ASSIGNMENT 3: BUILDINGS IN USE

The main brief of this assignment is to research and shoot five or six buildings and produce images to show effectively and attractively the way these spaces are used.

Ideas and Planning:
In preparation for this assignment I thought about the different buildings with specific purpose and how they are used for that purpose. My initial thoughts were:

• Cinema
• Church
• Shops
• Music Venues

Next, I thought about the availability of the buildings, are there some in my locality and am I able to openly photograph in and around them? Obviously certain buildings will have policies (cinemas) regarding photographic equipment and photographing openly and effectively. I would need to feel comfortable using the space I photographed to be able to photograph them well. And this got me thinking about the buildings I wanted to shoot for this assignment. I would photograph buildings that I use. This would make the assignment personal and give the viewers an insight into me as well as the spaces that I am photographing. So with this in mind I made a list of places that I visit frequently.

• Home
• Garden Buildings
• Restaurants
• Shops
• Tattoo Studio
• Music Venues

I attempted to set up dates for my tattoo studio and the music venue in the run up to this assignment. My tattooist took a rain check on the day of the appointment which caused an issue with timing. I was unable to take my DSLR to the latest gig I attended, despite exploring every avenue to get it in there so I had to settle with my Nikon compact instead. But on viewing the photos I took at the gig, they were not acceptable enough to be able to make the final cut for this assignment. 

The Final Selection:

Home  

 What is a home? Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2012) defines a home as:

" A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can live and store personal property. It is generally a place to provide safety and is used as a center from which people or animals base their daily activities. Most modern- day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food."

This is a basic oversight of what the building version of home is. Somewhere to bathe and cleanse, to cook and eat and to sleep within your own personal space. I know that this could be said for any building with these facilities, hotels for example, but the difference is your home is 'your' space.

Home is where your toothbrush lies...

Home comforts...

These are two spaces that show 'home' in the purpose for which it was built. As in the description above, a home is a place to store your personal belongings and a base to perform your daily activities. These two images show two daily activities that people perform at their own homes. Toothbrushes indicate the start of the day in my house and I thought this a good starting point for the assignment images as well as a good subject for a purpose for a home. My idea here was to photograph strong subjects within the home to give the impression of the home being lived in, without the need to include people in the images. A bed indicates the end of the day and another purpose of a home in general, to sleep. I chose to photograph both spaces during the time of day they are used to emphasize the use of the space within the building. I feel these images effectively show how a home succeeds in being used for the function it is built.

Children's Playhouse

This is a basic space with a basic definition of it's purpose. A house or small space for children to play in. Simple. I have included this space in this assignment as our playhouse is a main part of my childrens day during the warmer months as we spend a lot of time in the garden. 

A house fit for kids...

Houseboat?...

To photograph the purpose of a childrens playhouse I had to ensure that the main focus of the images were about the 'play' aspect of that title. The first image shows the playhouse as it is, a wooden structure small enough for children and not really big enough to squeeze a grown adult in. With the inclusion of the bike underneath , it really scales the size of the structure and the character stickers on the front just bring home that the building is for and used by children. The second image shows the inside of the space, a toy kitchen with bright vivid colours and a table to play 'house' with. I wanted to make a feature of the ships wheel as we added this this year to make it male and female friendly. As you can see from these images, the children make good use of this and we add new aspects to keep it entertaining for them. I believe this space works really well for its purpose. 

The Duke Of Wellington Restaurant, Cowbridge.

I enjoy going out for meals with my family and it is something we do often. This is a quote from The Duke of Wellington website (2009-2010)

" The Duke of Wellington is a great quality traditional pub, but with a few modern touches, stylish furniture and open fireplaces.

The pub has a daily changing menu which mixes contemporary style and classic pub cuisine. They source quality British ingredients of the finest quality from producers they can trust.

The Duke of Wellington is the perfect setting to stop in and enjoy a pint, have a snack and a drink in the bar or celebrate with family and friends."

As a restaurant, it's main purpose is as an establishment to serve food to customers. And this is the main focus of my images. As the Duke of Wellington states on it's website, it is a place to have a snack or a drink in stylish surroundings. 

