Thursday 17 May 2012

My Punk Film...



My collage film, the result of my Punk Film Complementary Studies...enjoy.

Sunday 13 May 2012

Photojournalism...

So I discovered this blog/website I while back and never got round to posting it up here but I have now and it's just great to follow this photographer as he travels the globe photographing with a mix of film and digital. It is just the type of thing I would love to do in the future, photographing not just for American and English publications but also French newspapers and magazines.
http://www.photojournalism.co.uk/

Phil Coomes article asking current industry professionals about photojournalism is also an insight into the tough world of photography today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/photoblog/2009/08/photojournalism_today.html

Five Year Plan...

Wow a FIVE year plan, I tend to plan about a week ahead in my life! To be honest I don't want to plan my life, I like surprises and if I plan what I want to do then I'll probably be disappointed if I don't fulfill the things I intended.
Life is meant to be unpredictable and therefore unplannable (is that even a word?) and I love it like that, I do things on the spur of the moment, but if you want to force a five year plan out of me then this is probably going to be it:

2012 = Continue to develop myself as a photographer. Apply for Erasmus. Visit more exhibitions like Paris Photo Month this November!
2013 = 3-4 Months in Budapest, if my application is successful. If not then I hope to travel to America in the summer to do some travel photography and portrait work.
2014 = Finish photography degree - enter the industry if possible.
2015 = Hopefully will be moving to America with a job in editorial/photojournalism photography. Maybe explore Europe for a year.
2016 = Still be in employment with travel as a priority and also carrying out my own mini projects. I'll be 25 by the time this happens and alot can happen in five years and alot can change....

So not the most detailed plan ever and as you can see I want to spend as much time away abroad as is possible but that is all I know :)

Friday 11 May 2012

Michael Lichter Interview

I contacted Michael via email as he resides in America and he was happy to answer my questions, despite being incredibly busy! I found his answers to be similar to my own feelings to photography in that I find that the only way to become a better photographer is by applying the techniques you learn to all areas of your work. There are many things I have learnt from using my favourite medium of film that I have applied to the way I work with digital - the careful consideration of what you photograph so you don't waste a shot and getting the exposure right, picturing things in black and white. Also the answer to the first question I asked is similar to how I got into photography.

1. Why were you drawn to photography as a career?
I accepted photography as a career after I unintentionally started getting some work in photography, and it seemed more promising than the other work I was doing at the time. 

2. Looking through your work I noticed that you do mostly colour images, is there a reason for that?
I have shot mostly color since going digital in 2001. I do consciously set the camera to shoot in BW on occasion, but even then, all of the color data is kept within the file (shooting RAW) and in most programs then opens as a color image. 

3. You obviously travel frequently with your work and have a broad range of clients, what skills do you think are required for the type of work you do?
Being self-taught in photography, I have had to develop my skill set on my own, including for studio work. I believe my skills in the studio have helped me become a better location photographer, and the skills used on location have helped me become a better studio photographer. Understanding how to manipulate artificial light will help understand what can be done with natural light, so this should help any photographer. Of course, computer skills are essential for any photographer. In my case, as a late comer, I make up for my short-comings with my studio staff. 

4. Do you work with digital or film?
All digital now. 

5. If you weren't a photographer, what would you be doing instead?
I wanted to be an architect as a child but that would require years of retraining at this point. I love working with my hands and can imagine my self doing woodwork that I also did as a child. Perhaps I would go back to music, but I left it for photography because I was better as a photographer. Frankly, I can't imagine doing anything else. Even if I couldn't do the work I do now, I would find some aspect of photography I could do, even if that meant teaching. 

6. As I said in my previous email I hope to photograph the Sturgis Rally, do you have any tips on how to go about getting involved with that?  
The only way to get involved photographing the Sturgis Rally is to go there and start shooting. 

7. Other than motorbikes, what else do you photograph?
I photograph computers for Oracle Computers, flow meters, medical products, corporate portraits...  I used to shoot much more of these subjects but with time, I have focused down.  

8. And finally, what advice would you give to a student photographer?
Get out there and shoot as much as you can.  Looking, edit and critique your own work as much as possible, and then get out there and shoot some more. 
 
M030102-Suter-01n 
 
05MondoVegas245 
 
090803-ERSD-154729
Lost in the hills, a splinter group with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler pulls over during the Legends Ride through the Black Hills to the Buffalo Chip during the annual Sturgis Black Hills Motorcycle Rally. SD, USA. August 3, 2009.
 
All photographs are copyrighted © by Michael Lichter/Michael Lichter Photography, LLC. & are protected by U.S. Copyright Law. All rights reserved.

