May 2012

27/5/2012

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27th May 2012 
 I have hit the  biggest creative brick wall in a long time. No matter what I do at the moment  I am not happy with the outcome and have tried to get my head around why . I have been gathering ideas and started to take some photographs for Assignment 2 but have deleted most of them from my hard drive! I have emailed Russell my tutor to tell him rather than  keep going round in circles and procrastinating I am going to start the next   section of the course whilst I continue to get the second assignment completed.  He is quite happy with my plan and I feel less pressured to complete an  assignment I am struggling with. Why am I finding this one so difficult? I have  tried to analyse my feelings and it is not to do with the technical  practicalities required (shoot only in jpeg with no PP) but rather the lack of  connection I have felt with the majority of what I started to shoot. I am  starting to realise , that for me personally, I need to feel connected in some  way to whatever I am shooting. I think this is one of the reasons I enjoy portraiture so much. Assignment 2 offers 8 high range situations of which I need to choose 4 , and I planned to include some landscape work . However although I enjoy taking landscapes on holiday I lack the time and passion  to commit to this genre of photography . I am going to Cornwall soon so may (!!!!) be able to take some decent landscape shots but I really think I may avoid including any in my assignment. 
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Digital Pinhole 

12/5/2012

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Having read about pinhole photography I wanted to have a go myself using my digital camera. My converted body cap was supplied by Pinhole Solutions www.pinholesolutions.co.uk/ and I took my first few images this weekend. I loved the total unpredictability of taking the shots , unable to see through a lens the composition and exposure were very much a case of trial and error even using the supplied exposure calculator The image below is my favourite of the days shoot and I love the way the colours of the light have been caught , something I was not expecting. Yes the image is blurry but I think aesthetically there is something beautiful about it.I have added a Pinhole Project section to my Gallery so have a look there for more images in the coming months.  


 
0.3 Sec ISO 200     F167  (Approx.)  taken in a shaded area of my garden on a (rare) sunny afternoon.
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Moody Blue

9/5/2012

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It has not stopped raining for weeks now it seems, the self-portrait below reflects just how I feel --blue !!! 
Taken indoors using day light I changed the WB to a Tungsten setting to create a blue tone to match my mood. I deliberately underexposed as I wanted a dark and moody image . I have been off work this week on annual leave and planned to do such a lot towards my next assignment but  have felt totally unmotivated.  However every cloud has a silver lining and expressing my antipathy photographically has helped me use my negative feelings in a more positive creative way .
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British Journal of Photography May 2012.   Donald Weber

5/5/2012

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http://donaldweber.com/    
This months edition looks at night time photography, quite useful to me at the moment as I am planning my next assignment and how best to approach it. I had already considered using an iPad or something similar to light my subject so was interested to read about the work of Donald Weber. Working in the Artic Circle with the local Inuit people he used any available digital device to illuminate his subjects. Interestingly he used the light from mobile phones which is not something I had even considered but my husband’s mobile has quite a strong light so I had a go myself and am pleased with the results. What I did not do was shoot hand held as Donald Weber did but used a tripod as hubby held his mobile with the light directed sideways towards one side of his face. Initially I felt I should have tried to prevent  the shadow on the wall but the more I looked at it the more I liked how the lighting had created a rather menacing  portrait. In actual fact nothing could be further from the truth as we were both laughing so much as I tried to direct him that I am astonished I caught this threatening facial expression. Light and colour  alter how a photograph is read and I was not happy with my colour version so converted to mono which I think has a more edgy appearance. 


My attempt below. Lit with a mobile phone
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