Still Life - 26/2/15 (Documentary) 1st Lesson Introduction & Ideas generation.

For the first lesson we got introduced to some photographers who have shot 'Documentary Still Life'. A few examples are Raphael Dallaporta, Stephen Gill and Narelle Autio which we had discussions about their work and what people thought of them and comparing the works together as well. After we had a look at a selection of photographers, which was supposed to give us some insight to the genre and possibly give us some ideas and/or starter points we then were asked to go and do some research on the topic and find some more inspiration to try and find an idea to progress with. If we already had an idea then look into this further and try to expand your thoughts on it. 

Still Life - New Project

My last project for 2nd year is twice as long (around 14 weeks) and is a combination of both Commercial and Fine Art style work. We have to do both types of photography and through this, as it helps us pick for our final year by giving us a slight insight to both styles, we gain experience in the two genres. The first to look at is Food, second Product, thirdly Documentary, fourthly Nature Morte/ Vanitas and lastly Digital Montage. After we have the five mini series we then write our own Individual Learning Agreement (ILA) which is me writing my brief based on what I have chosen to produce for my final outcome of the overall brief set for us. After each of the mini assignments I have to choose at least one image sized A3 or 12'' x16'' for a total of at least 5 prints then from that a minimum of two final prints  sized A3 or 12'' x 16'' for my ILA.  Each assignment is a two week mini course split in to seminars/ lectures, shooting, research, technical demonstratins and group critiques. 

Portrait - Jon Brock

Here again I found earlier another photographer who uses large format, but not just for portraits, also for landscape as well. The link to his work is below;
http://www.jonbrockphotography.com/info.html

Portrait - Mark Cator

An artist I found who uses large format cameras for portraits and has some great work; the link is below.
http://www.markcator.co.uk/gallery/collections/the-polaroid-portraits/

Portrait - Ben Anderson

Another artist I found who uses large format has written some useful advice for people who aren't as familiar with using them, it goes in to great detail. This can be very useful to beginners, the link is below;
http://benneh.net/techshit/tips-on-large-format-photography-what-they-dont-tell-you/

Portrait - 22/1/15 Black and White Printing 2nd time

The second time printing, I spent the rest of the day in the dark room up until 7. I had already done my exhibition piece (20x24), which was the old man with his eyes closed and also I used him for one of my three littler prints (9.5x12). I began focussing on printing an image of Ben, (one of my classmates) who I spotted outside and asked if I could take his photograph. I really liked this image as it had worked pretty well, the only problem I had noticed, though I had seen the issue while taking the photograph, was the background, (the church) was wonky. The tones in the photo came out well and is one of the reasons I prefer it out of the other two black and white photos I took. The other reason I prefer it is, ignoring the wonky background, because out of the other two the person is in complete focus and the eyes are open. In regards to the others, the man has his eyes closed because it blinked and the girl is blurry because she moved slightly when I took the photo. However both of these I could have prevented and I can learn from this. I am really happy with how the photo of Ben came out and because of this I therefore chose to print it out onto the 20x24 sized paper as well. As I hadn't much choice with what photos I had I made do with what I was available. Although the photo of the girl is blurry for some reason I still quite like the shot. Due to this I chose it as my final 9.5x12 print. Printing both the Ben photo and the girl was fairly easy, there wasn't any major problems. I did test strips, worked out the timings and printed my final images. I worked on the same deveer as previously (the 1st one straight to the right as soon as you walk in) so I new how to work with it and the settings roughly that I had used before. I enjoyed printing my own photos again as I like to watch them come through in the developer solution and working to get the print as best as you can. There is also a sense of accomplishment and achievement because I have done it myself. 

Portraiture Large format camera

For this project I had to use the 5x4 large format camera again. I had last used it for the Landscape project. Within this particular project (Portraits) I used the field camera for taking my black and white photos outside which I would also then print myself. Once you get used to using this camera, like any other camera by practice, it becomes easier to use and not daunting. I enjoyed using this camera because I liked the square photo shape because of using the 5x4.
Below is a link dedicated to the large format camera;
http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/participants.htm

Portrait - Ideas generation B+W photos

For my black and white shots, at the first shoot, I had decided to take my photos outside of the church (now an art gallery and information centre). I picked outside the main entrance as I liked the symmetry of, not just the doorway and building itself, but outside as well. I decided  to take all my photos outside there in the same spot as, like I mentioned about the symmetry but also then because of this all of my photos will have the same background but with different focuses on them and will look more like a body of work, joined together because of the same background. I was just going to take pictures where ever we (the people I'd shoot with) set up as it would be a little different in each photograph and would have various people in the shots due to the area in which we chose and this would be reflected in the background of the photo. Once I started to shoot however I decided to use the front entrance of the church and this is what I stuck too.