Stylish Dining...

Take a seat...

Enjoy your meal...

As stated, this restaurant is very stylish and the outdoor seating area on a summers day could rival the Mediterranean. I used the area as an overview to emphasize the 'stylish' aspect and kept in the table being used, again to show its useage without the inclusion of people in the shot. It also shows that the area has plenty of seating which is using the space for what it was designed for. The cutlery is also an extension of the purpose of the restaurant,  to enjoy a meal and also symbolism in the sense that we use the restaurant to eat ans we use cutlery to eat. As an outdoor seating area , this space makes full use of that definition. It also successful in meeting the expectation we would expect from their website. 

St Davids Shopping Centre, Cardiff

As it's title suggests, St Davids is a shopping centre in the centre of Cardiff. I expect shopping centres to be a facility were I can visit many shops of a wide variety and possibly enjoy refreshments all under one roof. St Davids Website gives a good indication of what to expect from the centre in respect of shopping and dining and the facilities it has to offer. 

Shopping haven...

Christmas Shopping...

Need to rest...

Gateway to next level...

St Davids proves to be a beautiful space and immediately shows it's fantastic and stylish use of its space. There are numerous shops over two levels in places, covering a lot of ground space. The building itself is very well lit through a mixture of natural light through huge skylights and also plenty of artificial lights. You can see from image 1 that the second level of shops is neatly tucked above the ground level with plenty of escalators and lift facilities to ferry shoppers between levels without unnecessarily losing space. As you can see, the ground level is also used to capacity, with seating areas and stalls placed in the middle sections to offer maximum function to the building. The building itself is kept modern and stylish to be attractive to visitors and make it a pleasant shopping experience, with high ceilings, great lighting and modern seating areas. St Davids also includes a wonderful glass walkway from one part of the building to the next through the upper shopping levels, to save its customers braving the outside, which needs to be done at ground level. This building meets its function perfectly. Its designed to offer visitors an attractive and comfortable space to enjoy a day out shopping and it doesn't disappoint, which will keep visitors returning.

Bridgend Registry Office.

This title sounds pretty boring and obviously not a place I like to frequent. But I have included these images as this is the place I photographed a friends wedding for the first time. And I mean this as a first time being able to actually photograph within the ceremony itself. This building is relatively new and built purely for the purpose of marriage ceremonies. So by this account I would expect a space big enough for the wedding party and guests suitable for the actual wedding ceremony.

Would the guests please be seated...

Do you take...

These images show the space beautifully. The first gives an overview of the room and that space itself. Light and simplistically elegant, with an aisle made out of the positioning of the chairs. There is adequate seating for wedding guests without overcrowding and ample space at the front for the ceremony and the register signing all in one area. The two images are in contrast with one another, one highlighting the way the space is used and the other emphasizing the function the building is designed for. This building has been designed specifically for marriage ceremonies and meets its function very successfully.

Closing Review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment and feel that not only were the buildings and spaces I chose to work with a good choice but the images produced showed each building being used exactly for its purpose very well. I think that each image are still kept within my own personal photographing style and yet the choice of subjects also give a hint of my personal taste and activity. It was enjoyable to delve into the actual function of the buildings instead of just seeing the 'flat' image of the building itself and I think that expanding your viewpoint to discover the purpose behind the spaces you are photographing, and effectively altering your perspective of that building because of that, can only create much more depth and make for a more interesting image. This assignment has made me more aware of how to photograph a space and how to effectively and attractively photograph the purpose and function behind the space being used.

Exercise: How space change with light.

Outline: See how photographing a space in different lighting conditions suggests different viewpoints and compositions.

I attempted this exercise a few times but didn't quite get the dramatic difference I was expecting while taking random shots at home. While out and about christmas shopping, I managed to capture the result and difference I was wanting. I was capturing images for assignment 5 with my trusty little compact camera and was trying to discreetly take a number of shots to capture the use of the shopping centre.

St Davids Shopping centre with mostly artificial lighting

This is an average shot of the upper layer of the shopping centre. Its lit mainly with artificial lights hanging either side of the hall and storefront lighting with added light from a glass skylight.

