Lesson 26/10/15

The second lesson I attended, we first met up as a group, like before and were greeted with Richard asking how we all were and asking if we had any issues that we could discuss and sort out, like the previous lesson and if we did we could write them down this time as it was time for our annual student assembly. As we are 3^rd year he left us alone to conduct the meeting ourselves and discuss any issues we were having and for our representatives to write them down and fill out the paper work left for us to do, whilst we were answering the questions. After that was finished he came back and mentioned that the AOP (Association of Photographers) Awards are now open starting from this October, which he informed us had been moved forward without any real warning and it had only recently been announced and that if we wish to enter these awards we are welcome to and also that they normally give more warning than this and there’s normally a discussion within the people involved. Within this lesson we had a talk/ presentation from Ste, our technician and who runs the photography shop, were we had a printing workshop and learned the best things to do to our images before sending them off to print. During his talk Richard would chip in with some of his comments, information and experiences regarding certain things about printing and techniques Ste was saying. We learned what was best to do with our images and to leave sharpening to the end and I, if not us all, learned a different way to sharpen and what the best settings of that were to use before converting it to the correct profile and sending it off to print. We also learned the differences within certain profiles, like SRGB and Adobe RGB and as well as that about the ‘colour space’ and what different profiles can do with it and what the information is and means to us and various printers and what would happen if we used the wrong profile with the wrong printer – that it wouldn’t understand and try to fill in the gaps or it just wouldn’t print all together because it couldn’t cope with the amount of information given to it. The same with putting an image on the web, were you have to use JPEG as this condenses the file of the image down so it can be used on the web, so it’s not too big and can be handled. When converting an image from a RAW file or TIFF to a GPEG it takes away some of the pixels and like previously mentioned, condenses it down so it doesn’t take up too much space therefore making it easier to send over email so someone can have a look of it for example. In addition to this we also got told about sizing our images and what’s best if we want borders etc or if we want them ready for printing on canvases or what to do if the printer being used won’t print right to the edge and therefore creating an automatic border but which might not suite your image and may not even be symmetrical. We also got told what papers would be best for different profiles to send to the printer for best results for our images and what’s best for images when using them on the internet and not all screens show all colours and to use calibrated monitors, as this is best – you can get a consistency of what your images look like instead of seeing different shades of the same colour on different monitors but without having changed anything, this is based on the colour space we learned about and that various profiles see different amounts of colour and to find the best combination of profile/ printer and paper to use for the printing of our final photos. After the talk we all got told to choose one of our own images and to do what we had just learnt about and get it ready to send off to print and then once it was ready to send it to Ste to print off for us and we’d meet back later in the afternoon at 4pm and look at the photos produced and to watch videos from The Print Space and Digital Lab. During this in-between time I also got asked to have a tutorial with Richard as I had not had one yet. He asked me to go for 2 which gave me time to get a photo ready for print and to get some dinner as well, he mentioned to the class to look at books by Tim Daley on digital printing from the Uni library. 

1st Shoot ideas

For my first shoot I thought of doing a practice shoot in the studio to jog my memory and also whilst doing this I could incorporate some ideas of how I’d like to shoot my shots for my project. Therefore killing two birds with one stone. I can shoot different angles and use various lighting to find which ones I like the look of the best and use theses styles of shots for my other shoots where I’ll be trying to get my final shots for hand in. I could shoot with both soft and harsh lighting and choose which I prefer or which angles I like the most regarding which lighting as I like both soft and harsh lighting. 

5/10/15 - First Lesson, Blog Ideas and thoughts

 The lesson I first attended, we met up in room 54 in the main building on the 5/10/15. We gathered there as a class, which all had attended. The first part of the lesson, meeting was to go over any problems or issues we had and the talk to the teacher or the group if we needed or wanted. The teacher I have for my final year doing commercial photography is Richard. He said what the day would consist of and what to expect. He mentioned to us all to have our ILA completed or at least very near completion and to hand it in either printed out or via email or both if we wished. He also mentioned that we’d be welcome to attend a lecture he was giving on semiotics or we could choose to finish our ILAs, which I chose to do as I needed to add the books bibliography and internet research also. He lastly mentioned he’d like us to get a book on studio photography and have a glance and a read through it if we could. I went with Cara and Oneka to the library after lesson broke and went to hand in a book and at the same time collect a book on studio photography. At 1.30 we were all to attend a practical lesson in studio 2, as requested by the class of being taught, reminded of shooting in the studio. We all attended and I took notes when Richard gave useful information and advice for us all and which I hadn’t heard before and/ or which I’d never even knew of. 

