Digi Darkroom Tutorial #7

Digi Darkroom Tutorial #7

Today I had my seventh and last tutorial for my Digital Darkroom submission. Todays talk was fully about the comp. Before I had a chat with Chris I decided to have a look through the Nix collection. I really liked the mood that the Duplex filter created. It gave an orange tinge, a feel of the sun setting off of the frame. I did however think it was too strong at face value, so I decided to lower the opacity. Chris had a look at it and liked the following was suggested:

• Reflections

Chris believed that I had to make the reflections straight on the water. Instead of having having them going in the same direction as the ship. Chris also said that I don’t need to include the light reflections.

• Light

Mentioning about the lights. Chris felt that I should make the light coming from the windows and port-holes more prominent. I was wondering how to do because I did have a white glow around the lights but Matt didn’t agree with it. Chris simply duplicated the light layers and they really stand out even more from further away.

• Colour Tempreature

Chris felt that I need to pay close attention to the colour temperature of the elements in my comp. Chris noticed on how the portrait was a lot brighter than the cup. The two should be exactly the same.

• Smoke

Chris decided to prow through Google to find an image of smoke which I could use as a basis for the smoke in my comp. Chris felt the image on the right would be a good basis. He felt it would make the smoke look sad. Look like the last breaths of the sinking Titanic.

• Curves

To finish off both posters, I’ve been advised to add an S-Curve to my image. I have a pretty low key image so adding an s-curve would give the image just a bit more punch.

• Test Print

Chris and I agreed that I should do a test print. We are making a print campaign after-all. We need to know how the colours of our images will look when there in print form. They will probably be a bit more dull than they are on my Mac screen.

So after the crit I did a test print. I’m really impressed with the colours. Now that I have seen it in print-form I now have a very good idea of how to perfect this comp.

• The smoke might be better in white
• The stars need to be more prominent
• I need to add a ripple to the reflections

Todays Taxi Shoot

Todays Taxi Shoot

Today I shot the rest of my taxi drivers. I was assisted by Molly Percy who’s dad is a taxi driver so we ended the day by taking pics of him. I felt that because I was showing the advantages fo taxi drivers, I felt I should get a wide range of experience and age. Below are the people that I shot for this project:

• Barry: 18 Years Experience
• John: 45 Years Experience
• Gillian: 14 Years Experience
• Colin: 45 Years Experience
• George: 50 Years Experience
• Jason: 24 Years Experience
• Russell: 29 Years Experience

The shoot went alright. I must admit we did have technical difficulties. It was very overcast, a storm was on the way so the sky was very dark. This meant there wasn’t very much ambient light in the centre. Apart from the taxi lights and a few fluorescent tubes at the petrol pumps. This wasn’t helped by us have a faulty flash kit. We didn’t know this during the shoot, but it seems that the flash seems to be out-of-sync after it’s been fired 4 or 5 times. It sounds to stupid to be true but below is a video of me and Molly testing it out. The power was on 4.0 and the image was black. It was’t the camera settings because the image only picked up the ambient light.

We tried different leads, different transmitters and even different cameras but it still happened.

I think these are the five images that I’m gonna upload for my Five Single Portraits submission:

John: 45 Years

Young Mechanic

Colin: 45 Years

Russel: 29 Years

Barry: 18 Years

Mentioning back to the technical problems. It meant that I was gutted because I felt it would’ve been very good to include an image of a female taxi driver. However the flash didn’t fire in sync with the exposure. So sadly I can’t use it with the project.

It’s a shame because it’s definitely one of my favourite images from the shoot. However the flash can’t be seen, so it can’t be used. I’ve also decided to include an image of a young mechanic because I thought that I’m thinking too much about the taxi drivers who will be out of work, I should think about other people who will lose there jobs if black cabs disappear. So mechanic would, he’s probably been specially trained to fix black cabs. The staff at the cafe would also lose there job if driverless cars take over.

