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.