HND1A John McEachran

Photographer

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Graded Unit

Tonight I arrived at a band practice to take the first set of shots for the graded unit. This is the first shot edited for the brief. So long as the rest of the shoots go as well I will have a lot to chose from.

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Group Portrait

While I was on location yesterday I managed to get the team I was working with to agree to create a group portrait. This was done at the end of the video shoot. I used the available light to set my shutter time and then used a speed-light with a small soft-box for a fill. 

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Something New

Below is an image for the Something New brief. The product is brand new to the market. The images will be used by the company for marketing. I have edited the photo initially on RAWand then in to Photoshop. In Photoshop I softened the edges of the sticker on the tine to make the line vanish. This was done with he clone tool. 

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Environmental Portrait pt2

As stated in my last blog I would be looking to extend this project in to a larger body of work. Today I went to the photographer, painter and artist Steven Allans home and created another set of images. Below is a small selection from today. I have used a ring light as a constant light source and the light coming in from the window. I set the ISO too 500 and shutter at 1/50th of a second at f4.

The final image is the one I will submit as my final for the folio 1 brief “Environmental Portrait”

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Environmental Portrait

This is an environmental portrait of Adam. He is a music teacher at Glasgow Music studios. This is the 1st in a series of Environmental portraits I will be doing over the next two weeks.  I have 2 more confirmed within the next few days. The environmental portrait was shot using a single speed light and small soft-box diffuser. The Aim of this type of portrait is to document an artist or person of interest in their working environment. It has been shot in landscape to allow space for the “gutter” in a magazine. The person is taking up 1/3rd to 1/2 of the image while providing space on another page for information to be placed. Where possible an item or group of items should take up the other portion of the image. These items should point to wha the person does. Normally when shooting I would shoot with a shutter of 1/125th to 250th of a sec but I these I opted for 1/80th of a sec to increase the ambient light. The room is quite dark. with only a small light stand to light the room. as can be seen in the image.  Unfortunately this means there is not a lot of ambient light to work with.I could have shot at 200ISO or maybe 360 ISO to combat this. This would have meant less motion blur on the subjects face. However, it does catch Adams joyful nature perfectly. How relaxed demeanour is also easy to see. This shot was done during a change ver of classes he teaches. I might have the chance soon to go back and redo the shot implementing the changes I feel that are needed. This will mean being closer to the subject and letting the rest of the room take up the other portion of the image. I feel I have not quite got t he balance in the image fully correct.

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MUA students Portraits

These photos where taken with a singe flash-gun and soft box. Amazing what can be done with just 1 flash and some natural light next to a window. 

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Brand Narrative

The above mood board shows the detailsI will be using in the team communication. The 4 areas shown above are meant to guid the team in the overall look and feel of the final image I will create on Friday 15/03/19. 10 am MUA and hair artist and model will arrive on set. Before They arrive I will have the lighting ready to go. The initial shots in the studio will be done on the Hasselblad with an 80mm lens. External shots will be done on a Canon DSLR. I will use 70-200mm lens. General inspiration is Erwin Blumenfeld. Styling Inspiration, shows simple head shots with the object in the first image exaggerated and shot as a separate image that has been photoshopped and placed on top. In the second image the item is being held by the model. If I do this I will also need to include another image over the top as per the first photo. Make-up, I am looking for a matte finish on the models skin as I do not want the make-up to be reflective of the lights. Lips and eye’s should have a bold finish. Bright red lipstick and around the eyes I want to have bold and dramatic/theatrical colours. Approach, I will start in the studio and get the shots I need in there. I will then move from studio to external. This will be weather dependant. 

