Shoot 5: Model 8; Steff

I was lucky enough to get Steff into a studio session at the same time as Matt, which turned out highly successful. Steff brought two items with her, the first a teddy bear which I do not know the full story behind and the second a letter, which she carries everywhere in her purse, from a friend who passed away shortly after writing the letter. Whilst we had some fun shooting the images with the teddy in, I particularly wanted to get a really good image of the letter, knowing its importance to Steff.

I am particularly pleased with how the image with the letter turned out, capturing a personal moment, looking over the shoulder and onto the letter, drawing all attention exactly where it needs to be. Even though the letter itself is in focus I did not want to go too close to it, wanting not to intrude that far into something that means so much to someone.

Whilst I also like the other images, the letter has to be by far my favourite of this shoot and of all my images that I have taken so far for this project. I can only hope that the next photoshoots get such positive results.

Images taken on the Hasselblad 503CW, digital back.

A Bit of Self-Promotion

So today, after much faffing around with images and having to upload and re-upload images because of silly mistakes, I have sent away for some business cards, eek! I shall admit, this was partly to do with the self-promotion project which we have, but its best to get the ball rolling really isn't it?

Unfortunately, my project needs to be handed in on monday 16th, which hasnt left me much time to get them ordered and dispatched - mostly my fault I shall admit here, and so I had to go through "rushed printing" to ensure that the cards would arrive in time. The standard printing and delivery times estimated that my business cards would arrive on the monday... cutting it a little too close for my liking. And that would be assuming that they are accurate with their timings.

I was reccommended to use www.moo.com (a name which I did find quite entertaining) to order my business cards due to the ease of being able to use their website and I must admit, I did find it very easy to use and navigate around. The only downside I will say, is that I found that I couldn't go back and take one of my uploaded images back off, however it is late and i am sleepy so that could well have been an error on my part.

Having realised that I had made a silly mistake with the images, I had to re-do the process, however with Moo's simpleness it did not take up too much extra time and I was able to order the cards so that they should hopefully arrive on thursday and in plenty of time.

Here's a couple of images I used on my cards, with the text that then went on the other side of them:

Self-Promotional Video

Here is a video I made of my book which I created as part of my specialisms project at college, 'Around The Corner' by Sarah Anderson:

James

My final shoot of the day was of James, who brought with him his watch. Having known James for nearly two years now I cannot say that I have noticed him with this watch. Maybe this is down to being oblivious on my part, or maybe it is not something that he does not wear that often. Somehow, I did not get the story behind how this item is important to him, however I shall be asking him in the near future, out of both personal interest and for the purpose of this project.

For now here are a few of the images I took of him, experimenting with different angles and ways in which we could shoot the watch:

To begin with I went for the casual stance with James arm at his side. However, whilst I am pleased with how those images came out, I couldn't help but notice the similarity with the way which Caz was photographed and so I experimented with a couple of different stances for James to take whilst I photographed.
I feel that the image with his hand on the back of his head is not as strong as the other stances as I think that the attention is taken away from the watch and is instead taken to his hand, making us question why he is in this stance. I feel that it instead makes us look into maybe what emotions this is conveying rather than looking at the item of importance to James.
On the other hand, I particularly like the image of James with his arms crossed. I felt that the image with his arm by his side was too similar to the one of Caz and I feel that this image is in some way more "manly", the crossed arms portraying a sort of male dominance. Or maybe a more natural stance for James to take rather than the gentle nature of the relaxed arm at the side.

Image taken on the Hasselblad 503CW, digital back.

Drew

The second person who I chose to photograph was Drew who brought his guitar with him as music has been always been part of him for in some degree or another. Even though he has many other interests, he hopes that music will continue to play a part in his life.

Whilst waiting as I looked through some of the images I had already taken, Drew then turned his guitar around and balanced it on his foot as he waited for what was to happen next. When I questioned him about it - after all, its not everyday you balance a guitar on your foot! - he said that he also does this with his skateboard when waiting around, often in shops, small supermarkets and the like.
Deciding to photograph this, we resulted in this image, which I like for its uniqueness and slightly humourous quality:

Image taken on the Hasselblad 503CW, digital back.

