A Beautifully Baked Bank Holiday!

Whilst making the most of the Bank Holiday with this wonderful weather, I seized the opportunity whilst I was on my way to see Avengers: Infinity War to photograph some more plants and flowers, whilst experimenting with the exposure of the photographs I produced.

You can imagine because I decided to, again, walk rather than get onboard a bus, I did catch the sun, but it was worth it considering that it was a Bank Holiday worth seizing the opportunity and getting out and enjoying the sun for.

Below is the huge collection of photographs I produced that documented the wonderfully baked Bank Holiday weather.

I absolutely enjoyed this sunny weather and it was safe to say that I made the most of the Bank Holiday weather and with Summer on the way, it’s safe to say I will be making sure to ditch the coat more often if we are going to have more of this wonderful sunny weather over the next few weeks.

Did you enjoy this wonderful Bank Holiday weather? Please tell me as I would love to hear how you made the most of your Bank Holiday while the wonderful weather was here.

Alex Smithson

Device Used: iPhone 7

App Used: Camera & Camera+

Blushing Pink!

What a beautiful and wonderful day it was.

It was quiet again at work today and I’ve been enjoying the wonderful weather, and as it’s set to get warmer over the next few days, I’ll be off on Monday so I’ll be making the most of the free time while it’s available.

Here’s a photo of one of the plants that were blushing pink in this wonderful, sunny Spring weather.

Blushing Pink!

 

Was mother nature blushing pink for you today?

Please tell me. I would love to hear your response.

Alex Smithson

The Concept of Expression / Wesley Baker (CDN)

Kicking off the first photography article of the year, I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to photograph my close friend, Wesley Baker.

With his work being featured in and Croydon, with one of his most notable pieces of artwork being the centrepiece of Croydon Flyover of the hit cartoon, Astro Boy, Wesley’s CDNZine and CDNStore Instagram accounts boom with artistic values and energy, and I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to photograph him.

Despite the wet and windy weather conditions near Ambassador House, Thornton Heath, I was able to produce a good set of photographs, which can be found below.

1 – Relaxed

2 – Feeling at Ease

3 – Observation

4 – There’s No Boundaries. Never Be Afraid to Express Yourself

5 – Thinking of Life

6 – What Was That?

7 – Did You See That?

8 – It Was a Passer-By!

9 – Wait! Something Good is Happening!

10 – Stop! You’re Making Me Laugh!

11 – Composed

12 – Something’s Going On Behind You!

13 – Curious

14 – Try Not to Laugh!

15 – Something Good is Coming!

16 – Eh, I Have No Words!

17 – Things Are Finally Looking Up!

18 – Thinking

19 – The Sky Looks Greyer Than Usual

20 – Can’t Beat the Positivity!

21 – It Feels Good to Smile!

22 – Look at Me & Know I Support You.

23 – Is Everything Okay?

24 – Concentrated

25 – Feeling Content & Happy

26 – Looking at the World in My Own Way

27 – Observe your surroundings whilst looking at the bigger picture.

28 – Are You Serious?

I acknowledge the ISO was on the noisiest setting, but that was due to the torrential weather conditions on Saturday. I will be improving on making any future photographs I take less noisy and more focal and masked. At least then, this gives me a chance to learn from and improve on the final outcomes of any photo-sets I produce in the future.

Other than that, I am really pleased with how this photo-set turned out as I was able to get Wesley to do some facial expressions, natural and put-on, as this helped me to understand his personality and charisma through his work.

If you have Instagram, follow Wesley’s Instagram accounts, @cdnzine and @cdn_store and sign up to his mailing list by clicking here.

Also, if you are interested in getting some art installed on your living room walls or anywhere you know or you want to get a fleecy top, support Wesley’s brand by purchasing his branded CDN Shirts and his most current work: “NEVER MIND THE CONCRETE” through his BigCartel store by clicking here.

Please tell me in the comments below your tips on how I can improve my photography sets next time, as this will help me to improve and help me to develop my photography skills better. Also, please share this photo-set with everyone you know and even share it on social media platforms.

