Work Diary - Depth of Field

Evaluation:

We looked at the technique of depth of fields through a variety of methods, also looking at both maximum and minimum depth of field. I enjoyed shooting all the different methods, by my favourite was definitely looking at minimum depth of field as opposed to maximum as I felt like I could be a lot more creative and experimental with my work. We did a shoot for minimum depth of field in the studio, and also one outside on location, but I preferred the location shoot as I enjoyed being about to capture and blur the vast colours available in the flowers around college. I did find the studio shoot quite difficult in contrast, as I found fitting all three of my models into the one frame difficult, especially as space was restricted inside. Although I enjoyed the location shoot, I did also find this difficult as you have to angle the camera in a specific way to ensure you get the blurred background, as I often found I was either too close or too far away from my subject to achieve this. In the end though, I felt like I achieved some good quality photos demonstrating the new technique, and I particularly enjoyed editing them to enhance the colours that I had captured.

2 Annotated Pictures:

Both of the images I have chosen to annotate are from my minimum depth of field, as I feel that with the maximum depth of field images I don't have enough to talk about as to me, personally, they are just like any other normal image I may have photographed during my AS year. I think that both of the photos above show contrast really well, and so this is definitely a technique I would like to explore again so I can incorporate it into my contrast-themed work. I particulalry like the contrasting colours in the top image as the green leaves blend together nicely to contrast against the pinks and oranges in the flower. Without the minimum depth of field present in the particular image, the background colours wouldn't have blurred as much as so a contrast wouldn't have been as definitive as the image would have been too busy. I should have perhaps shot this image again to ensure that I can crop out the brown fencing without needing to crop out any of the flower as this would have shown a greater contrast, and the composition would have looked more natural.

My second image I believe looks like a really top-quality image, because of the way I have adjusted the curves and levels well, better than I have done in some of my other work. I think this is an effective way of increasing the contrast of an image, closely resembling the high-contrast HDR photos I mentioned in my project proposal. Aside from the contrast of colour in this image, I like the contrast of light and dark between the bright white petals and the gloomy background, another theme I can focus on throughout my topic. Like the top image, it might have been ideal for me to shoot the subject from above to capture only the flower and the leaves as I couldn't crop the brown fence out from the image that I did manage to take.I perhaps should have worked on moving the camera also to try and achieve more of a blur on the background.

Idea Development:

I really do like the results I have achieved from photographing this technique, and I have definitely seen some interesting ideas I would like to take forward onto my focus on contrasts. Like stated above, this technique is really useful for showing the contrast between colours, and I feel that this particular technique will look effective on food shoots that I might do, such as brightly coloured fruit or sweets. The technique in iteself holds a contrast - blurry and sharp - so I could initially do a whole new shoot just on the technique alone, or I could introduce contrasts when I edit the images like the seond image above, as it is useful in showing the increase in curves and levels to make a HDR-style photograph.

Work Diary - Animation

Evaluation:

The animations that I created were taken from two separate shoots: the actual 'animations' shoot where my goal was to photograph images specifically for a sequence, and the other was my sequencing shoot *previous post* where I thought that some of my sequences would make effective animations! I enjoyed shooting for animations as I developed a few techniques that I really liked experimenting with. One of those was to simply walk around holding my finger on the button to continuously shoot my view as I was moving, which was a relatively simply way of producing an animation. Although I did enjoy the shoot, I think it could have gone a lot better if we had planned before hand for it as I felt that I lacked creativity with the limited time and resources. This would definitely be something interesting to look back on in the future with planned shooting time, props and equipment. 

2 Annotated Pictures:

- animation from a sequence

- animation from the *animation* shoot.

The top animation is one of my favourite 'final products' from the all of the work I produced over the transition week period. Although a basic concept, I think that it works really well as the sequence is fluent and logically makes sense. I am also pleased with the quality of this animation as like some of the non-animated sequences I produced, there were often problems with some of the images within the sequence, which isn't the case here. I could have perhaps reduced the speed of the actual animation, to make my model walking look more realistic, plus I don't like how the quality of each image is slightly different i.e. the colour brightness in the middle of the animation is stronger than the rest of the animation. To change this in the future, I would have to make sure I note down the curves and levels numbers for the first image so that I can apply the exact same to each image.

