Rational

Overall I am very pleased with how my book has turned out. I did a lot of research to help me gain ideas with my work. I looked in to book covers, layer outs, fonts, textures, ect. I also looked into different artists to help give me ideas on photographing my work, such as lighting and composition.

My idea for this work was to photograph the difference on Manchester in the day time compared to the night time. From this my idea got narrowed down to the clubbing and drinking in Manchester as I feel that’s what it is famous for. I picked this as I’ve had an interest in this idea for a while now and felt like I was ready to tackle in.

I approached my idea by focusing on parts on the city that was most interesting, such as buildings, roads, ect. My main focus was lighting as I feel the lighting is the key to my idea as day and night are completely different. I wanted to capture the night life being very busy and hectic like it is and for the day images to be empty and calmer.
I had a problem with my first shoot as my photographs were too pixelated when photographing in the dark. I researched the reasons behind this problem and over come it by changing my lens. This helped my work a lot as it made my photographs a lot clearer and lighter.

I have used a blog to help show my progress through out this module and looking back now I can see how much I have improved.
Even though it is the end of my module, I would like to carry on this body of work in my own time, and get even more photographs to fill up my book.

To conclude I am very pleased with my progress for this book, I feel I have ticked everything that should have been and I feel I have learnt a lot from this module, such as the technical side to photography. I am definitely going to carry on with this work as I have a real big interest in this idea.

My Book

Book Layout

For my book I have gone on to the blurb website to find the size of book I am after.

I have decided to go for the Standard Landscape size which is 10x8 inches (25x20 cm)
I picked a landscape one as I have made sure I have photographed all of my images landscape too, so that it keeps my theme going.


LAYOUT
For the layout of my book I have decided to use three columns on every page, this will help me get my photographs accurate on each page of how I want them spaced out.
I have put page numbers at the bottom right and left of the book as this will help me to preference my images at the back of my book, I did this by using a text box on my master pages.
I have put an image box on each page where I feel is best appropriate, and I have made sure that it dominates my pages. I then used a small text box on each page under my photographs as I want to put the time that I photographed them.

Once I had masted the main layout on my book I was then able to style it. I knew already that I wanted to put each day and night image opposite each other on a double page spread, so I played around with the settings until I was happy with the way they were layout out. I have used a black background on the side of the page which has my night time photographs on. I feel this is a good idea because it helps exaggerate the day and night theme and make it clearer to my viewers.
My first and last pages are going to be plain as I want the view to take there time when viewing my book and to give them a play to write any notes.
After the first page I will have a small introduction to help explain what my book is about and where I have photographed it.
On my final page I will have a list of page numbers and next to the it will say where a bouts in Manchester I photographed my images, i.e road names.


COVER
For the front cover I have decided to keep with the theme of black and white so I split each of the pages in half and filled the second half with a black colour. For the front cover I wanted to put my name, title and a photograph, so I played about with the layout until I was happy with the design.

Conclusion so far

Overall I feel that after my eleventh shoot I had enough images to work with now for my book.
So I began selecting my images down to my best/appropriate ones for this work. I then edited them slightly on photoshop, such as cropping and changing the contrast.
I am now ready to start putting my photographs into a book format.

Shoot Ten and Eleven

These too shoots were focusing on my day time images, I left these ones to last as I felt the hardest part on my work was photographing Manchester at night. Also I made this easier for my self by selecting my best images from my night time shoots and then going back to them places in the day and photographing them through the day.
This was a really good idea as it saved me time and I was able to get a close compares to the night time photographs. I found shoot ten hard at first as I had to use my regular lens as my lighting was good enough for it. However this means that my frame on my images were different, so I had to look harder at my composition.

Shoot Four to Nine

From Shoot four onwards I have been focusing a lot on my lighting of my night time images as I feel that is the key to my work. I have stuck with the lens I was using as it has been working really well for me as the lighting and quality on my images are spot on.
I have also been keeping with my composition and business style as I also feel it has been working really well.
I have targeted Bars, Clubs and Pubs as I feel thats what Manchester is famous for.

Shoot Three

Here are a couple of images from my third shoot, this shoot was focusing on lighting.

This first image is of a line of trees that runs by the side of the canal on canal street. I have thought a lot about my composition on this photograph, mainly because I didn't want the lighting to be too over powering on the right. I enjoy looking at the reflection on the floor as well as on the sign. I feel the two people walking towards the camera help balance out my image.

Here is my second image, I have displayed this photograph as I feel it captures Manchester's night life really well. It is very busy and hectic from drunken people walking to each club to get out of the cold.

This has been one of my best shoots as I have been aiming to capture the lighting to make it the main focus on my photographs. I will carry on doing more shoots focusing on this idea.

Shoot Two

Here is a few on my images from my second shoot. As you can see the quality is a lot better in these photographs. They are much lighter and sharper, making my photograph more interesting to look at.

Here is one of my photographs, I've tried to capture the night life in cities, in my case Manchester. I've also tried to capture depth in my photograph, from the blocked out people at the front and the lit up people at the back, this was inspired by my artist research.

Here is another one of my images, with this one I have tried to capture an area, i.e building name, as it will then be easier to compare to when I take my day time images. I have taken this image portrait as I feel it fits in better with the busy people underneath, being parallel to the sign above. I like the use of lights from the club sign, which is shining on the people below.