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Something Old

The above image was created during a day in the studios. I went through various sets on the day of the shoot. Below is the various sets I experimented with. I started off with using a table with some material placed over it and the machine sat on top of this. I used a gobo light to create additional interest in the image. I had one large soft box to my right and above. I had to use a long shutter so I could introduce the ambient light in to the image.  I progressed this on to using two large flags and a light betweens them so the light had to bounce off both before lighting up the object. I swapped the sides of the flags from white to black to see what affect that would have in the image. In the afternoon I changed the set over to just the object on its own. Sitting on a white box With the back-ground being lite from both sides to give a clean white. I used a large soft box directly over the object and moved it to the front to introduce a bit more light. My next step was to use a reflector below the object to bounce light up from under it. In the final set up of the day I moved on to painting the object with light. I started off with a studio light on the front. It was gate so I was only putting light directly on the front. I used both the flash and the constant light from the studio light while the rest of the image was created using a torch. This however meant that any marks on the back-drop showed up. The studio light was then used to light up the back-ground in an attempt to clean up the back-ground. This gave fantastic colours but it didn’t remove the marks that are a distraction in an otherwise great set of images. I was unable to clean up the back-drop affectively so, I won't be using the images for the final submission. The image at above is my final submission. It came from the 2nd set of the day. I love the images from all the sets on the day but I feel the qualities are undeniable.  The warm tones in the image are due to the longer shutter time used. the ambient light helps to create a warm tone in the final image.  

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Right Time, Right Place

The Genius of Photography Right time right place Quote

"I have been a witness, and these pictures are

my testimony. The events I have recorded should

not be forgotten and must not be repeated."

James Nachtwey, 1948 James grew up in Massachusetts. A graduate of Dartmouth College where he graduated in Art History and political Science in 1970. He was inspired by photos from the Vietnam war and the American Civil Rights movement. He worked in the Merchant Marina and started to teach himself photography during this time. He did an apprenticeship as a news film editor and started work as a newspaper photographer in New Mexico. In 1980 e moved to New York and started working as a freelance magazine photographer.

His first assignment was to cover the issues in Northern Ireland in 1981. After this time he then set out around the world in conflict zones creating extensive photographic essays in various parts of the world. Time line 1984: Time Magazine 1980-85: Black star 1986-2001: Magnum Awards Robert Capa Gold medal five times World Press Photo Award twice Magazine photographer of the Year six times International Centre of Photography Infinity Award three times Leica Award twice Bayeaux Award for War Correspondents twice Alfred Eisnestaedt Award Canon Photo essayist Award W Eugene Smith Memorial Grant in Humanistic Photography James is also a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Arts. James is a “anti-war” photographer. He is a native new Yorker. The Nordic Lights Festival has nominated him for the Nobel peace prize for 10 years running. James is considered one of the bravest and most important war photographers of our time. People comment that he is quiet and unassuming shy man with and unobtrusive manor. Well-spoken and thoughtful person. Far from the hard-boiled war veteran that would be expected given the amount of time he has been covering war photography. The documentary “War photographer” is an expose on not only James but the job itself. The approach of this documentary was to put small camera on James and his camera. This gave the viewer a full and rare insight in to both the person and his work. He sees this work as being there to show others what is happening because he knows that not everyone can be there and seeing what is happening will sway humanity away from wars. Quote “For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war and if it is used well it can be a power- full ingredient in the antidote to war. In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what is happening, he is trying to negotiate for peace. Perhaps that is the reason why those in charge of perpetuating a war do not like to have photographers around.”

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Seven Fashion Photographs that changed fashion

Seven Fashion Photographs that changed fashion

Ian Rankin photographer is presenting the program. Quote “Fashion photography for me is much more than selling cloths. At its best there is a real art for the fashion photograph”

Explores both the equipment used and the techniques Looking at old ways and new.  Looking over 7 fashion photographs. These are his personal choices. He is exploring generational influence in the industry.

Cecil Beaton, The quintessential fashion photographer behind My Fair Lady. One of the early masters of the art. He created fantastical and theatrical style. He joined vouge in the early 1930s. Rankin credits Cecil for being the architype of fashion photography and talked about his ability to sell the dream. Rankin is recreating the 1934 image “White Panama Hat” This image is a mix of portrait and fashion. Cecil had a large team that would do the work for him. Ian talks about the kit of the day and how that would impact on composition. Mirrorless cameras and the amount of time it takes to things ready. By the time everything was in place Cecil would be left to take the photograph. The format was 10 by 8. Cecil Beaton “The visual really guided my life. I wanted to make photographs that didn’t look like photographs.”

