Using reflectors on location

White reflector

Silver reflector

Black reflector

Diffuser

Gold reflector

Studio lighting on location

Equipment used:

- 3 lights (2 monohead 1000)

- 3 studio stands

- Large strip softbox

- Large square softbox

- Tripod

- Pop up reflector

- 2 extension cables

- Camera (Canon 60d)

- Light meter

Camera settings:

ISO 100

1/125

f8

These are the image that I produced:

My own proposed brief

Brief: Your task is to take photographs of buildings creatively by coming up with your own theme/ purpose behind the images. This task requires you to produce a minimum of six images in total. These photographs can include the use of people if desired. Your very first task is to research images that correspond with your intended theme - they should then be posted on your blog for inspiration. Think about your intended audience, equipment, location, time frame, costs, props etc. These images should be submitted to your own personal blog/ website alongside a piece of text beneath them to communicate your reasons/ purpose/ ideas behind the photograph.

Although the brief looks like this task should be "client requirement" (because it's asking you to do something) it mainly falls under the "creative intent" category because it requires you to come up with your own theme.

My theme:

I intend to document derelict buildings in a different perspective than we see them (portray the beautiful side to the buildings).

Plan

Creative intent

Documentary style

Location: various derelict buildings (interior and exterior)

Equipment: Camera, memory card, tripod, natural lighting (any creative filters possibly).

I intend to experiment with a variety of techniques (e.g. light painting, night shots ect). I also intend on focusing on specific parts of the building(s).

Some images I intend to use for inspiration:

I like the composition of this image; it's very central (rule of thirds) and it allows one doorway to frame another. For a very simple image, there is a lot going on. I also like how although the photograph is filled with very dull colours, it's still quite bright due to the vivid colours in the graffiti. 

This is one of my favorite images. I love how you can see the light coming through the window. I intend on trying to do this myself. There isn't much colour going on the image but the sunlight gives another dimension to the photograph. I also like the composition of the image; the camera has been placed so that the cast of light is allowed to spread right across the image.

This is another one of my favorite images. This image is very busy - it has a lot going on in it (floorboards, doorways, graffiti etc). I think that it would have been nice for the photographer to focus on the finer details of the interior - focus on the floorboards or certain cracks in the brickwork. This is what I will bare in mind when photographing on my location - this will add another dimension to my images.

I like the composition of this photograph - it's very central (rule of thirds). This allows all of the lines in the image to all meet up in the centre of the photograph. The photograph has a lot going on it (different levels, graffiti, masses of rubble etc). 

This photograph is very dark and eerie - this is not I want my photographs to be like. I want my photographs to portray the 'beautiful' side to the derelict buildings. However, I included this image because I like the composition of it and I like the cast of light coming through the doorway. Again, I will bare this in mind when shooting on my location.

I like the composition of this photograph. Again, the rule of thirds have been kept in mind when photographing - the window in the centre of the image is central. I also like how this photograph has been lit. It's quite clear that only natural lighting has been used and it has been used very well - the photograph isn't too light nor too dark. For quite a "dull subject" photograph, it's still very bright - all of the elements in the image come together to make the subject less serious and "dark" as it should be.

More images I intend to use for inspiration are located on this website:

25 bone-chilling images of abandoned buildings

History of Clock face colliery buildings:
Clock Face Colliery Country Park lies on the site of a former colliery, dating back to the early 1890s.

The colliery took its name from the local Clock Face Inn and Clock Face Road. At its peak, the colliery was producing 160000 tons of coal per annum and employed over 700 people however, in 1965, the NCB declared the colliery uneconomical due to geological difficulties and closed the site the following year.
These building are now in a shocking state, destroyed by a fire that took place in January. Two companies, Sherdley Remec and Breamhurst Dytran, had occupied the site for many years but both have now departed. As you can see from my photographs, all that exists now is a disgrace to the memory of the pitmen who were employed there. It's worth remembering that over thirty lost their lives at the Clock Face Colliery and very many more were injured.
After the colliery closed, a pump was installed to deliver daily tens of thousands of gallons of almost-pure water from underground to Sutton Manor Colliery and into the public water system.
The site was reclaimed by St Helens Council as a community woodland and public open space by the late 1990's and is now known as Clock Face Colliery Country Park and enjoyed by many.

Sources:
-http://www.suttonbeauty.org.uk/blog_files/sutton_manor_dream_clock_face_nightmare.html
-http://www.suttonbeauty.org.uk/clockfacecolliery.html

My images:

My images are similar to that of the researched images because they both portray the same subject which, in this case, is derelict buildings. Both sets of images focus on little details and bigger settings. My second image is similar to that of the first researched image; they both are looking through a doorway within another doorway. My third image is also similar to the second AND fifth image; all of the images are focusing on a specific window and the light coming through that window. My image (I would say) is better than the researched ones because the light that is coming through is highlighting smaller details on the wall (the detail being the peeling paint). I like the composition of my image because it uses the rule of thirds to compose itself. Within this composition is a lot of 'line', 'texture' and 'shape' (shapes being two triangles).

Overall, I would say that my images are better than the researched images because they look at lot more professional and overall they're just better to look at - they're more vibrant and you can see/ focus on specific smaller parts within the derelict building.

These images will be exhibited as "fine art" as they are not for any company's specific purpose (advertising for example) - they're for my own "creative" purpose. 

Tourism research

Tourism images are taken in order to promote a specific location/ attraction and to attract tourists to that place.

