Live on Location - Harvington Hall

Live on Location 

Harvington Hall 

To plan for Shooting into photographing Harvington Hall, i researched into their own website page, to work with their style to keep it current to their target audience of all ages from school children to senior adults, who all enjoy visiting the Historic house.



 The Style of images that is shown on the webpage are very simple, this is mainly to show how the house sits in the surroundings of the gardens that is owned by the natural trust.

The house sits in it's all natural glory surrounded by Gardens.

To plan furthermore into producing images to fit to the clients brief of showing the wonders of Harvington all Gardens and architecture. I did some research into past photographs to help keep the same style while making it meet the current market.  

as well as researching into composition with Pinterest, I found photographer, Ruth Bourne, she had photographed the Malt house after its restoration of the Malt House. 

 I researched into Pinterest purely for composition, so my images worked between other photographers and the webpage for Harvington itself. 

  by using the selected research images as a starting point to keep the image relevant. 

planning the shoot and equipment 

To promote the website, I planned against the weather, to make sure it was dry with limited cloud and enough sun to give contrast. throughout the week leading up to the day of the shoot, i kept on top of the weather to make sure it wasn't going to rain, to avoid having to cancel and re-arrange to do the shoot. 

The equipment i am using will my digital, this will help with quick selection and editing before sending them off to the company for them to be used on their webpage. incase of high sun, i will be using a uv filter or a ND filter, this will help with keeping all the colours that will be exposed in the image. 

Contact Sheets

The exposure time for the images ranged between 1/30 1/50 1/80, this allowed enough light and contrast depending where the sun sat during the period of the day. these exposure times also allowed me to avoid over and underexposure to the images.

 Analysis on contact sheet 

Over viewing my contact sheets, there are parts where the work should have been neater, sharper contrast with the correct exposure, including more within the frame work of the image. however, there are images where this has been achieved.

on a full review of the images they could be neater, sharper and better framed, by following my research more to fit for purpose to the project brief that had been set, i would have met these targets however, with minor limitations, i had produced enough images to follow the style of Harvington hall webpage.

the images could be better, have more variety to what Harvington Hall has to offer and what it is  about, unfortunately I and a small set back in not being able to photograph inside but the outside had a lot to offer, in the itself, the Malt house and the restoration along with a garden walk. I did try and capture each set throughout the images, I misjudged the composition and exposure to the weather becoming cloudy throughout the day but overlooking this shoot, there are some images that show just what i was aiming into showing.

for future improvements, I would just need to take more care into planning against the weather and making faster judgements with exposure and composition.

 The selected Five Images

Evaluation on the images 

Each image shows a variety of images from around Harvington Hall of the house including the restoration of the Malt house and the gardens, to where you can enjoy the history and a walk around Harvington Hall. 

searching and analysing through each image, to see whether or not it was fit for purpose on promoting Harvington Hall, I carefully selected the top five images to fit into the same or a similar style. by working with weather and carefully selecting the right exposure settings, ISO, aperture, white balance, all the images would have a strong contrast with natural shadows from sun. 

when it came to editing the six selected images, to avoid over editing, i started of with the basics in Camera raw, checking the exposure and adding small saturation to the image in parts that was lost. this then got worked into on Photoshop by working into the selected colour, to not over tone the colours but to make it look natural but with sharper tones. 

all images had the same editing techniques applied. this helped keeping the images all the same and to avoid looking out of place. 

Overall evaluation on the project 

reflecting on the project as a whole, I am quite happy with how the shoot went, producing the style images, researching into how to follow a clients brief, I am happy with how the final outcome has been produced even with little spaces for improvements. 

The only set back to this project was that I was unable to photograph inside the house, but for future improvements onto working in this area, I would have had to email Harvington Hall asking for permission with  a brief explanation as to why I am doing this idea. 

even with the out breaks of sun between the clouds during most part of the day for this shoot, I had overcome small obstacles into producing a good set of images that show different variety of the outside house and gardens. 

Live on Location - Fashion shoot with Talia White

Live on Location 

Fashion shoot with Talia white

 within the Live on Location, we had a workshop with Talia White, this was using outdoor and how to photograph with the natural surroundings away from the studio where the lighting can be control, but not all shoots will be produced that way. 

The Shoot

By working in small groups, we each planned where to shoot around the College Campus. the spots we had picked was the College's swamp and the back of Tudor Grange house. these two spots allowed us to work with the surrounding given and where the light naturally hit either through trees or over tops of a building. 

planning into equipment and execution of the shoot  

To help with the shoot on location, I planned with the weather, by checking the local weather reports to see where the sun was going to be positioned at the current time when taking the images. this would help work against shadowing, over or under exposure. 

For the contrast of the images against the weather, i will be using a neutral density filter, this will help  equalise the sun's light and make no changes to the colour in the capturing image. 

all this will be shot using a DSLR camera, Nikon D3000, this will help keep control when the sun changes position as well as movement from the model and myself. 