The bottom animation was done using iMovie and displaying it as a video file on YouTube instead of a GIF. I personally prefer using the GIF method as it feels more like a photography technique than a film or media technique, but the YouTube/video format does have the benefits of being able to show off the work to more people online. This particular animation was created with many images taken one after the other as I walked along the street. I am pleased with the outcome of this animation and I particularly think that the black and white technique suits the genre and tone of the story behind the animation quite well, except for the fact that I have made an error in constructing it as an image in the middle is in colour rather than black and white, but this could become quite effective if used in the correct way and would do well to show my theme of 'contrasts', but, nevertheless, the mistake reduces the overall quality of my animation. Other than this, I think that the speed and pace of the animation is quite appropriate, and that it is only technique and quality I need to work on. Where I was holding the camera by my waist and taking the photos from there, I didn't have proper support on the camera, which has resulted in a jolty movement in the animation which looks very uneasy and unprofessional. Like the top animation also, the levels and curves do not match with each image because I didn't note down the numbers, which is why in places on the animation the image gets lighter or darker. I think that this type of animation would work well if I was going to experiment looking at documentary photography,

Idea Development:

There are many things I can do to my animation work to improve and develop my ideas, and most of them are similar to what I stated in the previous post about sequencing as they are both very similar. With animation more specifically however, I would like to experiment more with the 'movie' style of animation, as I think this could work well photographing 'life' and this is a possibility I have thought about as I would like to look at the contrast in different peoples' lives i.e. a boy and a girl or a rich person and a poor person. Somehow, I would ideally like to play the two videos either side of each other to show a comparison between two completely different lifestyles. I would also like to use this technique to show processes of things happening, such as a slow creature moving, and then a faster-paced creature moving. 

Work Diary - Sequencing

Evaluation:

My experience shooting Sequencing was really fun and enjoyable, particularly because it was the first technique I got to learn for my Unit 3 portfolio. In comparison to some of the other techniques I had developed since this shoot, I feel that this was one of the easiest as I enjoyed being creative with the different subjects I could shoot, as there aren't really any limitations. I particularly enjoyed some of the shoots I constructed in the park, as combining the equipment and the people around me compromised for a variety of different poses and sequences. The only part of this technique I did struggle with was keeping the camera as still as possible and remembering to shoot in virtually the same position to ensure that the consistency of the sequence was of a good quality - looking at some of the images I have for a sequence, the camera might be for example angled slightly higher than in some other pictures.

2 Annotated Pictures:

I am really pleased with the outcome of both of these photos because I believe they perfectly show a sequence. The top picture is my favourite of the two, because I think that the concept is quite simple, but still looks really effective, and to improve this in the future, I would perhaps turn this into an animation as I think that the movement would be very swift and fluent as their are many images within the sequence. The only part about that image that I am not pleased with is the quality of each image and that someone's arm can be seen in picture 2 and 3. Because of the wind, I had to have someone hold the dandelion to keep it still and to keep the sequence consistent. I should have ensured that I had shot enough images so that the entire sequence was consisten, but I didn't which is something I will have to make sure I do next time. I could have also cropped the arm out, but that would have meant cropping down all of the images to make sure they were all the same size, but then it looked like the camera had substantially moved in each image, which isn't what I wanted to happen. I do on the other hand like the colours in the sequence, as the dandelion clearly stands out against the green background, which could work out well when I begin to look at contrasts in depth.

I also really enjoyed shooting the second picture; it was a lot more fun as it involved many people moving around a lot and the entire process was much more exciting. I think that the quality of this image is slightly better than the first as I got the camera composition correct in each shot. This image would work really well as an animation, I believe, because the images would look effective flashing to the next at a fast pace. This image follows more of a pattern, and looks more effeective as it circulates and can never end. With the first image, the sequence can't continue because it has reached an 'end', but I love the randomness of the second image which allows for it to continue. I'd say that I could improve this particular image by enhancing the quality of it more by working with the curves better, but I also think that this could work well with the 'selective colour' technique, and so it could be something I look at more when I shoot more in depth for 'contrasts'.

Idea Development:

Overall I really enjoyed this shoot and the images that I produced, but there are many ways I could also improve them in the future to further develop my ideas. I think that sequences are a really effective way to show the change in something, and so this will be perfect for my Unit 3 work on 'contrasts' I want to look at some very basic contrasts like hot and cold or liquids and solids, which would be an interesting thing to look at with sequencing as, for example, I could photograph the sequence of something solid, melting into a liquid. I might be able to edit future sequences as well to fit to the genre of contrasts, i.e the colour of the images. I would like to experiment by turning some sequences into a gradient effect so that the first picture in full colour, slowly dissolves into black and white as the last image, which would also show a contrast. 

