On the 18th April, I had my second day at Ashton Park Sixth Form.
I arrived at the prearranged time of 1.30pm and headed to the photography room.
We started doing photograms with the students, which is where objects are placed on photographic paper before being exposed to light and developed. The group was split into two - the people who are doing an art GCSE and those who are not. The group was given a range of objects from bottles to feathers, flowers, and leaves.
We took the group not doing GCSE into the darkroom while the other group wrote up and mounted their work from the previous week. Anita explained how to make photograms and left me and the technician to help the students. I helped the students to compose their images, and to create double exposures (this is created by moving the object to a different part of the paper and exposing it for a shorter period of time). I also explained the developing process to some of them as they had forgotten it from previous lessons. The same happened for the GCSE group who came in during the second half of the lesson.
After the lesson finished, I helped to tidy up the darkroom and classroom, and again reorganised the darkroom filters. I refixed over ten images as they were not in the fix for long enough and would become discoloured. This was especially important as these images were by the people who are doing an art GCSE. Afterwards, I disposed of the developer and stop and kept the fix, as more was mixed up to refix the images and had only been used for a small amount of time. I then cleaned some of the excess water off of the prints and hung some over the sink to dry and placed some back in the dryer. I also uploaded some digital images that some of the students took from the cameras to the computer and organised them in files.
I discussed with Anita when to come back. I will be going in next week at 1.30 on Thursday, and also on the 9th and 10th of May to help out during the exams. On the 10th after the exams, we will head straight up to Ashton Court mansion to get ready for the summer ball.
I was there for three hours. I am learning how to communicate with teenagers in a professional manner and to be helpful and approachable to them. One even called me "Miss", which made me smile. I am also realising how much work goes in to teaching photography, as Anita has different tasks assigned for different groups for certain amounts of time.
3 hours, 10 hours overall
Friday, 19 April 2013
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Bristol Water - Day 1
I met with Sandra Sandy today at Bristol Water head office to discuss work experience, where we were joined by Paul Kelson and Corporate Affair employee Janice.
They explained that they need updated images for use on the website and in leaflets. They want a modern style that features experimental use of aperture, angles and composition. They showed me images on their website that they would like replacements for and suggested some shots themselves. This includes shots of water meters, pipes at the logistics depo, the newly redesigned exterior of head office, employees going about their work (both on site and in head office - they particularly wanted some updated shots of customer services, and some featuring more moden technologies), and shots of people of various ages using water. They also gave me some of their products - a roll-up water bottle that they are sending to eco-schools, and two "Drip" plushies (their mascot of sorts, who appears in literature particularly targeted to children) - that I could photograph with children if possible. I will contact friends and family members to see if I could include their children in images that may be distributed to the Bristol area. They gave me a folder of leaflets and brochures for me to look through to see their previous images. They also suggested shooting some images at the open days in May at Blagdon that they could use. I feel that this placement will run over the deadline but it is great experience.
I then went out with employee Phil to two sites to take some pictures. The first we visited was Chew Stoke pumping station, which has recently got some new machinery which I photographed. I shot various aspects from a variety of different places using different techniques. The green paint of the machinery stood out against the plain background and made for some good images. We then went on to Stowey treatment works where I tried to recreate an images shot there several decades ago, which I feel I did successfully considering the original machinery is not there anymore. The contact sheets of these images can be found here.
I am learning more about working to an employer's brief. I will learn more about selecting and editing images suitable for a client after I have shown them my contact sheets.
It has been left that I will contact Sandra or Paul when I need access to head office to shoot images in there, and otherwise I will be going out a few times a week with Phil to get images on sites.
4 hours (without editing), 7 hours overall.
They explained that they need updated images for use on the website and in leaflets. They want a modern style that features experimental use of aperture, angles and composition. They showed me images on their website that they would like replacements for and suggested some shots themselves. This includes shots of water meters, pipes at the logistics depo, the newly redesigned exterior of head office, employees going about their work (both on site and in head office - they particularly wanted some updated shots of customer services, and some featuring more moden technologies), and shots of people of various ages using water. They also gave me some of their products - a roll-up water bottle that they are sending to eco-schools, and two "Drip" plushies (their mascot of sorts, who appears in literature particularly targeted to children) - that I could photograph with children if possible. I will contact friends and family members to see if I could include their children in images that may be distributed to the Bristol area. They gave me a folder of leaflets and brochures for me to look through to see their previous images. They also suggested shooting some images at the open days in May at Blagdon that they could use. I feel that this placement will run over the deadline but it is great experience.
I then went out with employee Phil to two sites to take some pictures. The first we visited was Chew Stoke pumping station, which has recently got some new machinery which I photographed. I shot various aspects from a variety of different places using different techniques. The green paint of the machinery stood out against the plain background and made for some good images. We then went on to Stowey treatment works where I tried to recreate an images shot there several decades ago, which I feel I did successfully considering the original machinery is not there anymore. The contact sheets of these images can be found here.
I am learning more about working to an employer's brief. I will learn more about selecting and editing images suitable for a client after I have shown them my contact sheets.
It has been left that I will contact Sandra or Paul when I need access to head office to shoot images in there, and otherwise I will be going out a few times a week with Phil to get images on sites.
4 hours (without editing), 7 hours overall.