Cairwen

So, two days after my last photoshoot, I am back in the studio with three new models. Three! Having only booked the studio for two hours and not knowing what the three were bringing with them to photograph I was worried about having enough time to shoot the three of them. As it happens though the session went smoothly and I managed to shoot all three of them in plenty of time.

The first person I chose to photograph was Cairwen (Caz). With her she brought along her bracelet and a dress. She also has a tattoo on her wrist which means 'forever' in traditional Chinese and is in memory of her aunt and grandmother.The bracelet was present from her grandparents and her family have been adding to it since then, brining them closer whilst she is away from them studying at university here in Cornwall.

As for the rest of the images in this project, I have here used the Hasselblad 503CW available at the college, (if only I could afford my own!) with the digital back and using a smaller aperture than in pervious images as so to widen the depth of field. My favourite of these images is the first, which I have been told has a very gentle quality to it making it very pleasant to look at.

"What Means Most"

"What Means Most" - the things that mean most to us. The objects or belongings that we would be lost without, that we would be devastated about losing, what we cannot imagine living without.

This is what my final major project is based upon. I am looking to shoot as many persons as possible in the studio with what means most to them. 

I am based in Truro and if you are interested in getting involved in something like this, or know someone who may be, then it would be much appreciated if you could send me a message. Either through here or to my e-mail: andphotography@hotmail.co.uk

Many thanks!

Studio Shoot 3



Back to my Final Major Project 'What Means Most' and my third session in the studio. For this shoot, Mike offered to model for me, in comparison to the previous two shoots where I asked my models if they would be ok to come into the studio with me. For the shoot Mike brought with him the keys to his van which he describes as being everything to him, "its my freedom my escape, my only thing I had left after I lost everything". I found this a difficult shoot as I found it difficult to arrange the shot and had some difficulty in deciding on how to shoot the image.





This image was again taken on the Hasselblad 503CW, which I plan touse for all the images, with a wide aperture for a small depth of field to focus the attention onto the keys. Of these images the first two are my favourite and will both be in consideration for when I exhibit this project at the Lander Gallery in Truro on the 10th June.

Studio Shoot

So today was spent back in the studio shooting for my final major project, titled: "What Means Most". My friend agreed to travel down from Plymouth to spend some time in the studio with some of the things which mean most to her. Unfortunately she could not bring Coco, her maccaw, and so to represent that she brought along with her a t-shirt with a parrot on and a few parrot figurines. She also brought along an old teddy which used to belong to her older brother some years ago and these were what I decided to photograph.

From taking the images from the studio and to my laptop however, the images do not appear the same. Whether this was an error of lighting set-up or camera I am not sure however the images do not appear as bright. The images to me look at lot more dull than they did when in the studio. Here are my favourite two anyway, unedited:

The images were taken on the colleges Hasselblad 503CW on a 200ISO, shutter speed of 250 and aperture f/11

Source

So I have edited down some images to be sent off to Source Online Magazine (http://www.source.ie/) into the Graduate Photography Online 2011 which showcases students work from all around the world.

The guidelines, as can be seen here:

http://www.source.ie/graduate/2010/2011.html

Ask for each student to send in 5 images, a breif introduction, contact details and a link to their own website. As I do not currently have a website up and running, all I was able to give them was the link to this blog. Better than nothing though.

Here are the five images that I chose to submit into the Source Online Magazine:

With the amount of work currently upon us, I decided to use images that I had taken, originally for my specialisms project (also known as the book project). A couple of these images were also put up on the wall of Samantha's Kitchen in Falmouth, for my 'Around The Corner' exhibition, which are still there for all to see.

Still Going Strong - Exhibition

I know, I know, the exhibition ended on the 7th March right? True, however if you missed it then the prints are still up on the walls for all to see. This is not indefinately however as she has made arrangements for another persons work to go up on her walls. Until this person gets back in contact with her however, my images shall remain in this space.

As a reminder its at Samantha's Kitchen, Arwenack Road, Falmouth. Open Monday - Friday: 11am - 4.30pm and Saturdays: 11am - 5pm. Closed on Sundays unfortunately.

