Finals

Contact Sheets

Final Images & Evalutation

Dingle's Vintage Fairground

Dingle's Vintage Fairground, within my work, represents the brighter side of the dream spectrum and is the first story in my two dreams. What I wanted to recreate with this imagery is a strong sense of abnormality, focussing on the ethereal nature of dreams and how they are somewhere between reality and fiction. Dingle's was my first choice for this side of my work as I have mentioned previously in my work due to the convenience, bright vibrant colours and historical rides. 

Within each image I hope to portray how the spirits of the people who used to go on these rides still linger there and allow that to be the main narrative of this dream. Like I have mentioned previously in my work I designed my work to be the dream and create the narrative of each story around these dreams. How I went about achieving this is through a number of factors like: location, costumes, hidden identity, HDR/post-production and a few in shot techniques. In this shoot I had planned to have two clowns and a handful of other models to act as the spirits of the past patrons. I worked a lot with long exposures on this shoot as I wanted to enforce the feeling of time passing and, in this picture, the ghostly, otherworldly presence of the former fairground customers. 

The story I wanted to tell image by image goes as follows. For my first image I wanted it to be set out as if the viewer is being welcomed into the dream, arriving at this surreal, mystical dreamscape. When I was at the fairground I wandered around with this shot in mind and picked out the perfect composition for how I wanted this shot. The reason I chose to frame it like this because of how the rope for the ride flows well from the front of the frame to the back. By placing one of the clowns right at the front I hoped it would lead the viewer from the clown along the rope and into the rest of the image, allowing people to enter into the image/dream and explore each element. 

In my second image I wanted to create the feeling of the clowns being encased within these rides for eternity. How I went about achieving this is by the use of long exposure and choice of ride. For instance, I chose to use the Waltzers as there was a platform within the middle for the clowns to stand whilst the ride goes on around them, giving the effect of being locked into the ride. I wanted the clowns to be central within the image to make them the main point of focus and, like my other picture, allow the viewer to explore the rest of the image.   

My third image was to enhance the sense of time passing and the past being locked into this ethereal reality outside of the real world. I used a photographic technique in order to give the effect of the people on the ride in focus while everything is rushing behind them. In doing this I wanted to give the effect that they were outside of the real world in their own dimension, separated from reality. The technique I used was setting my shutter speed to a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second and then whilst the ride was starting to roll around following the carriage with my camera, focusing on it constantly, then taking the picture at the right moment. 

  

Finally, for my fourth image I wanted to finish with an image to augment the feeling of these spirits being forever chained to this place. Yet again I used long exposure to capture the sense of time passing and things going on around them. I posed the models as if they are standing guard, locked into an ethereal time capsule.  

I made sure that I shot on ISO 100 and f22 so that once I put it through Photomatix the images retained their detail and did not increase the noise. I used HDR on all of these images because I wanted to heighten the surrealism and create that dreamlike effect to improve my narrative and allow my theme to be obvious.

Overall I am happy with my images for this shoot, I like how I have been able to capture, to an extent, the photographs I imagined as well as being able to make my point and narrative clear and understandable. Nevertheless, I feel there is definitely room for improvement and there a couple of aspects I would like to change if I had the chance to redo the shoot. For example, I feel I could have incorporated more of a storyline throughout the four images instead of, somewhat, repeating the same point with each image. I also would have liked to use the long exposure of people moving around while the clowns are still, as I feel this really described my idea in a nut shell. My favourite image is the first one as I believe it not only captures the essence of my project, but it is a perfect starting picture for my story. My least favourite is the fourth image because of the plainly dressed models, who I feel detract from the history I wanted my work to depict. If I were to reshoot this I would make sure I had a costume for each model so that all the images fitted together perfectly.  

Bodmin Jail

Bodmin Jail represents the other side of the dream spectrum, nightmares. This is the second story of my project and has a clear and understandable narrative. Just like my other shoot I wanted to recreate a strong sense of abnormality, focussing on the ethereal nature of dreams and how they are somewhere between reality and fiction. Bodmin was my second choice for this side of my work as I have mentioned previously in my work due to the dark, sinister history with executions. 

Within each image I hope to portray how the spirits of the prisoners who used to be held  still linger there and I want to base my narrative around what would have happened to them. The story I told was of the prisoners being executed and taken to the afterlife by the executioner. I wanted this body of work to completely contrast my other story so that it is clear to see the opposite sides of the dream spectrum. How I went about doing this was the same as Dingle's with: location, costumes, hidden identity, HDR/post-production and a few in shot techniques. However, instead of enhancing the colours I removed them entirely and added a sepia tone and a couple of texture layers to make them more authentic and in-keeping with the history I am trying to depict. 

The story from image to image goes as follows. My first image is to represent the prisoners waiting in the cell for the executioner to come and collect them. I used a constant light source to give a spotlight effect and enhanced the shadows to add a sense of something hanging over the prisoners. 

My second image is showing the executioner coming to collect the prisoners. For this picture I wanted to make the executioner look almost like the grim reaper, an essence of death that has come to claim his victims. Bodmin Jail is associated with death so I wanted to mirror that into my work by getting the characters to look ghost like. I achieved this through post-production and in shot techniques, using long exposure to create the blurred misty effect of the models faces.

In this image, as you can see, it is symbolising the prisoners being taken to the gallows and about to come to their deaths. I used three models in this shot because I felt it helped improve the composition of the image and add more depth. I wanted to create a sense of the other prisoners waiting their turn, however did not include all four as it would have thrown off the composition and use of the rule of thirds.

Finally, this image was used to portray the spirits of the prisoners being taken off into the afterlife by the executioner. I created the light effect by giving each prisoner a flash gun and getting them to stand inside the cells, so whilst I was taking the picture they would flash to give this effect. I got the executioner to turn away from the camera and have the noose over his shoulder to symbolise him departing.

Like Dingle's I made sure I shot on ISO 100 and f22 to ensure I had as much detail within the images, helping to improve the effect given by HDR. In post-production I made the images into black and white, added a texture layer of old paper, duplicated it to enhance its effect and then used a gradient map to give off the sepia tone. I used a fish-eye on all of the images to give the effect of things closing in, to emphasise the how the prisoners lives came to a end.

All in all I am happy with how the images turned out, I feel these are the stronger out of my two stories. The reason behind this is because I planned each little detail and what I wanted each shot to include. I also did not have the pressure of a time schedule as I used my friends as the models and they were happy taking part. I did a lot more research on Bodmin Jail and knew exactly what story I wanted to tell. My favourite image is the second one because I love how the ghostly look of the prisoners. My least favourite is the first one as I do not feel it is a compositionally strong as the others, not to mention the fact it does not carry the same impact that the others do. If I was to re-shoot this I would only change the first image and try to incorporate something a lot more hard-hitting, by use of shadows, composition and how the models are positioned.


In conclusion I am pleased with how my work has turned out. I feel I have managed to convey my ideas and concepts through my imagery. I believe I have shown a strong contrast between each side of the dream spectrum, by the use of location, the story within each and the post-production used. I am happy with how I planned my shoots and believe I have made an improvement since my last projects by making sure I have a clear understanding of what I was doing and how I was going to do it.