WEEK 12: Artistic Transport (And a note on my personal journey with the challenge)

Our world is one defined by how we get around. Literal or interpretative, find inspiration in transportation.

At this point I want to make a point on my personal journey with the challenge.
I was beginning to loose a little steam with the project, it was around the time of the Artistic shadows that I could no longer be bothered going out and taking these photos.  Afterall, I'm only creating these photos for myself, and creating this blog for myself.  Who's my audience? Who am I taking these photos for?   There not the high end quality I wanted, there not professional enough.  

The thoughts are gremlins.  Voices that nag, tell you that you aren't good enough, and need to be pushed down to where they came.  Because if you've ever watched  a Gremlin film, you know they can't take photographs!

So there I was in a low place, beating myself up for not being as creative or as artistic or naturally gifted as I would like, and thought I'd take a trip up to Castle Hill to take my Panoramic (which coincidentally also added to my feeling of utter despair, as I just couldn't take one. See: Week 8.)  

Looking over the hill, I saw passing traffic, and quickly I took a photo, after zooming in it was there.  Perfect and elegant and artistic. 

However, it wasn't my first choice.  I was originally going to have a photo of my car at the Castle Hill car park looking onwards at Emley More mass.  It seemed more symbolic to me, it literally did transport me everywhere.  And I felt it bonded with me and the car.  But here's  a moment when you have to separate yourself from the photographer and ask what's visibly better.

Anyway, lessons were learned today.  And I have a great photo to show for it.

WEEK 11 Landscape: Reflection

Find a way to show your landscape/natural beauty in reflection. The mirror world revealed. 

There was a brief time when I was tempted to go out into the moors and take a giant mirror with me and then take this elaborate picture, but then I remembered lakes.  

Well, that's half true.

I was thinking of taking some kind of mirror, for artistic purposes but recently whenever I've tried to 'Go Big' it usually ends up being a little lacklustre so I wanted to create a basic shot.

In many ways it could be argued that it's too basic.  Too easy.  But I don't agree.  I love the symmetry of it, I love how it captures a moment, and a love everything about it.

WEEK 10 Portrait: Environmental

Show a subject in their natural habitat. Their place of work or hobby is a great start. Tell their story with the environment.

For me there was always going to be a Clem photo.  And when I heard I needed to put a subject in their natural environment it was either finding some interesting fishermen working on the docks or someone in Manchester working in an office building. Seeing as there aren't any fishermen around or any jobs that interesting I decided now was the time to bring in the big guns.

The Clementine Cat herself.

The photo was easily enough to capture, in fact I took the photo with my 50mm lens and it was a rare 'kodak moment' that happened quite naturally. And the natural ones always looks the best.

WEEK 9 Artistic: Shadows

The opposite of light is dark, the absence of light is shadow. Interpret this into a masterpiece.

I really wanted to try for something special after researching shadow photography online, there were some really brilliant and creative uses of shadows.

Originally I was playing with the sunset, creating silhouettes with Clem the cat.  And although I created a cool picture, I wasn't really happy with it. One, it didn't fit the criteria, and two, it wasn't as unique as I wanted,  I wanted to put my signature on it.

So yeah, I think I got carried away with this one.  So much so it gave me a severe case of photography block.

Eventually I settled on using an Atlas, that I cut birds out of, placed them on some fairy lights.

How random you say!

It is.

I borrowed the shapes out of maps idea from a creative person I follow on instagram by the name of Kim Searle, who used Tintin comics to create lampshades. The bird idea was mine, but I probably borrowed that from somewhere and the fairy lights came in because they were there, and it works.

Anyway.  Boom.

Shadow pic.

WEEK 8 Landscape: Panorama

This is a great opportunity to explore panorama stitching and create a wide sweeping landscape. 

Fuck Panoramics, They are hard as fuck.

After getting a less than average photo that almost looked like it could be cropped together I gave in and took a shot upon Castle Hill.

Admittedly, I've had photographers block recently, after trying real hard to get a decent shadow pic (more on that later.)

Sorry it's a bit plain and dull but I wanted to power through and if it means on shit panoramic then fuck it!

Other notes: This was actually a lot larger, but my fucking shadow got caught in the shot and the place was swarming with people.


In the next blog: Less swearing!  But while we're here, fuck Panoramics. Fuck them with a pointy stick.

WEEK 7 Portrait: Faceless

Tell someone's story without showing their face.

