The First Photoshoot (Marlow)

  

  

  

  

Here are a hand full of my strongest images that i took on my photo shoot. Whilst I was out on location I kept in my mind the idea of taking more of an abstract style image for both macro and landscape compositions. Creating a abstract image is much easier when focusing on macro photography, however for the landscape shots it became much trickier to create. I think the landscape images i took divert from the typical "tourist" style picture and have a more interesting look (apart from the shot of the church).

Im pleased with the outcome of these images, i feel though that i may have to return to this location again soon to take more images to see if i can create a better final shot for my project. But on my next location shoot which shall be in the Maidenhead/Windsor area I shall take a medium format camera with extension tubes to get a more orthentic shot. 

   

My Final Ideas

Through a couple of tutorials with my lecturer I have now pieced together the final idea for my book project. I shall photograph landscape and macro images of the journeys i take walking along the river thames, the locations shall be Marlow and Windsor. Using a mixture of both digital and medium format photography i will try to bring together a series of non typical tourist images, looking for any form of abstract style compositions.

Along with the mixture of landscape and macro images, i will also be putting in map grid sections and co-ordinates of the locations that i took the images on the walks that i shall be taking. The co-ordinates will double up as my text for the book.

Hopefully this idea will be a success and i will be able to bring together a strong body of work for this assignment.

Research - Nadav Kander

Nadav Kander is another photographer that was recommended to my by my tutor. I have to say i didn't really think much about her photographic work at first, but after researching Nadav in more depth i've come to realise that her work is really inspiring.

Unfortunetly due to her website being locked down on images i haven't been able to copy and paste images onto this blog however her website is;

www.nadavkander.com

On her website she has many interesting and esthetically pleasing portfolios of work, 2 of which caught my eye the most.

I Wish I Were Near You
Chemobyl, Half Life

I Wish I Were Near You is a series of images based on highways in the United States. Its a strange yet compelling set of images, each compostion as carefully thought out as the last.

Chemobyl, Half Life is set in a city square in Pripyat, Russia. When a recator exploded in a near by nuclear power station it left the surrounding areas inhabitable for many many years. She went to visit this place on the 20th anniversary of the explosion and photographed the near by buildings. The aftermath of the explosion left all the buildings with a permeniant scar of destruction, and a huge sense of loss. Thus giving every single image she took in this city a feeling of loss and depression, which is why i found this series of images to be the one that hit me the hardest.

Research - Utagawa Hiroshige

These images by Utagawa Hiroshige were part of a series intitled "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō", these designs were drawn from Hiroshige's actual travels of the full distance of 490 kilometers (300 miles). He produced more than 2000 prints on his travels all of which included details of date, location, and anecdotes of his fellow travelers, and were immensely popular.

Utagawa Hiroshige was an artist that was recommended to me by my tutor, his artistic visions and compostions have inspired me with ideas on how i will produce some of my images in my photoshoots. These pieces of art are truely amazing in my opinion, if these were photographs they would be stunning but the fact that these were hand draw and painted makes them all the more speical.

   

  

          

These images here are a few practice shots i took for this project, just getting a feel for how i would like the images to come out. Although after a tutorial with my lecturer, i've come to learn that the cropping of my images should be taken into more precise care, cropping the images in a certain way can change them from a tourist photograph into an interesting composition that draws the viewer in.

InDesign Magazine example

Here is an example of a basic magazine spread that i created on InDesign. Putting it together was far more simpler that i first thought, hopefully as the course progresses my skills with InDesign shall exceed into more complexed techniques.

Chosen Idea

For this project I have chosen to create a series of 10-20 images that tell the story of the River Thames. Starting from the beginning in Oxford, continuing into the middle in Maidenhead/Bourne End and finishing in the most iconic place, London.

Myself and my Dad are very keen country walkers and have been on many walks which travel along side the river Thames, so I have a strong idea as to which locations I shall visit to tell this story. However, the types of compositions I shall use to photograph the river is still a working progress, I know for sure though that I shall be using a digital camera, with a mix of both macro and landscape photography.