Clockwork Camera

Sam Rushton's 2nd semester photography blog

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Digital imaging set reading - The reconfigured eye notes

Analog(film based) copying of images can lead to imperfections and not perfect as the original. -Digital based images can be copied exactly as the original. 'Special tension' is what Weston calls the link of particles which made a photograph and editing them is destroying the photograph. People feared when the daguerreotype photography would kill forms of art such as painting Photographs still play a key role in certain jobs such a science and journalism because of its proof of credibility and visual proof of the subject

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Reading images /critical process -professional studio set reading notes

Critical process is a four step process Description,formal analysis,interpretation and evaluation of that image. Being critical is being able to argue and support your claims. First to describe what you see and then Analysis the image in better depth (technical details and why the photographer had done ect. Interpret the meanings behind the image , is it personal or a story or is it trying to make you think about a subject -use the analysis to back up this And finally evaluate the photograph and think about its value to a viewer.

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Professional studies “intrusion” shoots one and two contact sheets

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Professional studies reflection

For this module we was given the tasks of researching and writing reports on various laws and legislations which can effect a professional photographers work and practices, I found this part of the module quite easy to perform and writing about since knowing a lot of business practice knowledge from pervious education. but I also found out some parts such as writing about professional insurances useful to my own practices as well as helping me decide if I wanted a career in self employed work as a photographer. Looking back to myself before this module I didn't have or use any of the legal forms or contracts when doing photography work which now I know is a must have to cover myself both legally and also to boost my professional standards.

I used government issued websites and photographic websites such as the AOP and the NUJ which have codes of professional practices to how a photographer should work and I feel like I should now do my own investigations into these websites more and use them in my own practices.

The intrusion work was at first very scary just to even think about. I narrowed down my ideas to something which everyone does but is very private to people and taking photos of people eating in public is never really seen and I felt very intrusive into strangers life's. while shooting I noticed myself becoming more bolder and confident , getting closer and closer to the subjects. while the technical side of the project was pretty simple I needed to think critically in order to be able to go up to someone eating and take a photo of them without them noticing me or seeing me. Personally I wouldn't want to be going up to people and doing this and I was a bit short of ideas and what I could achieve.

Acting professionally I thought about what to say or do if someone did spot me and it was to explain what I was doing and why I was doing it and the idea of someone objectifying to me taking a photograph would further back up my idea of intrusion and making people feel uncomfortable.

My presentation skills I feel have been strengthened by reporting back on my intrusion exercise. while speaking about my actions I felt I could justify my actions and my work better than just writing it down on a piece of paper. I designed and created my presentation to a professional standard in order to give my peers a clear understanding which they could see and read and didn't make it a complex and jumbled mess which would be unprofessional and inappropriate if I was working with a client.

The Exhibition work was both enjoyable and a challenge to think critically and professionally about my work and which piece of work in progress I wanted to use. I ended up using my studio module work as i liked it the best and felt it was both original and also it fitted in better with other peoples work on the course. ideas on how my work was presented came from exhibition trips both in Wales and at West Media In Bristol.

This module has helped me reflect back on my own practices and work before and see how unprofessional my practices was and how I didn't know about my own ethical standing which would of greatly affected my work if asked to shoot something which I didn't like. looking at myself now as a person and also as a photographer, I feel more professional and confident in my knowledge and feel I can now think about starting to run my own photography business or at least can use this knowledge to other uses, this module has made me think more critically and professionally about how I should work from now on both on this course and in my own fields of work.

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Professional Studies Legislation report

Copyright:

Copyright is a photographers most valuable piece of legislation they can use . Copyright protects their work and photographs from being stolen either off the internet or by clients and then be reused or for other people to claim it as their own. Copyright can protect the work of a photographer for however long they live for and 70 years afterwards. if a photographer is working free lance then it is essential for them to copyright their work as it can be an investment in the future if their work was to become a masterpiece and people wanted to buy it . if a photographer is employed by a media company or a press company then their work may be held under copyright of their employer. this is normally highlighted in their contract, this can because although the photographer is taking the photographs , the equipment is owned by the company in which the photographer is employed by.

Moral rights is a part of the copyright laws which includes certain acts which protect photographers too such as an act which gives photographers a right for them and their work to be identified and credited when being used by other people. this is to protect a photographers work and also the financial side of their work insuring that they get paid for usage of their work.