Back Into The Studio

Having got my book project and exhibition out of the way, its was time to think about what I would choose to do for my Final Major Project (FMP). I particularly liked the idea of going back into the studio to shoot some portraits as I had not done this in a while. From this grew the idea of photographing people along with some possession of theirs which has either some sentimental value to them or that is simply that important to them. I could picture in my head a shot of my brother, who is particularly into his music, with his electro-accoustic guitar.

On Monday I managed to book our studio and, as a bit of a warm-up or test run, took some shots of my friend who's ring has sentimental meaning to her. Having not used the studio in a while for concentrating on landscapes for my book project, I was a little rusty to say the least. Eventually I got the shot I wanted after much frustration with the Hasselblad and trying to get it to focus on the area I wanted it to.

Images taken on a Hasselblad 503CW Digital with flash lighting on f/2.4 and a 1/250 shutter speed. The first image being the final image taken and the one which I am happy with after much time trying to get the focus in the right area. Having wanted the focus solely on the ring, this caused much frustration as many of the images ended up focused primarily on the hands/ fingers with the ring being ever so slightly out of focus.

Conclusion: Back into the studio for more practice!

Fujifilm Student Awards

Whilst at college we were encouraged to enter into a free online competition being hosted by Fujifilm, which this year was titled Senses:

http://www.fujifilmstudentawards.co.uk/

A title of senses pretty much left it open as to what we could photograph and the only requirements was that the images had to be taken on film - fujifilm of course! We could enter as many images as we liked and could almost enter anything we liked so long as we could write a short piece to explain what the image/s was about.

In a spur of the moment decision, I decided to take my images around the idea of how alcohol blurs your senses. Too much can impare, in particular, your vision. The idea was spurred by my housemate throwing a house party before going out on the town. Not being on best terms with him at the time, I of course was most annoyed however it would appear that something good did come out of it. In the end I chose to submit only one image into the competition:

Not the best of images, i'll admit that, however I was impressed with how it cam out considering that I hadn't shot on film for a while and this was the first time that I had shot using colour film. The image was taken on a Bronica ETRS using 120mm film which was 160ISO but I cannot remember the shutter speed or the aperture unfortunately.

Better Late Than Never... Exhibition Details!

I can only apologise for not putting this up sooner, I cannot believe that it slipped my mind!

Here is the poster I designed to advertise my exhibition titled 'Around The Corner':

'Around The Corner' by Sarah Anderson, Monday 21st February to Monday 7th March at Samantha's Kitchen, Arwenack Street, Falmouth. Come down and have a look!  

Exhibition Plans!

Well I finally managed to get my arse in gear and actually arrange a personal exhibition for myself! Yesterday, I ventured down into Falmouth with some prints to speak to the owner of the local cafe Samantha's Kitchen. I was flattered that she absolutely loved my images and I think that will look lovely up on the walls whilst customers pop in for a spot of lunch and tea.

We decided that I would be able to hang 8 of my images in the first room of the cafe and that I could have them up there for two weeks. Now all I have to do is sort out some posters or flyers to advertise the exhibition which has been planned to start on the monday in the February half-term week, which is the February 21st.

Having had my doubts on the walk down about whether or not the images would be accepted and very much so worried about being rejected, I left in high spirits and more highly motivated than I have been feeling for the past couple of weeks. Yesterday was most definately a good day and so I hope that this will lead me out of the photographic low that I have been in for the past few weeks.

Keep your eyes out for more information on my exhibition over the next week!

Winter Wonderland

So in my Christmas break this year I shall be travelling up to the West Midlands for the festive celebrations, where it seems ridiculously cold compared to what is has been back down in Falmouth!

On Christmas day itself my grandmother and I went for a short walk (with my camera of course!) around where we were staying. Here are a couple of the images taken:

This particular image was taken on the road outside my Aunt's house who I was staying with at the time. I particularly like the way in which the light falls through the trees catching the other side of the road.

Being up in the West Midlands meant that I was near to Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield and being up there with my camera, I couldn't resist but to go back and take some more images of the park with all the snow. Unfortunately, the day I went to the park, the snow was largely turning to slush and the whether was quite foggy. Despite this, I still took my camera out and, whilst getting rather wet in the process, managed to get what I thought were some good images:

I was especially pleased with the last of the images above and it will be most certainly used in my current Specialisms Project (The Book Project) and will likely also be put up for exhibtion when I manage to sort that one out!

Oops!... Deadline!

Well then, the first of our projects is due in tomorrow, not a big one admittedly, but still. Considering I hadn't realised it was due in so soon it suddenly became a big thing.

All it is, is the first part of our work based learning, so basically all that is needed is our photographers CV, our proposal and to make sure that we have an up-to-date portfolio of work on the internet.

Well, the letter is pretty much done, still a tad confused over the CV and well we have this blog and I am also looking at creating an online portfolio somewhere, some sort of website sort of thing so look out for that as I am hoping to get that started soon.

And as a final note:

Why were they trying to Catch The Pigeon??

Studio Shoot

So the other day our lecturer aranged for a model to come into the college so that we could all get some more experience in the studio. So at one o'clock on tuesday our model, Sarah, arrived and the college's make-up department worked their magic to make her camera ready.

Whist 'under the brush' we set up the studio using only one light with a beauty dish on it. We would have the model sat on a chair to begin with and have to black boards situated either side of her, which would cause a slight shadow downt the sides of her face to aid in defining it.

• Using a Canon 5D Mark II set at:
  ISO 100
• Exposure Time 1/125secs (sync speed for studio lighting)
• f/4.5

Unfortunately at this time, I cannot remeber which lens we were using..

Anyways, here are the first couple of images taken:

For the second of these images, the boards that we were using either side of Sarah's face we turned around so that the white sides were facing in towards Sarah. As can be seen, this means that the light reflects off the boards and illuminates more of her face. Also for this photograph, I had someone holding a reflector to cast some light underneith her chin and on her neck. I personally prefer the second image for the lighting which I think is a lot softer than that in the first image.

Also in these images we used another light which was positioned behind Sarah at an angle so not in the shot. Over this light we put a piece of pink coloured gel which, as can be seen, gives a slight pink tinge to the right-hand side (can especially be seen on her hair).

For our other shots we asked Sarah to stand near towards the back of the studio against our white back-drop. As Sarah was not only tall but also was wearing 4inch stilettos, we had to then direct her so that we were able to photograph her whole.

Although not a full-length image, this was my favourite image from this set of pictures:

A New Name..

You may have noticed a change of this page and that the page you're now looking at has a different name. Correct. The name Sally-Lou Photography was created for one of my project for college. The project was a website and blog unit and that was the name I chose to fulfil the purpose, however I have been increasingly disliking the name and so I decided that a change was in order.

Having what, in my opinion, is a rather common name, I decided to play around with my surname and came up with two possible names:

• And Photography
• And Photos

I have decided to go with 'And Photography', I think I just feel better about it. Unfortunately, someone on here has already taken the blogspot address andphotography AND and-photography, much to my annoyance, so the blogspot address is now http://www.and-photo.blogspot.com/ . Still takes you to the same page though so all is good again.

If you think you have any comments or suggestions around the name then by all means, feel free to leave me a message somewhere : )

Specialisms

One of our first projects this year is our specialisms project and basically what we have to do is create a book. Literally make a book...

This project, we were told, could be a continuation from a previous project or could be an entirely new project altogether. There was mixed reactions throughout our group which resulted in some continuing projects from last year and others starting a fresh project.

My initial idea was to follow on from my last project, which was exhibited in the foyer of the Fal building at Truro College, which was to do with the idea of how space can instil fear within a person. However, this idea has slowly changed an evolved into the idea of places which people may not ever go to, what people don't see.

The inital first title of this book was 'Around the Corner', which is still currently the working title and here is the image from which inspired the name in the first place:

And here are some of the images which I am planning to use in my project, although I still need to decide upon what order to put them in within the book. Most of these are new images, however there is the odd one which I used last year: