Evaluation

For this project we had to create a book, for this we got to choose what we based the book around so I decided to base mine around football.

The plan for creating this book was to use a mixture of old football photos that had never been used for a project before and new images that I would take during the project. The plans were to get the old images chosen straight away I wanted to make sure i didn't have loads of older images, I wanted some but enough to give me room to go out and about and take plenty of new images.

When it came to getting the new photos I did three separate photo shoots to get these images. The first I went down to some rugby pitches on the Washlands and got Andy to do some poses with the ball but I really didn't know what I could do so I decided that we would come back down in a couple of days time to allow me to do some research into artistic football photography so that I could get some ideas for the second shoot.

The second shoot went a lot better as I had done some research the same day and the previous day I knew what I was going to do on the shoot. When I went back with Andy to the pitches I got him to do a variety of different poses that I had found through my research and after looking over these images when the shoot was done I was really proud of who they had come out. But I still thought it would be best to go down to a proper football pitch and do a third shoot just to be on the safe side.

The third shoot we went down to Shobnall where we could get access to a proper football pitch so I could get some pretty decent shots. These I got him to do several poses with the football as a goalkeeper I gave him a pair of gloves to use along with this I also took photos of equipment as well this was easily the best shoot and provided me the most images.

Overall, I have to say that the shoots went really well from the different times I went down to get them done. The writing aspect was the harder as I struggling what to write about my images and all other aspects but I managed to get it all done and with plenty of time spare which is a great relief.

Book email

This is the email confirming the purchase of the book over Photo Box.

Development of ideas

The development of my ideas is quite broad, I started with very few ideas as the plan was to go down to a pitch and just model to pose with the ball. After this original shoot didn't quite go to plan I went back down with the model I knew exactly what to do when posing with the ball, as I didn't first time out so this gave me plenty of pretty decent photos.

The third photo shoot I went down to Shobnall to get some more photos to try and make sure I had plenty to choose from when it came to making the book. This shoot was easily the best we had an entire football pitch to use and I had plenty of equipment to take photos of as well. I started of by getting Andy posing with the ball like he is in this shot, we tried plenty of different poses. In these I gave him a pair of goalkeeper gloves to use as I got him to do a variety of different goalkeeper poses and this was some of the best of him modelling we had so they were going to be use in the book as they felt really good and looked really strong.

 With this image I wanted to get individual shots of the equipment which I began doing here. I tried to use all of the equipment individually in shot like I have done here with the shin pads, I tried this with many different equipment parts that I had in my opinion this was the best of the individual shots. I feel to make it look a little bit more realistic I probably should have just thrown them on and taken a shot of that as that is what the footballers would probably do with their shin pads.

This was an idea I had to put all the equipment, ball and our bags onto the bench as it shows what lower league players would do when the ground doesn't have changing rooms they would simply throw there stuff onto the bench and just carry on with the game. To keep up the realism of lower league matches most of the stuff was just thrown into position though there was leak at the top so some stuff had to be moved. When added phones into the shot as players would throw them on as well.

Evaluation of my images

My first photo shoot during this project didn't really go well as I didn't really know what I was doing I did get some decent photos but I thought it was best to re-group after I got some new ideas.

These images really weren't the best and I feel I probably should have done a lot better of course it would have helped if I had some ideas when I went out taking these photos but nonetheless I got some pretty decent images which I used in my book.





My second photo shoot went a little better as I had a few ideas what I was going to do, this shoot was easily much better, but I thought it was best to do a third shoot to improve my images and to get more.

These shoot was much better as I had more ideas of what I could do as I looked at different artistic football images. In this shoot I got a fair few images that could be used for the book, but I decided just to be on the safe side I would do a third shoot this time at Shobnall, so it was a different location so I could have even more images to choose from when it came to picking my final images for the book.






The third photo shoot was a lot better than the previous two. This gave me several brilliant images a lot of them I used in my book. There were a couple of bad images that couldn't be used due to them not being very good at all or being under or overexposed. But despite this I am thrilling with how it all came out.

This shoot provided me so many strong images that I am really proud of, this one for certain was one of the best this image I used as my front cover. The shoot provided me with a lot of images that I used for my book and I am really proud of this shoot.

Published books

When researching which site to use for my book I looked at two different sites, Blurb which I found straight away and Photo Box, one that had been recommended by family.

When looking the Blurb I found it an okay website to use but limits you to what you can do whereas Photo Box was a easy site to use and their was no major complications that I had when making the book.

I would easily use Photo Box again and definitely ahead of Blurb.

Jurgen Vantomme

Jurgen Vantomme is a photographer who is known for incorporating unconventional items into his sports photography.

