Overall I really enjoyed these three projects, minus the pinhole one. I learnt to use a range of different media which had always interested me such as large format. And I also dabbled more with masks on photoshop, which has made me a bit more confident now. I would have shot my pinhole images again given the chance, but now I don’t want to even hear the word pinhole for a good few months.

So I scrapped my original idea of doing something with a panoramic image as I have done similar stuff before and I wanted to try something new. Multiple exposure shots always used to fascinate and puzzle me when I was a little kid, until I knew how they were done I thought there were like 6 identical people used in the shoot. How stupid was I? I decided to shoot a series of skate photos but layer them all into one image, showing a range of tricks that the subject can do in a photograph, as opposed to a video. Took me quite a while to figure out who I wanted to use, because everyones style is different in certain ways, and also where I wanted to shoot it. But I did in the end, and here’s the outcome. I’m super stoked on the final image, took me a while to get the hang of masks and such, but was fun nonetheless.

In other good news I opened my box of B&W darkroom paper and found my paper negatives and prints from my pinhole project, which has saved me a lot of time and hassle. I no longer have to re-build a camera, re-shoot the photos and get super stressed out about everything when trying to print them. I am going to put them into a small book instead of just handing them in, so wish me luck.

I finally managed to shoot the photos for my SOS project and get them scanned in and sorted out. Took a lot of fart-assing about on photoshop to get them how I wanted them but it was worth it, unfortunately one of the negatives was madly fogged so I could only use two of the original three that I shot. So yeah here they are. I am really pleased with how they turned out, I think it is a nice environment to photograph, found it very interesting, says a lot about the person who the workshop belongs to.

So all my ideas went to scrap this week. There was no way I could gain access to the leisure centre again and security was so on the ball it was unreal. So I gave up on that idea and tried to think of a new one. A friend of mine does and engine workshop class in Bexleyheath and I have seen the workshop belonging to the guy who runs it. And it looks so crazy, packed wall to wall with random engine parts and general clutter. Unfortunately he had just taken on a new boy so was so busy it was impossible to get in there to shoot some photos. I found out a friend of mine had a workshop at the bottom of his garden. So late last night I drove down there and shot the photos. Gonna’ scan them in and have them printed for my deadline, fingers crossed.

I spend a lot of my spare time browsing blog after blog, gives me something to do in the evening when I get home and have a coffee. I find so much stuff of interest but this blog would end up being around 1,000 pages long by now. But occasionally I come across something that really stands out to me. I found some work that looked similar to that of Annie Leibovitz’s, I followed some links to the original and discovered it was the work of Dina Goldstein. The series was a modern and different take on the original “fairytale” characters, such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. In very bold situations. The pictures will explain everything really. But she shoots in a very similar style to Annie Leibovitz, using fairytale characters, soft lighting and rich colours.

Where to start. I visited the leisure centre the other night whilst under the cover of darkness with a few friends. We had to creep through the nearby woods to avoid the security cabin. And for the next hour we crept around the site, crouched down in the bushes and long grass. Hiding behind walls and bins that were scattered around the place. It was seriously like something out of an army exercise. So fun though, if we were caught we would have been charged with a long list of offences. But unfortunately the building had been sealed off at all entrances, the only way to gain access was through a skylight on the roof, but I didn’t fancy climbing up there with all that camera equipment.

However I then decided to shoot photos of the site, not inside the actual building. There are a number of chalet blocks dotted around in which the scouts that used to be based there used to live in. And they would look great if shot correctly, all the windows are either smashed or boarded up, with curtains hanging out and window frames sticking here, there and everywhere. So I went back to shoot them, only to discover 5 police dog units already there, turns out they were doing a training exercise and luckily didn’t arrest me, I was given a number to phone to negotiate gaining access to the site and maybe even the main leisure centre as well. But whoever was on the end of that phone was the rudest most pompous person I have ever met. And said there was no way I was getting his permission. So he leaves me no choice but to break in now I guess. One for karma.

The time I get to use large format cameras has finally come. I have long wanted to experiment with these as most of my favourite photographers use them and I always wanted to try one. They are a lot more hard work than I originally thought, but worth it none the less. I did two test shots on one the other day and the results were brilliant. And that was using black and white film, so I cannot wait to use colour.

Shooting spaces or interiors is going to be fun I think. I am aware of a number of places, one in particular which is abandoned and would be brilliant to shoot in. An abandoned £6,000,000 leisure centre is at the top of my list, I have been there a few times with my friends and I am hoping I can still gain access to the building, there is an abandoned swimming pool in there as well as a main hall and a gym which would all look amazing.

I had a workshop today, teach you how to use masks and layers correctly on photoshop. Also how to manually and automatically create panoramic images. I learnt a few little new things which is good and it sort of got me in the mood for using photoshop again. It will take up a lot of my time but if I do it correctly, hopefully all the hard work will reward me. Below is an old panoramic image I made a year or so back, basic, but I can work on such an image.

My latest project is the perfect worlds one. It involves creating a digital composite image of my perfect world, or a place that doesn’t exist. By using layers and masks I will combine elements from a range of photos to reach a final image. One that depicts a place of fiction. I don’t like using photoshop all that much anymore, I used to, but since it is a lot easier for me to shoot and process film now, I have moved to analogue and kept things basic. I will probably create something along the lines of a panorama image.

I have decided on my final idea for the traces and memory project. I am going to follow the photo-essay idea with the subject being my great-nan. I am still undecided as to what format I will use, but it will be either 120mm medium format or 5x4 sheet film. All depends on my budget closer the time really. I plan to shoot first of all some portraits of her at her home. She lives with my nan and has pretty much been inside for the past 10 years. So she has made her room very personal and comfortable for her. I think portraits of her in her own environment would be a nice way to start off this project. I then plan to talk to her about her past, back to when she was a child, and get her to describe to me her fondest memories that she has and tell me where they were as well. I then plan to record her voice using a video camera or tape recorder as she talks about her experiences. I will then visit each location and shoot a photo of the site. And combine the two so the viewer can see the image and hear her talking about her experiences there at the same time. So you can see how much the place has changed since she recalls.

Although the place would have changed drastically, to her she is none the wiser, and as far as she knows it is exactly the same as she recalls. Her memory of the place that used to be there is unchanged, even though the location itself has changed.

I have had a number of ideas going in and out of my head recently, the main ones came to me straight away. One of my ideas was to photograph my great-nan. She is 94 years old and i’ve spent a lot of time with her during my life, and look up to her more than anyone. Her stories always fascinate me and it is a shock to hear how different things were back when she was a child. And I wanted to try and capture that by shooting a photo-essay based on her. Tattoos were also another road that I was looking down, because most tattoos tell a story and are traces left on the body, so photos and interviews combined somehow would be a possibility.

I was also considering re-visiting my old flat where I was brought up. A tower block by the name of Maydew House in Bermondsey, South East London. The building has a lot of character to it and if I could gain access to the flat in which we lived, I could  combine photos and my own personal recollection of the space. And the photos would illustrate how much has changed since then. These are just some of my ideas, but it would take hours to type out every one that I have had so far.

Rather looking forward to this next project. Gives me a bit more freedom in regards to what I choose to shoot and what I choose to shoot on etc. It has to represent something which I can relate to, showing a memory of mine for example. I will have to give it a few days so I can narrow the 57876 ideas I currently have down to 3/4 that I can work with. And I have until after Christmas to shoot this as well, which means I can really take my time and make something of this project.

I fixed my camera when I returned to uni, turned out it was leaking light through the joint of the tin. So I re-loaded it and re-shot my photos outside. Thankfully they all came out just fine, quite sharp and contrasty, and with a very wide angle on them aswell, so I was very pleased. I printed them and cut the boarders to size. But just my luck I have lost them and probably won’t find them anytime soon, so I may have to re-shoot them yet again.