Erwin Blumenfeld, Flair for visual experimentation and pioneer of colour photography. Rankin if looking to create the January 1950 Vogue cover. The photo of Lisa on the Eiffel Tower with Lisa Fonssagrives still defies believe today. He left France for the USA. His work in the darkroom was where Erwin would spend a lot of time exploring the processes involved to create stunning final images. The photo was actually taken in Black, bleached and then colour added at the printing stage. Rankin feels that Erwin singlehandedly brought art to the fashion industry.

Richard Avedon, Refreshing classic styling with energy and creative spirit. Daring stylish and ambitious. This made him the first celebrity fashion photographer. Richards youth and drive for the industry helped him create the work he did. He was more interested in becoming an artist than a fashion photographer. Ian is recreating Dovima With Elephants for Harpers Bazaar in 1955. The introduction of drama and spectacle is noted for making the photograph so special. 

David Bailey, David Baily brought a new dimension to fashion photography, sex. His life inspired a movie. It was a gentleman’s trade before this. Tech brilliance and force of personality bringing energy, spontaneity and life to his work. Ian goes on to create an image that was done in 1963 for Vogue.

Helmut Newton, Helmut was on a par with others in the 60s but in the 70’s that changed and he found his style. A voyeuristic approach with strong women in highly charged sexual images. 1975 Vogue Rue Aubriot is the image Ian is recreating. Ian is using the same model as was there on the day to help direct the photo shoot. Helmut was driven to create images that would get the viewer to ask what’s going on here.

Guy Bourdin, One of the most copied styles is Guy Bourdin. His saturated colours injection of energy. Dramatic images suggest a hidden trauma within dramatic scenarios. His influence in the pop culture was far reaching. The image being recreated is the 1970s vogue cover. The work could be described as sleazy drama. His shoots would be high energy. He would shoot a lot of images to get that one or two that worked for him. He created fashion images that’s considered art. Everything was done in camera with no retouching in processing.

Herb Ritts, In the 80s Herb created an Imaged named Fred with Tyres in 1984. This was one of the first images that flipped the normal status of staring at women to now staring at men. These images where considered homo-erotic. Herb created strong contrast images in black n white. He created images that concentrated on seeing the shadows and the light. He wanted to create beautiful images of beautiful people. Ian goes on to create Fed with Tyres. He tried to walk a thin line between the social change in accepting the then LGB community and homo-erotic images of men. He had the same approach to his images of women but he broke the mould on how men are seen in the industry.

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Brand Narrative

Brand narrative is a marketing practice that is used in helping organisations identify what one of 12 types their brand falls in to. This then controls the style of the advertising the brand will undertake. 

This is not the same thing as marketing demographics that explain things like age, sex or even political leanings.

Brand narrative is about speaking to the vision the organisation has of themselves that a consumer will then associate with. The brand narratives are seen above are the terms in the middle of the key above. I.E, Safety, Understanding and freedom. On the outside is the 3 “Ids or psychology”. Ego, Self and soul. The section in the middle can be considered to be the myth. This is what the consumer see’s themselves rather than the subtler Brand narrative. Brand narrative for a company is about how the brand wants to be perceived by the consumer. Its speaking about the values of the brand and the audience. Brand narrative is used to tell a story that engages the end user and is attuned to this psychology and is attuned to the brand identity.  

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Photojournalist Comparison

Contextual Photography Photojournalist Comparison News comes from a vast number of areas. In today’s world vs 10 or even 5 years ago we have seen massive changes in where news comes from. This has not changed the traditional ways or places that news comes from. There are now additional sources of news creation with the advent of social media. For good or bad news comes from more areas than ever before. Traditional sources of news include the printed press, T.V. News itself though comes from human activity or events in the natural world. Human activity can range from political, science, sport or human-interest stories. The natural world will create events that we will report on. News is basically humanity documenting what is happening around us and telling the story to others. There are various approaches to this as we have seen from the various projects we have completed in folio 1. These projects have shown how we can create news or human-interest stories from various situations. In this way we can create news but this does not mean fake. Photojournalism is the act of telling a story through photography. They don’t always need any text to support or explain the events. Often the images alone are powerful enough on its own. Images from around the world where natural disasters or wars are happening have had a long history of powerful imagery being created that offer insight in to the events that most people would not be able to see or engage with in any other fashion. Then there are the everyday environments that offer news sources that photographers will pick up that other may not necessarily without it being pointed out or highlighted. Rush Hour, Wait for it and Stylish Strangers styles where the news is created by the photographer examining everyday life around us. All of the above is taking it for granted that the photographer is a professional. The public also play their part in where news comes from. This can be a person simply documenting life events happening around them. This can be in the form of Bloggs or a photo diary that has gained attention through social media. Below is 5 links to where good photojournalism can be found. https://www.magnumphotos.com/category/newsroom/