Moral rights also include acts such as the right to objectify to false attribution which is used when a photographer is labelled the creator of a piece of work which isn't theirs. this right can only be used for up to 20 years after the photographer who has been falsely attributed has passed away. This act is to safeguard a photographers reputation and standard of work and also to protect the photographer from any copyright claims from the original owner of the work.

Finally moral rights include the right to privacy which stops people from using work or materials which was commissioned for private use. if the work wants to be used then the photographer has the right to choose to licence it for use.

Both the Association of Photographers (AoP) and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) are both committed to helping and legally backing up their members against copyright infringement and ownership of an photograph and help provide clear information on the subject to help its members.

Contract law and rights:

Contract laws are laws regarding the use of contracts and over legal documents which are used when photographers working for clients or doing commissioned work . these contracts are legal binding documents which promises that a photographer will do the work in exchange for payment by a client. Contracts are also used to state areas such as who keeps the copyright, how long the work is allowed to be used for and how long the photographer will work for and the price for this hours. As long as the photographer abides by the contact which both sides have agreed too and signed then the work what's been produced and must be paid for. If either the photographer or the client do not follow the contract then legal action can be taken if the issue hasn't been resolved between them both.

  The rights associated with the contact for the photographer will include , the right to be paid for their work which they have produced, the right of copyright of their work and ownership ( if not agreed to be given to the client. the rights for the client can include the right for good quality work which they have asked for. to pay the price which both the client and the photographer has agreed too , the right to the amount of days of usage given to them and the ownership rights if given to them by the photographer.

Other types of documents which can be used in conjunction with the contracts include model release forms , property release forms and licence to use forms. these all can be used with the contact to unsure that the photographer is legally safe.

A model release form is a document which is between the photographer and the model which gives the photographer permission by the model to use and publish the photographers work. this protects the photographer from being sued by a model if they don't want their photographs used unless the form has been signed. in the case of a model being under 18 and technically not an adult then the models parents or guardians will sign on the models behalf. A property release form works in the same way but instead of models it's for the property or place which is being photographed and would have to be signed by the owner,  for example an location shoot on a farm would need to be signed by its owner to be used.

Licence to use forms state how long a client can use the work done by the photographer, typically its about 30 working days after the work has been paid but can be changed for the clients requirements. normally a fee would be put in place if the client would want to use the work after the initial period of time. this is to stop clients from using the work for other things such as advertisement can prove that it was only meant to be used in a certain amount of time given by a photographer in court.

 Professional insurance for photographers:

Photographers both freelance and employed will need special insurances in order to make them able to work legally and professionally. typically a professional photographer will need. Professional liability insurance, general liability insurance and business owner insurance.

Professional liability insurance is insurance with will protect the photographer from being sued by for things such as technical failures and unhappy clients. for example if a camera broke down in the middle of a wedding or a memory card was faulty and so all the photos were lost, the photographer would be protected from clients suing them for not being able to deliver a service or fully fulfil the service which was originally offered.

General liability insurance covers a photographer in the event of a model or client having an accident or getting injured while being photographed. this insurance would cover the medical costs for the model or client. for example if a studio light fell onto someone and they had to go to hospital then the insurance would cover the costs and cover the photographer if they was sued.

Business owner insurance generally covers equipment damage or theft which would stop the photographer from being able to provide the services they are promoting. this can cover cameras , computers and studio equipment. this can also be upgraded to cover fire damage , electronic data lose and cover hired equipment too.

If a professional photographer has these three types of insurance for their practices and along with their contract forms and they abide by health and safety laws then the photographer would be safe and covered from any legal issues which may arise.

Health and Safety and risk assessments:

As for all businesses including photographic businesses , they are affected by health and safety laws and requirements which are laws put in place by the government to help prevent accidents and deaths from happening at the workplace. The health and safety at work act was brought into Great British laws in 1974 and was designed to protect employees at work against accidents and also to legally protect employers if they follow the health and safety act at their business. A photographer who is running a studio or employing assistants will need to follow the health and safety laws in order to run their photographic business legally. normally  where should be a health and safety legislation poster which will tell the employee what they are covered for at the work place , how to report and accident and other information such as first aiders. health and safety laws for a photographer could be that all the equipment is properly maintained and suitable for its purpose , taking breaks every 15 minutes while working on computers and proper training of equipment.

