Ian Egner Research // Making Tracks

Last year in my experimental photography project, I researched Ian Egner who does light trails. This piece of research also applies to part of the project that I have done this year, due to having taken light trail images on the M1 in Rotherham for my project.

 This image is striking as it is taken within an urban type of environment when its not dark. This captures the type of place this image has been captured in, which adds to the composition with the lines of the buildings. Also the light trails are central within the image, though they aren't made up of straight lines, instead they're lines and dashes with breaks in between each one, which adds for a unique and interesting image.

 This image showcases light trails going around curves in roads. The dark background of the image, with the unique colours of the sky helps to make the colours of the light trails so distinct.

This image is also very striking due to the sky not being completely dark, but a slightly purple colour. The left of the image has electricity pylons, which adds for a unique part of the composition due to the pylons being made up of lines and being repeated down the image. The main focus of the image is the light trails which are central to the image.

-----------------

The pictures below I have taken on a bridge above the M1, all at slightly different angles and techniques. I'm really happy how each of the images have turned out.

 The image above I have taken inspiration from the first image I have looked at by Ian Egner. This is due to it being made up of lines and dashes with gaps between the lights. This is different from my other images as they're straight lines of light with no gaps, so have ended up being much brighter - making this image unique.

 The image above shows where all the roads go and join up, this is due to the angle in which the photograph has been taken, this making it unique to the other images I have taken on light trails.

Shoot 1 // Making Tracks

My first shoot I went out with my dad, Simon Coult, who I have researched. We took some images, in which I was learning how to deal with taking photographs of trains as you have to be ready to shoot as soon as they some into view. 

Below is a contact sheet of the photos that I took for my first shoot that I did for the project during the day. 

I'm quite happy with how these images turned out as this was the first time that I had taken pictures of trains, and with it being a new type of photography to get to grips with doing.

With taking these with my dad, I took inspiration from him and his images as he's been taking pictures of these for a while and his images are all really good, being the type and quality of image that I wanted to take myself for this project.

Simon Coult Research // Making Tracks

I have researched Simon Coult, due to the fact that he was the person that started me in transport photography for this project. With Simon being my father, his work is one that I see frequently due to him posting it on social media, talking about his trips and showing me his images. 

I have got these photos off our family computer's hard drive with the help of my dad.

This image was taken in April when we had hail, which made for an added effect in the picture of a hail storm. This makes the image unique as the weather is so extreme. Also the train is central within the image, which highlights the image with the composition of it. Both sets of train tracks are in the image creating lines, which are a vital part of this images composition.

This image is of a freight train that is coming round a bend. The image is very striking due to the colours of the greens, yellows, and reds. Also the train is in the left two thirds, which makes up the composition of the image being eye-catching and enticing to the viewer.

This image is also of an EWS freight train coming round a bend, though it is different to the previous image due to the train being much more face on than the previous image. Also the front of the train is very much in focus, with the rest of train being slightly blurred, this brings the viewers focus more to the front of the train. The background with the trees and metal bar make the image more interesting and unique, due to them making lines which make for a more interesting composition.

This image of a freight train is very striking as its coming over, which emphasises the fact that the railway isn't flat. Also the train is coming under a bridge, which adds to the composition of the image, as the bridge is made up of lines and a curve towards the back of the image. This image consists of very flat light, which could either be a positive or a negative as it highlights the train though the weather isn't as great as in previous images.

New Theme // Making Tracks

In December, my head of course for my BTEC was discussing my photography with me, and suggested to take pictures with my dad (who takes photographs of trains). 

Since then we went out to train stations in Derbyshire to take photos of trains. We went to Hope, Bamford, Meadowhall, and Sheffield stations.

One evening during the Christmas holidays, my dad and I went out to Rotherham to stand on a bridge above the M1, to take pictures of the light trails that the cars beneath were making. 

Once we'd done this I thought about including this in my project, and not just photographs of trains. From there I looked at the light trail images and saw that they looked like tracks, and I also realised that trains run on tracks. This is where the idea of the project theme being 'Making Tracks' came about.

The theme of 'Making Tracks' conspires of people travelling. This can include various types of transport such as trains, cars, trams, planes, and more. This can also include day and night photography. 

There is a lot to explore within this project with how people travel everyday and make tracks through multiple types of transport. 

A2 Photography // Street

At the start of the year with this project, I had the theme of 'Street'. In which I looked at pictures of street photography that I liked the aesthetics of. These are mainly the same photographers that I looked at in last year's research for the street photography research found further down in the blog.

I also went out and took some pictures on my street and in town related to the word 'Street'. Some of my best images are posted below.

Although, I have changed theme not too long ago. This was due to the fact that I was struggling to go out all the time with doing my A level photography alongside a BTEC extended diploma. 

I did two shoots whilst I was doing the theme of 'Street', which I have posted contact sheets of below.

 The shoot above is the first shoot I did for the project, in which I went about the road I live and took photos to show different perspectives of it.

The shoot above is the second and final shoot that I did for this project, in which I took some photos in the Peace Gardens and Fargate in Sheffield City Centre.

I prefer the second shoot I did for this project as there are more people around and the images are more interesting than the shoot that I did in my area.

Canditate invigilation sticker // INVIGILATION

Bikes // Street

This image that I took in London during the time we had for our Street Photography project. This image shows multiple bikes lined up between trees, with slight reflections of the bikes happening onto the wet floor from the rain. The trees create vertical lines within the image give the image, and they give contrast to the image that has mainly horizontal lines. Each of the bikes are different, this is a nice change within London because usually when you see bikes lined up together, they are the 'pay-as-you-go' bikes.

This is one of my favourite images that I have taken for my Street Photography because of the colours, reflection on the floor, lines, and composition.