Technique Page - Depth of Field

Definition: depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image.
How do you do it?
Part of my transition work from AS to A2 saw me experimenting with a technique called depth of field. The technique can be split into two different styles: minimum depth of field and maximum depth of field. Here's how they can both be done:

Minimum depth of field -  this is when the foreground is sharp and in-focus, but the background is completely blurry.

Three things can be changed to create this effect:

• Get close to the subject
• Make the aperture bigger (a small number)
• Use a larger zoom (300mm on the college cameras)

Maximum depth of field - this is when the entire picture is completely sharp and in-focus.

Three things can be changed to create this effect:

• Get far away from the subject
• Make the aperture smaller (a big number)
• Use a smaller zoom (28mm on the college cameras)

What does it look like?

Minimum Depth of Field

Maximum Depth of Field

Technique Page - Animation

Definition: A simulation of movement created by displaying a series of pictures, or frames.
How do you do it?
Part of my transition work from AS to A2 saw me experimenting with a technique called animation. The technique involves placing together some images and making them 'move'. Either a sequence of images can be used *see previous blog post* or the same image can be repeated with different adjustments on each layer. Here's how it was done:

STEP1 (After formatting the camera): Photograph your subject for the animation. Either photograph a sequence (previous blog post) or photograph one image which you will repeat within the animation.
STEP2: Download the photos to your computer and open Photoshop.
STEP5: Open the (first) image in Photoshop and apply any adjustments like any other normal photo. It's a good idea to make note of the exact numbers/options you use so you can apply the same thing to all the photos in the sequence to keep the quality consistent.
STEP6: Go to Window > Animation/Timeline to begin making the animation!
STEP7: Add a New Frame and layer either the next image or the same image over the first one. Make sure you open the image separately first to make the adjustments beforehand.If using the same images, change the adjustments so you can see a real contrast between the different layers, i.e. one layer b+w the other in colour.
STEP8: Repeat STEP7 to insert each of the other images into the animation.
STEP9: Toggle each layer so that only the image that you want in each frame is visible in the layers palette.
STEP10: Adjust animation-specific settings such as the timing and length of the animation. If making an animation with the same image throughout, using the TWEEN option will make the transition from one layer to the other smoother as the layers dissolve into each other. SAVE as a GIF!

What does it look like?

Technique Page - Sequencing

Definition: Sequence - A following of one thing after another; succession.
How do you do it?
Part of my transition work from AS to A2 saw me experimenting with a technique called sequencing. The technique is very similar to an animation, as it may be represented in the form of a GIF. Here's how it was done:

STEP1 (After formatting the camera): Standing still, take the first photograph of the subject - this could be a person who is about to walk away, a full flower etc.
STEP 2: Without moving the camera's distance from the subject or the zoom, change what the subject is doing to start the 'sequence' - again this might be getting someone to take a step forward from their original position or removing a petal from a flower - and take the picture.
STEP3: Repeat STEP2 a few times, each time changing what the subject is doing slightly to increase the sequence i.e. removing more flower petals or asking the person to walk further away. The best sequence will include 4 or more images - the more images, the more detail!
STEP4: Download the images onto the computer and open Photoshop.

*ALTERNATIVELY* - Instead of moving the subject, it may be interesting to experiment by moving the photographer/camera or the zoom on the camera, but not a combination of the techniques as the sequence will not flow very effectively.

STEP5: Open a new blank page in Photoshop.
STEP6: Open each of the images for your sequence and make adjustments like levels, curves etc. Make note of the specific numbers/options used so that you can apply the same to each image to make the sequence consistent.
STEP7: Divide the width of your blank page by the number of images you have and re-size each image so the width is roughly the same as the result you get. *this may need to be adjusted later*
STEP8: Under Preferences or View, apply a grid to your page to make the layout consistent.
STEP9: Starting with the first image of the sequence, place it to the far left of the blank page.
STEP10: Move to the next image, and leaving a small gap, place it next to the first image.
STEP 11: Repeat step STEP10 until all of the images fit on the blank page, following the sequence from left to right.
STEP12: Flatten the image, crop around the sequence, print and save!

What does it look like?

