Lydford castle

On arrival to Lydford castle I didn't think much of it, in comparison to the stereotypical ideal of castles it is very small and hidden. I decided to shoot the outside of the castle first as I was very nervous once inside and felt that once I had started taking pictures outside, I would be more confident in exploring the interior to get stronger images.

Floating Pillow, Lydford Castle, Lydford

Reflecting on Freud's theory of the uncanny, I wanted to create interesting images in which it was clear that I had intervened. I want to show the main structure of the castle as a background feature, whilst still being a large part in the image. There is a strong contrast between the object and it's surroundings which draw the viewer in and break the image up which makes it more interesting.

  Hidden Pillow, Lydford castle, Lydford

Michael Andrew's 5th Annual International Photo Contest

For this contest I have also entered the image of High Tor, this image is for the landscape category as I want my landscape images to be seen by people so that I can improve my network and be known as a landscape photographer.

The image stands out as it isn't one that you can easily get, through editing and exploring different areas I was able to create this image alongside others that link together.

Entering A New Competition

After looking into what competitions are available in at this moment in time, I decided to enter the Print Space's competition 'Give Us Your Best Shot' which is open to everyone with no specific theme. This meant that I could choose any image that I preferred to show my work.

View From High Tor, Dartmoor

I have chosen this image that I took whilst exploring Dartmoor for a previous project, which involved researching into prehistoric and Iron Age areas in Dartmoor.

Looking for volunteer work

After looking at what areas of photography I'd like to go into, to further my CV and to improve my skills I have decided to look into volunteer work with the National Trust and possibly Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery. Through working for these institutes I will be able to expand on my knowledge of the area whilst improving on my people skills. I will also be able to work on my networking skills so that I am able to get more work in the future.

My interests are landscape and the history of the land with historical landmarks that have affected the landscape. Through documenting these places I will create bodies of work that can inform and educate people about the landscape that they live near and may be interested in. I also like to explore new areas as I am inspired by new areas that I haven't been to before.

Final Evaluation

For my work based learning it took me a while to get properly started on it. I find it hard sometimes to talk to and approach new people, which is why I started it late. One way that I tried to get over this was by going to Focus on Imagery and trying to speak to fellow students that were there and see what work they were doing. Focus on Imagery also helped me to solidify my ideas and what I wanted to pursue as a professional career and showed me what competitors are out there that can challenge me. I also learnt about new equipment that is available and different companies that do book making and normal printing.

After speaking to a lecturer about what I was interested in doing and that I wanted to focus on getting my confidence up around new people I decided to get in contact with Fotonow. After a meeting with them and getting to grips with what they do and who they work with, I was asked to do 10 days’ work in the records office doing picture research for a current project they are running about the Pannier Market and its history. On my first day in the record’s office I was shown around and shown how to request items that I wanted to look at, I was also allowed behind the scenes where the public aren’t normally allowed into and was shown the oldest item they have which is over 900 years old and an item with Queen Elizabeth’s seal on which I found very interesting. Whilst at the records office I looked at items such as photographs of the market area from 1959 and 1960 when it was being built, plans of the building itself and newspaper cuttings that were about the market to show what people thought about it at the time and how important it was. I also looked at a large document called emergency minutes but found that the item was related to my research and couldn’t find anything useful in it. Overall my experience in the records office and working with Fotonow has been very positive as I was able to do something I hadn’t done before and didn’t know about the records office until now which means that I am able to go there myself if I wish to for personal research or research that could help with my projects.

Whilst working for Fotonow I received an e-mail from my auntie asking if I could take photos for her of my cousin Seth’s christening which I was paid to do. I was very nervous to begin with as I hadn’t done a christening before of worked with a large amount of people that I know for a whole day, I was also excited about the new experience and wanted to show her my skills so that she could pass my business card on to help me get more work. I think that the photographs that I took turned out successful but could have been better as I didn’t think to bring a portable flash which meant that, even with a tripod, I couldn’t get the lighting that I wanted in the church which meant that my images came out slightly orange. The images at the cricket club were more successful though as I was more comfortable and less nervous than I was in the church as I had already taken everyone’s photograph at least once. I was able to get people to be where I wanted and managed to take the group shots pretty easily without too much complaint, I was surprised at how well behaved Seth was as I wasn’t expecting him to last as long as he did and managed to get several really good shots of him. I think that the images that I created worked really well after a slight edit to the white balance and slight colour change to make the images less orange from the church and to make them slightly lighter in places in the images from the cricket club. My auntie was also happy with my images and I am waiting to hear back from her which ones she would like me to print as she is on holiday at the moment.

