Sheringham

For my space and place module I've been visiting Sheringham. I've looked at a few different ideas : Human traces, Textures, Decay and History, I'm not sure where this projects going to end at the moment but so far I'm quite pleased with some of the photographs I've taken.

Although these pictures need a little work on them, I'm so pleased with them as I feel they give the desired effect I was going for. I really like the fact that by looking at the photographs that this is a seaside location, but you don't know which one... well you do because I told you at the start of the post.

Medium Format and studio lighting

So I hope you can all forgive me for not posting in a while, but uni's been keeping me ultra busy..I just don't seem to have time to post as much anymore but im determined to get back into the spring of things and try  post once a week, but bare with me as it might take me a while to get back into things. :)
so im going to do this in a back to front kind of way, I really wanted to show you my documentary work but I haven't got my prints back yet so you'll have to wait for now..So instead im gonna post some of my medium format work,  we've been working on Hasselblad's and Mamiya's with polariod backs (medium format) and studio lighting to create different effects.

Subject F8 , Background F16.5 , Shutter speed 250 iso 100
Under exposed background.

Subject F5.6 , Background F22 , Shutter speed 250 iso 100
Over exposed background.

Subject F5.66 , Background F22.2 ,  Shutter speed 400 iso 100
Over exposed with flare

Subject F8 , Background F16 ,  Shutter speed 400 iso 100
Light flare.

 Subject F8 , Background F2.8 , Shutter speed 400 iso 100
High key.

Shoulder F11, face F11, Background F2 , Shutter speed 400 iso 100
Low key.

My week in pictures.

So I'm gonna try something new today and see how it goes down. The title pretty much says it all really. although instead of the week going Monday-Sunday its going to be Tuesday-Monday as I didn't really plan this very well, all the images are from my phone this week, but they will vary week to week from my SLR  phone and maybe even 35mm film.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

  

So here we go 

-Tuesday spent at dads, Hope found my camera bookmark which also doubles up as a magnifying glass!

-Wednesday i spent the afternoon in the uni library, and someone had left a load of sticky notes in a book i was read so that's put a few new ideas in my book so consider.

-Thursday is costa morning! so you'll never guess what ill be doing tomorrow! gingerbread latte and a chocolate twist! 

-Friday i became the newest resident of bishopdale 10 for the weekend, visiting the lovely rachie!

-Saturday was a very long day spent shopping in leeds! Ay up pet! 

-Sunday we went for the last supper, a massive roast at the picture house, first turkey dinner of the year!

-Monday I went to have a nice relaxing bath and bam! i walked out of the bathroom for five mins and the bath is almost overflowing and the bubbles are up the wall. whooops. 

So that's a little insight into my week. ill be back again this time next week, but for now a post about meeting David Ellison to follow. 

Camera Obscura Takeover

Definition of camera obscura : a darkened enclosure in which images of outside objects are projected through a small aperture or lens onto a facing surface.

How we did it ?

Step 1. find a suitable room which you can black out, but there is still a window so you can make an aperture.

Step 2. black out the room, covering the window with black card cut a small circle about the size of a Vaseline tin. And a little paper flap to cover the hole, but will be able to attach back to uncover the hole.

Step 3.turn the lights out, and uncover the aperture(hole). the light from outside will then project the objects from outside onto the walls. Remember that the images projected onto the walls will be back to front, so what will be on the left if you where looking out the window will be projected onto the right and visa versa.

Exposing your image

Step 4.Cover up your aperture, so that you don't expose your paper before its ready. turn off the lights

Step 5.Tape up your paper to your selected position, depending on how much light there is depends on how long you should expose your paper for, so the less the light the longer you expose the paper for, the more light the less you expose the paper for.

Step 6. in our case we exposed our paper for 2 mins, so lift the paper flap from over the aperture for two minutes.and cover back up.

Step 7.once the exposure is taken down and placed in a lightproof bag. Take to a dark room, and go through the process- i'm not going to go into that stage atm, but i'm sure i will do over the next couple of weeks :)

Unfortunately the quality of this image int great as i only had my phone on me, our exposure is the one on the right, with the 4 pieces, can you tell what it is ?..