Image Banks

Image Banks for the following techniques:

• Sequencing
• Animation
• Depth of Field

*ANIMATION*

The GIF images sometimes do not play. For the mean time, the animated images can be viewed here:

• Top-Left GIF
• Top-Middle GIF
• Top-Right GIF
• Bottom-Left GIF
• Bottom-Middle GIF
• Bottom-Right GIF

Unit 3 Project Proposal

A2 Unit 3 Ideas - Contrast

• Colours
• Fantasy amd reality
• Good vs. evil
• Elements - fire, ice, water, air, earth
• Sweet vs. savoury
• Nature vs. Urban
• Seasons
• Weathers
• Flora and Fauna
• Fashions
• Men and Women
• Textures
• Shapes
• Old and young
• Night and day
• Black and white
• Hot and cold

AS Year Evaluation

Over the last year during my AS time in Photography, I feel that I have really enjoyed the process, as well as learnt new skills, and I am thoroughly looking forward to the A2, especially Unit 3 where I will write my own project proposal.

Personally, I think I enjoyed Unit 1 compared with Unit 2 more as I didn't enjoy being restricted to just the one specific topic. Partly, this was my fault as I felt half way through Unit 2 that I had chosen myself a rather specific and difficult topic - Musical Instruments and Musicians - whereas now, looking back, I would have rather chosen either Contrasts or Multiple Imagery. However, although I know that I will be restricted to my chosen brief for Unit 3, I am going to take more care into choosing a better topic for myself to ensure that I work harder and more creatively throughout the entire six months of the unit.

Although at first I felt like the techniques were learnt about during the formal elements topic was rather repetitive and less interesting, I feel like I have now learnt to take all of these new skills into account whenever I am shooting anything - whether it be part of my coursework or just casual, personal projects at home. I also feel that during this year I have learnt to manage my time a lot better, as often at times I may have struggled with the work load associated with the contextual side of the course, but I definitely  improved this by getting myself much more organised and spending more time outside of college hours on the contextual work, leaving lessons for mostly physical work. I also feel that progressing through my portfolios from start to finish, my creativity, imagination and technical skill has improved since when I first started in September, as you can see physically how much better my work looks, which has effectively prepared me for the types of shoots I would like to conduct during the second year. My Photoshop skills have also improved greatly, as I now have a much clearer understanding of the software, and I feel like I can use it much more effectively in the improvements of my work.

Overall, as I feel that I simply have a strong passion for the subject, however hard it has been or how hard it will get, I have and will work to the best of my ability and will continue to show interest and improvements within my work, despite the fact that at times we will have a lot of work to do ourselves based on research and planning. I have really enjoyed my time in photography and I cannot wait to start my personal project over the summer. 

Focal Length - Standing Still

Horror Film

Using camerawork skills to film a sequence of events and using iMovie to add suitable music and effects.

The Journey

Animation!

Unit 2 Final Pieces

Updated Unit 1 Top 20 Final Pieces (NEW)

Multiple Imagery - Lips

Looking back over my Unit 1 work, I wasn't 100% happy with my final prints, so I decided to create an all new piece involving multiple imagery techniques. My favourite shoot of the Unit was my 'Sweets' shoot, so I decided to create the piece using a variety of images of lips.

PACKUPYOURTROUBLES

Soft Grunge

Today's Tasks/Target (10/05/2013)

Now that I have completed my Unit 2 work, I have a number of small tasks I would like to do in order to improve my work:

• I am going to go through my blog and ensure that it is organised and structured appropriately.
• I still have some images from my last few shoots that I would like to experiment with: I have downloaded some new music-related brushes that I would like to try out.
• I may look into conducting another shoot, but this may require me to go into PoundLand in town to see if they have any toy instruments I can use. I would also like to experiment by cutting out musical notes and hanging them around a model with or without the instruments to represent more of the performance side of the brief for this topic.

Music For The Soul

Here is a selection of edits from my 12th shoot where I originally planned to create an iPod-style advert. I created one like this, but I felt like I couldn't develop this idea much further as it didn't properly resemble photography, which is why I have made these few edits. I found quite a range of different brushes for photoshop online which I used to edit and decorate the shapes created by the silhouettes.

With this image, I tried to create the idea that music was flowing out of my models head as she swished her hair. I think the idea may have looked better if the silhouette was darker all the way to the tips of the hair so that the colour of the brush marks looked like they matched the hair colour more appropriately.

