Published

My book has finally been made and sent off for making with 'Blurb'
I was really happy with the overall making of the book and final layout etc. I am the sort of person that is hesitant of taking the option to send off the book incase I change my mind after submitting it. However after showing the book to a number of people, I was happy to bite the bullet.

Here is the cover for the final book... I am excited to see the finished product!

Why make things over complicated?

I watched a film called 'Sucker Punch' last night... but I didn't get it? I tried my best to understand why the film seemed to move between realism and fantasy. Was it because the girls in the film wanted to escape the reality and so created this fantasy world to try and conquer that or have I missed the plot completely?

I think it is easy to make something over complicated and become too far from belief. I personally as a photographer and film enthusiast prefer my films and images to be something that tackles reality. I am not someone who would enjoy a sci-fi film or something similar; so perhaps this is the reason why I do not understand it. However; maybe it is my lack of optimism for these films which prevents me from opening up and taking them for what they are?

All I know is that; if someone wants to shed some light on the plot, then I would be more than happy to listen.

All things exhibition

After much talking it through; and speaking with my college lecturer; I have decided what work I shall hang in the end of year exhibition.
Some of the work will be big A0 prints in a series of work and others will have a larger quantity but be smaller prints. I am now at the point where I think everything that needs to be done has become apparent. There is a lot of things to still think about and consider. Such as how to label the work? What promotional material will each photographer display at the exhibition... Things such as this need to be thought about before hanging the prints.
I personally know how and what I want to display with my images but I need to find relevant stands and holders to do this. This is going to be my next task.
I have decided to send just three images to our prints and print the bulk of my final assignment work myself. This way I feel it's my own personal touch to my work; and also gives me full control of the printing.
Now I just have to get started...

Video Insight

I know I speak a lot about the work of Tyler Shields; but this I think is interesting to all aspiring photographers...

Found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaJ_SKvYtRM

This video gives a glimpse into the typical day of Tyler Shields; and the pure dedication he goes to; to ensure he gets the best work he can. I like looking at a lot of these videos that he does...explaining how he gets the model into character, showing them ways to act but ultimately allowing them the freedom to act as they wish.
Why not check out his website if you like more of this link posted... www.tylershields.com 

Small Changes.Big affect

After my last change to my blog; I still wasn't completely happy with the finished look. So I thought I would play around and see what more I could do with it... I came across a template that was pretty simple but I liked it a lot. I changed the colour scheme to my personal taste; but ensured it was still eye catching.

I have included the before and after of the blog to see what you all think but personally I am pleased with the blog right now... I may change my mind at a later date and alter the text font and colour once again.

Channels

I have started on my channels assignment over the break from Uni and started to edit and see which categories the images they may fall into.
I need to continue to push and progress through this assignment to better the final image choices ready for hanging in 3 weeks time.
Here is just a sneak at some of the possible final work I am interested in hanging.

Final Decisions

I have looked further into my book making process and finally decided to use 'BLURB'. Personally I found the software the easiest to use and it offered me flexibility with the layout and size of my final images.
The book size selection has also been good. I looked into soft and hard covers; to see what they could offer me. I personally like a smaller book out of the large, small and square books on show. Because my images are showing my trolls in an intimate setting; making them kind of mysterious and hidden away. I only have a collection of 11 images so my choice of book would give it that more personal touch.
I hope to play around more with layout and send the book off to be printed asap.

Book Making

Now that I have edited and finalised all my images for my book, I need to start piecing it together. I have looked around at many different websites, to find the software that will help me make a book I am 100% happy with. I firstly looked at 'BLURB' and downloaded the 'booksmart' software to have a play around with some ideas. I found the software difficult due to there being SO many options available to you. I find that when I have too many options, it becomes too hard to decide on just one.
Next I looked at 'PHOTO BOX'. I've used this software before for a book, and I found the website simple and easy to use...however for my book; their layout options do not seem to fit my criteria. I want a standard and regular centred picture on most pages; but this website does not allow me to do this. This is my dilemma as I think out of photo book websites these are the two best...
After much debating, I think I am going to try and persevere with BLURB purely because their software seems to offer me more options than the other. I hope that the production can be made easily and without trouble; and over all that I will be happy with the final book.

From Within...

Last week I took my new ideas to Ben and Chris's studio to try and create as many interesting and different images I could from my ideas. My first part of the shoot was for my book production. I talked about wanting to shoot dam trolls for my images, because of their eeriness. I wanted to try some moody lighting and my original idea was to shoot on a simple black background. However; the closer I got to the shoot I decided on trying to create a forest scene... This is because as a young child I always believed that trolls wound be living at the end of my garden. Silly I know but I can imagine a lot of children maybe think this; so why not photograph upon this idea?
Here is a sneak peek at one of those final images:

Sustainable Fish Book

Recently I was helping with a London Photographer 'Jonathan Pollock' assisting with the images for a charity book, due to be released.

It was the first main body of work that I felt I had participated in for the greater good; in terms of the fact it wasn't being released to make money for the company, but being sold for the proceeds to go to charity. I thought it was a lovely idea and I was so excited to work on it. The book is being called the 'Sustainable Fish Book' so I would love for you all to check it out once it is released. The book contains many varieties of fish recipes made by well known chefs across the country; and actually helping the home economist yo make them was very exciting too :D I was so happy with the images and even got sent a few to keep for my own records too!

Time For Change

I have been unhappy with the layout and overall look of my blog recently and have therefore decided to make a few changes. I felt the back ground was too brash and just overall distracting to the main points within the blog so I have changed it to something more subtle but still added some touches of colour to keep it bright and fun. The text has also changed. Before I was using 'PT Sans Caption' for the majority of all the writing placed on the blog; except the main title. Now I have kept the 'PT Sans Caption' but also added Arial and Calligraffitti too. I hope the changes will improve the blog and still make it appealing to those viewing it.