I hope you've found this post interesting, and that it has made you want to try your own! its not hard and would only take you about an hour once you've got the materials you need!

The Ipswich Project.

Whoooo my first official day at Uni was yesterday, and well minus the rain it was pretty good. We were set what I thought was going to be a fairly easy task to settle us in, but actually it turned out to be harder than i initially thought.
Aim of the task - Take 6 photographs relating to the following statements
          1.Things in a long line
          2.A bad smell
          3.A smile
          4.A red ball
          5.An ugly photograph
          6.A meaningless photograph.
So overall I'd say these would seem pretty obvious on what to do, but we wanted to think out the box and do something a little different. Although when it came round to taking the pictures we struggled a little for what to take for number 5 and 6 because what is an ugly picture, what one person may find ugly another may find beautiful ?.. and as for a meaningless photo does that mean it has no meaning to you or the object in the image has no meaning? so after a Long cuppa hot chocolate in costa, we got onto the task ahead and off out in the rain we went! And if at first you don't succeed try and try again. Three hours later, the photos are taken and printed off, ready for critique on Friday! Wish me luck ... Can you guess which picture goes with which statement ?.. Im off now but if you're ever need a little project to get your brain working, this is a nice one to try, ask a fellow student, your mum or dad to write a list or even use mine and see what you come up with!

Guess who I had a little chat with.

Some of you may have heard of Darren Heath, hes a professional photographer, specializing in formula one and is well known for his unique style of work.
I was luck enough to ask him a few questions back in January, Photography related of course and unfortunately due to me being lame didn't get round to posting it. so now I've got some time to kill I thought id  let you hear what he had to say.
I hope you enjoy hearing his responses as much as i did.

1.When did you start taking photographs ? I first owned a camera when I was about 13/14 years old.

2.What made you focus on formular one photography ? I loved motor sport and once I'd discovered the joy of photography it was a natural decision to marry the two. F1 – as the pinnacle of the sport – naturally became the focus and goal once I decided to pursue a career as a photographer.

3.How did you get started in the business? Badgered agencies covering F1 to give me a job as a black and white printer. I started in Jan'88 and then endeavored to prove I was worthy of covering races for the company. I shot my first foreign gp at the German event in July '89.

4.How did you develop your style? It's just the way I like to shoot. I'm not interested in shooting f1 in a conventional and possibly boring fashion. F1 is a wonderfully photogenic sport and worthy of far better photographic coverage than most shooting the sport give it.

5.Do you use one or more camera's at a time ? Always at least two cameras.

6.You've travelled to many different race tracks which has been your favourite ? I love Monza, Monaco, Montreal, Sepang, Singapore and Suzuka equally. All circuits have both good and bad elements.

7.Whats your favourite photograph you've taken and why?  I haven't taken it yet! Really one likes different pictures for differing reasons. I'm always trying to improve and have other photographers and Directors of Photography (in the movie industry) that I admire and take inspiration from.

8.Why is photography important to you? Apart from my family, health etc, etc, photography is the most important thing in my life. I've strived for almost 30 years to be where I am now only ever really keen to be regarded by my peers to be one of the foremost photographers in my field.

9.What advice would you give anyone intrested in becoming a photographer? Find a style you like, practice, practice and practice some more. Only show your best work and don't shoot for free. Your work has worth and one should never forget that. Set a low price/standard now and you'll be forever trying to increase it. 

Little Lady.

Sunday was the christening of the gorgeous Crystal-Mae, and oh my she looked yummy. I took this opportunity to take lots of pictures and get more experience of photographing in a church, as i personally feel its a really hard location to shot, due to the lighting, plus all the different rules. Luckily I've already shot a wedding in the church so i had a rough idea on what the lighting was like and the best spots to stand, ect. anyway onto the pictures, cause I'm pretty sure that's why your reading.

I told you she was very yummy! - shes such a easy to work with little girl as she has a huge personality that shines through, and i cant wait to capture her growing up over the years.