For a Film based photographer or photographic studio , they would need to comply with COSH (control of substances hazardous to health) to ensure all their darkroom chemicals are stored correctly and not going to danger anyone around them. safety measures can include chemicals stored in locked cupboards , using proper PPE ( personal protective equipment) such as gloves and goggles and giving proper training to use the dark room chemicals.

Shooting on location would have different risks to that in a studio but a risk assessment form would still need to be filled out and down , typically risks when shooting on location would be making sure the photographers have public liability insurance against being sued for accidents while on location . making sure all equipment is safe to use and making sure things are compliant with health and safety laws.

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Studio Photography Evalutaion

For the Studio Photography module we had to create the a portfolio of 4 photographs on the theme of object story using studio lighting techniques. the theme could of been either commercial , creative or fine art. for my theme I chose creative and I wanted to create a theme of outer-space worlds and planets using geometric shapes in everyday objects.

Originally my idea was to take fruits such as watermelons and pineapples which I could then cut into shapes and photograph but i found it to be too much hard work to cut the fruits into shapes. so then i started to use glass objects and finally got onto using crystals.

I then was using crystal pieces and using different coloured lasers and using them to illuminate them so they would look like they was glowing and look sci-fi themed which I was intending to do .

My views on the technical side of the module was a little bit complicated thinking about how lights and lasers work and how to illumined clear objects without making them too bright . also of technical details included working with cameras settings and selecting the right shutter speeds and apertures to get the perfect shot.  a little Photoshop was needed to get the final photos flipped and using RAW files to get them correctly exposed. But this wasn't too difficult and I found this easy to do.

Creatively I thought my ideas where strong on how I wanted to creative alternative worlds and planets using some common crystals and some laser pens, I really enjoyed trying things would and making the patterns on the crystals to achieve the desired effect I wanted. i found it easy to make different shapes by rotating the crystals around the backdrop.The two studio exercises where easy and straightforward to do and I found them fun and interesting to think about and shoot.

Critically I looked at a few of André Kertesz's books while trying to work on my initial ideas and some photos and mood boards I created on Pintrest. I also used the PGR days to gain an insight into what other people thought about my work and what they seen in my photos.

Professionally I acted in a way which would of been used in a professional studio environment, making sure leads where taped down and avoiding trips and falls. I also analysed the images I used for my analysis exercise professionally too thinking about how a photographer would see it and how the general audience would see it too.

If I was to do this module again I would of created more interesting pieces with the crystals perhaps on a larger scale using the same technical details I've used for my shoots. also I feel that I would try to create more elaborate themes with my idea too spanning to other types of crystals and minerals.

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Digital imaging evaluation

For the Digital imaging module we had to create the minimum of 3 images and an 1 minute piece of video  based on our own photographic practices. I explored the idea of abandoned places hidden in plain sight of the public . My idea came from my own hobby of exploring abandoned places and how I wanted to show these places in a different light.

Originally my idea was to take a series of photos on a place which was called the “mill” my shoots would be based around a model in this gray and dark industrial setting in a bright red dress to signify the “seeing in a different light” and how the colours would clash with the setting and environment. unfortunately my idea had to be changed as the day of shooting the final images , the place was boarded up and we were told not to enter for safety reasons.

So I came up with an idea close to home which took the form of a old abandoned quarry close to my parents house in a very built up area. I thought about how this place was hiding in plain sight and came up with the idea of the model, who was in a red dress hiding in red smoke and this is what my final photographs consist of.

My video linked in as it tells the story of the girl wondering about the quarry and dancing in the smoke which covers her body which hides her from view but keeps her in plain sight.

My views on the technical side of the module where straight forward with the planning and the shooting but when it came to the videoing side of the module I struggled with how the ideas in my head and what I wrote down and how I could shoot them onto video. I also found it hard editing the video into one full length video. it is where I haven’t really had experience of filming things and video editing either. also using a Mac rather than using a PC which I’m used to.

Creatively I thought my ideas where strong how the use of the locations I’ve picked where very bland mix of greys and white’s and where the use of red was bold and powerful and really stood out. this is where group reviews helped me narrow down into using smoke than just the plain dress on its own. the smoke also helped create a sense of motion into my photographs.

Critically I worked with many books which were on the subject of urban exploration and also technical books such as lighting books which helped me gave me some ideas for if I was shooting in the dark abandoned buildings as my initial ideas. I also looked into some films and movies which are on the subject too.