https://nppa.org http://time.com/time-best-photojournalism-of-2017/

https://www.lensculture.com https://www.worldpressphoto.org Andrea Bruce

Philip Jones Griffiths

Findings Both photographers have documented the human cost of war. I find Andrea’s work to be more exploratory often opting to get closer to the subject. Philip often does not get as close to the subject’s. This might be in part due to Philip being one of the earliest photojournalists. This in part maybe down to Andrea having the influence of Philips work and feeling driven to get closer to the subject. Another consideration maybe the format that they had to work with. Philip had a film SLR while Andrea has a digital SLR. With film you are restricted to the capabilities of the film of shooting with more even exposures to ensure a result. A films ISO limits the photographer to work with the available light. Changing film part way through for a higher rated ISO can be difficult and slow. With digital there is far more ease in this area with the ability to work shot to shot. T’s things like this that will impact on approaches taken. Andrea also opts to get in close to the subject, filling the frame with an isolated subject. This draws the view in to the personal moments that are isolated from the event’s around the person. While we understand where Andrea is the images don’t always show the cause of the emotion. We know there is a war happening but the emotion in the subjects could have come from other life events at the time. Philip shooting more of the environment around the subject’s makes it clearer that the war is the cause. By shooting wider he introduces ore context to the images. It also shows the scale of the events happening to a wider population. Both have been in war zones documenting the events but their approaches are different and this offers viewers differing perspectives on the same subject matter.

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Speaker Report. David Eustace

David enjoys seeing a happy world. A world of joy. He went on to talk about the concept of “Daft Ideas” and their value to us and his life. His life was full of daft ideas that have taken him to where he is today. We have been encouraged to follow those daft ideas we have ourselves, and to enjoy the journey as its as important as the destination. He made the comment of not listening to those doubters out there. That we should listen to our guts and instincts. David talked about his life starting at college to working for magazines in London. During this he explained he did a lot of adverts. He goes on to talking about turning 40 and going to NY. During his time in the USA he worked for Anthropologie. One of the projects he talked about was the $65 dress. The concept behind this project bridged adverts and art. This made Anthropologie nervous. He went on to explain that he wanted to do a road trip called in search of Eustace. This is a town in the USA. He used this time to create a story with his journey. He asked us to be story tellers with our work. To quote “There is no such thing as a daft idea. We don’t know how things will turn out. Just to do it and put in the effort” He advises we create physical folios and to do this often. To create our own work. Self-doubt is normal so relax it shows we care. 

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Speaker Report. David Boni

David Boni 09/01/19 David talks about how assisting is a great way to see the full spectrum of the work involved in commercial work. We are encouraged to set time scale and goals with projects and with the amount of time we put in to starting up once we leave college and to be firm with this. we are told to find our own voice and styles. Something that defines us and makes up stand out. This is what he calls finding our voice. A studio at home is a great thing to have. Not only does it open up work abilities but gives a place to explore photography. Directors want to see your own work and style. Exploration is a must. We should create groups of images not just singular photos so that consistency is seen. His approach is to start with a rough idea and then progress in the studio. David says when he shoots he likes to protect his highlights. Keeping a beauty dish close to the subject and on a lower power shows features in the face. He asks his subjects for small movements in the face and eyes. He will take a lot of shots until he finds one that is interesting to him. David advises to create a physical folio so you can get face to face with the prints.   

