Developing My Homeless Project - Revised

This is something that is one of my higher priorities, it is something that I feel could lead me on to bigger things in my career, whether it be my work getting published or exhibited, I feel very strongly about this work.

There is nothing stopping me in the development of this work, it's just down to me to get out there and make it work. The work I have done so far is based in Manchester but I would love to take this further afield, heading to places such as London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and who knows, maybe even abroad?!

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Again, this has been revised due to the post lacking in any sort of substance. This project is still an ongoing body of work, although it's not something that I have been focusing on at this moment in time due to getting the third and final semester of university wrapped up. 

Since I have shot these images I have learnt about where I was going wrong with them and where I will be able to take them in the future. One thing I have learnt to change is the composition of the images. Originally I shot the first images as a full image and then cropped them down, losing out massively on the size of the image files, something that came to haunt me when I tried to enter a competition and it had a size limit... Lesson learnt! When shooting now, I will try to compose the half face crop through my view finder as best I can to keep the image size up as high as possible. 

I mentioned about possibly taking it further afield in the future. This is mainly due to just trying to capture life in a different city or town, even country. The different experiences they have had and the stories they will share.

Building My Equipment List - Revised

As a professional photographer, this goes without saying! Now, I don't want to have to have the best of everything there is, that's not what my intentions are, it's me that's creating the work, not my equipment.

I would just like to have a suitable 'collection' of equipment where I know that I would never struggle to cover any work that may come my way, it wouldn't be very professional of me to turn down work due to not having the right piece of equipment for me to do the job at hand.

Having used the Nikon D90 for the duration of my university course, this is a strong contender for my camera 'upgrade', although I will be comparing what it's competitors are, within the Nikon family of course!
From there I will most definitely be purchasing a speed light, something which I should already have in my arsenal! Then it will just be a slow process of collecting lenses.

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Since this first post was published, I have upgraded my camera, to a D90 as mentioned above. With this camera came the 18-105mm kit lens. This lens is a lot more suitable to have a primary lens over the 18-55 that came with my Nikon D3100. It is great lens that can be used in wide range of shoots. The next piece of kit I think I will need to purchase will be a speedlight. As I'm coming to the end of my time at university, I know I won't be able to rely on the fact I can lend stuff from there, and a speedlight is something that I have used on quite a regular basis, due to shooting quite a few weddings over the past three years, and having some planned for the future, it's a vital piece of kit for me. I know I will always have the option of renting from places such as Calumet but I think I'd rather have my own equipment. 

I have revised this option as it was flagged up in my feedback from the last submission of this module. The equipment I would need to invest in will help me in terms of being covered for any job that might come up, and to make sure that I will get the best end result from each shoot by using the correct or suitable kit for that shoot. 

Promoting Myself More

This is something that I feel I have been a little in the middle with, I have used my Facebook to gather contacts and get jobs from, but I have also been quite reserved in terms of using business cards etc.

I think I just need to take the plunge with the business cards I have and start getting them around, putting flyers/leaflets out there for work to earn me a living from.

• YOU’RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST POST, SO SHARE SOMETHING EVERY DAY
• TAKE THINGS ONE DAY AT A TIME
• GET INSPIRED BY THE WAY YOUR HEROES LIVED THEIR LIVES
• SET BOUNDARIES TO AVOID BURNOUT
• BUILD UP A NETWORK BEFORE YOU HAVE A BIG PROJECT TO AVOID BEING HUMAN SPAM

These pointers are published in a book named Show Your Work! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered, written by Austin Kleon. 

Some of these pointers may seem a little unorthodox, but with the writing that follows the points on the website, they all make a lot of sense! 

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3027752/the-art-of-self-promotion-6-tips-for-getting-your-work-discovered

Daily Running Of My Facebook Page

Facebook; everybody knows it, everybody and their dog (and cat) uses it, so where better for someone starting out to build their audience and gain clients?
I created my photography page almost three years ago now, having collected a little over 870 'likes' and have received numerous jobs from here, I couldn't see myself not having a page. Although Facebook has gradually started making it harder for people to see your page without putting money into it, it still works wonders for small businesses like ourselves and people who want to get their name out there.

I have included this post on my PDP because I feel that sometimes I neglect the page and its running. I don't shoot images all day every day so it's not in terms of this but I feel that I should be posting something at least once a day, just to keep my audience engaged with the page, and to keep my name circulating. I also have my page linked up to my photography Twitter account so any posts I make on Twitter goes directly to the page so this is a great way to keep both my photography accounts live and working together.