 This image I quite like as it incorporates the power plant in the background, with the football in the foreground. It truly shows what sort of conditions small clubs play in. I think the main reason I like it is because it incorporates both the football and the power plant making it truly unconventional.

This image incorporates and abandoned train into the background of a player trying to take a corner kick. This image I feel shows even more than the top image what conditions some clubs play in. It could be considered quite a busy and distracting photo but I like it because it focuses on the train, but you can still clearly see the player and fully know what he is doing.

This image shows what seems to be a ski slope in the background of the image. This image is probably the best of the three as like the others it shows the conditions of the ground where they play but it also incorporates some of the action into the shot as well.

Joanna Ginger

Joanna Ginger is a British photographer who is best known for her football photography most of her work is shot at non-league teams instead of the bigger teams which most football photographers aspire to.

This image shows a player in white trying to dribble past the player in blue who is trying to slide tackle the ball away from him. Looking at this photo it does look like he missed the tackle, though I think this is a pretty decent image but to improve it I would try and get an image where the player is actually tackling the other where they make proper contact. Other than that I do like the image.

This image shows the player in yellow trying to hold off a challenge from the player in red. This image I do like a lot because it shows the concentration on the face of the players in trying to get the ball and in trying to get away from the tackler. Like the image above I would try and get the image when the player in red has actually made the challenge not just before. But I really do like this image, more than the image above.

This images shows a player running towards goal. This image I feel is the worst of the three as it is too busy as it shows multiple players which are distracting because they aren't blurred out and they are wearing bright colours. To improve this image I would focus on the player dribbling the ball and not the other players. I would zoom in on this player to get the shot, or even see what he is about to do as he is on the edge of the box and you could get a much better shot when he gets in the box.

Adrian Dennis

This image shows Man United's Ander Herrera and Southampton's Victor Wanyama battling for the ball. I think this is a strong image because it shows the pair battling and is mainly focused on them and no-one else, the fans in the background aren't distracting. Though Marouane Fellaini is stood in blue just behind them and he isn't completely out of focus and could be considered quite distracting.

This images shows Robin van Persie in a one-on-one situation with Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster. I feel this is a good image because it shows van Persie focusing on the ball and where he is going to attempt to shoot, it is also strong because it shows Forster's attempts to distract him to stop scoring which come not no use as he scores.

This image shows Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas playing against QPR, attempting to run clear of a defender chasing him to attempt to get the ball off him. This is a strong image as the background isn't distracting, and that it also shows the concentration of Fabregas' face not get away from the defender and the defenders concentration as he looks to chase him down and tackle him and ease the situation.

Different Cameras

Compact - A compact camera is a smaller version of an SLR, it is small enough that it can be taken around in your pocket though due to the increase in phone cameras, they have been bought less frequently.

Digital SLR - Digital SLR cameras a large than compact and are usually used by more confident photographers and those who don't consider themselves amateur photographers. These types of camera are more complex than compact but do have the capabilities to take much better photographs.

Speed camera - Speed cameras are normally used to catch people speeding on the roads and are rarely used for commercial photography, though people have been known to use them for projects but it is hard to find out about them as they haven't really been done by any big name photographers.

Bridge - Bridge cameras are a type of camera in between DSLRs and Compacts most people who will use these feel their ability is too good to use compacts but not quite good enough for DSLRs. A lot of professional photographers who use DSLRs in their normal work will occasionally use Bridges as a change from their normal cameras.

Polaroid - Polaroid cameras are a type of camera that produces an image not long after the image has been taken, it is produced on a polaroid that comes out of the bottom of the camera. These aren't often used anymore, though photographers do still used for projects.

Film - Film cameras a type of camera that requires a roll of film to be used, due to the creation of digital photography in the late 1980s they have become less used, though there are still many photographers who only used film cameras in their work.

Medium format - Medium format, a small version of the large format camera are a type of film camera that over the years are used less frequently, though these are still used by a fair few people which means these stay in production.

Large format - Large format camera the original camera are rarely used anymore due to the creation of other more advanced cameras though there are still a select few who do still use them and some photographers do use them quite often.

Stuart Roy Clarke

Stuart Roy Clarke is a British football photographer who has worked for The Homes of Football and has taken a wide range of images for them for years and has built up a huge portfolio of work. His images have ranged from focusing on the action and on the crowds. He has also taken a lot of images of football that isn't the action. He does have a lot of images that do incorporate the action but he also has a lot of shots of non-action images that incorporate football but aren't action shots. These sorts of images are really impressive a showcase all the different aspects of the sport which I feel is what football photography is all about. His three different images on this page are all action shots but are very different, all taken during the 1990s and all feature players in red, but the top image shows Eric Cantona playing for Man United attempting to show off some acrobatic football skills, at this point the ball is not in shot this means that he has missed the ball or more than likely he has taken the shot. I really like this image because it is something that is not done very often in matches and to catch it like he has is just incredible. The second image shows Peter Beardsley taking a shot in a game for Liverpool, I like this image because it still has the ball in shot as it is heading towards goal and it shows the swinging action of his leg after taking the shot. The third image I really like because it focuses on the defender clearing the ball and it also features all the other players around him who were trying to out jump him to the ball.