When I shot this shoot, I tried to get my model positioned so that it looked like she were holding a musical instrument, but the silhouettes didn't resemble this well enough. The one photo I felt like I could use was this one, and I had a microphone brush which I felt fit in with the shape of my model's hand. I then used a white pencil brush to continue the line down to the bottom of the image to make it look as if my model was preparing to perform on stage. With this image I like the contrast between the darkness of the silhouette and the white microphone.

This image is simply a repetition creation using the first image, as I felt it made the model look like she were moving and dancing in a performance.

With the silhouette shoot I also shot some normal photos which, with the dark background, created a nice amount of empty space around the model. I decided to use a selection of guitar brushes I had to create a pattern around my model involving different shapes of different sizes. The white brush marks I feel look really effective and striking against the black background, however, I feel like I might try this effect again with a slightly better picture as the actual picture of my model isn't as 'nice' as it could have been. 

'The Performer In You'

Shoot 12 - Emma/iPod-style adverts - Work Record

Plans for the shoot:
My plan for this shoot is to use the studio to take silhouette-type shots of my model, to allow me to create iPod/Apple-inspired adverts with background designs created by instruments I have photographed throughout the Unit. I will need to set up the studio so that the lighting comes from behind my model in order to create the darkened silhouette.

What I hope to achieve:
By conducting this shoot, I hope to effectively show the formal element of shape as the silhouettes will represent a variety of irregular shapes against the patterned backgrounds I will design using existing photos for my 'adverts'. I'm also going to use a variety of brushes, such as fire brushes to create detailed backgrounds and designs with the silhouettes. I feel like fire backgrounds will help to reflect the 'performance' section  of the topic brief as rock and roll artists are associated with setting things on fire, flames, fireworks etc.

What I actually achieved:
In the end I photographed my model in two different ways - First I used a dark background to make actually cutting around my model easier, allowing for slightly more intricate shapes as I had more space in the studio. After this, I then changed the setup of the studio so that the lighting was behind my model to allow me to actually capture a silhouette rather than changing my image into a silhouette.

What I am going to do next:
Now that I have conducting all 12 of my required shoots, I am going to spend the rest of my time on my outstanding contextual work and improving any of my physical work that I feel is not the best that I could have done.

Shoot 11 - CD Patterns - Work Record

Plans for the shoot:
My plan for the shoot is to cover my kitchen table with CDs so that the reflective sides are facing up, and I want to take a variety of shots at different angles to capture and represent different patterns. CDs make up a huge part of a musician's life as it is how they directly connect with the people who like their music. Musicians realistically need musical instruments also to help them create and produce a CD.

What I hope to achieve:
By turning some of the more colourful CDs the other way up, I hope to capture a series of different patterns which will also show and represent a variety of colours too. Hopefully, through some macro shots, I hope to also show the depth as I will have multiple CDs lined up, plus further away shots should hopefully show a nice repeated pattern.

What I actually achieved:
Honestly, the shoot was a lot harder than I anticipated as in a lot of the images you can see the roof of my conservatory plus the walls caught in the reflection from the CDs. However, after some editing, I feel that some of the images act as a good representation of both pattern and colour, plus reflection too in some of the photos.
Here are a few of my favourites from the shoot:

What I am going to do next:
I have one final shoot to conduct before the completion of my Unit 2. With this shoot I hope to recreate the iconic Apple adverts in the studio using a variety of different models acting out various performances.

iPod inspired tutorial

http://www.photoshoplab.com/make-your-own-ipod-style-photo.html

Shoot 10 - Work Record - Guitar Plectrums

Plans for the shoot:
For this shoot I am going to need to go outside and find a textured surface that will contrast with the colours and texture of my guitar plectrums well. I have a collection of 10 guitar plectrums/picks, all either yellow, blue, black or clear and I am going to arrange them in various ways to experiment with patterns and colour.

What I hope to achieve:
With this shoot I hope to show what I have learnt about the formal elements since my completion of Unit 1 as I will mostly be focussing on texture, pattern, shape and colour with this shoot, linking it in with my chosen topic/theme of musical instruments and musicians.

