Evaluation of Project

Evaluation –

An interesting project to be given as it is different to all those that came before it in that it was partially set by a genuine client, further preparing us for a photography career.

This project also required a lot of pre-production and planning in order to get everything spot on and correct, especially in the limited time frame. While I had done much planning finding 6 different sports Cycling, Iron Man Triathlon Training, Thai Boxing, BMX, Ballet and Snowboarding with the intention of getting 6 photographs of 6 sports. However each in the case of 3 of the sports when it came down to actually photographing them (after being given permission) they pulled out at the last minute (BMX, Ballet, Snowboarding). This forced me to drop down to 3 sports, I did try to find others but no one was available in the time available I could shoot.

None the less I did get usable images from the 3 shoots. Iron Man came out the best of the three as I was given the most time, Cycling then Thai Boxing – which previously mentioned in my blog was very complex to shoot in. However I still managed to get some work out of it that was useable for the project.  

Creating an invoice for the project was also an interesting part as it does further prepare us for a real photography career. The biggest issue I face throughout this project was getting models and getting them to stick to a time table, even the back-up models/sports I had flaked out. It has also gotten to the point where I am very comfortable shooting to a deadline and shooting to a specified layout.

If I was given more time/access I would definitely have gone back to re-shoot the Thai Boxing and try and get one of them on their own again; probably using a more low key gym that would allow me more access.

Overall the project was a mild success building my confidence as a photographer.

 

 

Final InDesign Layouts

Here are the final InDesign Layouts for the Live Breif Project.

 

 

Road Cycling with Danny Collins

 

Landscape

Portrait

 

 

 

Iron Man Triathalon Training with Daniel Groves

 

Portrait

 

Landscape

 

 

Thai Boxing with Tom McCay & Ronan Marshall

 

 

One issue with the Portait Layouts is the Sport England/Olympic Logos would not show up.

 

Mock Up V2 - Thai Boxing

I decided to change the photograph used in the Thai Boxing Layout, to an image with no motion blur.

 

However on further reflection I can't decide weather to have no motion blur or to have it.

 

Mock Up Layouts

Here is the layout of all 3 sports, Thai Boxing, Cycling, Iron Man Triathalon Training.

 

The text in this image above may still need to be editied in order to ensure it is clear to read.

These are currently mock ups of the images I may use. I have a couple other options I may try out before finalising.

Shoot Outcome - Thai Boxing

The gym itself was small and a pain to photograph in. Black ceiling absorbing all bounced light, making camera mounted flash difficult to use along with very limited space making setting up lights impossible. Standard light was also minimal as the gym had no windows and minimal neon strip lights on the ceiling. Due to this a high ISO had to be used which has caused some image noise.

When talking to the owner/coach of the gym he informed me that there where many under 16s training that day which limited when and where I could shoot dramatically. As well as some of the people training being high class MMA and UFC Fighters their shorts where also off limits to photograph.

All images had to be reviewed by him before I could leave, many where deleated.
 

Images -

As can be seen here is a lot of image noise and poor lighting yet did get some photographs that did work.

However the text colour still needs much working on. I did need to use much more prost production to clean up the images, somthing I dont tend to do. Prefer getting it right on camera.

Shoot - Thai Boxing

Travelled to a Thai Boxing club in Swanley, Semtex Gym. They are a strong up and coming gym within the UFC and MMA becoming very well known within those circles. I was actually very lucky to be able to photograph in the gym as usually it is a blanket 'no' fortunatley I met someone who had been training their for many years. However due to the usual 'blanket no' actually shooting their was difficult, I was unable to get any time with individuals for better composed images.


Equipment List -

 

Canon 550D DSLR

Canon 16mm - 85mm EFS Lens

Canon 430 EXII Speedlite

QP Card
Pop Up Softbox
Wireless Flash Triggers


Lighting Diagram/Ideas -

Sadly due to constrants revolving this gym I connot get down for a recce shoot, which means lighting will have to be done on the day. However the general ideas for lighting will be using flash from a mid-low angle.

 

The gym itself was small and a pain to photograph in. Black ceiling absorbing all bounced light, making camera mounted flash difficult to use along with very limited space making setting up lights impossible. Standard light was also minimal as the gym had no windows and minimal neon strip lights on the ceiling. Due to this a high ISO had to be used which has caused some image noise.

When talking to the owner/coach of the gym he informed me that there where many under 16s training that day which limited when and where I could shoot dramatically. As well as some of the people training being high class MMA and UFC Fighters their shorts where also off limits to photograph.

 

Images -

 

 

 

As can be seen here is a lot of image noise and poor lighting yet did get some photographs that did work.

 

 

However the text colour still needs much working on. 

Shoot Two - Daniel Groves - Iron Man Triathalon

When looking through the results from the photoshoot of Daniel Groves, I found that many of the shots where not usable and didnt make much sense to the clients breif or to the layouts.

 

Therefore I went back to shoot again, the second shoot results are better and works with the layouts.

 

 

 

Still working on text colour find which works better, this shoot was far more successful than the previous one. Groves also invited me to a Pull Bar Competition/Training day this coming weekend.

 

However one thing that was quite difficult was trying to frame the large pull bar within the frame while keeping a low angle.

 

Up Coming Photoshoots - Snowboarding & Thai Boxing

On Sunday 10th Feb I will be out shooting some Snowboarding at a local dry slope.

 

On Monday 1st Feb I have been invited by Tom McCay to go and photograph some Thai Boxing at his Gym/Dojo. He has mentioned that their will be a few fights on which I am also allowed to shoot along with some portrait style shots of him.

 

More details of both shoots will be added as and when I get them.

 

 

<-------------Update ---------------->

 

Sadly due to an accident on the Ski Slope it was closed and I was unable to shoot, however it has been re-arranged for the future.

 

Thai Boxing photoshoot also had to be re-arranged to this evening.

Iron Man Shoot Results

On Sunday 3rd Feb I managed to get some time with Daniel Groves during one of his mini training sessions for the Iron Man Triathalon in June.

 

The first Idea was to shoot outdoors, however the horrifically overcast sky and horrid light played havoc with the photographs, however he has allowed me to go back and shoot again on a better day.

 

That said the day was not a waste, as there was also an indoor option with his home made gym.

 

 

 

Trying to explain what a QP Card was to Groves was difficult, he made a mockery of it.

 

While this photograph does work with the layout I fear it may be too similar to the Cycling photoshoot. Which is why I also did a number of other shots though as mentioned before much of them could not be done due to the weather.

 

 

The image works well within both layouts yet as mentioned may be too similar to the cycling, though I do have another shoot coming up with him. The text colour will have to be edited in the final peice due to clashing colours.

 

When on location with Groves I had an idea which could work yet not techically a sport. As part of his training he hits large 300KG tractor tyres with a seldge hammer, this works similar muscles that are used during swimming.

 

The idea was to get a shot of him swinging the hammer and capturing the hammer in a specific location where it would be right above the text. However it would only really work on the landscape layout, rendering it pointless for this exercise.

 

 

 

 

 

Playing around with text colour to see what works and what looks good. As mentioned before these probably will not work as final peices, unless made into a composite with other sports. You can also see the overcast sky which caused issues. Research into creating a composite image for the Iron Man Triathlon is deffinatley somthing I will be doing.

 

 

 

 

Cycling Photoshoot Results

On Friday 1st Feb I went on location to do the photoshoot for Cycling with road and track cyclist Danny Collins.

 

The shoot was generally successful though will most likely be shooting him again in the coming weeks.

 

 

 

QP Card to show correct White Balance is being used.

 

During the shoot I decided to use a Polorizing Filter in an attempt to get a similar tone to what was used in the video, in turn using minimal post production. It did not have the affect I wanted, though did reduce the amount of work needed in post.

 

Quick edit show in the Layouts -

 

 

While the photograph itself does work with the layout to a degree, im not totally convinced it shows enough 'background detail'. Obviously needs a little more post production as there are a few issues such as the over dark cloud, aswell as text colour and location.

 

 

Same image but shown in portait, which works a little better than the above image, yet as above still needs work before it is complete.