As a result there are one or two images that are a tad darker than I wanted them to be, but I feel I’ve done an good job

Seven Key Steps to Becoming a Professional Photographer

Seven Key Steps to Becoming a Professional Photographer

A week days ago I came across a video on Youtube which I thought I should do a blog post about. I’ve been a follower of COOPH for the last few years. They recently uploaded a video about their key steps to becoming a professional photographer.

 

 

Step 1: Find Your Specialty

When starting out, the most important thing to consider is not what equipment you have or want. But instead what type of photographer you want to be. When your starting out a good way to find your chosen path is try everything. One day try street photography, next day still life. This is will help you discover what is best for you.

When you know your specialism you can learn detailed expertise within that particular field. So if you have a passion for studio, you can learn lighting techniques. Deeper skill sets can often be more beneficial than a wide skill set. Work as an assistant will accelerate our learning and build up contacts.

Step 2: Get The Right Tools

Now that you know what area of photography you want to do, you can stock up on the equipment. Theres no point buying a 400mm lens and then deciding to be a portrait photographer. We must meet the basic requirements for our field. So a tele lens for sports, a prime for portraits, a tilt-shift for Architecture. But the most expensive equipment doesn’t guarantee great images.

For all areas, you need to have a reliable storage solution, failure to back-up your work could hurt both your finances and your reputation.

Step 3: Build A Portfolio

You have the area, you have the equipment. Now go out and start shooting. A portfolio is the first thing that a potential client will see. Social medias like Instagram are a good way to get a brief insight, but a website looks more professional. Also try to have separate portfolios. Keep your commercial work away from your wedding work. Don’t neglect personal projects.

Step 4: Find The Right Clients

When your confident about your work, it’s time to search for some clients. We shouldn’t be afraid to aim big. Me emailing Charlton was a big aim for me and now I have unlimited access to my boy-hood team.

We should aim to identify businesses that we feel would benefit from us as photographers. A good way to start with companies is offer one day of free work. It’s better to show that your willing by doing a free-shoot, than jumping in and appearing cheap to hire. If they like your work, they’ll want you again and you can offer a price. It’s key to know your price in advance.

Step 5: Understand the Business

47% of UK creatives are self-employed. We need to keep track of our income and expenses. So get use to sending invoices and quotes. You need to keep receipts and records. Also get camera insurance. It’s a bit more money spent, but it’s much better than forking out for a new camera.

Step 6: Refine Your Workflow

Reputation is very important in the creative industry. You can take magnificent images but if you have a bad personality, your probably not gonna get employed. The little things like turning up spare batteries and memory cards can go a long way. it definitely saves valuable time and makes you look more organised. Get familiar with post-production and file management.

Establish an easy to understand folder system. It is very important to back-up, once again like insurance, it’s a bit more money spent, but it’s better than the alternative.

Step 7: Promote Your Work

There really is no excuse for not promoting your work. We’re in the age of social media. It is a great recourse, but my all means create something physical. Print out a small A4/A5 poster of 4/5 images and your name and put it up and send it to old and potential clients.

Bonus Step: Never Lose Sight Of Why You Started Shooting

Photography and the creative industry in general isn’t exactly a job that people enter to make a quick dollar. Most people enter the industry because it’s there hobby. It’s why I want to be a photographer. Most importantly have fun.

Location Photography Tutorial on the 24th of May

Location Photography Tutorial on the 24th of May

Thursday was the day for my latest tutorial for Location Photography. Celine started the by showing us a catalogue of books that MACK did. It was shown to make a point, which Celine said wasn’t valid for my idea because my book works with it. However Celine was showing us that not many photo-books are made in Landscape. In the Mack Publisher catalogue there was only one landscape book. Landscape is a very tough format to use, not only does it squash portrait images it’s very tough to use a Double page spread effectively thanks to it being turned into a panorama. This is something that was perfect for my photos but for other photos it isn’t good.

