Logo variations and text finalisation

first draft personal statement

Photography has become one of the most influential and exciting things in my life in the past few years. This course would not only broaden my understanding of the principles of photography but would give me an idea of the direction to dig into.
In my opinion I'm the right man for this course because I'm an open minded individual with the ability to grasp new concepts and techniques quickly. Although I do have my own style of photography, which i tend to link to my lifestyle of BMX and urban action sports. Since I was roughly 6 or 7 years old, I've pretty much ridden my bike everyday and have stayed hooked on it by the atmosphere and lifestyle through out my life. However in the past 1 or 2 years i have decided to capture it by both photographing and videoing what actually happens and my achievments. By learning new techniques and different styles of photography which i'll gain from this course I will be able to apply them straight to my lifestyle, documentary and sports photos.
I've recently created a Facebook page where I have 135 likes and climbing! The aim of the page is to advertise my work as much as possible enabling any future clientele to view my progression and hopefully give them confidence in myself and my passion for future jobs. I've also been able to complete work experience in my own time while attending college. The work consisted of ...
confidence when they give me a job, done work experience into a media based area which gave me a better understanding of the moving image and in my opinion, if you can understand the moving image you will have a greater understanding of in what section of it will capture the maximum amount of emotion and clarity.
Expanding more on my bike riding, i ride as often as the british weather allows me to (and in many cases even when its not at its most glorious) i frequently ride my bike. Riding in many different areas for example Sheffield, Nottingham and Liverpool has given me the chance to observe different lifestyles, architecture and the diversity of culture in each place I travel to. It goes without saying that, Sheffield has a faster pace of life and has a higher volume of people in comparison to Worksop but its interesting to see the differences in architecture between a city and in the countryside which greatly intrigues me. This again relates back to my urban action sports interest where we simply don't see a bench as a place to sit or a rail as a safety precaution, I see those place as obstacles and opportunities to put my personal stamp on wether that be a photo, video or even memory. Even without the physical proof you gain a feeling self accomplishment when you learn something new.
Personally, my ability to learn, adapt and overcome situations quickly and efficiently is one of, if not the greatest transferrable skill i could take away from riding my bike and photographing it in the process. Although it may be seen as irresponsible and reckless it has taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life. For example I have been able to improve my communication skills by visiting many places I've been to and the new people I have met through out the many trips I've been on, which is a key as i must be able to talk and comfort my future clients. Moving away from BMX and into my current work, i have to work on my own accord and manage time well as I don't actually have to communicate with anyone to complete my tasks at work. therefore i need no guidance from my boss although if i ddi need that guidance or had any queries i wouldn't be afraid to ask. this is important for not only this course but its important for the world of work because a worker that needs help constantly and has to rely on other people to do their work for them are more of a burden than not acing a worker at all in my opinion.
In the long run I'm hoping to complete my degree etc but during any holiday times rather than going back home to enjoy my time off and reminisce on my situation. id like to use this time to further advance any skills I've come to learn, id like to be able to travel abroad and immerse myself into other cultures. by doing this ill be able to gain experience of different lifestyle and give myself a new outlook on the photos and to keep myself open minded which promotes the creative mind set. After my degree I'm hoping to create a freelance photography business based around documentary and lifestyle, whilst on the side ill be continuing to ride and take photos for a commission like a magazine, website etc.

billboard photography research

After having a read throughout he brief it says to show a form of advertising for example, billboard, poster, leaflet etc. So I've looked into and decided that one of the forms of advertising I'm going to use is a billboard with my brand ID on it but I'm planning on taking a extremely slow shutter speed shot so it give the photo that movement and motion thus telling the viewer that my product/brand is being see. i was also thinking maybe more of a landscape, documentary shot as well so per haps with someone in the bus bay or looking at the billboard/poster, just to see what each one looks like or what them all together look like. although, i won't actually be making a poster to go inside the billboard ill be taking the photography and creating the graphics for whats actually going on the poster too.  

The 3rd packaging design

This is the cilinder design. I've under estimated the size of the earphones so the lid would fit on. To solve this I've this I've increased the size of the circles which are the base of the cilinder and kept the box same size in width but I've made the height the exact same as the height of box. 

Work sheets of packaging design number 3

These are the blue prints/ work sheets for my 3rd design. I've stayed with the vaccine suction type open and closing mechanism. The shape is based on a cilinder shape with either a cilinder or cuboid inside. 

