Stick the Kettle on

I am very happy with this project as I felt that this is a project that I could follow on in the future, it was one that I enjoyed and because of this I was really motivated to do more than usual. I felt that I had also planned everything out quite well so that I was able to go to lots of different places. I also planned out the formatting of the photographs, I thought about the orientation of each photograph (making sure that they were consistent) I also wanted to make sure that all of the images were taken from the same distance. I also make sure that I edited the images in a similar way and did not want to edit them too much so that they all looked consistent. Not only did I think about the way that the photographs would be taken but also about how they were going to be displayed. I thought a lot about the design of the magazine. I am glad that I got in contact with a Graphic Design lecturer because this really helped me take a step back and think about the best way that the images should be displayed with text. Not only did he help with the layout, he got me to think about what I would be showing, we went back and thought about the aim of the project, what I was trying to show and how the viewer will be looking at the images. This helped form the way that I was going to display the work. Without the help of the Graphic Design lecturer I think that my magazine would not have been as successful as it could have been.

I feel like there were 20 of my finals that were stronger than the rest but I think that they are all technically good photographs its just the place that they are taken which is something that I was not able to change. However I do feel that it would have been nice to go back to some of the places to get exactly the finals that I would like but I was restrained as some of the places were far away. There were also a couple of other places that I would have liked to photograph at that I didn’t make time for but I think that 30 final images was more than enough.

I feel like I have had a journey throughout this project as it has evolved slightly throughout. At the start I wanted to photograph chips and show the variation but tea seemed to show britishness and could have more variety, this was also something that would have more interest as some people do spend afternoons devoted to afternoon tea so is thought about more often. I also developed a lot with the help of the graphic designer.

I do feel that this project related to my professional practice. The reason for having the magazines printed was so that I could send these to potential employers and show off the skills that I have learnt through university. Although this was the first time making a magazine I feel that I did manage work out how to do this all.

I have learnt a lot throughout this project. I learnt firstly about planning right from the start for an outcome as sometime I just thought of the project and later thought about what I was aiming to make. I now know to plan for the outcome right at the beginning as from the start I knew that I would be exhibiting in two exhibitions. I also thought about having the magazines for potential employers right from the start. I also learnt about using InDesign and how to make a magazine too. I feel that I gained a lot from using the PhaseOne camera also as I thought a lot more about focusing, composition and exposure. I feel that my images are now more brighter throughout the whole image as I used more even lighting.

I know that in the concepts and planning module I was worried as I knew that I had planned to make a magazine but did not know how I was going to make this without looking as if I didnt know what I was doing. So this was something that I made sure that I focused on. I was also worried about the writing that was going to go with the images. I did not want to say too much about each place so kept most of the descriptions small. However there were suggestions such as looking to see about someone who works for a tea company and asking them to write a few words about each place or asking a customer from each place to say why they come for tea at the places I was photographing at. I liked the idea of having an opinion from each place by a customer but by the time it was suggested I had photographed at a lot of places so it would have made the process a lot harder. In the future I would like to have planned everything completely before as I feel that this will help get the best results.

I am happy also with my blog as I have mapped out the whole process and journey from start to finish. I have focused this for lecturers who will be viewing this and also anyone else that might view this also. I have tried to think about the fact that some people may not know a lot about photography so have used a lot of photographs to make everything easier to understand whilst still getting all my points across.

Overall I feel that this project went well and I have gained a lot from this.

For the last week we have been installing our exhibition and painting it also. We have made arrangements so that the exhibition looks more professional compared to other years. We all said that we will have all our work mounted or framed so that the work seems to be laid out in a professional way. We have also sorted out having our statements written and printed to a higher quality and all in the same format.

We have also made sure that we all have business card holders that have the same style to them and if we need to display something, we will all have a plinth or on a shelf as leaving the work on the floor isn’t too appealing. Making sure that we all have some similarities in the way that we show our work will make the whole exhibition seem better.

I have now sent off my finals to print in A3 lustre print and all bought some frames for them to go into. I thought that I would have white frames as that matches the china that has been in most of the images for the beverages to be contained in.

I also have my magazine back and I am very happy with it. I think that the magazine is needed to show what the whole project is all about.

I now have everything I need to put them up on the wall for the exhibition.

Now I just need to plan all I need to put these up.

Once I finished the layout of the magazine I got three people to spellcheck as well as me doing this also and then I had one more scan through to make sure that all the images were in the right place and text also.

I then went to File> Export and then changed the settings to what the printing services required and then sent them off. I am going to have 35 magazines and 30 of them will be sent off to potential employers.

For on the wall of my exhibition I have finally chosen the 6 finals that I would like but not the order that I would like them in. I asked 10 people and some people gave joint answers so there were 12 overall people although I counted 10. Here are the ones that have been chosen.

8 people voted for the Artisan Cafe

9 people voted for the award winning tearoom

6 people voted for the train station photo

10 people voted for the cafe by the beach

9 people voted for the art gallery cafe

6 people voted for the garden centre photo

This worked well as this does show a variety of places as they are all quite varied and they all have different compositions and styles which is the main aim of this project.

I have been thinking for a while about the final images that I like and have been struggling to choose my favourite images. I think that I am going to have 6 final images. But this could change to 4 if I cannot find the right 6 to go together. I had managed to whittle my favourites to around 10 so I decided to get help from photography friends and family for advice. I knew that having advice from photography friends would mean that they would be looking at the image in a way which shows of my skills well such as the lighting and focus etc, whereas family might be looking at the image in a different way and notice the colours which stand out more and the composition. After asking a lot of people I managed to whittle down the final images to 6 and here are the ones that I have chosen:

I had also been thinking for a while about how I wanted to show off my images as finals next to the magazine. There are lots of colours that are in my final images and also a lot of styles such as traditional and contemporary. Because of this the framing might suit one image more than another if I am not careful. However I printed out one of the finals that I knew from the start that it was going to be a final and tried out the image with a white frame. I really liked the way that it looked however I wanted an even thicker frame so I have now opted for one that is larger. I am printing the finals out at A3 and with the camera that I have used it will not have lost much detail and if anything could be printed out even bigger. I am printing them out as a giclee print with a lustre finish as this is what I would usually do and I wanted to keep everything consistent especially with the magazine. Here is an image of what they look like in a frame:

The background colour will be white with two rows of my 6 images lined up at eye level. Just to the left of these images I will have a business card holder with all my business cards in and also a magazine holder with my magazine in as a preview. Above both of these will be my personal statement. We are given 8 ft (2.4m) space and that needs to include space on the side so that our work isn’t butting up against the person next to us. Here is how I have arranged my space. The photographs will take up 1.56 metres if they have a 15cm space, if there is a gap of 15cm between the photographs and the personal statement, and the holders that take up 21cm then that will take 1.92 metres. With a 15 cm gap on each end that takes me to 2.22 metres needed which means that I have 20cm spare which takes into account the frame size as the photographs will be A3 but the frames are bigger than that (I didn’t take this into account when making the plan).

I do not want to have too much writing to go in my magazine as I have spoken to a few people about what should go with the photographs and most have agreed that there should not be too much writing as the images should be able to speak for themselves. This means that I am going to have the layout of the book as mentioned below.

2nd Page- Title “Stick The Kettle On”

4th Page- Introduction about my work (also part of my personal statement)

Each other page a small description about the place that I have photographed at. This can be mentioning about what the place was like or the people that would usually go to visit or about the surroundings or traditions that lie in each place.

Back page- Slight introduction to myself and my motivations for this piece and also why I aspire to be a food and beverage photographer.

When talking with the lecturer who has been helping me with the graphic design we decided that it would be a good idea to have the images on the right hand side of the page and then the cups on the left hand side of the page. This means that I would need to cut around all of these cups using the pen tool.

To do this I click on the pen tool on the left hand column. Next on the right hand side of Photoshop I clicked on the option of paths. To the right of this option there is a drop down menu. On this I clicked new path.

After this I could start drawing around the cup. There are anchor points that help the process. The first point can be made and then with the second point made by holding down the alt key and moving the mouse in the right direction, the line in between the two points can be adjusted.  I did this all the way round each of the cups and this is an example of the result.

These cups are going to go next to a description of what the place was like to show how the images are all from completely different backgrounds.

These cups will also be put in a grid as the front cover of the magazine. This means that the cups will take up all of the front cover leaving no space for the title. As a personal touch and a way of getting around this issue I am going to get some stickers and print onto them the title “Stick The Kettle On” and my name. Here is what they look like.

This is the last final that I wanted to make. I photographed at a place in Granchester that was based by the river. This was a tea garden with large deck chairs to relax in. I wanted to make sure that I showed these elements within the image. The place is an orchard so I at least wanted to show that there were trees in the background.

The last shoot that I did was photographing in a tea garden in Granchester, Cambridge. This place is known for having nice relaxed afternoons spent there and a lot of famous people have travelled there. It was a tradition for students to punt to Granchester Meadows from the May Balls in Cambridge the next morning and they would have breakfast at this place.

Here is a contact sheet of the images that were taken

Here is the image that I will be used and how I edited it:

I added more contrast and put the exposure up also as well as making the whites a bit darker. I didn’t feel that there was a lot of editing that was needed. In Adobe Photoshop I got rid of some of the crumbs off of the table and some spilt milk as this was not from me being served. I used the spot cleaning tool.

Now I can finish the last pieces of the magazine.

Here are my final 29, I now have one more final to get. I am now starting on the magazine and will be sending it off soon.

I started off by opening a document. I allowed for a spread for the title, a spread for the introduction, all the pages I would need for the images and the descriptions to go on the opposite sides of the pages and then also a page left blank at the back.

Here is how I made the document to make the magazine:

I went to File> New> Document

It came up with a box like this that I filled in with all the details that I wanted. I put in a 3mm bleed in it and made it the size and orientation that I wanted it.

Here were the details for it and this is how a spread would look:

I am making sure that each image is placed up to the red lines outside of the magazine page because this is the bleed.

For the front cover I made another document in a similar way to the rest of the book.

Here is what the document looks like, I have added a grid so that I can place the cut out cups in the right place to make up the design for the cover.

I photographed a tea that I would typically have at home. I would not usually drink this at a table so I photographed it where it would be made. For this photograph I felt that I could change what I wanted about this photograph as I was the person serving the cup of tea.

Here are the images that I took:

This is how I edited the image:

I changed the contrast in the image and also the saturation. In Adobe Photoshop I wanted to make the red of the cup stand out and made the colour appear to look similar to the kettle as they actually do look almost the same colour but the photograph does not reflect that.

Here is the final image: