PEP 110 summer task

The thing i love most about the place i live...

Having spent the past 3 months 400 miles away from home being bombarded with photography, new ideas, concepts and perspectives on the things i shoot, and how i go about that, i have felt my self evolve as a photographer. The photo i shot for my summer task still to me represents one of the things i love most about living in Grimsby. The image represents not only something i enjoyed back home when i was a marshal at Cadwell Park but also the child hood dream that still sits with me today, that one day i want to be riding a sports bike round a track at ludicrous speeds.
The image was captured using a slow shutter speed and using a technique called panning, when i combined this with my 140mm lens and continuous focusing mode it allowed me to produce an image that i am proud of, an image that captures the action but with clean aesthetics that make it an appealing photograph.
I'm not sure that even after the past 3 months of learning and honing my skills as a photographer that i would be able to replicate this image again easily. However what i could do with my broadening knowledge of narrative image making and photographic essays is to follow up on the story. i might consider finding out who the rider on the bike is and capturing the full story from portraits of the rider to observed portraits of the maintenance and the travelling around the country as well as interviews and multimedia content. I feel that this could be an interesting subject to capture as i could look not only from my perspective but from his and also the family around him and how this dangerous sport affects them.

When i captured this image i was at a stage where i was certain that sport photography is the direction i definitely wanted to go however i am beginning to evolve that idea as long form photographic and multi media essays have sparked an interest which is something i will be experimenting with in the coming year.

Male portrait shoot

As i come closer to the deadline for this assignment i decided that my original images weren't stong enough and that they lack any interesting subject or aesthetics. This morning i went out with a new model and a new location. My intent for this shoot was to create a sophisticated masculine aesthetic with simple colour pallet and subtle use of flash to lighten up some of the shadows.

I am happy with the way in which these images turned out and the use of flash was subtle so that it almost looks like ambient light. The images all follow a clear theme and i feel that the boots make a good subject for the detail shot

Female Portrait shoot

This weekend i carried out my shoot for the portrait part 2 brief, for this i used a volunteering model named bea, she studies textiles and so when it came to the portraits i wanted to capture this within the images to give the viewer a context behind the images and egin to communicat who she is and wat shes doing.

The shoot was broken off into two main halves, the first half i took Bea out to several locations across campus and using both my 18-140mm kit lens and a Tamron 70-300mm lens i tried to capture some fashion style images using several creative poses and considering shape ad colour i think this part was successful.

The second half of the shoot was in the studio space in the textiles building much different to the photography studios this was filled with materials and machines that Bea was using for her projects.

Some of the images i captured depict her preparing the material to be dyed as part of an assessment.

Steve McCurry

It may seem odd to look to a photojournalist when looking inspiration for a portrait assignment but McCurry has become famous for his portraits,more specifically images such as "Afghan girl" this image is really why i came to his work when researching portrait photography. McCurry captured a piercing gae that sticks with the audience for days after as it looks deep into you and the audience begins to understand the emotions and the context of the image. This image has been the cover of national geographic and since then McCurry's own book "portraits"
I find that one thing McCurry always seems to create in his images is a complementary colour pallet this makes for a more effective image with much stronger connotations.

Afghan Girl, Steve McCurry 

Press Gang Exhibition

 I recently visited an exhibition at the Falmouth art gallery titled “Press Gang” which attempted to encapsulate print making. Providing the opportunity for local artists to present their work along with world renowned artists such as Picasso and Turner. The exhibition utilized historical prints to provide a context from which the audience begin their journey through the evolution of print making. Every room of the exhibition takes you on a journey as various artists can be seen experimenting with new techniques and styles of printing from traditional etchings and screen prints to lithography.

