I have contacted the Gamekeeper in Derbyshire, who is interested in participating and had a meeting at Royal Bolton Hospital yesterday and I will photograph some of the hospital staff on Thursday 8 April. I should be able to get 3 or 4 people there.
I also received a reply from Network Rail about the possibility of me photographing the railway staff at Piccadilly in Manchester, but I have to pay them a fee of £400, which I cannot afford, so I will have to shelve the idea.
My tutor decided that I photograph the Gamekeeper and hospital staff and leave it at that. I need to concentrate on my essay and book design. I still have an outstanding query from Forest Bank prison, so if they find someone for me to photograph, I will, of course, do it, but if they don’t, I won’t pursue it any further.
Photographed a doula this week, a job I had never heard of before (all is revealed on the website). I bounced the flash off the ceiling instead of using the umbrellas which seemed to work well. I think, Beatrix, her daughter, adds a great deal to the picture.
I think this picture is too similar to the RAC Patroller and may not be used in the book because of this reason. I don’t think I will photograph any more workers with vehicles because the images will all look the same.
Visited the Trafford Centre on Wednesday night to photograph one of the night cleaner/operatives there.
Sometimes when you look at your pictures, one stands out and this is it. I love the background of the Trafford Centre and the red of the model’s top stands out beautifully against it. Before I looked at the pictures, I was worried that I hadn’t done a good enough job because I was very tired, but I am very pleased with this one. He is holding a cloth in his hand, which gives a little away of what he does. This was not requested by me – I don’t like directing the models too much in case something is lost – and I think it works very well.
I also photographed a hotel night receptionist at the Premier Inn in Bolton on Tuesday night. I have decided that the Holiday Inn Manager picture was not suitable as:
The reception area was very small, so I got as much background in as I could manage. I could have gone somewhere more grand, like the Midland Hotel in Manchester, but I feel that I shouldn’t just take photographs just because the background is exciting. The background is secondary, it’s the person in front of me that is the most important part of the picture. Why give the impression that only the most visually-interesting locations matter? The places exist, the people exist, they are all worthy of being photographed.
I think the image, below, is the strongest of the three here – he has a stronger stance and looks more confident. I also like Lenny Henry in the background which breaks the picture up and adds a surreal flavour. I’m not keen on the refection of one of my flashes on the Lenny Henry poster/banister, but I don’t think it’s too distracting.
Have been busy again this week. On Tuesday, I photographed a PCT driver from St John’s Ambulance who drives the out of hours doctors around to their appointments.
The picture, above, used the strongest (primary) flash from the left, but I experimented a little.
The picture, above, used the strongest (primary) flash from the left, which lights the ambulance more, but leaves a shadow on his face, but I think this makes it more interesting.
Originally, I thought the image, below, was the strongest, but now I think it’s the top one.
The vehicle with the lights flashing doesn’t work for this image. I prefer the lights off. Here the strongest flash was coming from the right, which lights the face up more, but to the detriment of the vehicle.
Visited the Coastguard in Crosby last night. I’ve chosen quite a few ‘possibles’ in the images I shot:
I shot most of them very wide as I wanted to crop off the ceiling. This one achieves this, but I don’t like the pose.
I really like these three images, but I had a problem with the light flare on the map behind the Coastguard and this is the only reason I feel they are unsuitable to use. This problem was easily resolved by asking the Coastguard Officer to stand in front of the flare.
These two images are the ones I have chosen out of all of them. I’m finding it difficult to choose between the two:
I got to Bolton West services a bit early, so I photographed the scenery. My tutor had suggested I photograph ‘pictures of the night’, as a supplement to the main pictures, so I gave it a go.
The picture, below, is the restaurant.
And some light trails from cars.
Photographed an RAC Patroller at Bolton West services tonight. At first, I had a little trouble with my lighting (one of the flashes didn’t fire), which can be a bit disconcerting, but after re-arranging them, I got them to work.
Went to a soup kitchen last night to photograph one of the people who work there. I had very little time to take the photograph which is why there is so few shots on the contact sheet. However, I’m pleased with the result. There was only one place for me to take the photograph and one of my flashes didn’t go off, but it seemed to work.
