Fruit & Veg brief

This brief was simple enough, our requirements were 5 digital prints that included fruit and veg. This open brief left me scared if i'm honest. Its nice to have an open brief but thinking of an exciting idea is not my strongpoint. I left it for a few weeks thinking of ideas in the background and it got to the point where i just started shooting. My first veg was iceberg lettuce, this is where my idea came from. Be literal iceberg lettuce, after the test shoot i wanted to freeze the lettuce in the ice to create iceberg lettuce. This had me thinking of other ideas. My final five were, iceberg lettuce, button mushrooms, spring onion, butternut squash and runner beans. This brief had me scared but by the end of the brief i found I really enjoyed it, possibly because I was really happy with the outcome to the point I feel I want to show it on here.

WassinkLundgren

Thijs Wassink came in to talk about his books and his journey though university and how his likes and wants in life changed to being a photographer and showing the world his works along with his friend and partner Reuben Lundgren. The work that they produced was rather impressive from books to images to the creative ideas that drive there work. One of my problems is coming up with ideas and i find myself saying why didn't I think of that more often than not. But it seems that ideas don't just happen but it happens you go out and shoot images and build of an image and begin to shape an idea. 

The talk was very informative as around the time of the talk we were all creating our own book, he gave us all advice on creating books and what the possibility and purpose of photo books are. Overall he was an inspiration, he came from an alternative degree and just liked photography and turned that like into a degree. I'm sure the whole year can relate to this, i defiantly can. My aim is to turn a love into a living.

Printed page - Pause (my book)

My book finally came from blurb, very happy with the outcome of my body of work, the cover is slightly off, not quite centre for some reason but that doesn't take away the fact that the images inside are great and can safely say this brief is the one i have enjoyed the most and got the mot out off. More than that it was the most relevant brief, introducing me to a whole new way of publishing and getting my work out there. 

The idea was inspired my a paper on how people need to take more pauses from there continuous lives. Just to look around and evaluate. The book is a visual representation of this with images of people doing just that. The book is very positive but also shines a light on the culture of Leeds and West Yorkshire through the characters that are captured in the images.

Below is my favourite image from the book ( although this has changed since i first got the book)

Converting my Brownie model D

I found the Brownie in a charity shop for £10 and couldn't resist, I knew the model only takes 620 film which is extremely hard to get hold of. But there is a way to convert it to shoot 35mm film. After asking Sam the technician i understood how. I took a 120 spool and snapped it in half and began to file down so that the 35mm would fit then it was just loading and closing. I choose to load colour film that was over 10 years out of date and successfully shot the film but still haven't developed the film.

The images that i were capturing were of around Leeds, however i were limited as the button to open and close the shutter was rather clunky so the camera had to be placed on a hard surface and force placed on the top to insure that they were no movement during the shutter movement. But this all added to the experience of using a camera that is over 50 years old, great fun and loved the challenge.

Adjective view mini-brief

The one day brief had the group shouting out adjectives and creating a list that we selected from and then captured an image for each word and then creating a zine with all the images in. The way I approached this brief was to go out and just enjoy taking good images without restrictions and constraints to any genre or any of the words. I then after all the images were taken put the words to the images to answer the brief and create the zine. My final work was presented in powerpoint form not on the website that was recommended.

I was really happy with the work that I produced in a short space of time, I seem to work more efficiently under pressure and produce the work that is needed, after shooting it was a case of a small amount of editing adjusting the levels and converting them from raw to jpeg. I have really enjoyed Maria's mini-briefs, it piles on immediate pressure but relieves you of the long term pressure of producing work files and slide after slide of research.

Size matters collaboration with Liam Bailey (graphic designer)

For this Liam needed some images for a brief he was completed, the idea was based around the borders and only capturing sections of his body at a time, I just set up a simple setup, two lights on the background with reflective umbrella's to evenly spread the light on the background and two lights facing his face and body. He was impressed and in the end used my images as part of his brief. The images showed of his quirky, sarcastic look to life which matched his idea. 

It was great to work with someone outside of the photography degree, they give you a alternative perspective on your images as well as the process of taking the images during the shoot, I am not ashamed to say that he gave me some great ideas when capturing the images aiding me in creating the images. The shoot was short notice, he asked me and I happened to have a slot booked that i didn't need so I squeezed him in and did it over about 90 minutes of shooting. I gave him the images to edit but kept of few of the images as evidence of the shoot.

Visiting speaker - Rose Butler

Rose Butler

Rose Butler is a senior lecturer of fine art at Sheffield Hallam University, she visited Leeds College Of Art during February of 2014. She came to discuss her previous and current works as a practicing Photographer that also has taken to film and moving images. Her work was like nothing I have ever seen, totally caught me by surprise and immediately caught my intrigue. The combinations of still images and audio she used in the sequence of mouse traps was possibly my favourite work that she showed. Reminding me of the on edge moments you get so often in modern horror films. She also talked about the manner she works in when producing her work and the method she used to come up with her ideas. It was just what I wanted to hear, she explained to the lecture hall that she uses her instinct as a photographer to capture images and then compiles them to come up with a relevant idea that relates to modern times and is new and creative. All in all Rose's lecture was inspiring and left me wondering what I would like to become after the three years I will spend at Leeds College Of Art.  

Online Portfolio - 500px

Online Portfolio 

In recent months I have taken to uploading some of my images to 500px, in doing this I have began creating an online portfolio that has followers and good viewership. As well as a tool to get my work viewed it helps me to test opinion on some of my work and ideas before I proceed with whichever project. After recent briefs and crit's I understand the importance of insuring that you have an online presence, it may not be so important for the big names such as Martin Parr but if your like me an unknown photography student this is the best way to get you on your way. The website is also great for research and seeing what is trending in he photography world and what is popular amongst the community. The ultimate aim is to get on the popular page, you achieve this by likes, favourites and comments as well as a large amount of views on the image. I am proud to say I have had half a dozen images on the popular page.

http://500px.com/wkneeshaw1

Portrait Project

This will be the final look for my Film outcome for the project, really happy with this digital representation, hoping that the tones will work well in black & white. Have enjoyed the project, but it has tested my skills as well as testing my people skills as it was hard to get hold of my model.

This project was the fist in the studio and the first time I had produced work in the studio for a brief, added to this I haven't really used film other than the castle trip and we were using medium format. This was a huge learning curve and the most difficult brief I have done in the whole of my photography learning throughout the years of my education. Now the aim is to shoot the images in film and develop and print, I am sure this will also be a major challenge but i'm sure I can jump that hurdle as well.

Gallery Vists

Leeds Gallery 

15 Yorkshire Photographers

Brian Lackman

Panasonic Lumix 6f1

Brian began as a fine artist developing his skills through completing a degree. He then became interested in photography after the practices overlapped whilst completing projects. The work that he was presenting in the Leeds gallery was looking into the genre of urban exploration or commonly known as Urbex. The work consisted of images of derelict buildings mainly focusing on walls with deteriorating wallpaper or bare pipework, he explained that he took three areas into consideration whilst taking the images, the framing of the photograph, the texture and the bleached out colours that are typical of this neich genre of photography that is mainly based around location. As Brian was there he explained how he got the images to the size they were whilst till retaining the high quality and sharpness of the image preventing distortion, he revealed he took up to 40 images and stitches them together to create a photograph that can be enlarged to a large size.

   

White cloth Gallery

Tom Stoddart

Shot on black and white film

Tom is a photojournalist that has travelled over 50 countries developing his portfolio of stunning and influential images of major events producing image after image that convey meaning. The images had a personal feel to them, the subjects he photographed didn't seem to note Tom. Some of his images pushed the boundaries, much like some of Don Mcculin's work in Africa and Vietnam. The images were shocking but the truth and at the time what people wanted to see. As the thrust for knowledge on events that weren't as accessible for the general public.

Studio practice

Studio Practice

(getting used to the equipment)

After having a tutorial on the basics on how to use some of the studio lights from our tutors, we split into small groups and proceeded to have a play with the lighting kits and get used to handling expensive equipment. We also have now been introduced to lighting ratio at a basic level and using light meters to aid us in creating high standard portraits.

   

An Image from the castle trip 

Northumberland, Featherstone castle

Controversial countryside

By Will Kneeshaw

On one of our many adventures around the castle me and a few friends happened upon dead rats hanging on a farmers fence in a odd manner, this was one of the images i capturing on digital. Really happy with the image, love the depth of field and how the rats are silhouetted by the light behind them. Its a real abrupt pattern on the image and could comment on the farmers in Northumberland.

Guest speaker Peter Mitchell

A documentary photographer based in leeds Pete had a great personality and didn't take himself serious and admitted to not fully knowing what he's doing when snapping his images. This point just makes his work more impressive, his obvious talent just comes naturally to him with his creative skill being expressed in his images. The talk gave me ideas for photographing in Leeds, which was the point of the talk as well listening to someone who is both successful and a nice guy who you"d want to go for a pint with in the local boozer, great first speaker to have and only reassures me that i'm in the right place to study photography, Peter deserves the recognition he gets in Britain.

Featherstone castle Northumberland

During out first week of study we went an a short trip to Featherstone castle in Northumberland. The purpose of the trip was to use various kit as well as get to know the people on our course and develop working relationships with peers and tutors. The castle was rich with history and ghost stories making it a unique experience. During the three days we completed various mini briefs and workshops that helped me to progress in both film and digital photography on a degree level. Also one of the smaller tasks was to create a camera obscura using black paper to block out the light and cut a small 5 cm hole. The effect produced was the scenery outside being projected flipped and upside down in our room. Our task was to photograph this using a long exposure of around 30 seconds. We then presented these images the following day along with our own images from the specific brief given to us where we had to capture images that were eerie, unpleasant and spooky reflecting the history of the castle focusing on a ghosting technique using flash guns, tripods and long exposure. The trip was eventful as well as helpful. Developing friendships as well as basic skills, below is two images that I took from the trip.  

Camera obscura

Ghosting effect (flash gun)

Introduction

My name is Will Kneeshaw, I have just enrolled at Leeds college of art. I am currently studying a BA(Hons) degree in Photography. One of our first tasks was to setup this blog with the aim to record our progress during my three years as well as talk about my past experiences within photography and interests that I have developed through studying the subject.

 My father showed an interest in the subject when I was growing up but never took it as far as buying a camera until a cheap point and shoot camera came with a bundle when purchasing a printer, we began taking photos and from then on the interest grew to the point where we shared a pass time. As I began secondary school the option to take photography became available giving me the perfect chance to develop my skills and become obsessed with the subject 

Prior to studying and Leeds college of art I completed two years studying A levels one of them being photography. My interests grew during this period to the point where I wanted to make a living from photography. At the moment all I know is that a career in photography is what I desire, however my current aim is to keep an open mind to any form of photography practice and during these three years I would like to sample all areas of the subject, this way I will get the most out of the years I spend studying here and help me to judge where I want to take the skills I will acquire during my study.