So, after the 'Blood Moon' adventure that was (or wasn't) last Monday, our session on Thursday came around - and they are fast running out! Although one has been added due to the one lost as a result of ACL being full due to a Council Workers Meeting day, we still only have FOUR left, and as one of those is the final session after half-term; we have to have completed all of the work on our Workbooks and final Portfolio of 6 themed A3 images (our Project) by the 14th February! I'm lucky (I think) in that I've run my idea past Richard (our Tutor) and he seems on-board with it, so I'm busy refining and honing it and deciding upon the type and colour of mount I shall use as well as making sure that my 'shoot' days are feasible given my physical limitations. So, it's all systems go from here until sunset... Our session last Thursday was quite a lot of fun; we got to take photos using a Studio Light and Softbox, and one of our number - the lovely Claire - volunteered to be our model for the afternoon. Our task was to use the accessories in three ways (no it's okay, this is not Masterchef) and we had the following situations to photo: 1) Studio Light with a Softbox, Diffuser and 'Grid' 2) Studio Light with the Softbox and Diffuser 3) Studio light on its own You can see our lovely model and part of our setup below... Now, I had a slightly different challenge from others as my Full-frame Canon has a naturally wider 'arc' of field than APS-C cameras and as I only had my trusty 17-40mm lens to hand, I had to get in a lot closer to take the photos I wanted to take in order to show how the varying lighting configurations changed the results achieved. I should have used my EF 70-200mm F/2.8L USM lens, as that would have been 'easier' for this task.
It was fun and I came away with some nice images - to be honest all of them are much better than the one above. [Oh come on! I have to save the best for my workbook and documents to be submitted. I can't go wasting them on you lot!]. Overall, as we near the end of the course, I'm happy with my level of work, commitment and most of the results that I am achieving in my current crop of photographs. I know I have some work ahead of me as I only have a week or so to get my 'Themed' Images into some sort of state to be processed and then printed at the A3 size that is required. I think that I've found the place that I'll be using for the printing side of them - DS Colour Labs. They seem to be fairly priced, offer a good turnaround speed, and from my limited experience of using them (12 A4 copies I've had printed for an earlier part of the course) they were nicely packaged, had a good colour spread and overall as the saying used to go 'came out nicely again'. So, full steam ahead Cap'n and carry on 'til morning... Stay safe all, and keep snapping. Alan
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that really is a question.
Whilst Ed and I had a brilliant day shoot last week, my compadres did not fare so well. Apparently, it turned into a bit of a shambles as there was a person struck by a train on the line we all use to get into London and some did not make it past Shenfield. Some did make it but were delayed and all in all, it was a pretty bad day for everyone (but especially the person who was struck by the train and my thoughts are with all involved). Due to this, and the fact that there was a cohort of 200 Council people meeting at Bishops Hill on Thursday and that all parking would be used up by them; Richard suggested another field trip. Audley End, Thaxted or Mersea Island were mooted and I was fairly happy at any, as all would provide me with opportunities to take shots for my themed image portfolio (which I'm still not telling you about yet!). My only concern was, as usual, the physical toll it would take upon me as, in truth, I'm still 'paying' for the shoot with Ed. But, nevertheless, I resolved to face the choice head on and participate as much as I would be able too! In the end, the session was cancelled and thus - with a tiny amount of snow falling for 10 minutes on my windscreen on the school run - I remained at home and continued to work on my homework for the day. Although nothing was finished to any real extent, I was pleased with the amount of work I got completed and plan to do even more tomorrow (Friday). Work on my Project is obviously ongoing, but so is some other Homework we've been set. Richard, our Tutor, sent us a very interesting article on taking photos of the 'Blood Moon' which should make an appearance on Monday (21st January 2019). Now I have tried to take photos of this phenomena before, but on an ad-hoc and impromptu basis. This very useful article has given me some great ideas so that, if there is not too much cloud; I'll certainly give it a go - although I'll have to be up REALLY early as the best time will be from 2.30am! I'll use my Canon 6D full frame plus my 200mm lens and a tripod. Let's hope it stays clear! Take care all, keep snapping and keep warm. Alan As I outlined last time, Ed and I went out on his birthday to take some photos. He with his Lumix, me with my Canon 6D. I'm going to post one image from each of the section of our shoot - street, landscape, water and wildlife, here so that you get an idea of the sort of day we had. Overall, it was a brilliant day. cold, crisp but with good light - even though the sun was quite low in the sky all day. First was a trip into Chelmsford City for our 'street' shots. Now I have to admit that street work is not one of those shoots I've done any of. Sunsets, water, nature, landscapes abound in my albums. But taking photos on the