The document summarizes a student's process for completing a photographic techniques assignment. The student created a plan to first complete the task that required learning 15 techniques and taking demonstration photos. They learned and photographed each technique, such as light graffiti and studio lighting. For their final images, the student focused on Westminster architecture and tourist attractions. They researched similar photographers and aimed to show unique angles. The student received positive feedback on some of their final photos and overall felt they performed well and their skills improved, though they would research techniques more in-depth for future assignments.

1. By Chelsie Brandrick Page 1
Unit 57 – Task 4 – Photographic Techniques – Evaluation
By Chelsie Brandrick
Evaluating a project allows the creators to analyse the whole process and reflect on what went
well and what didn’t during the production. This can enable the creators to address any areas
of weakness and improve on them as well as praise themselves for their strengths.
Once I was presented with the assignment I began to break down how long each task would
take and created a plan to ensure I would be able to complete the assignment before the
deadline. I decided to start task two first as it would take the longest because it required me to
learn 15 different techniques, take a series of photos for each technique that demonstrate what
it looks like and then write a 300+ word essay that evaluates and explains the process. I
started task two by learning about the light graffiti technique and then took my photos. This
series turned out exceptionally well as experimented with indoor and outdoor use of light and
then spent 20 minutes editing each photograph to distort the colours and add effects to the
images to make them look futuristic. I moved onto the four studio lighting (shadows, beauty,
45 and 90) series’ as I knew I could complete these photos fairly quickly as I could take them
all in one go. Next I took the frozen, blurred and large depth of field photos. I took the frozen
movement series at college as I felt like the series would be easier for me to achieve indoors
then walked to Oxford Street to take the blurred and large depth of field photographs. I didn’t
edit the blurred movement series as I thought it would distract away from the busy technique
but felt that the frozen and large depth of field series needed an addition of colour to make the
images more interesting to look at. I completed the shallow depth of field and image I love
series whilst I was away in the countryside and as these series were shot in a contrasting
location to London it adds variety to my final collection of images. The photograms took a
lesson to make, as it required me to go to the dark room and learn how to develop
photographs. The final series’ that I completed were the composition rules and my final
images so I took all the photos in one day. As my final photos needed to be shot in
Westminster I decided to shoot the composition rules (frame within a frame, symmetry, rule
of thirds and negative space) at the same time. I think the rule of thirds series turned out the
best out of the composition series’ as I found it was the easiest technique to learn and
demonstrate, whereas I didn’t find many buildings or places that had symmetry or natural
frames in the environment. Once I completed all the series,I wrote all the blog posts for each
series as I found it easier to do if I did them all at once and made the risk assessment.

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Next I moved my focus on task three and thought about what I wanted to photograph for my
final series and what techniques out of the selection that I learnt I would want to apply to the
series. As I have an admiration for architecture I choose to take my final photos around
Westminster and focus on the old architecture that is present there. I researched what
magazines this type of photography would be suitable for and found that ‘London Magazine’
often feature articles about London that are accompanied by photos of London. Then I
completed the research on a photographer who takes similar photos of London for magazines
like I want to. Niki Gorick’s photos show unique angles, subject matters and are shown in
black and white. After reflecting on my research I realised that as my subject matter,
Westminster architecture,is popular and has been photographed a great deal in the past, I
would need to produce something different in order for it to stand out amongst the other work
that is out there. I produced the idea that I should do a series that focuses on tourist attractions
as I thought it would be more versatile to accompany an article and would be more interesting
for a viewer to see if they knew the buildings in the photos. Before I took my final photos, I
planned the idea by writing the script and recording the video pitch in addition to making a
mood board and mind map.
I am happy with how my final images turned out as I think they all feature different angles
and techniques such as large and shallow depth of field, frozen movement and frame within a
frame, which make the photos interesting to look at for the viewer. I especially like the lens
flairs on some of the photos as it shows the photos were took on a warm day, which creates a
happy, warm image for the viewers. I shot my final photos on a Lumix G and edited them on
aperture as it enabled me to create a high quality selection of images and use equipment that I
am familiar and confident with. Considering the facilities and lack of experience I had
available I think that my final images can compare to the work of a professional photographer
such as Niki Gorick as they possess the same qualities, like a variety of composition
techniques, interesting and popular subject matter and a high standard edit.
My target audience is the readers of the magazine so upper working class to middle class
people aged 25 – 50 and as my images are respectfuland appropriate for the magazine I think
they are suitable for the magazine’s readership.
I wanted my images to make the audience want to travel and visit the places featured in the
series and I think I conveyed this well by producing images that look vibrant and interesting.
If I were to change anything I would remove a few of the shots from the series as I think they
degrade the quality of the overall series. Also if I had more time I would reshoot the Trafalgar
Square photographs as I don’t think they are as good as the London Eye photos, as I
particularly like the simplicity and isolation that is presented in those images. However my

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final photos are very similar to what I envisioned for my final image series and I am happy
with the majority of them.
A classmate commented on my final photos and offered the following feedback.
Sofia said that “Photos number 2,7 and 14 are my favourites; they look really professional
and I could definitely see them published in a magazine. They would be a nice magazine
spread as they all have something that connects them visually and thematically.”
After I took my final photographs I went back to task one and completed the video cast script
and video, which gave me a great insight into the industry and history of photography. As I
spoke about documentary and war photography the topics aren’t relevant to architecture so
this task wasn’t necessary for me to complete prior to shooting my final photos.
During all of the photograph series I carried out a health and safety checklist and risk
assessment for the studio spaces. I created a suitable working environment for my crew by
keeping the photographing sessions short as I managed to set up the studio lights quickly.
Whilst shooting I abided by the health and safety check list which stated I needed to make the
models aware of any cables or how hot the studio could get. This allowed the shoots to run
smoothly, prevented any injuries occurring and allowed the shoots to be completed in less
time than I initially thought.
I think I performed well on this assignment as I completed all the work to the best of my
abilities and my final images turned out as expected and have received good reviews. My
skills developed during this assignment as I researched the photography industry and
techniques significantly which enabled me to be more experimental with editing my photos
such as my light graffiti series. I found researching specific photographers improved my
photography, as I was aware of how other people were capturing and presenting the same
subject matter I wanted to. I enjoyed working on this assignment as it is a contrast from film
and television, however I would’ve liked to focus more on photography theory so I could
understand its origins and learn how to use a camera to achieve the best shots.
If I were to complete this assignment again, I would’ve researched the photography techniques
first so I had a better understanding of what they would look like so I could be more creative
when taking my final images. I would also shoot more photos so I would have more images to
choose from, which would eliminate my problems of not being satisfied with a few of my final
images. The mistakes I made were due to my lack of experience, as this was the first
photography work I have produced.

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Overall, I am pleased with my approach to this assignment as I think that I performed well,
quickly and produced an interesting series of images that fulfilled the specifications of the
brief.
Word Count: 1561.