Work Based Learning, The New Brief

So we got our new WBL brief today, looks a way more interesting than last years one; a bit more hands on instead of all writing. This defiantly suits me better as I respond much more to practical based learning projects. From what I can gather we basically have to get a job, in the simplest possible sense. We are required to have some sort of work placement, or do a industry job that would earn us money.

I am going to heavily look into getting freelance work for myself and focusing my project on that. As a back up however i do have a few friends, Kevin Poolman and Nick Williams who are freelance photographers themselves and has been for a number of years and have said in the past that they would be very happy for me to have a short term placement with them.

I see no reason not to include the wedding i assisted on below in the project as 2 days completed simply because it was such a relevant job.

The Baby Image Request

When i was shooting the wedding there was a young couple there with a baby, they approached me quite early on in the day and asked if throughout the day i would be able to take some images of their baby for them and they would buy a disk off me with the final images on at the end of it, it was just a random spur of the moment job that got me £20, on top of what i got paid for the wedding. It isn't much but they were only after candid images of their baby being happy and playful on the day.

Gladly i took the offer and spend a while shooting the baby as the day went on, always keeping an eye on it to see if it was doing anything interesting and capturing it when i could.

England & Jones Wedding Continued

So after a day of shooting and a day of editing the images ready to be sent off to the happy couple, all i have to do is find Tom, put the images on a disk and he can take them to the couple. Now to work on the baby images that i received a request for on the day.

Below are just a selection of images from the day.

England & Jones Wedding

July 18th 2011 myself and a professional partner of mine Tom Garrett-Downes, photographed a wedding at Bristols registry office. We spent all day following the couple around from about 9am, till well past 11 with a short break for lunch in the middle, a very long and stressful day but a great experience none the less.

The job was organised by Tom as he knew the couple from outside his professional circle, he rang me up one day asking if i wanted to assist him in this wedding he was shooting? of course i said yes as any experience is good experience. The couple wanted a very simple CD of the days photographs which was a slight letdown as i really wanted to produce a wedding album but sadly they didn't take to the idea.

Because the job was organised by Tom and he knew the couple better we decided that he would be the lead photographer and i would be second. Working as a pair on a wedding is always so much easier than working on your own, the reason i say this is that there were times when tom needed to be taking posed shots and so couldn't take some candid shots of the guests at the same time throughout the day which is where i came in and something that only a pair could do as a team.

Public Liability Insurance...

It has suddenly dawned on me that i should probably do some research into public liability insurance seeing as i want to be working as a wedding photographer, which usually involves a lot of people. So i did i quick google search and the top result was http://www.insuremyliability.co.uk. Their advert was for liability insurance from just £40. Their website says that : The standard limits for public liability insurance are £1,000,000, £2,000,000 and £5,000,000. Unlike employers liability insurance which is a required cover by law if you employ any staff, public liability insurance is not compulsory but is usually considered a key cover for companies looking to protect themselves against unexpected claims that can put the future of the business at risk. Public liability insurance should be taken out by any business that deals directly with the public or works away from home at other premises.

Kevin Poolman Interview Update

I have just received Kevin's answers to my question. He was really prompt, helpful and friendly with the interview process. I would have loved to have interviewed him in person but unfortunately he was a bit too far away. Anyway here are his answers.


1. How would you say you fit into the market place?

I guess it's evolved from my days as a staff newspaper photographer. Then I was obviously only doing newspaper photography but since going freelance, I still do some newspaper shifts but now newspaper freelance budgets have dried up because of the recession, I'm doing more PR and corporate work.

2. How would you describe your personal journey in photography?

For vague details of my career, see Q4. But otherwise, the type of photography I've always done has thrown up lots of interesting and surprising assignments, and there have been lots of money-can't-buy experiences including spending a day with the SAS on exercise, attending a function in Charles & Diana's living room in Kensington Palace, and spending a week with the under-16 England rugby team in Rome! I've also spent so much time photographing various members of the Royal Family that the Royal protection officers recognise me! That said, there have been countless mundane jobs including school fetes and hundreds of school Nativities. But there have been plenty of shocking jobs such as the Potters Bar rail crash and numerous car smashes. So all in all, my personal journey in photography has been very colourful!!

3. What are some of the concepts behind your work?

To be honest, with my type of photography, concepts are more determined by my clients. Usually a photographer is the last piece of the puzzle, as they've arranged everything else for an event and then you just have to realise their concept, rather then your own. That said, my experience allows me to make suggestions on the day and get shots that they wouldn't necessarily have thought of.

