had not used before or very little of and therefore was able to progress those techniques so that by the end of the four months I would be more confident using them. There were some parts of the portfolio I was familiar with and therefore they were easier to shoot but I then tried experimenting with different lighting and ideas to try and develop my work.
When I first received the brief to this module I was hesitant of what  I may have to overcome with my technical abilities but I knew if I practiced and organised my shoots then the final result would be worth it. I also was intrigued about trying new genres of photography like sport and food although I had never shot these before It would be good development for my skills in the industry.

One of the  main problems that I endured during this portfolio was some of the technical aspects such as the lighting and using flashguns. Within a couple of the genres they had to be shot with at least one flashgun. I had not had much practice or use with flashguns before so I decided after an induction on using them to practice at home. I did this so that when it came to the actual shoot I would be more confident in using them. For the Still Life aspect of my portfolio I wanted to photograph food so I got out two flashguns, a soft box and stand, I practiced this lighting set up and food photography at home. I was happy with the final results and then was able to use that lighting set up in the actual photo shoot at a cafe called Picnic. I have since used this lighting set up for other shoots and it has worked well. I have learnt that if I research and practice the technical aspect beforehand than It will have a better outcome of final results.

I have also learnt this with researching which types of different equipment to use for photo shoots. I generally search on forums to see what other people use for their shoots, this way I get other practitioners opinions which has been beneficial so far.  This has been particularly helpful in subjects I have not photographed before, such as The Group shot and Sports Action, I used a 24-70mm for the group which I heard was better for full length shots of people and as it is a zoom you have more of a choice of frames. For the sport I wanted to use that lens as well but ended up using an 18-105mm which was substantial for what I needed but next time I will be getting out a more variety of lenses.  I also had trouble with the low light aspect of the music photograph genre of the portfolio, this was also something that I researched as I wanted to know what lens would be best for low light and best for capturing performers up close. I used a wide angle 14-24mm which worked to my advantage although I definitely needed a tripod still as the problem with music photography is the venue always has poor lighting or if it does have any it is tungsten or blue and red strobes. I am glad that I went to this music event as although the shots were not the  best for a final product it was practice for a future event where I could capture my image.

I have learnt and developed my organisational and professional skills in this module especially in negotiation with clients and generally learning to become more efficient with business. I learnt this when I had to organize my food photo shoot as I needed to ask the cafe owners whether I could photograph in store and I needed to be professional on the actual day as I was around customers. I progressed with my business skills for my fashion photo shoot as I wanted the experience and practice of asking a clothing brand whether I could borrow their clothes. The store I collaborated with was  Wild Pony which is an independent vintage outlet in Falmouth and the owner Georgia Stanley and I negotiated some conditions.  I had to put a deposit down for the clothing I borrowed and then deliver the clothes back to her after I was finished. I learnt that when working with a client you need to be careful when negotiating money and you are then responsible for the items borrowed, therefore I had to hang up the clothes and make sure they were not damaged.

I also used my professional skills when photographing my
Mini Feature which was a charity event called ‘Feed Me Music’ in which I photographed guests donating food for The Food Bank which was their tickets for an eight hour music event. I was photographing this event for The Cartel which is Falmouth University’s  picture agency, I was to send off the photos in a chance they may get used in The Falmouth Packet. I also when on this shoot spoke to a woman called Helen Moore from Tribe magazine and as she was doing an article on the event she therefore needed photographs. I offered to send my photographs to her also, she said no payment was on offer but I would be credited and it meant also I am hopefully getting this feature published. I have learnt to take advantage of these situations and to network with people at events as this will help me gain contacts.