Professionally I acted in an irresponsible way by not getting permission to shoot on the locations but I made sure someone knew where I was when shooting and kept it local. I used progress reviews and tutorials to good use in order to get ideas and also to solve problems which risen over the module.

If I was to do this module again I would of gone with a stronger idea for this module because I felt after the place I was originally going to shot at was closed I was panicking about running out of time but I felt confident in finishing my course with my backup idea. I enjoyed shooting with smoke it was something different than what I was used too and its possible I may do something in the future with the use of smoke and models.

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Studio photography - still life exercise 2 copying

for this exercise I used the first photo which is a photograph of wine glasses lined up on a black reflected surface and a white/gray background.

for my copy I used the same amount of wine glasses , a piece of glass spray painted black so it was reflective and a white studio backdrop and two umbrella lights. one which diffused the light on the right while the other have the harsh light on the left.

it was an easy shoot it was just difficult to get the catch lights in the left of the wine glasses but i got it pretty spot on and then used Photoshop to just darken some of the areas of the backdrop.

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Final Photos for Studio Photography

here are my final 4 photos for studio photography on my crystals theme.

I was going to go for different photos than the ones for my Work in progress submissions but from shots i did afterwards I just didn’t feel that I liked the photos and chose to use these ones instead with the addition of the yellow one. these where shot using a Canon 5D full frame camera as asked on the brief

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Final Photographs - Digital Imaging

These are my final 3 photos for digital imaging on my urban hiding theme

my idea was to create a set of images in an abandoned urban environment but use the ideas of colours as a way to show and reveal the place and its state of abandonment.

For this I used my idea figuratively , using a model in a red dress to hide in red smoke as the same way a abandoned place would blend in around it .

My photos where shot on a full frame Canon 6D and I used about 20 smoke grenades for the shoot. I then narrowed it down to ten and then my final three

I then used Photoshop to add some more contrast to make the reds and the pinks stand out and also added vibrancy to the photos as well before sharpening them up and saving them with 300DPI.

Weirdly , the photos saved at around 80Mb and where far too large to upload to tumblr so here are some really low quality copies.

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Within The Smoke

My Digital imaging Video for Fda Professional Photography

Within The Smoke - Digital imaging

Here is my video for Digital imaging which was made by using I-movies in Mac

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Work in progress exhibition - Professional studies

As part of the professional studies module we had to produce a piece of work for an exhibition. The exhibition was called " Work In Progress" and was centred around what we was working on for our modules.

I chose to use my Studio photography module work which was my crystals illuminated with lasers, I was unsure on which image to use for the exhibition and I eventually chose to make a body of three photographs ,each of a different colour to enter for the exhibition.

I played around when editing and decided to flip the photos I used so the brighter reflections where on top to make the viewers think more deeply about the image and how it was shot ( e.g. where is the light coming from).

Finally I made sure the Photoshop document was the size which was needed to print of the large scale printer which we was using and that each of the photos where to scale with each other so they didn't look bigger than each other.

I visited the exhibition twice , the first time with a friend who was interested in how the photos were taken ( as I talked about above ) and also with my fellow students so see our work up on the walls and I had a great sense of achievement and pride in myself and my work knowing how hard I worked to produce them photographs up on the wall.

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Make something unappealing , appealing excercsie - studio photography

This is my final image for my mushroom , while shooting I shot though my camera using black and white because I wanted to get the contrast of all the grime and dirt of the mushroom on the stalk and in the gills. I was using an extension tube in order to get the extreme macro of the gills. To make it interesting and appealing, I used a lamp which I shined on the mushroom in a narrow band going diagonally across the mushroom which was the part of the photo which I made sharp with selective focus. I feel that the blur helps create the monochrome contrast o was looking for to make the image appealing. The studio diagram shows me using two lights which consist of a white umbrella constant light which ill illuminated the whole mushroom and a spot light (which was a lamp) to get that diagonal band of light. The camera was set on a tripod and the mushroom was stood up by a small box from behind.

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Make something unappealing look appealing contact sheets - Studio photography Here are the contact sheets of the photos I've taken for my unappealing mushroom shoot in order to make it appealing

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Employment opportunities -Professional Studies

As photography is a very broad subject which is involved in many roles including Art , media , Fashion , it was uses in the law and scientific purposes. this would mean there is many employment opportunities for a professional photographer. these would also include non-photographic roles such as studio assistants , printing assistants , director of photography in films and gallery curator.