St Davids centre with low natural lighting

Seconds later, I was able to capture this shot of exactly the same space but in a portrait shot. Here, the artificial lighting seems irrelevant as a low autumn sun shines through the glass skylight, plunging the shopping centre into a dark dramatic shadow and creating a much flatter image.

Conclusion: The artificial lighting in the first image is significant to the space. It gives shoppers ample lighting to see the space and services on offer, as well as window shop and see the window items clearly. The inclusion of the low sun through the glass creates a mass of shadow and in an enclosed space, creates darkness. This makes the shoppers unable to move about and see clearly with the dark and the bright sun light above eye level.

Exercise: The user's viewpoint.

Outline: To photograph space from the users point of view.

At the risk of being completely unoriginal, I have used spaces around the house that are designed for a specific activity, to photograph.

Firstly, I chose the bathroom. The main purpose of this room is to 'bathe' in so I have taken the photograph at the viewpoint of having a bath.

Bathroom from the users view

I wanted to show the space of the bathroom in the image as well to give more depth to the space 'the user' is in. Plus it makes for a better image as a full view forwards would show a wall to the left of the bath which would not make for a very interesting picture. This view shows the room space from the users point of view as well as an overview of the room in general.

Secondly, I have photographed the staircase. The main purpose of this space is to walk up/down to the next level of the building.

Staircase from the users view

I have taken this image with the viewpoint to walk down the stairs. I have kept to a standard focal length to keep the viewpoint as seen and also tilted the camera angle down the stairs, exactly as you would look at the stairs while walking down. The image gives a good view of the space within the purpose it is intended for.

As a wildcard entry, I remembered a photo I took a while back of a hotel corridor that I thought would make for a good image.

Hotel corridor from a users view

The staircase image above reminded me of this image. The perspective and diagonals in this image are great and this is exactly how the user would see this image, so the space has photographed really well.

Conclusion:
This has been a great exercise on how to photograph a space within the purpose for which it was intended. It has made me think about how I photograph a space in general and if there is a specific viewpoint to be considered to best make use of the way the buildings or spaces are seen by the viewer.

Exercise: Exploring Function.

Outline: To photograph a space while exploring it's purpose.

I recently took my family to visit the Museum of Welsh Life in Cardiff, otherwise known as St Fagans.

"St Fagans is one of Europe's leading open-air museums and Wales's most popular heritage attraction. It stands in the grounds of the magnificent St Fagans Castle, a late 16th-century manor house donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth." - St Fagans: National History Museum website. 

St Fagans Museum of Welsh Life

This image shows the entrance to the museum. With the actual 'museum' consisting of buildings in an open air setting, this is actually the 'entrance hall' to be exact. As this is the main focus of the museum, one would expect a number of factors to be evident in this section:

• Welcome visitors
• Provide information about the museum itself
• Provide space for shelter from the elements with the visitors being outside for the duration of the attraction
• Provide a place for refreshments

On entering the building itself, I am impressed by how they use the space available and immediately I can see that my initial pointers above are addressed. I was greeted by two ladies who handed me an information leaflet all about the museum, with a little bit of history and a map. The space was light and airy with the welcome 'console' in the middle immediately as you walk in. I asked if I was able to take photos in this area and was granted permission. I originally took the shot as though you were walking through the front door but with the console being where it was, it didn't show much of the actual space as a whole, and made the image look a little flat, so i decided to stand off to the right corner and then take the shot.

First image not showing space well

Capturing the space of the entrance.

Conclusion: The image shows that there is plenty of space here. There is an information point for enquiries and to generally welcome visitors. There is information on the walls and also stands with leaflets promoting other attractions in the local vicinity. It is also sheltered from the elements and consists of a cafe and a gift shop. I think as a welcome area for the museum, this meets its function very well. 

Other Photographers: Tracey Moffatt & Glen E. Friedman

I decided to have a nosey at the 'Up in the sky' narrative by Tracey Moffatt and also, at the suggestion of my tutor, Glen E. Friedman's work.

I can understand the reasoning behind the mention of 'Up in the sky'. A narrative which is not in a specific order is actually quite interesting to view. It keeps the viewer guessing and making up their own order of each image. Whilst this was not what I was intending with my previous assignment, I can see why my tutor said that the viewer can get lost with random shots in a narrative. As for the images themselves, I cant really connect in any way to these images. The culture and location comes out through this loose narrative but the images vaguely remind me of the 2003 horror movie 'Wrong Turn', about cannibal inbreds in the outback.

Glen E. Friedman on the other hand I can connect with completely and I am really happy that my tutor has introduced me to this amazing photographer. I think my tutor and I have common ground in regards to music and music photography and feeling the music through the photography. Friedman is great at capturing the character of his subject and also the atmosphere of the performance. After looking through a collection of his images, I really get a sense of his love for music and skateboarding through his work. He is showing us the passion he feels. He also has numerous images of the sky and clouds, which I think symbolize his relaxation and escape contrasting from the high energy and fast pace of the skateboarding and gig shots.
He is also great at 'capturing the moment'. Whether it be a skateboarding 'trick' or a moment of a performance, he seems right there at the right time.
One of my personal favourite images is:

Copyright Glen E.Friedman - http://www.burningflags.com/books/

I really love this style of photography. A close up of the musicians hands or instrument with the rest of the image out of focus always grabs my attention. I love inspecting the image more. Scott Chalmers tends to use this style in his work while photographing live shows. As a comparison, here is one of my favourites of Chalmers:

Copyright Scott Chalmers - http://scottchalmersphotography.co.uk/
Stitch D of The Defiled

You can immediately see the similarity between the work of both photographers. Friedman focuses on the hand at the base of the guitar and faces towards the crowd. Chalmers focuses on the hand at the head of the guitar and focuses on the artist. I think the positioning of the photographer in regards to the artist plays a big factor here, assuming that Friedman would be on the stage and Chalmers in the press pit. But both striking pictures regardless.
I shot my own attempt at this kind of shot while attending The Defiled gig in December 2011.

My own work - Stitch D of The Defiled

I was stood off to the artists left, as they were playing at crowd level, and got this shot using a long focal length. It's not the same composition as the photographers above, mainly due to positioning, but my own attempt all the same.

Assignment 2: Tutor Feedback.

Honestly, I was initially quite disappointed and deflated about the feedback to this assignment but after a second read, it's not quite as bad as I thought. Here is the feedback I received:

"Amanda, again this is a good choice of subject and the wedding day has a narrative structure to it, although to be honest you could have done a similar thing with the idea of photographing the gig, possibly from either the fans or the actual bands perspective. A series of shots of someone getting ready could have worked alongside images of the band in their van, at the sound check, during the show and after the event. Narratives are present in most events it is just down to the photographer how best to interpret them.


The first shot of the bride getting ready is a good introduction to the assignment although the focus is more on the lady applying the make up that the bride, you really need to be behind the make up lady to keep the attention on the bride. The eye follows the hand and up to her face as this is more interesting than looking at the side of someone’s head, its just the natural way that the eye and brain function together when reading an image.


The second image of the bride getting into the car works well from a kind of snapshot aesthetic, but again your positioning needs to be thought about as there is too much of the car roof/windscreen in the frame. Using the standard focal length is fine for portraits and more formal shots, but for these style of images you really need a wider angle and be much closer to the people you are photographing. No one likes having a lens pushed into their face but you can be discreet about it, Cartier-Bresson had the technique mastered and the secret is to work quickly and keep your finger on the shutter button.


The third shot I’m not sure about, I’ve been to these kind of weddings before, punk, biker, metal, travelers etc, where there is an interesting mix of the traditional and the couple’s own lifestyle thrown into the mix. Some of the best photographs from these weddings are ones of the couple or guests in locations and situations which you would not expect due to their lifestyle. This image could be seen as a bit of cliché, an alternative could have been of the group looking very formal in a kind of Richard Avedon style.


The shot of the couple signing the register is a fairly standard image but an important one nevertheless. Also I think that the choice to work in black and white helps to keep the set of images together but I would have liked to see the shots in colour too. The shot of the couple is a good idea, but the image itself is let down because the groom has his eyes shut, here you need to shoot quickly and fire off as many shots as is possible to increase the odds of getting a decent image.


