spookyinternetking-blog

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My website is up and running.

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Competition Entries

It is important that I start entering competitions as this will help me to increase networks and followers even if I don’t actually win anything. This extra networking option can be valuable to my future career as a photographer.

I have added some images showing the competitions I have entered so far.

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Adding my current work to my portfolio

I have decided to add some more of my most recent work to my portfolio. It is important for me to ensure I have as much of my current work available at this stage as I will soon be launching my portfolio and posting it to social media. Now that the portfolio is nearly ready to launch it would also be wise to consider some kind of marketing strategies for the future. I have heard of a site called Mail Chimp, which allows all kinds of marketing options so I should look in to creating an account there too.

My current work now has colour images of my recent projects, but I will also be adding the black and white images today along with a short statement about the work. These will also be added to my online store.

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Adding a store to my portfolio

Whilst building my website it has been suggested that I add a store to the site. This will provide potential customers the option to buy products directly from my site. I have chosen to use Wix.com for my site and looked into how to set up a store on that format. It is relatively simple to do, but it is also quite labour intensive. For now I have set up the store and added just a few products, which can be added to later. This is good as it means that I can update the store as and when I update the work I am producing.

This is an image that shows the shop page of my site, but the text is difficult to see on here. Thankfully there is a quick view option as you roll over the images which opens up a better view of the products.

Here is the quick view screen. The scroll bar at the right of the product allows users to move to the button that adds the product to a shopping basket.

I have set my store up to accept payments via PayPal and credit card. The site is connected to my email address so I will receive an email when a customer places an order via my site.

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Exhibition submissions for consideration

Following encouragement from peers and tutors I have decided to start submitting some images for exhibition consideration. I have just entered eight images for consideration in to two digital exhibitions for The Best of British Photography. The exhibitions are run by Solihull Photographic Society and the closing date for submissions is 16th December 2017. The two categories I have submitted for are Nature and Colour, so fingers crossed!

I have also been guided towards a number of other exhibition submissions as well as competition entries so I look forward to getting involved in these too soon.

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Presenting my portfolio

I wanted my presentation to be a little interactive, giving my peers the chance to see my online and printed portfolios as I felt this would be more effective. I presented my online portfolio using a MacBook, which I don’t use very often and I was unable to get to grips with the scrolling gestures on this. I think it would have helped if I had taken some time to practise this before the presentation.

I also thought it would be a good idea to show some examples of printed monographs I have previously created myself, along with some of the artists books which have driven my research. The feedback I received after the presentation suggested that maybe I could have reduced this and concentrated on presenting my current portfolio.

I started talking about my plans after I finish my degree, but I didn’t really go into a lot of detail here. Instead I began to emphasise backup plans for earning a salary if my initial plans haven’t worked out. The feedback from this suggested that I should avoid talking about backups when presenting my work professionally as this can appear a little negative for potential clients/employers.

I always feel nervous about standing in front of people talking about my own work and I think this was clear during my presentation. I tend to try to rush things and end up not making the best of my opportunity. This was all positive though, as it gave me a few ideas of ways to improve and I think I handled the questions at the end of my presentation quite well.

Motto for the future: Proper preparation prevents poor performance!

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Can I edit the footer of my website?

The footer of my website contained the name of wix.com within it and it had been suggested that I try to remove this. It affects the appearance of my portfolio giving the impression that someone else has designed the site for me. This was something I didn’t want to include in my site so I have tried to remove it in the site editor page.I am happy to report that it is possible to remove it and I have now done so. I have checked this in preview mode and it has removed it.

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New additions to my portfolio

There are some suggestions that I should now look at adding a few things to my portfolio. First of all I need to slightly alter the appearance of the gallery pages in my site as they are currently individual pages, whereas they may benefit from being part of a folder which provides a drop-down menu on the sites navigation.

I should also consider the idea that my portfolio may be improved by the use of postcards instead of business cards. This would compliment my style of photography whilst also taking advantage of my use of medium and large format film cameras to capture my images. Having already used VistaPrint for my previous business cards I should look into their prices for postcards too. I have also been guided towards moo.com as a possible site for creating postcards.