Generally a professional photographer may choose to start and run their own business if they own their own studio or have interests in wedding photography. but this can be tricky to run and would need to be financially and legally sound to avoid being fined for something like tax evasion. positives would be that you get to keep all the money for yourself , choose your own working hours and generally choose your own jobs.  self employment for me could be a possibility but at the current time I do not have the money to start it off to be a full professional business all though I am doing small photographic jobs on the side line.  

Wedding photography would not be a possibility for me as I don't own a car to get to locations and I don't feel as confidant in this area of photography than I do in portraiture. if I was going to open my own photography business I think I would keep it very studio based both for portraiture and other areas of photography such as product photography.

Another common practice for photographers is to be employed by a news or media company and work for them. this can be a lot easier than setting up their own business and can come with benefits such as paid holidays , a company car and also free use of equipment.

there can be some issues such as copyright usage , where does the copyright go to the photographer or the company.  another issue could be time management and also the lack of choice of what job you've been given. if you don't want to do a certain job you could be fired.

I had some experience when studying my A-levels to go and do work experience at a local newspaper, I found that some of the work was very interesting and fun to go and photograph for example one day we photographed a rally team racing against the British army. but on other days it would be something dull and boring such as a school fate.

I also noticed also a lot of the stories needed to be covered where out of city and required a car to get there , something I didn't have at the time and haven't got a car now. going to work at a news company could possibly an idea if I sorted myself out with passing my driving exams and getting a car.

Fashion photography is sometimes a mix of being self employed and being offered a job and also working for the fashion company and using their studio and equipment. the photographer would need to be confident to be able to work with a time limit and also be confident in speaking to the clients and also the models to be able to get the photos of what's being asked.

I feel that my experiences of shoots I've done on this course I would possibly think that fashion photography could be a carer route which I could look into as I am confident in talking to models and also taking portraits in a studio environment. also fashion photography has a large technical side to it which I am confident in too.

  studio and printing assistants are aids to the photographer , whether its setting up lighting or a camera or calibrating a printer and monitor to be able to print photographs professionally. normally university students look for these types of jobs to get more experience in the working environment with a photographer. a studio assistant would need a good technical knowledge of lighting setups and also cameras in order to set up a shoot professionally and within a time limit.

I feel that studio assistant type role would be something I would be interested in either whilst still studying my second year or afterwards towards my photographic carer as I know a vast amount of technical knowledge of lighting and cameras which would come in use in a studio environment.

a Director of photography is the person who will tell camera and lighting crews what to do when shooting a movie , they need a lot of technical knowledge to be able to make what the director of the movie wants to see. this job can be very demanding and also requires possible studies in cinematography and video production.

as I have based myself into photography and have only really shot a small piece of film for this semesters work , I feel that I wouldn't be able to work as a director of photography as I don't know much about cinematography.  so looking for a career in becoming a director of photography would be highly unlikely without me also going to study cinematography.

gallery/museum curators are people to work in galleries or museums and who are able to speak and talk about a photographers work in detail and are able to speak to members of the public clearly and confidently. they are also in charge of helping photographers lay out exhibitions in a way which works for the flow of the work. personally I don't feel confident in speaking to crowds of strangers in confidence and this is a career which I don't really feel interested in doing, as a photographer I feel I want to show my work though my own photographs and not talk about others.

 I feel after my university studies I want to look into a carer centred around studio portraiture where either I am working as a studio assistant or start up my own business. feel maybe a career in the journalistic environment or in fashion would be a bit too hard or out of reach when I leave university due to not having a car. I feel that a director of photography or a curator role is not what I'm looking for since I want to be active in my own photography and not be telling people what to do or telling people about someone else's work .

I will defiantly be looking into studio assistant work in my second year of university as this seems like a good place to start to lead into a photographic carer such as my own business.

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Personal ethical framework - Professional Studies

After the seminar where we filled in a sheet about what we was comfortable and uncomfortable about photographing and thinking about our own ethics of photography where they are based on morals within ourselves or are they influenced by money or other gain such as fame or status.

This exercise originally lead me to my own personal ethics and what I would never photograph. for me it would be anything which showed:

Abuse or suffering of men, women and children- this is because I personally believe that people shouldn't be made to suffer and that someone shouldn't generate a profit or gain from photographing something so negative.

Abuse/cruelty/ scientific testing on animals.-  This is another thing I am strongly against as a person so I wouldn't be able to do a photography job which involved abuse or cruelty against animals as animals shouldn't be made to suffer for human gain and cannot stand up for themselves.