I have had a few inspirations from various practitioners and have researched images and read magazines before the particular genre before the photo shoot. I feel this has helped me think of creative ways in which to capture subjects and also made me think of different ways to shoot in technical aspects. One of my main inspirations that related most to one of my photo shoots is Rankin , he’s a british photographer that often photographs fashion , portraits and
beauty head shots. I was mainly focusing on his beauty shots for my photo shoot and I am intrigued in his colourful and bold use of makeup on the models and the attitude he gets them to portray. I used this inspiration for the Lit Portrait element of the portfolio, I wanted to use my models styles and coloured powder to create a bold portrait in relation to their personalities.  My model Emily’s style was ‘Mod’and I used a black Fred Perry top to contrast with the bright makeup and hair.

I also found Rankin’s magazine Dazed & Confused  an inspiration for my Fashion shoot. I wanted an 80s Vintage street style and when I researched, I found  a couple in Dazed that were relevant. I looked into  Sebastian Cviq whose photographs in an article called Urban Groove, these images related to mine in the way he uses bright colours and vintage clothing against a contrasting street backdrop.  I also used Alexander Neumann’s work as inspiration for my fashion shoot, he too had an article in the Korean edition of Dazed, although a bit less colourful and more grunge style than 80s, the attitude of his models and the compositions drew creative ideas for my shoot.  I will for future fashion shoots use practitioners for inspiration as I feel their creativity drives my work to be more free and different.

Throughout this portfolio I have overcome my weaknesses and learnt my strengths but have also been made aware of what I need to develop and improve on. I found the lighting the most difficult as some aspects of the portfolio required flash which I have practiced with and improved with since the start when I did not know how to use it. I also need to practice with the studio lights and to  try experimenting with the quad kits. I also struggled with low light photography but I have now learnt that if i use a camera with a more advanced sensor and also research which equipment I will need then my shoot will be more organised and therefore the final outcome will be better.  My strengths have been communicating with clients as I am improving on not being hesitant with people and being more confident and professional in my approach. I will carry on networking at events and take part in more photography projects so that I can gain contacts and business skills.  Overall I think that I have learnt a great deal from both the negative and positive  outcomes from this portfolio, It has challenged me with genres of photography I would not have otherwise chosen to capture. It has made me realise what genres I am most skilled with which I will pursue further.  However most of all it has forced me out of my comfort zone but has opened my eyes to new styles.

Sports Action

I found this one the most difficult in trying to actually find a subject, i have never shot any sport at all before let alone an action moment from a competitive game. I was going to try and do some surfing or football but I wanted to try a different sport that was less known. I tried to think of some sports that i could photograph, i first thought of KUng Fu or Martial Arts would be quite interesting to shoot and i knew of a FXU society Arlo Tinsen that i could get in contact with, this unfortunately did not work out as i could not find any competitions, i would like to photograph it anyway perhaps in the future
My second idea was skittles, it’s a more candid relaxed sport in a way but the players also can get quite competitive, i looked into alley skittles first but had no luck getting any competitions or even classes. I then was thinking and i remembered my dad plays pub skittles which is a different kind of sport all together, it is usually played in pubs and the players compete in teams of six taking it in turn to use a disc called a cheese and then throwing it at the pins on the table. the Christmas competition was in teams of 2 and the final match of the year (a special and tense game)
I practiced twice before the final match with my dad and his practice games on a Monday night at the conservative club, i then also practiced on Thursday with a real match between my dads team and 3 conies.
i found it helpful that i did a couple of practice shoots as otherwise i would not have realised how little space i had to work with and also using the tripod and getting the lighting right was hard at times with the movement of the players
in the end i did get some shots but i think if i went again i would take a different lens as my 55-200 and my 18-105mm did work for full shots but i really needed a wider lens or a one with a bigger range. I also tried 50mm but that was only good for close ups as i need to get the player and the table. timing was key with this shoot as well which i did manage to do with practice

Lit Portraits

I had the most difficulty with this aspect of the portfolio, it was more technical lighting issues. I first tried the studio with my model Beth, i wanted to try hi-key lighting to get a soft light, i used a light on the background, 2 soft boxes at either side of her and a top light. This lighting with a bit of trouble at first did manage to work but it just a
couple of shadows that weren’t very flattering, i couldn’t get them right so i thought i’d try a different way for my next shoot. The next shoot i decided to try on location as the studio i felt was too contrived and wasn’t working in the way i wanted my images to look.

