Rankin Day 3 & Skater / Stallholder portraits. 31st October.

Today started a lot slower than the previous few, I didn't have to get into the studio till the afternoon due to a shoot in the evening. I decided to utalise my spare time by going into central London. Originally my idea was to spend time at the Skate Park down SouthBank... but it was pretty empty, so I just shot a couple of portraits. I spent some time in Westminster, chatted to a couple of full-time protesters and took photos of stallholders.

I then decided to head towards Camden, it wasn't as vibrant as it can be, but I still got a few interesting shots of the market and town.

When I got into the studio I dived head-first into preparing for the evening's shoot. Out came the hoover to clear the floor, and then came the paint roller to paint the studio floor (It had become very dirty in the past 48 hours!), then we started to set up ready for the shoot. 

The Hunger sign was also completed today by Dom & Jack, two assistants who are currently very involved in the set building/hands on building things! The sign is amazing, and I feel a little bit proud of it as I helped create the sign a little bit.

The shoot in the evening was amazing, we were working with male models.. I rarely work with male models, so it was really interesting to listen to Rankin's directions towards them. I also got involved with the shoot by holding a reflector... I shall be amazing at using a reflector (and no doubt many other things) by the end of these two weeks. 

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Rankin day 2 & a few more shots. 30th October.

Today was day 2 of my time at Rankin.. it was a completely different day to yesterday, a rare chilled day before the storm which is going to hit tomorrow afternoon as we have shoots planned non-stop for the rest of my time at Rankin.

Today included creating some props; I have been working with a lot of lightbulbs for one interesting prop... I also did a tiny bit of plug re-wiring... felt like an electrician for a short while. I also helped paint a whole load of stuff white, the studio is white at the moment, but depending on the shoot the studio/equipment can be painted completely different colours... but today has been relatively easy as the studio is fine in white!! 

It is really great as I have been able to do so many different things in the space of just two days; it shows how working as a photographer or assistant is such a varied job where you need to use so many skills in a wide range of areas. Looking forward to see what the next few days bring.

My journey to the studio takes quite a while, so I have decided to pick up my camera on the way so that I can make the most of this time! I really enjoy my route as it is almost all overground, beats the dark tunnels in central London!

I also love the emptiness that night can bring:

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Rankin Day 1. 29th October.

Today I started my two weeks shadowing and assisting at Rankin; first thing I can say about it.. it is AMAZING! I started the day off by being introduced to a load of the team whilst setting up for a shoot which we were going to have later in the morning. I learnt a whole load of new names for equipment which I thought I already knew the names of! It was great watching how the teams set up for the shoots, everything that was on set was there for a reason (that may sound funny, but it is so easy to overcrowd a studio with unnecessary equipment).

When Rankin came in we started the shoot, the whole team worked as a well oiled machine and I feel like I fitted into the team really well (I even did a bit of reflector holding!).

Later on in the day the HungerTV guys started working on a short film. I am always ready to admit that I would love to become better at video, so I am looking forward to spending some time with them over the next couple of weeks.

Haven't been able to take any photos so far due to confidentiality etc... but I can tell you that it has been fabulous!

I have had to learn about a whole new section of the London Transport system, I snapped a couple of shots of the stations on my iPhone, so they are terrible quality... looking back now my DSLR would have been much better to use, so I may re-shoot these station photos....

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Lost Film & Polling Stations. 27th October.

I took this photo back in April when I was in London for a friend's birthday. A couple of weeks ago I found the roll of film containing this photograph on a shelf... so I finally got it developed today! I'm a little annoyed that I waited so long to get it developed as the photos have, but I'm still happy that I've found a whole load of lost photographs. 

I'm scanning in a few rolls that I got developed today, so the scans may be uploaded sometime soon.. either on here, my website, or facebook (look below for links). 

It was voting day in my little town on Thursday, this small parish hall was garbed in "Polling Station" signs, definitely thought it was worth a photograph!

I'm off to London tomorrow to start at Rankin on Monday, quite excited.. I aim to blog daily if everything goes to plan.

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More Mist with Campervans. 24th October.

I was driving home through the misty fenland surroundings when I saw this campervan, I quite liked it and pulled over so that I could take a quick snapshot of it against the river... it was one of those completely impromptu moments, but now I regret not crossing the road and taking a portrait of the owner who was fishing.. next time I will (if there ever is a next time!)

5 Days till Rankin!

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Horses in the misty fens. 23rd October.

I went out into the fens this afternoon (morning didn't work due to time constraints, but it stayed misty all day), I took my Mamiya & Nikon and headed off to meet some horses. My original idea was to find some nice trees and landscape scenes and photograph them, but instead I found these horses who were so friendly I had to photograph them!!

Hoping to get my film developed soon, so looking forward to seeing the results.. but for now here are some shots from my DSLR:

And a pylon:

In other news, I am off to London on Sunday as I start my time at Rankin on Monday.. pretty excited about this, I shall keep my blog very much up to date about everything which I am getting up to!

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Fallen Leaves. 22nd October.

It's autumn, the leaves are falling, it's getting colder, night comes sooner, and christmas doesn't feel like a far off event! 

I am going to attempt an early morning tomorrow to catch the beautiful misty fenland morning, I'll grab my Mamiya and head off.. weather permitting!! If not I'll try again on wednesday. 

The Burger Van Project. 19th October.

Possible new project: Photographing burger vans that I stumble upon during my travels. My Dad used to run a burger van and still uses it for catering events, so maybe that is what has interested me in this subject! I'll see how it goes, so watch this space!

H. 18th October.

Me.. Outside. 16th October.

Today was one of those days where I could have easily been stuck inside all day editing photos and typing up proposals.... I realised this at around 5pm and decided to grab a few camera bits and bobs and head outside for the sunset... Alex Boyd's work "The Sonnets" popped into my head (http://alexboyd.co.uk/sonnets/) and I decided to attempt a couple of self-portraits inspired by his work... this portrait may be miles away from his beautiful photographs, but a) I am not a model and b) I wasn't behind the camera! I may try and find a model to photograph like this.. one day.. but I'm happy with my photo for today!

I've Got It.. and a bit about Rankin. 12th October.

I bought a case for my phone from O2 a little while ago and I've had this bag sitting around ever since, I quite like the design as it is slightly humourous... so I decided to stick it to the wall and photograph it (like you do!).

I also have some great news to tell you.. I will be off to London again in 17 days, this time I will be working at Rankin for two weeks. I am very excited about this opportunity, and very thankful to D&AD for opening up the door to this opportunity. At the start of 2012 I would never have believed that I would be able to meet photographers such as Don McCullin and work with photographers like Rankin this year, but I have been shown that anything is possible.. especially when you work hard!

I am quite excited to see what else comes my way, but first things first.. let's get to Rankin!

MacBook Air. 11th Ocotber.

I have finally stepped into the world of Mac, after owning the odd iPod and iPhone I have been slowing converting to an Apple fangirl! I decided to go for the 11" MacBook Air, my Sony Vaio Laptop is fairly new and has no problem in running everything I need it to, so I didn't need anything to replace it.. instead I wanted something a little bit more portable so that I could take it with me when I work for tethered shooting and to utilise long and boring train journeys by editing photos! I am also intending on travelling a little bit in the future, and this is the perfect lightweight super-portable option. So far (after owning it for 2 days) I am super happy with it's performance, it has a beautiful design and I can not get over how slim it is! 

Cats at the Abbey. 10th October.

I met this cat today whilst I was doing a RECCE shoot at the ruins of an old Abbey, as I was part of the film crew for a project at Kingsgate where we were making a short film about worship (the filming went great and I look forward to seeing the edit!). I was distracted for a short while as I chased this cat around the ruins, but then I felt a little bit guilty for interrupting its stroll and I went back to the job in hand.

(Crowland Abbey - Lincolnshire)

Police Cars and Film Scans. 9th October.

Today's photo-a-day ^ ^ ^: a picture hanging in my house which I thought was a little bit interesting.

Most of today has consisted of Negative Scanning, these photos are from my early days of shooting film... they're definitely not the worst of my early-days photos, I cringe looking at the over exposed, out of focus, chemically-stained negatives, these were some of my successful ones:

Les Paul Epiphone (Mamiya RZ-67)

East Finchley Tube (Centon K-100)

Positive Negatives, a brand new scanner. 8th October.

I have FINALLY bought myself a decent scanner so I can now start the massive job which is scanning in my hundreds of negatives. I have a collection of Negatives from the past 2 years, some of which I don't even remember creating, it will be a journey of discovery as I haven't printed the majority of these beyond small contact sheets... I am quite excited and I shall share any beauties I find along the way... 

Here are 2 photographs from the Unison strikes in November 2011 (taken with a Bronica SQ-Ai):

Guitars, Nature Reserves and a new lens for my Mamiya. 6th October.

I went out with my Mamiya RZ67 today, I have a new lens for it, a lovely 50mm wide angle lens! I used to borrow a Mamiya with the 50mm lens, but I haven't been able to get to one for the past few months which has been very frustrating as I haven't been able to work on some projects including Our British Lives. 

I knew I wanted to take photos with the Mamiya today, but I had no models/sitters who I could call on, so I just grabbed my old guitar and went to a local nature reserve. I've still got half a roll of film to shoot before I can get it developed, but I am quite excited to see the results (as per normal!), I have really missed shooting Medium Format!

The Savoy, an empty town, and a little bit about the Ian Parry Award Ceremony with Don McCullin. 4th October.

It seems like I am in London a lot at the moment, I've been in London the past two Tuesdays and will probably be back in London for a week at the end of the month! There's a big contrast between the hustle and bustle of city life, and the empty streets of my local town at 6pm.. I'm not quite sure what I prefer. 

I also met this little dog today when I was wandering to my local shop:

Why was I in London last Tuesday? I was at the Savoy, there was a conference there for a Canadian company and I was the photographer for the event. It was a great conference set within an absolutely beautiful building, it was such a pleasure to capture the day and to work within such an iconic hotel.

I said I'd update you properly about the Ian Parry Scholarship award ceremony a couple of weeks ago, I have put together this very short video of the night.. I didn't take much footage as I spent most of the time talking to other photographers and admiring the work of the winners. One photographers I did get to talk to was Don McCullin, it was amazing to meet him as I have been incredibly inspired by his work. Don seemed to be very supportive of new talent as he gave me a whole load of advice, he urged me to not settle for photographing the easy things, but to get out on the streets and capture the things that happen. So I am currently looking for a project which will get me doing those things, sadly life in my rather empty town makes it quite hard at the moment!!

Ian Parry Scholarship Award Ceremony 2012. from Ruth Jones on Vimeo.