Upon entering the first room of the exhibition you are greeted by a combination of modern brightly coloured prints and some of the oldest prints on display. The curator has clearly taken time to consider the subjects in each print and across the walls you can find prints that complement one another, each collection of prints presents similar aesthetics and themes within the work to captivate the audience allowing the prints to really play off of each other however certain collections of prints seem to overpower others and so I feel this prevents some of the older pieces being appreciated especially because they are very close to the left of the viewer when entering, this I found meant many people ignored those prints and walked straight in and to the main wall displaying bright prints such as RA Timberaine by sir Terry Frost. The prints presented from Sir Terry Frost were by far the brightest and boldest across the walls and worked as a main focal point within the first room featuring strong, bold colours printed onto wood these prints stand out from the white walls of the studio space and contrast well against the more delicate pieces across the room

Separated into three rooms the exhibition has no clear theme in terms of genre however the works up on the wall were well curated and it is clear where the exhibit is taking you. In the second room you enter a more focused space although continuing the journey through the evolution of print making you are presented with a larger collection of prints that present a similar theme. The space has been titled “picturing the mines” it almost feels as though you’ve entered a different exhibition, however this isn’t a negative thought as it allows the audience to slow down and spend a few moments completely immersed in works that present a similar idea and concept. This in my opinion is fantastic curatorial practice as it allows dozens of pieces of work to complement one another bringing a greater understanding to the viewer while leaving a greater impact as each print could be more deeply appreciated and understood.

My personal favourite print in this exhibition is perhaps the large Grayson Perry print that dominated the second room titled “Print for a politician”. This print was one of the many examples of etching  across the room, created using 3 plates on a single sheet ,this print attempts to label everyone in society in a humorous manner depicting all manner of social groups from parents and communists to al-Qaeda and fat people. The print although seemingly aggressive with depictions of war and conflict attempts to portray a deeper message, that, in the end everyone is as bad as each other. The print is intentionally random presenting architecture and technology from dozens of periods through history.

Overall I would recommend this exhibition, I find that its vast variety of work and style combined with its journey of the evolution of an art form is intriguing and educative providing the audience with a worthwhile experience.

Tremough house adventure

Recently i decided to go down to the infamous Tremough house on the campus as i had heard about the amazing aesthetics and the lighting the bursts through the windows of its main room.After getting lost trying to find my way in i eventually found that the front door was the simplest option and that i had wasted 20 minutes of beautiful golden light.

With my 24mm prime lens i set the camera up on a tripod and attempted various different angles there was lots of beautiful detail in the ceiling and the light that cast through the window onto the fireplace in the center of the room was incredibly flattering however i struggled to capture both within the same images as my camera has a crop sensor and so the 24mm lens isnt providing 24mm of perspective.

Ideas for Portrait Part 1

The brief for PEP 110 labelled portrait part 1 at first confused me a little as i commonly associate portraits with images of people whether that be formal or environmental etc however this one requires us to consider space and lighting without any need for a person to even be in the image. The idea slightly throws me out of my comfort zone however i feel i will be a great excuse to experiment and try out various equipment.

I intend to capture various types of setting and location for example i would like to go to the church and capture the giant halls within, for this i would use a wide angled lens,a tripod and potentially some flash just so that i can fill in any unwanted shadow areas.

This idea could also lead me into an idea for portrait part 2 where by we have to capture images of people i think it might be interesting to take a flash out of the stores and go to the church to capture some portraits of the vicar as this will give me the perfect place to move around get lots of angles and there is alot of symbolism within a church which could further the narrative of my images.

My second idea for portrait part 1 would be to go down to the local rivers and streams and capture my exterior images using a slow shutter speed during golden hour to produce an aesthetically pleasing almost fine art kind of quality within the image.

That is all the ideas i have right now however i will be shooting various other things just to try and stir up some creativity and some of those images may also be used for my assignment.

Ansel Adams Landscape and exterior photography

Ansel Adams is one of the most famous photographers in the world, known for his incredibly sharp and detailed landscapes of Yosemite national park that eventually led to its protection for development companies tearing it down in search of profits.
Since being given the portrait part 1 brief ive been studying Adams' use of light, shape and composition that brings so much magic to his prints, of course i have to shoot digital for the assignment and so i cannot take my time to produce a set of 10x8 large format images like he would have done.

