Sharing shoots with the world
My first challenge was to find somebody who understood this ancient method, I assumed it would entail a trip to the grandparents, ironically a few friends, who for some obscure reason have chosen to study this absurd method of photography at university agreed to help and on Tuesday last week Matthew Fielding came down to the studio and showed me, unintentionally how stupid photography used to be!
He sat down on the sofa unpacked the film and fiddled about with it trying to secure it in some tiny slot – a complete waste of time and if I was going to go to that amount of effort with something I’d expect it to last a lifetime, apparently it will only last 36 shots then I have to go though it all over again… who can possibly think that is better than slotting a memory card in a perfectly sized slot? Oh and that’s not the end of it, he then had to wind the thing on explaining how this is wasting shots, So my understanding so far I arrive at a shoot after purchasing a film from one of about 3 shops in the UK that sells film, spend half an hour winding it into the camera and by the time I’m done preparing the camera I have about 30 shorts instead of the already minimal 36 and I’m all agitated and tired after such a rigmarole and now I can finally start work, Usually I take a few test shots, get my settings perfect ignoring the camera’s own light meter as I want a specific effect… Yea forget that apparently film doesn’t have that feature you shoot blind and just hope for the best, there is some little lights along the side which kindly show if your under or over exposed however as I just explained I want a desired effect different to what the camera thinks I want. So I get out my trusty digital camera and do my test shots, I’m shooting using a flash so the light meter is pretty pointless on both camera’s, so to get the desired effect I need, Shutter Speed: 1/250sec, F-Stop f/36, ISO 100, at 50mm Focal Length (70mm with 1.6) – great lets transfer this onto the other camera and shoot away, next problem, it doesn’t have any of the chosen settings; perfect! So I have a ASA 400 film so change my ISO to 400 and with a lot of tweaking and adjusting of the lights I finally have settings both camera mutually agree on! I do a couple more test shots on digital – looks perfect shoot on film, erm I couldn’t tell you if that worked or not? Apparently I have to trail the country and find somewhere that still develops film before I can see if the camera is any good! During the shoot I took 12 shots on the film, leaving me another 24 shots that’s great considering I just paid a fortune for this film get the shots I’ve done developed use the remaining next time – apparently not, I either waste the 24 remaining shots and develop the lot or wait till I use them to develop them, considering how much this has already cost I think I will wait! So now its nearly a week later I still haven’t shot anything else on the film and have no idea if my theory of if it works on the digital camera then it shot transfer onto the film has worked…
And even when I have finally found somewhere that will develop my film, I then need to scan all 36 photographs onto the computer before I am anywhere near where I get in a few seconds using digital! I really don’t get it why would anybody think this was a good idea? What does all this time wasting achieve? I will give my overview of the quality of the shots in about a year when I have finally got them developed (I am also told I can’t leave the film for to long before developing it as I may lose the photo’s – you having a laugh? Nightmare! – Thank you to Matthew Fielding though for teaching me about this unusual method!
My first challenge was to find somebody who understood this ancient method, I assumed it would entail a trip to the grandparents, ironically a few friends, who for some obscure reason have chosen to study this absurd method of photography at university agreed to help and on Tuesday last week Matthew Fielding came down to the studio and showed me, unintentionally how stupid photography used to be!