For my work based learning I also helped for a day at the exhibition, I could only do the single day as I was still working in the records office and went back to Cornwall the following week to shoot. On the day that I assisted I helped to choose where the images would be and what would go next to each other, although I was a bit particular about my image in the end I was happy where it was and thought that it worked well. I think that the organisation of who should have been helping what day as at the start of the day a lot of people turned up which meant that the space to work in was too crowded and people were sent away to come back in the afternoon, although quite a few didn't come back at all. The space was a bit small due to the amount of people in the rooms which sometimes meant that sometimes people were more of a hindrance than a help. Next time we orchestrate an exhibition I will make sure what days people are helping and how many people they need so that the working space doesn't get too busy. I will also plan my trips home ahead of time so that I am able to help out more.

As I sometimes struggle to get my ideas and voice across, work based learning has always been a bit of a struggle for me but through perseverance and help from lecturers, friends and family I have been able to create some new contacts through Fotonow and giving my business card to my auntie to pass on and spread around. Although I am still a bit shy with new people I feel that this has been a successful module and I’m happy with the outcomes that I have reached. If I could do it again I would broaden my horizons more by going to more than one place and try to see who I could work with to improve my career aspects.

Showing In an Exhibtion

The image that I chose to show in our college exhibition, "The Best So Far", I chose this image out of my finals as I think that this image is the strongest and can be interpreted in different ways which means that it has the biggest selling point. With regards to the exhibition itself I think that it was successful but felt that the space was a bit small at times when it was especially busy.

For my part of the exhibition I helped with the organisation of images and getting hooks needed to hang the images themselves. I also helped with hanging of some images and was a bit meticulous when it came to hanging my image as I was worried about it getting damaged or marks to be made on it which meant that I would have to clean it. At times it was slightly stressful as there was too many people in such a small space at times and sometimes there wasn't enough jobs for people so they left in the afternoon and didn't come back.

I know now for next time to plan my trips home more in advance so that I don't miss out on the exhibition so much as I was only able to work on the first day. I will also look more into when people are helping so that I can help to the best of my ability without being a hindrance and to get a better understanding of what will be put in the exhibition. This exhibition was successful as a wide range of people saw our work which was emphasised by the wide range of work that was on show.

Chosen Images from Seth's Christening

These images are a select few from the Christening that I took pictures for. I am happy with the outcome and like how natural the subjects look. Although I didn't use a flash I was still able to get a good exposure and use the lighting that was available. My favorite image out of this set if the one of Seth on his own at the top of the page, the focus is on him and he looks relaxed and happy. I know now for next time I am paid to shoot like this to bring a portable flash to get better lighting in areas and to think more about my compositions in advance so that I can create even better images.

Working in the Records Office

Doing picture research for Fotonow, I was shown around the records office on my first day there and was allowed into the archives themselves which the general public aren't allowed into normally. I was told how to look up items that would be of interest to me and that if I wanted to I could take photos of said items as long as they weren't copyrighted. In the archives there is everything from Royal seals to photographs and emergency committee minutes, I chose to start my research by looking at photos of the Pannier Market when it was first being built in 1959.

After looking through the photo album on my next day I decided to look at another album but this one was from 1859 which I thought was interesting to see how the city has changed over time. One of the images that stood out most was that of the rail bridge from Plymouth to Saltash, as the Tamar Bridge hadn't been built yet. It was also interesting to see how some of the city had hardly changed at all apart from a few new shops or buildings. The next items that I looked at on my next day in the archives were plans of the Pannier Market and some of the original market showing the war damage which ultimately lead to the build of the Pannier Market. These were intriguing as they had several family names written on them which may still be linked to the market or be trading in the market itself.

The following two days after I decided to read the emergency minutes, as there was a lot to get through it took me longer than I thought and most of what I read was irrelevant apart from the names of the committee and the people assigned to re-building the market. Although it was very interesting to see how the city coped with the war, I found parts tedious and hard to get through, but manged to read all of it and am happy that I kept at it. On the next day that I was in the archives I took pictures if the first photo album that I looked at for Fotonow to see and I found out that day that plans of the Pannier Market had been donated which lead me to looking at those the day after. Once I had had good look at the plans I took photos of them the day after, as there was a lot to go through and some of the plans were very large and some were only A4 size. On my second to last day I took pictures of the photo album from 1859 as I wasn't able to take photos when I first looked at it and wanted to focus on taking the images in to see what was relevant and what wasn't. With regards to my final day, I looked at newspaper cuttings that were related to Plymouth and took photos of the ones that were about the market, focusing on the years 1957-1961. Through this I was able to get a large amount of research that will hopefully help Fotonow in their project.

