location photographer

Pete Seaward

Location Photographer

He has been a photographer for over 30 years and he’s travelled the world to find the most beautiful places to photograph.

I really like his photos especially the ones that show people and wildlife as well as the beauty of the location.

My favourite photo shows a buddhist monk sitting one of the Himalayan mountains. The colours are not bright or very interesting but that’s what makes it different and unique.  When you look at it you can almost feel like you’re there. It’s a magical photo.

I think it’s amazing how Pete can photograph  in completely locations and the photos  always come out better and better each time. I love how he doesn’t really focus on one thing but on the photo as a whole thing. The uses of colours are beautiful.

Evaluation + contact prints

My project was all about location.

These are my final photos. I've used them in my video. 

I was photographing my guitar to show what it has to go through during a typical day. My sister helped me by posing with it and taking it in different locations.

I was supposed to use day light and a mixture of lighting but it didn't work out so I've used just artificial lighting. The photos were taken inside my house, in different rooms including kitchen, my sister's bedroom, stairs and the main room. 

I chose that location because it wasn't that easy to take good photos inside and I like to do it differently. I chose it because it was related to my object. Taking a guitar outside it's not what every person does, many people just keep it inside to use it. 

The only thing that I found difficult was adjusting my camera to different types of lighting (light bulbs) because I had to change my ISO slightly every time. 

My timing wasn't that good because I didn't manage to take any photos in a morning or during a day, I've taken them at the end of the day, mainly because the photos don't really show what time of the day it is so it's not an issue.

I tried using different angles so my photos don't look boring or similar.

I enjoyed photographing people as well as my object, it was more fun and also they have helped me a little bit, giving me ideas and helping with making my video more realistic.

I enjoyed the challenges and that it wasn't that easy to photograph my object inside the house.

Experimenting with my camera was also a good part of this project, I've learned what to change to adjust the settings properly. 

Next time I would give myself a little bit more time to take photos. I should also manage my time better.

My video is not the best one, I found it quite hard to create it in Photoshop because I'm still not that good at it. I didn't rotate some of my photos but I don't think it looks too bad. I've put text at the beginning and at the end of my video to explain what it's all about. I've used different fonts and styles. I enjoyed creating it but I needed some help to make it more enjoyable. 

I really enjoyed this task and I think it was one of the best ones yet. I loved learning about locations, angles, formats and other things. I also think it was a very good opportunity to learn more about cameras, lighting and Photoshop. 

Storyboard

Risk Assessment Unit 30

Hazard

1. falling down the stairs while taking photos

• Persons at risk and how : - me, If I focus too much on taking photos, I could trip and fall down the stairs
• Existing control measures : - I will get someone to stand in front of me so even if I fell I would be safe because that person would catch me
• Probability - 2
• Severity - 2
• Risk level - 4
• To stay safe I will sit on each stair while taking photos

1. cutting fingers with a knife

• Persons at risk and how : - the person helping me (making sandwiches), when cutting the bread or getting some butter on the knife, there's a possibility of cutting fingers or the whole body
• Existing control measures : - I will ask the person who will be helping me to be careful and to use the knife responsibly and to cut everything slowly.
• Probability - 3
• Severity - 2
• Risk level - 6
• To prevent it from happening I will ask the person who will be helping me to hold the knife as far away from their body as they can. 

Location

New Year's Eve

Task 4a

ROYALTY FREE MUSIC

It's a type of music licensing that allows you to pay for the music license only once and to use the music as long as you want to. You pay the same price whether you use the music for 1 month or 5 years and it's free of taxes.
You can use it to download music from the Royalty free music websites and to do it legally.
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/sample_player.cgi?track_id=01461&album_id=

You should use it because if you don't pay for the music and you download it for free, it's likely that if someone caught you, you would have to pay a fine or even go to the jail (unless the person who owns the copyright gives you the right to copy).

COPYRIGHT FREE MUSIC

It means that the person who created a soundtrack or something like this doesn't own the Copyright. The creator can say that anyone can use his music for any purpose and then it's free to use.
You can use it to download music without breaking the law. It's still risky because you have to be sure that it's copyright free so you don't get into trouble.
http://www.audioblocks.com/search/?srch-type=music&genres=20_15_18&bpm_min=98


http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/cinematic

My ideas

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/cute
It's a good soundtrack because it's cute and it brings the smile onto your face. It would be good at the start of my video.
http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/little-idea
It's also a cute soundtrack and can be used at the beginning as well as at the end.
http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/ofelias-dream
It's a dark, sad song and can be used when my object misses someone or plans on doing something bad.
http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/tomorrow
It's an emotional song and can be used when the sad moment comes on

I've downloaded soundtracks that I want to use on Bensound. It offers Royalty free music/ Copyright free music. On the website you can read the licensing terms so you can make sure that the music on there is licensed under a Creative Commons License and that you are free to use the music in your multimedia project (videos on youtube, websites and animations etc.) as long as you credit the website.