Thursday 10 May 2012

Photos on the website!!

Pete Batten, the organiser of Plymouth Bike Nights has put my images on the homepage of the website!! Check it out... http://www.plymouthbikenight.org.uk/

Wednesday 9 May 2012

Erasmus...

Last week, there was an email about an amazing opportunity to go to Budapest to study for 3-4months and I just had to follow this up so met up with Monika and she told me a bit more about it and I was originally going to apply for the May 15th deadline but what with all the assignments etc I just don't think I would be able to create a good enough application to send to them. I was the first person to inform Monika that I was interested in getting involved and when we met up the emails were still down so she wasn't sure if there was anyone else interested, but thankfully a lot of friends from the course wish to go as well so we are all going to apply for the November deadline so it is something I can work on over the summer.
I have always wanted to go to Budapest and I have a great interest in the history of the place too, I have read books on the Ottoman empire and the folklore there is fascinating. I am really hoping I am good enough to get a place because it would be such an enriching experience! http://www.mie.hu/en

Email to Michael Lichter...

So yesterday, I had a tutorial with Jane about my bike night images and there are a few things I still need to work on, one of them being my focusing as some of my portraits are just out of focus...by a tiny amount! It's so frustrating because to me, through the camera, they look focused so maybe it's my eyesight...something to check out!
Anyways, whilst chatting with Jane a woman (I don't actually know her name) came up and said that she did some work with bikers a few years ago and can get me in touch with a few people so I thought that was fantastic and gave her my contact details. She also suggested I email Michael Lichter who is a bike photographer who funnily enough I have already researched. She said to email him for advice/tips as she did on her project. So emailed him yesterday and I checked the college email this morning and would you know it he has replied and is up for me to email him questions, so quickly sent him some as he is a busy man, fingers crossed I get a reply! I didn't realise at the beginning of this project, when motivation was seriously lacking, that I would end up getting really involved with this community of people and I have been asked to do the rest of the Bike Nights as well and when it is sunny I am going to head to Cap'n Jaspers on the Barbican to photograph the bikers who convene there, so should start building up a portrait based portfolio. Who knew eh?!

You can check out Michael's work at his website: http://www.lichterphoto.com/

Saturday 5 May 2012

Plymouth Bike Night May 2012

So on Thursday I went up to The Hoe in Plymouth for the Bike Night to photograph the event for my client brief - I took 355 photographs in the space of 3 hours! I spent yesterday evening and all day today cutting down and editing my shots and I still have to pic my final images for my portfolio!
It was such a great night and I met so many great people and one of the bikers there had a friend who was a photographer for Vogue and Marie Clare and had photographed Naomi Campbell and other models!! Should have got his contact details! but I am going to see a lot of them at the Megaride in June which plays hosts to bikers in their thousands!
I also had oone of the marshalls come up to me and asked if I could email him the pictures I had taken of his son which I have just done today, and I emailed the photographs I took of the band that was playing, Joker, to them and have asked them to credit me if they use the images for advertising etc.
I really felt that I had captured the personalities of the people that go to this event because there is just not much awareness of it in Plymouth and the Bike Night raises so much money for charity, for example, Thursday night they raised almost £500! And 319 bikers attended the evening so great turnout and lots to photograph.
Anyways, here are some pics from the night:


The image below is taken with a Sigma 10mm Fisheye lens, I only did about 7 images with the fisheye lens as I was just wanting to produce a few images that had a more creative flare!


These two were happy for their picture to be taken wearing their tiger onesies that they wore when riding in on their bikes! The photograph on the right is of the Aquila Motorcycle Club and I took it just after taking a photograph of another member called 'The Caretaker'!!


Joker
This is one of 50 images I took of the band on the night, I particularly like this one because of the slight green cast that was caused by one of the spotlights and they had just switched on the smoke machine so it makes the image more atmospheric. The reason I didn't photograph the lead vocalists face here is because I wanted to focus on the guitar, the source of the music.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

More work!!

So a few months ago two BA Applied Arts students asked me to photograph some of their work which I did :) and now they want me to photograph their larger final pieces in the studio and on location in about 4 weeks! After my assignments are all finished I'm going to go and have a look at the pieces and think about a sort of picture storyboard in preparation for the shoot. It's good to get a bit of repeat work!

I have also been thinking about writing an article (only short) about the bikers on The Hoe to accompany my images that I take on Thursday and perhaps approach The Herald with it as they have in previous years displayed articles on the Bike Night but these were more about how they help the charity than the people who actually go so could be worth investigating.