A Day At Focus

After being to Focus I got a better understanding of what competitors are out there and discovered new photographers that I was very interested in. I was able to see the newest equipment available, at a price, different ways that I could print my images and how I could think about starting up my own business as a freelance photographer and how big the market is. Looking at other colleges and universities I found very interesting as it showed what was available to me should I decide to move away from Plymouth, it also showed the standard of work that we are competing against across the pond.

Listening to different photographers and students talk I felt inspired to improve my work even more and to push myself more to stand out from the crowd and pursue my passion of landscape and Urban Exploration. I listened to Rebecca Litchfield when she did a talk about her images which I was very interested as she is an Urban Explorer and was mainly talking about the equipment that she used and what to look out for when exploring, the part that I was mostly inspired by was her images that she had taken in Chernobyl as it is a place that I've wanted to go to myself since I started studying photography and decided to pursue it as a professional career for a number of years now. Rebecca Litchfield also inspired me in the way that there isn't many female Urban Explorers and to see her going to Chernobyl made me want to push myself harder so that I would be able to go there myself in a few years time to achieve what seems like a life goal that could kick start my career if my images were successful.

I definitely want to go again to next years Focus on Imagery as I feel that I was slightly over-whelmed this time as I wasn't sure what to expect and there was a lot to take in and digest. I found that there was such a wide range of ages and people fascinating as it made a point that photography is such a broad subject and discipline that anyone can learn it and use it. I would also think about possibly investing in new equipment that I could use to improve my photography skills and get the best out of my camera so that I'm not restricted to using the colleges equipment which means that I won't have to worry so much about handing it back, so that I have more freedom to take the pictures that I want.

Rebecca's Blog: http://www.daydelosmuertos.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/preparing-for-chernobyl-and-pripyat.html#more

Working with Fotonow

After looking into different places I could find possible work and speaking to lecturers for help, I decided to contact Fotonow. Seeing as I find it hard to contact new people and sometimes struggle with communication around new people I wanted to work on that which lead me to Fotonow. I was interested in their community projects which works with a variety of different people and is a non-profit organisation that focus on visual arts.

Once I had got in contact with them and organised a meeting, we discussed what I was able to do and current projects that they were working on. This lead to me being informed about the project that they are working on which is about the Pannier market and the people who work there. I was given the task of doing picture research for Fotonow which includes looking at photos of when the market was first built and it being built. Plans of the market, possible plans of the original market that was where Drake's Circus is now but was bombed in the Second World War which lead to the building of the Pannier market.

I am currently working in the records office doing picture research for the Pannier market project which I have found very interesting looking at the old documents and photographs of when it was first built and earlier photographs to make a comparison to see that the building itself hasn't changed, but the shops and people have. When I am in the records office again I will be looking at the plans of the market and possible images of the original market if there are any. I will also be reading the emergency minutes to find out more information on the original market and to see if there are any minutes that mention the current Pannier market.

Photographing my first christening

For the start of my work based learning I was asked to photograph my cousin's christening. I was unsure as to what to take photographs of as it was my first one and my first paid job. After speaking to my client (my Auntie) I was able to get a list of photographs that she wanted to be taken which lead to me having a clearer idea of what to do and how to incorporate my own ideas in the photographs.

I took photos mostly of family members and my cousin, group portraits and a few images of my cousin with other relatives including myself. As I wasn't able to get as many natural shots as I'd have liked because I wasn't allowed to take photos in the church and of the christening itself. I also would have liked to experiment more with taking natural shots at the reception but felt that there weren't that many people which would mean that the subjects could get lost in the open space. I think that I could have brought a portable flash for in the church after the christening to make the images lighter.

I am currently editing the photos I have take and will be sending a disc to my client to see which photos she wants to print, which I will then do at the college as it is cheaper and the prints can be a decent quality for what you pay. I think that seeing as this was my first paid job it went well, I was able to instruct people clearly on where I wanted them to be and I was able to create some strong images that my client will like. If I were to do this day again I would focus more on capturing people naturally instead of posed and use a portable flash to bring in more light to the image in places.