Task 2 PART 2

PERSPECTIVE

When we look at photos, we look at 2-dimensional representation of a real 3-dimensional scene. To demonstrate depth and a sense of scale photographers use perspective. It's not that easy to create that "illusion" that makes you think that the image looks 3D. It's all about using a good perspective.



The photos above show different perspectives. They were both shot using a low angle (first one- worm's eye view) but they represent different things. Left picture makes the road look long and wide and you can almost feel and see the train moving towards you. It creates a very good effect and it doesn't look flat at all. Photo on the right is a little bit different because someone has used a fish-eye lens and I like it because of that. You can see how tall the buildings are. Someone also used long exposure and that's how we can see the long lights on the streets.

THE RULE OF THIRDS / GOLDEN SECTION

It's the most important principle of photographic composition. Basically, you have to break an image down into thirds (horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts (they all should be the same size). It helps you place the object you're photographing in the right place. It helps you framing an image and it's very useful.

 LEADING LINES

They are used to draw the viewer's eye through a photo, they can also draw your eye to a focal point in the shot. These lines can be wavy, straight or diagonal. There are many variations.

 This photo is very good. The corridor is a leading line and it guides you through it to the light at the end of it. The composition is very good but you can also look at other things like the doors at the front. It can distract you a little bit.

When you look at this photo, you can see many lines and they all lead your eye to the tree at the end.

Photos I've taken

Task 2

FORMAT

Most cameras are set up with grips that let you hold them comfortably in a horizontal or landscape orientation. You can also use vertical or portrait composition and which option you choose, it all depends on what you want to include in your photo. There's no right or wrong.

Here's an example of two photos of the same situation shot horizontally and vertically. They are both quite good but they focus on different things. Left one focuses on the person in the front and people in the background are blurry. Right picture focuses on everyone and it gives the impression that there are more people working than in the left photo. Also the ditch with water in it looks longer and bigger. Looking at that photo you don't really focus on the person in the front but on every person in a white suit.


I've taken few photos showing different uses of horizontal and vertical orientation.

I was trying take photos of the same person or a thing but by using different formats I was trying to make them look different. Using different angles as well as formats was very helpful because it created a better effect.

Christmas 2

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I like the photos I've taken over Christmas and New Year's Eve. They show happiness and love. I had two days of a Christmas joy and presents because my family celebrate Christmas (opening presents and eating dinner) on the Christmas Eve and my boyfriend's family celebrate it on the 25th.  I was happy to share my happiness with everyone around.

My favourite photos are the ones of the Christmas tree decorations and a dog looking after our presents before we opened them. I like that the decorations create a really christmassy feeling and they look very nice together, next to each other. The one of a dog is cute and it shows that even dogs can be really excited for Christmas and opening presents.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Task 3

First idea

I've decided to use a wooden figure as my inanimate object. This will be quite easy to photograph even though it is not a very popular object. I think it's a really interesting and good idea.

My location will be outdoors and indoors, so it's not going to be boring. I will use artificial and natural lighting. 

I will use different angles and I will try to take every picture in a similar way,

Location

• my house (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom)
• outside my house (garden, street)

Props/ Items

• wooden figure
• bowl
• cereal
• spoon
• bed
• phone

Lighting

• artificial
• natural
• a mixture

Compositional techniques

• rule of thirds
• angles (low, high, eye-level)

Timing

Setting up my equipment and putting my object in the right place and the right position would take me around 5-10 mins

Photographing should take me a whole day to get good shots at different times of a day

Travelling shouldn't take me that long, I don't have to get buses or trains so walking from my house to my garden should take me less than a minute

Cost  
I don't have to travel anywhere so it wouldn't cost anything. 

Second idea



After I thought about my project and all the other ideas, I've decided to pick a different, original object - a guitar. I've got one at home so it will be quite easy to photograph it.

My location will be indoors and outdoors so it is not going to be boring. I will use both kinds of lighting, artificial and natural.

I will use different angles but the same format.

Location:

• my house, living room, kitchen, stairs and a bedroom
• outside my house: a street
• town: a street near shops

Props/ Items:

• a guitar
• a bed
• a stant
• a cover
• a knife
• a plate

Lighting:

• natural
• artificial
• a mixture

Compositional techniques:

• rule of thirds
• angles (low, high etc.)

Timing:

setting up my equipment will take me around 2 minutes

putting my object in different places and positions will take me around 15 minutes
photographing should take me a whole day
travelling shouldn't take me more than 10 minutes

Cost:
none

Christmas