All tutor feedback amendments to the original submission are completed in red for you to make the distinction between what has been added/altered.
RESEARCH
Anyone who has followed my blogs for my photography work so far can not have missed my love of music. It influences a lot of my work in the same way that music is a part of my daily life. I love photographing gigs and festivals I go to and, as I have said many a time before, that is how I combine my two passions. I love watching music, listening to music, I would love to be able to play/make music, I just love music in general.
As a slight personal insight, I got interested in music from my early teens really. I always remember listening to the chart count down on the radio much before that and recording them on cassettes to listen to again afterwards but it wasn't until I was about 11 years old that I remember having a favourite artist. And that was Michael Jackson - the king of pop himself. I went to his 'Dangerous' world tour concert in Cardiff Arms Park with a friend and her parents and was hooked. And there is where it started really. My dad used to run a string of local pubs and would spend most weekends sorting through his vinyl for weekend playlists for said pubs. Mostly 60's to 80's music. He would even make it a game where we would have to guess the song as quick as possible, over the years this turned into 'guess the intro'. As my teens progressed, I turned to boy bands and then around 18 years old, where I would party to Ibiza annually, I got into dance music aswell. So even then I had a pretty eclectic music range. From then on, I pretty much stayed within the chart, dance and RnB range, due to my lifestyle at the time. I tried to fit in with my best friends, being all 'girlie', dressing up with perfect hair, make up and heels, even though I was always one to like wearing black and jeans and trainers!
Then my lifestyle changed and I started dating my now boyfriend who was into rock and metal music. And by listening to this music, I started to feel like I belonged, more comfortable and able to embrace myself in the way that I could embrace this music. A line of lyrics from the song "The Kill" by a band called 30 seconds to Mars really influenced me at that time and still does today. The lyrics are:
" I tried to be someone else
but nothing seemed to change
I know now, this is who I really am inside..."
They taught me that it is ok to be different. I tried to be different and to fit in but it wasn't me but now I can really be me. And it doesn't matter what music you listen to or how you look, it's about being comfortable with yourself. And I always smile when I listen to that song.
Music touches each and every one of us. It always amazes me how a certain song can remind you of a certain time, moment, person. For me, music is personal. Music is memories. Music is me.
THOUGHTS
After much consideration I have decided to base my personal project around the theme of music. This will include my association with music and how it makes me feel. With music playing a big part in my courses and going hand in hand with my photography wherever possible, it was inevitable that my personal project would have a musical aspect. I toyed with many ideas at first, possibly nature or even the beach, as I live near the coast. Then, as the wonderful british summertime kicked in, I considered focusing on rain as a subject , after all I really enjoyed the task on rain in 'The Art of Photography'. But all these ideas were missing something...any kind of passion behind them.
I decided to stick with what I enjoy and am comfortable with. But I didn't want to venture down the usual route of covering gigs and festivals because I have done it before and would be nothing new for the viewers.
My first idea was to photograph guitars, as I have access to a few, and focussing on close up shots and delicate lighting to focus on the curves and uniqueness of each piece. However, my tutor felt that this would not be a deep enough subject and to maybe focus more on the music aspect and incorporate the guitars into that. Brilliant! But then I hesitated and thought about the music aspect and didn't know really where to start.
So, I stripped it down to the basics and thought, in the majority of cases, music is created from an instrument of some sort. There was a starting point. Instruments. So I thought I'd keep to my original plan and instead of focussing on just guitars, I would focus on a variety of instruments. Then I thought more about incorporating 'Me' in there somewhere. So instead of just instruments, I altered my brief to include my personal associations to music in general and how I hear it.
BRIEF
Extended brief:
"To create a collection of 10 - 15 images to show my appreciation and association of music. To keep the viewer entertained but also to produce images that are not as straight forward as they seem. If I could include a sound or memory or even a message within the picture that others would relate to then I would achieve what I set out to accomplish."
PLANNING
Ideas for shooting - musical associations:
- Guitars
- Keyboards
- HiFi / CD Players
- Headphones
- Volume
- Music books
- Speakers
Original intentions:
- Shoot in natural surroundings - This was important to me as I wanted to shoot the subjects as they are in my home and without any special set up with extra lighting and backdrops. This is purely to make it more personal to me as it shows the viewer an insight into how and where I would enjoy the music.
- Use natural lighting as much as possible - again, this is just an extension to the above point in keeping this as natural as they are in my everyday life.
- Keep a small focal length - I intend to fill the frames with my subject as much as possible so as not to distract away from the subject and also to emphasize the factor that music fills my life as much as the subject fills the frame.
- Use aperture priority setting - Again an extension of the above post and to keep as much depth as possible in the images.