What I actually achieved:
Although I was pleased with the outcome of some of the straight prints for this shoot, I wish I had have bought even more guitar plectrums to add to the collection to show a greater variety of colour and pattern. I feel like some of the images from this shoot, however, do represent the idea of natural music, and the hippie-genre/vibe associated with guitars, the field, grass etc.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the shoot:

What I am going to do next:
I now only need to complete 2 more shoots before the end of my Unit 2, and I plan to shoot a) patterns created by a range of CDs and/or vinyl records, also showing colour and b) a studio shoot where I will re-create the iconic Apple/iPod adverts featuring a silhouette and a patterned or coloured background.

Target (26/04/2013)

Your target for today is to clearly demonstrate your understanding of the possibilities of your chosen topic by completing further practical or contextual work according to the requirements of the assignment and your needs as identified in your personal target.

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My target for today is to complete another shoot experimenting with a small collection of guitar picks/plectrums I have to help increase the number of shoots in my portfolio plus the number of straight prints. With this, I will also strive to complete at least 2 more physical experiments today and work on finalising my top 20 shoots for my electronic portfolio. 

Outstanding Work Unit 2

This is a list of all of the outstanding work I need to complete for this unit by the end of next week:

• NOTHING

Exam Credit!

Thanks again to all the helpful and friendly staff at GigGear today who helped me with my shoot for my exam! http://www.giggear.co.uk/

Exam Plan

My 5 hour exam for this unit will be taking place on this Friday (19/04/2013). My basic plan for the day is to come into college, collect a camera and go to my location to shoot musical instruments at a local music store called GigGear. I have personally visited the store before and I am impressed with the variety of different instruments and accessories they offer, much more than any instruments I have previously shot as part of this unit. I also feel that this location will give me the chance to shoot the interaction between people and instruments as there is likely to be customers visiting the store who will be hoping to try out some of the instruments, and if given consent, I'd like to photograph them too to feature as part of my portfolio. My idea for this relatively basic shoot has come from some of the images I looked at for my image bank, as I was impressed with the use of different colours and shapes in images of instruments on display, and I feel that a lot of my finished pieces will come from being edited afterwards, as I have also planned a few computer experiments where I will change some of the colours in my photos to represent contrast and different tones. 

A bus from college to my location takes approximately 30-40 minutes, and so including shooting time and travelling, I plan to return to college between 12 and 13:30, which will give me sufficient time afterwards to download, edit and print my final pieces. 

Shoot 9 - Work Record - Ukulele Shoot

Plans for the shoot:
This shoot is also going to make up part of my Media coursework, as I need a music-related image to use on the front cover of a magazine: www.laurenbarrettmedia.wordpress.com
My plan is to shoot my model in the studio using a ukulele and hippie/boho-inspired clothing and accessories to portray the themes and ideas associated with indie or folk music.

What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve a set of photos with a high quality so that I can also use it for the front cover of the magazine. I want the images to be a realistic representation of the genre of music, but to also experiment with different poses and shapes that I haven't used in any of my other portraiture work.

What I actually achieved:
I am really happy with the outcome of this shoot as I feel the images are an appropriate representation of the folk or indie genre. I also feel that I have learnt a lot about experimenting with different positions and poses in the studio too and it has also led to me conducting some interesting computer experiments. Here are a few of my favourite edited images from the shoot:

What I am going to do next:
Instead on conducting another shoot, I am going to use the upcoming week to continue with any outstanding contextual work and to also prepare for my 5 hour exam starting on Friday. My initial plan is to go to a local music store and shoot a variety of different musical instruments together.

Shoot 8 - Work Record - Violin Shoot

Plans for the shoot:
My plan for the shoot involves my model, a violin and a masquerade mask. I plan to portray the deep emotions associated with the violin, which I will hope will be shown through the concept of the mask, which I am using to represent the idea of the 'Phantom of the Opera'.

What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve two different styles of photo with this shoot: half of the shoot I plan to look at close-ups of just the face and the violin, primarily focussing on the mask. With the rest of the shoot I plan to take away the mask and experiment with how the body and the violin work together - getting my model to hold the violin in different ways, such as behind her back, across her front etc.

What I actually achieved:
The model I planned on using for this shoot wasn't available, so I had to use someone else, who was more than happy to do the shoot for me, expect she wasn't wearing dark clothes like I would have wanted, so the actual outcome of some of the photos didn't have the dark, moody feel I wanted them to have. However, I did also have some spare studio time where I photographed just the violin and the mask together, which I feel looked really effective and reflected the ideas I had planned for"

What I am going to do next:
Next I am going to begin to plan for my exam piece. Alongside this, I have a guitar shoot I want to plan for where I will use a model in a hippie-inspired shoot. I also have a ukulele hawaiian-themed shoot I want to plan for at some stage too.