This time i got out a few speedlights and used the D800e for first time, i really got on with this camera and will use it for future shoots.
I set up a speedlight on my camera and a speedlight on a stand with a softbox either side, my models Emily and Joe, i chose outside as Joe is a Marine & Natural History student and i thought it fitted well. I got them to stand in front of some trees and experimented with the lighting, it worked for what i wanted but i now feel that i want to re-shoot as it feels a bit forced and the models aren’t how i want them to look.

The third shoot i did for this lit portrait i wanted to make it more interesting and fun. I used Emily and Joe again as this time i wanted to focus on the way they dress, in mod and punk style clothing. I also used powder paint to splash on their faces to contrast with their hair and black tops. I thought this shoot went well, their personalities came across but in a subtle way and the colours worked in the way i imagined. Rankin was some inspiration for this with his quirky bold fashion portraits

This is the shot i used for my final, Emily my model is wearing a Mod style Fred Perry shirt, I styled her hair to give her volume and also splattered pink and purple dust on her face to compliment the red in her hair and pink on the shirt. It also stood out from the black of the shirt too. I used a direct flash with a diffuser, I wanted strong shadows underneath her chin and nose, I think I would use a reflector next time to achieve a different look but i do think the shadows work and give an edge.

This is one I took of Joe, his style is Punk and he has a blue Mohawk which was perfect for the shoot. I used yellow and green powder this time to compliment his blue hair and the black shirt again for contrast. This one we were experimenting with poses and this one worked well for the attitude and confident stance I wanted.

Rankin

For my Lit Portrait I wanted to do a beauty shot and play about with different styles like Punk and Mod. I also wanted to play about with make-up and colour so it was a bit more interesting. A photographer that I got inspiration from and that uses bold, shocking colours and compositions is Rankin, he is a British photographer who mainly does editorial fashion but also does beauty portraits and films too. I have used his work for inspiration before but it was the beauty portraits I was looking at for this. He is the founder of Dazed & Confused magazine  which contains urban fashion with shocking ‘out there’ images of models in bright clothes and quirky styles. 

His body of work features some of the most celebrated publications, biggest brands and pioneering charities, including Nike, Swatch, Dove, Pantene, Diageo, Women’s Aid, and Breakthrough Breast Cancer. He has shot covers for Elle, German Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Esquire, GQ, Rolling Stoneand Wonderland. His work has always questioned social norms and ideas of beauty and, in late 2000, Rankin published the irregular quarterly Rank, an experimental anti-fashion magazine celebrating the unconventional. Rankin has published over 30 books, is regularly exhibited in galleries around the world, as well as his own London gallery. His museum-scale exhibition ‘Show Off’ opened at NRW Dusseldorf in September 2012, pulling in over 30,000 visitors in 3 months. Today, Rankin is back to his passion shooting magazine publishing offering his creative talents and skills back to his first love.

Half Painted, Terry McClintock

I decided to re-shoot my music photograph as I was not happy with the results in the previous two shoots and thought i needed someone a bit more interesting. As i was going to a music event for my feature i thought i could possibly take photos of the performers for a music piece as well. There was  8 hours worth of music so again i had enough time to shoot something final. The lighting was a bit harsh due to a strong white spotlight but it did work in my favor sometimes with green and yellow beam lights that looked surreal with the performers playing,
This is the image i took of Terry McClintock who actually works in the cafe of The Performance Center, he was an intriguing and quirky performer and I am happy with the results of the image although a bit bright on his shirt.

