Photo Essay

Many photo-stories include the four categories:
1. Setting the Scene
2. The people involved
3. The action
4. Detail



shoot plan:

The narrative which our group will tell is a documentation/story of a crime that happens in the open access room. Julietta and Ania are the victims, and i took the role of a sneaky thief. The photo essay is linear so its easy to understand what happens  step by step.

 Setting the Scene (Open Access) &
The people involved

 Detail

 Detail

Setting the Scene- Some action...

Action (Don't trust this guy)

The people involved- Action

Setting the Scene- Some action

The action

The action

The End

BBC Idents

Bellow 4 idents, made by myself ( outside the group):

The main inspiration for most of the movies were

 horror movies, huge amounts of alcohol and 

depression. For now, these are just first attempts at

filmmaking. It would be a dream to make a horror

movie in the future that would literally 

scare people to death.

Paper cut outs were used to create an improvised 

church and graveyard. 

Stop motion and filters were used to create

 an atmosphere similar to the old horror movies.

The result of a strong depression. I used different 

filters and tricks to improve this movie. 

It evokes feelings of amusement in me.

A serial killers daily routine in black and white colours.
A faster speed of the movie and 2 sources of sound
were used to create a more psychodelic atmosphere.
The mask has been created on Patsie's lesson. 

Lee Jeffries

An amateur photographer from Manchester. He got a lot of attention since winning the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year 2011. All of his photographs are portraits. Most of the models are social outcasts. One of the most prominent features of his work is the use of hard and soft light.

“I took this shot last November – I was walking around Manchester when I noticed something about this guy’s eyes. There was something wrong with them, obviously, but there was a quality about them too… I try to get an almost religious feel to my shots and I think it comes through in this image, with the way the light falls on his face. Anyway, winning this prize is a huge honour.” Lee

His prize winning photograph "What are we?"

Some of his photograps remind me of sketch drawings.

Folds of the skin propably sharpened with a high pass filter.

Black and white photography speaks to me more than colour

photography. The emotions are sharper and more visible.

 I imagine this granny as a baby eating cannibal.

Hands in the foreground. Photoshop in the end phase.

Lee Jeffries might be an amateur, but his photographs are more than just pictures. Almost every photograph has a story behind it. Misery and depression are the two words that can describe his photographs. What he tought me is that you don't have to be equipped with the best camera to make amazing photo shots.

Perry photo shoot

For the main photo shoot model  I choose my classmate Perry. The idea behind it was to create a set of photos inspired by labels like Armani, Hugo Boss, Gucci, Versace. I didn't had in mind to make him look like a profesional model. It was more of a experience shoot rather than a professional photo shoot. I put Perry in different poses and situations. Manipulating his gestures and looking for expressions on his face.

The light setting was the most important thing of my photo shoots. Perry was standing in front of a black background. My main tools were; A soft box, a hot shot, A big reflector on a stand, and a mono head/flash head with hard light. I used the school camera Nikon D3000. I set the camera on ISO100  1/25 F 11.

Health and Safety- Since there were only three person in the studio, the risk factor has been reduced. We had a lot of empty space in which we could work. The cabels of the light reflectors had been secured, and the backdrop has secured with a masking tape. No food no drinks had been brought into the room.

From behind

ISO100  1/25 F 11

A bit more serious. The Jacket matches the light perfectly.

A Jean Dean pose

Perry Relaxed (laughing at Ollie)

Remembering the good old times.

A difficult past?

In mind the photo shoot was a big success. I have taken amazing pictures of Perry, literally posing like a real model. I got a completely different view on photography now. I am more confident with the camera as the main tool to work with. Even though I made a lot mistakes like: reflecting the light to underline his face. Overall I am very satisfied of this photo shoot.

Photography Evaluation Overview

The main reason I entered this course was to get in touch with a more professional enviroment, both commercial and artistic. I feel that it is incumbent on every designer to have a camera. In this case to become a good designer I had to buy a good camera (Canon EOS 1100D) and learn about the basics of photography. At the beginning I felt rather lost because I haven't had a real camera before. I was used to using my mobile phone, or a digital camera. At the time I saw no need for anything more sophisticated. 