Mock FMP burst, in the moment and action photos

In the photos below I've used a few new techinques and sinarios and personally think these are the best set of photos up to press. 

In this photo I've captured Dominic Cox doing a boneless drop. I've used the graffiti on the floors to add bursts of colour in the photo. The angle I sued took advantage of the ledge on the right and as I was focused on capturing dom the photo also shows off the depth of feild. I particularly like the sky in this photo because it shows the intensity of the pre winter weather in Britain, the rain and cold don't eqaul enthusiastic riding. Personally, I would of liked to of places a flash behind the ledge facing dom so he would of been more defined in the photo.

 

This photo was take just before Dom landed the boneless. I like how even though you can't see the facial expression you can see the intensity of thoughts that are running through his mind. In many cases it's mind over matter and more of a mental barrier than a physical one. Again I've used the graffiti to add bursts of colour and the graphic on the back of his shirt. I also wish I'd of had a flash at my disposal for this photo because I'd of liked to see what it'd of looked like with the flash mounted on my camera, I think it's of dragged the colours out more. 

These two photos I've implemented the burst photo technique. I put the shutter soles on around 300 so there was no chance of blur and I'd get a detailed photo of each section of the trick. In the first photo was the first burst photo I tried to edit and didn't really understand he concept of it at all because there isn't no shadows and my lightings off but in the second I used the shadows of each section and my lighting is better than the first but a flash would of been much appreciated as it would of added those highlights I think both photos need. 

This photo is another action photo but it emphasises on how grimy and dull riding in winter feels. I've used the simple rule of thirds and captured a good amount of sky to highlight what the weathers like in winter, I've also captured the puddle in front of the ledge on the right to add to that cold winter feeling I was after. This photo is possibly the only one I wouldn't of needs a flash for because I think a flash would of added warmth to the photo and cancelled out the cold effect I was after. 

Mock FMP brief

Title:In the eyes of action sports

Project objectives: 

-To make people understand what goes on in urban based action sports. 

-To develop my photography skills (using exposure correctly, using natural light etc) 

-I also want to understand the different personalities with each rider I work with. 

-understand what motivates them. 

-how each rider sees things differently 

-I want to learn capture the frustration going into a photo. 

-show the importance of the lifestyle and not just the action
-to think outside of the box when taking photos (odd positions and angles)
-keep an open mindset through out so that my though process will have a wider range.
-to overall show everyone what goes into being a BMX/skateboarder in the UK
-to document key aspects of what we do
-understand the difference between a city and country lifestyle in BMX
-understand the BMX scene more thoroughly 

Reasoning behind my choice I project: 

I'm a bmxer and it's no secret that no one really understands what we do and why we do it. But we don't intend to go out and 'harm or vandalise' property, it's the fact we love the sport and its progression, creativity and freedom that in our minds there are no limitations and the laws don't even cross our mind. We are more focused on the trick we are trying to pull. 

Activities:

Take photos every time I go out even if they aren't of BMX or and action sports related activity. 

Go out as much as possible.

interpret the techniques I've found and use them in my own work. 

Take the leadership role when photographing so I can motivate the rider.
take lifestyle/behind the scenes photos
travel to interesting and different locations


Research!:
BMX and action sports photographers
documentary photographers
lifestyle photographers
BMX and action sports scene in general
what makes a successful photographer in general

the different mind sets between sponsored and non-sponsored riders

different photography techniques(golden ratio etc) 

the mental attitude of riders. 

the history of the sport and bicycles in general 

History of photography

brand ID billboard

this is the first billboard that I've made. I've showed my target audience and how i want my product to be perceived. I've tried to implement a famous nike advertising design so that it'll show a degree of controversy between the market my products in and nike's. the adverts below.
I've used the rough concrete and the reds in the photo to try and get as close to a grimy image as possible.

Externally lit photos

These are the sample photos where I used external light for my photos. In the first one I relied mostly on the bold colour of the bike to make the photo eye catching and increased the contrast so the colour would come out more. I also lowered the saturation of everything but the red so it would jump out even more. 

The photo below I used the same external light as before but tried a different angle. I also completely desaturated everything other than the blues and the red, the blues saturation was upped to around 30 and the red was slightly lowered to about -10. The contrast of the photo was increased and the brightness pretty much stayed the same. Note that the angle of the photo was so that the bars would be highlighted away from the sky, I did this by placing the light hidden directly behind the stem of the bike this light also gives the tyres more definition. 