Alex Smithson

© Wesley Baker, CDNZine & CDNStore, 2018

© Permission was granted by Wesley Baker to use the CDN logo. Full copyright goes to the respective owners.

Camera Used: Nikon D3300

Lens Used: 18 – 55 mm NIKKOR Lens

Headshot #2 / Facial Expressionism / Final Major Project / Jonathan McCartney

Following on from the first set of headshot photographs I took of my good friend, Jonathan McCartney, I present to you the second headshot photographs I took of my friend, Jonathan, but this time, with a black backdrop, which I must say actually works much better compared to a white backdrop, and the black backdrop was an idea a close friend of mine suggested to me after he critiqued the Headshot #1 photographs I took of Jonathan.

These headshot photographs have not only improved my photography skills, but it does make a lot of sense to use a black backdrop in these photographs, including any other photographs that I will produce.

I have made sure to experiment carefully with these photographs by editing them in WordFoto and GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) so that they can retain the facial expressions I asked Jonathan to make, as these headshot photographs tie in with my Facial Expressionism Final Major Project, including the research I have done so far on the Facial Expressionism photographers, Fazal Sheikh and Irving Penn.

Below are the Headshot #2 photographs of my friend, Jonathan.

Normal (1 – Test Run)

Normal (2)

Normal (3)

Thinking (4)

Unhappy (5)

Surprised (6)

Acting Surprised (7)

Concentrated (8)

Angry (9)

Excited (10)

Interested (11)

Confused (12)

Confused / Furious (13)

Furious (14)

Disgusted (15)

Just like before, I have edited these photographs with WordFoto and used more than one word on one of the edited photographs shown below.

Normal (Edit) [1]

Normal (Edit) [2]

Normal (Edit) [3]

Thinking (Edit) [4]

Unhappy (Edit) [5]

Surprised (Edit) [6]

Acting Surprised (Edit) [7]

Concentrated (Edit) [8]

Angry (Edit) [9]

Excited (Edit) [10]

Interested (Edit) [11]

Confused (Edit) [12]

Confused / Furious (Edit) [13]

Furious (Edit) [14]

Disgusted (Edit) [15]

I have made sure to develop the photographs further by also changing the selected photographs to black and white whilst raising and lowering some of the curves on the photographs so that the lighting on Jonathan brings out his facial expressions better with a sense of depth and detail.

Normal (2)

Normal (3)

Thinking (4)

Unhappy (5)

Surprised (6)

Angry (7)

Concentrated (8)

Excited (10)

Interested (11)

Confused (12)

Furious (14)

Disgusted (15)

Overall, I am absolutely pleased with the end result that has come out of these photographs, and being critiqued on my work has actually helped me to develop my photography skills better, not just from receiving peer critique whilst in my Film & Photography lesson, but also from receiving critique from a close friend of mine.

The Headshot #2 photographs I have taken of my friend, Jonathan McCartney, including the edited versions of these photographs that I produced in WordFoto and GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) can be found in my E-Folio.

I would love to get your feedback on these photographs and please let me know what improvements I can make for when I produce more Facial Expressionism headshot photographs for next time. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Headshot #1 / Facial Expressionism / Final Major Project / Jonathan McCartney

Following on from the research I have done so far for the Final Major Project, I have started to develop my photography skills further, and the first subject I have photographed for my Final Major Project is my good friend, Jonathan McCartney.

As Fazal Sheikh and Irving Penn’s photography work has inspired me in the development of my Facial Expression Final Major Project, I have experimented with a white backdrop on the first set of photographs I have taken of my friend, Jonathan. Below are the headshot photographs I produced showing Jonathan doing different facial expressions. I acknowledge that some of the emotions might not connect to some of the photographs depending on the way these photographs are viewed, but I will be improving on this over the next few weeks.

Below are the headshot photographs I have produced so far.

Normal (1)

Normal (2)

Thinking (3)

Unhappy (4)

Surprised (5)

Concentrated (6)

Angry (7)

Excited (8)

Interested (9)

Confused (10)

Furious (11)

Disgusted (12)

I also experimented further by using the same photographs again, but this time, using the WordFoto app and I was able to use the WordFoto app to convert these photographs into words. The edited versions of these photographs can be found below.