Feed Me Music, Feature

For my mini feature I wanted it to be about care assistants or people that help the people in need and their story. I wanted a different approach and for the subject not just to be the one with the illness or needing help but the person who is helping, their story.
My first shoot and idea was going to be about Dementia Friends, a charity where people called ‘Champions’ train up and take time out of their day to assist people with Dementia and I was going to document a day in the life of a care assistant and the training that they do to get to Champion stage. Unfortunately things fell through, but I still may be doing a shoot with them in February.
My second idea was to do a feature on an event called Feed Me Music that was happening at The Performance Center in University. The Food Bank were collaborating with Little Miss Music  Management to create an 8 hour music event where people bring food to donate instead of money for tickets, i wanted to capture the whole event and how they are helping hundreds of people in need of a meal but also giving people the entertainment of music.
The shoot went well,  I managed to get some contacts and sent photos off to be used in a press release and possibly a feature, sent them off to papers also but they were not chosen.
I had some trouble with low lighting trying to capture the audience but managed to overcome that with lenses and being patient
but the lights with the music performers worked well  and got some good candid shots of people donating food and enjoying themselves .

The Food Bank in Penryn, Falmouth currently helps many parents, students and elderly in making sure they have food as they cannot afford to. It was set up by Sarah Simons and her husband, they give out the food at Highway Church and it has many volunteers helping out as well.

Little Miss Music Production’s Louise Martin has created a collaborative ‘Feed Me Music’ event with The Food Bank in which there is an eight hour music performance and instead of guests having tickets for the event they will be donating food and household items. A child is donating some food whilst volunteers help at The Performance Center on Saturday 18th January.

This was only half the amount of food which was donated by guests, this will get weighed at the church after the event and recorded to see how far the charity has come. In the first two years of The Food Bank they collected 13,200 kilos of food and helped 791 adults and 231 children.

The Food Bank owner Sarah Simons and Little Miss Production’s Louise Martin who organised the Feed Me Music event which was held at The Performance Center, University Falmouth. Sarah had just given a speech about the event to the guests and gave Louise flowers for her efforts.

The event had an eight hour music performance from bands around Cornwall and students. The music ranged from Reggae bands to Country Folk. This is violinist and singer Annie Baylis who was supporting singer Gareth Lee, they are a Blues and Folk band.

Group Photography

I found the Group Photograph part of this portfolio the most challenging as directing a group of people can be quite hard and to get them all without blinking and lit evenly. My first idea was to photograph the Womens Institue as i thought this would be an interesting image of them all around having tea or discussing events. Unfortunately they said they were not keen on anybody taking photographs as of their busy schedule and would not be free till after the deadline. 

The second idea for my group shot was of my work friends, this in my head did look well composed and it would have been a good image as it was Christmas time and we had a ‘fun dress up charity event’ so i thought it would be interesting, this did not work out as well as i’d hoped, my colleagues were quite shy infront of the camera and the warehouse did not make a great backdrop, also with little time on my hands to shoot. It was good for a practice with the flash but not for a final

The third group shot i did was of some Creative Events Management students at an event they had to create about careers and placements, it was a good opportunity to photograph people who didn’t know me and also these were more confident subjects as well. The lighting was just a flashgun so it wasn’t lit on the legs as much, so next time for group i know to take more lights  and an assistant
overall i just need to be more directive to the subjects and not be hesitant in saying what i want.

Busking Harpist

After not managing to get the desired image for my Observed Portrait element of the portfolio I thought I’d just try to go around town with my camera to see what I could capture, as it was Christmas time I thought it was the perfect time to capture some ‘special moments’. I looked around and got a few shots but nothing I deemed as interesting. In the end i went around near the bus stops to see if i spotted any worthwhile moments , I came across a busker who was playing the harp and it was something i had not seen before, usually guitars or saxophone but i had never seen a busking harpist before. His name was Harry Flinkton and he intrigued me, I gave him some money and asked if he minded photos, Mr Flinton was very kind and let me photograph him and then told me about how he came to be on the streets and that his done music for people but prefers busking as he feels that he has more control over his music. He also showed me a song he played for his friends baby, overall an interesting subject that was happy to tell me his story
It was quite low light at the time so the image is a little noisy, the natural light does suit the subject but I think next time i’d go out earlier or use a camera with a higher sensor.