This week I was lucky to be around for the annual Inbolc festival in Marsden, that stems back from its Gaelic/Pagan history.   The purpose of the festival is that Spring fights Jack Frost, literally fighting away Winter.  

The procession starts with Jack Frost minions marching the crowds up to an open field where performers show their skills with Fire Poi (in many ways it is a fire festival.)

This photo is of one of his menacing minions.  I thought the mask was brilliant, and I was lucky to get the picture I did considering there were  a lot more professional photographers there than me, and the crowd was crazy.

I wanted to take a few pictures of the fight, which I did, but unfortunately it was pissing it down, and the performers were far away, but no matter, the experience was great as it was.

Note: Arguably you could say I cheated as he's wearing a mask, but hey, it looks cool, ok?

Other note: Here's an actual 'faceless portrait' that has more action, and probably more tailored to the assignment. It's just as interesting as Jack Frost's minion.

Week 6: Artistic: Candy

Your artistic interpretation this week should be inspired by something sweet. A great chance to play with macro photography.

Actually pretty difficult one to do, had this idea where I was going to blow up a shit load of bubble gum and frame them like hot air balloons, but would have been a logistical nightmare, so on the way to the shop I decided against it and had a spontaneous idea for tribal jelly babies. The rest is history.

Would have been nice to have spent more time with it, but if I were to do it any differently would have meant different sweets that would have meant more money, that I didn't have, so there you have it.

It has made me realise that a lot of shots are just limited by how much money I can burn, and yes, on one hand it's an exercise to see how much you can do with nothing, but one other hand it's frustrating when you had a really cool idea but aren't able to go through with it.

I do like this shot. It's fun, it's quirky, it's little bit weird. And was insanely difficult to make those chocolate bears look menacing. Though I think I pulled it off ;)

WEEK 5 Landscape: Black and White

 Look for a scene with great contrast that will make a great black and white.

Today I learned a valuable lesson- if it's raining bring an umbrella.  Yes, it's a novice mistake but god-damn, the amount of times I had to stop to wipe the rain of the lens, or felt like I was waving through a pool to adjust my aperture. Anyway....

In many ways I've gone down the predictable root this week and gone for the graveyard shot.  I just felt that to get a good black and white contrast is with gravestones.  It's slightly more challenging that you would think, because even though a gravestone makes for an interesting photo, it doesn't necessarily make for an interesting landscape photo.  At least not one where it looks significantly interesting, or just like an other graveyard.

To get out of the typical ruts I would find myself in. i.e got to a high point and click, or find an angel statue and let it be the prominent thing in the frame, I instead tried to find lines.  Lines help to frame the picture.  So after a few random shots, one involving Fee looking like she was urinating on a grave (sorry Fee), I tried to line up the trees by the gravestones, which while it had an interesting effect, didn't do for me what I wanted, and still didn't achieved the landscape quota (don't ask what the landscape quota is, because I don't know till I see it.)

Finally I was looking through my lens, blind to everything else around me.  And this was after I was taking photos of the trees, and suddenly the path opened towards me, and it was there. The desolate graveyard, the over hanging dead trees in the background, the wet floor, it was exactly what I wanted.

Other notes: No tripod this week. It's probably effected the look of the photo, but I didn't mind a little tilt, because it was a lot easier to gaze around without the restriction of the tripod set up.

WEEK 4 Portrait: Headshot

You shot a selfie, now shoot a "selfie" of someone else!

Well, I've now done three shoots that I've not totally messed up and I'm feeling like I'm gaining steam.  But, with the last three shoots they've been solo, I've not had to tell anyone what to do, where I want them, and they would have to put up with me trying to work out my own train of thought.  Which is a nightmare on the best occasions.  But luckily I had Fee with me who was extremely patient. So thank you Fee.

Anyway, once again I made do with a make-shift studio, using two lamps, and a piece of thick white fabric to soften the intensity of one of the bulbs.

There was a point during the shoot where I felt I had the shot, and I kept retaking it, over and over again, because I had this amazing shadow effect on the wall the the lamp projected, and I just couldn't let it go.  Eventually after I filled my card, I looked at them on my laptop and even though they were ok, they were mostly cliche.  'Here's a girl looking at the light, here's a girl looking away from the light...' It was just too on the nose.  And there were some really great shots that just came up to dark once I transferred them on to my computer. So hey oh, on we went.