Tourist images of London (http://www.photoeverywhere.co.uk/britain/london/)

Big ben 

This is a close-up photograph of one of the most famous buildings in London. It gives an insight into the architectural building.

Again, this is a photograph of two of the most famous structures in London. In the first image, we only got a sense of the big ben tower. This image gives us an (almost) full-scale sight of the building. This photograph only gives a small look at the London eye.

London buses

London is known for it's red buses (tourist and public) and this photograph gives us a brief look at them. The bright red colour of them makes them stand out.

Palace of Westminster

This photograph gives a full scale look at the Palace of Westminster (which is, again, another one of London's most famous buildings). However, this image doesn't give us a closer look. This makes the tourist curious and want to go and tour London.

London eye

This image gives us a closer look at the London eye and it's carriages. This gives the audience an insight into the structure and would make the audience curious and want to know/ see more.

Tower bridge

This is another on of London's most famous architectural structures. It gives an almost full-scale representative of the bridge.

This is a close-up image of the bridge. This would give a deeper insight to the building and would make the audience curious enough to want to see the building for themselves up close.

Westminster

This is a close-up photograph of the Palace of Westminster. Again, this gives a deeper insight into the building and would make the audience want to see the building up-close.

Victoria memorial

This is the Victoria memorial. This photograph gives the audience a sense of what you could go and see when visiting London.

St. Helens tourist attractions

These are the images of St.Helens' tourist attractions that I have found:

Taylor Park

This photograph shows the audience what this location consists of; small buildings, water and lots of greenery. It looks like a very relaxing location - somewhere where you can take your time and have a nice stroll.

My image:

Sherdley Park

This photograph shows exactly what Sherdley park consists of - lots of greenery and wide open space. This would be appealing to a large majority of the audience.

My image:

The dream

These photographs shows exactly what "the dream" is and what it's surroundings are. This would appeal to the majority of the audience as it would be something they would be curious about and would like to come and visit.

My image:

Carr Mill dam

My image:

The green man

"The green man" is an installation on The Duckeries in Parr. This would be attractive to the audience because it's all naturally made and it's built in a natural landscape (lots of greenery). Because this photograph doesn't show the installation up close, it would make the audience curious to see it up close.

Saints Langtree Park Stadium

This is the Saints Stadium. Any sports fans would like to visit here because it's a sports related building. From the image, we can see that the stadium is pretty big and we can only see the exterior - so, the audience would want to see what's on the inside.

My image: 

Conclusion

HDR stitch

Stitching bracketed exposures into a HDR panorama

How to:

- Focus on the first part (start) of your panoramic image. Auto focus. Take several of the same image but change the f-stop for each image.

- For the next part (second section) of your panorama, overlap whatever was last seen in the previous shot and take several shots BUT DONT FOCUS AGAIN! Keep the focus the same as the last shot.

- Continue this until you're finished.

Photoshop:

- First of all, group together all of the same shots (put them into seperate folders e.g- HDR1, HDR2 etc.).

- (In photoshop) File -> Automate -> 'Merge to HDR' -> Browse -> Choose HDR1

- Alter 'HDR conversion'

- Save as (DO THIS FOR ALL HDR FOLDERS!)

NEXT

- File -> Automate -> Photomerge (leave photoshop to stitch the images together for you)

- Once this is done you can alter the HDR image. You can change the levels, crop it etc.

- Flatten the image and save it ('for web' AND as a psd)

Here is my HDR stitch:

Location photography research

Location photography is a very broad subject. It entails almost everything. It can be divided into interior and exterior locations.

For this part of my research, I will be focusing on commercial photography. Some types of commercial photography are:

• fashion
• buildings/architecture
• food
• portrait
• still life
• people
• consumables

PORTRAIT
Portrait photography would be used for commercial use. 

The basic forms of equipment you will need is a digital SLR camera, prime or zoom lens, a tripod, and a "fill light" with an umbrella attachment OR a reflector if it's a very sunny day. 

LOCATION AND LIGHTING

Portrait photography on location can take place in any location. One of the most important aspects of portrait photography is picking a suitable location. It's easy to choose a portrait location based on convenience. For example, if you live near a leafy park, it's tempting to use that as your default shooting location. But while this may look attractive, it's not always the best option. You should take time to get to know your subject. Find out about their hobbies and favorite places and incorporate them into your photographs. If they enjoy horseriding, shoot them at their stables. By using a location that means something to your subject, you'll get much more personal, meaningful images. As an added bonus, they're likely to feel more relaxed, helping you to capture more natural-looking shots. 

If possible, choose a brightly lit location which offers plenty of diffused, natural light. When shooting outdoors it's important to avoid the direct midday sun as this produces very harsh shadows. Look for some light shade such as an overhanging tree or covered seating area, where the sunlight is softer and more flattering. Alternatively, shoot in the morning or early evening when the sun isn't as strong.

DIFFICULTIES 

Photographing on location can be an extremely valuable exercise. It poses a large variety of challenges - working with both landscapes, portraits, large scale and small scale consisting of subject matter that you may have never seen before in weather conditions that you can't adjust.

When working on location, always try to have a backup incase the weather turns bad. Look for a location with some sort of shelter nearby (like a bridge for example). Doing this can save yourself, your model and your equipment from getting wet.

Lighting can also be an obstacle to tackle. Not everyone has access to certain bits of lighting equipment - this means that you would be forced to improvise using natural lighting but this can be a problem too. There may not be enough light to expose your model and the surroundings correctly.