The easter break was the time that I completed the bulk of my final major project. As planned, I travelled to Portugal for 2 weeks, and completed a series of photoshoots to be able to produce my book that I have been planning. I found the experience extremely positive and uplifting, and I was able to experience traditions that I had not experienced since I was a child, which was very inspiring. I began by shooting some friends and family in their own homes, and my process was mainly to make them comfortable and capture them in their natural day to day life. I relied solely on natural light as most of the time it was sunny, and on the days that were not sunny, the overcast lighting actually worked very well with the images. In some areas where I had to rely on incandescent lighting I struggled a little on adjusting my camera as I had no access to lighting kits. I also travelled up and down the country to find Portuguese traditions and landmarks that I could photograph. This included photographing some ladies in the mountain ranges, and also attending dress rehearsals for the “rancho” spoken about in my sketchbook. I began the post production of the photographs after each shoot, to ensure I have enough time when returning back to England to produce the book and get it sent to print.

Alongside the photographs that I took, I asked some family members to record some footage of myself taking the photographs, and also some of the scenery. With this footage I will create a behind the scenes video, to show at the graduate show. Overall my easter break was extremely successful and I managed to take enough images to produce my book to celebrate Portuguese women & Portuguese culture.