Thundersprint 2011.

In all honesty I wasn't particularly impressed with this years Thundersprint. It didn't seem even half as interesting as it usually does. It wasn't as busy as previous years either. Though I suppose the miserable weather didn't help that in any way!
Motorbikes have never really been an interest of mine. Not unless they were vintage. I absolutely adore the old triumph bikes. So small, and cute, I love them. They are the only model of bike I would have. and if I had one of them I wouldn't ride, just show it off. So this didn't really help the lack of atmosphere when looking for inspiration to shoot.
I did manage to get three photos I'm quite fond of. Would you care to see them?

I love this image because the bike looks as though it is standing tall, proud in fact. There aren't many bright colours and this image might look better if turned in to black and white as there would then be a variety of tones. There are some ever so slight reflections that can be seen here too and as you have probably figured, I do love a good reflection.

This image probably isn't classed as being photographically correct however I like it. I like the business of it, theres a lot going on and at some points the collection of bikes all seem to merge into one because of the lack of contrast.

I absolutely LOVE the symetry of this image. The small blue details as well make the image far more interesting as well for me, picking up and little a little more interest. The rain adds texture to the photograph as well, which then reflects a bit light in the black, nicely polished paint. This, was one of the prettier bikes there - from a girls point of view of course.

Done, dusted, three of my favourite Thundersprint photographs finally blogged. Oh and you never know, next years might improve. Or we can hope so anyway.

Panda.

My dear friend Panda is one of these silly girls that smokes. I have nothing against smokers, its just not something I agree with. Anyway, enough waffling.
While Panda was on her fag break I went out snapping. Photographing her and getting portrait images technically on location though we were only stood outside college.
The images were pretty successful considering it was only a bit of a play around and here is my favourite..

I love the photograph because Panda herself isn't in the centre of the frame, the background is out of focus slightly and such a normal setting. The road and houses are still obviously visable. And Pandas expression shows she in relaxed depsite the funny look on her face.
She really is a bizaree human being. Bless her.

The Biro.

Your immediate thought, why on Earth am I posting about a pen when I'm interested in photography? Well again, this was a college project set to look at something that has evolved or been invented. Therefore I have chosen to look at the biro.

It was László Bíró that first invented the pen back in 1938. Though the ball point had already been invented in 1880. And it was because he was fed up of using a fountain pen that he decided to do so. He though it would be much more practical to have the ink in the pen already. the ink he chose to use was the same as that used for printing newspapers dried quickly and smudge free and therefore made a better option. The simplicity of the design makes it much more user friendly and that is why it is still a popular choice today, worldwide.

The Genius of Photography - Part Two.

In the 1920’s the camera was seen as part of the future, it was a piece of equipment central to the evolvement of the technologies. It changed the way people wanted the world to be seen after the first world war, from now on everybody expected everything to be more machine like and robotic. It was now that cameras became involved in propaganda, they were used to document everything that happened, there job was to “record, not think”. The use of photographs also showed that artists could now play their part in the dictatorship of many things.

Karl Blossfeldt was a still life photographer, famous for his images of plants and vegetables. However in the frame they do not look natural enough to be a plant, or a vegetable, they look more as though they have been sculpted out of iron. As a teacher as well he used his photographs to teach his students. He very often said “you don’t know anything until you have something to compare it to”.

This image by Blossfeldt is one of his most recognised pieces of work, it was appreciated by everybody receiving no criticism from either the public or art critics. It has been framed perfectly and the lines and curves of each leaf direct your eye to another which makes the very simple image look more complex and interesting for the audience. I would image a small aperture and a long shutter speed have been used to capture this because of how much detail is evidenced.











August Sanders work was very different to that off Blossfeldts despite it being the same time. He was a portrait photographer and worked using glass negatives. The people he photographed he also stereotyped, as he divided them up in to different groups. Behind his images lies a message of chaotic society yet this is hidden.

This photograph of a miner is very eye catching, it looks as though it has been taken in a studio though I am not completely convinced it was. The outline of his body and shelf of bricks is soft yet the facial area is very harsh. The way he is glaring at the camera, to the audience, shows he is fearless and I personally find it very intriguing.












Alexander Rodchenkos approach at photography was again, very different. He would retouch his images (the old fashioned way - not on Adobe) to give them more of an impact. He would cut up and paste different parts of an image and then retake the photo.

This image is perhaps his most recognised piece of work. As you can tell, it is very hard t notice where the image has been cut up and glued back together, it genuinely looks like an original. The photograph actually shows a group of criminals and “social undesirables” that were issued labour work to give back to the community instead of serving a sentence in prison. Their job was to build a canal, or dig it out which ever. This was huge in the soviet union and the first time such a thing had been done.


