Final Evaluation
Contemporary Food Shoot; http://www.stephenshawphotography.com/index.html
I particularly liked his food photography because his images have a clean fresh approach and he uses a nice depth of field, focusing on the main subject yet there are objects relating to the food nicely obscured in the background. Here are a couple of his images.
These images were very influential to my final shot, not only this approach of lighting but also the positioning of food in relation to the everything else in the shot. Stephen Shaw shoots with a canon 5D mk 2 and a range of lenses. His website is basic and can be viewed in both English and Italian, which I thought was a nice touch making it accessible to a wider range of viewers. I was however unable to find out any information about the way he shoots i.e. how he lights food shoots etc, and he doesn't have a price list on the site for wedding packages. I think he could improve his website by adding these elements and in turn this could be an advantage to gaining more commissions in this competitive field.
My final shot for the Contemporary Food Shoot.
Contemporary Exterior Architecture; http://www.jcollingridge.co.uk/index.html
J.Collingridge has been a big influence in following a career in Architectural photography since first seeing his work, I have been in contact with him during an assignment last year and was fortunate to attend one of his shoots in a derelict building in Dewsbury. After assisting Collingride on a shoot, I have gained first hand knowledge on his work ethics on a shoot. I realise that these will differ depending on the circumstances and can therefore only comment on the shoot I attended.
Collingridge shoots with a canon 5D mk 2 and primarily a TSe lens, either 17mm or 24mm. There was no extra lighting kit used, although he did bring some with him, instead he used a long exposure in the dimly lit building, and had the camera set on self timer to eliminate shake, and the camera was set at auto bracketing, making it possible to process the images in HDR.
I gather that there is quite a lot of work done in the post processing of his images which he stated was done using photoshop, it is this process that adds his personal touch to each and every one of his images, making them unique and very attractive, it is this that has gained him awards within the industry and well deserved commissioned shoots around the world, in turn giving him exposure and popularity in this field.
Here are a couple of images taken from J. Collingridges website.
My Final Shot
Both of these images were my influence for my final shot in different ways, the first one in the angle and the second one, by including more foreground in my shot, which I personally think gives the shot a strength and sense of power, without distracting from the main subject.
I have learnt numerous valuable points during this module in relation to architectural photography and how the light and time of day have affect the shoot, knowledge of the sun's position is invaluable and can be the make or break of a shot. Unfortunately the weather has not been the best especially the days I was available to shoot, therefore I had to make the most of what I had, and although it was not great, I had some nice clouds in the sky which are also a added factor to gaining that perfect shot.
I was working with two possible final shots for this part of the module and one of the issues I had when shooting was moving cars being in the shot, because when shooting in bracket mode there is going to be different images of anything in the shot which is moving, in the hdr processing stage we will be left with a ghost image, on occasions this will not affect your final shot if for instance there was a moving car in only one of the three bracketed shots, as when they are put together this element is not visible. If the car is in all of the bracketed shots then you will be left with a ghost image of each position the car was in when the shot was taken, I suppose you could argue that this could work, it would depend on the context of your image.
Here is an example where this happened to me while shooting the Ibbotson flats. ( red car by the blue boards directly below the flats with scaffolding up)
The other issue I had to deal with was that after assessing where I should situate my camera to get the best shot, my car was actually in my shot, I had to leave the camera on tripod, and jump in my car to move it out of shot range. This was one of those times when I could have done with someone with me, since it is not the most desirable spot in town, and could have proven disastrous. The Ibbotson flats are due to be demolished to make way for a new Tesco store at the bottom of town. In the next image you can see the marked out area where I had parked my car, ( I deleted the images in camera as soon as I realised) this is another lesson learned- keep these shots as evidence!
I was working with two possible final shots for this part of the module and one of the issues I had when shooting was moving cars being in the shot, because when shooting in bracket mode there is going to be different images of anything in the shot which is moving, in the hdr processing stage we will be left with a ghost image, on occasions this will not affect your final shot if for instance there was a moving car in only one of the three bracketed shots, as when they are put together this element is not visible. If the car is in all of the bracketed shots then you will be left with a ghost image of each position the car was in when the shot was taken, I suppose you could argue that this could work, it would depend on the context of your image.
Here is an example where this happened to me while shooting the Ibbotson flats. ( red car by the blue boards directly below the flats with scaffolding up)
The other issue I had to deal with was that after assessing where I should situate my camera to get the best shot, my car was actually in my shot, I had to leave the camera on tripod, and jump in my car to move it out of shot range. This was one of those times when I could have done with someone with me, since it is not the most desirable spot in town, and could have proven disastrous. The Ibbotson flats are due to be demolished to make way for a new Tesco store at the bottom of town. In the next image you can see the marked out area where I had parked my car, ( I deleted the images in camera as soon as I realised) this is another lesson learned- keep these shots as evidence!
I was pleasantly pleased with the outcome of both the Ibbotson flats shot and the Magistrates Court. I have walked past both buildings many times over the years and wouldn't of thought twice about shooting them until now, and how different they actually look. And after my initial decision of shooting the green M&S store, I feel much more satisfied with my final choice. (Always do a reccy before planning in future).
