Abigail Babington @abphotographypcablog - Tumblr Blog

Complete Zine Project -

This is the final finished product of our zine that Me, Myrtle, Ellena and Lindsey have all been working on. The pages I created are the back cover, Content and Credits, Truths and Myths, Mental Health, Lockdown Adventures, The Lockdown Playlist and Help the Businesses.

“ In The Style of a Music Photographer” Research -

I decided to research Tom Oldham because his work was vibrant, unique and bold which i really loved.

Zine Assignment Final Evaluation

Our zine was about lockdown which meant that the second lockdown didn't affect us that much because it helped us to write easily as it was happening in current time. However it didn't affect us a little on taking photos and getting some information. I had to change my idea of doing an interview about how lockdown has affected small businesses and write about how jobs and the economy has been affected instead. I have enjoyed the online sessions as the information is a lot clearer to see and find but i preferred the face to face sessions as they were easier to get feedback from staff and peers and i could use the editing software there to put my pages together or edit photos. I got inspiration from the survey I did as that helped me to create an article with real data from the current situation and I got the idea to include the graphs and pie charts so i could show the facts and figures. Most of my ideas and inspiration came from the world around me, my lockdown adventures page was highly influenced by nature and the environment as this is where i would go to get peace,find normality and just forget about the current situation. I think I could have done more research into photographers and their styles and go more in depth with my research as it would have had more of an impact on my final images. My research into mental health helped me to create issue based photos and show emotions and feeling through the art of photography. My ideas changed and developed while I was focusing on mental health throughout the lockdown. In my survey I asked if there was any music that people were listening to and that sparked an idea in my head to create a page on music and display how music is a huge part of people lives, most of the songs corresponded with mental health or the current situation which i thought worked really well. I also wanted to display the affect nature and just getting out of the house had on me. I think most of my images I have produced communicate the ideas I was trying to portray. My lockdown adventures and mental health photos show the emotions of happiness, loneliness and isolation but also have a peaceful element to them. My Boris photo, where I used mixed media, was to add some comedy. I wanted people to look at it and giggle because this lockdown hasn't been easy and people need some light in their lives. It also fitted well with the topic of truths and myths because our government has told us some twisted truths over the last year. I used a lot of English skills in my article writing and used my math skills when doing the survey and turning the results into graphs or pie charts and to time plan everything so i was organised. I experimented with mixed media and using Photoshop to create my pages. I used Photoshop to create my spreads as it was a software I was used to and could work easily with. I did push myself to do new things but I think I could have pushed myself to do a lot more. Yes I do think my zine met the brief. The making of my zine and gathering my notes while planning what I wanted my zine to include was very important to me as it helped me to understand how much young people's mental health is affected and how people have helped themselves to take their mind off things. My outcome was effective in communicating my ideas. I enjoyed learning about mental health and lockdown, going out and taking photos and putting all the ideas I had down however at some stages in the development of the zine I did get a little stressed out making the pages. I engaged a lot in the production of the zine as I was the one who made sure everybody knew what they were doing, made sure certain things were completed and put everything together. I am most proud of my research into mental health, getting everything ready for the deadline and my organisation however i am least proud of my presentation on my mental health page, i think i could have made it look neater and more like a magazine article. I learnt that I can work to a deadline and I can make the most of my surroundings. I contributed well and communication with the rest of my group was good as we all shared ideas with each other, in the online crits myself and my peers would communicate with feedback on our work which really gave me a confidence boost. I think i do really well with meeting deadlines, time management, punctuality and attendance because i love to learn and do what i love. I think I'm quite productive but could definitely push myself to do more independent work outside of college. I do take care and pride in my work because I want it to be organised and neat. I came across a challenge where Photoshop wasn't working for me when I tried to move my text so i overcame it by using a different software. I learnt that even though you may face challenges there is always a way to resolve them.

Contact Sheet of Boris Shoot -

My photos that i took for my Myths and Truths page in my zine.

PLATON research

David Bailey and Platon experimental shoot -

We experimented with using very bright flashes with white background like David bailey and using front and back lighting to create the powerful image like Platon. For the David bailey photos i lowered the saturation and cropped the images to a square format like Baileys. For the Platon i turned up the exposure to bring out the colours and upped the white to make the white light stand out.

“ In the style of a music photographer ” Crit -

I decided to recreate an put my own twist on this photo of John Newman by Tom Oldham. I set my camera on a tripod and connected my remote to take photos for me. I placed a black sheet behind me to create the dark background. I used the flash on my camera to lighten up me face and body. This created the shadows on my hand and face. I then edited it in photoshop, where i added a blue tone filter and lowered the exposure to create the muted tone and set an moody feel.

I loved Courtney as it was recreated beautifully and also told a story of generation. The black and white works so well.

