THIS YEARS INFLUENCES

http://firstjonnyfinch.blogspot.com/

This is the link to to artist and such who have been big influences on me this year. They are mainly musicians, whether it be their music or their imagery they have played a huge part in the direction of my own photography. The rest of the influences are blogs and websites that have a strong link between music and photography which is a field that i am very interested in getting more involved professionally next year.
At the moment most of my ideas come from listening to music, when i listen to a piece of music my mind starts to work in a different way than it does normally and i start to see a whole load of images and stories. It's seems like a strange way of working but i think it works for me and i will carry on working this way next year along with looking for new ways to get ideas for producing interesting imagery.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

One aspect of photography that i would like to look into next year Cinematography (Director of Photography). Here is a bit of information into what this title entales.

"A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera (the art and science of which is known as cinematography). The title is generally equivalent to director of photography (DP or DoP), used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image. The term cinematographer has been a point of contention for some time now; some professionals insist that it only applies when the director of photography and camera operator are the same person, although this is far from being uniformly the case. To most, cinematographer and director of photography are interchangeable terms."

"The English system of camera department hierarchy sometimes firmly separates the duties of the director of photography from that of the camera operator to the point that the DP often has no say whatsoever over more purely operating-based visual elements such as framing. In this case, the DP is often credited as a lighting cameraman. This system means that the director consults the lighting cameraman for lighting and filtration and the operator for framing and lens choices.

In the American system, which is more widely adopted, the rest of the camera department is subordinate to the DP, who, along with the director, has the final word on all decisions related to both lighting and framing.

The cinematographer typically selects the film stock, lens, filters, etc. to realize the scene in accordance with the intentions of the director. Relations between the cinematographer and director vary; in some instances the director will allow the cinematographer complete independence; in others, the director allows little to none, even going so far as to specify aperture and shutter angle. Such a level of involvement is not common once the director and cinematographer have become comfortable with each other. The director will typically convey to the cinematographer what he wants from a scene visually, and allow the cinematographer latitude in achieving that effect."

Everytime i watch a film i always notice the director of photography in the credits and wonder what it is they do exactly. Now i understand a little better.

The film that got me thinking about Cinematography recently was the film 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' an incredibly well shot and well lit film.
Here is the trailer;



The Director of photography on this film was Roger Deakins who is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC). He is also known for working on such classics as 'A Beautiful Mind'/'O Brother, Where Art Thou'/'The Big Lebowski'/'The Shawshank Redemption' and so many more

MOMENT OF INSPIRATION

Whilst browsing through some blogs in the early hours of the morning i came across a song that was so fine it gave me an idea for a set of images.
Have a listen and then i'll tell you what my idea is. (You might recognise it as Missy Elliot sampled it and made it famous.)

ANN PEEBLES, 'I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN'



My idea is to compile a set of images to this song. People looking out their windows at the rain, people caught in the rain and rain. I quite like the idea of slowly zooming out from the jubjects face focusing on their dislike for the rain.
Not sure when i'm gonna do this got other projects to do first, 5 actually! Just thought i'd blog it.

120 IN A BROWNIE

These images were taken on my brownie that i bought from a local charity shop back home. The camera takes 620 film which is near enough impossible to get hold of these days so i forced a 120 film in their. It got pretty tough to wind on at times but i just about managed. I also had no idea how far to wind it on each time as it is not the correct film for the camera. Despite all this i was actually pretty happy with how it came out. They have a very vintage look them and i think my choice of location and subject are in keeping with this. As you can see i tried a double exposure shot which i actually think is quite good, very haunting. I especially like the sky in these images, it was a pretty overcast day which normally would not be good for taking photos but because of the camera it has come out alright. I think i will use the brownie over the summer when i go back home possibly to shoot my friends band, they are a sort of country/folk/60's band so i think i could get some interesting shots of them.

THE LOST FILM

The film that these shots are from is a film that i forgot about and could not remember for the life of me what was on it. To my surprise these three shots were on it all next to each other, and in my opinion make a lovely trio of images. There is quite a nice story behind these two guys as well, where i am from there are two schools who have been rivals for as long as anyone can remember, they were even rivals when my brothers were at school. The two guys in the photo were sort of the two toughest guys in each school, but since leaving their respective schools have become good friends. I quite like the progression of playfulness in this series of images, very heart warming, haha!

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS 07/08

All of these shots were taken over the christmas holidays back home and are of a number of different people and places.
There are a few of my friends band 'Two Fingers of Firewater'
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=77316233
When shooting this band i had to use 1 second exposures as i did not have a flash which was a bit frustrating as obviously they move about being a band and all. To get around this i decided to shoot the more stationary aspects of the band like the equipment which i think can be just as interesting. Luckily one of the band members plays a pedal steel (sit down slide guitar with pedals, usually used in country) so he didn't move too much and i managed to get some ok shots of him. Otherwise it was them setting up and what not. Also half of the gig was shot on Ilford 400 120 and the other half was shot on XP2 which is the type that can be processed through a colour process, it's quite obvious what was shot on what by the tones. The HP5 400 is true black and white and the XP2 is more of a sepia tone.
There are also the three shots of my friend smoking by the picnic benches at night, I really like the lighting in these, real low key and all natural as well. The only problem i have with them is the lack of detail on my subject down focusing errors. I think i got away with it on the one where he has moved his head and his hand, because that looks slightly intentional.
My dad lives in Greenwich, so i went to see him over Christmas, and after going out for dinner i went round Greenwich at night time and started shooting. Greenwich is a very photogenic place so there was plenty to shoot, i wish i was there for longer actually. Everything i shot was near enough a second exposure and i think this shows in some of them because they are quite grainy and slightly hazy when enlarged. They were shot on Fuji Colour 125 ISO which is possibly why the night shots in Greenwich are a touch hazy. I do like the colours though. A photographer who lives and works in Greenwich is Fergus Noone, he has a very nice traditional style in keeping with the surroundings.
http://www.fergusnoone.com/shop.php?thisPage=1
The rest of the shots are of my home town on a crisp frosty winters day, the light was so good that day that i bunked off work and went shooting with my now ex-girlfriend instead. I was really happy with all the shots i got that day. The 125 ISO was a good choice for that day because it was such a bright and sunny day. I really like the ones of Clementine at the band stand, predominantly for personal reasons but also because of the lighting. Also a personal favourite is the one with the tall tree and the hut next to it with the sun directly into the camera.