So we started by looking at my updated photo-book layout. Celine liked the improvements I made to the trenches. There now grey rather than a harsh black and there only on the end paper where the intro and outro are. This way the images can talk for themselves. Celine believed that I need to pay more attention to type. My intro and outro originally had lines that stretched across the entire page. After some thought I’ve decided to change this to a 1/3 of the page. It’s just too tough to read a line that goes across an entire width of a page, especially for an A4 landscape book. Celine also said that I’ve clearly realised that smaller type is better than bigger type. Case in point the front cover. I had the name A World Beyond The War stretching across the cover. Now I’ve changed it to Font size 12 and it is now much easier to read and take in.

Next we spoke about my 5 single portraits. I showed Celine the 10 best images from my first taxi driver shoot. Celine and my peers really liked the image from inside the taxi. This was my favourite from the shoot. Celine commented that I’ve definitely used the mixed-lighting technique. I said to Celine now that I’ve shot the first one, I know what works and what doesn’t work as regards to poses and lighting. So now I can go to taxi drivers I don’t know and show and say with confidence what I want to create. Celine said have the images on your phone to show them what to do and send them the images. A final bit of feedback was that I should get the drivers to turn the taxi light on.

So now it’s a case of finding four more divers. To which on Tuesday. Me and Molly are gonna spend the day taking pics of taxi drivers. I’m probably gonna be able to get images of her dad in the morning, the I can probably get pics of his mate. Then we need two more, which we’re planning to go round several taxi cafes and garages across London, the more the merrier.

Digi Darkroom Tutorial #6

Digi Darkroom Tutorial #6

On Wednesday I had my sixth tutorial for my Lavazza coffee project. This is the stage where I should be heavily involved in the post production aspect. Everything is shot, it’s just about making it all look plausible.

Chris started the tutorial by looking at my comp, he said that he likes it with the ship being lower than the horizon. I must admit, placing the ship on the horizon was a bit of a cop out. It’s a straight line so I only have to have the water as a new layer and I’d already be on my way to having the Titanic sinking. However by doing it lower than the horizon it’s a bigger challenge to make it look plausible but it brings back a sense of depth to the image, the ship was too far away when on the horizon, by making the cup look like it’s closer to the ship adds to the narrative of he has only just escaped. Mentioning the narrative, Chris felt I should keep adding light to the ship. To make the ship look alive and make us think that our model has only just escaped.

Moving onto my other elements, Chris felt that I should play with the shadows and highlights of my model and coffee cup. The shadows we’re very hard on the Model. The main point though was with the coffee cup. Chris once again felt I should lift the shadows to emulate kick up of light from the water. It would also make the cup look a bit more 3D and life-like.

Chris also thinks that the reflections of the ship should be straight. He recommended simply looking up reflections in the sea. He agreed with the distance of the reflections. He also felt that in there current state they we’re a tad bit distracting. I should make them subtle to the point where the original water layer starts to fight it’s way back to the front. Chris also said I’m heading in the right direction with the smoke but I should make it a bit more gentle and less like a v shape.

 

1st Taxi Driver Shoot

1st Taxi Driver Shoot

I’ve just done my first taxi driver shoot for my 5 Single Portraits. This shoot is definitely a starting point. Below are ten images that I very quickly picked out from Capture One.

 

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So overall I feel this is a decent start. With some image I didn’t have the light in the correct position but now when I go onto the next taxi driver to shoot I know where to position the light. Also there a few images where I had to change the highlights slightly, so on the next shoot I should just take a tiny bit longer to find the perfect balance between ambient and flash.

If I we’re to pick five images based on poses, this is the five I’d select

 

My only concern with this one is the sun glare on the window, it’s a bit distracting

I like this one, maybe should’ve shot a tiny bit lower, to show more of the sky

With this one I should’ve definitely asked Tiana to move the light round to the left side

With this one, I should’ve got Tiana to move the light to the right

How my photo-book is looking

How my photo-book is looking

This post is gonna serve as an update for how my photo-book is looking. I believe my book is complete. I might need to change the paper colour slightly, maybe make it a bit lighter, but type and layout wise, I think it’s ready. [Images are low-res because they are only screen shots]. You can view a binded version of the book by clicking on this link.