He sat down on the sofa unpacked the film and fiddled about with it trying to secure it in some tiny slot – a complete waste of time and if I was going to go to that amount of effort with something I’d expect it to last a lifetime, apparently it will only last 36 shots then I have to go though it all over again… who can possibly think that is better than slotting a memory card in a perfectly sized slot? Oh and that’s not the end of it, he then had to wind the thing on explaining how this is wasting shots, So my understanding so far I arrive at a shoot after purchasing a film from one of about 3 shops in the UK that sells film, spend half an hour winding it into the camera and by the time I’m done preparing the camera I have about 30 shorts instead of the already minimal 36 and I’m all agitated and tired after such a rigmarole and now I can finally start work, Usually I take a few test shots, get my settings perfect ignoring the camera’s own light meter as I want a specific effect… Yea forget that apparently film doesn’t have that feature you shoot blind and just hope for the best, there is some little lights along the side which kindly show if your under or over exposed however as I just explained I want a desired effect different to what the camera thinks I want. So I get out my trusty digital camera and do my test shots, I’m shooting using a flash so the light meter is pretty pointless on both camera’s, so to get the desired effect I need, Shutter Speed: 1/250sec, F-Stop f/36, ISO 100, at 50mm Focal Length (70mm with 1.6) – great lets transfer this onto the other camera and shoot away, next problem, it doesn’t have any of the chosen settings; perfect! So I have a ASA 400 film so change my ISO to 400 and with a lot of tweaking and adjusting of the lights I finally have settings both camera mutually agree on! I do a couple more test shots on digital – looks perfect shoot on film, erm I couldn’t tell you if that worked or not? Apparently I have to trail the country and find somewhere that still develops film before I can see if the camera is any good! During the shoot I took 12 shots on the film, leaving me another 24 shots that’s great considering I just paid a fortune for this film get the shots I’ve done developed use the remaining next time – apparently not, I either waste the 24 remaining shots and develop the lot or wait till I use them to develop them, considering how much this has already cost I think I will wait! So now its nearly a week later I still haven’t shot anything else on the film and have no idea if my theory of if it works on the digital camera then it shot transfer onto the film has worked…
And even when I have finally found somewhere that will develop my film, I then need to scan all 36 photographs onto the computer before I am anywhere near where I get in a few seconds using digital! I really don’t get it why would anybody think this was a good idea? What does all this time wasting achieve? I will give my overview of the quality of the shots in about a year when I have finally got them developed (I am also told I can’t leave the film for to long before developing it as I may lose the photo’s – you having a laugh? Nightmare! – Thank you to Matthew Fielding though for teaching me about this unusual method!
The camera was sent to repair where it remained for over a month during which time I put of any big jobs and immediate jobs I borrowed and rented camera’s – which for any budding young photographer I would highly recommend, although nothing can beat your own camera on a shoot it certainly tests your photography skills using different makes and models! The main thing for me was I had a standard which I wanted to maintain while using different camera’s however not being used to the body it was a bit of a learning curve, I had a set way of doing everything which all had to change, using my 7D again I can see a noticeable improvement in my images!
The major concern I had throughout June was weather I’d have my camera back for 2nd July. Ironically my camera arrived back on 2nd July, delivered to an address in Buxton, However I had already arrived at the job (chocolate fireguards)
The particular job I was so desperate to have my 7D back for was a wedding I had been booked for, a wedding in Edinburgh Castle (reportedly the most expensive wedding venue in the UK)
I must apologise for the lack of updates to this blog it has been a mad few weeks!
So I will dedicate this post to outlining everything I have been doing since my last post followed by more detailed coverage of the interesting shoots!
EDUCATION - Yay or Nay?
Having finally been a part of the student revelation, if not a little late and in a less than conventional way for a 19 year old; I realize my decision to not go to university was the right one! From what I have seen the amount of stress students are under and how little money they have, pared with the amount of debt they are racking up which is just going to increase year on year with government cut backs. It seems I would be actually be further back with a degree in photography after 4 years of studying then I currently am now after a few months in the industry, plus I will have lost my unique style of photography through being warped to the mainstream way of thinking!
Something I will always remember; a few months after leaving college I received a couple of call’s them. One just seemed like somebody being nosy they asked if I had found a job or I was attending university and how I was doing? I replied “I have started two photography companies and they are going really well thanks” their blunt response was “Oh, so your not a university then? Why not?” insinuating I’d made a big mistake, and a few weeks later I received another call “I notice you did not manage to get into any universities, have you found a job? And would you like help reapply for university” my response “I am not at university as I didn’t apply, I run two photography companies” and again a blunt response “do you need help applying to get you into university”
It was the same case with school, they were only interested in getting all their students into college, It seems education has a one track mind, get the best grades you can and go onto further education, I wonder if at the end of your university course they show
Students the same levels of disapproval if you don’t sign up for your masters rather than achieving the dream job they have been working for?
I guess like everything else all education authorities run a business, I assume for every student the college gets from a school they pay that school a percentage, same with college’s and universities and I know that school/college and universities get paid per student by the government so its all about getting “a full class”
But surely the student should choose the path they want to go down? And get practical help, support and advice from staff on their choices not get bullied into the mainstream way of doing things?