I looked at some documentary street photographers for this aspect of the portfolio and found some that I think relate to my work and are abuout capturing the extra ordinary in the ordinary that is street.

Markus Hartel  is one of the photographers I looked at, he focuses on the quirky styles of people and transfers his visual storytelling into photographs captured on the streets of NYC. Perhaps, the most distinctive quality in Hartel’s photographs is the contrast. There is much more to explore in his images than the play between light and shadow, or the juxtaposition between hard and soft. If you look hard enough, you will almost always find a sense of irony in his subject matter, as what compels him to ‘click’ is discovering the extraordinary among the ordinary.

Melanie Einzig is someone I also looked at, her work is often bright and captures otherwise unseen moments in New York.
‘I’ve photographed events in New York and elsewhere for fourteen years. With a background in art and photojournalism I bring a love of aesthetics, an interest in people and the ability to tell a story to every event I document. I work very quietly and unobtrusively in order to record the most genuine moments in a natural way. Whether for my personal work, a publication, for an institution, or at a private event, I bring my full attention (eye and heart) to making the best possible photos.’


I think colour works well in her images and paints like in a more aesthetic way, i try to use colour in my work and i think for some street photography you need it so you can see the personality of the subject through their clothing.

Wild Pony, Vintage Fashion

The fashion aspect of the portfolio I was quite excited to do as I used to photograph fashion and enjoyed organizing the locations, clothing, models and lighting. I thought instead of using just the models clothes I would try and get in contact with some clothing businesses around Falmouth, there are a few decent ones like Volcom and Sessions as I originally wanted to do more skating clothing, however as they are quite big companies I was not allowed to take any clothing out. There is a more independent but still very popular clothing shop in the area called Wild Pony, I contacted the owner and we negotiated that if i gave her a deposit of the clothes I wanted to borrow and delivered them back to her house after shooting. She  also wanted them hung them up so she didn’t have to iron them as they were silk shirts and delicate vintage pieces.  I agreed to all of this as it was good practice for professional skills  and we set up a date that she was best with, we chose a Sunday as it was a day she was closed as I couldn’t take out clothes when the shop was open.
I had a few difficulties with re-arranging the shoot as she had a couple of Sundays in November where she was open due to Beer Festivals and events.

On the actual shoot day I had already scouted a couple of locations around town, I wanted an urban street background so I went for a cobble stoned alley way and also I found a wall that looked like a painting just outside Old Brewery Yard near Cafe Cinnamon in Falmouth.  I decided to use the wall as it worked with the urban feel and it was a bigger space to work with, it also had some steps in front of a black door which I could work with.
Tina was my model, she is from Norway and is studying (BA) Photography at University with me, she is also one of my house mates but I just thought her hair and vintage look worked well for my shoot. I styled her in 80s vintage street clothing, with a cream silk shirt and patterned jumper that was borrowed and her own green disco pants and patent loafers.

I decided to experiment with some speed lights and also with using Canon instead of my usual choice of Nikon, I did like the outcome but I had trouble with the sensors on the flashguns.  I set up a couple on stands with soft boxes and one on my camera, I have used this before and it did work well so thought i’d try again.
In the end I used mainly the flashgun on my camera but the speed lights were handy for some fill in light and as it was on location the natural light was also quite soft that day so that worked to my advantage. Overall I was happy with the outcome of the shoot but I think next time I would take more time with the lighting and think of more ways to direct my model.

 This is the image I decided to use, the light is more natural and i prefer the softer focus as it goes with the style i wanted.  The flash did not fire properly on this one which is why it is more natural also, the flash made her features harsh at times and her overall stance is a lot more relaxed in this too.