FINISHED

Well that's it. Done, dusted, and put to bed, I hope.

Cheers to everyone and good luck with your photography in the future.

Dave

Exhibitions, Galleries, and Displays

Exhibitions and Galleries are not the preserve of artists. Many exhibitions are held, in galleries, for prominent photographers. Size and scale are essential considerations in such environments. A massive canvas print on very large wall can completely fill the space.However, a small picture on a similar wall will also create a high level of interest and can be equally as powerful.


Today there are many photographs that are printed onto all sorts of different materials, the choice of which will help to determine whether a particular image needs a frame or not.

However, the printed material is only one aspect. Certain images may need a frame to give them the finish that the photographer requires, or to enclose the subject matter.

Should you choose to put a frame on an image, you then need to think about the colour and style of that frame. Does your image need mounting within a frame, or will it stand on it's own? Frames can be purchased at specialist framing shops, or you can simply buy small, standard frames from stores like Wilko, Boots, or even Tescos.

How strong is your image? Will is stand on it's own, or will it look better in a collection of images?

Exhibiting photographs requires an understanding of the space in which they are to be hung and how they will react to the surroundings. Hung on a white wall, the effect will be very different to if the same image is put against a patterned, or coloured wall.

All in all, there is a definite skill in exhibiting your images to maximise their impact. The final solution can only really be created once:-

• You have all of the facts in place and you understand the 'space', 
• Know how you want to portray your image, 
• You understand your target audience, and 
• The impact that you are aiming to create.

Photography Books

There are many themes that can be chosen for photographic books and what you wish to achieve with your book, that will determine the format of your layout.

Books can be used for many, many, purposes. They can be used for holiday snaps, to compile a portfolio, to tell a cultural tale, to discuss a topic, or virtually anything. A wedding album, or photograph album, is really just a book by another name.

Once deciding what kind of book you are looking to produce, you then need to think about the setting of the photographs. Do you make each photo a single page, or do you want multiples in order to create additional, or different interest on a single page.

I travel a lot, and I use photographic books to enable my friends and family to see where I have been. It is great to be able to sit at the computer and review the images that you have taken, and with various websites you can reach millions of people with your images, if you want to.

However, not everyone wants to sit at a computer and therefore publishing on line is not necessarily the best medium for sharing the pictures with others. Hence I have a number of books that sit on a coffee table, that my family and friends can look at if they wish.

In these, typically I will add several images to a page, but will mix and match sizes to create the best effect and to tell the most I can about a place, or a situation, within a single, or double, page.

For greater effect, or to relate a particular scene, you can span a couple of pages

As well as the images themselves, you need to think about the type and quality of the paper to be used and the backgrounds to be applied.

Great emphasis can be applied to images by the use of coloured backgrounds. In the image below, I was standing inside a church, which was dimly lit. The light outside was so bright that I was able to capture the image and with the settings employed, managed to ensure an almost black background. Using a black page, I was able to exaggerate the emphasis on this particular image.

Positioning the doorway on the right also draws your eye to the right. Add to this the fact that this was published on a right-hand page and as you turn the page over, you are instantly met with the vision through the door.

Books can be published from all over the internet or from places like Boots, Jessops, and many other High Street outlets.


I chose not to publish my images within a book, as I did not want to restrict the ability of my classmates to be able to view them too. Books are excellent and there is a time and a place for them, but (cost aside) I decided that this was neither the time nor place for presenting my images in this way.

DVD In - Hurrah!

After many trials and tribulations, I have finally managed to 'hand in' my final images for review. Given that the files were so large I ended up having to put them onto a DVD with a 4.7Gb memory capacity.

I chose Assignment 208 as my project for the course and entered two categories, People & Places and Nature. I have presented the workings within my blog, as can be evidenced by reviewing the blog in detail. However, to provide the final images for review, I put them into two folders on the DVD as below and labeled each accordingly.

Within Each folder I retained the original images of my final selections, to enable the examiner to see how I had arrived at my final ten for each category.

The final images were stored within the 'Finished Folders' file, each within their own folder too.

Within each file I have included an original RAW file and a JPEG of that image too. In addition, there is a final image Photoshop (psd) file and also a JPEG of the final image. Supporting the Photoshop work I have also included Screen Dumps (SD) in sequence so that it is easy to follow the progression of any adjustments made.

Finally, as an overview, I included the complete set of final images within their own folder as individual JPEG's.

All that remains now is for me to complete Assignment 211 and I'm done.

Online Printing Services

Printing photos allows you to display them in various formats and in numerous sizes. They can be printed as small photographs, for including into a photo album, or for mounting into frames for putting on the wall. How you ultimately wish to display them will determine the size of image that you will want to order. Alternatively, you can have the images printed onto canvas, or blown up as large format images, for mounting onto frames.