Solution

After my first shoot, I noticed that my lens wasn't the correct lens for photographing in the dark. So I did a little research and found that the 1.8 aperture 50mm prime lens is the lens I need.
This lens can't zoom in and out, meaning I will have to move my self instead. However, this lens can let in a lot more light, meaning I can turn my aperture down and my shutter speed faster, giving me a brighter and sharper photograph.

Shoot One

Here is an image from my first shoot. As you can see my photograph is very pixelated as I was just using a standard lens. This means that the lens I was using wasn't able to let enough light in, meaning I had to change my ISO, aperture and shooter speed, making my photograph more pixelated.

All of my pictures from this shoot are too pixelated, so I will have to go out again with a better lens, to give me a sharper image.

Alvin Langdon Coburn

Broadway

I picked this photograph as I love the use of light and reflection in the image. There is a lot of depth in this photography, giving me, the viewer, a lot to look at. I would like to create this same affect in my own photographs as I feel these techniques make the image very powerful.

Single Building

This is my favourite photograph of Alvin Langdon Coburn as the yellow lighting in the background, really makes this image feel like a busy city lifestyle, which is the exact technique I am looking for. I like the way the buildings that are most closest to me are more bolder and blacker, giving the photograph a lot of depth. I hope I can achieve this same affect in my own work.

Final Idea

I have decided to go with my first proposal as I have more of an interest in it and I can see it developing into something really special. I have wanted to do this idea for a long time and I feel this is the time to start it.

I will began by looking at artists to see if they can inspire me and give me even more ideas to add to this task I have set myself.

I will then do my first shoot as a tester, to help look at my lighting, camera settings and lens.

Book covers

Here are a few different book cover designs that I've select to help show that there is a big range in styles and shapes.
I'm still unsure of the style of cover I am after and I feel I will have a better Idea once Ive started my work. However, at this moment in time I have an idea of a Landscape book, with a hard, yet soft feel to the front cover. I've picked this idea so far as I like the idea of my viewers, being able to feel my photographs, almost as if they are their them selves.
I would like a book that is bright and bold to make it stand out, so that when people walk past it, it will catch their eyes.
I also like the idea of my book being quite small, maybe A5 size, so that people can carry my book around in their bags or pockets, and always use it as inspiration.

Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, line spacing. I have researched how to do all the techniques involved in Typography, shown below...

Ligatures: The combining of two letters in a fancy way, such as the letters fi on the Ribbon.

Stylistic Set: Select some text, then click this pop-up menu. If your font supports this feature, you can choose a style

Number Spacing: Select some numbers and choose default, proportional, or tabular.

Number Forms: Select numbers and choose default, lining, or old style. Old style is supported by many fonts.

Contextual Alternatives: When selected, displays alternative font styles based on the sentence context. Your best bet is to select text and select this check box to see what happens.

Kerning: When selected, applies kerning. By default, a font must be at least 72 points or larger for this feature to work.

Scale: Adjust using the spinner control. This option makes characters fatter or thinner.

Spacing: Choose normal, expanded, or condensed, and number of points. This option adds or removes space between characters.

Position: Choose normal, raised, or lowered, and by how many points. This can be a way to control how much subscript or superscript to apply to text.

Kerning: Choose on or off and set the minimum number of points. Your font must support kerning to see any effect when this feature is applied.

Advanced Typography: These controls duplicate the controls found when you use the Typography group in the Ribbon

Proposal Three

I have the idea to photograph different types of people in there own environment where they are comfortable. I came across this idea as I feel it will be good to see the difference between people and what their interests are.

I will start by finding different people from all types of different ages. I will then find out what they are interested in, what possessions they like, what they wear, where their favourite place is, i.e their home.

I will then photograph them according to what they are interested in. I am focusing on their body language when they are around their own objects.

To help me I will look into researching portrait photographers such as David Hansen and his image of people he has taken. I like the way the man in the image is very relaxed and at peace in the photograph. I also like the unusual composition David has used as it makes the image look a lot interesting. This is a technique I would like to use in my own work to help me get different ideas.

Overall I feel I have a good starting point and would like to keep developing this until I am happy with my final outcomes. I will then display my work in a book format so that the view can look through my work with ease. 

Proposal Two

I have the idea to photograph the city over a period of time as I would like to see the different affect it gives me. I will either overlay my work on to one image or have them displayed separately over a few different pages.

I will start by picking locations that excite me the most, I will be looking for areas with … buildings, different types of lighting, number of people.

I will have to use a tripod to make sure my image is in the same place each time and I will photograph over a period of 7 hours starting from 6pm. I will shoot on every half hour in this period of time, and then compare the different in lighting between each image.

To help me I will look into researching city photographers such as Sam Javanrouh and his image of the city. Sam Javanrouh has done this a different way from what I was planning on doing as he has edited his image to make it look like he has photographed this day to night. This is a good technique, which I would like to attempt in using in my own work. I like the way he has put his work all into one image, making it easier to see the change in time of day.

Overall I feel I have got a good starting point and would like to keep developing this until I get the outcome I am after. Once I am happy with my images I will display them by putting them in a book format so that people can flick through my work themselves.