Me, myself and I

I always wanted to have a go at this and I finally know enough Photoshop tricks to have a go.

Plus, it's Sunday and I honestly have NOTHING better to do...

Me, myself and I

Cutting edge fruit and veg

This one time... in photography class... we harnessed the power of Photoshop to make a fruit dude through the power of selection (marquees, lasso, polygonal lasso, magnetic lasso and a wave of the magic wand):

Isn't he wonderful? I love him; he's right up there with my sock monkey.

Katherine Liesl

I learned three things at this photoshoot:

1. Babies wriggle a lot
2. Nifty fifties are useless for macro details
3. My niece is absolutely beautiful

Here are my favourites so far - I need to select the best ten for my project theme. Your thoughts, comments, suggestions etc. as always much appreciated.

Here she is then, the little love:

Second project theme

Statement of intent

Candidate name: Kate Aldridge

Title of the theme: Katherine Liesl

Intentions/purpose of the photography to be undertaken
To produce a study in natural baby portraiture featuring my new niece, Katherine Liesl Aldridge. Ideas include close detail (hands/fingers, feet/toes, lips, ears, nose etc.) and more traditional portraits (including shots taken from above to evoke vulnerability, at eye level) and using props (such as blankets, her mother or fathers arms/shoulders, wicker basket).

Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from the work of others)
As a child I used to love Anne Geddes but I have grown to love much more natural portraiture, especially for babies and children. Ive never been a fan of posed photographs, as both of my themes testify. I followed Barry and Louise as they extended their work from reportage wedding photography into child and baby portraiture and have long admired their style of photography across the board.

The photo imaging equipment and medium that will be used and why
I plan to use both a 50mm prime lens and a 70mm to 300mm telephoto lens depending on the focal length required for each shot. I struggle sometimes with the limitations of my nifty fifty when trying to capture close detail and hope this is where the zoom lens will help. I will shoot all images in RAW on full manual mode and they will be edited in Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop CS5.

Techniques that will be used and how they will help convey the visual message
I will produce the images in either colour (varying its saturation) or black and white depending which I feel suits each shot. I will use f/1.8 to 5.6 to create a short depth of field in most of the images, the highlight the subject. I will take a mixture of close detail with the zoom lens, using a tripod to reduce camera shake, and wider, more traditional portrait shots with the 50mm lens. 

How light quality can be used to help convey the visual message
I will need to position my subject indoors but in close proximity to natural light, using ISO 200 if possible. If using blankets or other props, these will need to be non reflective textures.


Safety considerations
I will ensure my subject is in a safe environment within their own home. 

Britishness

This week's challenge was to portray Britishness; to me, being British is about embracing - and sometimes coping with - our amazing seasons...

Spring

Summer

Summer

Autumn

Autumn

Autumn

Winter

Winter

Clearly I didn't take all of these this week...!

Final frames

Three more wonderful willing volunteers have sat for me over the last couple of weeks to complete the assessed element of my 'Frames in conversation' project. I say 'assessed element' because I do plan to continue the project beyond the course; I've enjoyed it so much.

So here they are; the final three frames; Ian, Shannon and Charlotte...

A huge thank you to everyone who has helped me with this project over the last couple of months. Obviously I couldn't have done it without you :)

A change of heart

So, something happened the other day that has made me reconsider my second project theme...

Meet my new niece, Katherine Liesl Aldridge. She was one day old in the above photograph. She's now four days old and my brother has not touched his iPad since she was born. Yes, she's that good :)

I will be taking inspiration from talented reportage wedding and portrait photographers, Barry and Louise Khan - here are just a few of my favourites:

Khan Photography

Khan Photography

Khan Photography

I love the natural light and familiar surroundings in these shots; not a studio in sight. Just beautiful.