There are a myriad of websites that you can visit to order prints on line, ranging from Bonus Print, Jessops, Boots, or other, to even people like Tescos.

Before deciding which format you want to adopt, you will need to have chosen the final image, or images, that you wish to have published. Whether you choose to print in colour, or other, you will need to ensure that the final format chosen is such that it compliments the image.

In addition to having images printed as standard sized photos, or for wall mounted images, you can get pictures printed onto canvas, or blown up as poster images. Pictures can be mounted in groups rather than as single images. Images can be printed onto cups/mugs, or presented on calendars.

By digging deeper into your chosen publishing method, the website will reveal a plethora of information about the detail of the format that you choose. It will give you options as to the exact size of the finished image and the material/paper on which it is printed. In addition it will provide you with a price and you will then have the option of loading your image and ordering the item.

Create a Portfolio

Creating  portfolio of your work can be a daunting task. However, if approached in a logical manner it need not be so. The key thing to decide is the theme for the work and then to review your images to make sure that they meet the criteria that you have set for your portfolio.

Once you have chosen your images you then need to decide the order in which they should be displayed. Start string and end strong. It is important that you insert the picture in an order that enables you to make the best of the images that you have. So, start with one your best images and end with yet another of your strongest images; as this will initially set the tone for what is to follow and when the viewer gets to the end, leave them with a great impression of your work.

Literally translated 'portfolio' actually comes from the French porte folio, which stands for 'page carrier'. Folio is a specific size of paper and porte refers to the French word 'carry'. Although the word folio does refer to a specific size of paper, there is no limit as to the size of the pages that can be included within a portfolio or to the sort of materials used to bind and cover the portfolio. 

It is a very simple way of keeping themed images together in a single entity. However, the way in which you display the images can vary and will be vitally important in ensuring that the images are presented in the absolutely best way. 

• Do you simply insert images into clear wallets?
• Should you mount images on card or other?
• Do you want to use a border or not?
• What about the type of paper used to print the images?

How you insert the images in the portfolio is subject to what you want to achieve. In order to protect the finished images, you may want to protect them by inserting them into plastic wallets within the portfolio itself.


If you choose to mount them, then you need to be sure that you are using a background that compliments the image. Do you use a black or a white background, or would a coloured background be better? This is subject to the context of the picture that is being displayed.


In addition to thinking about how you mount your images, consideration needs to be given as to the type of paper used on which to print the image. Should you use matt paper or gloss paper ? The decision will be arrived at by assessing which type of paper portrays those images in their best light.


The reality is that with the explosion of digital photography, it is no longer essential to print images within a bound portfolio, as your images could be presented on screen. However, there is a pace for both options, subject to what you, as the photographer, are trying to achieve.

The decision will most likely be taken with the specific audience and also the costs involved, in mind. Presenting on screen is a low cost option for presenting digital images to millions of people, via websites like flickr, picasa, and others. However, this may not be the way that you want to go if you were looking to present your images to a 'critique panel' who are looking for printed work, or looking at specific aspects of the images.

A portfolio is a collection of images that are essentially put together as a display. This display however, is restricted in it's viewing audience and is tailored for a specific purpose. 


Having studied the requirements of the C&G Photographic Course, Assignment 208, there is no requirement to display a printed portfolio. Therefore, I have chosen to present my portfolio using the web tools that are available to me.


By presenting my work in the blog I am able to show and take comment from the other members of the group. I am also not limited in the size of the images, which can be instantly 'blown up' to reveal additional detail. In addition, you can more easily control the colours and the image that you see on screen is the image that you get - every time.

Within the scope of the People and Portraits portfolio I had a vision to take some images in front of some graffiti. This was aimed at adding a mass of colour to contrast with the commercial images.  This was following the works of Mark Tierney, who uses graffiti to great effect.

Taking the original image, the first step was to crop the images to A3 size and to save it as 300 dpi.

I then took a background copy to save the original. Looking at the image I just checked the levels to make sure that there was sufficient balance within the image. It did semi a little dark, so using the white dropper, I took a sample form the white area and lightened the image itself.

The location was actually under a bridge and the overall light was limited, producing dark images. Consequently, I used by reflector to throw some light into the image, which is why the light is being projected upwards within the image. However, this created a very interesting dimension.

The image did look a little pale, so I added a little more redness to the image using a hue/saturation layer and increasing the saturation for the red colour only.

Even after this, the background did not add a lot of additional value to the image so, once more, I was curious to see how it would look in black and white. Therefore, I took the colour out of the image by adding a Hue/Saturation layer and reducing the saturation.

This left me with an interesting image, with the use of the light creating an extra level of interest within the overall picture. This has allowed the model to stand out from the surrounding background and has exaggerated the features of her face.