This photoshoot was one that was such a blessing for both me and J’rome who founder of the clothing line Middle Kid with his girlfriend Rochelle. The shoot was done during my time at university. This photo shoot, while not compulsory for the module that I was doing, was needed to help with the project that I had chosen, and therefore benefited me. I was in luck because at the same time that I had started my module, J’rome & Rochelle, had recently started up a clothing line and was in need of a photographer to take a few photos which could then be used on their social media pages and also their website.
This was the first time I had taking photos with a Canon camera, I did have a camera before, a Panasonic DMC-LZ20, however this was very different to the camera which I had been using at university, instead I was using a Canon 700D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM.
One of the many things that I love about photography is that it allows you to just pick your camera up go out and explore, it makes you more aware of your surroundings, noticing things that you wouldn’t normally notice. Both of these photos were taken by just being adventurous and exploring, by doing this it meant that I was lucky enough to have a photo opportunity literally land right in front of me.
Walking along the Mailbox bridge in Birmingham, you are surrounded by padlocks on both sides similar to what you would find on Staalmeestersbrug bridge in Amsterdam or the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, before the locks were removed. The photo was taken with a 18-55mm, initially the photo was going to solely focus on the padlocks that were on the fence, however when people started to walk by I decided to shift the focus slightly to the left to accommodate this new addition, but still keeping the locks in focus. The people walking in pairs suited perfectly with the rest of the picture as they represented what the padlocks symbolised, love, friendship and companionship that people have with each other in many different forms.
Sometimes a photographic opportunity will just present itself to you and that is why you should always have your camera with you, this was very much the case when I took this photo. After hours of walking around the city, this bee landed right in front of me on this flower.
I didn’t plan on taking a picture like this, however I liked the idea of this bumblebee going about it’s day and photographing that. This therefore is probably one of the most natural pictures that I have taken. A bumblebee collecting nectar, an important action. On the grand scale of everything that happens in the world, this is a minute action. I do regret one thing about this picture and that is that is wasn’t taken with a macro lens as I didn’t have one with me at the time, I believe that it would have changed the perspective of the entire picture by capturing its fine hairs and legs. Instead however, this picture was taken on a 75-300mm, and in doing so focused more on the size and scale of the bumblebee rather than the detail and action of the bumblebee.
Thank you for reading another one of my posts. I hope to see you again soon 🙂
I’ve chosen four photos to talk about in this post because each of these photos have helped me to grow and develop my skills, not just in how to take photographs but also with using software like adobe photoshop.
The first two pictures, one of a Mitsubishi EVO engine and the other of a MK2 golf, both from the early stages of using photoshop, experimenting with my creative mind while also working to the restrictions of the skill capacity I had at the time.
This is genuinely a real engine, it really did have this galaxy theme to it, I didn’t want to change that, instead just emphasise it, therefore I left the inside practically unchanged only making certain parts standout , in this case all the blue parts. I felt that by having just the front of the car and nothing else, when combined with the bright green grass as the background it did give the appearance of being entirely fake. Questioning whether the car was really there or if it was even real. This was done intentionally as I wanted people to question the picture as the engine is not like one that you would see in a car, so there had to be a bit of mystery to the picture.
The Mark 2 golf and the Mitsubishi EVO both have something in common. Both of them were taken on a Panasonic TZ-60 5.8mm which was given to me as a birthday present.
There was many different approaches that I was considering in regard to how I should edit this photo, one being, having the photo completely black & white, however, the decision was made to edit the picture in this way. I took the picture from a side on position to show that ,based on the frame of the car, it was an old model, however, I also wanted to show the rims on the car, these rims show that the car has had modifications done to it. For those of you that like cars know already that this particular model is around 30 years old. I wanted to have the top of the picture in black & white and the grass at the bottom left in colour, to show the juxtaposition of an old car design at the top with new modifications at the bottom. I believe that this was the best way to edit this picture, any other approach would have either not focused on the car as much, or not covey the contrast, so just wouldn’t have had any real direction.
It is however still important to note that this was done when unfortunately I hadn’t really had much experience in using photoshop, so was limited with what I thought of creating and what I could actually do.
This landscape photo that has the Royal Bank of Scotland building in it, was one of my very first landscape photos. At the time I had mostly been taking photos of flowers and cars, this wasn’t because I had never come across a photographic landscape, it’s more, if I do take a landscape picture, I prefer one of nature, and living in a city that’s hard to come by.
Taking this photo did come with some issues, because behind me was a cafe that had its tables and chairs outside which couldn’t be moved, so I was having to squeeze past them and try and get back as far as possible to fit in as much of the image as possible. Normally this is a very busy place, due to the bars, cafes and restaurants in the area so waiting for it to be clear like this took a lot of patients. It paid off however, taken with a 18-55mm f/3.5 -5.6 III lens, the entire RBS building stands in the centre towering over the path of beautifully blossomed trees that line up in front of it. Usual this is area is a busy place for both work and nightlife, however this picture shows that just like most things it can be a place of peace and beauty when caught at just the right time.
This next picture was taken the same day as the previous photo, however this picture was taken with a different lens a 75-300mm, to try and focus more on the flower that is hanging on its own from the branch of a tree.
The purpose of this photo was to be able to pick out an individual subject amongst a busy background and have it as the main focus. This flower was perfect to do just that, blurring the background of the flowers behind and having this individual flower as the main focus meant that the detail of the flower could be seen clearly and truly appreciated. I can be reluctant to make changes to photos that have either animals or are nature based, therefore the decision was made to keep it the picture natural and not enhance the colour that would potentially tone down the photos naturalness the process. I felt that the photo wasn’t lacking in colour and preferred the natural soft tones.
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I think it’s important that when you showcase some of your artwork you should also give some sort of insight into your work, from what type of camera you used, or why you decided to take a photo of that particular piece of art or subject, and what was going through your mind at the time.
My very first post will be about the very first picture that I had taken, and that was of a squirrel that was on a tree, this was one of the first photos that I had taken with my own Canon 700D. I actually had it for a couple of months before I first used it, and had done some photography projects and work at university, “Which will come up in later posts” however I still was nervous in my own ability. I therefore spent the next few weeks reading photography books and jotting down notes to help me improve my skills and get comfortable with my new camera, experimenting with all the different modes.
The photo wasn’t taken far from where I live, I thought I might as well start local if I’m going to practice, take pictures of the simple things that you come across everyday. It was on my journey exploring my surroundings when I wondered down a road, one that I’ve never actually been down before. “You know the road that you pass everyday but never really pay any attention to, well this time I did”. It was no different to any other road in the area or in most areas, this didn’t matter, with photography you can capture a great moment in any environment if you just look closely.
Capturing the photo of the squirrel was no easy task as you can probably imagine, however it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and gave me the chance to experiment on taking a photo of a fast moving subject. Naturally the squirrel was perfect and fit this criteria. The moment it ran passed me and started to head up the tree I knew I had to try and capture the image before the chance had gone. This picture was taken with a 75-300mm, f/4-5.6 III lens to reduce the risk of disturbing the squirrel, at ISO speed 6,400. The photo has no changes made to it, done to showcase the beauty and realness of nature, it wasn’t about enhancing the colour of the picture or making the squirrel itself sharper. It was just about practicing my skills by photographing a squirrel in its natural habitat and what that truly looks like.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope that you enjoyed this short post and do subscribe and come back to read more.
ExpressCreativity0121 