Peer review of zines spreads -

we were asked to share some of the spreads we liked the most out of our zines. I decided to show 2 spreads and a collection of photographs. I was really happy with the feedback i was given as it made me feel happy about what i had achieved and will continue to do. For the lockdown playlist i wanted to use songs that related with my topic of mental health

Online Journal Task -

I had to find examples of text and picture combination, good layout and one that fitted the them of my zine. I really like the combination of text and layout in the firs one as it stood out to me and gave me ideas of how i could make my zine look professional. In the second spread i really loved the layout of the text, the drop cap and the pop up quote as it really stands out and definitely portrays the message coming across. Lastly the cover of vogue magazine really resonated with me as it was exactly what is was looking for to relate to our theme. The other article also did the same as it shows the happiness and joy in the world and doesn't focus on the bad.

Landscape Crit -

I was given the fortnightly theme of landscape to explore with. I chose to go down the coastal root as i live in a very coastal based area. These picture were taken at Bantham. I made the 1st and 3rd image muted and added a Serbia filter because i wanted to create a subtle tone and mood of peace and tranquility.

I really loved Zoes photos because of the vibrancy of the blues in the sea and sky. i think the lead in lines of the rocks work well and the little figure give the photo dimension.

Notes on music photographers -

Me, myrtle and elly were given the task to research Laura Levine and the style of her photos. Her style is portraits in black and white but with an abstract appearance. She was widely known for taking shots of punk, hip hop, downtown and new wave artists. Laura has worked in many magazines such as NME and The Interview. She has made album covers for artists like X and Joan Jett. Laura Levines work has been featured in Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present, which originated at the Brooklyn Museum.

Research, Plans and Notes for zine -

Me and my group have done lots of research. We decided to make a google form where we asked people questions about mental health and their lockdown experiences, which we could use as data in our zines. I made notes of mental health and used the data in our survey and data from https://youngminds.org.uk/ and https://www.nhs.uk/.

The results/repossesses that came back from the survey proved that peoples metal health hadn't been stable in lockdown and has affected many people. most people said they had suffered from anxiety, depression and loneliness. Many of the responses said that they had found ways of coping or distracting themselves from their thoughts and feelings. Over a 3/4 of people said that they had a good support group or had a small amount of people that they could trust and felt comfortable talking to.

Zine Proposal -

Above are the ideas that both me and my group have decide to complete for our zine. Our theme is Lockdown as it was relevant with the current situation and there was a lot of topics we could focus on. I decided to focus on mental health, how jobs and businesses are been affected and the truths and myths of Covid. I made a time plan for what i was going to achieve by the deadline so I could be organised and focused.

Front cover design experiment -

This afternoon me and my group were deciding on a theme that would could use to help us produce our zines. We experimented with things around college which were relevant to our theme that we decided. Then i used photoshop to edit together all the photos and added text.

Studio flash experiment-

Today i experimented with using flash lighting instead of continuous LED lighting. Above is the before and after of editing the green screen behind the model. I had to edit out her fly aways on the side of her head as they weren't changing the same colour as the background and would create a over saturated effect.

Magazine cover analysis homework -

I was given a task to analyse magazine covers to help prepare and gather ideas ready for my zine project.

Final half termly evaluation

Most of my ideas and inspiration came from when I was learning about candid photography with Tim. I was very inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson, William Klien and William Eggleston who as photographers captured beautiful images of life. They have all taught me to capture things in the moment and even if the picture doesn't have much going on, it is still relevant. The world around me has given me many ideas, for example my local beaches. I could take a series of photos and tell a story with them. The world around me has taught me about the beauty and importance of what I have on my doorstep. I think I haven't done as much in depth research as I would have liked to. In the future I will focus more on how I write about my research and my presentation. My photos that I have produced for the various photo tasks have somewhat communicated the ideas but there are one or two that haven't. Throughout my first term at PCA I have learnt various new techniques which will be very beneficial in the future. Some examples are how raw files work and that no matter how the picture looks, whether it's over-exposed or something, the photo can be changed to not look a certain way. I have also learnt about lighting and how it can be used to create certain effects and moods. The new digital software that I use to show my work, tumblr, is working really well and helps me to present my coursework in a more professional way. I am still trying to push myself to try new things. I have used my basic maths skills to help me with ISO, aperture and shutter speed. My english skills, such as literacy and SPaG, have been used to help me correct mistakes and make my work more professional to people. I enjoy all of the work I do in college, it has helped me to come out of my comfort zone and experiment with new things. I would change how much work we get to do on our blogs because sometimes for me it's a bit overwhelming. I have engaged in every project we have given because I want to try new things that maybe I haven't seen before. I am most proud of the new things and ideas I have tried or learnt about as it has helped me to improve my photography and social skills. I am least proud of how my writing skills are. Next term I will be focusing on taking more photos and improving my writing skills.

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