On Thursday 24th January, my peers and I took a day trip to Blackpool to practice shooting lighting on location in order to add to my unit 10 portfolio. I have visited Blackpool before so prior to the trip I already had ideas for what i wanted to capture and what kind of lighting would be available to use.
We were sat tasks to capture the following during the day:
*Portraits using natural light
*Portraits using artificial light
*Portraits using flash and natural light
*Portraits using flash and indoor artificial light
For the portraits using natural light, I knew I wanted to capture them down by the seafront as this is where you will get the most natural light as it is very open and the pale colours of the sea and beach will help the subject stand out more amongst the background.
For the portraits using artificial light, I thought about how Blackpool is known for being a seaside town with lots of amusements and arcades along the pier, I thought the bright lights of the arcade would be good lighting for portraits as the neon colours could mimic the effect of gels.
Below are some examples of the portraits I captured:
We then had to complete the following treasure hunt:
Something wet, something with texture, something small, something soft, something hard, something loud, something quiet, something red, something warm, something cold, something yellow, something coarse, something funny, something
Below are a few examples of the photos I captured and how the lighting has helped them fit the brief:
Something Warm Something Loud Something Coarse Something smooth
For something warm, the light helps to communicate this as it colours like orange and red to give off a warm tone.
For something loud, I decided to use the wave crashing against the promenade as I think when you look at the image, it makes you think of that sound. I think the light adds to this as it is reflecting off the sea making the water droplets stand out more which consequently makes the scene busier which in my opinion makes it louder.
For something course, I used the sand as its texture is rough and i think the natural lighting helps compliment this as it is not too overpowering but it is still lighting enough to see the individual grains of sand which is what makes the image course.
For something smooth, I used the light bouncing off the railing as I think the large amount of light gets rid of any details on the railing making it appear smooth.
What I found most challenging about this task was keeping to the theme of lighting. For example for 'something red', there were a lot of red life rings along the seafront which I knew would fit the category, however, it didn't really link to light. I therefore focused on capturing images where for example the lighting had caused something to appear soft, or warm so that all my images . could be linked to the theme of light and how different lighting can produce different effects.
The final task was to take a visual representation of what Blackpool was to me.
I have visited Blackpool before when I was young and I remember going to the pleasure beach and the arcades. Blackpool for me is a seaside town and this is the side I wanted to capture. I therefore took photos of the piers and amusements as this is what I think of when I think of Blackpool.
The Photos I took:
I think the trip helped me get a feel of what it would be like as a freelance photographer as often they are out on location all day shooting which is what I did in Blackpool. I think it helped prepare me for what an an average day as a photographer would be like and whilst I was very tired at the end of the day, I found being in a new location motivated me to take the opportunity to capture some new photographs and be creative in a location I wouldn't usually choose to go. It also helped me gain more natural lighting for my lighting assignment as I have a lot of studio work already but needed more examples of natural lighting.
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