4. How did you get into photography?

It was always a hobby from my dad, a keen amateur. After leaving school at 16, I did a BTEC National Diploma in photography at Brunel Technical College, then the NCTJ's (National Council for the Training of Journalists) press photography course at Sheffield College, the only course of its kind in the country. After spending a year at the Chester Chronicle, I was appointed chief photographer at The Reading Chronicle, where I stayed for nearly 10 years before going freelance three years ago.

5. Has anyone inspired you to produce any certain pieces of work?

No-one has inspired me to do one particular piece of work, but if there's another photographer who inspires me, it would be Joe McNally (www.joemcnally.com), a freelance photographer based in New York, who's done work for National Geographic, Time Magazine, etc. Technically, he's very good and they always say that "photography is painting with light". I feel he's very good at doing just that.

6. Lastly. Do you enjoy what you do?

Yeah. Every day is different, and you do get to meet some very interesting people along the way. Going freelance a few years ago re-kindled my passion for photography as I enjoy working for lots of different people and not the same company every day.

Interview With Kevin Poolman

I have been in contact with a photographer called Kevin Poolman. He shoots a variety of styles including weddings but his passion is sport. I have sent him questions on an email to answer which he said he would and am now waiting on the response.

http://www.kevinpoolmanphotography.co.uk/

Artist Statement

My work has recently changed direction, from landscape type photographs, picture post card images; to a more contemporary field. I have decided to begin a journey within portraiture and to somewhere new for me to gain experience in what seems to be a logical move in styles in terms of getting work at the end of it.

My portraits use classical medium mostly but with a contemporary twist, i enjoy bringing portraits to the world through the use of film, but mixed in with modern scanning technology. This creates a workable image in a file that can easily be edited but also transferred and shared with the world through the internet.

I feel this methodology of work is something that appeals to people because of the overall quality of the imagery being produced, see for yourself at www.jamesdowdingphotography.co.uk under Film Portraits.

Wedding Photography Investigation...

I have been slowly researching wedding photography as an industry and have noticed that there are two significant styles of imagery. On one hand there is the traditional, very good photographs with soft photoshop to improve the standard image that has already been taken, to just give it the edge on other images around.

http://www.nickwilliamsphotography.co.uk/portfolio.php?category=2&imageid=527

But on the other hand there are these new and up-incoming styles which include the use of 3D technology, heavy use of photoshop to physically change the entire photograph into something else entirely.

http://youlookgorgeousphotography.blogspot.com/

This new wave of up and coming wedding photography is something a little scary. I only say this because its becoming less about the ability of the photographer to take a photo and more about their skills with a mouse and a screen. I am a very traditionalist photographer and i see myself sticking with the first example of wedding photography. 

Photography as a Career Profile

Job description

Photographers create permanent visual images for an exceptionally wide range of creative, technical and documentary purposes. A professional photographer usually works to a brief set by the client or employer. Examples of image content include wedding, family and baby photographs, fashion, food, architecture, corporate photography, war zones and landscapes.

Most professional photographers specialise in one area, such as fine art, fashion, advertising, editorial or social photography. Around half of all professional photographers are self-employed. The remainder work for a wide range of employers, including creative businesses, publishers and photographic agencies, or in the education or public sector.

Typical work activities

Work activities vary according to specialisation. However, common activities for most photographers include:

• working with clients to discuss the images they require and how they want to use them;
• seeking out appropriate photographic subjects and opportunities;
• carrying out research and preparation for a shoot;
• working in different locations, and in different circumstances, to get the right image;
• using an extensive range of technical equipment, including cameras, lenses, lighting and specialist software;
• communicating with photographic subjects, putting them at ease, encouraging them and directing them;
• arranging still life objects, products, scenes, props and backgrounds;
• liaising with other professionals, including graphic designers, writers, gallery managers, picture researchers, commissioning editors and art directors;
• managing the processing and use of images, discussing technical problems, checking for quality and dealing with clients' concerns;
• preparing proofs for approval;
• compiling finished products for sale, including albums and framed prints, for example;
• understanding traditional film and digital photography and keeping up to date with industry trends, developments and new techniques;
• developing expertise with software to digitally enhance images by, for example, changing emphasis, cropping pictures, correcting minor faults, or moving objects around;
• managing the business aspects of the work, including administration, scheduling work, invoicing and basic accounting;
• developing a good portfolio, building a network of contacts, and achieving a reputation for quality and reliability, in order to secure future assignments;
• self-marketing by, for example, producing business cards, postcards and promotional materials, and creating and maintaining a website.