As well as these things it is important for me to consider adding a store to my online portfolio as this will allow potential buyers to purchase prints of my work. This is key to helping me to achieve sales and earn a salary from the work I produce. I have used wix.com to build my site and it will be very easy to add a store to that platform as they provide this option as part of their package. I have decided to make this the final step in building my site as I haven’t fully decided what to sell, what print sizes to offer and whether to offer downloadable digital files for sale. These decisions can be made when the rest of the site is up-to-date and ready to be published.

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A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace

Confucius

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Audience - Galleries

I have been thinking a lot about where I intend for my work to be seen and I think I would like to aim for galleries and exhibition venues. I intend to get my work to as many viewers as possible so it would be a good idea to contact galleries to find out how to get my work into these. Of course, there is the posibility that some galleries would only be prepared to offer me a portfolio review, which would be a very useful experience going forward. This would give me a few ideas about what works well in my portfolio, what galleries are looking for and how to pitch my work to potential exhibitors.

I have made a list of a number of galleries who I would like to contact in the West Midlands with a view to exhibiting and/or getting a portfolio review. I thought about contacting The Lighthouse, Wolverhampton; The Asylum, Wolverhampton; Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton; The Works, Birmingham; Whitewall Galleries throughout the region; The Reuban Colley Gallery, Birmingham etc. It is wise for me to consider starting small at first for a few reasons. Firstly, my reputation must be built from the ground up so to start with I will not be able to command space in the larger galleries yet. Secondly, my image library is quite small at the moment, so it would be difficult to fill a large space with my own work. This makes it hard to stand out as the gallery would appear quite empty. Also, I should consider the cost of exhibiting in galleries as they would expect some sort of up-front fee to cover the cost of the venue.

It is also a good idea to consider venues that are not normally considered galleries, such as Cafes, Restaurants, Shops, Garages and transport hubs. This could offer an interesting alternative venue for viewing images which have been captured within the urban environment; a way of bringing my projects full-circle. This could be an easier and cheaper way for me to gain followers and build networks, which may make all the difference in the future.

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What do I put in my Portfolio?

cAt this point I think it would be a good idea to make some decisions on portfolio content as I will soon be starting to build a portfolio that works for me. I have decided to use an online portfolio, with a printed portfolio to complement it.

I need to look at previous projects to help me decide what to start my portfolio with, as this will be the work that is driving my practice now. In the future, as I develop more work, it may be possible to re-evaluate the work I am doing, but now I just need to make a start.

I see myself as a Fine Art Urban Landscape Photographer so I will need to consider how this influences my choices here.About twelve months ago I was engaged with two great projects; The Death of the High Street and The Things We Leave Behind. I have also been building an ongoing project entitled Urbane Urban? iPhoneography. These three projects can all be grouoed together to make up the main part of my portfolio, with additions being made on a regular basis as my image library increases.

The Death of the High Street and The Things We Leave Behind are both shot using a Mamiya M645 medium format camera as I feel this helps me to achieve great quality throughout the image whilst maintaining a compact and lightweight kitbag.

In The Death of the Hgh Street I considered how our high streets have changed with the introduction of large supermarkets, out of town retail parks and department stores, and the effect this has had.

I spend a lot of time walking around my local high street and it has become an essential part of my shopping habits, so I am constantly aware that there are many changes that happen, which affect how we see and use our high streets. I am also lucky that I live near to Birmingham, UK and this helps me to analyse and emphasise these changes within my own work.

iPhoneography is a project I have really enjoyed doing because it forces me to consider what I am photographing and why/how it is relevant to my other work.I made a conscious effort to ensure that all the images were found within the urban landscape, so as to create a narrative of my journey through the environment in which I live and work.

The project is currently still ongoing as it was initially the brainchild of a friend of mine. He had contacted me via Facebook towards the end of December 2016 with the suggestion of a ‘Photo-a-day’ challenge; a challenge which I gladly accepted. The idea was simple; take at least one photo everyday for a year, beginning on January 1st 2017 and ending on December 31st 2017, and post it to social media. I didn’t want this project to be just a daily picture of something that only had meaning to me, so I make a point of looking for the things in the urban landscape which are new, interesting and constantly changing so I had to really think about what I was shooting. I chose to shoot this project on the iPhone as I always have it with me, even if I am not acrrying any other camera, and it is a perfect tool for posting to social media platforms.