Once we went for the second take, we abandoned the chair and I moved around her, getting her propped against the wall, generally trying to move about a bit.  And lo and behold, after a lot of messing about with lighting I finally got this shot.  Which I think looks pretty-sweet.

WEEK 3 Artistic: Red Shoot

whatever inspires you. Red should be the focus of the image. Don't be afraid to be creative.

I never realised before it's bloody difficult to be creative without any instructions.  Here's red. Do something with it.  The ideas that came to mind were red roses, skull with red roses, red lipstick. sunsets, and then, I remembered a candle we had, it was beautiful, it was Japanese, it was barely used- it wasn't red.

But the flame!! Isn't that red? Not really.  It was symbolic, it was beautiful but it wasn't red.
Instead, what I had was a red table cloth in our kitchen.  I pratted around for about an hour playing with old xmas trees 'capturing' her in a moment.

I lit her, and I shot her with the plain red background. And it was there. That was it.  It was something I over thought to death then suddenly I had this really soulful picture.

Quite pleased with the end result.

WEEK 2 Landscape

Traditional Shoot a beautiful landscape and share it with the world. Find a nice foreground and don't forget the sky.

For this weeks shoot I took my camera out into the Marsden Moors.  I was semi-familiar to the old working class town and I love an excuse to half a wonder through its hills.    It doesn't take too long to find somewhere that's picturesque.

There were a few problems that I had getting this shot, that I'll go through as I encountered them.  At first I arrived a few hours before dark, normally this can be a great thing, the colours of the sunset would have made a great landscape photo but instead I had a sky full of grey clouds.  Not that I was complaining too much, as I love a bleak setting.

I parked by car briefly over the Tops, secretly hoping I'd wonder on some stray sheep (hold that thought...) that I could throw into the photo.  Alas, there was none.  I walked up the hill and I found the nearest peak I could, walking up a very ill-used car track I stumbled upon large black rocks that looked like a tomb of an abandoned soldier.


Walking a little bit further up the moors expanded in front of me, and all of its wind as well.  I felt like I was in a sitcom trying to balance my tripod while the wind was tipping it over, with the wind both blowing away the tripod carry case and then it carrying my rucksack.  Eventually I took a few shots, looking for lines in the grass and in the sky.  Fucking around with the shutter speed and aperture and eventually I got this.

I didn't realise just how dark it turned out but gave me an excuse to tinker with my macs editing suite (it's a little rusty, but it will do for now).

Anyway, I'm pleased with the end result.  Looking forward to the next landscape challenge.

WEEK 1 Portrait: Self Portrait

Start things off right with a "selfie"! Explore the self-timer setting on your camera.

This self portrait took two sessions.  I wasn't a stranger to taking a selfie on my phone, but transferring that to my DSLR was a different process.  The main problems I came across were focussing, as well as allowing myself to be comfortable in front of a lens.

When it came to focussing I found if I reached out to the camera with my arm the auto focus would just about find me. Solution: Get a Remote Shutter Release.  But seeing as this is the first of many weeks, I thought that could be saved to later.  After all, this is amatuer photography at its most amateurish.

When it came to being comfortable, well, the first session, I just couldn't do it.  I was either way too serious, or way too uncomfortable.   I did however have a nice make-shift photography studio set up in the living room after pulling out the couch, putting in a fold up chair that looks rustic (although never actually seen), and using a lamp that was so bright that it substituted quite well as a flood light.
Either way, I went through a lot of photos, that eventually I thought fuck it. And called it a day.

The next session I wanted to put a lot more emphasis on the subject, and inject some personality into the photo.  Changing rooms to the study, and once again creating a make-shift studio with a lamp/floodlight, I began to use more props. The only prop I retained throughout the shoot was a Batman dressing gown that I threw over a chair, that with the lamp behind it created a nice shadow, comicstrip effect I enjoyed and wanted to keep.

Every other photo I changed clothes, there's a lot of self-esteem issues involved when taking photos of yourself.  How many photos has someone taken of you and you've gone 'oh god that looks terrible'? That was about 2 thirds of this shoot for me.

The rest of the props included covering myself in tinsel, and looking like a twat, using some light guns I owned and shooting them at the camera, which made me look like a twat, and finally using the same light guns and striking a 'cooler' pose, with sunglasses, that at least looked intentionally funny.  Although, still making me look like a twat.  And also I felt, captured a bit more of my personality than the other photos I'd taken.

So there you have it, it doesn't look like much, but there was an awful lot of thought and effort behind this selfie!