Contemporary Interior Space; 360 virtual tours.
http://www.regasys.com/services/virtual-tours/?ad=CAA_virtual-tour-photographers_03#Price_06_video&pano&photo_NP=1180_DP=88
On researching photographers who make 360 virtual tours, I noticed the search engine listed company's who create these as opposed to freelance photographers. the link I have included was the first one I visited, and to be honest, considering it is showing property's in London I was a little disappointed with the information on the business. The website is very basic, with only one page, there is no-where to navigate to, although there is a price calculator which gives an estimate cost of having a 360 tour produced by this company, an email and telephone number at the top of the page is all you get.. But, is that all you need??? maybe.. at least this gave me something to think about, in that setting up a business such as making 360 virtual tours, you don't require a complicated website. Why have 10 360's available to view, when the client wanting one obviously knows what they are, therefore they only need to see one example, and I guess if they can see the quality they will receive, then if the price is right, you will get the client. |
| Screen shot of the Regasys website. |
I have been giving the 360 tours some positive thoughts so far, as a career opportunity. I am really considering this being a great opening for me, going forward as business option. and can see the advantages to any company, be it a small hotel or big corporate institute, to having this available for their clients and the public in general. I am excited to learn more about perfecting this technique to a high standard, and looking at ways of making it even more of a desirable asset for the client.
An Event of Significance; Time- Lapse
http://www.366days.org.ukhttp://ollielarkin.co.uk
My event of significance was making a time lapse in Wakefield Cathedral, as they were undergoing renovations in the nave, as a result of celebrating 125 years of the Cathedral's existence. I became a volunteer photographer as part of this project and visited the Cathedral 3 times in total, firstly taking photographs and on the other 2 occasions I made time- lapse's of the contractors dismantling the scaffolding and laying the under floor heating.
In researching time lapse photographers, I found Ollie Larkin who only shoots time lapse, his website is currently being updated, it shows various time- lapse videos which he has produced and gives a little personal information, but it doesn't expose the equipment he shoots with etc.
Larkin has recently set up and managed shoots lasting from one day to several years, building and designing time-lapse solutions to be used all over the world. Including shoots for broadcast and corporate clients internationally, this involved a 10 week shoot in Scotland for an up and coming BBC project. his work also includes a commission for Qatar National Day, in which he spent 2 weeks shooting time-lapse for a film by Peter Webber.
I particularly like the time-lapse made in the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre, because he pans the camera around, giving a wider view of the area being shot. I can see how attractive and beneficial this product can be to any business. And since we have been shown how to produce a time-lapse, I have noticed that almost everything shown on TV lately, be it an advert, film or documentary, you can see a time-lapse. This makes me realise the opportunities out there as a photographer new to the business where the work is.
This could be a fantastic opportunity to get involved in a TV or film production, just like the 360 virtual tours, I feel that time-lapse is yet another popular photographic qualification to have, in order to obtain clients. There are so many ways that a time-lapse could be used for, from a new building being erected to the hustle and bustle of a shopping centre, to promote a business.
A well executed time -lapse of a plant growing from seed could be used by a garden centre as advertising for instance, I personally think that having the knowledge and resources to produce this and offer as a service to clients, could be a powerful tool and the making of a business.
Pop Culture; Video
My pop culture went from being a 360 revolving image, to stop motion and finally ended up as a video, which in the grand scheme of things is again a very popular means of media today. More and more photographers are turning their hand to making video, and shooting with the canon 5D mk 2 makes this even more enjoyable, giving a nice dof, and the ability to zoom in and out of focus on a subject, can give some great effects used correctly.
I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity of videoing for Snap On Tools, as they launched a new product, and required a training video for customers buying the product. I have included one of the videos on my blog as evidence, and some still shots of the equipment used in the shoot.
This proves how popular video is with large nationwide corporations and the options available for producing video for their products is an ongoing working environment. I included the Snap On Tools video just for evidence of my work with a reputable company.
My video for the Pop culture theme, is of a 13 year old boy, showing that as soon as he arrives home from school the first thing he does is go up to his room and start playing on his I-pad, then moves onto the x-box where he is playing live and talking to other people, who he doesn't know all over the world. He then moves to the laptop, and will be on this until the early hours of the morning at week ends..
The purpose of my video is to show the popular culture of society today especially in young children, that they seem dependant on technology for everything, and how easy it is for them to access websites that are X rated.
This part of the module, proved the most challenging, only because of the limited time I had with the young boy to actually make the video. Once we got started it was done in no time.. I have not edited a video previously to making this, or used I movie so I had to research first how to edit the video, add a title, pictures and music. Again, I can see lots of potential for this medium in various walks of life. From the music industry to local businesses who wish to promote their company/band.
You tube is a perfect example of how powerful video is in today's society, people have become famous from videoing themselves and posting it on the you tube website.
In theory, if you composed a really good quality video of an interesting subject and posted it on you tube, this could lead to being approached by someone with a job prospect.
My video for the Pop culture theme, is of a 13 year old boy, showing that as soon as he arrives home from school the first thing he does is go up to his room and start playing on his I-pad, then moves onto the x-box where he is playing live and talking to other people, who he doesn't know all over the world. He then moves to the laptop, and will be on this until the early hours of the morning at week ends..
The purpose of my video is to show the popular culture of society today especially in young children, that they seem dependant on technology for everything, and how easy it is for them to access websites that are X rated.
This part of the module, proved the most challenging, only because of the limited time I had with the young boy to actually make the video. Once we got started it was done in no time.. I have not edited a video previously to making this, or used I movie so I had to research first how to edit the video, add a title, pictures and music. Again, I can see lots of potential for this medium in various walks of life. From the music industry to local businesses who wish to promote their company/band.
You tube is a perfect example of how powerful video is in today's society, people have become famous from videoing themselves and posting it on the you tube website.
In theory, if you composed a really good quality video of an interesting subject and posted it on you tube, this could lead to being approached by someone with a job prospect.
My finished video can be viewed on this link. http://youtu.be/V-4gaqZYnaw
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