Many graduates start out as a photographer's assistant, spending a great deal of time on routine administration and helping out around the studio.

Interview updates.. Transcription of interview with Nick Williams

How do u fit into the market place?

I find that a mixture of reportage and formal mixed in with good quality Photoshop there are people who look at my website and say you Photoshop everything I don’t but the ones on the website are the wow factors. I know guys who don’t photo shop anything but there really quiet. You got to be able to take there photo and make it look different. Shoot at 2.8 backgrounds out of focus and make sure you’ve got beautiful sky’s and stuff like that. About I think giving variety of pictures and showing some experience also on my website there a category of winter wedding and that brings in people for winter weddings and make the website a bit personal, a picture of me on the website and stuff like that.

How would u describe your personal journey?

I did it as a hobby for a long time. Decided to take it up pro it went very quick. Timing is a lot to do with that advertised on yell .com, with 17 photographers on. So yea when I decided to be a photographer full time when I left the army 8 months later I was full time. 27 weddings in first year, I know Photographers now who don’t do 27 weddings 2nd 42 3rd 50 something. 

Do you have an artist background?

Nothing at all just started as a photographer. Had a practica mtl50 Russian camera….

What camera do u use now?

Cannon 1d mark 4 and a 5d mark 2

Do you only shoot Digital now or?

All digital and not film, Digital is easier to work with, clients prefer it because you can instantly see the results but also because I make a lot of wedding albums which I send digitally to a company to print, now if I had to scan on 400 35mm negs, edit then send them it would take me 10 times longer and really the quality of digital cameras now mean that in a wedding picture you couldn’t tell the difference anyway.

Did you just start with shooting wedding or did it start somewhere else?

No I didn’t start on wedding, I started on portraits because I was in the army and you can’t just book a wedding in there. Don’t kinda work that way.

Has any particular photographer inspired you to produce any certain pieces of work?

Um the only person, don’t tell him, David Mcgurr when I joined the masters photographers association I entered the first competition that guy beat me in both and I loved his work and now after figuring out his technique I use it myself, and that’s the only person I’m not really into these famous photographers, I’m not I don’t follow it, I do what I like, I do look at some peoples website and I’m an absolute addict for um… buying mags, you can never stop learning I don’t think. So yea I’m always looking through that. Damien Lovegrove actually I like him, he’s a nice chap, I looked at his latest work that he’s doing and it beautiful absolutely stunning, he ‘s got a good blog actually you should check it out, he used to be a BBC cameraman.

Last question really, do you enjoy what you do?

Um………….. Parts of it, I love taking photos, I could shoot 200 weddings a year and not get bored, I hate editing, and I especially hate editing studio work.

My Skills and weaknesses as a Photographer and a person

Tricky question really. I have had to do a lot of thinking about this. I think that i am good at working under pressure, a good skill to have being a photographer because people seem to want you to perform miracles, in sometimes very shot spaces of time and this in turn adds pressure to your life. I also thing i have good soft skills, to be able to communicate correctly with people and not be too overpowering and invasive however with that i sometimes find it hard to tell people what i want in a modeling situation, but this is something that will be overcome with more practice I'm sure. My weaknesses are sometime that i can get a little bit controlling with everything and not let other people in a team for instance do work because i feel that if they let the team down i have no control over what has happened and if i let the team down i know its my fault.

When i find out more strengths and weaknesses i will update this post.

Where i will be in 5 Years time-PhotoMontage??????

Well, as part of our work based learning, we were all asked to produce an image of where we want to be in five years time; and the truth is i really do not know. This made me thing about my life a bit and i discovered that i really only work for the day that i am living and that 5 years is a long time to be thinking into the future, of course i would like to have completed my BA and found a job but representing a job, something specific i would like to do, this is much harder and so the image i chose to take was a self portrait of myself holding a sheet of paper in front of me with question marks all over it to try and show that actually i have no idea where I would "like to be" in 5 years time.

