Competitions

Below are some examples of the photography competitions I maybe entering. As my images are based around people I will be entering the category that is related to people

As my images have people and are based around people within dance I will be entering the category 'people'

http://www.worldphoto.org/competitions/

The Fuji film awards it based around people using Fuji film and then entering the competition. I don't think I will be entering this competition as I have done some images on film but have used Ilford not Fuji. I have a compact camera that is Fuji and I two film camera that I might get some film and practice with and relate it to dance and the use of fabric, then enter it in to the Fuji competition

www.fujifilmstudentawards.co.uk

I feel that the student awards are too specific and instead of entering your work into a category you have to follow a brief which I feel is not relevant to what images I want to capture. I will have a look at the briefs for the professionals and see if they are more suitable to what work I want to enter

http://www.dandad.org/awards/student/2012

There are several different types of categories to enter such as 'still life' and landscape and interior'. I will be entering 'lifestyle and portraiture' as my images include people and are a form of lifestyle. Depending on how my images turn out to be will depend on whether I enter a single image or a series of images.

http://awards.the-aop.org/SA_Call_for_Entries

The awards for this competition is about entering images are that are black and white. They have different categories such as people and portrait so I will try my images and black and white and enter the people as my images include people.

http://www.thespiderawards.com/howto-categories.php

I have found this competition that is related to what I am doing. My images are around dancers and the use of fabric and would be suitable to enter but I do not think it is a recognisable competition but I will enter it for networking purposes and to get my work out for the public to see.

http://www.movingmoments.org/rules.html

This competition includes a category around 'people'. Therefore, I will enter this competition with one of my images as my photos focus around people

http://www.exposureaward.com/?f=exp11gad3&gclid=CMT86eStyqwCFQIf4QodnBReqg

Studio Work- The shadows within you

I wanted to create an image using a dancer and their shadow. I used a snoot and a light and shone it on the dancer, give filling the room with the dancers shadow. I ask the subject to hold a position and to see how the shadow looks. Below are some examples

I like this image and how they are not connected, to me it looks like the shadow is free and are two different people, but I don't like the way the dancers face or hair falls. Therefore, Ive decided not to use it

This images I might use some software and try to create a different image. I like how the shadow is, it is like it wants to be free and is bursting to get out of the dancers body but I feel that the way the person and the shadow are joined its makes the shadow have short legs. I would like to try photograph this image again so that the light is more forward, facing her and the shadow is tall and directly behind her giving it more of the impression that something inside her is trying to break free.

The love how graceful and free the shadow looks behind the dancer in the image below, but I felt that having the dancer in the image did not give it justice and they did not match. The dancer is holding the pose but its looks more like the shadow wants to get away and be free.

Therefore, I made the image portrait and edited the dancer out of the shot and I like the abstract feel the image has. I would like to capture the image again and make the shadow look more equal, for example the back foot is too narrow but overall I like the image below

Studio Work- Testing lighting and camera/editing techniques

I wanted to try and use different styles of lighting and camera techniques to see what images I could produce. I continued to use the ballet dancer after I had captured her using the film camera to capture alternative ballet moves.

I continued to use continuous lighting so it was quite high key lighting and asked her to dance. As she was dancing I captured a few different positions as she continued to move freely to the music. The image below is one I captured.

I then wanted to capture different moves so that I could overlap them using software. As I asked her to make these positions, I directed her to be stiff and powerful as if she was performing to an audience. I left my camera in the same position and captured three separate images of her and overlapped them using photo shop.

As I overlapped them I noticed that there was an overly thin, narrow part in her stomach that looked unnatural in that it made her stomach look too small. Therefore I decided to burn the black so it stood out more and made the background more white as seen below

Below are images from the day's photo shoot

Studio Work- Film Camera

I wanted to achieve the images similar to Bruce Monk's images of the ballet dances. Therefore I used a 5x4 film camera in the studio to see if I could get the effect of the ballets arm moving up and down so it would look like a swan flapping its wings.

Before I used the film camera I captured some images using my Canon 5d Mark 2 camera to see what F stop it would be best on and to see whether I could achieve that effect.

Below are some examples of the ballet moving her arms up and down like a swan would do with there wings

You can see her arms clearly when they are near her side and are above her head. In between is a faint outline of her arms moving. I would like to try and capture this image again but I would use a black background in which her arms would stand out more and get the dancer to wear a white leotard instead of black. I used two continuous lights, whereas if I were to capture the image again I would use one light and pull the light further back.

I have only used the 5x4 film camera once. Therefore, I didn't know what the images were going to turn out like. I practised several times without any film in the back so that I knew what I was doing when it came to capturing for real. When I finally did end up capturing the image with the film in the back, I placed the film in and I removed the wrong side. Instead, I should have removed it from the front side so that this would expose the image. When I moved the back side, it fogged the top half of the image, possibly due to over exposure. Also, I went to release the shutter but I hadn't cocked it, then when I did cock it, I took the images before making sure the model was ready so I captured an image of her on point (her toes) but with her arms by the side.

I am happy with the images I have processed and I would like to try again using a different format camera and making the exposure much longer. I would also like to have a black background so the movement of her arms is more clear.

Below are my images I captured on to film.

The following week I asked I could use the darkroom to develop one or two images to see how the negative had turned out and to practice creating contact prints and the learn about the development of the print. Below are the examples of the prints

Tester shots on the beach

I wanted to try and use floaty fabric in some of the images. I had the idea of using fabric with a dancer on a beach so you get the idea and atmosphere of the open area/air. Rachael Kirkwood was my model for the day and she is very flexible. I wanted her to lean back and have the fabric going over her face so that it looks like she is part of the fabric. I wanted to use fabrics because dance is all about being free and expressing yourself and the fabric is similar, you can't control it in the wind and it is free. Rachael and I went to Blackpool Pleasure Beach but unfortunately when we arrived there the tide was in so we could not go on the beach, I continued to drive further down heading towards Fleetwood. We stopped over and tested it on some grass overlooking the sea to see whether it would work or not. Below are some examples:

I would like to try and capture the image again maybe on the beach or in the studio and bring the fabric further down. I like the way the fabric moves in the wind so I would like to try using a dancer and the fabric together, maybe have the dancer doing a routine with the fabric and capturing different stills.

Later, after capturing the images we headed back to Blackpool and decided to go to St Anne's. When we arrived there the sun was shining and the tide was out so we were able to go onto the beach. We continued to use the fabric but it was too bright and the fabric disappeared into the background.

Therefore, I decided to get rid of the fabric and try some silhouette shots using the background. I asked Rachael to try a few different dance poses to see how they would turn out and I like the way the model looks in the images as you can see the silhouette of her as seen below

I wanted a different angle so I got my camera closer down to the ground and so you get the reflection of the sun from the ground and the lens flare from the sun bringing you in towards the model. I edited so it was more of a narrow portrait as I felt it didn't need the extra part of the image on the side and it enhances the model. There are a few things I do not like about the image and if I were to capture it again I would like to do it differently. For example the tide was out so the sand was wet. Therefore, there are foot marks and little puddles of water sitting in the sand, I would like to use dry sand so it defines the sand and the sea better.

Overall, I like the sihouette images and would like to capture some more images that are low key and some in silhouette. These are a few test shots that gave me some inspiration and also make me realise what I could do to improve these images. Below are all the images I took from that shoot

Inspirations and Ideas

For my professional practise I decided I would like to try using different lighting sources and camera techniques while photographing dancers. Below are some inspirational images I have found that I would like to try and achieve whilst photographing dancers.

The three images below are by Tim Walker was a freelance photography assistant in London. He then moved to New York City as a full time assistant to Richard Avedon. He initially concentrated portrait and document work for UK newspapers on returning to England. At the age of 25 he shot his first fashion story for Vogue and has photographed for the British, Italian and American editions ever since.

I chose this image as inspiration towards photographing the dancers because of the way the light shone off the disco ball creating the dashes off light on the models body and the wall. Disco is a form of dance and disco balls would be hung from the roof on to of a dance floor. Therefore, I thought using the light from a disco call would relate to capturing dancers. The shop underneath were the light is coming from behind was another way off lighting the model.

I would like to try and achieve something similar to the image below. The shadows create the effect as if the men are aiming towards the girl but they are not in the shot. Dance is about freedom and expressing yourself and I would like to try and achieve this by using a snoot (a cone-shaped fitment on a studio light to control the scene area illuminated) this will bring out a more promenade shadow from the dancer

Another one of Tim Walker images is the one below, I would like to try and capture something similar to the images below, where the images are took separately and then over lapped using software. As there are so many different moves and positions in dance I aim to capture the different images and overlap them

Bruce Monk

Bruce is a former dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company

I think the image below is stunning and creates the effect that the ballets are swans as he captures the images using a long exposure, the ballets dance and has they lift there arms up and down it creates the effect that they are trying to fly making them look like a swan. I would like to achieve this effect using a film camera and capture a ballet in the studio.

Nick Knight

I chose this image because of the way the light fires out from the models to give the effect that the light source has crashed into them, forcing them away. I found it an inspiration towards how I can light the subject.

When I photograph the dancers I would like to capture them while they dance and not have them posing and you don't get the same passion you would if they were to be dancing

Professional Practice- Photographers

Today we had a lecture with our tutor to discuss photographers work and what we feel there technique was when capturing images.

Rebecca Guoleifsdottir

http://www.rebekkagudleifs.com/scenery.php?photo=scenery0220.jpg#scenery0201.jpg

• Good technique
• Slow shutter speed
• Wide angle 15/20 mm
• Low angle
• Maybe a filter
• Post production after

Below is an example of her work

Eugenio Recuenco

http://www.eugeniorecuenco.com/

• Good depth of field
• Mood- Bad whether
• Panoramic
• Blurring the middle (stitching)
• Background- High key, could of used a model light

Below is an example of his work

David Ward

http://www.into-the-light.com/

• Large format camera
• Abstract
• Capture technique (Probably used a tripod, cable release form, image stabilization off when using a tripod)
• No post production

Below is an example of his work

We looked at John Blackmore work

http://johnblackmore.com/

Below is an example of his work

Micheal Nicholas

http://michaelnicknichols.com/

• Combination of techniques

Rear curtain technique/Mixed ambient flash.

Definition of rear curtain sync

A flash mode which fires the flash at the end of the exposure. An object moving left to right will be frozen to the right with a (possible) ghost trail to the left. This mode is often used in sports photography to show speed or movement.

Below is an example of his work

Gregory Crewdson

Influence by David Lynch. He create an image that looks like a film still using a large crew to help create the image. He would capture the image using a large format camera.

Below is an example of his work

Michael Crouser

http://www.michaelcrouser.com/

• Treatment he uses to create an old effect
• Defuse glow
• Two copy's, one image in focus and an out of focus image layered on top.

Below is an example of his work

These are ideas and example of work for me to look at for inspiration