Contact Sheet 

With using a ND Filter, and having natural lighting from the sun, my exposure time will be 1/30 1/50 1/80, this is mainly to where the sun is sitting to the surrounding of the model. 

analysis of images and making the right selection 

The images i have taken could do with improvement, however some images are fine, with minor mistakes but from these mistakes i can make the correct changes into making the images stronger and more outstanding. 

The changes needed to the images will more looking at focal, composition and exposure. this is mainly to avoid any images been cut down in the frame to where you lose a really good image or making it more filled within the frame to avoid gaining to much image waste and the eye is drawn to the model instead of the background. 

A lot of the improvements is aimed towards exposure and frame work. making more contact with the model will help draw the attention to where it should be. to avoid over exposing my images , the changes made would be to work against the light of the weather, if the sun has moved, and it becomes more cloudy, then a smaller aperture would be required to let little light in but open enough not to make it look dark to lose detail, this will help keep the model from blending into the background. 

Some of the images needed more of filled composition to the frame of the camera, this means i should have checked both ways, landscape and portraiture and be quick into making the right decision to get the best outcome, this will cut down time into having to many images of the same style. 

making the right choices of the images, I went through them into checking composition, exposure, style of image, will it draw in the attention and the clear focal of the image. by making the right choices it would help plan the final outcome into post production and applying the correct editing processed before final submission. 

The final selected images 

evaluation on the images 

searching through the contact sheet to select the final six images. I wanted the images to show variety while flowing together, keeping this woodland theme either in the background or framing the model. The images flow between colours, and the composite of the model, each showing different positions to the surroundings.

Each image has had the same editing technique, this has allowed me to keep them to the same contrast and saturation allowing the images to not look over toned but natural tones. 

overall evaluation

Evaluating the Fashion on location as a whole from planning to selection of the top four images, there is room for improvement, as Fashion is not my strongest skill but by working more to the frame of my camera and carefully selecting the right aperture, i was able to learn and understand that being more imaginative to how the model is positioned, taking charge if something else is required such as a small adjustment to how the model is either sitting or standing but also the position of her hands.

The areas of improvement would be not to hold back in to taking a small charge of how i want my image to look, work more to the composition, this can be by researching some ideas for location, to look into compositions or camera techniques to the weather, making quicker adjustments to either my own position of the camera or the composition itself.

for future improvements, i will take more understanding by planning more in dept to keep a note on weather, make the correct aperture and shutter, make minor sketches on what will work and what will not work, this will help to keep more to a brief and produce the relevant images that is required by the client.

I am happing with my own achievements into stepping out of my comfort zone and produce a shoot in fashion on location and photograph with more natural surrounding and lighting. I will take on board what went wrong and put more practice into my work and build more into the images and follow a more planned out plan. 

Live on Location - Witley Court and Gardens

The Brief and the Client ....

The client -English Heritage.  

The Brief - shooting a rang of photographs that will suit the brand of English Heritage and the public audience. 

English Heritage... 

To reshoot the company's brand of English Heritage, the client wanted between 20 to 30 photos to appeal to the target audience. The image had to fit to both the audience and the client's brief, to capture the attention and draw in the public. 

The logo brand of the company, has its own simplicity, clear lines, that stand out to the sharpness of the red, the shape of a castle tower. This effective design has allowed itself to be recognised country wide. 

English Heritage is all about preserving history, allowing all ages to engage with past life, The brand allows you to walk through history, allows you to remember it. Therefore it is important to avoid exaggerating the appearance of both the Ruins and the Gardens.

To help with the branding of the company of English Heritage, I have researched into their company itself, to help with the styling and to visual understand how they promote the Historic places around the country.

Their website is promptly laid out into sections, simple and easy to navigate. The images will need to very similar to their own branding images. By researching into their website and how they promote the historic places to visit, this will help me into photographing the images they require to keep the contemporary style for their target audience.

Plan for the shoot 

Client:
English Heritage.
Audience:
contemporary 30 something Audience
Theme: re-lauch images for the branding of the company and younger audience

Location: 
Witley Court and Gardens.

Lighting:
Natural light, cloud over head, outbreaks of sun towards later afternoon.

Time of day:
Mid-day/Afternoon. this could affect my images as this is the time to attract the local visitors, although the atmosphere will help create a fun scene, I will also need their permission to use any images with them in it, this then will require model release forms.

Equipment:
Nikon D3000, tripod, kit lens 18-55mm, 50mm,
graduated neutral density filters.
UV filter.

I have decided to use my DLSR camera, this will allow me to work quickly against the weather of the outbreaks of sun but also gives me the ability to check the images and evaluate against the brief. I decided to use two different lenses mainly because of subject view and these two lenses fit perfectly with my filters.

Exposure:
Due to the light changes, I had to frequently change exposure to avoid overexposing the images. The exposure setting used for the day e.g 1/100 1/125 1/400, I studied my exposure against the changes of the weather, to make the correct changes.