In July I printed a one-off monograph of the first six months of this project because I just thought it would be good to look at the progression of the project throughout the year.

In The Things We Leave Behind I was keen to use black and white as I feel it removed some of the obvious signs of identity that colour provides. The result of this is to force the viewer to forget about any preconceived ideas they may have and approach the images with an open mind

The images in all of these projects have been taken in a number of different urban areas because I wanted to gather a broad range of different environments. This provided me with a more diverse idea about the urban landscape and the different social, political and economical issues which have formed the landscape.

There is a little issue witht he quality of the images in this black and white project. This has been caused by me scanning the printed images and trying to edit those in Photoshop afterwards. I can easily overcome this by retrieving the original film negatives and scanning those instead, before editing and uploading the images to my portfolio.

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Printed portfolio examples

I have had a look at some printed portfolios to see how these will compliment the online portfolio I intend to use.

All of these portfolios are available in a range of sizes and look professional and smart. They aren’t, however, unique as they are widely available designs. They are good for carrying work to and from meetings and interviews, keeping the work clean and tidy.

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A note about printed portfolios

I was looking into why printed portfolios are important as it may be a good idea for me to consider print as a supplementary option. High standards of quality can be achieved and the British Journal of Photography prefers to look at printed portfolios. A lot of people believe that it is a more pleasing option as they can touch, feel and interact with the print. Also, it is easier to be unique and control my identity as a photographer and it demonstrates my skill as an image maker. Selecting and editing of the portfolio is easier with a printed portfolio and the combination of print and online creates a stronger body of work. All of this can be supported with effective business cards, which match the themes and genres covered by the work.

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Photographers’ CV’s

I had a look at how other photographers lay out their CV so that I could get a few ideas for myself. Everyone is different, of course, but there seems to be some similarities in terms of layout and content.

I looked at Edward Burtynsky and Nils Norman as these are photographers who I have already researched and I know their work is similar to what I want to achieve.

Edward Burtynsky lays out his CV in three different sections, which are clearly defined. There is a section at the top of the page which details all of his exhibitions, collaborations and teaching; followed by a section detailing all of his collections; and then a bibliography.

All of these three sections are ordered in descending chronological order, which makes it easy to follow. It is also important to order it this way as the most recent work is the most relevant at this moment.

Nils Norman’s CV is slightly different in the way he lays it out. He has an Information page which is split into three sub-pages; CV, Bio and Press. The CV sub-page is a list of all of his achievements and teaching all in the same list. The Bio sub-page is simply a passage that explains in a bit more detail about who he is and what his specialism is. The Press sub-page is a gallery of book cover images and vlogs by Nils Norman. This is something I had considered for my own portfolio and it gives me some idea how to proceed with my own work.

I think it would be good to keep looking at others CV’s just to help to continue to inform my own research.

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The New Topographics

The New Topographics book is an interesting monograph, which deals with the subject of the peripheral of the urban landscape. The cover of the book is a light grey colour with white text on the front. The text consists of the title underlined, and a short piece of text describing the book. The title text sits centrally on the cover, with the descriptive text underneath. The title is a larger, sans serif font and the descriptive text is the same font, but a smaller size. This means that the description fits perfectly within the space immediately under the title.

Inside the book there are images from a group of similar photographers, who all adopt the same style: the peripheral in the urban landscape. I like the style of the book as there is a short passgae of text at the beginning, which talks about the New Topographics in a bit more detail, followed by the images. Each photographer has their own section in the book, prefaced with one virtually blank page containing the name of the photographer.

Each photographer then has a series of images as single page, individual images, or double page spreads of similar images. I particularly liked the images of Lewis Baltz and Stephen Shore, although there are some obvious differences between the two.