Moon and half dome by Ansel Adams 

Is Anyone Taking Any Notice

Is anyone taking any notice? This is a question which I feel Don McCullin must have asked everyday throughout his career as a photojournalist making it quite fitting as the title of a book that takes you on a journey across the world encapsulating some of the most tragic scenes from the 20^th century.

Beginning in England this book throws the reader back and forth through time as McCullin explores the thoughts that go through his mind looking back upon his images. These thoughts have been presented as rather unusual pieces of text across the top and bottom of each page forcing the reader to slow down and take the time to make sense of what it being said. McCullin has rather intelligently controlled the tempo of the book using blank space. In parts of the book there can be entire pages left blank as if McCullin wants the reader to pause and consider the work on previous pages before continuing to more captivating images on the next page. This I found worked incredibly well and added a lot of value to the experience this book brings.

The book presents a kind of hierarchy within the pages making it clear which images are more important, for example certain images spread over the boundary of a page and spill onto the next. This technique allows the reader to better understand each narrative depicted across the pages. The book captures not only scenes of horror and mutilation but also the moments around that, the moments  in which you truly begin to develop an understanding.

This book is truly captivating and I find it is essential for any photographer to read if they want to develop their ability to capture a story within the confines of a photo book.

South west motorcycles

For my "person at work" brief i decided to pursue my love for motor sport photography as one of the 3 people,After having a look around online and asking the local people i found that there aren't actually any racetracks as such in the area that i can get to via the transport available and so i decided to try and find a different angle at which i could still capture motorcycles.West coast motorcycles is a garage in Penryn that specializes in motorcycles and so i contacted them.
The following monday i took my camera (Nikon D5500 with my 18-140mm kit lens) and began to build up a relationship with the two men working there,At first the whole scene was awkward and the younger mechanic was clearly uncomfortable with having the lens pointing in his direction.I find this happens a lot when i go to photograph events or business and so i began to talk to him and ask about various things that really are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things but it gave me the chance to get his guard down and that's when i could really begin to work. Some of the images i took where quite covert simply because i took those early and didn't want to get in his face too much.despite this i think some of the early photos are the most creative and dynamic. I took around 80 images as i wanted to make sure i captured every angle of the garage and its atmosphere as i feel that the atmosphere can tell as much of a story as the people can.

The lighting i found was tough to work with and i found my self working in relatively high ISO settings to allow me to keep the aperture wide enough to capture an aesthetically pleasing depth-of-field.

The Mechanic surrounded by his passion at south west motorcycles in Penryn ,Cornwall

The oil sodden hand of a mechanic grasps the tire of a clients motorcycle 

Younger mechanic working in the garage

Eden Chefs

On our recent visit to the Eden Project i stumbled across some chefs cooking in an open kitchen in the Mediterranean biome, I spent some time working around them capturing the many aspects of their job as they moved quickly around the kitchen doing 101 things. i tried to focus specifically on one chef and so these are the three photo i captured which i feel are most suitable for the person at work brief.

Eden Project Trip

I recently took a residential trip for 3 days to the Eden project,The purpose of this trip really was to get everyone shooting and to get to see somewhere amazing and to learn as well as giving everyone the chance to mingle as a course.
On this trip we were told to bring a macro lens and so that is what i did. I took a tamron 70-300mm lens with me which i found to not only work really well for the close up shots of the various plants and wildlife that i photographed but also helped me to create aesthetically pleasing portraits that had an almost high fashion vibe to them.
While on the trip i learnt a lot about my photography i found areas in which i can improve such as composition,captioning and manual focusing.
I captured a range of subjects on the trip from portraits,macro and architecture images i feel the time at eden with no agenda other than shooting allowed me to experiment with my work and really begin to find my own personal style or at least try styles of photography that i may not otherwise have given a thought to.