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Reflections for my comp

Reflections for my comp

I’ve just been experimenting with reflections for my Lavazza comp. This is something that I’ve been nervous about. Ever since I saw the ripples on the water, I’ve wondered how I was gonna get the textures right. I feel I have made a breakthrough.

I decided to search up some Youtube tutorials. I came across this one. This video was very helpful but initially confusing. The but of the video that I needed to watch was 2:08 to 5:34.

Below is the process that I did to my Lavazza comp:

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After going through this process, I did an inverse layer mask and painted the reflection out. This is what my image looked like:

I decided to consult my ever reliable friend Ryan what he felt, he suggested that I make the shadows a tiny bit longer, irregular and darker. Here is what my image looks like now: [I set the opacity to 49%] When my comp is finished. I’m gonna do a blog post where I will show how my comp has developed.

Tate Modern Offprint

Tate Modern Offprint

Today I went to Tate Modern to visit the Offprint event. Not only was this recommended by Celine but my secondary school photography teacher Jon Nicholls was on the Photopedagogy stand.

I didn’t take as much as I expected from the show but it was definitely worth the visit.

One thing I noticed is that not many books had imagery on their front covers. Most seemed to rely on words to invite visitors in rather than images. Which I guess a phrase or a word is easier to promote something that an image.

I also noticed a vast range of paper wights. There was one book that had a few pages of transparent pages, this allowed notes in the book to bounce backwards and forewords. Another book had magazine paper weights in a hard-cover book. It gave a different feel of images.

I even purchased a book called the Teignmouth Electron. I purchased it for a friend who has a 2nd home in Teignmouth. However when I got home I realised the book isn’t about Teignmouth, instead it’s about a boat of the same name that washed up in Jamacia. This however wasn’t the book being informative, it was just me being ignorant.

Latest Location Photography Tutorial

Latest Location Photography Tutorial

Last Friday I had my latest tutorial for my location photography projects. We started the talk once again by starting with my photo-story.

Celine agreed with the layout of my book. It was felt that I had one of the few photo-books that works well in landscape. It really compliments the double-page spreads of the pivotal images. It really throws the focus onto why the images are pivotal, for example the two soldiers shaking hands.

The next thing I posed was the trenches I drew to put into my book. I liked the idea but I had one problem with them. We’re they distracting. Which Celine said they are prominent but so are the images. Gemma felt that i should change the colour, I shouldn’t use such a harsh black. Gemma suggested using a grey, maybe a grey that appears in the image. Are much discussion we came to the conclusion that I shouldn’t include them on the pages because they we’re simply too distracting for the images. Celine however did think that I should use them on the end pages. Which is what I’m planning to do, subject to changing the colour.

This leads onto the next aspect of the tutorial. Typeface. Celine recommended that I keep type between a font size of 8-12. This is the size is comfortable for people to read. Any bigger and people will possibly lose focus when trying to read our book. Which this book isn’t text heavy like my fanzine but the intro and quotes are important for the narrative.

Celine recommended coming with an updated design to the next tutorial and then print it after that tutorial. I am however keeping my eyes on both Mixam and Blurb for how long it will take to produce and send. Mixam is currently listed as Tuesday the 29th for delivery which the following week has a bank holiday Monday so thats a further day. I might have to end up printing the tutorial.

Next week discussed five singles portraits. Once again there wasn’t really much to discuss about it. I hadn’t had the chance to shoot anything yet, I have one shoot lined up for Tuesday assuming that the CLR approve the risk assessment. On the Monday I’m gonna be assisting Tiana in her mixed lighting shoot. After that we might go on the hunt for taxi drivers on their breaks.