Janet shoots

Intention for shoot

For this shoot I will be walking up crooks peak and taking photos along the way. I plan on taking photos of Janet on the way up and on top. For this shoot I will be taking my DLSR camera, a K1000, 35mm film, and I will also be taking my tripod. In preparation for this shoot I will look at the weather to ensure that everything goes to plan once we start the walk, not making the weather something we can’t prepare for. I will be going up crooks peak with Janet and one other person to help carry equipment and assist me if needed.

Shoot Review

This shoot went smoothly and though it was very windy, which made it a little difficult to take photos as I was hard to stand up in areas. Other than this I managed to get the photos I had versioned for this shoot.

One thing I didn’t plan for was forgetting my tripod, but I didn’t need it too much and when it was needed I managed to use different things as a makeshift tripod.

Darkroom Review

When developing the film for this shoot I thought it want okay, but when I looked at the film afterwards it came out over exposed, I’m certain if it was to do with the developing process, however I think it had something to do with the camera battery running out.

When it came to printing the images I knew I would have to use a smaller aperture so that more light could come though and I wouldn’t have to expose the images for longer.

Martina’s shoots

Intention for shoot

For this shoot I will be walking up Pen Y Fan, part of the Brecon Beacons, I plan on taking photos on the way up, down and on the top. I plan on taking photos of Martina throughout the walk, as well as photos without her in.

For this shoot I plan on bringing my DSLR camera, K1000, a 35mm film camera and my tripod. As well as going with Martina I will also be taking someone else with me to help carry equipment and to help assist if it is needed.

Shoot Review

This shoot went smoothly, the climb was a lost more steep than I had anticipated, which made it a little hard to use the tripod in place, however this worked to my advantage of height looking out along the horizon. Other than the tripod, this shoot went pretty much to plan and I got the geometrical lines which I was hoping to capture on this shoot.

Darkroom Review

When developing the film for this shoot I thought it want okay, but when I looked at the film afterwards it came out over exposed, I’m certain if it was to do with the developing process, however I think it had something to do with the camera battery running out.

When it came to printing the images I knew I would have to use a smaller aperture so that more light could come though and I wouldn’t have to expose the images for longer.

Ria’s shoots

Intention for shoot

For my first shoot I will be going out with my model Ria who’s ‘sense of place’ isn’t just on place, abandoned places/when urban exploring.  For my first shoot I will be visiting a couple of places, an abandoned warehouse/car workshop, an old building next to a radio tower in the middle of fields and a quarry. I will also be visiting an abandoned mill/factory on another day.

For these shoots I expect that it will be harder to get into some places than others as that comes with the nature of urban exploring, I think that warehouse/car workshop will be the hardest to get into as it is in the centre of Bristol and think that the building by the radio tower will be the easiest to get into. I will be going with ria and at least two other people for these shoots to ensure I can get all the equipment into the area as it is highly possible I will have to climb over thing and walk long distances.

I will be bring both my DSLR camera and a K1000 35mm film camera. I also be taking a tripod with me to the shoot in case I need it though I don’t think I will with the type of photos I will be taking.

Shoot Review

Even though I didn’t think these shoots would go quite to plan, it ended up being the place I thought would be the hardest to get into was the easiest and the place I thought was going to be the easiest to get into the hardest, sadly I wasn’t able to get into the building by the radio tower as the landowners saw us as we were walking there and asked us to leave so for legal reasons we had to leave the property when they asked us to, so I was unable to get any photos of this place. We also had a problem with the abandoned mill/factory as there was reconstruction being done on the grounds of the main factory, but we managed to get permission from a shop owner who worked on the bottom floor on the mill to go up to the top and look around the building and get some photos. By the time we were done there we able to get into the factory and get some photos.

With all of this in mind I am happy with the outcome of each shoot I did for Ria and all the troubles come this doing these types of shoots.

Darkroom Review

When it came to developing my film it went smoothly and the film came out with good exposure, unlike in the aleatory project I was testing exposure times, aperture and filter when making test strips so that my final outcome was at the best it can be.

Jackie Nickerson

I find Jackie Nickerson is a photographer who explores people and there environments, I find her composition aesthetically pleasing and captures the feeling of being at ease even though the photos have a lot going on.

I have been using her project ‘Ten Miles Round’ for inspiration for this project as I feel it relates to my project ‘sense of place’ the most, capturing the same emotions/feeling I want to achieve with my own photos.

 In this project Nickerson is taking a place seen as ‘messy’ and ‘vaguely unsettling’ but by taking these photos she has shone a new light on this place making it seem beautiful, calm and tranquil. Though I am not trying to change the image on the places I shall be photographing I am going to be showing the place in a way that my models see it themselves.

Richard Long

Richard Long is a sculptor that creates temporary piece. I’ve decided to look into his work as it pays with the idea of a connection with a place, though temporary it brings out a feeling to the place even if you haven’t been there it will always have the memory and something left from years after.