Recently me and my business partner won “Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011” contrary to my opinions above the college I used to attend sponsored this award. Our prize was awarded by the Vice Principle of the college in a few peoples opinions he seemed less than thrilled to be awarding it to us, wouldn’t have surprised me if rather than “congratulations” he had said “And why are you not at university?” Surely as the college was sponsoring the award they should have been over the moon an ex student won the award? I will always wonder why they sponsored it in the first place!
I was always in trouble in business studies mainly because my opinion of business studies teachers was simply; how can you be preaching to me about how to make millions? If you know so much why are you teaching and not a millionaire yourself? So I often questioned their opinions, only the ones I did not understand/believe which due to their apparent insecurities they did not like and turned to their authority as a teacher.
I guess education is not for me! I like to do things my own way - perhaps it's best I went straight into business ownership?
R Davies Photography meets:
TOPSHOP, ALL SAINTS and ASOS.
The thing that makes my job most interesting is the rapid change in the market for our variety services, one month we could be flooded with wedding inquiries and event photography, followed by a month of commercial product photography. Over the past couple of weeks university students have been drawing ever closer to their final deadline, for some, it will be the end of many years of studying for their dream occupation, final project’s must be the best to secure their future!
Recently I seem to have spent most of my time meeting various fashion students and photographing an array of fascinating pieces! It all started when a friend’s cousin booked me for a shoot in her basement…
Choosing not to go to university I never experienced the student lifestyle or learnt what is required by the universities, so when asked to provide photographs for a student’s final assessment I felt the pressure. After an unconventional start, driving around Manchester, Rochdale and Huddersfield picking up the various participants, we finally arrived at my client’s student accommodation, a large sandstone mid-terrace, after a quickly consulting with the Make-up Artist I began preparations for the shoot in the disused basement, a dark, damp and very eerie place – Ideal for an alternative photo shoot but perhaps not the best location for a highly sceptical photographer! After what seemed like a lifetime the girls finally joined me and the shoot began;
I was photographing a range of jewellery designed for TOPSHOP. The photo’s would form part of a pitch to the store and hopefully guarantee my client a supplier’s contract with the chain. The jewellery was made of alternative everyday products, chains, cutlery, house numbers etc so the photos were required to have a sinister edge to them, with the perfect location, great model, and an impressive collection the pressure was on! I started with a few test shots which, as always as the flash goes off it highlights how much attention to detail of the client pays, which gives me an indication how much attention they will pay to the photographs; with several hair, jewellery and garment adjustments it was the stylist who had the OSD, after reviewing the test shots with everybody it was clear the style they wanted and after some more adjustments from the stylist we ran through all the entire collection ten pieces in two hours, the model Stephanie Miller was froze who I have to say was fantastic not yet a professional she knew what she was doing and was a pleasure to work with!
Following the shoot with Stephanie Miller, in a student’s basement for her collection of jewellery I received a few more bookings from university students studying fashion wishing to have their final collection photographed;
For the next shoot I found myself at Victoria Baths; A grade two listed building situated in the outskirts of Manchester, the building was on the buildings at risk register but since winning BBC 2’s “Restoration” program in 2003, £20 million has been spent on the restoration, with on going repairs taking place! It was a charming old building heaped with character, an amazing location for a photo-shoot! I had been both intrigued and exited about this shoot since it had been first booked!
