Reflections

Week 1:

For the 1st task we had to go and find a story from the city taking photos and finding quotes to create it. I went to an indepedent coffee shop that had just opened a 4th location. Tom who was the barista inside allowed me to ask a couple of questions about the company and what they try to achieve. Unfortunately it was quite quiet at the time I went so couldn’t speak to anyone else or get a picture of the place full but I was happy with the photos I got for my piece just nextime make sure I get a photo of the person I’ve intereviewed. From the examples shown I think having a picture of the interviewee is important as it can really add to the story if the audience can picture the persons saying the quotes so doing this will make my pieces have more depth.

Week 2:

During this week we learnt about the different types of photo journalism and the ways they can be used to document or report on a story. The photos are usually the driving force behind the story – or they are at least of equal weight to the text. We were tasked to start researching the type we’d like to use for our assessment and to delve into the history of photo journalism, famous photo journalists alongside some of the most well known moments captured. Looking at all this I think its helped me decide to focus on reportage. Capturing pictures in a sports event really gives depth to the story of a match or even sometimes telling the story. The challenge will be having my images high quality enough to not have the ball blurred etc but its something I’ll need to be persistent with. Some sports photographers who’ve caught these iconic momments have made a name for themselves just through 1 photo and thats what I should be trying to replicate. Capturing split second momments that not many others managed to capture.

Week 3:

After going through all of our research from last week and discussing our choices of photos and what makes them such important momments captured in sports we were given a task to find three photos. The first challenge was to find a news photo that was staged and the history/reasoning behind it. It incredibly dangerous it was to set up that photograph but to capture the essence behind the height of the newly contruscted rockerfeller centre put lives at risk but thats what length the photographer went to. Then I had to find a picture that affects the story/event and I chose a picture of the second plane crashing into the twin tower during 9/11. When the first plane collided the public would’ve thought it was just a catastrophic accident but someone getting a picture of the second plane then meant it was no longer an accident but a planned terrorist attack. The photo made me think about how important photos are to a story and the way they are told for the rest of history. Finally it was a challenge to find a picture that could where the meaning of the photo could be disputed. I found one of the England squad in 96 that were slammed for having a wild night out shortly before the Euros that caused uproar for most but for some the meaning of it wasn’t that they’ve let the country down and should all be banned/fined but instead showed how close knit this group were and that afterall they’re also human. It made me reflect on how journalists/photographers can present a certain narrative for the public to jump on despite the story being spun into what they want to tell.

Week 4:

Reflecting on this week learning about focus, aperture and F-Stop were all relatively new terms to me and something I hadn’t really come across before. When taking a photo on my phone I just trusted the software and mechanics to create a good photo. I knew that choosing what was in focus was an option but I didn’t know how to simulate aperture to the fixed lense on an iphone .It was interesting using the F-Stop slider to change the depth of field when we were experimenting with taking photos. We took 3 photos with a model and background at 3 different F-Stop settings (highest, medium, lowest) and the results were really interesting. It showed if you use a low F setting, more light comes in – but less of the image is in focus. Whereas if you use a high F setting, you get much less light – but more of the image is in focus. One thing I need to think about when coming to taking photos for my assignment is possibly hiring a camera as I feel with my phone being one of the older generations the photos aren’t going to be of the highest quality but over the next few weeks I’m going to play around with F-Stop sliders and focus and really get to grips with taking a vairety of photos.

Week 5:

Each week I’m learning more and more about the capabilities of the camera in my phone and how I can adjust certain setting for a different creative output. Learning about shutter speeds and the burst setting today gave me some ideas for some shots I’d like to take for my final project and how this will benefit the final quality of the shots as it gives me a choice to choose from due to the shutter speed being so quickly. After doing some research a lot of sports photos use fast shutter speeds to capture split second and fast paced momments. The exposure triangle is all about finding the balance between ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. It takes time, practice, and patience to get comfortable with how they all work together. The best way to master this is by learning each setting first individually and I’ve been looking at each setting we’ve learnt about over the past few weeks more closely so that when I end up putting them all together it will provide a higher quality image. After looking into the shutter speed more I found that the best setting to get the best images is 1/1000 as this will allow the action shot to be frozen but in order to do this having good lighting is key in order for the image to remain crisp if it is not good lighting then the shutter speed should be lower. Although most sports photographers use a high shutter speed having a low shutter speed could also be used. So using this I could also use a slower shutter speed to create a motion blur in golf to capture the speed the players are swinging for my assignment piece.

Week 6:

Getting to learn about post photo production, colour correcting and cropping I think is an invaluable tool moving forward with this module. As much as some photos don’t always need edtiing, after playing around with a few i’d taken previously just the smallest of changes to the adjustment layers can enhance a photo completely. Sometimes in my photos I feel unintentionally I leave a lot of blank space so learning about cropping on photoshop will be extremely useful when it comes to editing my final images and getting a refresher about the rule of thirds/grids has given me something to think about in terms of variety. Photoshop although it seems a bit confusing at the start actually becomes quite easy to use once you know your way round it. Being able to delete layers quickly means for quite a quick editing process and having the original photo next to it really allowed me to see if the editing made a positive impact to the appeal and professional look of the photo.

Week 7:

Clearing up the difference between Raw images and JPEG was important today as I didn’t realize what made them so different and why only one is suitable for an online format. Taking a few practice images and playing around with the settings and the different formats over the next week I feel will benefit me when it comes to capturing the actual event for my project. A way of laying out all images taken on a contact sheet and picking out which photos I initially like and don’t, whilst choosing the ones I want to develop further. It’ll give me a clear direction on the concept for the article, its visual aesthetic and narrative to be told through the imagery. Changing the images from portrait to landscape is important as it means instead of just deleting them they can be edited into project worthy photos. I didn’t realize how using perspective crop to straighten an image would actually change the image so much. When testing it on some sample images straightening the images changes the perspective of the image and where your looking at it from.

Week 8:

When looking at close up photography and the different perspectives that can come from it it’s definitely led me to have a think about possibilities for my project. Because I will be shooting sports photos I think I need to use an actual camera rather than a phone as when taking some test shots it’s hard to really capture the fine details. Learning about the different lenses available could be of use to me as on a golf course I don’t really want to be too close to the action as shutter sounds etc might put the players off so shooting from a far with the same quality. Over the next few weeks its time to create a plan and a to do list that shows my progression through this module. It’ll give me an incentive to keep up to date and on track with the deadlines. I’ve been completing a bit of additional research as well to add to my knowledge which gives me a greater understanding of how the best sports photographers do what they do. If I plan effectively it’ll lead to a much smoother process in creating my story and if I can improve my photos in post production editing and have them sorted it’ll just be the words I need to write.