#shoot 4

*Note - Because of blue coloured gel I was using, blue sections of these images show up as more of a purple, but this can be easily fixe in camera raw.

Camera was not positioned/aligned properly so there is too much negative space on the left side of the image. Image is also underexposed slightly. Finally, don't like how subject is facing the camera - should be side on with most of face covered to give more mysterious and sinister feel.

Image had exposure I am wanting for this style, subjects shadow filling the space on the wall also acts as a nice focal point. Stairs in foreground also help to lead the viewers eye up to this area.

Changing to hoodie works better than the raincoat as it is less reflective, subjects shadow is also nicely centred in space at top of stairs.

EDIT FROM SHOOT 4 - 26.11.17

Continuing the study of the crane from (nearly) the exact same angle. Throughout shooting the crane I realized as the light went dark, if I tried to focus the lens again on the subject (crane) it would be extremely difficult to do so. I noticed that as the crane rotated this was enough for the crane to fall in and out of the focal range it was in from say the last image. Another reason for the images to be out of focus was that whenever I would press the shutter - this would be enough to change the composition of the image. The weight from my finger pressing down on the shutter would push the camera slightly or shake it once clicked. In hindsight I should have then taken out a trigger to use for the duration of the shoot, however I didn’t know about this piece of equipment. In the next shoot I used a continuous shooting timer to try to avoid this like with my shots of the street, however this proved in-affective as you sacrifice deciding when the shutter goes off when you want it to. Or when you notice something happening. You have to trust that something will happen after you click the shutter, whereas if I’m at the camera watching the scene posed to take the image, I can decide what interests me and what I wanted to include. 

Things like:

- shape or angle of crane or lines created from it 

- strong sunlight, dim sunlight, or night time shots 

- different cloud formations

- colour of the light as it changes throughout the day - I decide what colours I wanted to shoot if I thought the sky was a particularly interesting colour 

- to include things like airplanes or birds flying through my frame

Unless I’m watching I’m not going to know what’s happening, and setting it off randomly makes it harder to get a good shot. If I just sit and wait I found that I will get more of what I want out of the scene. 

Shoot 4 has definitely been the least successful of the shoots I have undertaken for this project. I feel the results are substandard and I really am not happy with how things went. Like with many of the shoots, it was a nice day to begin with, but it soon became cloudy and dull. This has turned out to be the one biggest problems in choosing to do all shoots out on location. Although it was grey, I decided to carry on to take some images since I had my equipment with me. At the reflective building down by the Clyde, I attempted to photograph the church on the windows from different angles and at various distances but I couldn’t get enough of the church in the reflections. After pacing around the building several times, I hardly produced any shots I was pleased with. Also, with the sky being so dull, there was a lot of empty space in the photographs. Another issue I had was trying to compose pictures with windows which were not as geometrical or symmetrical as I first thought. While photographing I began to noticed that some window panes were larger than others, and some were rectangular and some were square. I eventually got frustrated and moved on to the next location. Here are examples of some images, and as you can see, they look quite flat and are not very exciting to view.

The second location near the Gallery of Modern art was just as bad, if not worse, than the first attempt. It was firstly difficult to get into a position to photograph the gallery in the windows, as the only good place to stand was in the middle of the road, which I was not going to risk. As well as that, there was very little sun light, and the windows were far less reflective than the office by the Clyde, meaning that in my photographs you can see through the glass into the building rather than being able to see a full reflection. I only took a few pictures before realising that the idea just wasn’t working, so I packed up and headed home. As mentioned above, this shoot resulted in some substandard images which are not suitable for a second year graded unit.

Earlier on in this process, I discovered the art work of Peter Stubbs, who photographed reflections of urban scenes on shiny surfaces like windows. His captured abstract views of buildings and structures, with straight dark running across the images, creating repetitive patterns and shapes. This is something I would like to try on two reflective buildings in Glasgow, with well know landmarks stood beside them. The first location I plan to visit is down at the Metropolitan Curia of Archdiocese and St Andrew’s Cathedral. I find it fascinating that these two completely different  buildings sit side by side in harmony. The cathedral was designed by James Gillespie Graham in a neo-gothic style and used to sit beside a row of brick tenement flats. The office which sits next door now looks very modern, despite being built in the 90s. It is composed almost entirely of reflective glass panes. I feel this is fitting for the location it is situated as it mirrors the view of the Clyde in front as well as the monumental building adjacent. Hopefully the reflection of a 19th century church on the side of a contemporary office block will create a stark contrast in the photographs, which is fitting with my theme, as it will portray the array of architectural styles in the city in a distorted manner.

The second location I hope to photograph is the Gallery of Modern Art, and the reflective building which sit across the street. The neo-classical structure which was originally a townhouse, but has also been a bank building and the royal exchange, but now houses the GoMA. The building is based in the city centre, and has impressive pillars out the front, plus a mosaic mirror design on it’s roof. It is one of Glasgow’s most visited spots, mostly for the Duke of Wellington statue which sits in front with a cone on it’s head. Photographing the building on a reflective building should help add a skewed perception of the landmark which would not normally be viewed this way.

While the photographs I hope to create will have clear focus on visual elements such as line and pattern, I have found this Guardian newspaper article from 2012 in their art and design section, where I found very good advice for specifically photographing reflections. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/jan/31/camera-club-top-tips-reflections It has raised my awareness of the problem with focus and depth of field when photographing reflections. I will have to take into account the distance from the camera to the reflective surface, and that surface to the subject matter, as the reflections may not appear sharp in my photographs. As this will be an in-camera technique, I really need my images to be fine from the outset, to avoid any unnecessary editing.

Equipment List:

Sony a77 body

Sony 16-105mm lens

5IMAG003W.2 Wall, Page and Screen; Screen 1 - Fourth (re-)shoot

My fourth shoot for this project will consist of shooting a girl called Rebecca in her room, along with objects left behind from her ex, which consisted of a shirt and tie. Her and her boyfriend broke up about 5 months ago now and, also was seeing someone new who ended it and conveniently,she is the one who’s text began this whole project for me. 

Chris Kendall (Crabstickz - Youtuber) Younow Broadcast April 28th 2016

- comments on soical media and YouTube

“Well that’s the thing about YouTube, you can change your personality. You see how I’m like here all animated. I think one day i’m gonna record a video of what happens when I stop doing younow, cause its like everybody else, you just go back to normal ... its a performance isn't it? Obviously i’m not putting on an act, this isn't acting but you know its a a different version of me. So if you’ve got a bad personality, do something else, be somebody else.” 1:15:19 - 1:16:15