I was the last to arrive (as arranged) and after a quick tour of the enchanting building I was a little overwhelmed. It was difficult to absorb the vast amount of detail in the many rooms and before long the shoot began; starting at the bottom of one of the three full sized swimming pools, (which, by the way were empty!) The model; Gareth Edwards, from Boss Models, was modelling an All Saints inspired collection of outfits for the Students final project. After a briefing with the designer she described the style she wanted the end photographs to be: dark, grungy and very moody which suited me fine; As a fashion photographer, I like to have full control over lighting; either using strobe lights or reflectors, the middle of an open swimming pool with a glass roof was far from this, and despite everybody seeming happy with the results of the test shots on reviewing the images, I was not. So requested we moved, I was a little uneasy asking the party to move from the pool, having paid to shoot in the bath but I knew the style they wanted and it was unachievable in the chosen location! I settled for a small room with exposed brickwork, wooden flooring and a small skylight in the roof just letting a stream of light though, thinking of what the designer had shown me I decided to create a bit of a set. Grabbing a worn strip of carpet from another room, a stool and my reflector I positioned Gareth on the edge of the stool, placed on the edge of the upturned carpet in the middle of the room and with a little help from the designers friend positioned the reflector in the stream of natural light redirecting the light onto the model, All the components of the room created a very hostile environment so I choose the golden side of the reflector to bring a little warmth to the model further emphasising the focal point of the photo. The rest of the shoot carried on in a similar fashion changing locations within the compound a few times getting a wide range of shots using the limited natural light getting though the entire collection in half a day
Following the morning’s shoot with Gareth a second student had booked me for the afternoon to shoot his collection again at Victoria baths; A stark contrast from the earlier collection, this had an alternative concept sinister meets kinky. In the briefing it was explained the photo’s needed to show a lot of flesh and be very sexy but subtle. The first location reminded me of a horror film, we used a room at the front of the building it had a very deep metal barrel in the middle of it with a large machine next to it, apparently it was a Victorian bath which you stood in, it looked more like something out of a torture chamber used to drown people! In fact just this morning I was watching “The House on Haunted Hill” and a similar “bath” was used to drown one of the characters! Anyway back to the shoot, I have to be honest I did struggle with this one; I didn’t fully understand the concept of the design and the chosen model was not professional and it was his first time modelling however we still managed to get a few interesting shots and everybody seemed happy!
Following this I then had a shoot with another student on the same course; The original plan was to shoot her collection the next day again at Victoria baths, however due to the Royal Wedding creating a bank holiday the baths were out of the question. After researching local derelict buildings the costly decision was made to shoot the collection at a location that presented with it a list of problems: Barnes Hospital in Cheadle, Stockport another grade two listed building and despite its proximity to two major motorways sitting in the middle of a complex interchange between the two.
We all met at the studio the morning of the shoot, the model was prepped and we researched the chosen location, printed a map on how to get there and set of, the hospital was built in a rural setting many years ago a far cry from its current setting on the edge of the m60 despite this the land it sits on is green belt. We parked the car and headed down public path which runs alongside the asylum, looking across at the apposing the scale of this task hit home, firstly how were we supposed to get in as currently between us and the mental asylum was an 8ft fence. Luckily it wasn’t long before we found a large opening, while walking across discussion of the locations appearance on “Most Haunted” came up which soon slowed the pace we were all walking, although unspoken it was clear we were all thinking the same thing!
The closer we came to this remarkable building the clearer the extent of the damage caused from the years of neglect became, it brought with it a sense of disheartenment that such an elegant and iconic example of Gothic, Victorian architecture with such exceptional history could just be forgotten so easily!
The ground floor was previously boarded up to obstruct access however due to numerous arson attracts few boards are left, the main entrance is fully open so we walked in, the main corridor was black with smoke damage with rooms leading of either side providing streams of light, created an impressive effect. At the end of the corridor were two more corridors creating a “T” shape both mysteriously disappearing into darkness. If not a little out of place, there was a quite modern looking lift blended into the wall through more smoke damage, it had fallen in its shaft, I assume the cables had snapped in a past fire and it rested at a peculiar angle, it was quite fascinating if not a bit disturbing.
Members of the group began to feel a little anxious and headed back outside. On the one hand we were all very exited by the concept of the shoot but on the other the unknown was a little daunting. When planning the shoot we had noticed online a photo of a long corridor a lot like the one downstairs but with exposed brickwork completely mesmerised by it all me and the designer went on the hunt for this corridor we, questioning the structural integrity we chose not to climb the wooden staircase but on entering we noticed a concrete set so walked back and took that set instead there was several rooms leading of the stairs with old chairs and such like in them a little suspicious considering the vacant state of the rest of the building. At the top of the stairs the floor was quite open with floorboards missing we had to watch our step we reached a door sceptical as to what was beyond we began to edge forward, Something made me look up and above our heads was a huge light fitting hanging by a damaged cable gently swaying, our attention was quickly averted by a distant crashing! Slightly shaken up we quickly retreated back downstairs to find the others. Sharing the anxiety shared by the others earlier we headed back to the main entrance and discussed the course of action. Standing next to a large sign that read “Dangerous Building – Do Not Enter” we decided we best go and find somebody and get permission to be there, heading over to the security lodge the guard spotted us, we explained what we were doing and we advised to ring his head office to gain permission, as it was a bank holiday the relevant person was unavailable and despite explaining our current situation to the receptionist she was unable to help. The idea was vacated and the shoot relocated for a second time.