I heard that Ricard had a piece of work at the Bristol downs so I decided I would go and try and find it, sadly it had been a couple of years since the exhibition and it had been removed because of the area it was in, I was planning on taking photos of his work on a 120 film camera, A 35 film camera and my digital camera. I chose to look at all three cameras to test out the different qualities of each film. When I turned up at the downs I didn’t know where exactly the sculpture was so I walked up and down the field, looking at past photos of the work to try and find the area, but sadly was unable to find it or there was a chance it would not be there anymore.

When looking into Richards work I found one of his books ‘Mirage’ this book a photobook which archives his work. This book shows his work in a new light for me and gives this connection to my own work and radiates the feeling of Genius Loci, as it gives of a very spiritual presence, makes you want to stop time and just observe and energy and art around you. I find myself looking at his work and being in awe of the surroundings around the art as well as the art itself and the harmony that’s created with the natural surroundings and the man made surrounding he creates.

Aleatory

Everyone’s interpretation of ‘sense of place’ is different and I am taking this opportunity to explore what it means to me/where I get this feeling. I am choosing to explore my interpretation for the aleatory exhibition as it will help me be in the mind-set of not just the photographer but also a participant of the project, I am hoping this is going to help me get the feeling out of the people I shall be using for the project.

Intention for shoot

For the aleatory shoot I will be using a K1000. I will be doing a short coastal walk in Clevedon. I have chosen ‘poets walk’ as it has a connection with my childhood/growing up and is always a place that brings calmness over me.

For this shoot I plan on capturing the calmness of the place, by taking close ups as well as the landscapes, I plan on doing this because focusing on one thing can get sense of calmness is captured by cutting out the noise around.

To ensure good lighting, I will check the weather the night before the shoot and go at the best time according to the weather and light. Saying this I have only got enough time to go on the date planned.

Shoot Review

This shoot went according to plan, I was very lucky that the weather was good for the shoot, and the light gave a good contrast to my images. I ended up adding a place that wasn’t in my original plan as I wanted to incorporate Clevedon pier into my work as it is a part of my memories/sense of place, however I wanted to take photos of under the pier but I was unable to do so as you can’t get under the pier due to rocks. As a result to then I decided I would incorporate Weston pier instead, as it still likings me to my memories and I was able to get the geometrical frames within the images. Other than this all my ideas for this shoot went to plan, I didn’t have any problems with the equipment, and was able to recreate the images I wanted to capture for this mini project.

If I had more time to do my shoot I would have liked to fill up another film but I didn’t have enough time to explore the whole cost of Clevedon when taking into account of the developing, processing and mounting time would have taken to do.

Darkroom Review

When it came to developing my film it all went smoothly my film wasn’t too light or dark which gave me a good indication I got my shutter speed and aperture while taking the photo was right. Picking the photos wasn’t too hard as I already had an idea after the shoot what I wanted to exhibit.

When I developed the photos it took a while for me to decide the sizes I wanted to print as I was limited with the amount of space I had which would determine how many photos I will end up exhibiting. I once I decided to print four images it was easier to make the decision on the image size. Then with the timings I needed based on my knowledge of processing photos and test strips.

When I was printing the images I didn’t measure out the images using measurements only by eye, so when it came to mounting my images onto my square I had to cut the images slightly, so the full image wasn’t on show, in order to make sure each image was the same size. For this part of the project I also wasn’t making test strips with different apertures as i didn’t think I needed to but looking back on it I should have to make sure the images were the best quality they could have been.

Other than this I am happy with the way the developing and printing stage went, but if I was to do it again would defiantly do to make sure the outcome was of the best quality.

 Overall I am happy with the work I created with the time given for this part of the project and am happy with the outcome I have achieved. I am planning on using these photos in my final exhibition piece at the end of my final major project/ ‘sense of place’ project. I feel like it will be beneficial to use myself for the project and help me for the final idea as it will also connect with me on a personal level as well as a creative level.

Questionnaire

I decided to make a questionnaire for this project as I wanted to see what ‘sense of place’ meant to different people, I also wanted to see how many people attach this feeling with a memory/place. I chose to do this early on in the project as it is a good way

I felt that starting off with this questionnaire was a good way to get the ball rolling on the project and a burst of inspiration from finding out what people would say.

I decided to ask the age of the people taking the questionnaire as I wanted to see if there was a link between the different generations and their place as well as their understanding of ‘sense of place’.

From my results, I realised that not everyone understood what sense of place meant or understood what it meant but they couldn’t apply it to a place. I also feel that not everyone answered this truthfully as they thought it had to be applied to education, I know this because someone told me they did the questionnaire and that’s what they thought they had to do.  Saying this not everyone did that I got really useful results that gave me an insight to how people interpret ‘sense of place’