Life on the Road

Today was the day we were travelling to the eden project for a 3 day residential trip.I took the car there with 3 friends,or so that was the plan. On the way there we suddenly felt the car shake and rumble as we were travelling down the road.We blew a tyre and to top it off it was the spare tyre that we had blown,and so we were stuck at the side of the road in the middle of now where awaiting rescue.

After a few minutes it suddenly dawned on us that we were going to be stood here a while and so we locked up the car grabbed out cameras and set out on a quick adventure through a small woodland where we had pulled up.

Just over the other side of these woods we found a beautiful plot of land with a large pond and views across the Cornish landscape.Bored and feeling creative we decided to have a quick photo shoot as we awaited rescue.We put on a 300mm lens and began shooting portraits of one another. although it was only a bit of fun, i feel we produced some fantastic images with good use of the natural lighting and depth of field

   

Oxjam Music Festival

Last week i volunteered to photograph the Oxjam music festival in Falmouth. Having never photographed a band before i researched some photography and advice on how to successfully capture images at a concert.

I studied photographers such as Leo Matus, a photographer that captures up close,low saturated images of live musicians and DJ's in L.A i found his style of photography to have similar aesthetics to the style that i had envisioned my self producing.The use of shadows and slower shutter speeds in his images create both mood and motions,this i feel creates a more dynamic images with a well portrayed concept capturing the narrative behind the musician/band.

For this shoot i planned to capture the musicians setting up before the gig began as i wanted to capture the whole story rather than just the main show. My aim was to capture a wide shot that had the band,the crowd and any other key elements of the room,i also wanted to capture some portraits of the musicians as i feel these can capture alot of narrative.As we are only allowed three images per person at work i decided that the last type of image i would try to get is the action shots that would help portray the atmosphere.

At the end of the evening i felt confident that the images would be exactly what i needed,however , once i had arrived home and the images were on my laptop i realized that when i re-set my camera it had changed the format to JPEG!!! because of this i am un able to utilize these images for my person at work project.

You've never seen them like this...

Tim Hetherington was a world class photojournalist until his death in 2011 after a tragic mortar attack in Libya and his work has become some of the photography i admire most for the stories they tell and the thought provoking subjects he conveyed through his imagery.While researching for the person at work assignment i have been studying some of his work and one collection of images stood out to me."You've never seen them like this" is a book produced by Hetherington that doesn't necessarily "expose the truth" but rather presents the public with a different perspective of the soldiers.Rather than looking strong,brave and courageous, They instead appear vulnerable,exposed and helpless which goes completely against the typical image of a soldier.

These images of the sleeping soldiers that Hetherington captured have triggered an idea, what if i were to find a stereotyped subject and find a way to capture it in a fresh light that brings a new perspective for people to think about. For example the bands playing at the Oxjam festival could have a background story that hasn't been captured before or the real purpose behind the festival. Just an idea thought i would share it :) 

Quick link for anyone that wants to read more about the book i just talked about : https://gerryco23.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/tim-hetheringtons-soldiers-you-never-see-them-like-this/

People at work ideas

Since the moment the person at work assignment was delivered i have had a lot of varied ideas bouncing around in my head and being in a new location i want to explore my new home to discover all of the little niche business' that make Falmouth the fantastic little town that it is.

Since i arrived here i have discovered just how delicious Cornish pasties are and being that they are so popular in Cornwall  i want to use this as part of my idea generation as i feel that there could be a great narrative to be captured in the small bakeries and butchers that are scattered across the town.

I am volunteering to work with Oxfam as a photographer for there takeover event named Oxjam Falmouth Takeover on the 30th September. I am going to take this opportunity to capture images that could be used for my person at work,however, i realize that with this idea there is no chance of re-shoot and so i will have to research and prepare so that i get it right first try or arrange with the bands to shoot any other events they. 

Blog test

This is my first post, the image below is what was captured for the over summer task i was given with the title "the things i love most about my town" the image depicts a motorcycle as i am a  race marshal at my local race track.