The intimacy of the moment between the bride and the bridesmaids is good, (although for me this is just crying out to be a colour shot!) and the image comes across really well. These kind of shots are often a mix between the photographers determination and being in the right place at the right time, and this has a good quality of outcome whilst also demonstrating strong visual and technical skills.


The following image of the groom and others captures a good moment, although would this have been taken before the actual wedding service or signing of the register? It just seems that the structure of the narrative becomes a little lost at this point and the viewer is not sure about the sequence of the images. Narratives do not necessarily have to have a beginning, middle and end, have a look at Tracy Moffatt’s series of images Up In The Sky for a great example of this, but if the narrative is structured then it can be difficult to incorporate an overall sense of the event.


The longer focal length the you have used in this shot of the bride works well, the flatter perspective and general content of the photograph is more focused and captures the joy of the day. You have used a mix of styles throughout and that’s good and needs to be done, but there are a couple of shots that stand out and this is one of them. Your own style will develop as you gain more confidence and experience at events such as this but if you can keep working with the strongest images then this will come through a lot quicker.


The final two shots concentrate on the bride and groom being together at the party and go back to the snapshot aesthetic, I’m not saying they are bad shots but I do think you could worked a little more creatively. A softer portrait shot of both of them could have been interesting as well as some shots of the guests as well. Weddings are difficult events to get a decent balance of images together, as a photographer you want to take some good shots for the bride and groom but also you are trying to put your own mark on the shots too, your own style and ideas are coming through and I can only encourage you to keep working with that in mind.


Your learning log/blog is coming together well, you are looking at other photographers work and not just music/gig photographers so I think having this mix of interests is good. Do you like Glen E Friedman’s work? He is one of my favourite photographers because he manages to get great live shots and more formal posed portraits that show the viewer a different side of the artist/musician."

I will now try to address the different points my tutor has picked up on.

I can understand what my tutor has mentioned about choosing what best to narrate. The only reason I did not choose to photograph the gig in the end was purely due to feeling I would not have enough different shots to make a narrative from the crowd only. Most gigs I attend, I would need a photo pass to get any kind of decent shots instead of just basic shots from the crowd. As I stated in my original submission, this is something that I cant get unless I work for a publication, which I no longer do. And even with a photo pass, I would not be able to get in to the gig beforehand to photo the band in their van or setting up or doing the sound check, as I would only be allowed entry when the venue opens its doors and therefore these were shots I was not able to get and therefore, would not have given much diversity to narrating the gig. With all this in mind, this is why I chose to abandon the gig idea and concentrate on the wedding idea.

I chose this first shot as I thought at the time that it shows the bride being pampered while getting ready but I can see now that it doesn't really focus on the bride herself but more on the bridesmaid applying the brides makeup. I have decided to replace the original submission with the following image:

Enhancing beauty...

This image is more centered around the bride and getting herself ready. I cropped the image slightly to draw more focus to her applying the make up. I think this works better than the original submission.

The comments for the second image are relevant and I understand about my positioning as a photographer. However, at this position I need to include the top of the car for the viewer to get any sense of what is happening here and that is why I didn't crop more of it out of shot.

I disagree with the comments on the this image and I really do like this shot. Weddings always have a hint of tradition, no matter what lifestyle the couple have. As a viewer looking through this set of images without knowing any background behind the couple, you could pass this event off as a completely traditional occasion. I added this is as a personal touch to hint that they are in fact 'metalheads' in a fun and quirky moment by the groom and his family.

The forth image is pretty standard and there isn't really any comment here that I need to address at this point.

I agree with the comments on the fifth image.  I looked through my library and found an alternative shot, I know that this image also looks like the groom has his eyes shut again but looking closely, I think he is just squinting as the bright sun was behind me here. I will alter my original submission for the following image:

Presenting...

I think this image is better overall as the groom now has his eyes open more and I am disappointed that I didn't pick this one out in the first instance.

There is nothing to really comment on with regards to the feedback for the next image however I will note on the remark for this needing to be a colour shot. As I stated in my original submission, I used black and white to create more of a narrative to set the images together. I stayed away from mixing colour and black and white images in reference to my first assignment of this course where my tutor said "I would tend to keep to either colour or black and white for the rest of the assignments, mixing both in one assignment can be problematic because both mediums have different values that rarely combine well together"
Here is the shot in colour just for the record but I am not replacing the original submission shot here:

Intimate moment...

Again, the following shot has no immediate points for me to address except to comment that this is a structured narrative and this moment happened in the same sequence as is does in the set of images. The moment was captured as the groom and his groomsmen were dispersing from having their 'official' photographs taken outside.

The remainder of the comments are pretty satisfactory and I dont have anything that I really need to address. However, I did try to be creative with dancing shot because the room was beautiful and I really wanted to show off the venue, as well as the dance, and the scale of the couple dancing among the room and their guests.

I appreciate the comments and feedback that I get from my tutor and think I have addressed his comments fairly. I am also very happy that he can see my style and ideas coming through in my images and will continue to take his advice on board and work with it all in mind.

ASSIGNMENT 2: PEOPLE AND ACTIVITY

Outline: The object of this assignment is to plan and execute a set of images of people in some sort of meaningful activity. 

Planning:
This assignment has really pushed me. My initial thought was ' I want to include music into this assignment'. This prompted me to focus on photographing a music event of some sort. But then as I thought more about it, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to execute it. Did I focus on the artist on stage? Well, I could've focused on the stage performance but what was there exactly to photograph that would be interesting to the viewer? I mean, I love photographing gigs but to the viewer it would just be photographs of guys or girls playing an instrument and singing into a microphone. And there is nothing wrong with that at all but it doesn't really have any meaning behind it. But then the same would apply to shooting the people attending the gig wouldn't it? One guy/girl jumping around, screaming, singing or clapping would look the same as the next one. I could make it work but then thought more about it. To be able to get the kind of shots that I was wanting to get, I would need a photo pass to be able to move freely around the venue and that was something I just couldn't get. Plus there is the added factor of terrible lighting and, again, time that would cause other issues.
So I decided to rethink it and decided to use a relatives upcoming wedding. It would tell more of a story than a gig and it would give me something, as well as someone, specific to focus on.
I would use my Canon 1000D camera with my 24 - 90mm lens and decide on setting when I got to the venue as I had not been there before. I also wanted to keep the images as natural as possible as opposed to posed and forced.

Brief:
"To produce 10 final images of a couple throughout their wedding day."

Expectations:
I do not have any real expectations of shooting the day. I would like to make each shot a meaningful moment of the day and will attempt to get shots of the following:

• The bride getting ready
• Arriving at the venue
• Walking down the aisle
• The nuptials
• The 'kiss'
• Signing the register
• The first dance

The final selection:

The beginning ...

I wanted to include a photo of the bride getting ready purely as it is where the process of getting married starts, as though she is dressing for the next chapter of her life. I like the framing of this image as well. I used a standard focal length of 44mm while shooting but then slightly cropped during editing  to focus more on the activity than the subjects. 

Get me to the church on time...

This was an impromptu shot of the bridesmaids helping the bride into the car, sheltering her with an umbrella.  I kept the focal length pretty standard throughout the day and this shot was no exception at 47mm, as I didn't feel the need to get any further information in the shot. Again, I cropped slightly during editing to focus on the activity of the shot. I think this is a really natural shot and a good addition to the final set. 

Metal?? Us??...

Again, another impromptu shot. I had missed the opportunity of getting the shot of the bride arriving at the venue because we arrived the same time and she had gotten out of the car before I got out of mine. I captured this moment as the groom (second from the left) was having pictures taken with his best men and one of the bridesmaids. I think it gives a good feel of the actual wedding itself. The couple, although traditional in some senses, are very alternative in others and the wedding had an overall 'rock/metal music' feel to it. This image just oozes with this theme. I cropped out unnecessary detail again during editing, again to focus on the 'activity' as I again kept the focal length standard.

I now pronounce you...

This shot of the signing of the register is an important one as it marks the end of the ceremony and the start of the new life as a married couple. I had a few photos of this moment, with most of them looking at the camera. I decided to keep to the natural theme and include this one of them looking away from the camera. This was a difficult shot to take as the lighting in the registry office was awful and therefore I used a high ISO of 800, which has inevitably created some noise in the shot. I attempted to increase the brightness slightly during editing but would still have preferred this image to me a lot lighter. 

Introducing Mr and Mrs...

This is not an overly important moment of the day but it was the first time they had walked as a married couple, as they walked to have photos taken after the ceremony. I liked how happy they both look and thought it a good addition to my final selection. Being taken outside meant that the ISO could be brought back down to 200 but this is the first time I went a bit wider with the focal length, down to 28mm, to include more detail around them. I wanted to show the viewer they are walking through a crowd. 

Sharing a moment...

I liked the symbolism this image creates. I have photographed the event to share the important moments of the day and I happened to capture this 'moment' between the bride and her bridesmaids. I kept the framing to include the bride, even though she had her back to me, for the viewer to understand what is happening in the image. 

I see you...

Again, this is not a special moment of the day but more of a 'moment' between the groom and me, the photographer. It is not a forced and posed image, which is what I was trying to keep away from in the final collection, but more of another symbol of a moment caught by camera. 

The blushing bride...

This is the first time I used a longer focal length, 90mm, to stand back and capture this image. I kept the people between myself and the bride in the framing of this shot to highlight that it was taken as a close up through the company she was with. As though to show her with her guests, to appear more natural than if she was alone and posing for the shot. 

The first dance...

Another important part of the day, the first dance. The couple went for a less traditional upbeat first dance and I think I managed quite well to capture that in this image, especially with the 'swish' of the brides hair. I used a 35mm focal length but really wanted to frame the shot well to include the fabulous stage behind them also to try to show the scale of the beautiful room. Again, I think this worked well producing a rather symmetrical image. The lighting again was terrible, hence a high 800 ISO again but I think the wide angle of the shot has reduced the amount of visible noise.

The Kiss...

Not the original end of ceremony kiss that I had planned but an important moment all the same. I have managed to capture an intimate moment between the bride and groom and have kept the framing like this to show that, even though they are in the middle of the dance floor, they are still going unnoticed to everyone else around them, as though they are in their own blissful marital bubble. Noise is present again due to the high ISO and the image is rather busy but I felt it was an important image to end the final collection. 

Review: Overall, I am very happy with my final selection of images. I think the natural theme was a good choice and worked well as the shots look less formal and more comfortable and relaxed. I didn't initially set out to create my final set in black and white but I felt it added that documentary sense to the set and this of course, worked really well alongside the natural theme.
I wasn't able to execute all the images that I initially wanted to capture due to the policies of the registry office where the ceremony was held. There were to be no cameras during the ceremony itself, we were only able to take photos after the register had been signed, which was disappointing. When you think of a wedding, there are moments that are important to the whole concept of getting married, such as walking down the aisle or 'the' kiss at the end so it was unfortunate that these could not be captured at all and therefore could not be included in this final collection. However, I had to capture what I could and I think that this hasn't faltered this set of images at all.
I also liked some of the impromptu shots that I managed to get, hence why they have been included in this selection. Like I explained in the individual reviews, they may not have documented an important moment in the overall wedding event but they did capture a unique moment of that specific day.
It was also difficult to work with such bad lighting on occasions too as it had an effect on some of the shots. Of course it would be ideal to have perfect conditions at all times to create the perfect shot but it doesn't work that way and sometimes we need to work as best we can with what we are given.
My brief was to produce 10 shots of a couple throughout their wedding day and as documenting the event goes, I think that I executed this brief very well.

Exercise: A public space.

Outline: Transfer your attention from an organised event to a public space.

I'm going to take this opportunity to use photographs from Sonisphere Festival 2010 for this exercise. Again, at this time of year, there are not many people out and about so I will use photos I already have.

In a festival scenario, the whole event is organised but not in a way that everyone is limited, like at a concert or gig. The music is there but what you do with your time during the entire event is completely up to you. If you dont actually want to go and watch any of the live music, you dont have to. You can just sit around the campsite if you so desire. And this is the aspect I have included here. A selection of people making use of their time in whatever way they choose and to give you, the viewer, a small insight into a typical festival campsite.