The 1920’s was also the era that the first handheld camera was invented. This camera changed the way the world could be seen. Photographers would now able to move the frame to look up or down, or in angles they could not have done earlier. It also meant a tripod was no longer needed, photography became more lightweight and easier to transport.

In the 1930s Nazis only wanted photographs and typology to prisoners and catalogue them.
Rodchenko was forced to destroy a lot of his images, in order to do this he blotted black ink over the faces of the people. In my opinion this was a very artistic way to do such and it makes the image more mysterious.
August Sanders work was also not what the Nazis wanted so his book was refused. As of now he also changed his style of photography to suit them.

Walker Evans however was a photographer whose work was appreciated by the Nazis. He an American documentary photographer. He wanted to be a writer but failed to write due to absorbing so much photography. He was commissioned to produce propaganda as his work seemed to isolate a person in a cell (the cameras frame). Occasionally he would rearrange the scenes to change them from being a document to being a piece of artwork. Simplicity and beauty are the best representatives of Americas beauty he said.

This image is perhaps his most famous, taken in 1936 the woman is the wife of a sharecropper. Her face is weathered, just as the wood is. The woman isn’t smiling which suggests she possibly had bad teeth. There is little contrast apart from the shadow under the planks of wood but it works better this way.













In the 1940’s a lot of photography became directed towards the war as the second world war began. The age of machines went back to the 19th century in order to improve the photography.

Bill Brandt was a photographer that documented the war from “no mans land”. Though before this he worked in commercial photography, more dominantly within a studio. Very often he would ask people to participate in his photography so that he could still document the scene he found but in a more artistic manner.

At the time it was taken this image would have been an incredibly scary, yet real image. During the war the idea was that people had to be careful of what they were saying as even the walls had ears. The harsh shadow outlines the fact that somebody is whispering information to another person.












There we have it, information based on the genius of photography, all sourced from the programme. Apart from the mages of course, I used google to get those.

Emotions.

Okay, So I didn't exactly set out looking for obvious signs of emotion. I just went out and photographed because I figured no matter what, or where your photographing if a person is present in the frame your going to get some sense of emotion and how they are feeling from the image.
So here we have a selection of images taken at Bostock Village Fete 2011.
I will put other images that aren't really relevant to this up later!

My nan and Aunty decided it would be fun to enter the two dogs into the dog competition. Which it was, up until the blonde one decided to start fighting with one of the others. Stupid thing.

I love this image purely because my Grandad looks so pleased with himself, having his photograph taken with Mr Bostock. While Mr Bostock on the hand doesn't seem as excited about that fact.

My baby cousin Menna keeping a close eye on the food. She really wanted a piece of cake.

And so to make a change from a picture of a person, we have an owl. Looking less than amused, a little fed up probably looking forward to going home.

So, the post below..

The post seen below shows one of the images I have edited for a tattoo artist based in Winsford. I was granted permission to photograph him working as he tattooed my dad so long as I gave him a copy of the photos. Of course I leaped at the oppurtunity as finding a tattoo artist that is willing to be photographed is practically impossible - copyright reasons apparently.
I made the most of the chance I was given and snapped away, now that its all over I'm pretty pleased with my results. As was he. I'm going back tomorrow to take some more photographs for him. In fact he's told me they should be going up on the website sometime in the next few days. I really really hope they are.
Anyway, the post below was for an advert, I mainly did it because I wanted to learn how to use the pen tool on Adobe Photoshop at the same time, but I am really pleased with how it turned out. The tool is also a lot easier to get to grips with than I first expected it to be, it was one of the rare occasions that I didn't fall out with photoshop. Which is a good thing. After all I can fall out with photoshop when just messing about with levels and curves.
Another image I had a play with:

This above image I didn't really do much with. Only messed with the curves a bit yet it still caused an almighty fuss.
I really wish photoshop would be more of a friend to me. It would make this photography lark so much easier.
The only thing I really like about the above image is the vibrant colours - its that what caught my eye. Not the composition, although in fairness its actually quite good. Or the depth of field, which also I am pleased with. But the colours. It is the colours that make the image so successful. You cant see the needle but the ammount of colour that can be seen on the gloves make it clear that the artist is using a large variety of inks.

Tatto ad.

I'm afraid I dont have time to sit and waffle my way through this post, but I'm hoping to post further images later on today so I will bore you all silly then instead. Deal?
Sweet.

Ragnar Axelsson

Ragner Axelsson (Rax, as he calls himself) is a photographer from Iceland. Famous for his photojournalism. He is a member of staff at the newspaper Morgenbladid, which is Icelands biggest newspaper as well as a freelance photographer that travels the world in his spare time.
I came across his work when a tutor at college told us about a documentary on him he had watched available to watch on the BBC iPlayer.
The link for you (if your interested): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search?q=rax
I was quite surprised by the work I came across, it was unusual and without understanding the context some of his wouldn't make sense or would be seen to be photographically weak images when talking in the terms of photography rules. They display a huge amount of emotion and every picture tells a story.
Ragner started photographing when he was very young and used to visit a small farm in Iceland that could only be reached by plane. From there he started to go out researching the land with the family before starting hunting with other locals documenting as much as he could. When he moved to the city to work he would go and visit the rural areas as often as possible and build up trust with the locals so he was able to photograph there activities without them being suspicious. He would also visit other countries such as Greenland and has been to Africa to photograph people suffering from Aids and similar illnesses.
The documentary showed how he became friends with local people that used what we would call old fashioned methods to hunt animals such as seals, fish and polar bears. Seeing those methods alone was very interesting and worth watching the programme for. It also documented him climbing up the mountains and the volcano which erupted and caused all flights in Europe to be grounded, the atmosphere was incredible.
Throughout the documentary Axelsson displayed a series of his images and explained the stories behind them and how or why he chose to photograph them. You also saw how he put his life at risk in order to get some of the outcomes he did - for example the polar bear, walking up to a live polar bear to capture it when not even the hunters (who knew what they were doing after years of experience) would approach it. Seeing the pictures come together and the lengths he had to go to in order to gain the shot he wanted was great for the audience as it gave them a deeper understanding of the images and the emotions that the people were feeling.
After watching the documentary I learnt a lot about the way in which he chooses to work along with why he worked in such a way. The documentary also briefly looked at the traditional ways the local people worked and hunted which again was an interesting lesson.

This image is perhaps his most recognised piece of work and a friend of his whom he says was difficult to work with, not because of his personality but because he moved to fast for his photographs.
I love this image because due to a large ammount of mist present in the air the background is made up of very pale shades and it is difficult to focus on the details that would be in these areas. The man pictured has a big impact on the photograph because he stands out so much, there is a lot of contrast between him and the background, and the clothes he is wearing provide a very solid shade of black to immediately capture your eyes attention. Although you can barely see what is happening in the background of the image it is clear he is walking down beside the sea, the cliffs can be seen slightly and the wind from the tide is sweeping his hair. The man himself has been cleverly positioned on the left hand side of the framing, which is important because then you can vaguely see what is happening. The line of the mans sight directs your eyes elsewhere but it seems to “bounce back” so to speak because of the frames edge.

Zzz..

I was gunna post an entry tonight, however it appears that I'm so tired everything I write sounds like utter trash. Due to this I have decided to leave it till tomorrow night. Then I will introduce you to a Mr Axelsson.

brrruuuuuuumm.. tractors!

So you might have seen on my previous post about water that I spent my entire sunday driving round on a tractor. I was just one of about 70 people sad enough to do this, though only 60 tractors ventured out.
Phil organised a great run, and definatly took us all round the houses - including Wayne Rooneys. He was even stood on the end of his drive with Colleen waving to us as we went past (I joke).
Starting in goostrey we went over through Macclesfield and Bollington, through Alderley Edge and up toward Manchester behind the airport. We then went back towards Mobberley and Morley so we could stop for food at there village Hall. A lovely, HUGE portion of Hotpot was very much appreciated when we got there. After this we headed back to Goostrey (starting point) travelling via Knutsford. When written like this it doesnt sound like we went very far and when I tell you it was 65 miles, you will still think it only as a small distance. Hpwever, when you are sat on the back of a tractor, highest speed being about 20mph its a stupidly long distance to have to go. Your rear end suffers for it too if you fail to remember a cushion.
Of course Junction Duty provides a great chance to photograph the other tractors that are behind you. I know you wont understnd Junction Duty, but it is simply the second tractor pulling up on a corner to tell the others where to go (you just look like a dork with your arm stuck out to the side). Thankfully mostare clumped together and therefore know where to go simply by watching the tractor ahead which gave me a while to snap away.

Before setting off I stood on the wall behind a row of tractors which gave me a pretty good, high vantage point to photograph across the yard. As you can see by looking at the sky we were expecting rain so everyone is wearing there waterproofs. The state of me in mine - I looked so hot. Though I'm pretty sure that very few people will agree with me about that.