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Speaker Report Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell 08/01/19 A documentary photographer who looks at communities and the worlds of children. She looks at the place they live and society around them. This is done with long-term documentation. Margaret creates her own work and is also commissioned. The work is classed as social/environmental portraits. She asks if the work needs explanation or if it have its own merit. The work on display is of her own family. She explains her approach to this and how the permissions work. She states that equipment is not the thing that makes the photographer. It’s the content of the images or body of work that’s important. The work comes from her own preceptive and places heavy emphasis on places and objects. Margaret has had her work displayed in various places ranging from street level to The Royal photographic Society. Margaret also said that competitions are great for exposure and we should look to enter any we can.

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Speaker Report Mark Man

09/01/2019 Wed pm              Mark Mann “skyped from NY” https://www.markmannphoto.com https://www.facebook.com/markmannphoto/ http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/meet-scots-photographer-who-shot-3295515 Worth reading the article. A few of things said and questions asked are covered in it. This is the “other stuff from my notes. He started off with an HND and no idea how to make money. He went to New York for two weeks and ended up staying. Meet his other half who he credited with being sensible enough to have a real job to pay the bills. He talked about the realism of photography where there are times with jobs flying in the door and other times where nothing is happening. These are the times to go and create something that might just be for yourself or for a folio etc. He also talked about the need to be diverse and have the ability to be flexible in the work you can take on. He talked about the need to keep your work fresh and keep evolving. Keeping an eye on the trends. That having a good manager that pushes you and assists you is important but going out on your own to do this is just as important if not more so. Be genuine with people. Don’t let the person in front of you be above you or openly make you nervous. Whoever is in front of you don’t start with flattery. It’s better to start with a comment that everyone can relate too. “Traffic was murder today” type of thing. Everyone can relate to this. Practice with people you know. Use them to create work that you can use. They do not have to be a model perfect person to get good photos. Chatting with the subject and even playing a bit with their emotions can create a moment between the actual shot where a person’s expression is interesting and emotive. Mistakes on shots will happen but control this. Let the team sort issues if you have one. If not just slow yourself and the shoot down. Say you are thinking about things or get the subject to go and get changed a few times until the issue is sorted. Always look as though you’re in control. As in previous comments on knowing your kit and approach. This leaves you free to be with the subject on that one to one level. He now uses the Rotto system. Again close and powered down.

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Exhibition Review Planes, trains and automobiles

What is the suitability of the gallery space? How is the exhibition laid out?

The space is perfect for this varied body of work. Spacious and well lit. Great use of the archways to highlight some o the work. Very well done

How has the work been mounted? Is this appropriate for the work?

The mounting varies as some of the work is so old I doubt anyone would change the frame or mounting so that there is a consistent feel to the entire body of work.

Who made the work?

This is mixed as the work is based on a theme rather than an individual person.

Who did they make it for, who is the audience?

This is varied but I can assume that a lot of this will have been for transportation enthusiast's or publications

How does it make you feel?

The older work is inspiring as I know the people taking the images would face challenges that I would not face today with current technology.

If the work has a title does it make you think about the image/s differently?

Mixed bodies of work with various titles. Image taken. Ref to later.

How would I describe it to someone later?

A great range of photographs that document not only the progression of transport but also photography. There are some of the older images with ww1 planes that have to be seen to be believed. Given the cameras of the day it also adds power to the images created given the difficulty involved.

Does the photograph make you want to ask questions, what are these questions?

The image called Sunshine and flowers by Alfred G. Buckham is inspirational. I had to stop and think about where the photograph was taken. The only answer is another plane. I am not sure if I am seeing part of the wing or landscape in the image. Half way up on the right-hand side. The old cameras of the time where large and needed longer exposures. They are not known for the sort of detail that is available with today’s cameras.

I wonder how he exposed for this image and the position he would have to have sat in to take the shot.

Is the photograph valuable? How do you know?

The image is valuable because its rare on various elements. This type of photograph would not be taken very often even back then due to the complexities involved. This would not have been reprinted to often if at all. The age of the Silver gelatine print goes back to the 1920s.  

Is the work for sale and who might buy it?

The print is held by the national galleries Scotland. It is not for sale although reproductions in poster form are available.  

What information is available about the artist/s?

There is a lot of information available about Alfred G. Buckham due to his work and his life as a captain. There are various articles in the press and on-line. There is also the book “A Vision of Flight” still being sold.

Who organised the exhibition and who selected the work?

The Curator of the National Galleries Scotland arranged and selected the works.