City And Guilds Level 2 Assignment 206 Principles Of Photo Image Capture Statement Of Intent Theme: Thomas - Aged 3½ Intentions/purpose of the photography to be undertaken To compile a series of at least 10 images relating to the theme 'Thomas - Aged 3½'. I will be taking photos of my friends children and also children in my own family, capturing strong innocence in play and childhood. I'm going to be focusing on hands and feet at play, faces and expression. Children often show 'not a care in the world' attitudes, portraying strong personalities. Thomas my Godson has the most vibrant red hair and a personality to match. I feel that a series of photographs starring Thomas would be a great collection.
Reasons for selection of theme (including inspiration from work of others) I have always been quite good with children and am always able to get down to their level taking on the same attitude and energy. This can be a great help when trying to capture feelings and emotions. Children are always full of energy and adopt the 'don't worry about tomorrow and never have any regrets' manner. I would love to be able to show this in my series of photographs. While researching for this project I looked at many different photographers on the internet and photography magazines. I came across a photographers called Cath Schneider, she is a self taught photographer from Africa with a special affection for portraiture whether it is human or animal. Cath Schneider has taken many wonderful photographs but one set called Childhood has particularly inspired me for this project.
"One was afraid of heights and the other not" Cath Schneider
For more information on other photographers that have influenced my decisions during this project please see my journal and research folder.
The photo imaging equipment and medium that will be used and why I will be using a Canon EOS 550D Digital SLR camera with a Canon 18-55mm as this is the only digital camera I have. This type of camera captures more detail and allows me greater flexibility when editing the images. I am using digital photography and will be taking the photos in a RAW file, it is then easy to process the photographs to my taste using Photoshop. I wont be taking a tripod with me, as i have a feeling that I may be on the move quite a lot, so this would probably be more of a hindrance than a help. Due to picking sunny days to take my photos, there will be plenty of natural light around for me to have a faster shutter speed to stop any camera shake. Before setting out I will make sure that I have a spare fully charged battery and spare SD cards, I want to be able to leave my camera on at all times because you never now what shots you may get when photographing children, they can be quite unpredictable and full of surprises.......... .........."Never work with animals or children"
Techniques that will be used and how they will help convey the visual message My first technique is to keep my models happy, I will be using a range of children aged 3 - 7 years so surely sweets and the park will keep them happy. All of the children are different with diverse opinions and personalities, some of them are quiet and reserved and some are loud and outgoing. I will be taking composition into account when out on the different shoots and will go with pre-planned ideas and activities, they may work they may not. I will be thinking about The Rule of Thirds and Leading Lines. I am hoping to capture some images with narrow depth of field, blurring out the faces of the children. I will shoot my images at interesting angles, maybe above or below the children producing interesting thought provoking photos.
How light quality can be used to help convey the visual message Light quality can be very important especially at this time of year, I really love the autumn colours in the trees and leaves and on a perfect sunny day when the sun is quite low it can really bring these colours out. I will be taking note of the future weather forecasts and looking out for the sunny weekends where are can go out for a shoot at the park or woods to take full advantage of the orange, brown and red autumn colours. Sunlight can add tone, pattern and texture to an image making it look completely different to a photo taken on a dull day. All light sources have a direction and my subjects can look very different whether they are front lit, side lit of back lit. I will have to take this into consideration when taking my images as I will have to move around rather than my models. I want to get the best natural pictures as possible, I don't want to set up my images by telling my subjects where to stand or what to do. This would be fine if I was photographing adults but children tend to have minds of there own.
Safety considerations Safety may be an issue when taking my photos as I will be taking images of children at play, running, having fun and being natural out in public. I will be taking the child's parent along with me as an extra set of eyes as accidents do happen. I will of course not put any of my models in any sort of danger. Luckily I know all the children very well and understand their personalities, their play limits and what they are comfortable with. I will be getting minor model release forms signed by all parents. As we will only be visiting public parks, woods and other public areas there is no need for me to get a permission to access private property form signed.
"YEAH"
"Crunchy Leaves"
"Stop It Mum"
"Aliens Have Landed"
"Muddy Wellies"
"Wait For Me"
"Ambition"
"ARRGGH"
"Uh Oh"
"But I Don't Want To Go Home Yet"