Helen Saunders

Saunders uses photoshop to manipulate her images to make a boring normal world look so much more interesting and powerful. Within the talk she showed us images she had produced of actual places but made to look eary and dark.

I love this image that is from Saunder's set called "constructed cities - digital photographic collage".
Saunders uses photoshop to create these amazing images. She uses different layers and takes alot of images and then groups them together using layers. In this image she shot the fence,the bridge and the far distance of the houses and then layered them together. I think the image works so well because there are alot of shapes involved within it. The fence also frames the image perfectly and gives the image a urban feel.

Saunders showed us work she had done comissioned, I didnt like it along with my peers we thought the images were too maipulated and obvious that they were. For example the image bellow is too busy and got too much going on within it which is too much for me to look at.

I didnt enjoy this talk as much as I have done with alot of the other guest speakers and I didnt come out of it feeling inspired at all.

Jill Cole

I loved Jill Cole's guest talk. I came out of it very inspired. She spoke about her project called "Birds" in great detail and it was obvious to me that she was very proud and passionate about her images.

Her project "Birds" was produced over 18 months and the images were shot on British military land they show birds that have been captured for conservation research. The birds were caught within a thin net held up by two metal poles either side.

Cole focuses on things she herself believes in and then portrays her beliefs within her images but in an obscure way.

Within Cole's images the focal point is always the bird, this helps me as a viewer as the background is blurred which helps me focus on the details of the net and the bird.

I love the image to the right because of the contrast of the sky and the bird. The images make me have different feelings... I feel sorry for the bird that is stook in the net but yet I love the effect that has because the image really makes you think.

Ali Lomas inspired images

I thought I would shoot images of my friend in the style of Ali Lomas - using different walls as backdrops the following images are my favourites.

I shot this image against my models kitchen wall. It is origanally a peachy orange colour but I have edited it to create a softer look. Just like Lomas' images the model is the focal point of my image. Whilst styling my model I delibertatly chose clothes that would stand out within my soft images. I chose the cherry red crop top and the american themed shorts. I believe the clothing contrasts really well with the models skin tone and also the wall behind her.

I used the same techniques on this image as I did with the first but I decided to use a wooden gate outside with a concrete floor because I wanted the image to have alot of texture.

The models facail expression and her composition also add effect to the image.  

Ali Lomas

I really enjoyed Ali Lomas' guest talk because she spoke so casually to us. I think because she is a local photographer it helped me feel like I related to her. She showed us some of her images and explained the thought process and developing processes of them all. When I got home from the talk I immediatly went onto her website to find out more about her and her work I found these three beautiful images which have become some of my favourite images I have seen. 

She spoke about how she built her success and about the privilages  she has had whilst working in the photography industry and how she approached them.

I love this image because it is so simple yet it works so effectivly. Lomas' image are all very similar in the fact the model is always the focal point to the image and there background is usually a wall, this reminded me of my own work as I like to shoot fashion styke images against different coloured walls to create interesting backdrops. I feel the backdrop being the wallpaper delivers an interesting texture to the image as it is patterned, alot of her images are of a similar style

Most of Lomas' images are nutural colours - baby pinks, whites and browns. The tone she uses in her images looks very soft and natural.

I love the image to the right as there is a contrast between innorcence and corruption. The image itself is very beautiful and natural. The lavender flowers and the model are beautiful but the focal point is the ciggarette in the models hand.

Suki Chan

I wasn't present for this talk but I have taken a look at Chan's website to find out about her and her work.

I found a set of images on Chan's website titled "Story of rice". I read that the images show a collection of poems,slogans,proverbs and drawings from many people of different ages,cultures and societies of their different perception of rice. These slogans and so on are then are shown in a large scale in neon lights by video projections. They were shot in different areas including a former petrol tank, a cinema in Chinatown, London and included a floor installation constructed with various rice flours and grains in China.

I think the idea behind these images are great. Taking a simple topic such as rice and portraying what the food means to many people to produce art showing those feelings towards it.

I love the neon lights images because the are shot on dark backgrounds which contrast and work so well with the lights making them the focal point. The images show alot of energy and thought within them.

My favourite image is the one to the right > which was shot in an old cinema in Chinatown. The focal point is deffinately the colourrful chinese writing in the background and I also like how the post in the center of the image breaks up the image.

I am sad that I missed this talk as I would of loved to hear Chan's thought process behind this project and how she feels about her finish prints.

Ian Shipley

Ian Shipley is an entrepreneur aswell as a successful photographer.
I found his talk very interesting as he spke about how he has been an entrepreneur for a long time and he spoke about how his success has built up throughout the years. He is also from Burton and his creation of Violent Veg which are humorous images where Vegetables come to life which are shown on greeting cards and calenders. He was telling us to try and think for ourselves and to always set goals in life. The talk didn't influence me too much as I already know my goals and know I need to work hard to acheive them.

Rutt Blees Luxemburg

I thought Luxemburg was a great guest speaker because she had so much to say about how her ideas developed into the images she showed us. She told us about each image individually. She really interested me as an aspiring photographer and impressed me with the fact her images have been used by various musical artist such as the streets and Bloc party.

She decided to show her images using a slide project which I thought was a better way to show all of the detailing in the images.

 The images she showed us had a luminous effect to them as she shot them all at night. I veiw the image to the left as eary because there is no presence of human life around it looks silent and lonely.

 She told us that she shot these images in places in London that people usually don't take images in. She created a set of images in which she shot images at the top of buildings. The images give the feeling of the adrenaline\ exhileration you feel while looking off the edge of a tall building.

The image to the left is her most successful and is also my favourite image in the set. The effect she was trying to achieve is show in this image and I also see it as abstract as there are many shapes within the image. Because the image is mostly all one colour the focal point for me are the red cars which stand out. Lines are used a lot in her images.

I will deffinately be looking at Luxemburg's work to influence me own in the future as she inspired me alot in the talk.