Contact sheet 
 

analysis of contact sheet 

overviewing the images to fit the project brief of the client, my images show various styles, with minor mistakes that can easily be solved by measuring the exposure against the weather and making the relevant changes. There is room for further improvement into photographing more of the ruins of the house, to show how historic it is, to bring in the target audience. 

The  images show various compositions, some fit into what i was aiming to photography however some images could do with more thought into composition, to show more rather than less. 

To help the images furthermore, I could have produced from research a quick sketch or notes into how the images should look to keep to the style of how English Heritage have created. depending to the subject matter in the image, a quicker decision in aperture and composition to avoid losing detail from what could be seen as a really strong image into something that just needed more. 

selected 6 images

Evaluation on the images

Going through the project as a whole and analysing the images to what might fit the project brief given, I am satisfied by the end result. as this was my first time shooting architecture but learnt how to adapted my skills in photography, I found it rather impressive to pick up new techniques into carefully been at the right spot for each shot to where the sun was siting, this allowed me to capture contrasted images in natural daylight, giving a more natural feel to the images. 

Going over the original images, there was minor work to be done, little editing techniques into bringing back the more natural feel to the images. I used photoshop for my editing. with a quick edit in camera raw, I as able to correct any lens mistakes, such as white balance. 

The selected six images, had little editing done to them to avoid losing detail to the landscape and the buildings. 

all the images, have had the same editing applied to keep things looking the same and so they fit together, instead of looking out of place from each other. 

overall, I am feeling content to how the images turned out. I feel proud into achieving something out of my comfort zone and hope to put the practice to some use in future work. 

Darkroom Vs Digital Darkroom week three ...

Darkroom Vs Digital Darkroom ...

part three

Its that time again when we compare Darkroom with Digital Darkroom techniques. Over the next few weeks in the running of the Easter Holidays, we will be experimenting with different techniques between Darkroom and Digital Darkroom... 

Mondays: Darkroom Techniques 

Tuesdays: Digital Techniques

Which Technique works best for some than others? Let's find out ...

In the third week of doing Darkroom techniques I tried Combination printing again and this time changed my images for the two prints.

Landscape with Flower surrounded by trees

Tudor Grange house with stone wall in the sky

These two prints came out better then my last print from stratford. I wanted to create something different from before and this time I selected different images that would work better together. 

My First attempt was the trees with a church tower in the background with the flower in the centre of the print. I printed the trees first before blocking out the trees and directing the light to expose the flower after changing the negative. To get the flower blended well within the trees I moved the black piece of card up and down and slightly left and right to blend the two negatives together.

My second print is a combination of Tudor Grange house and a stone wall. I selected these two images to try someting different again. I like how the stone wall looks like it's crashing into Tudor Grange. once more I stenciled out the sky and printed the house with using black card to block out where the stone wall was going. when the house had been exposed I reversed the process and printedthe stone wall. 

Both combination prints worked well and both have strong contrasting images. 

I am happy with how each combination print has worked out second time around. I learnt from the pervious week and I am glad I decided to change negatives.

I also tried two different white borders with two single prints. My prints are very contrasting which I like about these two images, the style of both works well for each border.

The Stone wall fitting well with uneven border because the stone is unever itself while the Flower print works well with the even border because of the style of the print it needs a frame.

The difference between these two white borders is the way they are exposed, one image is printed normal in the centre of the paper without anything blocking the light and setting a frame whereas the other one is more framed by opening the frames to create a straight even frame. 

Uneven white border of a stone wall

White even border on a flower

After printing my white borders I had a go at doing a black border. The process is the opposite of producing a white border but using a piece of card to block out the size of the print as you'd have to develop the border first. I had to set the enlarger higher for more light before printing.

Black Border of the Eiffel Tower - Pairs

My last Darkroom technique of the day is a sprocket frame. I did however had trouble with this one.
My first attempt didn't go so well even thought I got the basic idea of a Sprocket Frame ...

Attempt two

Attempt one.

My First attempt at this Technique worked fairly well the only downside was covering too much of the frame and ended up having a thick and thin white borders, so I tried again but ended up with worse results. My second attempt got the idea of the frame but no picture, this was my own fault as I had left the red filter in the way so I ended up doing a third try at the Sprocket frame...

Third time lucky ...

Attempt three

My Third attempt was a success... I got the frame right and the image fitted nicely within the frame and even catching the side of the negative and part of another image. 

This process took me the longest out of all the others I have done so far. To get the sprocket frame I used a larger negative holder with a negative inside that held a blank space. Next I replaced my orginal negative holder with the image of the Eiffel Tower and used tape to mark out where to place the card to cover the sides so my image would fit in perfectly without having white edges and making it look like the image is part of the negative. 

Out of the techniques I have learnt so far, this week I would want to try more combination printing in the near the future as I like the style of what can be created with the two correct negatives.

I would be really grateful for feedback for future purpose...