Tutorial

Before we started the final year, we all had a tutorial to attend to before we began any classes. This was to discuss which pathway we had chosen either Fine Art or Commercial and also any information we needed to know as we started our first week, such as our new timetable. I arrived a little early and waited for my turn to be seen. Once it was my chance to be seen I spoke to Jamie who, after hearing I would like to take and consider the Fine Art opportunity within the course, advised it might be best for me to take the Commercial pathway as it is apparently more structured which would suite me better as I work better with a little guidance of what I’m supposed to do as opposed to when I’m left to my own devices. Although I do think I can work well on my own and can happily do independent research and get on with my work though I understand their concern is with my, for want of a better phrase, lack of motivation at times within my work or I’m behind with it, were I struggle maybe to come up with an idea at first then I’m rushed more towards the end especially if there’s a hiccup which I have to correct which slows me down or in general if it just seems to take me longer to get the work done, with or without issues along the way. After I received the advice, which I took and chose to take the Commercial pathway I received my new timetable and the slightly altered timetable just for our first week back. 

ILA - Independent Learning Agreement

My written ILA described the reason(s) why I chose my subject matter and how I intend to go about shooting it for my project and how I would expand it for the second project. It contains project information, such as aims, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. It also has a planner in which I show what I’m doing each day of the week regarding the project, for example things like blogging, shooting and researching. 

My Synopsis on the ILA.

This module will be focusing on beauty, both natural and cosmetic and will use the studio to refine knowledge and practical skills within the studio and enhance understanding of the technical requirements needed to complete this assignment. It will be an opportunity to expand and explore upon knowledge and skills already gained from previous modules.

For this project I would like to photograph a selection of people based upon the theme of beauty. I will photograph them in the university studio using the lighting and camera equipment available. I would like to use both soft light and harsh lighting to experiment with, using dish, reflectors and material sheet to diffuse the light and boom stands. The soft lighting being kind and flattering on the subject and commonly used within portrait and fashion photography and in comparison the harsh lighting used to create a more dramatic and darker tone image portrait of the person. I have chosen this concept/ idea of beauty because I think that it is relevant to today’s society and has always been a topic of interest, there is most likely always someone with something to say about it. Within today’s society and the younger generations who are growing up with beauty advertisements everywhere, it’s all about looking good, looking your best and although throughout the ages there has always been something on beauty, it has never quite been on this scale. It’s all about appearances and image, how you look, how you dress, latest fashions and trends and newest make–up. Trying to keep up on the latest trend and style is expensive, it’s like technology, there’s always something new coming out that’s better than the last or improved and then, in health and look terms, trying to keep up what you’ve tried to achieve, e.g. keeping wrinkles away, always moistuirising. Most people are self -aware and self - conscious of their own image. I will shoot around 2 or 3 people with make-up/ looking good/ good hair and without/ not looking there best, therefore with an outcome of either 4 or 6 final images. These photos will be presented in an A3 + portfolio box as a series of photographs/ a body of work, they will be in print sleeves and labeled on the reverse with the relevant information such as date, name and type of print. The photos themselves will be most likely 12 x 16 as I have printed this size before and think it would suite the images however I will be looking in to it more and upon researching this further I will decide then. Lastly these images will either be on gloss or matte paper. Alongside their photos I may use text to coincide with the image. I will ask each person for a quote about his or her idea and opinion on the whole notion of beauty. I will use and expand upon this idea further for the Final Major Project.     

Subject Matter & Research

After finally choosing a subject matter for my last two projects, in my final year, I decided to go and buy a selection of popular and well – known fashion magazines as I thought they would be the perfect place to start on beauty research as within these types of magazines they are always talking about beauty, new make-up to buy, new and improved formulas and new, even better diets to try out etc. The magazines I bought were Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazar, Elle, Marie Claire and Glamour. I also looked at some photography books, both along the lines of shooting in the studio and shooting portraits, to help me gain some ideas and inspiration of how I can shoot my subject. I also chose to go and collect some books on the subject matter relating both to studio and digital photography.