Easter Break – Portugal
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.
Company/Careers Database
After graduating from University, I am intending to market and launch myself as a freelance photographer. The companies I have looked into are companies that I would like to work for in terms of shooting advertorials, and also magazines that I would like to be featured in, and shoot editorials for. In my database I have included the contact details, and also a small note as to why I would want to work for that company.
Online Portfolio/Website
After looking at some online websites I started to create my own website using Wix, as I found this platform very easy to use. The layout that I created was heavily inspired by Alexandra Leese and also Dafy Hagai’s websites. I decided to choose a scrolling gallery for the front page, where I have shown one image from each image, where you can click and it takes you to that particular project.
I decided to keep my branding very minimal with just a simple white background, and simple black font. The font I chose was ‘Work sans extra light’, and I added some spacing to my name, to divert it from the original font and make it more unique. I also decided to have my menu along the top, as I found this to be the most simple and easy way to navigate the website. I seperated my work into projects and also added an ‘about’ and ‘contact’ page. On the contact page I also added my Instagram account so it is easily accessible. I also added small social media handle symbols along the bottom, to give direct links to my other online platforms.
Overall I am extremely happy with my online website as I feel that it is very contemporary, modern, and easy to navigate.
Alexandra Leese
Alexandra Leese’s website has many attributes that I like and will take inspiration from for my own online website such as, the scrolling gallery on the home page, and the menu along the top. However I feel that the spacing between the images on the front is too little, and doesn’t give the images enough space. The menu along the top is effective, clean and simple and definitely something I will look into when creating my website.
Alessandro Dal Buoni
Alessandro Dal Buoni is a fashion photographer, and his website has a very sleek and ‘clean’ aesthetic to it. The entire website is very monochrome, and has a clear theme. It is a recurring theme from the websites I have looked at, to keep it very minimal and simple, and I think this is the most effective style of layout. The use of having a square gallery on the front, reminds me of an Instagram account, so I think I will stay away from this style of layout, as I don’t think it looks as professional as previous websites I have looked at.
Tutorial – Week 13
Over the last week, I have done some research including doing a PEST analysis, and figured out a purpose for my book, and where it would fit in the market. From my research and my ideas, I concluded that my photography book was heavily inspired by Dafy Hagai, and my concept was based around wanting to produce something that is happy and uplifting. From this, I decided that my photography book would be part of a series of books,that explores different cultures in different countries, and celebrates the communities in their natural form. The book series would explore several different countries and I am starting with Portugal as I have a personal connection to it. This tutorial I spoke about my progression, and also began to think further into the possibility of creating a behind the scenes video to release with the book.
This week I have also created a flat plan, and a draft layout using images from the internet to make the process of producing the layout of the book quicker and easier when returning from Portugal.
Day Hagai
Dafy Hagai was my main inspiration for my final major project so I thought it was important to see what her online presence is like. Similar to the other websites I have looked at, Dafy’s website is extremely basic and simple, and very easy to navigate. The menu that she has is on the left hand side, rather than being along the top which I think is quite effective. The home page of the website has a scrolling gallery that shows her most recent project, and this is something that I will take inspiration from when creating my online website.
Prue Stent
Prue Stent is a successful photographer who focuses on the female form and exploring it in an aesthetically pleasing way. Her online portfolio is extremely simple and easy to navigate, and each project has been separated in a simple menu at the top of the page. The website is missing an ‘about’ page, which I think is a negative aspect as I feel this is an important part of an online portfolio. Similar to Petra Collins’ website, this online portfolio has inspired my further to keep my website very simple and easy to navigate, as I feel that the most important thing is to keep the focus on the work. However I will have an ‘about’ section as I feel that it’s important, especially for a new up and coming graduate photographer.
Petra Collins
Petra Collins is one of my favourite photographers, and I found her online portfolio inspiring. I like the simplicity of it, and how it shows her work well without any gimmicks. The scroll on the first page makes it extremely easy to navigate though her most recent project. For my online website, I also want to show my work in a similar format, as I found this very easy and straight forward to navigate.
Keeping the colour scheme simple works well, as it allows the focus to be on the work, rather than the website itself.