Topic

By the end of this lesson you will have clearly demonstrated that your understanding and exploration of your chosen exam topic has increased and you understand the potentials of the topic.

                                                                                                                                        

To further explore my chosen topic of Musical Instruments and Musicians, I have conducted some research into the use of musical instruments in other forms of media and performance. One of the biggest ideas I came across was the use of instruments/orchestras in plays or musical productions. As I have access to a violin today, I have chosen to re-create the theme of 'Phantom of the Opera' as both the musical and the violin are both very dramatic, and I feel they will work well together. In order to explore this, I have a masquerade mask which my model will wear in the studio whilst she plays and holds the instrument in various different ways. 

Target

By the end of this lesson you will have demonstrated a clear understanding of the potential and possibilities of your chosen topic by undertaking practical work that adds to the shoots in your practical folder.

                                                                                                                                        

One of the main potentials I have discovered which is associated with my chosen topic is the idea of album covers and albums booklets/sleeves that come with the actual CD - they are used to persuade customers to buy the product and also provide extra entertainment alongside the actual music.

Today I am going to continue creating the product I began to produce during tuesday's lesson, adding more photos of my shoot to the album booklet. Once I have completed this to a standard I am happy with, I hope to conduct another shoot in the studio considering that there is space and my models aren't busy, to create my products for a band rather than a single musician - such as a poster, other promo shots or album covers. 

Album Booklet

Target (12/03/2013)

By the end of this lesson you will have clearly demonstrated that your understanding and exploration of your chosen exam topic has increased and you understand the potentials of the topic.

                                                                                                                                        

My own target for today is to explore my topic further by completing the edited album covers and album booklet I shot for last lesson. Most musicians, whether they are instrumental, singers, or a mixture of both, will release an album/CD/LP during some point in their career to showcase their work. In order to reflect on my topic of musical instruments and musicians, I am going to create an album cover design based on research I have completed into famous and well-known album covers. With my album design, I am going to look into using a repetition technique to create a pattern with the images I have previously shot. 

Inspiration:

Shoot 7 - Work Record - Katie Album Cover

Plans for the shoot:
I plan to use a friend as a model in the studio. I want to shoot the model posing with different faces and looking in different directions. I then plan to use these images to create my own album cover. All professional musician's will have a goal in life to release their own album, and the artwork for these albums can really help to persuade customers to buy the product, so they have to be interesting and eye catching.
What I hope to achieve:
I hope to achieve a set of photos which I can use in a repetition effect in which I will use to create my own album cover. I also hope that I will have some extra photos I can include to use for an album booklet design too.
What I actually achieved:

What I am going to do next:
With my upcoming shoots I am going to explore the genres associated with certain musical instruments. I have two shoots I can conduct very soon, involving a violin and a ukulele. With the violin, I associate it with darkness. power and drama, which is what I will look to portray in my shoot. With the ukulele, I associate it with fun, happiness and Hawaii, which is what I will look to use as a theme in that shoot.

Shoot 6 - Work Record - Forest/Piano Shoot

Plans for the shoot:

For this particular shoot I have been inspired by a specific image I found on the art community/website DeviantArt. In order to successfully shoot this idea I have, I need to draw out a piano to use in a similar fashion. As I want to photograph in various locations, I need to draw the piano onto paper in order for me to move it, unlike this photographer who drew the piano onto a wall using chalk. I also need to make sure that the piano I 'make' is quite big as it has to be visible in the photographs. I also need to plan the location for the shoot, and I intend on going to the forest again as I want to incorporate leaves into the composition.

What I hope to achieve:

I want to achieve some photos which reflect the instrument in a fun and quirky way, which is why I feel drawing the piano will look more effective rather than printing one off. I also hope that this becomes a 'stepping stone' on my way to achieving photos of people playing actual instruments.

What I actually achieved:
Although the outcome was quite different to what I had expected, I am still really happy with the results  as it allowed me to combine lots of different scenarios with my 'piano'. It was also an improvement on my last forest shoot as I had people with me to help with holding the piano in place for me.
Here are a few of my favourite photos from today:

What I am going to do next:
I am now happy that I have completed a lot of the location work that I initially wanted to do. I now want to start thinking about moving on to some studio work, where I would like to create my own album covers and music performances.