'YOU’RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST POST, SO SHARE SOMETHING EVERY DAY' - Austin Kleon 

I would like to have some sort of rearrangement on the albums I have on there, some of them hold hardly any work, some of them are all jumbled up images, I need to file them in some order, i.e in terms of genre.

Time Keeping Skills

I don't feel that I have that bad of a problem when it comes to the turn around times with my commissioned work, I just feel that I could benefit from having a proper structured plan when it comes to the work I have on.

Having again looked to the internet, I came across a list of things that all help you develop good time keeping skills. I have included this list here...

'Keep prioritised lists

When it comes to being where you need to be at the right time and doing everything you need to before deadlines, there is nothing quite as effective as making lists. Prioritise your tasks, so you always know what is most urgent.

Tidy your work area

It might not seem like an obvious way to improve your time management, but working in a tidy space will help to make better use of you time. The organisational benefits mean you spend less time hunting for things, while the psychological benefits mean your brain feels less cluttered and you’re more productive.

Sleep

Getting a good night’s sleep reduces the risk of accidental lie-ins and subsequent lateness. It also keeps you feeling fresh and ready for action.

Set deadlines for yourself

If you haven’t got a boss, lecturer or teacher on your back demanding work, it can be tempting to let things slide. Set your own deadlines to ensure you complete tasks as quickly as possible.

Use apps

Technology is on your side. There are lots of productivity, time management and organisational apps available for all smart phones. Find the ones that help you to stay on top of things and use them.

Concentrate on one thing at a time

Your prioritised lists will tell you that you have lots of things to do but when it comes to working through then, it’s best to stick to one at a time. Flitting between tasks only results in wasted time when you start trying to pick up where you left off.

Plan for unexpected events

Life, work and even the smallest task can sometimes throw up something we didn’t expect. Minimise the inconvenience by planning for this in your schedule.

Avoid distractions
Sometimes you might feel like you deserve a little treat like watching television while you do a slightly less interesting task. Ultimately, you're only making life harder for yourself.

Improve your filing

That means of both computer and physical documents. Introducing a sensible structure to your filing will cut the time you spend sifting through piles of papers or scrolling through My Documents.

Take breaks

Good time management isn't always about cramming as much in as possible. Sometimes less is more. Taking short breaks regularly helps you to keep your mind fresh and make the most of the time you spend working.'

(http://www.advantage-ni.com/blog/10-ways-to-improve-your-timekeeping-skills)

This list of things is pretty much everything that I need to work towards, just having a work space is something that I think would be a proper benefit to me, to keep me focused and without distraction.

Developing My Writing Skills

This is a pointer that I never thought I would have to include, but given the fact that I failed my written dissertation, I have proven myself wrong.

Writing critically is something that I would like to work on as a pointer, but writing as a whole would give me great experience and help me develop my skills for any time in the future that I would be writing about my work or anyone else's.

• Be critical to my own work like I would as if it were someone else's work.
• Read more
• Get a solid conclusion in place to make sure the work points to this in the strongest way possible. 
• Make sure my research is solid and thorough 

SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN CRITICAL THINKING
Interpreting according to a framework Relating theory to practice Making a claim and supporting it Using appropriate evidence Making links between ideas Asking questions Evaluating	Predicting Describing Analysing Synthesising Categorising Establishing cause and effect Comparing and contrasting Identifying problems and solutions

I came across this table on the University of Canberra website after doing a search on Google. Although this table is based around critical thinking, it works on just the same basis as critical writing, I would need to take in all these factors when writing an essay or report about my own or others work.

Portraiture

Over the past three years whilst I have been at university, my interests in photography have changed somewhat. When I first started, I was very much into street photography, something that still has a massive interest and influence on my work. Shooting portraits was something that I had never really had a big interest in, up until probably late into my second year, definitely more so in my third and final year.

The whole studio portraits and that side of things isn't something that I really want to get into, I would like to aim more towards conceptual and location shoots etc.

Fig 1.

The above image is something that came about when shooting for my Final Major Project. The golf course holds a Mayor's competition on an annual basis, I just happened to be shooting my project at the right time, luck of the draw I guess! 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my work on the homeless is something that I would like to, and will, continue working on majorly. The whole concept of the work is something that is a major interest to me, the people themselves, the answers they come up with and the final edits of the images...

Below are a couple of images that I have found via Google Images that I have an interest in...

©Kyle Thompson Photography

©Bottle Bell Photography

Continuation And Development Of My PDP

For the final project of this year, and my time at university as a whole, we have been asked to redevelop our Personal Development Plans. Since handing in our last version of the PDP, I have had a lot of time to think about what areas I would like to develop as a photographer and my practice. The continuation of this blog will look further into these areas and talk about how I will aim to achieve these goals.