Gory or violent crime scenes. - I wouldn't personally want to go photograph a crime scene in which someone's body parts are all over the place , nor would I want to photograph a dead body in a way which would incriminate them or  possibly bring more grief to the family.

Media scandals - this is more of a "think about someone else" idea of mine in which I wouldn't want take photos which could be made into a media scandal which could ruin peoples life's or break up families.

Nude / Artistic nude. - I feel doing  nude photography as a photographic/artistic concept would be acceptable for me to do, I would feel  slightly nervous beginning with but once I got to work doing it i think I would be okay in shooting nude models.

Pornography . -I think I would be able to photograph normal pornography but nothing too hardcore or weird fetish wise, just because it would make me feel too uncomfortable and self conscious into what I was doing on shoot . but I think though that if a was given the opportunity I would  take it.

  After my intrusion exercise I thought more about people's privacy and how valuable  is it to some people. this lead me on to think about how people's privacy shouldn't be invade for another peoples gain. this lead me to add to my own ethics above to include:

Photos of people in public- I feel that I can now take photos of people both models and the public in confidence and would be able to back up why I was taking the photos if people challenged me and also I feel I know when to take a photo and when not too.

In conclusion I feel that my ethics to my photographic practices are open as long as it doesn't include what I've talked about such as abuse or anything gory or hardcore pornographic.  whether these ethics change in the future or any other exceptions to what I feel would be included in the list of which I wouldn't shoot.  I feel I would need to have to experience the theme of which could effect my own code of ethics.

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Investigating Market rates - Professional Studies

As part of our professional studies module , we did a small exercise in which we would work out our day rates for both if we had a business now.

I worked out by first working out our current living costs (as rough estimates). these included things such as rent, food , utilities , savings and  holidays. for mine I worked out it was roughly £13,296 a year.

Next we worked out an example of what our current business costs would be (as estimates also). these included equipment prices, travel , servicing and things such as promotion and marketing. I worked out for my example business would cost £9452 a year.

Next we added up the living costs with the business costs plus 20% added tax. which all together worked out to be £24,879. so this tells me I need my business to make £24,879 a year to break even.

I then would need to work in that I wouldn't be working for 6 weeks ( as holiday) so I would be working 46 weeks a year. so it would be £24,879 divided by 46 weeks which would give me £541. so this shows me I need to make £541 a week to break even. so then I could possibly divide my week into 5 days and that would give me £108 as my day rate

So if I rounded it up to £110 ideally I would be charging that per day to my clients.

Looking at local photographers day rates in Bristol I found these-

Neil Watson photography offer many different prices such as an hour portrait sitting for £90 which was based around the photographer visiting the client at home and take up to 50 photos. His commercial photography day rate of 6 hours is £600 per day, this also includes 200 photos on a CD/DVD

http://www.neilwatsonphotography.co.uk

Evoke pictures rates are different since they don't charge for travel time or editing time . they have an hourly rate of £90 an hour and their day rate (which is 8 hours) is £650 a day.

They state they offer a minimum 1 hours shooting in Bristol and 2 hours when shooting outside of Bristol so for example if they was shooting in bath the minimum someone would have to pay is £180 for the first two hours.

http://www.evokepictures.com

Hammond's photography offers an hourly rate of £120 for the first hour and then £60 for more hours afterwards and offers a half day rate for 4 hours at £275 and a full 8 hour day rate for £450. Shoots must be a minimum of two hours long so the minimum anyone will be charged is £180 for a shoot.

http://hammondsphotography.com

 Looking at these three photographers prices I have averaged the day rate to about £550-£560 for a typical 8 hour day . and an hourly rate of about £90-£100. with this in mind it seems that my estimated day rate of £110 is far too cheap compared to other business in Bristol.

Having a cheap day rate can make your services look like they are poor compared to more expensive businesses and some high end clients will look towards higher end photographers in which to get shoots done. Another thing to think about is to not undercut other photographers in the area by providing a cheaper rate than the market.

In order to look more professional I would ideally raise my day rate from £110 for 8 hours work to something in the area of £500 - £600 per day to look more professional to clients, to make more of a profit for myself and also to be able to compete for more high end clients. Hourly rates I would charge would be about £90-£95 and charge the minimum of two hours to also fit in with the market rates and ensure I make enough profit to cover a job.