Monday, 15 April 2013
Ashton Park Sixth Form - Day 1
On the 11th April I had my first day at Ashton Park Sixth Form at the Photography department.
I had emailed ahead and asked Anita if I needed to prepare or bring anything with me. She told me no, as I would be helping in a year 10 GCSE class loading pinhole cameras.
I arrived at the prearranged time of 1.30pm and headed straight to the photography room, where Anita and the technician were entering. After some quick introductions, the technician and I went into the darkroom where she refreshed me on loading pinhole cameras.
When the year 10s came in, they were split into two groups, and one came with us into the darkroom. The technician explained how pinhole cameras work and split them into smaller groups with one camera per group. I helped to load the cameras. This is achieved by taking the masking tape top off of the camera (in Ashton Park the cameras are made from beer cans), opening the black electrical tape shutter, rolling up the photographic paper, and placing it inside. Sometimes it needs to be adjusted in order to see the light coming in through the shutter. The lid is then replaced and the shutter closed. It is then ready to be used. All of this is done in the darkroom with the safelight turned on as to not expose the paper.
When waiting for the year 10s to come back to develop the paper, me and the technician talked about our degrees and the creative arts, and she gave me some website addresses as I spoke about the possibility of running on a film set. We then advised the year 10s how to develop their images. All of their images came out overexposed (totally black), so I advised them to have the shutter open for shorter than the recommended time of 7 seconds. Each time they came back in to develop I loaded their cameras for them, and taught some of them how to load it themselves.
While waiting for the year 10s to come back, I sorted out all the enlarger filters. They were mismatched and often did not have a whole set per enlarger. While I did this, the technician helped a smaller group of girls make positives out of their pinhole images from the previous week.
After the lesson finished, I tidied up the darkroom. I put all the enlargers up to their highest height and put the safe cover over the lights, and tidied the space around them. Before I got rid of the darkroom chemicals (as they develop their images in trays), I had to "re-fix" some of the images, as the students tend to not keep their paper in the fix for as long as they should, meaning they will go yellow.
I then helped tidy up the classroom as there was a lot of double-sided tape backing on the tables as some of the students were mounting their work from the previous week. I collected up their work and organised it. I then cleaned excess water off of the prints made today and hung them over the sink in the classroom to dry.
In total, I was there for 3 hours. I will be in the same time next Thursday, and then we will discuss me coming in to help out in the exams, which are one day for AS level students, and three days for A level students. I will also be helping out at the Summer Ball on the 10th May.
3 hours
I had emailed ahead and asked Anita if I needed to prepare or bring anything with me. She told me no, as I would be helping in a year 10 GCSE class loading pinhole cameras.
I arrived at the prearranged time of 1.30pm and headed straight to the photography room, where Anita and the technician were entering. After some quick introductions, the technician and I went into the darkroom where she refreshed me on loading pinhole cameras.
When the year 10s came in, they were split into two groups, and one came with us into the darkroom. The technician explained how pinhole cameras work and split them into smaller groups with one camera per group. I helped to load the cameras. This is achieved by taking the masking tape top off of the camera (in Ashton Park the cameras are made from beer cans), opening the black electrical tape shutter, rolling up the photographic paper, and placing it inside. Sometimes it needs to be adjusted in order to see the light coming in through the shutter. The lid is then replaced and the shutter closed. It is then ready to be used. All of this is done in the darkroom with the safelight turned on as to not expose the paper.
When waiting for the year 10s to come back to develop the paper, me and the technician talked about our degrees and the creative arts, and she gave me some website addresses as I spoke about the possibility of running on a film set. We then advised the year 10s how to develop their images. All of their images came out overexposed (totally black), so I advised them to have the shutter open for shorter than the recommended time of 7 seconds. Each time they came back in to develop I loaded their cameras for them, and taught some of them how to load it themselves.
While waiting for the year 10s to come back, I sorted out all the enlarger filters. They were mismatched and often did not have a whole set per enlarger. While I did this, the technician helped a smaller group of girls make positives out of their pinhole images from the previous week.
After the lesson finished, I tidied up the darkroom. I put all the enlargers up to their highest height and put the safe cover over the lights, and tidied the space around them. Before I got rid of the darkroom chemicals (as they develop their images in trays), I had to "re-fix" some of the images, as the students tend to not keep their paper in the fix for as long as they should, meaning they will go yellow.
I then helped tidy up the classroom as there was a lot of double-sided tape backing on the tables as some of the students were mounting their work from the previous week. I collected up their work and organised it. I then cleaned excess water off of the prints made today and hung them over the sink in the classroom to dry.
In total, I was there for 3 hours. I will be in the same time next Thursday, and then we will discuss me coming in to help out in the exams, which are one day for AS level students, and three days for A level students. I will also be helping out at the Summer Ball on the 10th May.
3 hours
Further Correspondence - Bristol Water
I finally heard more from Bristol Water regarding work experience in the PR department. I received an email from Sandra Sandy on behalf of Paul Kelson:
Good morning Lorna
Sorry we have been late in replying, but Paul is extremely busy at this time so he has asked me Sandy to contact you and make arrangements for you to come in and talk through what we need.
Please can you let me know dates you will be available to spend a short time with us to go through this.
Regards
Sandy
Corporate Affairs
I am going to meet Sandra on the 17th April at 9am to go through what images they want.
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