- Keep the final collection to black and white images - This is purely personal choice. I feel that black and white images are so elegant and simple in that the focus is purely on the subject without the need or distraction of bright and vivid colouring.
Equipment:
I am using a Canon 1000D with a 24 - 105mm lens for this shoot with aperture priority setting, with white balance and ISO set to auto in the first instance. My aperture is set to F4.5 but I fully intend to alter these settings during shooting. I have a tripod and a remote shutter release button for use where the shutter speed needs to be slower to reduce camera shake and blurring. I will be editing using Adobe photoshop elements 9.
FINAL COLLECTION:
 |
| Songs to make you happy... |
My tutor felt that this image gave the impression to the viewer that the cymbal created a barrier between myself and music, and as I can now understand why I felt I needed to replace it with the image below.
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| A blank canvas... |
 |
| Feel the vibration.... |
 |
| Never too young... |
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| Electric Beauty... |
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| Metal Music... |
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| Inviting... |
I think this is my favourite of the collection. My daughter is five and already passionate about music. She loves paying the keyboard even though she hasn't had any lessons. I love the innocence of this image with her playing with her index fingers.
 |
| Innocence... |
 |
| Piercing your heart... |
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| The love stays with you... |
I included this image as the obvious statement that it is in fact a sheet of music but also the one line of lyrics on the page makes a big statement to me as well. Firstly, it shows that is not just the 'music' that I love but the lyrics as well. Secondly, the actual lyrics here are the exact opposite of how I feel about music and 'what it does to me' and thought it was a subtle contrast.
 |
| Not just the music... |
My tutor felt this image was strong but the contrasting lyrics were throwing the visual message into confusion, so I have replaced the image by photographing a more meaningful lyric and also included a stronger vignette to highlight the important subject.
 |
| Happy listening... |
The following two images are the extended collection; extra images as recommended by my tutor.
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| Childsplay... |
My son is two and , as you can see, also interested in music. The beauty of this image is the extension of the fact that music can touch you from a very early age. While I am not by any means stating that the drums are easy to play properly, even a child can pick pick up the sticks and 'play'.
 |
| Voice of a (rock) Angel... |
My final collection of images can be found here.
REVIEW
Overall, I am very happy with my collection. Looking over my final images, I can say that my theme worked really well although I did extend my original brief. The shooting itself was very successful. I took countless frames of each shot, altering focal length and camera angles, to be able to pick the ones which worked best. The instrument images were all without incident and worked really well.
I had a bit of an issue while trying to photograph an equalizer on my hifi unit. As an equalizer is constantly moving, I had to make sure that I had minimal blurring in the shot, which took a lot of time. This also wasn't helped by the fact the hifi was under a window and so very dark to shoot. I had to alter the camera setting to automatic shutter speed and aperture mode purely to help myself out. I had to use a tripod as the shutter speed was so low but this created another problem as the tripod made the camera too high. So the tripod was no good. Instead I overcame the problem using a box and numerous CDs to prop the camera to the right height. I also had to use my remote shutter release button to avoid more blurring from camera shake. Then for the next problem. The window above was causing reflection glare on the plastic covering over the hifi display box so you couldn't actually see the equalizer. This is where I decided to improvise and use a towel as a cover over myself, the camera and the hifi, which actually worked really well.
I uploaded the photos and edited each of the selected images to see what the final outcomes would be. Each image had the basic processing, check levels, amend brightness and contrast if necessary, occasional exposure alteration. The image of the drum cymbal above had severe over exposure on the actual cymbal so required a lasso selection around the over exposure which was then decreased in brightness. Also, the child's guitar had an abnormal mark at the bottom which needed to be cloned out, but apart from that the editing was minimal. Once all the images I had originally shot had been finished, I looked through and was actually really underwhelmed. Some of the images were great but others lacked any feeling and I started to question whether it was a good choice of theme after all. I had originally taken a shot of a volume knob to express how I like to listen to my music loud which balances well with the type of music I listen to. However, the shot looked uninteresting and flat. And the equalizer shot which had been a challenge to actually shoot, didn't blow me away either. I felt that the image itself didn't really show any insight into me or music itself for that matter. Both shots ended up back in my image library.
This is where I decided to extend my brief. I thought it might be more personal and reflecting of me to include people actually using the subjects as well, this could bring through a memory or a sound to the viewer to make it personal to them as well as each shot being an individual insight to my passion. Now I took to shooting family members playing or using the instruments where possible to create more depth and questioning for the viewer. In my original intentions, I wanted to keep the focal length small to fill the frame with the subject and therefore I started with a shallow depth of field. I felt the need to amend this during shooting as I felt the need to use a more shallow depth of field to get more of the overall feel of the subject. Some of the images didn't work with more depth as some of the important detail was being lost and so by decreasing the depth, the detail was retained.