Lewis Baltz captures some very empty spaces of the urban landscape in black and white. He forces the viewer to consider the reason for these spaces and whether they can really be called a ‘place’. It seems they are just spaces which have no real reason other than to move the casual wanderer from one point in the landscape to another. I do notice something interesting within the layout of these images in the book. Where there is a double page spread there are often two similar images which appear to position the horizon line perfectly level. This has the effect of connecting the two spaces together, even if they are in completely different towns. This is clearly very deliberate within the book and it puts me in mind of the five key compositional techniques outlined by John Szarkowky in his book The Photographer’s Eye.

The biggest and most obvious differences with the work of Stephen Shore are the colour photographs and the way Shore captures clear intersections within the landscape.

This style, whilst different to Baltz, suggests that Shore has spent time studying the landscapes and making defined decisions about what to include in the frame. This is also true of Baltz and all of the New Topographics, a clear indication that the important points of the image are the thing itself, the frame, the detail, vantage point and time; as suggested by Szarkowsky.

I have noticed that I have also started to consider all these points when I am capturing images, although I tend to adopt a flaneur approach to image making. That is to say that I will wnader around the landscape without a set pattern or plan, taking in the things that catch my eye. This is particularly effective when wandering the urban landscape, where I spend most of my time.

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Online portfolio evaluation

I have taken a good look at the various options that are available to me for online portfolios. I think I also need to look at the options for physical portfolios as it may be a good idea to have something that I can show to potential employers/clients in the future.

I think I would choose Wix.com for my online portfolio because it represents the best value for money, despite the discounts I may be entitled to with Vistaprint and the Weebly site I already have. It is important that I consider value for money at the moment as I don’t know what my earning potential will be in the future. There are also more options for upgrading an existing package with Wix.com, for example if I decide to add eCommerce to my portfolio in the future.

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Online portfolios

After reviewing my previous and current business cards I thought it would be a good idea to consider different options for online portfolios. I already have an account with Vistaprint because I have ordered my business from them, but I have also been looking at Weebly, Wix.com and Zenfolio.

Weebly is an interesting option. Again, I have used the site for creating a blogging site with limited pages and I found it quite easy to use.

There are a few different options for upgrading the blog I already have with Weebly, but the least expensive of these would be most suitable to me as I don’t know how much I can afford to spend each month. All the options have a free domain name for at least one year, so that would be useful. The prices, however, are shown in US dollars, which can be difficult to understand. I am not sure if it is possible to change that to £/sterling, which would make it easier to understand.

The image above is a screenshot of my current Weebly blogging site. It is very easy to upload photos, add text and video, create a contact form and provide links to my social media profiles. Weebly also provides cross-browser compatibility, which allows the site to be viewed on a tablet or mobile phone as well as a variety of browsers. That is quite a good idea as this means I can simply concentrate on uploading the content for my portfolio.

Wix.com is a site I have never used before, but I know a few people who have used it and recommend it, so I think it has to be worth looking into.

On first look the site appears to be fairly similar to Weebly, but the prices seem to be a little more appealing. Firstly, the prices are shown in £/sterling on the wix.com site, which makes it easier to understand than Weebly. There also seems to be more to offer with each different plan on wix.com, so similar prices here may add value to my portfolio. Perhaps that makes it a better option than Weebly, although I am not sure about ease of use until I actually give it a try.

Zenfolio is a site which is often featured on Facebook through advertising. It is for this reason that I decided to have a look at what they have to offer.

Once again, the price plans are shown in US dollars and I don’t know if it’s possible to change this to make it easier to understand. It does seem a little more expensive to set up a portfolio using these plans and I am not sure it represents good value for money. The site seems easy to navigate and there are templates available, which might make it quick and easy to set up a portfolio.

Vistaprint may be a good option too. I have used the site for ordering business cards as they have a very good television advertising presence. There are always special offers on producing flyers, banners, business cards and websites with Vistaprint, so they appear to be impressive. As an existing customer I have a voucher code allowing me a discount of 25% and Vistaprint always provide the first month free of charge on websites.

The prices are shown in £/sterling and seem very reasonable as the packages are full of extra value. I could have a number of free email addresses, unlimited pages and search engine optimisation for a good price. These will all be useful additions to my portfolio, especially if my business begins to expand in the future There are only three different packages though and if I chose the cheapest option I would have to have a vistaprint suffix within the name of the site. I don’t think I would want that so the standard package would be a better option than the starter package.