Normal (1) [Edit]

Normal (2) [Edit]

Thinking (3) [Edit]

Unhappy (4) [Edit]

Surprised (5) [Edit]

Concentrated (6) [Edit]

Angry (7) [Edit]

Excited (8) [Edit]

Interested (9) [Edit]

Confused (10) [Edit]

Furious (11) [Edit]

Disgusted (12) [Edit]

I am pleased with the end result that has come out of the headshot photographs I produced. I have taken into account the peer critique I received on Friday 21st March 2017, especially the peer critique a close friend of mine gave to me on how to improve, and for the next set of photographs I produce which will consist of a different subject I photograph, I will be making sure to use a black backdrop as this will give me the chance to get the subject I will photograph to stand out better. A black backdrop is what I will use next time as the subject’s facial expressions can stand out more with some depth behind it to back up the facial expressions that are made.

The Headshot #1 photographs I have taken of my friend, Jonathan McCartney, including the edited versions of these photographs that I produced in WordFoto can be found in my E-Folio.

I would love to get your feedback on these photographs and please let me know what improvements I can make for when I produce more Facial Expressionism photographs next time. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Nature is Beautiful.

Nature is absolutely beautiful. The Spring weather continues to amaze us and with a small breeze in the air with the lovely sunny weather, it’s safe to say that this weather is beautiful and that nature is also beautiful.

I used the Camera+ app to photograph the Rose Bush again, and then I made some small edits to this photograph to give the rose-bush more of a friendly approach so that it rings true to the lovely and traditional Spring weather.

Do you love the Spring weather? I’d love to know. Please feel free to comment below. I would love to hear what you think of this wonderful weather :-).

Alex Smithson

NIGHTLIFE IN BECKENHAM

Following my close friend’s birthday party last Friday, which I loved every second of considering we were all singing and dancing and all sorts, I produced a collection of photographs that would surround Nightlife in Beckenham.

Nightlife in Beckenham is absolutely tranquil and so peaceful, and because of the quietness of Beckenham, it gives you goosebumps knowing that it goes pin-drop silent at night, when it’s usually busy during daylight hours.

Of course, I did keep in mind there are some blind spots in and around Beckenham so I had made sure to keep myself aware of everything around me so that I could make sure that I was safe, and I was pleased to have photographed Beckenham at night because I am interested in night photography, not just standard nature, close-up and landmark photography, but also night photography.

I was glad to have photographed Beckenham at night because it has given me the chance to explore the photographical nightlife of Beckenham, not just as a place, but as a location of interest. Usually, you would expect places like this to be booming at night, but it’s so quiet and is also the best place for photographing stores and also any areas of Beckenham that peak your interest.

If you enjoyed this photographic collection of the Beckenham nightlife, then please let me know. I would love to hear your feedback.

Alex Smithson

Recommended Camera App: Camera+

CROYDON / REVISITED

Kicking off 2017 with a bang, I decided to revisit the photographic collection I took on the 15th December 2016 by publishing this more up-to-date collection that will revisit Croydon with more of a positive approach and given the lovely weather in my first few weeks back at Croydon College, I couldn’t have picked a better time to take these photographs. Some of these photographs consist of the Pret a Manger & Caffé Nero, including other parts of Croydon I may have not visited in a while.

I also used the opportunity to snap a few photos of Reeves Corner, considering it is more or less quiet now considering it will be six years in August since the riots took place in Croydon, which saw the bigger half of the Reeves Furniture Store being burned down as a result.

I must admit, I was taken aback by just how quiet it was around Reeves Corner, because I last went down to Reeves Corner two years ago when I was studying Art & Design, and even then it did feel uncomfortable, much like it does now.

I want this photographic collection to help you explore what Croydon is like as a place, including how Croydon is in general. For instance, there are so many stores in Croydon that you cannot exactly miss, including banks, landmarks, restaurants etc. and many more.