street? Never. Until now (who says you can't teach an old mongrel new tricks?). We parked near Bond Street and though we were together, we both chose different things to photograph so we were not tied together. This one is one of my favourites from this section and I liked the colours and the shapes. After a rest and a coffee to warm ourselves up a little, we went out of the city and into the countryside. This was was to get the rural landscape in any form that we felt moved too. This is perhaps closer to my natural habitat; so I was looking forward to it quite a lot. The image below is again a favourite one of mine. I have enhanced the image somewhat but I liked the juxtaposition of the man-made in the natural rural setting. I have adjusted this in many ways but this one, with nature being monochrome and the building in colour, just seemed to fit. I didn't erase the pylons but did think about it, and I cogitated for quite a while as to whether to cut the top of the main pylon off (a la David Bailey) as I liked the way the top is out of shot. The texture of the foreground, being reduced to a state of no colour, I really like. You know it is probably green (it is), but everything natural is stripped of colour, only the man-made has that which dominates the scene in a completely different way. Our final trip was to Maldon. We had an expensive cup of hot chocolate (which was lovely nevertheless) and sat in the car for a while while I rested and enjoyed the boon to a bad back which heated seats brings. My love of the water, of seabirds and wildlife really settled upon me and I had a great time here. I took a lot of photos and my portfolio subject became clearer in my mind as the shoot went on. We actually weren't where I had thought to go - but that was no bad thing as we found spaces and places that were new and fresh and cold! This image is one that I like quite a bit. Except for the figure and the bench, I have removed everything else that is man-made. Light bollards, lamp post, anything that didn't fit in with my idea of the shot - with the small figure of the bird aloft in a cold steel sky almost (but not quite) directly above the figure of the woman walking - is very pleasing. I cropped it into an oblong shape to give it width and cropped the tops of the main tree off; something I would never have been 'brave' enough to do before my courses. I left a little colour in the sky and enhanced the green of the grass as well as altering the brightness of that area so it could come through, but I darkened the middle third of the image to create a more silhouette look for the trees and walking figure. I took better ones on the day, but they are being saved for another time! y So there you have it, three of my images of my day shoot with Ed. A great day, one I enjoyed hugely and have reminders to relive it when I might want too.
Next I need to start working in earnest upon my Workbook and Portfolio, so i'll bid you farewell. Take care and keep snapping, Alan To you and yours. Christmas at Mitchell Mansion was fine, quiet and understated but very enjoyable nevertheless. This week I handed in my Unit Two Unit documents, although we have another week. This week we were meant to be showing off our Field Trip photos but as we didn't go on it, this didn't happen. Instead, we spoke about Flashguns, Polarizers and other accessories when completing portrait shots - but we will be doing more over the next week or so as well as concentrating on our portfolio choices and work. We spent some time using Studio Flash and light equipment and we had a task to replicate the 'Paramount' portrait shot. This was used by the film company often when taking portraits of its stars and is a fairly unique shot - often using two seperate light sources in a 'clamshell' configuration. My groups effort is below; original image by Gillian, post-production by myself. Mine is coming along quite nicely - I've narrowed it down to a few options but, to heighten the tension just a little; I'm not going to tell you what they are! We did mention two photographers that I've not come across - Saul Liter, a street photographer and Julie-ann Kost, who is great at Adobe hints and tips. So i'll be looking at those two over the next few days in order to see what I can learn from them. Next week the class are all going to London on a shoot. Sadly, I can't go as I won't be able to cope physically with the travel and the equipment etc. BUT all is not lost - Ed (my soon to be 23 year old Yeti) wants a Bridge Camera for his birthday so we have bought him a Panasonic Lumix FZ82 which has some great reviews. Ed has taken the day of his birthday off, so we are going out on the 8th on a sedate day shoot. I aim to visit three places which will give him an idea of three different types of photography: Chelmsford (street), Woodham Ferrers (landscape) and Maldon (water and wildlife). I'm hoping it will a good day for us both and I've built in plenty of breaks and as we are driving it can all be at the right pace for my limitations. Below is the portrait of Dave - who kindly volunteered to have his rugged visage photographed for our classroom task of taking a 'Paramount' portrait shot. I think it's turned out quite well... That's all for now folks, stay safe and keep snapping.
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Alan MitchellI'm always trying to capture that fleeting 'moment' in time -whether by taking a photo or writing a poem. My attempts to capture that illusive feeling, sight, sensation or sound in some way is, to me, magical. Archives
March 2023
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