Photographer Interview Part one

Just after Christmas this year i interviewed my first photographer, Nick Williams. Nick is a Bristol based photographer who specialises  in Weddings and Portraiture. I have kind of decided that wedding photography is where i should head towards as i have enjoyed the ones i've done and it seems like, if you can get the work, a good line of photographer to go down. So the interview, i arrived expecting a no if I'm honest but he was a very nice bloke, really friendly and inviting, which i suppose you have to be to take weddings, but we did it there and then as he was working on a wedding album.

I had prepared a list of questions to ask but the interview kind of went into an informal chat, with me asking anything that popped into my head which was really good but now i have to transcribe it. which I'm not looking forward to. I will be transcribing in the next couple of days and hopefully have it on here by the end of the week. But for now you have his image and his website to look at.

http://acorn-studios.co.uk/

Jobs that are out there if i wanted to try... From the extreme to the not so.

After a very small amount of effort looking on google, i came across what would be, for the candidate, a wonderful opportunity.


The opportunity i am on about is about getting to go over to Africa with your photography, voluntarily of course, but still a wonderful opportunity. If you are into story telling with your photography, journalism or video. Here is some information on the Scheme:


 LearnAsOne is a charity which funds schools in Africa. We strongly believe that our donors deserve to see exactly how their money is spent.

So we share stories, photos and videos from every community we work with and introduce supporters to the children whose lives they are changing. This creates an ongoing need for experienced (i.e. really good) storytellers to join us on our trips to Africa to document our projects.

We are looking for a photographer, journalist and camera op to help uncover and tell community stories in a very raw form, plus follow-up with the people we met on our previous trips. We also need video editors to edit footage soon after we return to the UK.

A small number of stories and photographs need to be uploaded onto our blog and twitter while we are in Africa. You’ll also be expected to contribute stories for at least six-months after the trip to provide regular content for our supporters. Rawly edited video needs to follow a week or two after the trip and again continue over the next six months. Please take a look at this photo story and the work of volunteers Adam and Brenda to see the type of stories we have told so far.

These opportunities are voluntary and will need to be self-funded.

 http://www.learnasone.org/get-involved/storytelling-team/?gclid=CLr1x4fewaYCFVc03godpwegIw


The next job i think i should talk about is a schools photographer, the type you get when you were at school getting a class photo and what not, i have found many adverts for these photography positions. I can't see why this should be but i can only assume that it is a rather unliked photography job.


The best one i could find was advertised with Tempest Photography. (information below)


Tempest Photography 

Require A Full-Time Photographer Working With Children

In West Lothian

Due to expansion an additional member of staff is required by leading Company of School and Early Years Photographers. 

Applicants should have a good basic interest in photography although previous experience is not essential as full photographic and representative training is given. Applicants must have a pleasant outgoing personality, a natural rapport with children, enjoy being out and about meeting other people and the necessary drive and ambition to represent well. 

The Hours Of Work Are In School Term-Time Only

The above position offers an interesting and challenging career during term time only, although it is salaried for 12 months of the year. The position also provides a Company car, expenses and other benefits. 

The position will only be offered on completion of a Criminal Records Check.


The last Position which has interested me for a little while is the photography position of cruise ship Photographer. One interesting one i found was with Cast-Away-Jobs which specialise in jobs on cruise ships. They were advertising a job as a Ship Photographers / Videographers / Retail

This dynamic team provides complete shipboard photography services which include guest photography, portraiture, videography, guest film processing and onboard retail sales of photography equipment and accessories.

QUALIFICATIONS

Formal training in Photography / Videography / Retail or professional experience is preferable, but not essential. Must be sociable and enjoy working with people.

Interview updates

I have discovered that a neighbors son is a sports photographer. I have never thought about a possible route as a sports photographer but it could be something to look at as i hear he is doing rather well and i will be hopefully getting in contact with him in the next few days.

Work Placement update

With a bit of research i have found a really interesting portrait and wedding service very local to where i live in Bristol. The Studio is called Acorn Studios (http://acorn-studios.co.uk/) this studio is in Staple Hill about 10 minutes from where i live and the work is really eye catching and contemporary. I will be attempting to approach the owner/photographer soon to hopefully arrange a meeting to do and interview and a portrait.  

A change of tact

I have decided, very late in the day i know, that i would like to try and get a work placement within a portrait or wedding service. A move that i think could pay off as i have done weddings before and i have also taken many portraits which i have enjoyed doing and i think it would pay to find out more about the area just to see if it is for me or not.

Interview with Caroline Pilling update

I have just received a response from Caroline say that she cannot be interviewed as she is on maternity leave. This leaves me with trying to find another photographer to interview.