Individual camps

Although the campsite is just a few big fields full of campers, you will find a lot of people will camp in groups as shown above. Whether it be groups of friends who have met previously or people deciding to group together with their camping neighbours, it's common to see many camps as shown above with the tents all around the outside and a communal area to sit in the middle.

 

Inter camp socialising

The main point of campsite activity is basically to socialize with your friends hence the above being the most common sight amongst the individual camps.

Visiting other 'camps'

Socialising amongst others

There may be individual camps who know people from other camps too, hence making visiting friends another campsite pastime. Festival goers tend to be really friendly as you all share a common ground of the music that is being played there so it's not difficult to make conversation with other people who you may not have known beforehand.

Dress up

Sonisphere Festival will have a different themed day every year

Others dress up in the attire for the band they are seeing

Dressing up is another part of festivals.You will always see people dressed up, whether it is following the image of their favourite bands, using facepaint and costumes, or just plain old good fun. Sonisphere will always announce beforehand their 'theme' for the dress up day, above the theme was 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' , and people will dress up in their thousands using the campsites to get ready.

Sonisphere Festival 2010

Conclusion: I know that this doesn't follow exactly what the exercise was asking but it is similar in the way that it is a public and communal area of space that groups of people will use in a variety of different ways. I dont feel conscious of using my camera in a festival setting. I am documenting it for my future memory but I also find that people tend to love having their photos taken in this setting. Ironically, it's usually the people who I know that will complain more than me photographing a total stranger. At my local park, obviously I would feel very different and there are different factors to take into consideration. The people at the setting above have very few limitations. Everyone is there for the same reason and as I have stated before, they have common ground which makes it easier as everyone is friendly and more relaxed. Photographing a non specific event in a family friendly public place could arouse suspicion from others around you, especially when there are children around and openly photographing others could result in a confrontation. So I am always dubious about where I point my camera in a public place.

Exercise: An organised event.

Outline: Look for an organised event at which there will be plenty of people and in which you can photograph freely and with some variety.

I am going back to using my Cardiff Harbour Festival 2011 photos for this exercise as within my timescale and the fact that it is rapidly approaching winter, I would not find an open air event to shoot right now.

As a bit of background, Cardiff Harbour Festival is situated at Mermaid Quay in Cardiff Bay and is a family friendly event with lots of free activities. The main attraction being a variety of boats including tall ships on the harbour that visitors are able to climb aboard and have a look around. The festival also hosts a continental market complete with tasty treats from across the globe and also an alternative end of pier attraction which includes a sand pit, beach huts, comedy walkabouts and live music.

It was easy to wander around this event with a camera. As it was a fairly big event which covered a large space, I wasn't confined in any way or intruding on the personal space of the people in attendance for the most part. I needed to use a variety of lenses, especially to attempt to get shots of the people on or around the boats as you had to pay a fee to get down onto the walkway near the boats.

Cardiff Harbour Festival 

Selection of boats on the harbour

One of the main attraction 'Tall Ships'

As you can see by the first image, there were many people lining the docks and overlooking the barrier at the boats on show. People who were amongst the boats were able to chat to the boatsmen and even climb aboard to have a look around. 

Learning about the boat

Climbing aboard

The boats and ships are not the only feature of this event though. As it is very family orientated, there are other attractions for the public to enjoy. 

Meeting Point

Plenty of people enjoying the market

Browsing the stalls

I felt a little less comfortable here. As you can, there were a lot of people in a small space amongst some of the stalls on the market and even with a standard focal length, I felt very close and involved as though I had the camera directly in peoples faces at times. This made me feel a bit intrusive so I did try to not directly point at anyone, although this in itself was difficult.

There were many more activities though, including fairground rides and activities, including bridge building which many children were partaking in.

Flying

Bridge Building

Again, these were easier to shoot as I could stand back and use a longer focal length. I felt this was necessary as I am always uneasy photographing children especially.

Conclusion: I am happy with the images that were produced at this event. I feel it documents the overall feel of the event quite well, maybe not in a story telling way as such but just by these few photos the viewer can get an insight as to what kind of things were going on throughout the event.