Parakeet of Hartlepool

I know I already have a clear idea of where I am going with my project but I couldn't help mentioning these guys. They are ring necked Parakeet living in the Ward Jackson park of Hartlepool, I thought it was a pretty extraordinary thing to see in Hartlepool as they look like they should be seen in the amazon rainforest or something. 

Second group critique

 For the second group critique I took in pictures of the bubble man and camel racing, both what I would call extraordinary but real events that can't be staged. The feedback that I got was helpful and I now have a clear vision of what I'm doing next.

The feedback that I got was that I should stick to one event and show a selection of images covering it at different angles. From the majority of the class the camel racing photos where mostly talked about so I am going to focus on going thought them images and hopefully picking five or more that can be used for my final ones.    

Camels

As part of my project I have decide to photograph real life situations and with the tittle being extraordinary what fits the brief better than a camel race. 

I had so much fun being part of this charity event and getting the chance to be under the barriers on the racetrack getting the shots that I needed of this unique event.   

Looking for inspiration

I was having some second thoughts on my project as my last group critique was said that the image I displayed of my look a like Marilyn Manson was not intelligent to read as it was just a picture of a picture and there wasn't much I thought I could do about this as that's what my project was going to be about, recreating other photos. So I decided whilst it's only the second week into the assignment I will drop the idea and look for inspiration for something else to photograph. 

This is where I went for a nosey into the church gallery in Hartlepool, and had a look at all the projects on display. All the work was very real so I thought I will go out and photograph extraordinary real life everyday things.   

Lecture in Newcastle

Our visit to Newcastle to hear a guest lecture speaking was really beneficial, The amount of research that went into his work was really impressive. His research clearly showed how each bit of the project linked into his next bit of work. Not to mention that the lengths that he went to, to get the right information to back it all up with. I thought it was really interesting/ overwhelming about all the information about the rear earth materials that are in out everyday technology. I can't quit remember how the space photos came into it but I thought it was pretty smart that he could have a program on Google to take pictures of space to use them in his work as his own. 

The main that that I am going to take away from this visit is that I know realise how much depth is needed into researching a project to have a fuller understanding of the concept that is being portrayed in a selection of final images.

These are just a few quick snaps from the amazing building that the lecture was held in. The pictures are from in the library where it had an amazing archive of really old pictures of developments in the Northeast.            

Richard, The Bubble Man Of Hartlepool

Another small video of a lovely gentleman called Richard. He is from Pennsylvania and has lived in the UK for 4 years now. He is positioned near the memorial statute in Hartlepool town centre, he doesn't get paid or ask for money he just simply loves making bubbles to cheer people up on there way home from work or school. 

      

Marilyn Manson/ Michael Thompson

I am was just experimenting with a bit of video to show how my small shoot was done. This shoot involved a pull down white screen, a lamp, a mobile phone light and a shit load of white face-paint.    

I think I have managed to create a studio look with the two lights that I had so I was pleased with that, but I wasn't happy with the beard on my model so we had to stop shooting and get rid of it then started again.

This time around was much better even though the beard was gone and it was a closer likeness this break gave me chance to go through the photos I had already taken and compare them to the image that I was recreating it from. From this I would see what minor things I needed to improve on.  

I left a bit of space with the framing when I was shooting so when it came to choosing the photo I knew I would be able to crop it with a closer likeness to the original photograph. There was one thing I couldn't get rid of and that was the rembrent lighting with the triangle from his nose shadowing onto his face. To get rid of this I would have needed another light or brought the main light round to the front a bit.  

Lana Del Ray/ Holly Williams

This is the photo that I was trying to recreate, Lana Del Ray with a rose. 

I think that this one what the one I liked most I know there isn't much of a difference between them all, but for some reason this is the one. 

Noticing little things like the colour of the eyes, rose and hair that needed tweaking but in the end I kept them how they were. 

Camera Testing

Holly was the first person I was photographing that day and I needed to set up the correct lighting so it took a bit of messing around until I got it right.

Again I was messing around with the setting and I quite liked these images using a long shutter speeds, capturing movement that looks rather ghostly.

First attempt at similar portraits

I started to have a look at who I could photograph and also who I could photograph them as. I wanted to make them look as similar as possible so when I was trying to match my housemates with the possible similar celebrities I would try and match facial features.

This was my first attempt at shooting and I was really unhappy about the lighting as the complimentary shadows were missing on my attempt. So I am going to try again with natural lighting and a reflector, to see if I can get the softer tones and shadows on the face.

Sandro Miller

I really like the thought of recreating photos that have already been made. I have had a look at Sandro Millers work and I like how he has use John Malkovich as his main subject for all the pictures I think it makes them link together really nicely.  

http://www.thephotomag.com/2014/09/famous-photographs-from-history.html