This was the most well though out piece of additional transport. A trailer (admittedly there was a few) with a ROOF!!! Absolutely brilliant idea and one I think we should invest in for my poor brother who travels in a trailer without a roof. The best bit is inside.. they had a heater. Screw layering up for warmth and having to look like a michellin man all day they had a little house on wheel pretty much.

On the other hand, this fellow used a cab to keep himself dry and soaked his poor passengers. They were poor females too - who had to keep there hair looking alright. they managed this a lot better than I did its safe to say.

Oh this fellow had the most adorable tractor, a little grey fergie. Of course I know that infact they aren't very rare, however its paintwork was immaculate and he had a little ferguson trailer to match. However, no passengers.

No tractor road run is going to run perfectly smoothly, there was a small hold up when a farmer forgot to open his gate to allows the tractors to pass through for a bit of offroading. I think he got the idea that if he ignored us for long enough we would give up, turn round and find an alternative route. He was however very wrong and instead got a knock on his door.

I love this tractor, purely because it is incredibly similar to mine (though mines slightly faster, by all of 1mph). This man was also a keen photographer in his comical yellow mac so he was doing the same as me, photographing when stopped on junction duty. Sadly because I had the better tractor he had the better camera - a 5D, i was oh so jealous of him. He did let me have a go though :D

Now I realise this image isn't one that I really should have been proud of, its a bit blurry and out of focus but those two guys were such good fun and I really enjoyed talking to them. They always paused for a photo too. I also fell in love with the fact that two men were sharing a seat on such a small David Brown.

Convoy of tractors, about to face turning left as they go past me. This image is one of my favourite because it isn't an old man that is driving. Its a young lad, one of the newbies as they were called by Phil, driving for the first time.

Again another convoy. Lil' red one leading a collection of blue Fordson Majors. Taken in the same place as the one above, this time an older gentleman.

DINNERTIMEEE!
Finally, 43 miles down we stopped for lunch so it was another chance to take a couple of photographs. Somehow it turned out the tractors all parked in a curve, though I'm not complaining, meant we got some different photographs where they were't all parked in the standard straight line.

Taken slightly differently, I stood opposite and thought the sky looked pretty which is why you can barely see the tractors presence. I thought it would make a nice change. The tractors have dominated a lot of pictures and photography, though that is my own fault really. I spend an awful amount of time mulling around them.

Dinnertime over, I was one of the first out - clearly eager to continue driving round different places. Climbing on to my tractor I spotted a fab opportunity. "Birdseye view" of the tractors. This is my favourite image that I have taken. I love it.

Waheeeeeeey. Driving fast (9mph) round the corner is such fun.
I used a slightly longer shutter speed and followed the tractor as it went past me. I like the effect I got. The man wasn't too happy, he only just managed to find us after getting lost - somebody abandoned there junction duty. Shocking I know.

I liked it so much that I tried it again. With my two favourite tractor men buddies (seen above!). However I didnt get the same effect I wanted. Love the faces they are pulling and waving at me as they go past, they soon got the message I was going to photograph them at any opportunity I got. That doesnt sound too great does it? Ahh well, coulda been worse.

And well, thats just about it. 60+ miles of tractoring right there. Though of course they aren't the only images I have but you wouldn't want to sit and look at 127 images of tractors taken on Sunday 8th may would you? No I didnt think you would.

H2Ohhhh!

Weekend homework task set by the tutors to photograph H2O (water).
My photographs arent particulary artistic but I've had a very hectic weekend, which actually made a nice change in all fairness.

Taken shortly after it had stopped raining.

The oh so very cute dog that had been soaked by the massive downpour.

I wasnt thinking H2O when I took this one, more wow, big reflection!

Of course I was going to include a picture of a bunch of tractors after I spent my entire sunday driving one all round everywhere! More specifically the second red one that can be seen in the photo.

David Hockney.

David Hockney is an surreal artist, creating many many unusual images. His style reminds many of mosiacs, as his "joiners" are made from a large number of different images pieced together, sort of like a jigsaw.
He must be a very patient man to sit and put together such incredible works of art such as the one below..

I love this image, there is so much detail in there and its so precisely done. The image looks so normal, like an average photograph but it clearly isn't, I have no idea how this perception has been done but it is unique and very interesting. There isn't really any clear framing because there are so many smaller images in there.

After looking at the above image and many more I decided to try some of my own. Not half as successful as Hockneys though.

When attempting a joiner it helps to photograph the entire subject. This is a lesson i learnt the hard way.. Though it wasn't till I started joining I realised I had missed a chunk out.

My second attempt was clearly more successful and yet it was a harder subject. I love this one though because it looks panoramic even though it is made from several chunks of photos.