The back up plan was to either go to Mayfield Station or the Studio, feeling slightly discouraged and bitter towards the earlier events we decided not to waste any more time simply viewing abandoned treasures instead we would head straight to the studio and shoot from there. Despite the totally opposite change in location, from abandoned asylum to pure white studio everybody seemed surprisingly comfortable with this decision, and being my own studio I guess it was the easy option for me. I was shown some idea’s online and we started, the model was Stephanie Miller, if you have read my previous posts you will be aware I work well with Steph. The concept was quite simple, totally white background now shadow well lit subject displaying the garments in the best way, so the crucial factors were the model’s poses and the angles I shot from. The shoot went well, the designer seemed a fan of the low angled shots so ironically we moved outside, not to change the concept we were still going to have a perfectly lit white background with a well lit model, however instead of using a perfectly smooth white wall and a few strobe lights we would be using a deep blue sky and a couple of reflectors. Believe it or not this does work… I had discovered this when doing a shoot another shoot the previous week; our MUA was entering a makeup competition and her chosen theme was the simple 50’s look, she had bought a gorgeous blue, loosely flowing light dress (the main photo at the top of the blog) as the sky was such a deep blue we assumed it would make a harmonize background for the blue dress. The problem (well it was a problem when we discovered it) lies when facing the model away from the sun and lighting her using reflectors the amount of light bounced back at the model is reduced leaving the sky behind her a lot brighter. So when taking the photo the settings a light meter would suggest would leave the model as a silhouette, so getting the camera to light the model leaves the sky totally over exposed, giving a perfect white background. So we shot a few of the photographs in the car park of the studio with the model stood upon a wall, me lay on the floor. An example of these shots can be seen below.
London Fashion shoot was my next fashion shoot a well known clothing designer photographing her range to pitch to ASOS the online fashion retailer. Organized though our make-up artist I was largely unaware of the arrangements and more or less just caught the train to London and met Sophia (MUA) we quickly realized that nothing had actually really been organized, the designers assistant was in the car with Sophia and all the garments were in the boot, the model had confirmed over a week ago but apparently nobody had heard from her since then and we were unable to get hold of her. It was time for some quick thinking.
Having been up since 4am travelling for over 3 hours for this shoot I was not about to let it not happen, so I raided my phonebook and found us a new model, an old friend from college who now studies performing arts in central London. It was a lovely day in London and while waiting for the model to arrive we went on a drive around London and went from breakfast, on our drive a Rolls Royce Phantom drove past AMS 1 – sure that’s Alan Suger’s? We met the model did a spot of shopping for props and went to our chosen location, firstly we went to a famous shopping centre, were after doing the makeup sat in a ice cream parlour soon as we started shooting security decided to kick up a fuss, apparently the law is you can’t take photos inside a public place? News to me! We decided to leave when he rang the police, and went to our next location Portaballo Road, it isn’t quite how I remember it from bed knobs and broomsticks but all the same the shoot continued and after shooting against a row of colourful houses some overly drunk man came over and told me he was a world famous singer, and then on top note started singing, we walked of and he followed telling stories of how he had murdered people and spent most his life in strange-ways, then started verbally abusing our model. Eventually he stopped harassing us and we continued. The shots wasn’t best, usually I know what I am shooting, where I am shooting it and who with it was a little blind and 90% improvisation made worse by cancellations, I guess it can be put down to experience, a lesson learnt!
Recently it seems the entire world is blogging?
People from all walks of life are sharing the commodities with the world in blogs, not one to miss out on the latest trends I thought it was time to join this global obsession!
I decided I would blog though our company R Davies Photography, sharing all the interesting photo-shoots I take part in or any interesting activities!
First Blog coming soon!