A former tutor once told me that any photograph with form was well executed if you felt you could reach in and touch the object. This is exactly what I was trying to achieve in a sense with these images. To subconsciously hear the noise of the instrument or to want to reach out and play it. And I personally think I managed it well with this collection.
Post Feedback Conclusion:
Looking at my tutors feedback, I am extremely happy with the set of images I have created and the advise and comments I have had back. I included titles with my images for this final assignment and am happy that my tutor feels this is an exciting addition that I should continue it in the future, which I now fully intend to do. I am happy with the comment that the human interaction images are stronger and that I should include some more for this assignment before submitting this for formal assessment. I am happy to do this and will take another two, possibly three, shots to add to this assignment. Also, my tutor stated that some of the human interaction images could be sharper however, I used a slower shutter speed on the human interaction shots to try and include the motion in the shot. I do feel that the 'Innocence...' shot would benefit from being retaken and so I will retake and include this with notes in the submission for assessment.
After reading the comment from my tutor about the cymbal alone image, I can see how the viewer can see this as a barrier and as this is not what I wanted to get from this image, I feel that I should remove this image from the collection and replace it with a different shot of the drum kit. And finally, 'not just the music' has a strong idea but the lyrics appear to throw the visual message into confusion, so I intend to replace the song music in the shot and replace the original in the collection.
Tutor Feedback
Overall Comments
Well done for
completing the course, Amanda!
Feedback on the
assignment
Elements to
consider with your assignments:
The emphasis with
this assignment is the communication of an idea over a period of
time. Therefore, in order to make best understanding of what prompted
you to take the pictures, I have looked at your notes first.
Your understanding and enthusiasm for the task are obviously
essential factors in your progression photographically.
Following on from
the previous exercises, we need to think very carefully about the
relationships between the images and your initial intentions in
respect of conveying a theme. This assignment has given you a lot of
scope to be creative and original, and to use the skills that you
have acquired on previous lessons.
Your assignment
in connection with the above points
You have chosen to
base your personal project on your love of music, aiming to create a
collection of 10 – 15 images that include a sense of sound or
memory within the picture. This was a good idea, allowing you to
produce images that you could become passionate about.
The overall series
of pictures gives a nice personal account of your relationship with
music. The black and white images have a social documentary feel
about them adding not only a sense of reality about your life but
also bringing a sense of structure. Music appears to add a sense
of discipline and organisation into your family life – and this is
further emphasized by the inclusion of the black and white piano keys
within the set. The black and white key shot reminds me a little
of some of the diagonal contrast patterns of some of Paul Strand’s
images.
The images that
include glimpses of family members/ human presence in the shots
work the best, I feel. In these shots we are given an understanding
of the all consuming quality of music to bring meaning into the lives
of those around us. I am less sure about some of the close up
shots of instruments without evidence of use. The cymbal for instance
seems to create a barrier to the effects of music on you.
The use of text
within the frame works particularly well, and this is an area for
development, if you feel able to continue. In your opening image the
words ‘Happy Songs’ help us to make sense of the collection of
CDs positioned across the whole frame. In this image you have worked
with a good depth of field. This is a technique that I believe you
were intending to use throughout the set? You need to clarify this
point in your notes as you do go on to work with a shallow depth of
field. The music sheet with song lyric (image nine) is a good idea
but I would love the text to have more meaning rather than throwing
the visual message into confusion.
In Image three you
attempt to show the vibration of the cymbal through the use of slow
shutter speed. This is a good idea and helps to remind us of music on
a broad scale.
Image Six is really
strong but needs to be sharper. I would suggest having a go at
re-taking this to ensure that you have nice sharp detail around the
hand area. Image seven is also not really as sharp as it could be.
You have not told me what your settings were in these pictures so I
can’t recommend changes. However, you need to be working with fast
shutter speeds (camera on a tripod) and the lowest ISO settings that
you can in the available light. I’m not sure that working with
natural light is so important to your visual message here. Clarity is
everything. You could also check your camera quality settings and
ensure that you have them set up for large file/ high quality.
Summary
This personal
project is really starting to take shape and I would love you to
continue to work on it before submitting the work for formal
assessment. Images could, on occasion, be a little sharper and I
would love to see a few more images with human connection across the
set. The concept behind the project is interesting and I
can really sense your personality starting to come through in this
work. Your creative use of text in this work is particularly
exciting.
Learning Logs
You can afford
to include personal project research in your logs alongside technical
exercises and photographer research. Particular lyrics etc that have
inspired you and are relevant to your emotional response to music
could be helpful here.
Other
I wish all the very
best with the assessment process and with your future photography. I
have really enjoyed sharing this time with you and seeing the
progression of your work.
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