The phot below is my favourite out of the samples because it's different to what I've done before. As you can probably tell I've only ever took photos of the tricks and action of skateboarding and bmx but in this photo I've managed to catch the a segment of the lifestyle. It's not as exciting as most people thing, especially in the winter. As we love in England the weathers often a factor in when we can ride and during the winter the weather takes no prisoners, it's cold, wet and the motivation to ride is strained massively. That's one of the main reasons why I love it! You get to know who is cermitted to the sport and who's worth the time. In this photo it's captured how social media and the Internet has effected action sports and how we are all connected. The overall editing of the photos was that I lowered the brightness and highered the contrast both by 50 and decreased the brightness of the yellows. I decreased the brightness of the yellows because the hat just looked out of place in the photo and stood out more than I liked. 

Why the golden ratio is better than the rule of thirds

Well neither rule is better or worse than the other, both are simply guidlines of composition. A simple way of comparing the two is the the of third is set out in a grid divided into even thirds (33/33/33) the golden ratio is approximately a 62/38 division, the golden ratio leads to the intersection of important diagonals. 

When composing there is nothing to say you can't use both in the same image, there is more than likely a built in rule of thirds grid in most dslr cameras. However, the golden ratio is a little harder to use. 

Fire photography

Campfires in particular 

It's apparently the easiest for of fire photography. 

Exposure at 1 second

F/3.5 

And play about with the ISO until the photo looks right. 

However, I didn't like the look of the fire as it was blurry and didn't show much intensity so I'd of though a much fast shutter speed would suit the photo better but I'll try both. 

Moon photography

Handling checklist:

Go somewhere dark, darker the better 

Use a telephoto lens, longer the better 

Adjust the shutter speed so the moon isn't over exposed, start around 1/250th 

Adjust the aperture to get your lens as sharp as possible - sharpest at f/8 or f/11 

Keep the ISO low to get a crisp image 

Use tripod 

Take a range of photos don't be afraid to experiment. 

Nights sky photography

Camera settings.

For a starting point you should have 25 second exposure, f/2.8, ISO 1600 or if the lens doesn't open up to f/2.8 try a 30 second exposure and f/4 with the same ISO.

Note: this type of photography will not work if there is a moon out (at all). The best place for this type of photo graphs is  deep into nature, away from a city so it minimalists the light pollution.

Why these settings? 

The most important factor of these settings is the 25 second exposure. This is because any longer and you'll start to get a star train which is a completely different type of photography. Since you are limited to the 15-30 second shutter speed you still need to let in more light. So the largest aperture you can find on a fisheye lens is f/2.8 and am this may still not be bright enough. So this is where the ISO comes in to play it will vary with different types of cameras but on full frame cameras you can usually get the ISO to 2000 without seeing much noise. However, I don't have a full frame camera so I'll have to resort to a slightly edited photo. 

Lightroom 

In this it's usually good to boost the exposure by a stop or two and the 'noise reduction tool' which is under the detail section, this will reduce any unwanted "noise".

These are the setting pretty much the settings she uses ever time.

She boosted the whites up to around 50 and took the blacks down to -50 this is so that there is more emphasis on the stars. Pushed he clarity up to 55 which also helps divine the stars against the sky and the saturation was increased so that it highlighted any sutul colours. 

In the second panel she sharpened the image slightly, brought up the noise reduction to 33 to smooth out and star trails and brought up the colour to 25 for the same reasons. 

Tips.

To make the sky appear 'magical' you can alter the hue and the temperature. 

Make sure your not just taking a picture of  the sky, put a palm tree or something in there to give the photo abit of a story and meaning behind it. 

Use apps like 'Sky Map' to see what stars are directly above you so that your not just shooting aimlessly. 

logo variations-original apple logo

this is my logo up to yet. however, in this design I've implemented the spectrum colour scheme which was famous from apple's original logo. I've decided to go down this route because it will create bit of controversy when people see it thus giving the brand a amplified amount of exposure quickly.  

as you can see I've not directly copied what apple originally did but I've explored a few different ways the spectrum/rainbow fits into my logo. 

in the logo below I've stayed with the spectrum/rainbow colour scheme but placed the colours in each individual section of the logo. 

this logo although is very simple and almost child like with the colours stands out as a its own logo even though I've used the same colours and concepts as the apple and google logo.