Large format camera

Large format prints are create by using a large format camera, this is done by getting the subject in place, focusing the camera this is done by using the dials on the side of the camera and the cloth is put over the top so it is easier to tell whether it is in focus or not. When you focus the shutter should be open, when this is done you check that the aperture and shutter speed are correct then you close the shutter and cock it. Then you hold the button down for a specific time, for me it was eight seconds. The  paper in the film has to be taken out and turned around, kept up when the image is being taken then returned then it is developed. Afterwards it is inverted as get this result.

Mark Pain

 This first image shows Wayne Rooney getting tackled during an England game this image I find really interesting because it shows the impact of the tackle and the reaction of the player after the tackle. The main reason I find this image interesting is it shows the tackle just after it has been made and it shows the concentration on the face of the Welsh player making the tackle and the anguish on Rooney's  face after the tackle has been made.

This image shows Angel di Maria sat on the group after the Southampton player behind him has presumably made a tackle on him. I like this image because it shows the Southampton player pleading his innocence, trying to say he didn't do anything to the other player, whereas with di Maria is shows him sat down after what looks like a challenge from the Southampton player. The only thing about this that I could criticise is that on the Southampton players hands and the tip of his head look a little blurred but other than that it is a really strong image.

This shows Cesc Fabregas playing for Spain challenging an England player for the ball. I like this image because it shows that the pair have gone up to head the ball and by the looks of it Fabregas has come out better, it shows the pair after challenging as the come back down from jumping. It seems to indicate that they have had a collision as they have gone up for the ball as well. This is a strong image because it focuses purely on the two players and the background is not distracting as it is blurred out enough.

Proposal

For this project I will be photographing football the main reason for this is I have a huge interest in football photography and I haven't done in a project before and it is time for me to show what I can do with different types of camera and what I can do when I am not taking action shots.

I will be photographing mainly close up shots of people whilst playing football, I will also use a few action shots as well. For this project I will be using a digital SLR which will be a Canon 40D, a compact and film camera. This will be done as I want to see how different the images and what I can try to achieve by using a wide range of images. I will be taking the images in colour this is because I feel that football images look better in colour, though there are some images that I feel look really good in black and white, I will experiment with the images to see whether black and white or colour work. All of the images that I choose as my final images will be displayed in a book as it the main part of the assignment. With these images I hope to show all the different ways that football photography can be done and that it isn't all about the action shots and that it can be quite artistic.

When it comes to access of the locations, all the locations that I will need permission for, I already have so that will be no problem whatsoever. When it comes to equipment, I will require three different cameras, I already have a my Canon 40D the digital SLR and the compact the Canon G10 all I need know is a film camera, this shouldn't be hard to gain and I already have the film so that makes it easier for me. I will be looking at many different types of football photographers for my research so that will help and inspire me when I take the actual photos. I already have created a week by week plan so as long as I stick to this I should be okay with my project and get it all completed on time and professionally.

Week by Week plan

Week 1 - Complete introduction, start initial photo shoots to try and gain inspiration. Gain ideas for upcoming photo shoots and plan them out.

Week 2 - Complete proposal and begin research ensure by the end of the week at least half of it is completed. Do at least one photo shoot so that there are at least some images to work with. Evaluate all photo shoots done during the week. Edit all photos taken during the photo shoots.

Week 3 - Complete any photo shoots make sure that by this point at least three have been done and that there are over 100 good images, so that they can be narrowed down to the final 35 images. Evaluate all shoots done during this week as week two's shoots should have been evaluated the previous week. Make sure final 35 images are selected.

Week 4 - Compile the photos and send the book of to be made. Ensure that by the end of this week that the research is completed. Reflect back on all photo shoots and discuss how the images were achieved and how they could be improved.

Week 5 - Work towards completion of assignment, evidence all working progress, write an overall evaluation.

Introduction

For this project we will be publishing our own book. This project has no specific theme; we will choose the theme ourselves and create a book around that theme. The main aim of this assignment is to produce around 35 images and then collate them together into a book, which we will create over the Internet and then have printed.

For this project I will be photographing football, this will comprising of both action and more artistic shots. I will be taking some shots of actual games being played to use and also some posed that are often seen on posters to advertise products. The assignment encourages experimentation, and I feel that I will be doing this as normally with my football photography I base it around action shots and this time I won’t be just basing it around these types of shots I will be getting others as well.