During the course I have learned about photographers like Jan Saudek and Bill Brandt. Both photographers are fearless while experimenting in their photography. Jan Saudek takes his photographs on a journey to improve them. Being fearless of what people might think is a great inspiration for me. Its like pushing my shyness into the corner and doing something i woulnd't normaly do. Bill Brandt's style inspired me for example to create photos from a different perspective while somebody like Rankin or Henrik Knudsen might show me the way to make my photos more interesting. I am still a novice in photography but at least i got a first glance into this profession. 

Since the beginning of my course, I have been learning the basics and principles in photography. One of the important things that I have learned and that always comes to my mind is the portfolio (in this case the blog). The blog is a good introduction to a later website. My blog was not only the place to see the mistakes and improvements in my photo shoots  but also a possible way to promote my photographs to satisfy a potential client. 
For example its better to present two or four good pictures, rather than a dozen ordinary ones. 

Time managment was one of my main problems during the whole course. An easy and coordinated way of working  has been introduced to us in theory, but using it in practice was surprisingly difficult. Once I got behind with a project, I got stuck and started missing all the deadlines. It was a bitter lesson for me. Of course this is something I still need to improve. In a real work environment the consequences may be dire.

I know I am not a quick learner when it comes to photography. I still have problems with basics like aperture, shutter speed ISO and exposure, but during the course I also discovered that once i will learn them I will be a decent photographer. Maybe 75% of my classmates are far more advanced with the camera, and that is why their photos look maybe sharper than mine in some cases. But since I started to make photo-shots on my own i understood than there is something more behind a camera as a tool. I was able to play with the model the in such a way as to achieve excatly what I had in mind. In this case, good and surprising ideas are a key to succeed in a world with millions of competitors. Originality is also a principle in photography.

Like I mentioned before, there is a big field in which I need to improve myself. But there are also a lot of things  that I have learned in since I first started. I have never been a fan of blogs and overall internet social websites. It was my first attempt in creating a blog that functions and has a certain look. Now adding all my experiences gained and failures through all this year i need to admitt that it was a very interesting year. In the beginning i had a pretty good start, and in the end I was pretty much desperate because of my depression and being behind with many of my projects. All in all, I would call it a fruitful, if difficult, year.

Nikolay Bakharev

Born in Siberia and grown up in an orphanage. In the early 70’s he started to work as a photographer. In  1991 he became a member of the Photographer’s Union of Russia.  Nikolay had numerous exhibitions around the world , and some of his works are held in private collections or museum’s.  I found out about Nikolay Bakharev  from an old art magazine. Since then I wrote his name on my mobile phone and checked his portfolio on the internet. His pictures speak to me in many ways.  First off, it is important  for me to mention that all his photographs are in grayscale. This doesn’t mean that they are some lifeless pseudo artsy crap I am used to see all the time.  All his models came from the same background as him.  More than half of his pictures have a strong  sexual context. Some of them appear to me almost pornographic, not due the intensity but more due the realism in them.  

I quite like this kind of photography. The black and white tones add
more misery into the whole concept.

Hard light. The setting of the bottle and the photo on the right doesn't
really quite fit into the picture, but maybe that's why he chose it that
way.

Naughty but not very erotic... Typical russian makeup.

Humans at their worst.

Location Shoot

My Location Plan

The location for my shooting plan was Brighton. The place was chosen due to our upcoming Brighton Fringe project. I haven't been able to go with the class on the trip to Brighton, but I managed to go by myself a month later. The outcome of this was a more personal view Brighton.

The aim of my Brighton Shoot

We were supposed to make photos of places or buildings in Brighton, that were characterisitc for this city. For example buildings like the pavilion or the old pier. And also the more recent city sights like the graffitis or  even the sex shops. Brighton had a lot to offer as a city of equality and tolerance.

My Edits

I made only a few edits to the photos. Since most of my photos contain graffitis, I used the Brightness\Contrast tool to point out the lines and  colours.

A cool tribute to James Brown (F22 -F27 ISO200).
It was difficult to get a good perspective shoot
of this part of thebuilding.

Graffiti mayhem

The opposite of graffiti mayhem. Looks similar to a comic strip

                                          ''Visit Brighton'' graffiti with (F22 -F27 ISO200)

I used a brightness/contrast tool for this one

I did not like this one.

A very unique graffiti. I like it

On the way to the pavilion i noticed this amazing pub/restaurant

( I have not been inside due to the limit of time)

The pavilion draped with adverts.

I had to move around the city in hope to find something unique. In some way I found it. While making a photo of a graffiti a little kid entered my photo shoot. I was pleased due to the fact that the kid at some point stood there and I was able to make a few photos. In the end I choose only one, which we can see bellow. ISO100 F 1/125

Evaluation

Overall the whole experience with the Brighton photo shoot was very enlightening. I have gained a lot of experience while photographing the city. At some point I even felt comfortable when people looked at me while I was taking these photographs. I still got a lot of trouble with the Shutter speed and Apperature, and I often cheat by using the auto setting. But overall, I punished myself by not knowing the basics. At the end I was exhausted with this experience, but it was worth it.

Studio Shoot

My studio plan

As I consider myself an ameteur in photography, I did not pay too much attention to the assortment of Light Shaping Tools. The main source of light came from the softbox in front of the models. Thanks to it I was able to create a beautiful soft light that was ideal for this kind of studio shoot. On some occasions we also used a reflector. But it was more of an experiment to see how we can shape the lights. The pink background was not our choice. I don't remember very well, but it might have been chosen by one of the teachers. I am not saying that it was a bad idea, it just was not my style.

The aim of my studio shoot

The main task of this photo shoot was to take pictures of models in costumes, to later use them for our Chi Fest project. Since I was selected as the the main photographer in this photo shoot, I have been also in charge of giving the models advice for their posing. My responsibilities also included the balance and setting of lights and reflectors. It is funny, but I almost felt like a real artist by giving them orders which they later obeyed. The conclusion was, that I got photos which spoke to me. 

 Juliet and Ania prepare themself for the photo shoot...

Having fun was essential 

Images I have chosen to edit

From a huge selection of photos I chose only a few, which may work well with the aim of this project. In my mind most of them were perfect to work with. However due to the limited time I had to focus only on the photos with a clear and easy composition. It is also worth mentioning that the pictures I have chosen were already giving me some hints what to do with them.

Health and Safety- I wouldn't call it a 100% safe area to work. Since we brought many costumes and tools to make this photo shoot interesting, the room was literally overloaded with un-necessary objects compiling around. Since we had a lot of fun there it got a little bit chaotic. But there was no real danger visible.

My edits

As mentioned above the photos were almost ready. I didn't had much use of photshop. I used the crop tool to normalize the composition. Brigntess and Contrast have been essential like always to seperate the model from the background. Finally I rasterized the picture with the raster tool. The Union Jack is a visually pleasing design, so I merged it into the picture. Afterwards I played a bit with my faovorite tones.

Looks quite good in my opinion. Perfect combination of colours. Brightness and contrast.

 This design would speak perfectly to the youth. Quite good concept.

It doesn't fit to the Chi Fest poster. I should have add one colour to it.

More colours and a bit more life. The british flag fits the composition well.

Evaluation

I had in mind to create a design which would fit the topic of Chi Fest or the now renamed ''Music and Food Festival''. My idea was to create a poster which would speak to the everybody by promoting its originality. I wanted to create an ''eye-catcher'' with a bit of surprise behind it. The female models were quite young and good looking, so I rejected the idea of using males. The costumes that were available brought the idea of a festival into motion. In other words the studio plan had been set to very high standards. The photography equipment was available and ready to use. The teachers were ready to assist us at all times. I did many basic mistakes. Starting with the equipment, I was not able to set the settings on my Canon camera. I later solved this problem thanks to the teacher and my friends. The softbox was quite easy to handle, same as the reflectors. However I couldn't deal with the costumes  the models were wearing. I felt the need to have a balance between the pink background and costume colours. Overall we overcame this problems by just having fun. The final designs are not ready yet, but I feel that they are progressing in a good direction.